1. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets her Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zaharieva
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has met her Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zaharieva in the capital Sofia.
• External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the two leaders discussed a range of bilateral issues related to the economy, agriculture, health, tourism and culture.
• This is the first ever visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to the Balkan nation.
• Mrs. Swaraj`s visit is a follow-up to the state visit of President Ram Nath Kovind to the country in September last year.
• The External Affairs Minister is scheduled to interact with the Indian community and Friends of India in Sofia during the visit.
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has hailed India as a land of opportunity and invited the diaspora living in Bulgaria to invest in the country and participate in its transformative journey.
• she lauded the diaspora for its commendable role in boosting bilateral ties. Mrs Swaraj reached the European country on the first leg of three-nation tour including Morocco and Spain.
• She is the first-ever Indian External Affairs Minister to visit the Balkan nation.
• India has always viewed Bulgaria as a true friend and shares the belief that the time-tested bilateral partnership will be further strengthened to mutual benefit in the coming years.
• Mrs Swaraj paid a floral tribute at the Mahatma Gandhi Statue in South Park. The statue was sculpted by Ivan Rusev, a prominent Bulgarian sculptor, and was inaugurated last year in September by President Ram Nath Kovind.
2. Kulbhushan Jadhav case
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at The Hague. India and Pakistan will present their arguments before the top UN court.
• 48-year-old Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in 2017.
• India moved the ICJ against the verdict. A 10-member bench of the ICJ had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.
• The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the case from Febraury 18 to 21 in The Hague.
• Harish Salve, who represents India in the case, is expected to argue first on February 18. Khawar Qureshi will make submissions from Islamabad`s side.
• India has been maintaining that the trial of Jadhav by a military court in Pakistan was farcical.
• Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.
• However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.
3. Afghanistan lodges strong complaint with UNSC against Pakistan for its engagement with Taliban
• Afghanistan has lodged a strong complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against Pakistan for its engagement with the Taliban.
• In a letter written to the UNSC, Afghanistan`s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Nazifullah Salarzai said, Pakistan`s invitation to the Taliban amounted to a violation of Afghanistan`s national sovereignty. The letter said, as there is no co-ordination with the Afghan government, it poses a serious threat to the country`s security.
• Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sibghatullah Ahmadi said, Pakistan`s move not only undermines the ongoing peace efforts but also falls in violation of UNSC Resolution 1988. India`s official policy on the Afghan peace process has been that it should be Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and Afghan-controlled.
4. Australia announces two-year ban on entry of its citizens who fought for IS in Iraq, Syria
• In Australia, Government has announced a two-year ban on the entry of its citizens who fought for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and now want to return following the fall of the terror group there.
• The Australian government has introduced a bill to amend the law in the Federal parliament in this regard.
• The move comes days after US President Donald Trump asked Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back the captured IS fighters, who are citizens of these countries, and put them on trial.
• these people pose a significant threat to their national security, therefore, Temporary Exclusion Orders is being introduced to prevent them from return home.
5. Saudi Arabia joins International Solar Alliance
• Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to become the 73rd member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• The organisation now has a total of 122 member countries.
• The signing of the agreement took place after a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who arrived on a state visit to India.
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries initiated by India, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. now extended to all members of UN.
• The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This initiative was first proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech in November 2015 at Wembley Stadium, in which he referred to sunshine countries as Suryaputra ("Sons of the Sun").
• The alliance is a treaty-based inter-governmental organization. Countries that do not fall within the Tropics can join the alliance and enjoy all benefits as other members, with the exception of voting rights.
• The initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India Africa Summit, and a meeting of member countries ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015.
• The framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance opened for signatures in Marrakech, Morocco in November 2016, and 121 countries have joined.
6. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
• International terror financing watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan on its grey list at the end of its week-long plenary meeting in Paris.
• India had made a strong push to ensure that Islamabad is not taken off the list, in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack.
• Pakistan has made only limited progress in curbing money laundering and terrorism financing. It failed to show a proper understanding of the risks posed by terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Jamat-ud-Dawa and others. The global financial body said, Pakistan has until October this year to either comply with the demands made by FATF members or it could be blacklisted. It also has to demonstrate better cooperation between authorities, identify illegal money flows, and enhance support for prosecutors, among other measures.
• The FATF has asked Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan that includes showing sanctions were being applied in cases of money laundering and terrorism financing.
• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has extended the deadline for Iran to fix its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules till June 2019. While welcoming the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act in Iran, the FATF in a statement expressed its disappointment that the Action Plan still remains outstanding. In October last year, the Paris based global watchdog had given Iran a February deadline to complete an Action Plan of reforms that would bring it in line with global norms, or face consequences. If Iran does not enact the remaining legislation in line with FATF Standards by June, the watchdog will require increased supervisory examination for branches and subsidiaries of financial institutions based in Iran.
7. Sri Lanka launches economic development framework for war-affected Northern Province
• Sri Lankan government launched an economic development framework for war-affected northern province to ensure its long-term growth and development.
• The framework accepts that the outcomes of post-war development programmes have been inadequate, particularly lack of viable employment and incomes for local population.
• It said that the strategy centred on building infrastructure, and expansion of credit has not met the expectations with the region lagging behind from rest of the country in terms of economic indicators.
• The framework called for two-pronged strategy on strengthening the economic base while supporting initiatives for export development.
• Releasing the framework, finance minister Mangala Samarweera highlighted the initiatives taken by the government during last budget in this direction.
• However, several Tamil MPs from the province lamented the slow implementation of policies and shortage of livelihood options for the war-affected families.
• One MP underlined that there are 90 thousand families headed by war widows in the affected districts and special plans should be devised to absorb them in the workforce.
8. Month-long ‘Festival of India’ begins in Kathmandu
• In Nepal, a month-long `Festival of India` began in Kathmandu to familiarise the new generation of the country about the similarities between the two countries.
• It is being held in Kathmandu and other major cities of Nepal from February 19th to March 21st.
• Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri jointly inaugurated the event.
• Speaking on the occasion, Indian Ambassador said Buddhism has been established as a major religion in both the countries as Lord Buddha was born in Nepal and attained enlightenment in India.
• The festival, organised by the Indian Embassy and Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre.
9. India and ASEAN
• Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary has said that the trade is increasing between India and ASEAN and now there is a need to focus on enhancing the pace of growth of the trade.
• Addressing 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit in New Delhi, Mr Chaudhary stressed the need to identify the fields where India and ASEAN can increase trade based on the production in a particular country.
• ASEAN has emerged as the second largest trade partner of India in 2017-18 with a share of 10.57 per cent in India`s overall trade. Mr Chaudhary said, India-ASEAN trade has grown more than threefold from 2005-06 to 2017-18.
• The Minister said, lower cost of logistics, close proximity and cultural and commercial connectivity have helped India and ASEAN nations to share strong trade ties over the years.
• He added that, to further expand India- ASEAN economic partnership, Regional Value Chains need to be created on an urgent basis. Mr Chaudhary said, India-ASEAN can work together in Agriculture, processed food, leather, textiles, pharma, automobiles and other sectors. India-ASEAN also need to work towards building an agreement to promote cooperation between MSMEs of the two countries.