INTERNATIONAL

Russia and China have signaled that they oppose extending the embargo on Iran, which is dated to expire in October under the terms of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. On Friday, Iranian allies Russia and China opposed that move of the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors calling on Iran to allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog access to two sites suspected of nuclear weapons activities.  However, Russia and China could not block the move as they only have veto powers in the U.N. Security Council. U.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook told Reuters, before his formal pitch of the embargo to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, that “Russia and China will be isolated at the United Nations if they continue down the ‘road to dystopia’ by blocking a U.S. bid to extend a weapons ban on Iran” ...

Amid ongoing tensions of India with Nepal, China and Pakistan, the farmers from 25 villages in Assam, chiefly from adjoining areas near Bhutan border have left their fields to protest on road and blockaded Rongia-Bhutan connecting road for several hours. The farmers are protesting against the Bhutan government’s decision to prohibit farmers from the Indian side to channelize water from the other side for irrigation purposes. The India Today reported that the paddy farmers of the areas in vicinity to Bhutan in Assam, India are dependent on the Kalandi river as they operate on a rain-fed irrigation model. Pertinently India is currently undergoing a bitter phase of relations with China, Pakistan and Nepal. Over 1953 fields operate in similar with 26 villages who resort to similar ...

The UN Secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, during the biannual Security Council meeting on Israeli-Palestinian conflict called upon Israel to drop plans of further annexing parts of the occupied West Bank. The Secretary-general stated that such actions would be "most serious violation of international law", devastating for fresh talks, and an eventual two-state solution. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister has planned to begin the annexation process from July 1. More than 1,000 European parliamentarians signed a letter strongly opposing Israel’s plans of annexing parts of the occupied West Bank. The letter warned Israel that unilateral annexation of West Bank territory would be fatal for Israeli-Palestinian peace and “will challenge the most basic norms guiding internat...

Javid Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council, on Monday stated last week as the ‘deadliest’ in the country’s 19-year war. Faisal on Twitter said, “The Taliban group carried out 422 attacks in 32 provinces during the past week, killing 291 security personnel and wounding 550 others.” A top government official accused the Taliban of killing at least 291 Afghan security personnel over the past week. The government blamed the Taliban for unleashing violence just ahead of potential peace talks. The Taliban's spokesman in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, told the AFP news agency, "We did have some attacks last week, but they were mostly in defence." They further stated ‘the enemy’ aiming to disrupt the peace process and Intra-Afghan talks by releasing false report...

North Korea announced that leader Kim Jong Un suspended planned “military action plans” against South Korea after a meeting with the governing party’s Central Military Commission. Recently, North Korea had blown up a joint liaison office on its side of the border, in order to declare an end to dialogue with South Korea, and then threaten military action. Political tensions between South and North Korea's have been rising due to North Korea’s objections to plans by defector-led groups in South Korea flying propaganda leaflets across the border and for a lack of progress in bilateral cooperation by Seoul. Korean Central News Agency didn’t specify the reason for the decision, but the North Korean governing party’s video conference meeting also discussed documents outlining measures f...

Post the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, which was allegedly perpetrated by Muslims, the world has grown in hatred for Muslims. This hatred is often referred to as 'Islamophobia.' Although Islamophobia existed in premise before the terrorist attacks of September 11, it increased in frequency and notoriety during the past decade. Incidents of Islamophobia have been particularly flourishing in the Western World ever since 9/11.  The Kashmiriyat has made an effort to collect data from various western nations where Muslims have been attacked, targeted, and even killed due to Islamophobia. Timeline On September 15 2001, Waqar Hasan, a 46-year-old Pakistani immigrant, was shot and killed inside of a grocery store in Dallas. Another victim, 28-year-old Raisuddin Bhuiyan...

Saudi Arabia on Monday said that because of the coronavirus, only limited numbers of people will be allowed to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The Saudi kingdom’s Ministry of Hajj stated that only people from various nationalities already residing in the country along with the Saudi nationals will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage. The Government, however, has not specified the number of people who would be permitted to take part in the annual pilgrimage. Hajj, set to begin at the end of July, has never been cancelled in the nearly 90 years. The government made such the decision keeping in mind Saudi Arabia having one of the highest rates of coronavirus infections in the Middle East, with more than 161,000 total confirmed cases and 1,307 deaths.

The Contact Group of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has reaffirmed its ‘continued support’ for people of Jammu Kashmir. The organization reinstated its commitment to finding a peaceful settlement to the Kashmir dispute and urged India to halt security operations. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia took part in an online meeting to renew their continued support for the people of Jammu Kashmir. The organization further issued a statement to call upon UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make India follow the UN Security Council's resolutions and engage in dialogue in order to calm the situation. The organization further urged India to "immediately" halt security operations in the region, respect basic human rights, ...

China has provided a huge trade boost to Bangladesh by announcing tariff exemption for 97 per cent of Bangladeshi products effective from July 1. The decision has come one month after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a discussion to upgrade their bilateral relations during Covid-19. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh announced on Friday that 97 per cent of items would be exempted of Chinese tariffs. As part of the government’s economic diplomacy and the outcome of exchange of letters between Bangladesh and China, Tariff Commission of the Chinese State Council issued a notice recently on granting zero treatment to 97 per cent of tariff products of Bangladesh, a daily reported, quoting the ministry’s statement. The developme...