Due to geopolitical compulsions, Sri Lanka has to keep its relations with the West and India on an even keel. But there are indications that with elections coming in 2020, its foreign policy may tilt towards Russia, China and Iran. This is reflected in President Sirisena’s taking a greater role in foreign policy making and his appointing the Russia expert, Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, as his Foreign Policy Adviser ,writes P.K.Balachandran in The Citizen.
Britain’s Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle were pronounced husband and wife on Saturday by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a glittering union that brought a measure of modern Hollywood glamour into the 1,000-year-old monarchy.After exchanging vows to love and to cherish “till death us do part”, Harry, 33, sixth-in-line to the British throne, placed a ring of Welsh gold on Markle’s finger before a congregation including Queen Elizabeth, senior royals, and celebrities including US media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Indian actress Priyanka Chopra.
India’s Deputy Permanent Representative in the UN Tanmaya Lal said on Monday that the global compact on migration being negotiated now is tainted by a focus on illegal immigration in some countries. “This is unfortunate, since this negative narrative is not at all helpful and, in fact, hurts the genuine interests and concerns of regular, legal migrants whose ongoing contribution to both their host and origin countries is well-documented but risks being ignored,” Lal said at a session of the intergovernmental negotiations on the global compact on migration that is to be adopted in December in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Animals are exchanged across the world by zoos for various reasons and animals are given as gifts to foreign dignitaries as part of diplomacy. But the upkeep of animals in zoos and their transportation to distant lands raise issues which Meera Srinivasan writes about in The Hindu.
Malaysia’s scandal-hit former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor were on Saturday banned from leaving the country, the immigration chief said, after the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s shock election loss. “The immigration department has just now blacklisted Najib and Rosmah from leaving the country,” Mustafar Ali, Director General of the Immigration Department told South China Morning Post.
Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad will be sworn in as the world’s oldest elected leader on Thursday after his opposition alliance pulled off a stunning election win, ending six decades of rule by a coalition he once led. Malaysians celebrated the 92-year-old’s unexpected victory over Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose popularity had plunged over rising living costs and in the wake of a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
India has ranked fourth out of 25 nations in the Asia-Pacific region on an index that measures their overall power, with the country being pegged as a “giant of the future” but trails behind in indicators of defence networks and economic relationships.The Lowy Institute Asia Power Index measures power across 25 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region, reaching as far west as Pakistan, as far north as Russia, and as far into the Pacific as Australia, New Zealand and the US.
No kidding, Pattaya is way more than a famous party place for adults. Thailand’s eternally popular seaside town has a surprising side to it that makes it a wonderland for families with children; packed with wholesome family fun – as I was amazed to discover recently. Know more about these new attractions, some you’re probably hearing for the first time, writes Indu Balachandran in www.pickyourtrail.com
A North Korean Foreign Ministry official has said the US is deliberately provoking the North by suggesting sanctions will not be lifted until it gives up nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are due to meet in the next few weeks. It will be the first ever meeting between the two countries’ leaders.
Writing in Financial Express, Congress MP and former UN Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor says that if one were to pick up an international daily of repute, such as the New York Times or the Washington Post in the US or Le Monde or Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Europe, to look for stories on India, one would be assailed by the reportage on incidents of communal violence, cow vigilantism, minorities feeling besieged and the alienating effects of the present ruling party’s disposition towards a narrow-minded Hindutva ideology.
