Modi discusses Ukraine visit with Biden

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speakS with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Mariinskyi Palace ahead of their meeting, in Kyiv. (File/AFP)

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Updated 26 August 2024

AFP

August 26, 2024 18:40

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Modi discusses Ukraine visit with Biden

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speakS with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Mariinskyi Palace.

Modi, who angered Ukrainians by hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow recently, visited Kyiv on Friday

Updated 26 August 2024

AFP

August 26, 2024 18:40

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WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke with US President Joe Biden about his visit to Ukraine, as the White House voiced hope that he embraced Kyiv’s view on ending Russia’s invasion.
Modi, who angered Ukrainians by hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow recently, visited Kyiv on Friday and told President Volodymyr Zelensky that “no problem should be solved on the battlefield.”
Briefing Biden by telephone on his trip, Modi “reiterated India’s consistent position in favor of dialogue and diplomacy and expressed full support for (an) early return of peace and stability,” an Indian foreign ministry statement said.
Asked about Biden’s response, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the United States supported all countries listening to Zelensky’s perspectives on ending the war.
“We welcome any other country that wants to help President Zelensky work toward this just peace,” Kirby told reporters.
Zelensky has called for the return of all territory seized by Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
India has not explicitly backed Zelensky’s stance. Despite increasingly close relations with Washington, India has refused to join US sanctions on Moscow, with which it has historic relations, and instead has embraced Russia as a cheaper source of oil.
India said that Modi and Biden also discussed Bangladesh, where leader Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of New Delhi, resigned and fled earlier this month after mass protests against her increasingly authoritarian rule.
The Indian statement said that Modi and Biden “emphasized restoration of law and order and ensuring safety and security of the minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh.”
Hindus have faced attacks since the fall of Sheikh Hasina, whose secular rule enjoyed minority support.
The United States had repeatedly criticized Sheikh Hasina for backsliding on democracy but, knowing that India was far more invested in Bangladesh, had been careful not to clash openly with New Delhi.

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G20 leaders gather for deadlocked talks on climate, Middle East, Ukraine wars

Updated 20 sec ago

AFP

November 18, 2024 16:41

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G20 leaders gather for deadlocked talks on climate, Middle East, Ukraine wars

Wars which have bitterly divided G20 members are set to feature prominently in discussions in Brazil
Biden will attend his last summit of world’s leading economies with China’s XI as the most influential leader

Updated 20 sec ago

AFP

November 18, 2024 16:41

Rio de Janeiro: G20 leaders began arriving for a summit in Brazil on Monday to try reignite deadlocked climate talks and overcome their differences on the Middle East and Ukraine wars ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

US President Joe Biden will attend his last summit of the world’s leading economies, but as a lame duck leader eclipsed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the most influential leader at this year’s meeting.

Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is using his hosting duties to promote issues close to his heart, including fighting hunger and climate change and taxing the super-rich.

But the wars which have bitterly divided G20 members are also set to feature prominently in the discussions.

A Brazilian foreign ministry source said Monday that some countries wanted to renegotiate a draft summit communique.

“For Brazil and other countries the text is already finalized, but some countries want to open up some points on wars and climate,” he told AFP.

Biden’s decision Sunday to allow Ukraine to use long-range US missiles to strike targets inside Russia — a major policy shift — could prompt European allies to also review their stance.

G20 leaders are also under pressure to try rescue UN climate talks in Azerbaijan, which have stalled on the issue of greater climate finance for developing countries.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for G20 members, who account for 80 percent of global emissions, to show “leadership” to facilitate a deal.

Security is tight for the gathering, which comes days after a failed bomb attack on Brazil’s Supreme Court in Brasilia by a suspected far-right extremist, who killed himself in the process.

The get-together will cap a farewell diplomatic tour by Biden which took him to Lima for a meeting of Asia-Pacific trading partners, and then to the Amazon in the first such visit for a sitting US president.

Biden, who has looked to burnish his legacy as time runs down on his presidency, insisted in the Amazon that his climate record would survive another Trump mandate.

All eyes at the stalled COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan are on Rio to break an impasse over how to raise $1 trillion a year for developing countries to cope with global warming.

Rich countries want fast-developing economies like China and Gulf states to also put their hands in their pockets.

The meeting comes in a year marked by another grim litany of extreme weather events, including Brazil’s worst wildfire season in over a decade, fueled by a record drought blamed at least partly on climate change.

At the last G20 in India, leaders called for a tripling of renewable energy sources by the end of the decade, but without explicitly calling for an end to the use of fossil fuels.

Conspicuously absent from the summit is Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose arrest is sought by the International Criminal Court over the Ukraine war.

Lula, 79, told Brazil’s GloboNews channel on Sunday that he did not want the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to take the focus off global poverty.

“Because if not, we will not discuss other things which are more important for people that are not at war, who are poor people and invisible to the world,” he said.

The summit opens on Monday with Lula, a former steelworker who grew up in poverty, launching a “Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.”

Brazil is also pushing for higher taxes on billionaires.

Lula had faced resistance to parts of his agenda from Argentinian President Javier Milei, a libertarian Trump uber-fan who met the Republican last week at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

The head of the Argentine delegation, Federico Pinedo, told AFP that Buenos Aires has raised some objections and would not “necessarily” sign the text, however. He did not elaborate.

But the Brazilian foreign ministry source on Monday downplayed the likelihood of Argentina blocking a consensus.

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Topics: G20 climate

Why has ethnic violence escalated in India’s Manipur state again?

Updated 25 min 56 sec ago

Reuters

November 18, 2024 16:16

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Why has ethnic violence escalated in India’s Manipur state again?

On May 3, 2023, members of the Kuki and Naga tribes launched protest against extension of benefits to dominant Meiteis
Latest violence flared this month after 31-year-old woman from Kuki tribe was found burned to death in a village in Jiribam district

Updated 25 min 56 sec ago

Reuters

November 18, 2024 16:16

Hundreds of people defied a curfew to stage demonstrations in India’s northeastern state of Manipur over the weekend and 23 were arrested for violence as tensions between two ethnic communities flared up again.
These are the reasons behind the violence in the border state.

HOW DID THE MANIPUR VIOLENCE BEGIN?

On May 3, 2023, members of the Kuki and Naga tribes, who inhabit Manipur’s hills and are regarded as Scheduled Tribes, or India’s most disadvantaged groups, launched a protest against the possible extension of their benefits to the dominant Meiteis.
The Meitei have sought special benefits for more than a decade, but received a fillip in April last year after the Manipur High Court recommended the state government should consider the demand and set a deadline of mid-May.
Meiteis account for half of Manipur’s population and extending limited affirmative action quotas to them would mean they would get a share of education and government jobs reserved for Kukis and Nagas.
Meiteis have traditionally lived in Manipur’s more prosperous valley region that makes up 10 percent of the state’s area.
They have also had better access to employment and economic opportunities. Nagas and Kukis live in the poorly developed hill regions.
The imbalance in development that has favored the valley over the hills has been a point of contention and rivalry between the ethnic groups.

WHAT WERE THE TRIGGERS?

The groups co-existed peacefully until unrelated events in 2023 exposed old faultlines.
Manipur shares a nearly 400-km (250-mile) border with Myanmar and the coup there in 2021 pushed thousands of refugees into the Indian state.
Kukis share ethnic lineage with Myanmar’s Chin tribe and Meiteis feared they would be outnumbered by the arrival of the refugees.

WHY IS PEACE YET TO RETURN?

Both the Meiteis and Kukis are known to be flush with arms, including automatic weapons either stolen from the state police or sourced from Myanmar.
The Indian Army and federal paramilitary forces in the state cannot act independently and are legally bound to work with state police and authorities, who analysts say are also divided along ethnic lines.
Kukis also accuse Biren Singh, the chief minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state and a Meitei, of complicity in violence against them and have sought his removal. Singh denies the accusations.

WHAT IS BEHIND THE LATEST SPIRAL OF VIOLENCE?

The latest violence flared this month after a 31-year-old Kuki woman was found burned to death in a village in Jiribam district, an area that was untouched by the conflict until June.
Kuki groups blamed Meitei militants for the act.
Kukis and Meiteis have moved to separate parts elsewhere in Manipur since the clashes last year but Jiribam still has a mixed population, leading to tensions and violence.
Days after the incident, 10 armed Kuki men were killed in a gunfight with security forces after they tried to attack a police station in Jiribam district, and security forces retaliated. During this gunfight, a Meitei family of six people went missing.
On Friday, bodies of three of the six were found floating in a river, triggering angry protests in the state capital Imphal. Police said on Sunday they had arrested 23 people for ransacking and setting fire to the homes of lawmakers and ministers, in a second straight day of unrest in the area.

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Topics: Manipur India ethnic violence

Emergency declared as smog in New Delhi hits highest level this year

Updated 33 min 8 sec ago

Sanjay Kumar

November 18, 2024 16:15

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Emergency declared as smog in New Delhi hits highest level this year

New Delhi was the world’s most polluted city on Monday, according to IQAir
PM 2.5 concentration was 138.4 times higher than WHO’s recommended levels

Updated 33 min 8 sec ago

Sanjay Kumar

November 18, 2024 16:15

NEW DELHI: New Delhi was in a medical emergency on Monday as toxic smog engulfing the Indian capital reached the highest level this year, prompting authorities to close schools and urge people to stay indoors.

Pollution in Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area — home to around 55 million people — reached the “severe plus” category as some areas reached an Air Quality Index score of 484, this year’s highest, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.

Delhi was ranked as the most polluted city in the world on Monday by Swiss group IQAir, with a concentration of PM 2.5, 138.4 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended levels.

“All of North India has been plunged into a medical emergency,” Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena Singh said in a press conference, adding that many cities were “reeling under severe levels of pollution.”

She said farm fires, where stubble left after harvesting rice is burnt to clear fields, were causing the extreme levels of pollution.

“Why is the (central government) not taking action against these states and implementing concrete steps? People are unable to breathe. I am getting calls from people complaining about breathing and respiratory issues,” she said.

“All of North India is paying the price for this, especially children and elderly who are struggling to breathe.”

Authorities in Delhi have directed all schools to move classes online and tightened restrictions on construction activities and vehicle movements.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at forecast company Skymet Weather, said people in the capital region are faced with serious health risks.

“If they are non-smokers, then they will also inhale at least 30 to 40 cigarettes per day (at these pollution levels). So, you can imagine how bad it is for our health,” he told Arab News.

“PM 2.5 is a very minute particle (that can be inhaled). It is so minute that it can go into our blood vessels also, so it is very harmful and leads to various diseases, particularly for older people and infants who have breathing problems.”

Palawat is expecting the air quality to remain at this level for at least a few more days.

“It will remain in the very poor to serious category in coming days also,” he said.

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Topics: India Pollution Schools

Emergency declared in New Delhi as smog hits highest level this year

Updated 18 November 2024

Sanjay Kumar

November 18, 2024 15:31

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Emergency declared in New Delhi as smog hits highest level this year

New Delhi was the world’s most polluted city on Monday, according to IQAir
PM 2.5 concentration was 138.4 times higher than WHO’s recommended levels

Updated 18 November 2024

Sanjay Kumar

November 18, 2024 15:31

New Delhi: New Delhi was in a state of ‘medical emergency’ on Monday as toxic smog engulfing the Indian capital reached the highest levels this year, prompting authorities to close schools and urge people to stay indoors.

Pollution in Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area — home to around 55 million people — reached the “severe plus” category as some areas reached an Air Quality Index score of 484, this year’s highest, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.

Delhi was ranked as the most polluted city in the world on Monday by Swiss group IQAir, with a concentration of PM 2.5, 138.4 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended levels.

“All of North India has been plunged into a medical emergency,” Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena Singh said in a press conference, adding that many cities were “reeling under severe levels of pollution.”

She said farm fires, where stubble left after harvesting rice is burnt to clear fields, were causing extreme levels of pollution.