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US to send Ukraine at least $275m in new weapons 

The latest tranche of weapons comes as worries grow about an escalation in the conflict, with both sides pushing to gain any advantage that they can exploit if Trump demands a quick end to the war…reports Asian Lite News

The Pentagon will send Ukraine at least $275 million in new weapons, US officials said Tuesday, as the Biden administration rushes to do as much as it can to help Kyiv fight back against Russia in the remaining two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. 

The latest tranche of weapons comes as worries grow about an escalation in the conflict, with both sides pushing to gain any advantage that they can exploit if Trump demands a quick end to the war — as he has vowed to do. 

In rapid succession this week, President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the authority to fire longer-range missiles deeper into Russia and then Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons. 

US officials contend that Russia’s change in nuclear doctrine was expected, but Moscow is warning that Ukraine’s new use of the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, inside Russia on Tuesday could trigger a strong response. 

One American official said the US is seeing no indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid package has not yet been made public. 

Asked Tuesday if a Ukrainian attack with longer-range US missiles could potentially trigger use of nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered affirmatively. He pointed to the doctrine’s provision that holds the door open for it after a conventional strike that raises critical threats for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Russia and its ally Belarus. 

A US official said Ukraine fired about eight ATACM missiles into Russia on Tuesday, and just two were intercepted. The official said the US is still assessing the damage but that the missiles struck an ammunition supply location in Karachev, in the Bryansk region. 

The weapons in the new package of aid for Ukraine include an infusion of air defense, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, Javelin anti-armor munitions and other equipment and spare parts, US officials say. 

The weapons will be provided through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon quickly to pull supplies from its shelves to speed them to Ukraine’s front line. 

Trump’s upcoming move to the White House has triggered a scramble by the Biden administration to ensure all the congressionally approved funding for Ukraine gets delivered and that Kyiv is in a strong position going into the winter. 

The Biden administration would have to rush $7.1 billion in weapons from the Pentagon’s stockpiles to spend all of those funds before Trump is sworn in. That includes $4.3 billion from a foreign aid bill passed by Congress earlier this year and $2.8 billion still on the books in savings due to the Pentagon recalculating the value of systems sent. 

As part of the wider effort, the administration also is on track to disperse its portion of a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, before Biden leaves the White House, according to two senior administration officials. 

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said the US and Ukraine are now in “advanced stages” in discussing terms of the loan and are looking to complete the process for the $20 billion portion of the mammoth loan that the US is backing. 

The goal is to get it done before the end of the year, one official said. 

HIMARS – a game-changer in Russia-Ukraine conflict?.(photo:IN)

Biden agrees to give anti-personnel mines 

Biden has agreed to give Ukraine anti-personnel land mines, a US defence official told the BBC, a move seen as an attempt to slow Russian troops who have been steadily advancing in Ukraine’s east in recent months. The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said such mines would be delivered soon and Washington expected that they would be used on Ukraine’s territory. 

Ukraine was also committed to not using the mines in densely-populated areas, the official said. Separately, the US State Department said it would close its embassy in Kyiv after it “received specific information of a potential significant air attack on 20 November”. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place,” it said in a statement. “The US embassy recommends US citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.” 

Overnight, both Ukraine and Russia reported major drone attacks on their respective territories. It was not immediately known whether there were any casualties. The provision of anti-personnel land mines is the latest move by the outgoing US administration to bolster Ukraine’s war effort before Donald Trump returns to the White House on 20 January. 

Russia has deployed landmines liberally since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but international objections to the use of such weapons on the grounds that they pose a risk to civilians had prevented the Biden administration from signing off on them. 

The US defence official confirmed to the BBC that Ukraine had pledged to use only mines that remained active for a limited period of time. 

The US “non-persistent” mines differ from Russia’s as they become inert after a pre-set period of time – anywhere from four hours to two weeks. They are electrically fused and require battery power to detonate. Once the battery runs out, they will not detonate. 

Washington has already been providing anti-tank mines to Ukraine, but the anti-personnel land mines – which can be rapidly deployed – are designed to blunt the advances of ground forces. Earlier, it was confirmed that US-made longer-range Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) missiles had struck targets inside Russia only days after reports emerged that the White House had granted permission for their use. 

ALSO READ: Putin’s India Trip Soon?

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Putin signs new Russian nuclear doctrine   

The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power…reports Asian Lite News

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles. 

The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine fired six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles early Tuesday at a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, adding that air defenses shot down five of them and damaged one more. Ukraine’s military claimed the strike hit a Russian ammunition depot. 

While the doctrine envisions a possible nuclear response by Russia to such a conventional strike, it is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Putin’s options open. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that the Ukrainian strike in Bryansk marked an escalation and urged the U.S. and other Western allies to study the modernized nuclear doctrine. 

“If the long-range missiles are used from the territory of Ukraine against the Russian territory, it will mean that they are controlled by American military experts and we will view that as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia and respond accordingly,” Lavrov said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Brazil without elaborating. 

The approval of the document demonstrates Putin’s readiness to tap his nuclear arsenal to force the West to back down as Moscow presses a slow-moving offensive in Ukraine as the war reached its 1,000th day. 

Asked Tuesday if a Ukrainian attack with longer-range U.S. missiles could potentially trigger a nuclear response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered affirmatively, pointing to the doctrine’s provision that holds the door open for it after a conventional strike that raises critical threats for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity: of Russia and its ally, Belarus. 

Commenting on whether the updated doctrine was deliberately issued to follow Biden’s decision, Peskov said the document was published “in a timely manner” and that Putin instructed the government to update it earlier this year so that it is “in line with the current situation.” 

Putin first announced changes in the nuclear doctrine in September, when he chaired a meeting discussing the proposed revisions. He has previously warned the U.S. and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war. 

Washington has permitted Ukraine to use the longer-range weapons on targets inside Russia after declaring that thousands of North Korean troops were deployed in the Russian region of Kursk to fight an incursion by Kyiv’s forces. 

“I’m unfortunately not surprised by the comments the Kremlin has made around the publication of this new, revised document,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, adding that since the war began, Russia has sought to “coerce and intimidate both Ukraine and other countries around the world through irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior.” 

He added that Washington has not seen any reason “to adjust our own nuclear posture, but we will continue to call on Russia to stop bellicose and irresponsible rhetoric.” 

A U.S. National Security Council official who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity underscored that the arrival of thousands of North Korea soldiers to take part in combat operations against Ukraine was a major escalation by Moscow that demanded a response. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the “irresponsible rhetoric coming from Russia, and that is not going to deter our support for Ukraine.” 

“We’re now on Day 1,000 of a conflict. That’s 1000 days of Russian aggression, 1,000 days of sacrifices in Ukraine,” he said at the G-20 summit in Brazil. “We have stood with Ukraine from the start. I’ve been doubling down in my clear message that we need to ensure Ukraine has what is needed for as long as needed to win this war against Putin.” 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Warsaw that her country would not be intimidated by Russia’s new policy, saying her country made the mistake of cowering in the face of Moscow’s aggression in the past but would not do so again. 

In Warsaw, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski described the revised Russian nuclear doctrine as a tacit acknowledgement that Moscow’s conventional forces are weaker than NATO. 

The updated doctrine says an attack against Russia by a nonnuclear power with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” will be seen as their “joint attack on the Russian Federation.” 

It says any massive aerial attack on Russia could trigger a nuclear response but avoids any firm commitment and mentions the “uncertainty of scale, time and place of possible use of nuclear deterrent” among the key principles of the nuclear deterrence. 

The document also notes that aggression against Russia by a member of a military bloc or coalition is viewed as “an aggression by the entire bloc,” a clear reference to NATO. 

At the same time, it spells out conditions for using nuclear weapons in greater detail compared with previous versions of the doctrine, noting they could be used in case of a massive air attack involving ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, drones and other flying vehicles. 

ALSO READ: Putin’s India Trip Soon?

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Putin’s India Trip Soon?

Peskov was quoted as saying, “We place great importance on this moment, but at the moment, I don’t have any specific dates.”…reports Asian Lite News

Russian President Vladimir Putin could visit India soon, the Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

“Well, I hope that soon, very soon we will determine the exact dates of his (Vladimir Putin) visit. But you know that our leaders exchange visits. So, of course, after two visits of Prime Minister Modi to Russia, now President Putin is expected to visit India. So we are looking forward to it. We will start preparing very carefully for this visit. We attach great importance to this moment. Right now I do not have any specific dates,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Russia’s leading news agency RIA Novosti.

The Presidential Press Secretary also mentioned that the Indian PM, thanks to his relations with the Russian President, can receive first-hand information on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

“At least he (PM Modi) can receive information first-hand (from the Russian President), this is very important. This is very important for us. This gives Prime Minister Modi the opportunity to objectively assess the situation, and not under information and propaganda pressure from outside,” Peskov said at a meeting ‘New Opportunities for Cooperation between Indian and Russian Media: Strengthening Ties between the Peoples of India and Russia’ organised by Sputnik.

According to Peskov, the Russian President highly appreciates the assistance of all countries, especially those with which Moscow has good relations, like India.

“We really appreciate the efforts of all possible countries aimed at facilitating the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine . And especially when these efforts come from our great friends like India. In this sense, President Putin really appreciates the efforts made by Prime Minister Modi. And he is really grateful to Prime Minister Modi,” stated Peskov.

He highlighted that, due to the excellent bilateral relations, India gets the best Russian military equipment for the best price.

“I have no doubt that our products are the best and that their prices are affordable. So, we understand perfectly well that India is interested in all possible directions. They buy the best at better prices. So, our production is highly competitive, and we have no doubt that we provide our Indian friends with the best technologies,” he remarked.

At the same meeting, Peskov reflected that Moscow is ready to do its bit to normalise relations between New Delhi and Beijing.

“We are friends with both New Delhi and Beijing. We are ready to agree to all possible and necessary ways to normalise relations between our friends,” Peskov said.

ALSO READ: Scholz Calls Putin; Zelenskyy Says It Opened A ‘Pandora’s Box’

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-Top News EU News Europe

EU softens stand in Baku climate talks 

The EU and some developed countries argue that such a large sum can only be achieved if “wealthier high-emitting” developing nations, like China and Gulf states, also contribute….reports Asian Lite News

The European Union has urged “wealthier high-emitting” developing nations to voluntarily contribute to climate finance, signaling a shift from its earlier position that had stalled progress in the UN climate talks. 

Securing a new climate finance package to help developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate change is the top priority of this year’s UN climate talks. Developing nations need at least $1.3 trillion annually to tackle worsening climate impacts. 

The EU and some developed countries argue that such a large sum can only be achieved if “wealthier high-emitting” developing nations, like China and Gulf states, also contribute. However, this proposal has been a major sticking point, as many developing countries view it as an attempt to shift responsibility away from those who historically benefited from industrialization. 

European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, suggested a compromise on Monday, proposing voluntary contributions from these nations without changing the traditional classification of developed and developing countries. 

We will be welcoming to those countries who do make such a step because, in the end, this is not about dogmatism. This is about solving one of the largest problems humanity is facing, Hoekstra said. He said that affluence brings responsibility. Others also have a responsibility to contribute based on their emissions and economic growth, he added. 

COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev said countries still have significant disagreements on the structure, funding amount, and contributors to the new climate finance goal. He urged ministers arriving this week to act decisively. Politicians must engage immediately and constructively, he said. 

Babayev also called for leadership from G20 heads of government, meeting this week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to drive progress. Their commitment is essential. I urge them to send a positive signal and provide a clear mandate for action, he said. 

UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell echoed these concerns, urging countries to resolve less contentious issues early to focus on the toughest topics later. Ministers need to roll up their sleeves and dive into the difficult discussions, he said. 

While highlighting some progress in the conference’s first week, Stiell described the situation as a mixed picture heading into the crucial second week. 

ALSO READ: When Starmer meets Xi…

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UK expected to give Ukraine Storm Shadow missiles   

Keir Starmer, the prime minister, said at the G20 summit that the UK recognised it needed to “double down” on its support for Ukraine..reports Asian Lite News

Britain is expected to supply Storm Shadow missiles for use by Ukraine on targets inside Russia, now that the US president, Joe Biden, has agreed to do the same for the similar American long-range Atacms weapon. 

Keir Starmer, the prime minister, said at the G20 summit that the UK recognised it needed to “double down” on its support for Ukraine, while diplomatic sources briefed they expected other European countries to follow the US lead. 

The prime minister said that, while he was “not going to get into operational details”, he recognised the need to do more to help Ukraine, whose electricity network was seriously damaged by a wave of Russian bombing on Sunday. 

“I’ve been really clear for a long time now, we need to double down. We need to make sure Ukraine has what is necessary for as long as necessary, because we cannot allow Putin to win this war,” the prime minister said. 

Russia, however, accused the west of escalation and said that Biden risked adding “fuel to the fire” in Ukraine, and while Donald Trump remained silent on the issue, his son Don Jr accused the military industrial complex of wanting to get “world war three going”. 

Storm Shadow missiles have a range of about 250km (155 miles), similar to the US Atacms, and have in the past been given to Kyiv by the UK and France to strike targets inside Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders. 

But the US retained an effective veto on their use because it supplies a guidance system and repeated lobbying by the UK had failed to shift the US position, which has only begun to soften after the election victory of Donald Trump earlier this month. 

Ukraine wants to be able to strike barracks, fuel and logistics hubs, and airbases deeper inside Russia to blunt Moscow’s relentless attacks on their country. Russia, by contrast, is able to strike targets anywhere in Ukraine. 

Biden had refused to allow permission for long-range missiles to be used inside Russia for years but finally relented on Sunday, and said that Ukraine could use Atacms missiles to try to halt an expected counter-offensive by an estimated 50,000 Russian and North Korean forces in Kursk. 

Ukraine had also become increasingly exasperated with Britain on the issue of long-range missiles, complaining earlier this month that not only had there been no progress on their use inside Russia but that the UK had stopped supplying them at all. 

Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, accused the US of escalation. “It is clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to continue to add fuel to the fire and to further inflame tensions around this conflict.” He added: “This decision is reckless, dangerous, aimed at a qualitative change, a qualitative increase in the level of involvement of the United States.” 

Peskov said Putin had expressed his position clearly in September when the Russian leader warned that the move to let Kyiv use longer-range weapons against targets inside Russia would mean Nato would be directly “at war” with Moscow. 

ALSO READ: When Starmer meets Xi… 

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China Columns Europe

Western medical complicity in China’s organ harvesting crisis demands immediate action

The medical community’s fundamental principle of “do no harm” stands in stark contrast to current practices that inadvertently support China’s organ harvesting system. Western medical institutions face a clear ethical choice: maintain professional relationships with Chinese institutions or uphold their fundamental ethical principles. The consequences of this choice affect countless lives, writes Pushkar Sinha

The stark reality of China’s forced organ harvesting program and Western medicine’s inadvertent role in supporting it took center stage at a recent London hearing, where lawmakers, legal experts, and survivors gathered to address this pressing human rights crisis. The November 5th testimony revealed disturbing connections between Western medical institutions and China’s systematic abuse of prisoners of conscience.

The evidence is damning. According to the China Tribunal, an independent investigative body in London, it has been proven “beyond reasonable doubt” that the Chinese regime has been systematically harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience, with Falun Gong practitioners being the primary victims. The persecution of these spiritual practitioners, which began in 1999 when the Chinese Communist Party launched its nationwide campaign, has resulted in a hidden but industrialized system of medical atrocities.

Two recent survivors who sought asylum in the UK provided firsthand accounts that illuminate the methodical nature of these abuses. Tian Xin, who endured a decade of persecution in various prisons, described being subjected to forced medical examinations, including X-rays and blood tests – procedures specifically designed to assess organ viability. Similarly, Han Fei recounted her traumatic experience of being forcibly held down by police while doctors drew her blood, along with mandatory CT scans and ultrasounds. These medical tests, notably, were only performed on Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience, not on the general prison population.

The Western medical community’s unintended complicity in these abuses takes several forms, as outlined by Eleanor Stephenson, a barrister consulting for the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China. Western institutions provide clinical training to Chinese transplant surgeons, publish research papers without verifying organ sources, and participate in hospital exchange programs without adequate due diligence. More disturbing still is the supply of medical equipment and drugs used in transplant procedures, effectively providing the tools for these human rights violations.

One of the most telling indicators of systematic abuse is China’s ability to offer predetermined organ waiting times – a medical impossibility in ethical transplant systems. This points to the existence of a living organ bank maintained through the detention of prisoners of conscience. Lord David Alton of Liverpool noted at the hearing that while over 5,000 documented cases of Falun Gong practitioners dying due to persecution have been reported, this represents merely “the tip of the iceberg” given that victims’ remains are often incinerated to destroy evidence.

The scope of the persecution is staggering. By the late 1990s, official estimates indicated more than 70 million Falun Gong practitioners in China. Following the CCP’s crackdown in July 1999, millions were detained in prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands subjected to torture while incarcerated, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

Canadian investigative lawyer David Matas presented concrete solutions at the hearing, emphasizing that avoiding complicity lies entirely within Western nations’ power. His recommendations include banning entry for anyone involved in organ transplant abuse, ending transplant-related collaborations with Chinese institutions, amending legislation to allow prosecution of perpetrators, and imposing targeted sanctions on responsible officials.

Recent legislative efforts show promise but require broader adoption. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Act in June, which would require the United States to avoid any cooperation with China in organ transplantation and implement targeted sanctions. Similar measures are needed globally to create a unified response to these atrocities.

The medical community’s fundamental principle of “do no harm” stands in stark contrast to current practices that inadvertently support China’s organ harvesting system. Western medical institutions face a clear ethical choice: maintain professional relationships with Chinese institutions or uphold their fundamental ethical principles. The consequences of this choice affect countless lives.

A failed 2023 attempt to amend the UK’s procurement bill, which would have barred suppliers involved in forced organ harvesting from receiving public contracts, demonstrates the ongoing challenge of implementing effective safeguards. However, the growing body of evidence and survivor testimony makes it increasingly difficult to ignore Western medicine’s role in enabling these abuses.

The path forward requires immediate action: implementing strict due diligence protocols, ending questionable collaborations, and establishing legal frameworks to prevent complicity in these crimes. The Western medical community must recognize that even indirect cooperation with China’s transplant system risks supporting a state-sponsored system of forced organ harvesting. The evidence is clear, the solutions are available, and the time for action is now. The lives of countless prisoners of conscience depend on the Western medical community’s willingness to stand firmly against these systematic human rights violations.

ALSO READ: Waning confidence in Xi signals stormy future for China

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-Top News Europe UK News

UK, France, Poland reaffirm support for Kyiv 

The priority for France was to “equip, support and help Ukraine to resist,” Macron told reporters as he prepared to leave Argentina to attend the G20 Summit in Brazil…reports Asian Lite News

France, Britain and Poland on Sunday reaffirmed their support for Ukraine as Russia staged its biggest missile attack since August, targeting Ukraine’s power facilities with the winter setting in. French President Emmanuel Macron said the relentless air barrage showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not want peace and is not ready to negotiate.” 

The priority for France was to “equip, support and help Ukraine to resist,” Macron told reporters as he prepared to leave Argentina to attend the G20 Summit in Brazil. “It’s clear that President Putin intends to intensify the fighting,”  he added. 

He declined to comment on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s call with Putin on Friday, stressing that Ukraine’s allies “must remain united …. on an agenda for genuine peace, that is to say, a peace that does not mean Ukraine’s surrender.” He added that he would only consider a call with the Russian leader when the “context” was right. 

In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he has no plan to speak with Putin as he pledged support for Ukraine as the UK’s top priority at this week’s G20 summit. Speaking with reporters on the way to the meeting in Brazil, Starmer said he wouldn’t speak to Putin as Scholz did on Friday. 

The call between the two leaders, which the Kremlin said was initiated by Germany, was the first publicly announced conversation between Putin and a major head of a Western power in almost two years. Ukraine’s Zelensky criticized the call and said it would only make Russia less isolated. 

Ukraine’s allies fear that the election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has questioned US aid sent to Kyiv and spoken favorably about Putin, could alter support from Washington, its biggest backer. Starmer said allies have to double down now to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. 

“We are coming up to the 1,000th day of this conflict on Tuesday,” Starmer said. “That’s 1,000 days of Russian aggression, 1,000 days of huge impact and sacrifice in relation to the Ukrainian people and recently we’ve seen the addition of North Korean troops working with Russians which does have serious implications.” The UK has committed $16.15 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

Also on Sunday, Poland welcomed news that US President Joe Biden had cleared Ukraine to use long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia, something Kyiv had been urging for months. 

“With the entry into the war of North Korea troops and (Sunday’s) massive attack of Russian missiles, President Biden responded in a language that (Russian President) V.Putin understands,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted on X. 

“The victim of aggression has the right to defend himself,” Sikorski added in his post. “Strength deters, weakness provokes.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long pushed for authorization from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that approval would mean that NATO was “at war” with his country — a threat he has made previously when Ukraine’s Western backers have escalated their military assistance to Kyiv. 

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‘India’s FTA talks with UK, EU on schedule’ 

The official said that an impression is going around that FTAs are paused, which is not correct. ..reports Asian Lite News

Negotiations for all the proposed free trade agreements, including those with the UK and European Union (EU), are progressing as per the schedule and the country’s FTAs are not paused, a top government official has said. 

The official said that an impression is going around that FTAs are paused, which is not correct. 

“All our FTAs, whether it is with the EU or UK, all are progressing as per the schedule,” the official said. In the coming weeks, a bilateral meeting is scheduled between the commerce secretary and the Director-General of the European Union to take stock of the negotiations for the proposed trade agreement with the European Union. 

They will also meet as part of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Besides the EU and the UK, India is negotiating these agreements with Australia, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Oman. 

In such pacts, two trading partners either significantly cut customs duties or remove the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and attract investments. India has so far implemented FTAs with a number of nations including Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the UAE. 

According to the commerce ministry, the next round of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement between India and South American nation Peru will be held after finalisation of the FTA strategy. The standard operating procedure (SOP) or strategy document for negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) is expected to be ready by the end of this year. It is an internal document aiming to standardise the processes of negotiations of these pacts. 

The ministry has also informed that the negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with Oman were completed in March this year, but further discussions are ongoing. 

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Healthcare in Germany Hit by Staff Shortage

Approximately 47,400 positions in the healthcare sector could not be filled with suitably qualified candidates between July 2023 and June 2024…reports Asian Lite News

Germany’s healthcare sector faces the most severe skilled labour shortages among all industries, according to a study released Saturday by the Competence Centre for Securing a Skilled Workforce at the German Economic Institute.

Approximately 47,400 positions in the healthcare sector could not be filled with suitably qualified candidates between July 2023 and June 2024, it said.

According to the report, the shortage is particularly acute in physiotherapy, with nearly 11,600 vacant roles. Dental assistants and healthcare and nursing staff are also in high demand, with shortfalls of over 7,340 and nearly 7,100 positions, respectively.

The healthcare sector has consistently ranked as the most affected by labour shortages in recent years. “An aging population leads to an increasing need for healthcare services. This increases the burden on the existing skilled workers,” the study’s authors noted.

Across all industries, Germany faced an average shortage of over 530,000 qualified workers between July 2023 and June 2024, said the report, Xinhua news agency reported.

ALSO READ: Scholz Calls Putin; Zelenskyy Says It Opened A ‘Pandora’s Box’

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Scholz Calls Putin; Zelenskyy Says It Opened A ‘Pandora’s Box’

President Zelenskyy expressed concern that the call would weaken efforts to isolate Putin, describing it as “pandora’s box” and warning that it could lead to more conversations that might undermine Ukraine’s position.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first conversation in nearly two years on Friday, marking a significant diplomatic exchange amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported.

Scholz, facing a snap election in Germany in February following the collapse of his coalition, urged Putin to engage in talks with Ukraine aimed at achieving a “just and lasting peace.”

According to Al Jazeera, a German spokesperson stated that Scholz reiterated Germany’s continued support for Ukraine “for as long as necessary,” condemned Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, and warned that the presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia to assist in defending the Kursk region would escalate the conflict.

In response, Putin characterized the crisis as a direct result of NATO’s “aggressive” policies and emphasized that any potential agreements must take into account Russia’s security interests and territorial claims and address the root causes of the war, as reported by Al Jazeera.

“Possible agreements must take into account the interests of the Russian Federation in the area of security, proceed from new territorial realities, and most importantly, eliminate the root causes of the conflict,” the Russian leader said, Al Jazeera reported.

Putin also discussed the potential for “mutually beneficial cooperation” with Germany, particularly regarding energy trade, if Berlin shared that perspective.

Following the call, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed concern that the call would weaken efforts to isolate Putin, describing it as “pandora’s box” and warning that it could lead to more conversations that might undermine Ukraine’s position.

“Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words. And this is exactly what Putin has long wanted: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation,” Zelenskyy said.

The call occurred during a critical period for Ukraine, with Russian forces making advances in eastern regions. Additionally, the re-election of Donald Trump in the US has raised concerns about the future of American support for Ukraine.

The timing of the call is seen as closely tied to the political shifts in both the US and Germany, as Trump’s return to the White House could alter US policy toward the war, while German domestic opinion, particularly in the East, increasingly calls for an end to military support for Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported.

The phone call also took place as Russian force continue to make incremental gains in eastern Ukraine, with ongoing airstrikes targeting both military and civilian infrastructure. (ANI)