Category: WORLD

United Nations, July 1 (IANS) Just as Pakistan assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council on Tuesday through the routine alphabetical rotation, India has exposed Islamabad’s complicity in cross-border terrorism, highlighting the recent Pahalgam massacre carried out by Pak-backed terrorists.

The move comes amid global concern over rising instability and as India launched Operation Sindoor in direct response to the attack.

A day before Pakistan became president, India pre-emptively drew attention to its role as a sponsor of international terrorism by sponsoring an exhibition, ‘The Human Cost of Terrorism’, right at the entrance used by diplomats to enter the UN building.

Coming in, they will see Pakistan-involved terrorism not only in India but also elsewhere in the world, like 9/11 in the US, where it protected Osama bin Laden, who was the force behind it.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the display was to call out those behind the havoc that terrorism wreaked on the world and demand a global stand against terrorists.

At the Council, Pakistan has worked in tandem with its “all-weather friend” China, with Russia joining in on many issues.

In its role as president, Pakistan will be constrained, however, by the rules of procedure and diplomatic traditions when it comes to allowing members to speak and introduce resolutions or convening meetings at the request of UN members.

The month’s agenda, known as the programme of work, is adopted by consensus on the first day of the Council’s meeting, and there have been instances, like in 2023, when Russia blocked it during the US and Albanian presidencies, making the Council work with ad hoc agendas.

As president, Islamabad can convene what are known as high-level signature events and open debates on topics of its choosing.

Its Permanent Representative, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, will preside over most of the meetings, but its Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio, or other leaders are likely to attend those events.

While Pakistan may nominate US President Donald Trump for a Nobel Prize, it is solidly with Russia and China on substantive issues like Iran and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

At the Council’s emergency session on Iran last month, Pakistan called for condemning the attacks by the US and Israel.

With China and Russia, Pakistan introduced a draft resolution condemning the bombings by the US and Israel, although it was upstaged by the ceasefire and, in any case, would have faced a US veto.

On the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, Pakistan is solidly with the Palestinians.

That’s an issue where, in speeches at the UN, Pakistan tries to create a link between Palestine and Kashmir, but with no success in drawing others to its cause.

Pakistan, which was elected last year as a non-permanent member representing the Asia Pacific region, joined the Council in January.

–IANS

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Ottawa, July 1 (IANS) The Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers called for the resumption of negotiations to reach a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran’s nuclear program.

In a joint statement on Iran and the Middle East issued by Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministers called on Iran to urgently resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as required by its safeguards obligations and to provide the IAEA with verifiable information about all nuclear material in Iran, including by providing access to IAEA inspectors, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We underscore the centrality of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. It is essential that Iran remains party to and fully implements its obligations under the Treaty,” read the statement.

G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the high representative of the European Union, met in The Hague on June 25 and discussed recent events in the Middle East.

Israel launched a series of major airstrikes on June 13 targeting nuclear and military sites across Iran, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians, and injuring many others.

Iran retaliated with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory, causing casualties and damage.

A ceasefire between the two countries was reached on June 24, ending 12 days of fighting.

–IANS

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Cairo, July 1 (IANS) Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held phone conversations with his Iranian counterpart, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.

During the call with Araghchi, the Egyptian minister underscored the importance of swiftly resuming negotiations on the Iranian nuclear file, viewing it as the optimal path to building trust and reducing tensions, Xinhua news agency reported.

Abdelatty also emphasised the need to uphold regional security and stability through diplomatic and negotiated solutions, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In his talk with Grossi, Abdelatty expressed Egypt’s full support for the vital role played by the IAEA within the verification framework under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

The top Egyptian diplomat said that Egypt attaches great importance to preserving the credibility of the treaty as a cornerstone of the global non-proliferation framework and looks forward to continuing coordination and cooperation with the IAEA.

He also emphasised the importance of consolidating the ceasefire between Iran and Israel and prioritising diplomatic solutions in addressing the Iranian nuclear issue.

For his part, Grossi commended Egypt’s role in supporting regional peace and stability.

Israel launched a series of major airstrikes on June 13 targeting nuclear and military sites across Iran, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians, and injuring many others.

Iran retaliated with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory, causing casualties and damage.

A ceasefire between the two countries was reached on June 24, ending 12 days of fighting.

–IANS

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Washington, July 1 (IANS) US President Donald Trump signed an executive order terminating Syria sanctions, according to the White House website.

Trump “signed a historic Executive Order terminating the Syria sanctions program to support the country’s path to stability and peace,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

“The Order removes sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanctions on Bashar al-Assad… The Order permits the relaxation of export controls on certain goods and waives restrictions on certain foreign assistance to Syria,” said the White House.

Under the order, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is directed to “explore avenues for sanctions relief at the United Nations to support stability in Syria.”

Syria has been designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism by the United States since December 1979. Additional sanctions and restrictions were added in May 2004 with the issuance of Executive Order 13338, while in May 2011, the US government imposed additional sanctions targeting key sectors of the Syrian economy, Xinhua news agency reported.

In remarks to an investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, Trump announced that he planed to lift sanctions on Syria.

–IANS

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United Nations, June 30 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made the case on Monday that Operation Sindoor was authorised under the Security Council statement demanding action against those who carried out the Pahalgam massacre.

The Council statement on April 25 “demanded that its perpetrators be held accountable and brought to justice”, Jaishankar said. “We have since seen that happen.”

Operation Sindoor took out the terrorist site and leaders hosted by Pakistan who were behind terrorist attacks, before Islamabad decided to escalate it.

“What that response underlines is of larger significance, the message of zero tolerance for terrorism,” he said.

Jaishankar was speaking at the inauguration of the exhibition, The Human Cost of Terrorism, at the UN.

The interactive digital exhibition comes a day ahead of Pakistan becoming the president of the Council for the month of July and will be the first thing top diplomats coming into the UN building will see.

It portrays 40 years of terrorism from the 1985 downing of Air India flight by Canada-based terrorists to the Pahalgam killings by The Resistance Front, an affiliate of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The 29 incidents on display take a panoramic view of the horrors across continents, from the 9/11 attack on the US and the London bombings in 2005 to the 2003 Baghdad attacks, the 2002 Bali attack and the Crocus City Hall killings last year in Moscow.

Jaishankar did not directly mention Operation Sindoor or Pakistan, but the reference to the Council statement made clear what he was referring to.

The statement said: “The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers, and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.”

It added that the Council “members stressed that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable, and urged all states, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard”.

Pakistan, an elected member of the Council, signed on to the statement that was issued unanimously because of the pressure from the other members.

Explaining the rationale for the exhibition, Jaishankar said that terrorism is the antithesis of what the UN stands for and when terrorism is supported by a state against its neighbour, and when “the bigotry of extremism drives a whole host of illegal activities, it is imperative to call it out”.

“One way of doing so is to display the havoc it has wreaked on the global society”, he said.

“Today’s exhibition is not merely a presentation of images, videos and histories, it is a statement of our shared responsibilities” to fight terrorism, he added.

India’s Permanent Representative P Harish said the exhibition “is a statement of our shared humanity to the gallery of human courage, each moment, each memory, each artefact and every word tells the story of … ordinary men and women”.

–IANS

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Seville (Spain), June 30 (IANS) Addressing perceived risks through institutional reforms is crucial for emerging economies (EMs) and India has addressed this challenge by establishing independent regulators, implementing transparent bidding processes, standardising contracts, and improving the ease of doing business, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Monday.

Addressing the International Business Forum Leadership Summit on “From FFD4 Outcome to Implementation: Unlocking the Potential of Private Capital for Sustainable Development”, the Finance Minister said these reforms have significantly enhanced investor confidence and reduced transaction costs in the country.

Emerging economies often face high risk perceptions, which raise financing costs and deter investment.

“Strong domestic financial markets are the foundation of investment. India has invested in strengthening its banking system and deepening capital markets to finance infrastructure and industry at scale,” she told the gathering.

“Our regulatory frameworks have evolved with market needs – balancing investor protection with innovation and flexibility – creating a more conducive environment for long-term investment,” Sitharaman added.

She further stated that in recent years, “we have witnessed encouraging growth in private investment, supported by the rise of innovative financial instruments alongside traditional sources”.

However, private capital mobilisation remains significantly below what is required, with low and middle-income countries receiving a disproportionately small share.

“This underscores the urgent need for targeted efforts to overcome investment barriers and better align financial flows with development priorities,” FM Sitharaman emphasised.

Touching upon the importance of India’s renewable energy transformation, she said that 2.8 GW of installed solar capacity in 2014 to over 110 GW today “was enabled by clear national targets, streamlined procurement, and government-backed risk mitigation”.

“This model attracted institutional investors, including pension and sovereign wealth funds,” she said at the global summit.

According to her, scaling up is actually the critical edge for anything to do with technology or with mass implementation.

“Unless you’re able to scale it up, the success of technology can fritter away. Whether it is a matter of technology or welfare-related distribution, scaling up is one big, important factor. India has a natural advantage because of its demography, but otherwise too, today countries will have to come together for successfully scaling up,” the Finance Minister highlighted.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Finance Minister Sitharaman was set to meet senior Ministers from Germany, Peru and New Zealand, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) President Nadia Calvino, according to an official statement.

The Finance Minister began an official visit to Spain, Portugal, and Brazil from June 30 to July 5. She is leading the Indian delegation from the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance.

As part of her visit to Lisbon, Portugal, she is expected to have a bilateral meeting with Portugal’s Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, besides interacting with prominent investors and members of the Indian diaspora.

In Rio de Janeiro, the Finance Minister will address the 10th Annual Meeting of the New Development Bank (NDB) as India’s Governor and also attend the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting.

–IANS

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Jerusalem, June 30 (IANS) Israeli researchers have uncovered a security flaw in some of the popular Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said in a statement on Monday.

The researchers found that these systems can be manipulated into providing illegal and unethical information, despite having built-in safety protective measures, according to the statement.

The study described how attackers can use carefully written prompts, known as jailbreaks, to bypass the chatbots’ safety mechanisms.

Once the protections are disabled, the chatbots consistently provide harmful content, such as instructions for hacking, producing illegal drugs, and committing financial crimes, Xinhua news agency reported. In every test case, the chatbots responded with detailed, unethical information after the jailbreak was applied.

The researchers explained that this vulnerability is easy to exploit and works reliably.

Because these tools are freely available to anyone with a smartphone or computer, the risk is especially concerning, the researchers noted.

They also warned about the emergence of dark language models. These are AI systems that have either been intentionally stripped of ethical safeguards or developed without any safety controls in place.

Some of these models are already being used for cybercrime and are shared openly on underground networks, they added.

The team reported the issue to several major AI companies. However, responses were limited. One company did not reply, while others said the problem does not qualify as a critical flaw.

The researchers called for stronger protections, clearer industry standards, and new techniques that allow AI systems to forget harmful information.

–IANS

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Seoul, June 30 (IANS) North Korea’s state media aired Monday images of its leader Kim Jong-un mourning over his soldiers believed to have been killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The images, released by Korean Central Television, showed Kim solemnly placing a North Korean flag over a coffin during a ceremony for the return of the remains of soldiers who were deployed and killed in Moscow’s war against Kyiv.

Photos of Kim were shown in the background footage during a joint cultural event co-hosted by North Korea and Russia in Pyongyang on Sunday, marking the first anniversary of the signing of their “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty.

In the photos, Kim was accompanied by Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.

In one of the photos, Kim was shown placing both hands on the coffin, with his lips tightly pressed.

These images were broadcast after photos of North Korean soldiers were shown alongside Russian troops, and of a blood-stained notebook believed to belong to a North Korean soldier retrieved from the battleground in Russia’s Kursk region.

In the notebook, a message read that “The decisive moment has finally come,” and “Let us bravely fight this sacred battle with the boundless love and trust bestowed upon us by our beloved Supreme Commander,” which refers to Kim, according to the broadcast.

The state media also repeatedly aired Russia’s Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, who was among those present at the event, wiping away her tears, as were several other people in the audience.

Attendees at the repatriation ceremony, including Kim, were seen wearing winter clothing, suggesting the event likely took place months ago and that the remains may have begun returning as early as last winter, Yonhap news agency reported.

“North Korea probably wanted to frame the fallen soldiers not just as sacrifices but as part of a ‘victory narrative,'” Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.

“The footage appears to have been released after the two countries acknowledged the troop deployment and declared the Kursk operation a success,” Hong said.

–IANS

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Jerusalem, June 30 (IANS) Israel is interested in establishing diplomatic relations with Syria and Lebanon but will not withdraw from the occupied Golan Heights as part of any future agreement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Monday.

Israel has no official diplomatic ties with Syria or Lebanon and has been in a state of hostility with both countries since 1948, when the State of Israel was established.

“Israel is interested in expanding the Abraham Accords and the circle of peace and normalization,” Sa’ar said during a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger.

“We have an interest in including countries such as Syria and Lebanon — our neighbours — in the circle of peace and normalisation, while safeguarding Israel’s essential and security interests,” he said.

“In any peace agreement, the Golan will remain part of the State of Israel,” he added, Xinhua news agency reported.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, a move not recognized by most of the international community.

Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Israeli forces entered the UN-monitored demilitarized buffer zone in early December 2024 and later deployed troops on Mount Hermon, which overlooks both Israeli and Syrian territory. Israeli officials have said the forces are expected to remain there for an extended period.

A ceasefire agreement has been in place between Hezbollah and Israel, brokered by the United States and France, which has been in place since November 27, 2024. The deal was intended to end more than a year of cross-border clashes triggered by the war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army, meanwhile, continues to carry out occasional strikes in Lebanon, citing the need to eliminate Hezbollah threats.

In a speech on Saturday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that Hezbollah had fully adhered to the terms of the ceasefire agreement, while accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments. “Israel’s ongoing violations in southern Lebanon are unacceptable and will not go unanswered,” he said.

He also reaffirmed the group’s readiness to confront future Israeli actions and said Hezbollah would not be deterred by threats or external pressure.

–IANS

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Dhaka, June 30 (IANS) The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh on Monday issued arrest warrants for 26 people, including Begum Rokeya University’s former Vice Chancellor Hasibur Rashid, in connection with a murder case during last year’s July protests in the country.

The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, passed the order after accepting the charges brought against 30 accused in the case of the murder of Abu Sayed, a student of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, local media reported.

Reports suggest that the four accused, including former proctor of the university, Shariful Islam, former assistant sub-inspector of police Amir Hossain, police constable Sujan Chandra Roy, and Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Imran Chowdhury, are currently in custody over alleged involvement in the case.

Abu Sayed was the first student killed by police gunfire in Rangpur on July 16, 2024, at Park Mor near Begum Rokeya University amid violent student demonstrations demanding reforms of the quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh.

Sayed’s elder brother, Ramzan Ali, filed the complaint with the ICT’s prosecution wing, pressing charges against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 23 others over his brother’s death.

Addressing a press briefing on Thursday, prosecutor Mizanul Islam stated that the investigation agency of the ICT has found the alleged involvement of 30 individuals in connection with the case.

Local media reported that sub-inspector (SI) Bibhuti Bhushan Roy, then in-charge of the campus police camp, filed an FIR, which stated that Sayed was not a victim of police firing.

“The protesters fired weapons and threw chunks of bricks from different directions, and at one stage, a student was seen falling to the ground,” read the report.

The former SI alleged that over 2,000-3,000 unidentified people, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami activists, were involved in the incident.

Analysts reckon the development is an extension of the political vendetta being pursued by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, as several cases were filed against Hasina, her supporters, and the working officials during her tenure on frivolous grounds immediately after her ouster in August 2024.

The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August following the violent student uprising was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country.

–IANS

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