Jaishankar rejects BRICS-UN binary amid wider global shifts
A series of international developments on Saturday covered India’s diplomatic engagements at the United Nations, major moves involving the US and China, and security and political developments across South Asia.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said choosing between groupings such as BRICS and the United Nations was "a false choice", while India also held talks with Russia and Iran on the sidelines of the high-level UN General Assembly session. At the same time, the US said its ties with India had deepened, especially in energy and trade, while Washington and Beijing announced steps on artificial intelligence, trade and tariffs during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit.
Speaking in New York, Jaishankar said BRICS was supportive of the United Nations and that smaller groupings wanted to see the global body reformed. He said presenting BRICS and the UN as alternatives was "a false choice". Separately, India held discussions with Russia and Iran on the margins of the UN General Assembly session, days after US President Donald Trump signed a new law on sanctions on countries purchasing oil and gas from Moscow and Tehran.
In another development involving India-US ties, a senior US official said relations between the two countries had grown significantly over the past year, with Washington becoming an important supplier as New Delhi diversified its energy sources. A Senior State Department Official also said the US-India trade deal was going to "unleash another level" of bilateral relations that had not been accomplished in decades.
In Washington, the US and China agreed to set up a dialogue on artificial intelligence-related incidents, operationalise boards of trade and investment, and put in place a USD 30 billion reciprocal tariff reduction arrangement during Xi’s visit to the US.
In Pakistan, at least 13 people, including two women and two children, were killed and 30 others injured when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into a police checkpost in the country’s north-west, an official said. In a separate security-related development, the Pakistan Army said top defence officials of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye had resolved to defend the security of the Gulf kingdom under the Makkah Defence Alliance after recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
In Sri Lanka, opposition leader Namal Rajapaksa was questioned in prison by the anti-graft commission in an alleged bribery case. In Bangladesh, police detained dozens of people suspected of being activists of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party. Bangladesh and the United States also signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic civil nuclear cooperation to deepen cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
In Nepal, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said that, a month after flash floods hit the country’s central and northern districts, at least 1,453 people had died and 5,285 were still missing.
The day’s developments ranged from diplomacy at the UN and shifts in India-US and US-China ties to deadly violence in Pakistan, political action in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and the continuing human toll of the floods in Nepal.
