August 4, 2016 Reading Time: 2 minutes
Multinational naval exercise concludes in the Pacific. Image credit - sainaniritu / depositphotos
Reading Time: 2 min read
Indonesia and Sri Lanka hold bilateral discussions
The Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, met in Jakarta on 3 July. During the meeting, Indonesia pledged to provide assistance to Sri Lanka in countering radicalism and terrorism.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and President Widodo also discussed strengthening economic bilateral relations, with a focus on Sri Lanka’s railway system. President Widodo has stated that Indonesia is ‘ready to participate in developing the railway system in Sri Lanka’.
New Resident Coordinator to the UN appointed
Ms. Una McCauley has assumed office as the new Resident Coordinator for the UN, and Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Program in Sri Lanka.
Ms. McCauley is the most senior UN Official in Sri Lanka, and will guide the country’s 21 Resident and Non-Resident UN agencies. Ms. McCauley has previously served as the Representative for UNICEF in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s exports lagging
At the 2016 Sri Lanka Economic Summit, Central Bank Governor, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, stated that Sri Lanka’s exports as a percentage of GDP, are lower than that of other countries in the Asian region.
Dr. Coomaraswamy noted that Sri Lanka needed to find new markets, and engage in export diversification. He further elaborated on the state of the macroeconomy given the challenges to increasing exports.
Nepal elects new PM
The leader of Nepal’s CPN-Maoist party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), has been elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal for the second time, after gaining the support of the Nepali Congress party. He has promised economic development and unity, in the face of a new constitution.
Mr. Dahal was elected the 39th Prime Minister of Nepal following the resignation of his predecessor, whose resignation came moments before a no-confidence motion was expected to pass against him.
Burundi rejects UN police deployment
The Burundian government has rejected the UN Security Council’s proposal to deploy up to 228 UN police officers to restore stability in the country and monitor human rights abuses.
The government spokesman, Philippe Nzobonariba, stated that the French-backed UN resolution was written without Burundi’s consent, and violated Burundi’s sovereignty. More than500 people have died and 270,000 have left the country since clashes began in April 2015.
Multinational naval exercise held in the Pacific
The 25th Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise has concluded off the coasts of the Hawaii and southern California. RIMPAC, which was initiated in 1971, is the world’s largest multinational maritime military exercise.
This year’s iteration of the bi-annual exercise featured ‘25,000 personnel, 45 ships, five submarines, and more than 200 aircraft from the armed forces of 26 nations’, which included China, Germany and Peru. China’s participation has allowed the US to expand non-combat co-operation between the two countries.
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