Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud joined the NAM Summit today, which the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni inaugurated as the new Chair of the Movement.  Dr. Hasan is going to deliver the national statement of Bangladesh on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Summit and the Third South Summit.   The Foreign Minister is leading Bangladesh delegation to the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) being held through 19-20 January and the Third South Summit of the G 77 and China scheduled on 21-22 January 2023.  The Minister is also expected to have bilateral meetings with a good number of his counterparts He is also expected to have courtesy calls with the UN Secretary-General and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. The inaugural ceremony of the summit was also addressed by the President of Azerbaijan, the outgoing Chair of the NAM, the President of the General Assembly, the Vice President Cuba as the Chair of the Group of 77 and China  and the representatives of different regional groups. The Foreign Minister also joined the State Banquet hosted by the President of Uganda.  Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud is accompanied by Ambassador Masud Bin Momen, the Foreign Secretary, who led Bangladesh delegation to the Ministerial meeting and the Senior Official meetings of the NAM, Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations,  and Ambassador Tareque Muhammad, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Kenya and concurrently accredited to Uganda.  

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to attend a summit on Gaza, making him the first Iranian president to visit the Gulf kingdom in years, after a thaw between the longtime rivals earlier this year saw them restore diplomatic ties. Raisi was seen greeting Saudi officials after landing at the airport. He donned the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf. What is Raisi's stance? Ahead of leaving Tehran, Raisi stressed the importance of the unity of the Islamic countries, saying: "Gaza is not an arena for words. It should be for action." "The war machine in Gaza belongs to the US," he said before departing for Riyadh. "The US has prevented the cease-fire in Gaza and is expanding the scope of the war." Iranian news site Tasnim reported that the president would propose at the summit that Muslim countries ban the use of their airspace by Israel. He would also propose preventing the United States from shipping weapons to Israel from military bases in the Middle East, according to the semiofficial Tasnim. Several Western countries have condemned Tehran for its support of the militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and is designated as a terrorist organization in countries including the United States, Israel and Germany, as well as the European Union. What else is expected at the summit? The summit combines a meeting of the Arab League and another of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), originally meant to be held separately. Early on Saturday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced that the two summits would be held as one. The decisions underscores the importance of reaching "a unified collective position that expresses the common Arab and Islamic will regarding the dangerous and unprecedented developments witnessed in Gaza and the Palestinian territories," the official Saudi Press Agency reported. On Friday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman condemned "what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities," in his first public comments on the conflict since its start. Amid war, Israel's warming ties with Saudi Arabia on hold The summit comes amid reported divisions among the ranks of Arab countries, with a group of countries that normalized ties with Israel in 2020 reportedly rejecting a wider proposal threatening to disrupt oil supplies to Israel and its allies, as well as sever economic and diplomatic ties with Israel. Few Arab countries have formal ties with Israel. Those that do include Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. In 1973-74, when no such ties existed, Arab oil-producing countries created what came to be known as the "Oil Shock" after imposing an oil embargo in response to the US support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo led to worldwide skyrocketing energy prices and at times fuel shortages.

On behalf of 59 organizations and individuals devoted to improving respect for human rights in China and communities the Chinese government impacts, we write to urge you to prioritize concerns about Beijing’s lack of concrete human rights improvements in your discussions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco. We welcome your administration’s earlier statements that the US government will hold the Chinese government “accountable for its abuses of the international system,” and the promise that the US will impose consequences on the Chinese government for its ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in the Uyghur region. The Chinese government is punishing human rights defenders and rights lawyers with increasing cruelty. Most independent civil society groups have been disbanded and their members jailed, tortured, or forced to continue their work underground. Numerous UN bodies have similarly raised serious concerns about arbitrary detention, forced labor, cultural and language rights, and sexual and gender-based violence.  Over the past year, your administration and multiple UN human rights bodies have raised alarm at the escalation of human rights abuses in Tibet, including the residential boarding school system that has seen at least one million Tibetan children separated from their families and communities.  In East Turkistan (which the Chinese government refers to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), the government continues to subject Uyghurs and other Turkic groups to widespread, systematic persecution on the basis of their ethnic and religious identity. In Hong Kong, the promulgation of the National Security Law (NSL) by Beijing in 2020 has led to the dismantling of civil society and people’s fundamental rights and freedoms, and the targeting of academics, media outlets, and NGOs, affecting millions of Hong Kongers.  The Chinese government has used its power and influence to attempt to silence the voice of civil society outside China’s borders and has taken steps to actively undermine internationally recognized human rights norms. The government’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners remains unrelenting.  We therefore urge that you to deliver the following clear and strong messages to Xi Jinping: Demonstrate that human rights are a priority in the bilateral relationship by telling Xi that the US will pursue investigations into crimes against humanity and genocide in China, and the government’s transnational repression in the US and elsewhere. Ask him to release wrongfully detained individuals, including Gao Zhisheng, Peng Lifa, Yu Wensheng, Xu Yan, Huang Xueqin, Wang Jianbing, Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, Jimmy Lai, Hang Tung Chow, Gwyneth Ho, Joshua Wong, Owen Chow, Gulshan Abas, Ekpar Asat, Rahile Dawut, the Panchen Lama (Gedhun Choekyi Nyima), Lhundrup Drakpa, Go Sherab Gyatso, and many others. Inform Xi that Beijing and Hong Kong authorities’ incessant violation of human rights in that territory will further harm ties and urge him to revoke the NSL. Tell Xi that your administration will continue to address the ongoing crimes against humanity in the Uyghur region until the Chinese government ceases its rights violations. Urge Xi to fully implement the recommendations in the August 2022 report on the region by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR.) Urge Xi to implement the recommendations of UN experts and treaty bodies with respect to Tibet, including immediately abolishing the coercive boarding school system imposed on Tibetan children. Tell Xi that your administration will continue to provide strong and steadfast support to human rights defenders and civil society activists across China and throughout the world. More broadly in your China policy, prioritize building strong ties to and among activists, independent writers, journalists, scholars, lawyers, and leaders of persecuted ethnic and religious minorities, and commit to assisting them when they are targeted for their activism.  Xi Jinping and his government are assaulting human rights on a scale unprecedented in decades. President Biden, you have a unique opportunity to send strong messages to Xi Jinping about your position on human rights, which will likely have an impact in halting – and possibly reversing – this crisis.    Source: UHRP

It was the type of crisis no one in Washington wanted. While there had been some background discussions among Canada, the United States, and other countries in the run-up to the G20 Summit about the Hardeep Singh Nijjar case, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apparently caught Washington by surprise when he decided to accuse India of murdering the terrorist on Canadian soil. Trudeau based his accusations on alleged intelligence provided by the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing group (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand).  Not all intelligence agencies are equal, however; no one fears New Zealand spies and Australia’s Office of National Intelligence focuses more on China than on Canada. Therefore, Trudeau’s statement insinuated he had received intelligence from either the United States or United Kingdom. It is no secret that the United States or Canada spy on allied countries; India does the same thing. To simply say “intelligence shows” is amateurish, though. When there is intelligence, for example, intercepts of phone calls, these are seldom cut-and-dry but rather open to interpretation. Intelligence provides puzzle pieces, but it seldom offers a clear picture.  Nor would any operative speak clearly about their plans, even in the special rooms designed to avoid eavesdropping. When intelligence is clear, for example, when the United Kingdom developed the Enigma device during World War II, the United States and Canada would likely prioritise keeping their penetration secret rather than haphazardly exposing a capability it might take years to restore. When after the murder of Saudi intelligence agent-turned-dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, Turkey revealed it had bugged the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, they did so after cancelling balancing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s desire to embarrass Riyadh over the fact that they would never again receive information from those transmitters. When the United States assassinated Al Qaeda leader Usama Bin Laden, they did so only after calculating the damage caused by exposure of America’s then-secret stealth helicopter capabilities. Make no mistake: The United States is frustrated with Trudeau’s willingness to expose intelligence collection and capabilities especially at a time when the intelligence was murky at best. While the White House has tried to dampen rhetoric against India in sharp contrast to its actions in the aftermath of Khashoggi’s murder, David Cohen, the US ambassador to Canada, appeared on Canadian TV and confirmed that Canada received “Five Eyes” intelligence. “There was a lot of communication between Canada and the United States about this, and I think that’s as far as I’m comfortable going,” Cohen said. Cohen’s remarks were not wise. He appeared on television for its own sake, stirred the pot, but ultimately said nothing. From his perspective, he simply wanted to be available for Canadian TV. Indians should understand US diplomacy and Canada.  American ambassadors come in two forms: career and political. The US President usually sends a political ambassador to Canada, someone who contributed generously to his campaign.  Not all political ambassadors are equal. India and Japan regularly receive highly capable American advisors. Because Canada neighbours the United States, speaks English, and most business is done directly with direct phone calls, ambassador posts in Ottawa are usually reserved for those who want the honorific but do not have top skills that the State Department can trust in a crisis.  Cohen was a successful businessman and, from his stint as chief-of-staff to Philadelphia’s mayor, he understands city politics, but he is not someone whom the United States trusts in a crisis. Technically speaking, American ambassadors supervise all elements in US embassies including the CIA chief-of-station.  In practice, however, the US ambassador in Ottawa keeps a hands-off approach. It is doubtful that Cohen even knew about any Nijjar-related issues before Trudeau’s comments last week. He is playing catch up and trying to assuage his Canadian audience with whom he must interact daily. Frankly, the same pattern extends to American diplomats stationed in Canada. Canada is seldom a first-choice destination for ambitious diplomats.  Often, the State Department’s personnel shop reserves slots in Ottawa or at the various provincial consulates for diplomats who must stay close to home for certain reasons, be they family issues or health. No top State Department official built their career in Canada. Secretary of State Antony’s Blinken’s comments should worry India more. Blinken built his career in the Senate as Biden’s chief foreign policy aide. In the culture of the senate, posturing and virtue signalling trump’s policy responsibility. If American progressives seize upon this issue as a cause célèbre no matter Nijjar’s terrorism, Blinken’s political instincts will be to follow rather than lead.  This dynamic has haemorrhaged Biden administration relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Many American progressives harbour an irrational antagonism to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If Modi walked on water, they would belittle him for not knowing how to swim. Behind-the-scenes, though, Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan are smart enough to hope the problem will just go away. This might occur in two ways: First, a new crisis might simply shift the focus in Washington and relieve the pressure on the White House and State Department. Blinken and Sullivan pursued this strategy after the Afghanistan withdrawal, and they hope the Nijjar story will likewise simply disappear as focus shifts elsewhere. A more likely scenario is that it will disappear when Trudeau loses his premiership, something polls show will likely happen in the next election. While Trudeau can remain in power until 2025 due to a deal with the left-leaning New Democrats, such a deal is not binding and elections could occur much sooner. The question for New Delhi and Washington then becomes whether the source of the current crisis is Canada or Trudeau’s superficiality and venality? Certainly, economic and educational ties suggest India and Canada are a relationship too important to discard. Trudeau is like Donald Trump; the personality is the problem, not the country. Indeed, the silver-lining to the crisis is already obvious: No longer will either Ottawa nor Washington ignore New Delhi’s security concerns. Whether the United States wanted to or not, it increasingly understands it cannot ignore the violence and terrorism Khalistani separatism represents nor the movement’s lack of popular legitimacy. Source: firstpost.com

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among the world leaders descending on New York on Monday as the United Nations prepares to kick off a high-level summit aimed at rescuing its largely ignored Sustainable Development Goals for economic growth. The UN General Assembly in New York formally starts on Tuesday with speeches from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Zelenskyy, among others. The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an open meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday. On the same day, Scholz, Zelenskyy and other representatives from politics and business will receive the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council think tank. The week-long UN General Assembly is set to focus on dusting off its 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at avoiding poverty, hunger, poor education and poor health care.  In 2015, the countries of the world set themselves these central goals for global development with the key aim of ending hunger and extreme poverty by 2030.  However, the pandemic, the Ukraine war, and a debt crisis in poor countries are among the setbacks that have left the UN well off its target. 

Thousands of climate activists flooded the streets of Midtown, Manhattan on Sunday, initiating Climate Week ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York City. Demonstrators held signs saying "End Fossil Fuel Use,""Declare a Climate Emergency" and "I didn't vote for fires and floods." The protesters implored US President Joe Biden and global leaders phase out fossil fuels, emphasizing their role in exacerbating climate change. President Biden is among the world leaders set to attend the United Nations General Assembly, which is scheduled to formally open on Tuesday. "We hold the power of the people, the power you need to win this election," said Emma Buretta, 17, of Brooklyn of the youth protest group Fridays for Future. "If you want to win in 2024, if you do not want the blood of my generation to be on your hands, end fossil fuels."  The 75,000 people who marched on Sunday came from about 700 organizations and activist groups, and drew people from all spheres. "We have people all across the world in the streets, showing up, demanding a cessation of what is killing us," US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told a cheering crowd. "We have to send a message that some of us are going to be living on, on this planet 30, 40, 50 years from now. And we will not take no for an answer." UN 2015 goals missing target Many scientists say greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels contribute to global warming, leading to extreme weather events, including hurricanes, heatwaves, floods, wildfires, and droughts seen around the world currently. Curbing CO2 emissions is pivotal in tackling climate change. Scientists caution that within the next five years, the world may witness unprecedented high temperatures, with a significant chance of surpassing the critical mark of an average 1.5 degree Celsius increase. Ahead of the upcoming UN COP28 climate summit, over 80 nations aim to establish an accord to progressively eliminate coal, oil, and gas. A recent UN study cautioned about escalating global warming risks, emphasizing the need for comprehensive actions and drastic emission reductions, including significantly reducing coal-powered energy by 2030, according to news agency Reuters. On Monday, the UN Sustainable Development Goals Summit starts, aiming for a "global rescue plan," according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He noted that merely 15% of the sustainable development objectives adopted in 2015 were likely to be achieved, with some metrics heading in reverse. To reach the 2015 target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, it's essential to eliminate the use of fossil fuels that can't have their emissions captured or compensated. Protesters have experienced climate change events Sunday's protests marked a weeklong global initiative by Climate Group, a non-profit pushing for climate action. Over 500 protests are planned in 54 countries, including the U.S., Germany, England, South Korea, and India. The rallies, a precursor to the upcoming the COP28 summit, reflect increasing global concern as climate change-induced severe weather events become more commonplace. American University sociologist Dana Fisher studies environmental movements and took a survey of march participants. She said 86% of those surveyed had experienced extreme heat recently, 21% floods and 18% severe drought. They mostly reported feeling sad and angry. "Our lives are on the line." 22-year-old Nalleli Cobo told AFP news agency. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said consensus has been built on New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit Declaration and announced its adoption. The Prime Minister, who is chairing the G20 sessions, congratulated the Sherpas and ministers who had worked towards forging the consensus. "I have received good news. Due to the hard work of our team, consensus has been built on New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit Declaration. My proposal is to adopt this leadership declaration. I announce to adopt this declaration. On this occasion, I congratulate my Sherpa, ministers, who worked hard for it and made it possible,” he said. The announcement of adoption of the declaration was welcomed with thumping of desks.   In his opening remarks at the Summit, the Prime Minister said that the 21st century is a time that has the potential to give a new direction to the entire world. “It's a time when years old challenges demand new solutions from us. Therefore, we must move forward by fulfilling all our responsibilities with a Human Centric approach,” he said.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina held a bilateral talk in New Delhi on Friday, the two countries also signed three memorandum of understanding (MoUs), including one on cooperation in Digital Payment mechanisms. "The MoU on cooperation in Digital Payment mechanism was signed between National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Bangladesh Bank," the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official release.  Another MoU focused on the renewal of the Cultural Exchange Program (CEP) between India and Bangladesh for 2023-2025. The third MoU was signed between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC).  PM Modi, Sheikh Hasina also looked forward to beginning of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), covering trade in goods, and services, and protecting and promoting investment, the MEA release said. The full range of bilateral cooperation, including political and security cooperation, border management, trade and connectivity, water resources, power and energy, development collaboration, and cultural and people-to-people linkages, was discussed by the two leaders. Discussions also included recent regional developments and collaboration in international fora.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will back home on Sunday, after the attending of two days G20 Summit. A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the premier and her entourage, is scheduled to take off from Palam Airport, New Delhi at 12:30pm. The flight is scheduled to reach at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3:30pm. Sheikh Hasina gone on Friday for the G20 summit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. At the same day, She had a bilateral meeting with Modi at his residence. At the G20 summit, on September 9, Sheikh Hasina attended different sessions and delivered two speeches under the main theme of the summit "One Earth, One Family, One Future". During "One Earth" and "One Family" sessions, the Bangladesh premier pointed out how to address the challenges like climate change, economic recovery after Covid pandemic, war in Europe resulting the severe disruption of global supply of the essential commodities such as fuel, food and fertiliser.

The highly anticipated historic G20 Leader's Summit begins today, September 9, in the country's capital city. The world leaders including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have arrived in Delhi have gathered at the Bharat Mandapam International Exhibition and Convention Centre. The first session of the G20 Summit would begin at around 10:30 am under this year's theme 'One Earth'. This global meeting, a culmination of various ministries, meetings and the engagement of different groups that happened throughout the year, aims to address key issues around the globe.