Modi in Israel, Tokyo’s shift on arms, and Duterte at The Hague – Asian Media Report |
India and Israel deepen ties, Japan edges towards lethal arms exports, Duterte faces crimes-against-humanity charges, Indonesia weighs its Gaza role, Bangladesh confronts rule-of-law reform, and China’s unofficial K-pop ban shows signs of strain.
India and Israel have decided to strengthen their relationship, by elevating it to the status of special strategic partnership.
The two countries will soon sign a free trade agreement and establish a critical and emerging technology partnership, covering such areas as AI, quantum computing, and critical minerals.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a two-day state visit to Israel this week, his second visit there.
He was feted by Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu on arrival at Ben-Gurion airport. He went on to address the Knesset, receive a top state honour (the Speaker of the Knesset Medal) and cap off the trip with the strategic partnership announcement.
At one point, The Statesman newspaper reported, Sara Netanyahu called India a wonderful country and her husband said: “He is a wonderful leader.” Ms Netanyahu wore a saffron-coloured pantsuit, to match the pocket square in Modi’s jacket.
Chants of “Modi, Modi” greeted him when he addressed Israel’s parliament. Referring to the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October 2023, he said: “India stands with Israel firmly, with full conviction in this moment and beyond.”
Modi said India firmly supported the Gaza peace initiative. “We believe it holds the promise of a just and durable peace for all the people of the region, including by addressing the Palestinian issue,” he said.
When he received the Speaker of the Knesset Medal, Modi joined a small group of leaders who have been awarded top honours by both Israel and Palestine,having received the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine in 2018.
The Statesman said Netanyahu ranked Modi’s visit as extraordinarily productive and extraordinarily moving. “I think there wasn’t a dry eye left in Israel after your moving statement… in the Knesset,” he told Modi.
International affairs expert C Raja Mohan wrote in The Indian Express that India was now able to pursue parallel tracks with confidence – supporting Palestinian statehood while engaging India as a vital partner. “India’s growing interests… are too important for Delhi to engage the region with old ideological slogans,” he said.
A commentary in Al Jazeera, written by Indian journalist Yashraj Sharma, said a shared ideological vision was at the heart of the ties between the two countries.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had its roots, Sharma said, in a philosophy known as Hindutva that sought to turn India into a Hindu nation and a natural homeland for Hindus anywhere in the world – similar to Israel’s view of itself as a Jewish homeland.
Tokyo to scrap lethal weapons export ban
Japan and China risk a deep freeze in their relationship.
An article in Nikkei Asia, the online business and politics magazine, said relations between the two countries were once described as politically cold but economically hot. But they were now moving towards a new normal of politically and economically cold.
China’s campaign against Japan reached a new high this week when Beijing banned exports of dual-use (commercial and military) items to 20 Japanese companies and tightened scrutiny on another 20.
The story said the move was part of the stand-off with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over her remarks about her country’s possible intervention in any war over Taiwan. But it was also part of a paradigm shift in Japan-China ties.
China in December conducted large-scale military exercises that included the aircraft carrier Liaoning in waters near Okinawa – drills in keeping with Beijing’s medium-to-long-term defence strategy. “Japan has no choice but to respond to such a shift in its security environment,”........