Washington, (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin have agreed that the global situation this year has become more challenging, especially due to the challenges in the Indo-Pacific, and underscored the need to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, in particular the defence ties.

The remarks came amidst China's increasingly intimidatory behaviour in the region.

Jaishankar is here in the American Capital for bilateral consultations with several US Cabinet ministers, including his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“I do share with you that the global situation has become far more challenging this year (due to) a variety of reasons, the Indo-Pacific in particular," Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the top of his meeting with Austin at the Pentagon here on Monday.

"It is important that the stability, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific should be secured. That is best done amongst others by cooperation between two countries," he said.

Welcoming the External Affairs Minister to the Pentagon, Austin said sustaining the region's security is especially important.

“In recent months, we have seen the PRC (People’s Republic of China) intensify its efforts to challenge the rules-based international court from its unprecedented provocations in the Taiwan Strait to its actions in its neighbourhood,” he said.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.

Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.

“The PRC continues to support Russia amid its unprovoked and cruel invasion of Ukraine. So we face sustained challenges to peace, security and prosperity in the region and beyond. But they only reaffirm the importance of our partnership,” Austin said.

“I'm grateful for your friendship. And we work together toward our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. And I look forward to a great discussion,” he added.

Referring to his recent conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Austin said these conversations reinforce the growing depth, breadth and ambition of the partnership between the two nations.

“This partnership is moving from strength to strength. Today, we are positioning the US and Indian militaries to operate and coordinate more closely together than ever. We are taking significant steps to deepen our defence cooperation from stronger information sharing and defence industrial ties to cooperation in emerging defence domains, including through the launch of a new dialogue later this year," Austin said.

“All this will help ensure that our militaries are ready,” he added.

“The United States and India, along with a dozen other Indo-Pacific partners, pushing to expand our region's prosperity for the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum. And through our deepening cooperation with Japan and Australia, we are delivering on the issues that matter the most to the region, from entering infrastructure development to maritime security,” Austin said.

Jaishankar said he believes that defence and security cooperation are the “bedrock of our contemporary” relationship.

This has been expressed in closer policy exchange in coordination with policies on very important and sensitive challenges to growing defence trade and stronger defense industrial collaboration and military exercises, he said.

“But, the ripple impact of our defence cooperation, I think, has a larger beneficiary implication on our relationship,” Jaishankar said.

Earlier, Jaishankar was received at the riverside entrance of the Pentagon by Austin and was accorded an honour cordon by the US military.

During the honour cordon, visitors are greeted at the Pentagon stairs and welcomed with handshakes, before proceeding inside the building.

Accompanying him were India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and other senior Indian officials. The Indian delegations were served cookies with flags of India and the United States on them. PTI LKJ NSA.

China’s ruling Communist Party on Sunday announced it had chosen the 2,296 delegates who will attend an all-important twice-a-decade national congress on October 16 that is expected to further bolster President Xi Jinping’s sway over the party.

The Party said the delegates were “elected in accordance with the Party Constitution” and “under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, referring to the Chinese leader’s official ideology which has already been written into the Party Constitution.

The week-long congress, which is likely to mark the start of an unprecedented third five-year term for Mr. Xi, will pass several amendments to the Party Constitution, some of which will further enshrine Mr. Xi’s status in the party on a par with former leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

Core status

Among considered constitutional amendments is a move to officially mark Mr. Xi’s status as a “core” of the party leadership and to require all Party members to commit to upholding Mr. Xi’s “core” status as well as ideology.

Announcing the congress delegates, the official People’s Daily in an editorial said the “Congress will be a congress of unity… under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core”.

Sound plans

“The congress will lay out sound plans on the targets, tasks and major policies for the cause of the Party and the country in the next five years and beyond,” the paper said, adding that the event “will take stock of the Party’s work over the past five years, as well as major achievements and valuable experience of the Party’s Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in uniting and leading the whole Party and Chinese people”.

The delegates, who will approve the amendments to the Constitution and other policies by “voting” — although the approvals are a foregone conclusion at such events — include representatives from different government Ministries and the military, as well as figures involved in science and technology, culture and sport.

Among the military’s delegates to the congress is the PLA commander in Galwan Valley who was involved and injured in the June 2020 clash and was later given honours by the Central Military Commission, which Mr. Xi heads.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday it summoned Britain's ambassador to protest what it described as a hostile atmosphere created by London-based Farsi language media outlets. The move comes amid violent unrest in Iran triggered by the death of a young woman in police custody.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported the ministry also summoned Norway’s ambassador to Iran and strongly protested recent remarks by the president of the Norwegian parliament, Masud Gharahkhani.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody after being detained by Iranian morality police launched unrest across Iran’s provinces and the capital of Tehran.

Protests over Amini’s death have spread across at least 46 cities, towns and villages in Iran. State TV has suggested that at least 41 protesters and police have been killed since the protests began Sept. 17. An Associated Press count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 13 dead, with more than 1,200 demonstrators arrested.

Running clashes between demonstrators and security forces have continued to erupt. A member of the Basij, a volunteer force with Iran's Guards, was killed by protesters last night in Tehran, semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday. Another Basij member, who was in a coma since Thursday after street clashes, died in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province on Sunday, IRNA reported.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry's website said it summoned Simon Shercliff, the U.K.'s ambassador to Iran, on Saturday and protested the hosting of critical Farsi-language media outlets. The ministry alleges the news outlets have provoked disturbances and the spread of riots in Iran at the top of their programs.

Iran said it considers the news agencies' reporting to be interference in Iran's internal affairs and acts against its sovereignty.

The crisis in Iran began as a public outpouring of anger over the the death of Amini, who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her Islamic headscarf too loosely. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.

Amini’s death has sparked sharp condemnation from Western countries and the United Nations, as well as protests in solidarity abroad. On Sunday, violent street demonstrations erupted outside the Iranian embassy in London, with rocks thrown at police and five protesters arrested. A number of police officers were injured in the skirmishes though none seriously.

Pro-government rallies were also held on Sunday in several cities across Iran. Thousands attended a rally in the capital's Enghelab, or Revolution Square, waving Iranian flags. Some officials, including cabinet spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, attended to the rally in Tehran.

 

 

India’s dependence on Russian defence equipment and the strong defence ties with Moscow is not because New Delhi did not approach the US to get those from the United States, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Sunday.

"One of the changes in our relationships has actually been the defence cooperation which has really come about in this current form maybe the last 15 years,” Jaishankar told Indian Americans here during an interactive discussion with him organized by the US India Friendship Council and Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies.

“From 1965 pretty much for the next 40 years, there was no US defence equipment to India. This was, in fact, a period when the India Soviet, India Russia relationship became very strong,” he said.

“This was not due to a lack of trying on India’s part. I can vouch for it myself. I’ve had my relatives, my father, my grandfather, they worked with the defence ministry. So, I know firsthand what great efforts were made over those years to try to make the US understand that it was in American interest to have a strong, united, independent, prosperous India,” Jaishankar said.

“At that time, they did not succeed, maybe the state of the world was such,” he noted. “The change that started was really triggered by the nuclear deal that removed a very big obstacle to go forward and then to actually take the relationship to a new level requires leadership in India,” that did not had reservations.

“It takes two hands to clap. It was not just that all the problems are on the American side they were visitations on the Indian side as well,” he said.

“So we also have to address the institutions on our side. I think today, the relationship is on a very different footing. We have possibility of working together in many more areas, especially the security domain. Some of our major exercises are with the American military. We fly a number of American planes today, the C 17,

Very bullish on the future of India-US relationship, he said: “I think there are really deep convergences, which will sustain it over many, many years” the minister said.

 

 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday took a dog on the mainstream American media, including The Washington Post, for their 'biased' coverage of India.

"I look at the media. You know, there are some newspapers you know, exactly, what they are going to write including one in this town," Jaishankar told a gathering of Indian-Americans from across the country amidst laughter and applause.

The prestigious Washington Post is the national daily published from Washington DC and is currently owned by Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

"My point is there are biases, there are efforts really, to determine, . Look the more India goes its way and the people who believe that they were the custodians and the shapers of India lose ground in India the more actually, some of these debaters gonna come outside," Jaishankar said responding to a question on the increase in anti-Indian forces in this country.

Such groups, he asserted, are "not winning in India." Such groups, the minister noted, will try and win outside or try and shape India from outside.

"This is something which we need to be aware of. It is important to contest. It isn't because most Americans will not know what sort of the nuances and the complexities of back home, so, it's important not to sit back, not to let other people define me. That is something which I feel as a community is very important for us," he said.

Responding to a question on misrepresentation of the Kashmir issue in the American capital, the External Affairs Minister said if there is a terrorist incident, it doesn't matter what faith the person who's killed belongs to; if there are Indian soldiers or Indian policemen who are abducted; If there are people working for the government, or citizens going about their business, who will lose their lives.

"How often do you hear people talking about it; pronouncing it, in fact, look at the media coverage. What does the media cover what does the media not cover? That is how actually opinions and perceptions are shaped," he said.

"There is a big song and dance about the Internet being cut. Now, if you've reached the stage where you say an Internet cut is more dangerous than the loss of human lives, then what can I say?" Jaishankar said amidst applause from the audience.

"If you look at A (Article) 370-issue. What was a temporary provision of the Constitution was finally put to rest. This was supposed to be an act of majority. This was supposed to be majoritarian. Tell me what was happening in Kashmir was not majoritarian?, I think the way facts are slanted, things are laid out. What is right, what is wrong is confused. This is actually politics at work," he said.

"We should not let it go. We should contest it. We should educate. We should shape the narrative. This is a competitive world. We need to get our messages out. That is my message to you," he said.

"We are not serving our country well or our beliefs well, or even our sense of what is right and wrong, but by staying out of these debates. I think we have opinions we must express them. We must share it with people, we must educate others on what is right and what is wrong.

"I honestly believe that if you look at the whole 370 the Jammu and Kashmir situation, to me it's mind-boggling. Something whose merits were so obvious, there should actually even be people who would think different way,” he said.

America's relationship with Pakistan has "not served" either of the two countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Sunday raising questions on the Biden administration's approval of a USD 450-million sustenance package for F-16 fleet.

"Very honestly, it's a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well, nor serving the American interests. So, it is really for the United States today to reflect on what are the merits of this relationship and what do they get by it, Jaishankar said in response to a question during an interaction with the Indian-Americans.

Referring to the argument made by the US that F-16 sustenance package is to fight terrorism, he said everybody knows where and against whom F-16 are used. "You're not fooling anybody by saying these things," he said in response to a question.

Early this month, the Biden administration approved a USD 450 million F-16 fighter jet fleet sustainment programme to Pakistan, reversing the decision of the previous Trump administration to suspend military aid to Islamabad for providing safe havens for the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network.

In a notification to the US Congress, the State Department made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale for sustainment and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 450 million, arguing that this will sustain Islamabad's capability to meet current and future counterterrorism threats by maintaining its F-16 fleet.

In a call with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had expressed India's concerns about the F-16 package to Pakistan

Islamabad,(PTI) A local court in Pakistan on Sunday approved a one-day physical remand of a senior journalist for his alleged involvement in the gruesome murder of his daughter-in-law.

Journalist Ayaz Amir was arrested on Saturday, a day after his son Shah Nawaz brutally killed his 37-year-old wife with a dumbbell apparently over a domestic dispute, according to police.

The murder took place at a farmhouse located in the capital’s Chak Shehzad suburb where the suspect lived along with his mother. The farm house was owned by Nawaz’s mother who is the ex-wife of his father.

Amir was arrested hours after police were directed by the district and sessions court in Islamabad to arrest Nawaz’s parents to investigate the killing of Sara Inam, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin.

After killing his wife, the suspect allegedly put Sara’s body in a bathtub, sources said.

Earlier on Saturday, Nawaz was handed over to the police for a two-day physical remand.

At the hearing on Sunday, Amir and his son were produced before judge Zahid Tirmizi.

Amir expressed his disappointment before the court, saying he had been arrested “despite the fact that I provided information to the police”, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“Shahnawaz is a suspect and I have no sympathies for him,” he told the court.

“Shahnawaz is addicted to drugs,” he said, refraining from defending his son in court.

After hearing arguments, the court granted a one-day physical remand of the journalist.

Amir is a well-known journalist who has also served as a member of Parliament. He regularly appeared in a talk show on Dunya TV until he was arrested. He is also known for his anti-government and anti-establishment views and was recently attacked by unknown persons, a known tactic to silence critics. PTI 

The strategy to globalisation is decentralisation and the strategy to multilateralism is reformed multilateralism, now not a 1945-version of multilateralism, Exterior Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has mentioned.

Talking at an tournament titled ‘The G20 Crucial: Inexperienced Enlargement and Construction for All’ organised through the Observer Analysis Basis right here on Friday, Jaishankar mentioned the 2 phrases beneath assault lately are globalisation and multilateralism.

“I do not believe there may be anything else unsuitable with both of them. What’s challengeable is how they have got been applied. Has multilateralism failed us? I will be able to say this type of multilateralism within the palms of those other people in all probability has now not delivered,” he mentioned.

Jaishankar used to be in dialog with UK’s Minister of State for Construction, Overseas Commonwealth & Construction Administrative center (FCDO), Vicky Ford and Global Financial Discussion board President Borge Brende in a dialogue moderated through President of Observer Analysis Basis Samir Saran.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

jaishankar added that the answer is in reality extra multilateralism.

 

 

“Why are all of us right here this week?”, he mentioned, pointing to the world neighborhood amassing in New York right through the high-level UN Normal Meeting week.

“We are all right here this week as a result of on the finish of the day, other people nonetheless imagine within the UN, coming right here, sitting in combination, operating it out, discovering a gadget,” he mentioned.

 

 

 

 

“What’s unsuitable is the narrowness within the pondering of the custodians of the gadget. And I’d argue the similar applies to globalisation. The actual downside with globalisation is it used to be so centralised…,” he mentioned.

 

 

“The strategy to globalisation is decentralisation. Decentralised globalisation. I’d argue the strategy to multilateralism is reformed multilateralism, now not a 1945 edition of multilateralism which is 75-80 years outdated,” he mentioned in a connection with the UN established over seven many years in the past.

“I feel between the conflicts, to COVID, local weather exchange, my sense is we’re attaining one of those a disaster length the place the arena should take some very radical choices. Whether or not they get taken within the G20 or out of doors the G20, in bits and items subsequent yr, all that we do not know. However it’s nowadays actually an inflection level,” Jaishankar mentioned.

Jaishankar mentioned that right through his conferences with over 60 overseas ministers from world wide right through the high-level UN Normal Meeting week, two-thirds of them have been from the growing international they usually have been “in reality offended” concerning the state of the arena.

They’re “offended concerning the state of the arena as a result of, within the guise of very politically proper formulations, they are getting shortchanged each day and it’s like that is the means the arena is,” he mentioned.

He mentioned the world neighborhood wishes to invite itself how lengthy that is going to proceed.

“I want I may just cling up extra hope for you however this yr’s revel in, unfortunately sufficient, has now not been extraordinarily encouraging.”

 

 

 

 

Relating to the yr long gone through, Jaishankar mentioned “take a look at the meals shortages” and added that there have been debates that marketplace forces will have to be allowed to be triumphant, and markets will have to be saved open.

 

 

“Wager who will get the meals when the markets are open. I will see all of it shifting north,” he mentioned, creating a connection with advanced international locations.

“Now we’ve got observed the similar on power. There are nations whose tenders don’t elicit responses. Wager why? As a result of markets are operating. And the markets are taking all of them to Europe at top rate costs.

He added that if one appears at oil and fuel, if “you set Iran out of the marketplace, Venezuela out of the marketplace, you need to position Russia out of the marketplace. What’s the international intended to do? This isn’t about de-risking, that is about retaining the markets alive. And those are coverage possible choices which nations have made.”

He added that “it is not about getting power transition proper. It’s about getting the politics of the arena proper.”

 

 

 

 

He referred to a statement made through a minister in a gathering with small island growing states, who mentioned it used to be very laborious to get USD 100 billion for local weather exchange, which is existential however come what may when there’s a struggle, the handbag strings get loosened.

 

 

“When you upload up the entire commitments which were made for the massive struggle which is underway, they are lovely as regards to USD 100 million. So there is not any scarcity of money. There may be I’d say a loss of urgency.”

The White House is looking into the recommendations of a presidential commission to reduce the adjudication and processing of Green Card applications to just six months and remove all the backlogs by April 2023, a proposal if implemented would benefit hundreds and thousands of immigrant families, in particular, those from countries like India and China.

The recommendations were made in May this year by the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

On Friday, the commission released its inaugural report detailing recommendations that were approved on May 12 and transmitted to the President on August 24. The White House Domestic Policy Council is currently reviewing the recommendation before it can be sent to President Joe Biden for his decision.

A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently.

Silicon Valley-based Indian American entrepreneur Ajay Jain Bhutoria, who has been a Biden supporter from day one of his campaign, based on the feedback received from the community had moved the proposal on the issue during the first meeting of the commission in May this year. His proposal was unanimously accepted by the commission.

The recommendations, if accepted and implemented by the White House, would come as a game changer for hundreds and thousands of immigrant families, in particular, those from countries like India and China.

According to the commission’s report, because of COVID-19-related closures and staffing limitations as well as the continued effect of the 2017 travel bans, processing green cards up to the annual cap has been difficult. 

Out of the annual 226,000 green cards available, only 65,452 family-based preference green cards were issued in FY 2021, it said.

The commission said that the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) facility should hire additional officers to increase its capacity to process Green Card application interviews by 100 per cent in three months from August 2022, and by increasing Green Card applications and visa interviews and adjudicate decisions by 150 per cent (from the current the capacity of 32,439 in April 2022) by April 2023, and reduce the current backlog by the end of 2023.

“Thereafter, Green Card visa interviews and visa processing timelines should be limited to a targeted goal of six months,” it said.

According to the commission, to reduce the agency’s pending family-based Green Card backlog, US Citizenship and Immigration Services should review their processes, systems, and policies and establish new internal cycle time goals by streamlining processes, removing redundant steps, if any, and automating any manual approvals.

It should improve its internal dashboards and reporting system, and enhance policies to reduce the cycle time for processing all forms related to family-based Green Card applications, it said.

Family-based immigration backlogs have increased significantly over the past three decades, which has resulted in years-long delays in family reunification. 

It is estimated that the family-based visa backlog exceeds 7.5 million applications, up from 3.3 million in 1992 and 6.2 million in 2009, the commission said.

Of this number, approximately 40 per cent are Asian American or Pacific Islander family members of US citizens or permanent residents, the commission said.

The Commission in its report recommended that the targeted goal for applications to be processed is six months unless there is a query or question by the USCIS. 

“If there is a query or more information is needed, USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and the Department of State (DOS) shall continue to process the applications outside the six-month goal and adjudicate decisions in a timely fashion,” it said.

“If an application is not completed in six months, then it will not be terminated and will continue to be processed in a timely fashion ongoing,” it added.

The committee recommended automatically extending work permit renewal extensions to 365 days. 

Most work permit holders who apply for renewals are eligible for an automatic 180-day extension if their authorisation to work lapses, it said.

However, many immigrants are waiting for their work permit renewals longer than that, often beyond 10 months.

The subcommittee recommends extending the period of automatic work permit extensions for those who apply for a renewal to 365 days instead of the current 180 days. This is in alignment with USCIS’ current planned strategy to address the backlog, it added. 
The presidential commission has recommended hiring more officers and increasing staff by an additional 200 to 250 officers by 2023 to improve internal processing times to meet new timelines for adjudicating applications. 

It has recommended adjudicating requests for temporary work programmes, such as the H-1B and H-2A visas for agricultural workers, within two months.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

The committee also recommended that review and adjudication requests for work permits, travel documents, and temporary status extensions or changes should be reviewed and adjudicated within three months.

Federal agencies should provide key documents, digital content, and forms on their websites translated into multiple AA and NHPI (Asian Americans (AA), Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders) languages, the commission recommended.

Washington, Sep 24 (PTI) US President Joe Biden has terminated the designation of Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally, more than a year after the Taliban captured power in Kabul.

In 2012, the United States named Afghanistan a major non-NATO (MNNA) ally, which cleared the way for the two countries to maintain a defence and economic relationship.

The designation gave several facilities and concessions to Afghanistan in terms of defence and security-related assistance and equipment.

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961,…I hereby terminate the designation of Afghanistan as a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States for the purposes of the Act and the Arms Export Control Act,” Biden said in a presidential memorandum to the Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The change in Afghanistan’s status follows Biden’s withdrawal of US troops from the country last year, ending nearly 20 years of war.

Afghanistan swiftly fell back into the hands of the Taliban, which have repeatedly made assurances to the international community that they will protect the rights of women and girls, while simultaneously stripping away many of their freedoms and protections.

The MNNA status was first created in 1987. With Afghanistan’s status rescinded, the US will have 18 major non-NATO allies, according to the State Department.

They are Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia.

Taiwan is treated as an MNNA, without formal designation as such, according to the State Department.

Early this month, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna tabled a resolution in the House of Representatives to designate India as a major non-NATO ally.

A major non-NATO ally is eligible for loans of material, supplies, or equipment for cooperative research, development, testing, or evaluation purposes. They are also eligible as a location for US-owned War Reserve Stockpiles to be placed on its territory outside of US military facilities.

These countries enter into agreements with the United States for the cooperative furnishing of training on a bilateral or multilateral basis, if the financial arrangements are reciprocal and provide for reimbursement of all US direct costs. PTI