Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 18 August 2014

Serious breach of Julian Assage’s human rights

Speaking at a joint press conference with Mr. Assange, held to mark the completion of the second year of the Wikileaks founder’s stay as a political asylee in his country’s embassy in London, Mr. Patino highlighted the “serious breach” of Julian Assange’s human rights, and of the “lost two years” during which the Swedish prosecuting authorities have stone-walled all attempts by Ecuador to find a just way out of the impasse.
Mr Assange, who looked visibly tired, neither denied nor confirmed media reports that he had a life-threatening illness. He said that confinement of the kind he had experienced would impact even the healthiest person.
“There is no precedent for this kind of captivity,” a member of Mr. Assange’s team told . “It is very unusual that in a highly civilized country a person like Julian is held captive without charge, and cannot even go to a hospital.”
“Ecuador is a small country taking a very brave position. We now want to appeal for high profile support for Julian from around the world – including India.”

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong re-affirmed his commitment to working with newly elected leaders in India and Indonesia.
“There are new leaders in Indonesia and India. How their countries fare will affect the entire region. I look forward to working with them,” said Mr. Lee referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in his annual National Rally speech.
Highlighting Singapore’s concern about global uncertainties, Mr. Lee said: “The world is in flux. Conflicts far away could affect us.”

During his visit to Japan, from August 31 to September 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hoping to seal several bilateral agreements.
According to diplomatic sources, these will include infrastructural investment for the government’s “smart cities” initiative, with Japan proposing project development agreements on high-speed railways, more industrial corridors, and road-links and rail-links through the north-eastern States to ASEAN countries as well.
The one aspect of the new government’s foreign policy that has moved from the past is the tougher language of discourse with leaders.

Syed Ali Geelani, leader of the separatist Tehreek-e-Hurriyat group in Kashmir and several others who have been invited to New Delhi for talks with Pakistan envoy have confirmed their participation.
Mr. Shah questioned the double standards of the Congress saying it had no problem when they were invited before the visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani and Pakistani Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz Khan, during their rule.
BJP spokesperson M.J. Akbar said the Pakistani High Commissioner’s “gesture” was an “old tactics” of finding things to disagree about rather than picking up the message so powerfully enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (in his Independence Day speech).