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GCC Summit cuts short, delegates leave without any major breakthrough

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GCC Summit cuts short, delegates leave without any major breakthrough

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Saudi Arabia-UAE forms separate military-trade partnership

In a fast moving development in Middle East, the much awaited GCC summit was cut short by a day due to ongoing diplomatic rift on Tuesday while rulers of three boycotting countries Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE skipped the event. Moreover Saudi Arabia and UAE have formed a new military and trade partnership separate from GCC.

Aljazeera reports that all the delegates will be leaving Kuwait after a closed door session on Tuesday. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was the only head of state touching down at Kuwait airport on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, Oman’s Deputy PM for cabinet affairs Fahad bin Mahmoud Al-Saeed and Bahrain’s Deputy Pm Sheikh Mohammad bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa reached Kuwait for participating in the summit on Tuesday. This marked the lowest attendance at any GCC summit since its inception in 1981.

The preparatory ministerial level meeting could not set the agenda and priorities on Monday for the summit meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

The announcement of UAE and Saudi Arabia forming a new military and trade partnership separate from GCC came early on Tuesday ahead of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit. The statement issued by UAE foreign ministry said that country’s ruler and president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has approved the proposal.

The UAE foreign ministry statement says that the new committee “is assigned to cooperate and coordinate between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in all military, political, economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as others, in the interest of the two countries”.

GCC Summit cuts short, delegates leave without any major breakthrough

However, Saudi authorities have not yet announced about the new joint move with UAE.

The Kuwait’s official news agency KUNA carried a curtain raiser on Tuesday morning saying that “GCC will kick off its summit amid aspirations to maintain further stability, security and integration amongst its member nations.”

It further elaborated that “participants are set to discuss several matters at the two day session, including regional and international developments, particularly political and security challenges.”

The GCC, which was established in the early years of Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-88), has been passing through unprecedented crisis after June 5, when Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed their ties with Qatar.

Jaman Elshayyal, Aljazeera correspondent reports from Kuwait that the new partnership “would be seen a very antagonising towards the GCC as an organisation, an organisation that has been under threat very much because of the actions of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in terms of imposing a blockade which has gone on for six months now”.

Volatile relationship among Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman were felt once again on Monday evening while Yemen’s Ansarullah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi warned foreign investors to leave Saudi Arabia and UAE and advised them to invest in Kuwait, Oman and Yemen’s capital Sana’a for conducting secure business.

Houthis were facing aerial campaign from Saudi-led coalition for over two years and are considered to be pro-Iran and Hezbollah. Houthi leader’s recommendation in favor of Kuwait and Oman carry lot of meaning in the regional diplomacy.

In October, Kuwait’s emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who was engaged in mediating in the Qatar crisis, warned of the potential collapse of the GCC.

Around the same time, Bahrain’s King al Khalifa had indicated that his country would not take part in any summit or meeting attended by Qatar unless it “corrects its approach”.

Despite that Qatar’s emir had agreed to resolve the crisis through dialogue but blockading Saudi-led quartet did not accept the proposal.

Killing of Saudi ally and former president of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh at the hands of Houthis has also created new complex situation in the region. Saudi sponsored resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri could not get the desired result as well.

Washington Post, while reporting the developments surrounding the summit says, that only organizing summit won’t be enough “to salvage the GCC, a group of American allied Gulf Arab nations formed in part in 1981 as a counterbalance to Shiite power Iran.”

It also indicated that US and its European allies have told GCC members that region remains stronger with them working together as a whole, while “the countries themselves still appear divided” over their future.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Kremlin denies US media reports on Donald Trump’s phone call with Vladimir Putin

Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he could end the fighting within hours and has indicated he would talk directly with Russian President Putin.

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Kremlin denies US media reports on Donald Trump’s phone call with Vladimir Putin

The Kremlin today denied a US media report that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US president-elect Donald Trump had spoken on the phone last week about the Ukraine conflict.

Earlier on Sunday, The Washington Post reported that Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Pution on call, urging him not to inflame the conflict. Speaking on the matter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media that the report was completely false information, and denied any phone call took place.

It was reported that US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him not to escalate the war in Ukraine. It said that Donald Trump held the call from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Thursday, just days after his stunning election victory over Democratic rival Kamala Harris. The report also mentioned that both the leaders expressed an interest in further conversations to discuss the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon.

Notably, Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he could end the fighting within hours and has indicated he would talk directly with Russian President Putin. However, the US President elect has not said how he intends to strike a peace deal or what terms he is proposing.

Donald Trump’s election is seen as carrying the potential to upend the almost three-year Ukraine conflict, as he insists on a quick end to the fighting and casts doubt on Washington’s multi-billion dollar support for Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Trump on Wednesday, with the Republican’s billionaire backer Elon Musk also notably joining them on the call. Volodymyr Zelensky described the call as excellent, adding that he and Trump had agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation.

Additionally, the outgoing Democratic administration of President Joe Biden has confirmed that it will send as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the White House aims to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.

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India calls out Canada’s move to ban Australia Today for airing S Jaishankar’s press conference

The MEA said that these actions yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech.

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India calls out Canada’s move to ban Australia Today for airing S Jaishankar's press conference

A few hours after Australia Today aired External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s press conference in Australia, Canada banned the outlet. The External Affairs Minister gave remarks on the India-Canada diplomatic standoff. 

Reacting to this, India on Thursday said it was surprised by Canada’s move to ban the outlet and emphasized that it highlighted Ottawa’s hypocrisy towards freedom of speech. Australia Today, which is an important outlet for the Indian community in the country, had aired the joint press conference of S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

In a weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that they understand that the social media handles, pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. He continued that this happened just an hour or a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of S Jaishankar with Penny Wong. He called out the incident, mentioning that they are surprised, and the matter looks strange to them.

He further underlined that these are the actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. He noted that the External Affairs Minister spoke about three things: Canada making allegations and a pattern had developed without any specific evidence, surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, which he termed as unacceptable, and  the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements. 

With this one can draw conclusions, why Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada, the spokesperson said. Australia Today focuses on news and analytical pieces related to the Indian community in Australia and elsewhere across the world.

This incident follows days after devotees were attacked by pro-Khalistani at a Hindu temple in Canada’s Brampton, with S Jaishankar calling it deeply concerning. Furthermore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condemned the attack and said that there were cowardly attempts to intimidate Indian diplomats.

The diplomatic standoff between India and Canada began in September last year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian government agents might have been involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a claim outrightly rejected by New Delhi.

Later in October 2024, ties between both the countries nosedived when Canada termed the Indian High Commissioner a person of interest in its investigation into Nijjar’s murder. Issuing a strongly worded statement, India dismissed the fresh charge and recalled the envoy and some diplomats, while expelling six Canadian officials, including Canada’s acting High Commissioner.

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PM Modi congratulates Donald Trump on winning US President election

The Prime Minister urged Trump to work for the betterment of the people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Donald Trump on winning the 2024 US Presidential election and said he is looking forward to renewing their collaboration to further strengthen the India-US partnership.

The Prime Minister urged Trump to work for the betterment of the people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity.

“Heartiest congratulations my friend @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity,” PM Modi posted on his X handle.

With the results being announced for the 2024 US election on November 6, Trump became the 47th President of the United States.

Former US President Trump appeared to be on track for a remarkable political comeback in the White House race. Projections suggested that he was poised to secure the necessary 270 electoral college votes, effectively blocking Democratic candidate Kamala Harris from winning the election.

The relationship between Trump and Modi has been characterised by robust diplomatic ties, strategic collaboration, and a noticeable personal rapport. Their friendship was prominently displayed during major events such as “Howdy, Modi” in Houston in 2019 and “Namaste Trump” in Ahmedabad in 2020, where they addressed large audiences and expressed their mutual respect.

On a strategic level, Trump and Modi found common ground in matters of defense and security, both adopting a strong stance against terrorism, which reinforced their alliance, particularly concerning threats from Pakistan.

As he approaches a notable victory in the US election, Republican Presidential candidate Trump expressed gratitude to his supporters today, calling it a magnificent victory for the American people. He also referenced the assassination attempt on July 13, stating, “God spared my life for a reason.”

The 78-year-old candidate is currently projected to secure 267 electoral college votes, just three shy of the decisive 270, while his opponent, incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris, holds 224 electoral votes.

Trump described the Republican campaign as the greatest political movement of all time, asserting, “We are going to help our country heal, secure our borders, and we made history for a reason tonight. This is an incredible political victory. I want to thank the American people. I will fight for you and your family with every breath I have.”

He noted that Democrats are now looking at a projected total of 315 electoral votes.

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