Tag: SOUTH EAST ASIA

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Sittwe Port to boost trade in Northeast, South East Asia

To mark the occasion, the Indian and Myanmar ministers received the first Indian cargo ship at the port carrying 1,000 metric tonnes of cement…reports Asian Lite News

Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, along with the Deputy Prime Minister of Myanmar Admiral Tin Aung San, on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the Sittwe Port in Myanmar, which will boost trade and economy in the northeastern region of India as well as South East Asia.

Sittwe Port has been developed as part of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) funded under grant-in-aid assistance from the Government of India.

Once fully operationalised, the port will link the East coast of India to the northeastern states, resulting in considerable savings in cost and time as well as providing an alternative route for the northeast region to access the international sea route via the Sittwe port.

Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said, “Under India’s Act East initiative, Sittwe Port is part of the $484 million KMTTP, being constructed by the Government of India in Myanmar’s Kaladan river.

To mark the occasion, the Indian and Myanmar ministers received the first Indian cargo ship at the port carrying 1,000 metric tonnes of cement.

“Today is a historic day for both India and Myanmar as we further our relationship for mutual growth and cooperation in trade and commerce with the commencement of operations at the Sittwe Port. The port provides ample scope to unlock huge value in trade and commerce between India and Myanmar, especially between Northeast India and Rakhine in Myanmar,” Sonowal said.

Thanking Admiral Tin Aung San and the government of Myanmar, Sonowal said that with the commencement of operations at the Sittwe Port, the two countries will further consolidate their historic ties.

“India remains committed towards development and prosperity of the people of Myanmar through developmental initiatives such as the Sittwe Port. I am confident that the port will act as the gateway of India to South East Asia, ushering growth and progress,” he said.

Apart from Northeast India, the port will also unlock huge commercial potentials for Bangladesh, Bhutan and even Nepal – apart from India and Myanmar – by acting as a bridge with South East Asia.

ALSO READ: ‘New policy in place to boost trade with South Asian countries’

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-Top News Asia News

‘Golden Crescent’ targets Southeast Asia

Pic credits Twitter@indiannavy

The increased demand for drugs from the emerging south East Asian markets such as Maldives has provided an impetus for the drug smugglers…reports Asian Lite News

The recent investigation by naval authorities revealed that the traffic of stateless dhows across international waters of Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has been on a rise, causing suspicion of smuggling of narcotics.

The captures reported by The Indian Coast Guard and the Sri Lankan Navy is said to have seized foreign vessels carrying narcotics. The presence of Pakistani crew members in these vessels has hinted at a larger involvement of drug production from the ‘Golden Crescent’ of Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, leading to further speculation regarding the drugs smuggling route to South-East Asian markets, ZEE NEWS reported.

According to the ZEE NEWS reports, the increased demand for drugs from the emerging south East Asian markets such as Maldives has provided an impetus for the drug smugglers.

These developments clearly hint at deeper illegal activities such as illicit arms and weapons trade. Questions arise whether these are state-sponsored by Pakistan to disrupt the peace of its neighbour India.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) continues to pump illegal drugs into India through Punjab — the state lying on the border between the two neighbouring countries.

And heroin has been the major narcotic being smuggled into India to generate funds which, experts indicate, are used to fund militancy in Kashmir.

After heroin, poppy is the second most smuggled drug followed by opium.

As per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) data collated from all frontiers on the 3,323 km India-Pakistan border, over 979 kg of heroin was seized from the Punjab frontier in the last two-and-a-half years from January 1, 2019 to May 31 this year.

Smuggling of drugs from Pakistan was at its peak in 2020 during the last three years when 506.241 kg of heroin was seized at the Punjab border. The number was almost half in 2019 when 232.561 kg heroin was confiscated.

Till May 31 this year, the data reveals, a total of 241.231 kg of heroin was seized.

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Besides heroin, opium and poppy have also been the choice of smuggling but the number was comparatively very less. Poppy is the second most preferred drug being smuggled from Pakistan after heroin.

Poppy is mainly smuggled into India through the Rajasthan frontier. A total of 23 kg poppy has so far been seized at the Rajasthan border till May 31 this year. The number of poppy recoveries was 70 kg in 2020 and 54 kg in 2019.

In all the recoveries, the Border Security Force (BSF), one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), played a key role as they seized these narcotic drugs at the border before it reached the drug smugglers in Punjab and Rajasthan.

Along with the BSF, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) plays a key role in curbing the drug menace in India. It has seized many consignments of drugs in joint raids with the BSF troopers based on inputs.

The vicious cycle of drug trafficking from Pakistan linking terrorists and the ISI’s role was uncovered in late 2018 when the Indian Army and the intelligence arm of the Union Finance Ministry, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition and drugs, including heroin worth Rs 105 crore, during a joint operation conducted near the Line of Control (LoC) at Chamb (Akhnoor Sector) in Kashmir.

It was the first time when the agencies here came to know about the direct involvement of terrorists in smuggling drugs meant to be pushed into Punjab. The strong connection between the terrorists operating in the Valley and the drug traffickers in Punjab was also unravelled then.

The agencies then also came to know about how terrorists are facilitating the movement of drugs from across Pakistan to Punjab by acting as couriers. The money being paid by the drug traffickers of Punjab is used by terrorists to fund the purchase of sophisticated weapons to foment terror in Kashmir.

Despite the fact being known to the agencies, the ISI, whom the intelligence agencies see as the brain behind all illegal cross border activities against India, did not change its tactics and keeps pushing drugs mostly through the border touching Punjab

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Raab begins S-E Asia trip to boost post-Brexit ties

This is Raab’s fifth visit to South East Asia since becoming Foreign Secretary, demonstrating the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific, as set out in the UK’s Integrated Review…reports Asian Lite News.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has landed in Hanoi on Monday ahead of a three-day visit with high-level meetings in Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore focussing on trade, defence and security.

The UK will formally launch accession negotiations with Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) nations today, helping Britain further engage with some of the world’s biggest economies. CPTPP members currently have a combined GDP of £9 trillion, a value which is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years.

This is Raab’s fifth visit to South East Asia since becoming Foreign Secretary, demonstrating the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific, as set out in the UK’s Integrated Review.

The visit also comes at a time of growing defence and security cooperation with the region, as the UK’s Carrier Strike Group led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth, makes its maiden visit to the region.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said the UK is committed to strengthening our friendship across the Indo-Pacific.

“We are demonstrating this through our commitment to join CPTPP, partner with ASEAN and invest more energy, time and effort in our bilateral relations in the region,” he said.

While in Vietnam, the Foreign Secretary will deliver opening remarks at the 5th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on the UK’s ambitions for its Indo-Pacific tilt to an audience of representatives from more than 50 countries.

He will meet Vietnamese leaders, including President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son to discuss the implementation of the UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership Agreement, in addition to subjects such as global health security, climate change and combatting serious organised crime.

Raab will then travel to Cambodia to meet Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn to set out the ambition for the UK bid for ‘ASEAN Dialogue Partnership’ status ahead of Cambodia taking up the chair of ASEAN.

This status would give the UK the closest form of relationship with ASEAN. This will be the first Foreign Secretary visit to Cambodia since the British Embassy was reopened 30 years ago.

The visit will finish in Singapore, with a meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to discuss geo-political security and climate change, as well as the international response to Covid. The Foreign Secretary will also meet Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and address British and Singaporean business leaders from across Asia Pacific, highlighting the economic and strategic benefits of CPTPP and the UK’s wider trade and foreign policy priorities for the region.

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Categories
Asia News China COVID-19

South East Asia ‘hotspot’ for new coronaviruses

CORONA VIRUS

Most of the current hot spots are clustered in China, where a growing demand for meat products has driven the expansion of large-scale…reports Asian Lite News

China, Japan, Philippines and Thailand may turn into “hotspots” favourable for bats that carry coronaviruses and conditions in these places could become ripe for the disease to jump from bats to humans, finds a new study.

The study, published in the journal Nature Food, showed that this is because of the global land-use changes including forest fragmentation, agricultural expansion and concentrated livestock production.

Most of the current hot spots are clustered in China, where a growing demand for meat products has driven the expansion of large-scale, industrial livestock farming.

Further, parts of Japan, the north Philippines and China south of Shanghai are also at risk of becoming hot spots with further forest fragmentation, while parts of Indochina and Thailand may transition into hot spots with increases in livestock production, according to a team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, Polytechnic University of Milan and Massey University of New Zealand.

Visitors are seen at the sightseeing spot Asakusa, in Tokyo, Japan, June 21, 2020. Japan on Friday completely lifted its request for people not to travel across prefectural lines, with the move met by a return of passengers to airports and train stations. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi/IANS)

“Land use changes can have an important impact on human health, both because we are modifying the environment, but also because they can increase our exposure to zoonotic disease,” said Paolo D’Odorico, Professor of environmental science, policy and management at UC Berkeley.

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While the exact origins of the SARS-CoV-2, virus that caused Covid-19, remain unclear, the disease likely emerged when a virus that infects horseshoe bats was able to jump to humans — either directly through wildlife-to-human contact, or indirectly by first infecting an intermediate animal host, such as the pangolin.

Horseshoe bats are known to carry a variety of coronaviruses, including strains that are genetically similar to ones that cause Covid-19 and SARS.

“While we are unable to directly trace the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from wildlife to humans, we do know that the type of land use change that brings humans into the picture is typically associated with the presence of these bats who are known to carry the virus,” D’Odorico said.

The study used remote sensing to analyse land use patterns throughout the horseshoe bat’s range, which extends from Western Europe through Southeast Asia.

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