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(Current Affairs) International Events | June: 2015

International Events

China Releases Details of Silk Road Plans (Free Available)
Finland Opposition Party Wins Parliamentary Election (Free Available)
Saudi Arabia along with GCC Launches Military Campaign Against Houthi (Free Available)
Pakistan and Russia to Hold Joint Military Exercise (Free Available)
Philippine and U. S. Begins Military Exercise (Free Available)
India Joins Group of War Against Terrorism (Free Available)
Palestinian Becomes 123 Member of International Criminal Court (Only for Online Coaching Members)
Amnesty International Reports on Death Sentences in 2014 (Only for Online Coaching Members)
Israel Develops Anti-Ballistic Missile- David’s Sling (Only for Online Coaching Members)
UNCTAD Report on e-Commerce Biz (Only for Online Coaching Members)

China Releases Details of Silk Road Plans

China has provided details about its proposed Silk Road initiatives, which would impact 4.4 billion people and, within a decade, could generate trade above 2.5 trillion dollars.
A vision document jointly prepared by a composite team from the Ministries of Commerce, Foreign Affairs and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) — a top organisation that steers the Chinese economy — has with precision revealed the geographic parameters of China’s “One belt One Road” initiative.
The “belt and road” have two components — the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) that would be established along the Eurasian land corridor from the Pacific coast to the Baltic Sea, and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR).
The “belt and road” run through the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asia economic circle at one end and developed European economic circle at the other, says the government report.
Specifically, the SREB focuses on bringing together China, Central Asia, Russia and Europe (the Baltic); linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia; and connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Finland Opposition Party Wins Parliamentary Election

Finland’s opposition Centre Party has won the General Election 2015 by defeating the left-right coalition National Coalition party of incumbent Prime Minister Alexander Stubb. With this win, Centre Party’s leader Juha Sipila, an IT millionaire and newcomer to country’s politics, is set to become Finland’s next prime minister. In this election, Juha Sipila’s Centre Party has won 42 seats in the 200 seats of Parliament and Finns Party (formerly known as True Finns) was runner-up by winning 38 seats in parliament. While the ruling Coalition Party has won 37 seats and the Social Democratic Party got 34 seats
The Centre Party leader Juha Sipla, who entered politics four years ago, said the main problem in conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubb’s coalition had been a lack of trust among the ruling parties. He warned that Finland, in the midst of a three-year recession, was in a “difficult” situation.

Saudi Arabia along with GCC Launches Military Campaign Against Houthi

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of regional allies have launched a military operation in Yemen against the Houthi rebels, who deposed the US-backed Yemeni president last month.
The United Arab Emirates is participating with 30 jets, Bahrain with eight, Morocco and Jordan both with six. Sudan reportedly offered three war planes to assist the operation, Al Arabiya reported.
Kuwait’s defence ministry announced it was sending three squadrons of its F18 Super Hornet aircrafts to Saudi’s King Abdulaziz airbase in Dhahran to take part in the Yemen offensive.
Pakistan, which has longstanding ties to Saudi Arabia, was examining a request from Riyadh to join the coalition.
The security situation in Yemen deteriorated after the Shia Houthis rebels had seized power by dissolving Yemen’s government and parliament in January 2015. Since then rebels had taken control of key government buildings in capital Sanaa including Presidential Palace. They also had taken control and seized city of Taiz, third largest city of Yemen.

Pakistan and Russia to Hold Joint Military Exercise

Pakistan and Russia have agreed to hold first-ever joint military exercises as part of their enhanced defence cooperation, in a sign of increasing bonhomie between the Cold War-era adversaries.
The agreement was reached during a meeting in Moscow between Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu,
The ministers also agreed that conflicts should be resolved through diplomatic means and that use of force must be discouraged and abandoned. They also reached a consensus that a multi-polar world would ensure peace and balance in international relations.
Pakistan and Russia last year signed a military cooperation agreement to deepen their defence ties and vowed to translate their relationship in “tangible” terms during the first-ever visit of a Russian defence minister in 45 years.
Russian defence minister Shoigu’s visit last November to Pakistan came at a very critical juncture as US-led NATO forces drawdown from Afghanistan. Russia lifted embargoes on providing defence supplies to Pakistan and currently the two sides are working on different options to increase the ties in the defence field.

Philippine and U. S. Begins Military Exercise

Philippine and U.S. soldiers began their biggest combined military exercise in 15 years on Monday, in a demonstration of Washington’s commitment to its long-time ally as it rebalances to Asia in the face of China’s expansion in the South China Sea.
The annual “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) war games are part of a new U.S. military initiative known as Pacific Pathways, involving a series of drills across the Asia-Pacific as America deploys more troops, ships and aircraft in the region..
The exercise comes a few days after the Philippines said it was seeking more “substantive” support from the United States on how to counter China’s rapid expansion in the South China Sea.
China’s rapid reclamation around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has alarmed claimants, including the Philippines and Vietnam, and drawn growing criticism from U.S. government officials and the military.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington is concerned China is using its “sheer size and muscle” to push around smaller nations in the disputed sea, drawing a swift rebuke from Beijing.
More than 11,000 American and Filipino troops are taking part in the 10-day drill on the islands of Luzon, Palawan and Panay. The war games will see U.S. fighters rehearse bombing runs and troops involved in live fire drills.

India Joins Group of War Against Terrorism

India, as well as the five permanent members of the Security Council are among the 30 nations who have joined hands for a group formed at the UN against terrorism. The ‘Group of Friends against terrorism’ was launched at the initiative of Moroccoby the United Nation.
In addition to China, France, Russia, UK and the US, the group has representation from the five continents and is composed of African countries (Morocco, Ethiopia, Egypt, Chad, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa), Western Europe (Spain, Germany, Norway and Turkey), from Eastern Europe (Czech Republic and Bulgaria), Asia (India, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil and Colombia) and Oceania (New Zealand and Australia).
The group would meet once a year at the ministerial level on the margins of the General Assembly and every two months at the level of permanent representatives, the report said.
The group aims to “advance initiatives in the framework of the UN, organize events, round tables and seminars on various aspects of the problem of terrorism and initiate interaction with civil society, academia and think tanks,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

Key Facts about “Group of Friends Against Terrorism”

Group of Friends Against Terrorism is an United Nations initiative launched to combat terrorism. Created at the initiative of Morocco, the group consists of thirty countries, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Group of Friends Against Terrorism will aim, among others, to create synergies between all initiative implemented within the UN, promoting international cooperation in combating terrorism, share and exchange good practices in the fight against this scourge that threatens international peace and security. India is one of the members of the group.