july-international-09

CURRENT INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

AFGHANISTAN
US launches biggest operation against Afghan Taliban
On July 2, 2009, thousands of US marines stormed deep into Taliban territory in an Afghan river valley, launching the biggest military offensive of Barack Obama’s presidency. The marines said that Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword, will be decisive and is intended to seize virtually the entire lower Helmand River valley, the heartland of the Taliban insurgency and the world’s biggest opium poppy producing region.

The Taliban has vowed to fight back. “Thousands of Taliban mujahideen are ready to fight US troops,” Mullah Hayat Khan, a senior Taliban commander, said. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s army deployed more troops to a stretch of the Afghan border to stop Taliban militants fleeing the major US offensive in Afghanistan.

CHINA
Uighur unrest
China faced its worst unrest in decades in July 2009 when tensions between the dominant Han Chinese and the Turkic-speaking, Muslim Uighurs descended into violence in the regional capital of Urumqi. Nearly 200 people died in the unrest. Chinese officials said that police killed 12 people during July 5 rioting—a rare acknowledgment by the government that security forces opened fire in the worst ethnic clashes to hit the region in decades.

The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Regional People's Congress blamed the riots on "three forces"—extremism, separatism, and terrorism—both at home and abroad. Eligen Imibakhi, the top legislator in Xinjiang, said authorities will speed up local legislation against separatism in the western region that has a long-running independence movement by minority Uighurs. He added that the public's lack of understanding about laws is also an "urgent problem," and the government plans to distribute legal booklets in ethnic minority languages to farmers and herdsmen across the region.

The violence began when police in Urumqi intervened at a peaceful protest by Uighurs, who went on a rampage, smashing windows, burning cars and beating Han Chinese. Two days later, vigilante groups of Han took to the streets and attacked Uighurs.

Even as additional security personnel and machinery poured into Urumqi, the capital of western Xinjiang province, the Chinese foreign ministry got into action asking several countries, including Pakistan, to prove their friendship by taking a stand on the issue. Beijing wants several countries to unearth the links between their citizens and the World Uighur Congress, which Beijing claims is behind the violence in Urumqi. The government had earlier issued a white paper, which claimed that several Xinjiang terrorists were trained in training bases in Pakistan.

A worried Hu Jintao, President of China, left the G-8 summit in Italy and rushed back to Beijing as it dawned on Chinese authorities that the Urumqi violence might set off a chain reaction and eventually affect the party position.

NIGERIA
Troops rout ‘Taliban’, kill 200
On July 30, 2009, Nigerian forces put Islamist extremists to fight in a brutal all-out assault on their northern stronghold after an uprising led to clashes that have left hundreds dead. Nigerian troops raided the Islamists headquarters in the northern city of Maiduguri, killing some 200 followers of the self-styled Taliban sect, along with its deputy leader.

Maiduguri has seen the worst of the unrest in northern Nigeria which started in nearby Bauchi State. At least 600 people have been killed in the clashes in Borno and three other northern States, according to figures from police and witnesses.

Boko Haram, also called ‘Nigerian Taliban’, is a sect led by Mohammed Yusuf, an Islamic scholar who wants sharia law across Nigeria. Based in Maiduguri, his followers include former university lecturers and students as well as illiterate, jobless youths. Mohammed Yusuf is in his mid-30s and has considerable wealth. His followers say he was educated in Iran.

Boko Haram means “western education is sinful” in Hausa language. Boko Haram followers pray in separate mosques and believe their wives should not be seen by any men other than themselves Nigeria has equal numbers of Christians and Muslims. In 2002, 215 died in rioting in Kaduna after a newspaper article suggested Prophet Mohammad would have married a beauty queen at a Miss World contest held in Abuja. A protest against Danish cartoons of the Prophet in 2006 sparked riots, killing 157.

PAKISTAN
Emergency was unconstitutional: SC
In a landmark judgement, the Pakistan Supreme Court on July 10, 2009, declared as illegal and unconstitutional the emergency imposed on November 3, 2007, by former President Gen Pervez Musharraf and all his subsequent actions, including sacking of 60 judges.

The judgement, which has far reaching legal and political implications, termed Musharraf a “usurper” whose actions were subversive of the Constitution. The imposition of provisional Constitution order (PCO), under which Musharraf purged the judiciary and packed it with pliant judges, was also declared unconstitutional.

In a significant move, the apex court allowed protection to some of Musharraf's actions, including holding of general elections, oath administered by Justice Dogar to President Asif Zardari and the ordinance creating command and control authority for security and safety of country's nuclear assets.

Prior to announcing the judgement delivered by a 14-judge bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry declared that the court was looking forward to a kind of verdict which should not be disruptive. “Huge unconstitutionality and illegality had taken place under Musharraf's emergency,” he observed, adding: “But we have to be very careful in order not to rock the boat and destroy the democratic system.”

The court also declared as illegal the action of the present PPP government to enhance the number of judges of the Supreme Court from 17 to 29 through the Finance Bill that contained the budgetary proposals in June 2008. The creation of Islamabad High Court was also declared unconstitutional as this step required a Constitutional amendment by Parliament and not through the amendment introduced by Musharraf as the army chief.

The judgement was widely acclaimed across the country and people raised slogans, and distributed sweets. President Asif Zardari welcomed the judgement and promised to implement it.

USA
Hillary spells out US international agenda
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a major foreign policy speech in Washington in July 2009, in which she pledged her commitment to "smart power" while acknowledging an international agenda that is "unforgiving."

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton noted that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conflict in the South West Asia, ongoing threats of violent extremism and nuclear proliferation, global recession, climate change, hunger and disease, and a widening gap between rich and poor are all challenges that affect America's security and prosperity. "And all threaten global stability and progress." she said.

In approaching these foreign policy challenges, she said, the US has to deal with the urgent, the important and the long-term all at once.

She was confident that the Obama administration had the right strategy, the right priorities and the right policies. "We have the right President. And we have the American people, diverse, committed, involved and open to the future," she said. Defending the administration's willingness to talk with perceived foes of the US, she said this was not a sign of weakness to be exploited. "We will not hesitate to defend our friends, our interests and above all our people, vigorously and when necessary with the world's strongest military," she said.

Discussing Afghanistan and Pakistan, Clinton said the US was committed to disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately defeating Al-Qaida and its extremist allies. Yet, she admitted, "Americans often ask as to why do we ask our young men and women to risk their lives in Afghanistan when Al-Qaida's leadership is in neighbouring Pakistan?" She went on to answer that question, saying, "We and our allies fight in Afghanistan because the Taliban protects Al-Qaida and depends on it for support, sometimes, coordinating activities. In other words, to eliminate Al-Qaida, we must also fight the Taliban."

Priorities of Obama administration

• Reverse the spread of nuclear weapons, prevent their use, and build a world free of their threat.
• Isolate and defeat terrorists and counter violent extremists while reaching out to Muslims around the world.
• Encourage and facilitate the efforts of all parties to pursue a comprehensive peace in South West Asia.
• Pursue global economic recovery and growth — by strengthening the US economy, advancing a robust development agenda, expanding trade that is free and fair, and boosting investment that creates decent jobs.
• Combat climate change, increase energy security, and lay the foundation for a prosperous clean-energy future.
• Support and encourage democratic governments that protect the rights of and deliver results for their people.
• And stand up for human rights everywhere.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY
IMF pegs 2010 global growth at 2.5%
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its 2009 growth forecast for Asia's developing economies from 4.8% to 5.5% but cautioned that a sustained rebound will depend on recovery in developed economies. It cited improved prospects for regional giants China and India. In a report, it raised its 2009 growth outlook for China by one percentage point to 7.5%, and for India by 0.9 percentage points to 5.4%.

IMF also raised its outlook for the global economy in 2010, but said recovery from the worst recession since World War II would be sluggish. The IMF boosted its 2010 global growth forecast to 2.5%, an improvement of 0.6 percentage point from its April forecast. The updated IMF forecast was marginally worse for 2009, showing a contraction of 1.4% across the global economy.

IMF to issue bonds to combat crisis
The International Monetary Fund has decided to issue bonds for the first time in its 60-year history in an effort to win contributions from emerging economies such as China, Brazil and Russia. China has already said it will invest $50 billion, while Russia and Brazil have pledged $10 billion each through the new bond offer. It would mark the first time that developing countries have made contributions to the IMF. The bonds will be issued in the IMF’s own currency, known as Special Drawing Rights, which is based on a basket of currencies made up of the dollar, euro, yen and British pound. The bonds will be issued for a maximum of five years.

Thanks to Asia, economic crisis is rolling back: UN
The current economic crisis is rolling back due to the significant progress made by countries in Asia like India and China, according to a top UN official. The financial stimulus packages and reforms announced by these countries could help in creating a more integrated and coordinated Asia and the Pacific that builds up on collective regional strengths and resources. During the course of the UN Economic and Social Council session in Geneva, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Executive Secretary Noeleen Heyzer highlighted the need for appropriate investments in infrastructure to create economic corridors that link less developed countries to economic centres in the region, thereby increasing intra-regional trade. Heyzer added that her organization has responded to the crisis by encouraging policies that include social programmes such as health coverage, pensions, education and agricultural extension services, as well as investment in small and medium scale enterprises.

ENVIRONMENT
Climate talks stall as West asks India, China to cut emissions
Attempts to forge a global consensus to battle climate change suffered a serious setback as developed countries tried to wriggle out of any short-term commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and instead, demanded that developing economies such as India and China accept emission reduction targets.

At a meeting of the Major Economies Forum in Rome on July 9, 2009, the developed countries tried to renege on their commitment to use 1990 as the base year for reducing emissions. Nor would they spell out what quantum of commitments they would accept in the run-up to 2020. The developed nations insisted that India, China and other emerging economies like Brazil and South Africa agree to a long-range target for reduction of GHGs with the burden-sharing formula remaining ambiguous.

Sources termed the deliberations at the Rome meeting as “tense” with India and China having to join hands to counter pressure from the developed world led by the US. The India-China partnership had staved off a similar challenge at the Bonn climate change talks.

India blinks on emission caps
At the Major Economies Forum (MEF) meeting in Italy, India has gone back on some key principles— like a refusal to accept emission caps—that it had held to be non-negotiable till just before the G8 meet in Italy. In the course of some tough negotiations, India appears to have relented in the face of pressure from industrialized countries. Its biggest compromise at the MEF was to accept that all countries would work to reduce emissions in order to not let global temperatures rise more than 2°C above pre-industrialization levels.

When this declaration, signed by PM Manmohan Singh, is turned into targets for different countries, this may imply substantial emission reduction targets for India even if rich countries take a hefty 80% cut in their own emissions by 2050. While an 80% cut is the most ambitious target ever considered for the developed world, India and China would still be faced with large cuts.

Till date, India had insisted that the science behind the 2°C target has been questioned even by the UN climate science panel. It demanded that unless rich nations put figures on the table about what sort of reductions they were willing to accept collectively by 2020, and then again by 2050, India would not agree to any commitments for the long term which the 2-degree agreement places on them.

According to several Indian observers, the recent decision would tie India’s hands as it goes into talks at the formal UN negotiations. India for the first time has officially agreed that there is a global target and it may now, in due course, spell out what it will take to reach it. Now the global target of emission cuts instead of equity would become the over-arching argument in the negotiations.

N-PROLIFERATION
Myanmar close to testing N-bomb
As world concerns remain focused on the clandestine nuclear programme of North Korea and Iran, reports are filtering in of Myanmar’s isolated military junta may be just a few years from testing its first atomic bomb. The key far-eastern nation is building a secret nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction facilities with North Korea’s help, Sydney Morning Herald has reported citing two key junta defectors. The Herald identified the two defectors as an officer with a Myanmar army’s secret nuclear battalion and the other a former executive and leading regime business partner, Htoo Trading, who handled nuclear contracts with Russia and North Korea.

The Myanmarese military is said to have the reactor located in mountain caves inter-linked by deep tunnels at Naung Laing in Northern part of the country, apparently to camouflage it from detection by satellites.

The secret complex, the paper said, runs parallel to a civilian reactor being built at another site by Russia, which both Moscow and Yangon authorities say will be put under international safeguards.

The revelations by the Australian Daily come as US Naval Warships recently shadowed a North Korean commercial vessel bound for Myanmar, suspecting it to be carrying contraband nuclear and missile components. However, the ship was not intercepted. China and other Asian nations had helped persuade Myanmar to turn back the North Korean freighter.

A month back Japanese police had arrested a North Korean and two of its own nationals allegedly trying to export illegally to Myanmar magnetic measuring device that could be used to develop missiles.

Washington, the report said, is increasingly concerned that Myanmar is the main nuclear proliferation threat from North Korea, after Israel destroyed in September 2007 a reactor that North Koreans were apparently building in Syria.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Medvedev threatens US over missile shield
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned the United States that if it did not reach agreement with Russia on plans for missile defence systems, Moscow would deploy rockets in an enclave near Poland. In sharp contrast to his positive words during President Barack Obama’s visit to Moscow in first week of July, 2009, when the two reached broad agreement on nuclear arms cuts, Medvedev used a news conference at the G8 summit to return to Russia’s earlier tough rhetoric on arms control.

Referring to an order he gave in early 2009 to prepare deployment of short-range Russian missiles in the western enclave of Kaliningrad to answer to any U.S. deployment of a missile shield in central Europe, Medvedev said: “If we don’t manage to agree on the issues, you know the consequences. What I said during my state of the nation address has not been revoked.”

In Moscow, Medvedev and Obama agreed a target for cuts in nuclear arms and a year-end deadline for a reduction deal. Obama had praised Medvedev as a “straightforward professional” leader. Before his Moscow visit, Obama had made clear, though, that he would not accept any effort by Moscow to link arms control to missile defence, and reiterated Washington’s stance that any system would be to protect against a threat from Iran, not from Russia.