LONDON: Britain’s government is placing Russia on the top tier of a government security program aimed at protecting the UK from malign foreign influence, the security minister said Tuesday.
Home Office minister Dan Jarvis told lawmakers that anyone or any company “carrying out activity as part of any arrangement” with Russian authorities — including government agencies, armed forces, intelligence services and the parliament — will need to register with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme from July 1 or face five years in prison.
Russian political parties that are controlled by the Russian government will also need to declare what they are doing before they can carry out activity in the UK directly.
Britain’s government said the program is a key tool for the “detection and disruption of harmful activity against our country.”
Jarvis cited hostile Russian acts in recent years including the use of the deadly nerve agent Novichok to poison a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in 2018, the targeting of British members of Parliament through cyberattacks and other espionage tactics.
“And clearly Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has highlighted its intent to undermine European and global security,” he added.
Iran was the first country to be listed under the program earlier this month. Lawmakers have questioned for months why China isn’t included.
“There is no question, in my mind, China should be in that enhanced tier,” said Chris Philp of the opposition Labour Party. “We know China engages in industrial-scale espionage, seeking to steal technology from government, universities and from industries. They repress Chinese citizens here and have sought to infiltrate our political system.”
Jarvis did not directly respond, only saying that his government is taking a “long-term and strategic approach” to managing its relationship with China.
Britain says anyone carrying out activity with Russian authorities now needs to register
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Britain says anyone carrying out activity with Russian authorities now needs to register
- Russian political parties that are controlled by the Russian government will also need to declare what they are doing
- The program is a key tool for the “detection and disruption of harmful activity against our country”
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.”
