US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged India and Pakistan to restore direct lines of communication to “avoid miscalculation” in their growing conflict, the State Department said early Saturday. In separate telephone calls with the rivals’ foreign ministers, Rubio “emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Author: diplomaticjourna_diplomaticjourna
Germany’s strict new border policy is bringing back memories of separation on the frontier with Poland, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new government seeks to implement a promised crackdown on irregular migration. On the bridge over the Neisse river separating the small German town of Guben from its Polish counterpart Gubin, a police officer can now be found periodically raising a red-and-white stop sign and inspecting vehicles. The checks are aimed at enforcing the new government’s policy of pushing back anyone trying to enter Germany without the necessary documents, including most asylum seekers. For Gubin resident Bartlomiej Bartczak, 47, “it brings…
Switzerland and the United States agreed Friday to speed up negotiations towards a deal on averting further tariffs planned by Washington, the Swiss president said after talks with top US officials. As part of US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs offensive unleashed on April 2, his administration has threatened to impose a 31 percent levy on Swiss exports to the United States. Such a move would be catastrophic for major sectors of Switzerland’s economy including manufacturing and watchmaking. For now, Washington is imposing 10 percent tariffs on goods coming from Switzerland and much of the rest of the world. US…
Switzerland and the United States agreed Friday to speed up negotiations towards a deal on averting further tariffs planned by Washington, the Swiss president said after talks with top US officials. As part of US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs offensive unleashed on April 2, his administration has threatened to impose a 31 percent levy on Swiss exports to the United States. Such a move would be catastrophic for major sectors of Switzerland’s economy including manufacturing and watchmaking. For now, Washington is imposing 10 percent tariffs on goods coming from Switzerland and much of the rest of the world. US…
Myanmar’s junta chief met China’s president for the first time since seizing power, state media reported Saturday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021 overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the…
Pakistan’s military on Saturday said India launched another wave of missiles targeting three air bases — including one on the outskirts of the capital — as the conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours spiralled toward full-blown war. The South Asian countries have exchanged fire since Wednesday, when India launched air strikes on what it called “terrorist” sites in Pakistani territory after a deadly attack on tourists on the Indian side of the divided Kashmir region. The clashes — which have involved missiles, drones, and exchanges of fire along the de-facto border in disputed Kashmir — are the worst in decades and…
The G7 group of nations on Friday called for “immediate de-escalation” and “maximum restraint” in the conflict between India and Pakistan, as the nuclear-armed neighbors spiraled toward full-blown war. “Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability,” the foreign ministers of the seven wealthy democracies said in a statement, adding that both sides should “engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome.”
The Indian army on Saturday reported fresh Pakistani attacks along the border with its arch-foe as the conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours spiralled. “Pakistan’s blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions continues along our western border,” the army said on X. AFP journalists reported loud explosions in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. The army said “multiple enemy drones were spotted flying over” a military cantonment in Amritsar in Punjab, a state adjoining Kashmir, and were “instantly engaged and destroyed by our air defence units.”
The Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI-SPF) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have signed a Joint Statement of Understanding launching the Glacier to Ocean project, a transformative initiative connecting the Himalaya and the Bay of Bengal through integrated climate action. Often referred to as the “Third Pole,” the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) holds the world’s largest volume of ice outside the polar regions, an ICIMOD press release said today. Its glaciers feed major rivers that sustain some 270 million people in the hills and mountains and 1.65 billion people in the basins…
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to create a federally funded self-deportation program with paid flights and an “exit bonus” for any who seek to “voluntarily and permanently” leave the US. In a statement posted to the White House’s website, Trump lashed out at immigrants, blaming “a full-scale invasion” of those who stay in the US illegally for crime and violence. “Illegal aliens who stay in America face punishments, including — sudden deportation, in a place and manner solely of our discretion. TO ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS: BOOK YOUR FREE FLIGHT RIGHT NOW!” Trump wrote in a post to…
