.png)
.jpg)
Bangladeshi PM’s appeal to the EU in support of ICJ’s Judgement in the Rohingya Case
Bhavya Bana
The January 23 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on a case filed by the African nation of Gambia, on behalf of all members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation against Myanmar, has called for Myanmar to take all measures to prevent the Rohingyan genocide. The Myanmar government has rejected the ruling as the Independent Commission of Inquiry (set up by the government) has found no evidence of genocide in the Rakhine state, and would investigate the charges of war crimes that have occurred there.
While the ICJ rulings are considered mandatory under international law, the court has no power to ensure that they are actually implemented. In response to this, the European Union (EU) council members, France, Germany, Belgium, Estonia, and Poland have issued joint statements urging Myanmar to comply with the ICJ judgment, and bring justice for the violation of human rights. The judgment requires Myanmar to report back to the court in four months on the implementation of the ruling.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also requested the support of EU countries to secure the return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte was at the receiving end of Hasina’s appreciation for supporting Bangladesh in this endeavor. Bangladesh and Italy issued a joint statement for the same on February 6 in support of the ICJ’s decision.
China cuts tariffs on US imports
Sooraj Kashyap
China has decided to reduce retaliatory duties on US imports of around USD 75 billion from 10% to 5% and from 5% to 2.5% on others. The Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China announced that the new adjustments will be enforced from 1:01 P.M. February 14, without any specificity of which time zone.
The cuts apply to the goods which were subjected to tariffs on September 1, 2019, according to a separate statement on the Ministry’s website. After the cut, duties on the US crude will be lowered to 2.5% whereas the tariffs on soya bean imports will come down by 2.5%.
The statement by the Ministry of Finance website said that the move comes as an advance for the good health and stable development of the Sino-US trade. A report said that the cut in tariffs was made in tandem with a US decision in January to halve tariffs on February 14 for USD 120 billion worth goods from 15% to 7.5%.
China will make the next round of tariff cuts based on the progress made between China-US trade ties. They hope to work with the American counterparts to remove all tariff increases.
Imran Khan’s Visit to Malaysia
Ishita Singh
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan set out for a two-day official visit to Malaysia from 3-4 January 2020 to meet his counterpart Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad. It is the second visit of the Prime Minister since assuming office, with his first trip being in November 2018. Scholars primarily view the visit as a “damage control” measure by PM Khan for withdrawing from the Kuala Lumpur Summit at the last minute in December 2019.
PM Khan’s withdrawal is seen as an outcome of the pressure exerted by Pakistan’s key financial backers, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who view the Summit as an endeavor to create an alternative bloc to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has been hitherto led by Saudi.
Nonetheless, Pakistan continues to enjoy dynamic relations with its Southeast-Asian counterpart with the Malaysia-Pakistan relations elevating to a Strategic Partnership in March 2019. This visit aims to further strengthen the bilateral relations and cooperation between the states through the signing of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in various sectors.
The significance of the visit can also be seen with regards to the upcoming plenary meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in February 2020, where Pakistan is in dire need of support to be removed from its grey list. The organization’s reasoning for placing the state in the grey list was based on the structural deficiencies in anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism by Pakistan. The Foreign Minister of the state, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister of Planning and Development Asad Umar and Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razaq Dawood also accompanied PM Khan to Kuala Lumpur. Furthermore, the efforts of Pakistan to internationalize the issue of human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir were discussed in the course of this visit as well.
OIC Rejects Trump's West Asian Plan
Soham Joshi
The Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) has rejected Trump’s West Asian Plan that is aimed at settling the long-drawn conflict of Israel and Palestine. All 57 members except Iran, as Saudi blocked their diplomats, issued a statement “calls on all member States to not engage with this plan or to cooperate with the US administration in implementing it in any form”.
Along with the OIC, the Arab League has also decided to boycott the plan. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called it a ‘delusional’ plan. Iran also came out with statements like ‘treason of the century’ and even went to predict that the plan will be ‘doomed’. It is clear that America’s intervention and solution with the Israel-Palestine conflict do not have many takers within the West Asia region. None of Israel’s neighbours is ready to accept this deal.
OIC is the second-largest International Organisation after the UN. OIC is a pan-Islamic body with around 57 member States and a combined population of 1.8 billion people. The body states that they form the collective voice of the Muslim world and works towards safeguarding the interest of the Muslim world in promoting peace. With such strong statements coming in from the OIC and Palestine also rejecting the West Asian plan, it is unlikely that Trump's plan will be successful.
Donald Trump’s West Asian plan allows Israel to take control over Jerusalem as the capital and talks about Palestine’s capital being shifted to Abu Dis, a village on the West Bank. The plan involves an infusion of $50bn in Palestine over a period of 10 years and promises free trade agreement, port, development and education.