PARIS: Political upheaval in France won’t affect preparations for the Olympic Summer Games, IOC President Thomas Bach said on Monday after President Emmanuel Macron shocked France with his call for new parliamentary elections.
Macron called the snap election after the far-right National trounced his own party in Sunday’s European Parliament vote. Two voting rounds will be held on June 30th and July 7th, the latter coming less than three weeks before the Olympics begin.
“France is used to holding elections, they will do it one more time, there will be a new government and everyone will support the Olympics ,” Bach said during a Paris 2024 run-up event in Paris, adding that French political leaders were united in their support of the Games.
“I have no indication whatsoever that this unity will break now only a couple of days before the Games open,” he said.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, a socialist, said she was “having a hard time understanding” why Macron chose to throw the country into political uncertainty so close to the Games, calling the move “one more coup” by the president.
Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet said his team was “more determined than ever” to make the Games a success. “There were around ten elections since we launched the candidacy for the Olympics and we understood how to work with the public actors.”
Political turmoil in France won’t affect Paris Games, IOC head says
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Political turmoil in France won’t affect Paris Games, IOC head says
- Emmanuel Macron calls snap election after the far-right National trounced his own party in Sunday’s European Parliament vote
- Two voting rounds will be held on June 30th and July 7th, the latter coming less than three weeks before the Olympics begin
India, Arab League target $500bn in trade by 2030
- It was the first such gathering of India–Arab FMs since the forum’s inauguration in 2016
- India and Arab states agree to link their startup ecosystems, cooperate in the space sector
NEW DELHI: India and the Arab League have committed to doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as their top diplomats met in New Delhi for the India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
The foreign ministers’ forum is the highest mechanism guiding India’s partnership with the Arab world. It was established in March 2002, with an agreement to institutionalize dialogue between India and the League of Arab States, a regional bloc of 22 Arab countries from the Middle East and North Africa.
The New Delhi meeting on Saturday was the first gathering in a decade, following the inaugural forum in Bahrain in 2016.
India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that the forum was taking place amid a transformation in the global order.
“Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year,” he said. “This obviously impacts all of us, and India as a proximate region. To a considerable degree, its implications are relevant for India’s relationship with Arab nations as well.”
Jaishankar and his UAE counterpart co-chaired the talks, which aimed at producing a cooperation agenda for 2026-28.
“It currently covers energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, human resource development, culture and education, amongst others,” Jaishankar said.
“India looks forward to more contemporary dimensions of cooperation being included, such as digital, space, start-ups, innovation, etc.”
According to the “executive program” released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the roadmap agreed by India and the League outlined their planned collaboration, which included the target “to double trade between India and LAS to US$500 billion by 2030, from the current trade of US$240 billion.”
Under the roadmap, they also agreed to link their startup ecosystems by facilitating market access, joint projects, and investment opportunities — especially health tech, fintech, agritech, and green technologies — and strengthen cooperation in space with the establishment of an India–Arab Space Cooperation Working Group, of which the first meeting is scheduled for next year.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing momentum in Indo-Arab relations focused on economic, business, trade and investment ties between the regions that have some of the world’s youngest demographics, resulting in a “commonality of circumstances, visions and goals,” according to Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“The focus of the summit meeting was on capitalizing on the economic opportunities … including in the field of energy security, sustainability, renewables, food and water security, environmental security, trade, investments, entrepreneurship, start-ups, technological innovations, educational cooperation, cultural cooperation, youth engagement, etc.,” Quamar told Arab News.
“A number of critical decisions have been taken for furthering future cooperation in this regard. In terms of opportunities, there is immense potential.”
