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Another ‘object’ shot down, this time over Lake Huron

The operation marks the third day in a row that an unidentified object was shot down over North American airspace…reports Asian Lite News

The US military on Sunday (local time) shot down another high-altitude object over Lake Huron, according to a US official and a congressional source briefed on the matter, reported CNN.

Meanwhile, Democratic-Republican Elissa Slotkin of Michigan tweeted that she had received a call from the Department of Defense saying that the US military “has an extremely close eye” on an object above Lake Huron. “Just got a call from @DeptofDefense — our military has an extremely close eye on the object above Lake Huron,” Slotkin said in a tweet on Sunday. “We’ll know more about what this was in the coming days, but for now, be assured that all parties have been laser-focused on it from the moment it traversed our waters.”

The operation marks the third day in a row that an unidentified object was shot down over North American airspace. An unidentified object was shot down over northern Canada on Saturday. On Friday, an unidentified object was shot down in Alaska airspace by a US F-22.

And last weekend, a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was taken down by F-22s off the coast of South Carolina.

Moreover, there were reports of Canada closing airspace near Tobermory in Ontario, NOTAM or Notice to Airmen stated that “active air defense operation.”

Earlier, the temporary flight restriction that was in place over Lake Michigan to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) operations has been lifted on Sunday (local time), according to NORAD press release.

“With the cooperation of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) implemented a temporary flight restriction aiespace over Lake Michigan at approximately 12 pm EST on Feb 12, 2023, to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations. The temporary flight restrictions have since been lifted,” added the release.

The airspace over Lake Michigan was temporarily restricted due to national defense reasons, according to a US Federal Aviation Administration notice.

The notice said the airspace was being restricted for “national defense” reasons. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon or the FAA.

Meanwhile, Canadian investigators are hunting for the wreckage of the mysterious flying object shot down by a US fighter jet over Yukon territory, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday, as the US Senate’s top lawmaker said that it – and another flying object shot down off the coast of Alaska – both appeared to be balloons.

“Recovery teams are on the ground, looking to find and analyze the object,” Trudeau told reporters. He gave no hint as to what it was but said it “represented a reasonable threat to the security of civilian flight.”

“The security of citizens is our top priority and that’s why I made the decision to have that unidentified object shot down,” he said.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer provided a bit more detail to US broadcaster ABC, saying that American national security officials believe the object destroyed over Canada – as well as another flying object shot over the sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska on Friday – were both balloons.

“They believe they were (balloons), yes, but much smaller than the first one,” Schumer said, referring to the balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina last Saturday – a big, white, eye-catching inflatable whose trip across the US airspace at the beginning of the month sparked an international incident.

The White House said only that the recently downed objects “did not closely resemble” the Chinese balloon, echoing Schumer’s description of them as “much smaller.”

American officials have accused the Chinese of using the 200-foot-tall (60-meter-high) balloon for surveillance. China’s government has said it was a civilian research vessel that went off course and has condemned its destruction.

US officials have been scouring the ocean to recover debris and electronic gadgetry since the original balloon’s destruction. Schumer said he was confident US investigators would get to the bottom of what it was being used for. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Biden hosts GOP, Dem governors at White House for dinner

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India is our partner of choice, says envoy Jones

US Charge d’Affaires A Elizabeth Jones said that both countries are strengthening cooperation on critical technologies from space components to semiconductors…reports Asian Lite News

Highlighting the strong ties between New Delhi and Washington, US Charge d’Affaires A Elizabeth Jones on Sunday said that “India is our partner of choice,” at a press conference in Bengaluru on the eve of Aero India 2023.

Notably, envoy Jones will be opening the USA Partnership Pavilion at Aero India 2023 today. “Our impressive pavilion that will open tomorrow and our growing diplomatic and security cooperation over the last year is evidence of this. In that connection, we congratulate India on its G20 presidency and look forward to robust US participation. India and the United States are crucial partners in so many ways to ensure a free and open, prosperous, connected, rules-based and resilient Indo-Pacific region where our democracies can thrive. Indeed, yesterday was the first anniversary of President Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy that underpins this commitment. So India is our partner of choice,” said the US envoy.

The United States Air Force Band of the Pacific’s seven-member music ensemble Final Approach, based out of Yokota Air Base in Japan, will perform for the public at Aero India on February 16.

The rock band will also perform for the general public from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on February 15 at the St. Joseph’s University auditorium, Langford Road in Bengaluru.

“We’re working together to address climate change, improve global health and prepare for new pandemics, cooperate on cyber challenges, build quality infra, and ensure sustainable supply chains,” said Jones.

The Indo-Pacific strategy focuses on building collective capacity to deal with challenges in the region.

These include a focus on challenges from China, advancing the US relationship, a ‘Major Defense Partnership’ with India, and supporting its role as a net security provider in the region.

She also said that both countries are strengthening cooperation on critical technologies from space components to semiconductors.

“Two weeks ago, National Security Advisor Doval met with counterparts at the White House to launch our initiative on critical and emerging technologies. They pledged to accelerate joint development and production through a bilateral defence industrial cooperation roadmap. Of course, economic growth is the key to making all of this possible,” added Jones.

She also gave examples of the US and Indian companies partnering to build on that growth.

“Tata has ongoing joint ventures with Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Raytheon is investing in Bengaluru manufacturing and design. And General Atomic is engaging with third Itech and Virat Forge. Each new partnership helps to ensure the economic resilience needed to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” she added. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Tough road ahead for China’s ‘New Silk Road’

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U.S. Showcases Strong Presence at Aero India 2023

Among the major highlights throughout Aero India 2023, an F-16 Fighting Falcon duo, one of the US Air Force’s leading fighter jets, will conduct daily aerial demonstrations…reports Asian Lite News

On the eve of Aero India 2023, Head of US delegation Charge d’Affaires Ambassador A Elizabeth Jones on Sunday said the size of the US delegation “shows that the US-India strategic partnership is one of our most consequential relationships”.

“India and the United States are working together in so many ways to ensure a free and open, prosperous, connected, and resilient Indo-Pacific region, where our democracies can thrive,” said Ambassador Jones while speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru on the eve of Aero India 2023, according to a release by US consulate General, Chennai. “As partners, we’re working together to address climate change; improve global health and prepare for new pandemics; cooperate on cyber challenges; build quality infrastructure; and ensure sustainable supply chains. We’re strengthening our cooperation on critical technologies, from space components to semiconductors,” Jones said.

Ambassador Jones will today open the USA Partnership Pavilion at Aero India 2023.

Jedidiah P Royal, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, who leads the U.S. delegation of senior U.S. government officials from the Department of Defense, said, “These close partnerships have generated tens of thousands of jobs in India and enabled critical transfers of technology and manufacturing expertise to India. U.S. companies have established engineering centres and manufacturing hubs and have also invested in building R&D centres that harness India’s incredibly talented scientists and engineers to advance cutting-edge R&D projects.”

Major General Julian C Cheater, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs, said, “As democracies bookending the Indo-Pacific, the United States and India share a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. That shared vision is strengthened by world-class events like Aero India where we are able to engage in person to increase trust and understanding.”

Rear Admiral Michael Baker, Senior Defense Official and Defense Attache at the US Embassy in New Delhi said, “As we mark the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, we are excited to be in Bengaluru for Aero India. The US-India Defense relationship is an important element of that strategy – and our Defense Partnership is stronger than ever. This week you will have the chance to see American Air power operating alongside the Indian Air Force: we plan to have a variety of aircraft here, one of our largest delegations ever, and the US Air Force Pacific Band who will perform at venues around Bengaluru.”

Among the major highlights throughout Aero India 2023, an F-16 Fighting Falcon duo, one of the United States Air Force’s (USAF) leading fighter jets, will conduct daily aerial demonstrations. The F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet, the US Navy’s most advanced frontline carrier-based, multi-role strike fighter available today, will be on static display, according to the US Consulate General release.

Leading US defence companies participating in Aero India 2023 with exhibits in the USA Partnership Pavilion include Aero Metals Alliance, Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Astronautics Corporation of America, Boeing, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, GE Aerospace, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, Hi-Tech Import Export Corporation, Jonal Laboratories, Inc., Kallman Worldwide, Inc., Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, TW Metals, LLC, and United Performance Metals. Link to information about U.S. exhibitors at the USA Partnership Pavilion organized by Kallman Worldwide and located in Hall A at Yelahanka Air Force base: https://kallman.com/shows/aero-india-2023.

The United States Air Force Band of the Pacific’s seven-member music ensemble Final Approach, based out of Yokota Air Base in Japan, will perform for the public at Aero India on February 16. The rock band will also perform for the general public from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on February 15 at the St. Joseph’s University auditorium, Langford Road in Bengaluru, according to the release. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Asia’s biggest aero show begins  

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Spy Balloon Affair Triggers Cold Spell in US-China Relations

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution unanimously condemning “the Chinese Communist Party’s use of a high-altitude surveillance balloon over US territory…writes Yashwant Raj

As the spy balloon wafted across continental America over the past days, relations between the United States and China went from moderately cold to freezing.

Tentative first steps taken towards normalisation of ties from the stormy phase of Trump-triggered trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic, had led to the first in-person summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in Bali, which, in turn, was to be built upon with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first visit to Beijing, for wide-ranging talks, including a meeting with the Chinese President.

Blinken called off the visit — postponed, US officials have insisted — after the US declared the balloon an “unacceptable” violation of America’s sovereignty and international law and the US military shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, over a week after it was first sighted over Alaska.

“As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did,” Biden said in the State of the Union speech on Tuesday, referring to the downing of the balloon on his orders, which he had also made clear in remarks on Saturday.

And then, Biden went on openly to taunt Xi.

“Name me a world leader who’d change places with Xi Jinping. Name me one! Name me one!”

These remarks were not there in the copy of his prepared speech shared by the White House. And just to make sure it was not another of Biden’s gaffes — he is famously, or infamously, prone to them — he repeated that phrase in a sit-down interview with a local reporter.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said China had been smeared in the US President’s speech.

“It is not the practice of a responsible country to smear a country or restrict the country’s legitimate development rights under the excuse of competition, even at the expense of disrupting the global industrial and supply chain,” the spokesperson said.

The ministry also urged the US to work with China to “promote the return of bilateral relations to a track of sound and stable development”.

But Beijing will make the first move. In fact, it rejected a request from US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart.



Beijing snapped military-to-military ties with Washington amid tensions over former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

The US and China are not talking.

But that could change, once both sides have vented their anger, especially the United States, which was understandably shocked by a Chinese spy balloon over the country.

Though its advantage over low-earth satellites, which countries normally use to spy on each other, is not immediately clear, its very existence overhead left many Americans extremely angry and calls followed for it to be shot down immediately, and every day’s delay was seen as further evidence of the Biden administration’s inability to stand up to the Chinese.

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution unanimously condemning “the Chinese Communist Party’s use of a high-altitude surveillance balloon over United States territory as a brazen violation of United States’ sovereignty”.

The US has since said that the spy balloon came from a concerted Chinese effort to use such devices to spy on other countries and that they had been sighted over 40 countries in five continents.

Few names were given out by the Americans, but India was invited to a special briefing given by Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State and America’s top diplomat for China, to representatives from 40 embassies in Washington this week.

Did China send spy balloons over India as well? Possibly, though India hasn’t uttered a word about it yet. But a path may exist for the US and China to resume talks and get back to where Biden and Xi left off.

Beijing might have already shown that willingness with a rare gesture of contrition when the US first responded publicly to the balloon.

China expressed regret and said the balloon — “airship” — “is civilian in nature, used for meteorological and other scientific research. Due to the influence of westerly winds and its limited control capability, the airship deviated from its intended course”.

The Chinese leadership was looking forward to Blinken’s visit as an opportunity to put behind a scrappy past, first over the trade war triggered by former US President Donald Trump and then the Covid-19 pandemic, which started in China and shut down the world for almost two years.

They might just have to wait for the US to get over the balloon.

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Biden facing a 1962 in slow motion with PRC

Washington is stumbling into another version of India’s own 1962 war with China, writes Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat

The Sunday Guardian (TSG) was among the first media outlets in the world to be barred not just physically but online by the PRC in 2020. It does not therefore come as a surprise that academics known to be cosy with the CCP spew venom on the paper as well as on some of its contributors. A recent gem of vituperation against TSG was by an individual who claimed to be a professor in Australia. According to her, to talk of a Sino-Wahhabi alliance was a flight of fantasy. What she makes of the military exercises taking place that involve Turkey, Pakistan and China are not known.

Perhaps she believes that President Erdogan is a true follower of Kemal Ataturk, the leader who secularized Turkey, and that Pakistan run by its army is an exemplar of what a tolerant, liberal democracy ought to be. Small wonder that non-Muslims in that enlightened country have dropped from around 37% of the population to less than 2% over the 75 years that Pakistan was carved out of India. Whether it be Somalia or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, the PRC has cordial relations with each of the countries that openly practise discrimination against significant elements of the population.

Not just the lady professor but a few other Australian academics as well have responded especially sharply in public to reports in TSG that the CCP was steadily expanding its control over several of the South Pacific Islands, now that it has created and claimed ownership rights over several islands it has built in what ought to be called the ASEAN Sea but is termed the South China Sea for some reason. Just days ago, Daniel Suidani, one of the few South Pacific leaders who were brave enough to call out the CCP, was voted out of his job as Prime Minister of Malaita, a part of the Solomon Islands.

Supporters of his warned of the well-funded, remotely directed operation to topple him through a no-confidence motion in the legislature of that state. Their warnings went unheeded by policymakers in Australia and New Zealand, who have taken on themselves the task of assisting the South Pacific Island countries to resist the tentacles of the ruthless, expansionary moves of a nearby superpower. Suidani had protested against the action by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands of shifting diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

From that time onwards, for more than two years he was the target of the China-leaning lobby in the Solomon Islands, and they finally succeeded in persuading (through methods that are not difficult to guess) enough legislators to get passed the no-confidence motion.

Australia and New Zealand are far closer to India or to Indonesia than they are to Ukraine or Germany, and yet both appear to have lost any enthusiasm that they may have had in preventing the spread of authoritarian tentacles in nearby waters. Instead, both Auckland and Canberra seem to be obsessed with the conflict that has been taking place between Russia and Ukraine. In Asia, with the exception of South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, no other country has thus far shared the substantially greater priority given by New Zealand and Australia to Europe rather than to the world’s biggest continent.

Even in the case of South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, there has been from the Biden administration none of the gifts of advanced weaponry that has been sent by Washington to Ukraine. This when any one of this trio is much more vital to the national security of the US than Ukraine is. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping is into an unprecedented third term in his job. Having achieved that, simply for reasons of survival, he needs a fourth term. Unless he is able to fulfill his promise of recovering the “lost lands” (i.e. those territories that belong to the PRC only in the imagination of the CCP leadership), even the usually docile CCP Central Committee may balk at giving him yet another term once he completes his present term within five years.

Which is why this period is one of extreme danger to Taiwan in particular, the country that the CCP proclaims is a “renegade province”. It must be said that even though the members of NATO have not directly entered the Russo-Ukraine war, a seamless flow of weaponry has gone to Kiev, not to mention sanctions on Russia that only its abundance of resources has shielded that country from economic collapse. In particular, China is by far the biggest purchaser of Russian natural resources, a factor that has enabled Moscow to shrug off the impact of western sanctions.

Delegates to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China – Xi Jinping.(photo:Xinhua/IANS)

The fall of Taiwan would critically weaken the defences of two US treaty allies, South Korea and Japan, and would have almost as severe an effect on the Philippines. The ripples would then spread to Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Given that, why President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken still cling to the doctrine of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to defending Taiwan in the event of an attack by China makes no sense.

Rather than prevent a conflict by humouring the exaggerated sensibilities of Beijing, the doctrine of strategic ambiguity only pushes forward the prospect of a kinetic attack on Taiwan by China. Together with strategic clarity on what is an essential reaction in the context of overall US interests, the Biden administration needs to put in place a mechanism to begin delivery of advanced weaponry to Taiwan in the way this has been done for Ukraine.

The visible eagerness of the Biden administration to downplay the significance of the strategic slap that the PLA administered to it in the form of a mammoth spy balloon has cast doubt in several corners of the Indo-Pacific about the extent of resolve of the White House to resist authoritarian expansionism in the region. Seeking a diplomatic America-Chini Bhai Bhai is as much a chimera as India’s efforts to get a military-controlled Pakistan to sheathe its terrorist talons and choose the path of cooperation rather than conflict with India.

Given the steady salami slice upon salami slice of the advance of PRC expansionism within the Indo-Pacific, Washington is already stumbling into another version of India’s own 1962 war with China, except that this time around, it is in slow motion. When or even whether this oncoming reality will become evident to the Biden White House is unclear.

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US Takes Down Unidentified Aerial ‘Object’ in Alaska

The US military was quicker to down flying ‘object’ than Chinese balloon, reports Yashwant Raj

Unidentified Flying Object over Alaska brings US military into quick action. A US fighter jet shot down an “object” flying over Alaska on Friday, in a new — but much swifter — repeat of the downing of a Chinese spy balloon last week that threw ties between the two countries into a new crisis.

The object — that’s what the US is calling it at this early stage of investigation — was described by Defence officials as as large as a car — in contrast to the Chinese balloon which was the size of three passenger buses. But the officials acknowledged they had few other details — nothing about its ownership, origin or purpose.

“I can confirm that the Department of Defence was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours. The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,” John Kirby, spokesperson of the US National Security Council said in a White House briefing.

He added: “Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object. And they did, and it came inside our territorial waters. Those waters right now are frozen — but inside territorial airspace and over territorial waters.”

Pressed for more details, Kirby said, “We’re calling this an ‘object’, because that’s the best description we have right now. We do not know who owns it, whether it’s a — whether it’s state owned or — or corporate owned, or privately owned. We just don’t know.”

The US department of Defence gave some more details at a separate briefing: the object was first noted on Thursday by the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). It was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight”.

An F-22 fighter jet that took off from an airbase in Alaska brought down the object with an IM-9X missile.

But this flying object was not apparently carrying any surveillance equipment — compared to the massive payload the size of three passenger buses of the spy balloon — and did not have the ability to manoeuvre itself.

The Chinese spy balloon had entered the US also through Alaska and was allowed to drift across the breadth of the American landmass till it was safely out of water because it was shot down because the US military feared danger to civilian population down below from falling debris.

Republican Senators grilled Defence officials at a hearing on Thursday for, one, allowing the spy balloon to enter Alaska and, two, letting it fly across the state and into the American mainland.

“As an Alaskan, I am so angry, I want to use other words, but I’m not going to,” Lisa Murkowski, a Republican Senator from Alaska, to Defence officials.

The US Navy has released photos of debris of the suspected Chinese spy balloon which was shot down by an American F-22 fighter jet over the Atlantic Ocean on February 4.

“It’s like this administration doesn’t think that Alaska is any part of the rest of the country here … To get to the US, you’ve got to come through Alaska.”

The detection and downing of the balloon ushered new tensions between the US and China just as they had seemed on the verge of better understanding and engagement — compared to the Trump’ years — building on the first in-person summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his visit to Beijing just hours before take off and Biden celebrated the shooting down of the balloon with a taunt directed at the Chinese President in his State of the Union speech, saying he had left Xi in an unenviable place, which no other world leader would want.

ALSO READ: Chinese balloon capable of spying, US confirms

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US Fed releases 2023 stress test scenarios for banks

In addition to the hypothetical scenario, banks with large trading operations will be tested against a global market shock component that primarily stresses their trading positions…reports Asian Lite News

The US Federal Reserve Board has released the hypothetical scenarios for its annual stress test, which helps ensure that large banks are able to lend to households and businesses even in a severe recession.

In a release on Thursday (local time), the US central bank said 23 banks will be tested this year against a severe global recession with heightened stress in both commercial and residential real estate markets, as well as in corporate debt markets. The stress test evaluates the resilience of large banks by estimating losses, net revenue, and capital levels — which provide a cushion against losses — under hypothetical recession scenarios that extend two years into the future.

However, the scenarios are not forecasts and should not be interpreted as predictions of future economic conditions, it cautioned in the release.

US Federal Reserve

“In the 2023 stress test scenario, the U.S. unemployment rate rises nearly 6-1/2 percentage points, to a peak of 10 percent. The increase in the unemployment rate is accompanied by severe market volatility, a significant widening of corporate bond spreads, and a collapse in asset prices,” it said.

In addition to the hypothetical scenario, banks with large trading operations will be tested against a global market shock component that primarily stresses their trading positions. The global market shock component is a set of hypothetical shocks to a large set of risk factors reflecting market distress and heightened uncertainty.

Also, for the first time, this year’s stress test will feature an additional “exploratory market shock” to the trading books of the largest and most complex banks, with firm-specific results released.

“This exploratory market shock will not contribute to the capital requirements set by this year’s stress test and will be used to expand the Board’s understanding of the largest banks’ resilience by considering more than a single hypothetical stress event. The Board also will use the results of the exploratory market shock to assess the potential of multiple scenarios to capture a wider array of risks in future stress test exercises,” the release added. (ANI)

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20 years later, Senate eyes repeal of Iraq war authorization

The vote, which would come after consideration in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, could take place just before the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq….reports Asian Lite News

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that the Senate will vote to repeal two decades-old measures giving open-ended approval for military action in Iraq, raising the hopes of a bipartisan group of senators who want to reclaim congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments.

The vote, which would come after consideration in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, could take place just before the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It would repeal the 2002 measure that greenlighted that March 2003 invasion, along with a separate 1991 measure that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War to expel Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait.

“Every year we keep this authorization to use military force on the books is another chance for a future president to abuse or misuse it,” Schumer said. “War powers belong squarely in the hands of Congress, and that implies that we have a responsibility to prevent future presidents from hijacking this AUMF to bumble us into a new war.” He was referring to the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

The bill, led by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Todd Young, R-Ind., passed the Senate Foreign Relations panel and the then- Democratic-led House in 2021. But it never came up for a vote in the full Senate, despite significant bipartisan support.

The Iraq war authorizations “are no longer necessary, serve no operational purpose, and run the risk of potential misuse,” Kaine said Thursday.

The House is now led by Republicans, and it’s unclear if leaders would bring the bill up for a vote. Forty-nine House Republicans supported the legislation two years ago, but current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy opposed it.

The Biden administration has supported the move, arguing that ending the war authorization against Iraq of the Saddam Hussein era would make clear that the Iraq government of today is a partner of the United States. It would also remove a grievance for rival Iran to exploit, State Department officials have said.

But Republican opponents have argued that revoking the two authorizations for military force would signal U.S. weakness to Iran.

“The ayatollah is listening to this debate,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said, referring to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when the panel debated the legislation two years ago.

Republicans also pointed out that President Donald Trump’s administration had cited the 2002 Iraq war resolution as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani.

Supporters of the repeal said presidents should instead come to Congress.

“The framers gave Congress the grave duty to deliberate the questions of war and peace, but for far too long this body has abdicated this duty,” said Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican sponsor of the bill in the House. “We must do our job.”

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Biden invites Nepal PM for conference

Biden hosted the first Summit for Democracy in 2021 December in which Nepal’s former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba joined virtually…reports Asian Lite News

The United States has invited Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda to the Summit for Democracy to be hosted by President Joe Biden in late March.

Samantha Power, administrator of the USAID, who paid a visit to Kathmandu on Tuesday and Wednesday, told a media briefing that Prachanda has been invited to the second Summit for Democracy which is taking place on March 29 and 30 both virtually and physically.

Biden hosted the first Summit for Democracy in 2021 December in which Nepal’s former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba joined virtually. The US side hopes Nepal’s top leadership will participate in the summit at least virtually, if not physically.

Power said that the US side looks forward to Prime Minister Prachanda’s participation in the summit.

“The invitation has been extended to Prime Minister Prachanda,” said Power adding, “This gives an opportunity to the prime minister to reinforce and continue what the former prime minister had committed to. Prachanda will also get to talk about his plans to strengthen the democratic process and rule of law.”

The first Summit for Democracy, which was viewed by China and Russia as anti-communist US-led club, witnessed the participation of 100 governments in which they made nearly 750 commitments to advance democracy, fight corruption, and counter authoritarianism.

“Building on the first Summit for Democracy held in December 2021, this gathering will highlight how democracies deliver for their citizens and are best equipped to address the world’s most pressing challenges,” the State Department said on its official website.

Power, who met PM Prachanda and Deputy Prime Minister Bishnu Poudel on Wednesday and Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal on Tuesday, said that her meetings with the Nepali leadership largely focused on wide-ranging issues including strengthening democracy, institutionalising the federal system and impact of climate change on Nepali farmers.

“I had a very productive meeting with the prime minister, where we committed to fostering democracy, completing the remaining task of the peace process and his ambitious reform plan,” she said.

Prachanda and Power also discussed bringing more foreign investment in Nepal by relaxing legal and taxation provisions, as well as promotion of entrepreneurship, agriculture, tourism and clean energy, according to her.

Power is the highest level US official to visit Kathmandu after the formation of a new communist-dominated government in Nepal on December 25 last year. As the US and China jostle for influence in Nepal, the US side has stepped up its engagements with Nepal of late.

Power, who once served as the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, argued that her country’s ongoing support to Nepal is aimed at protecting the country’s sovereignty and independence.

“I think of the depth, links and scope of our enduring friendship and partnership between people of the two nations. Geopolitics was there during the Cold War and it is there now. But our focus is work. We do partnerships for the well-being of Nepali farmers, and building schools and health centres. We will also focus on your efforts to build back better. All these contributions we make in Nepal are not a product of geopolitical dynamics. These are the products of decade long partnership and friendship,” she said.

The US official also admitted that Washington’s  engagements across the globe including in Nepal have been questioned. “It is largely due to misinformation. US officials are often questioned about the objective of US engagements and people get confused,” she said.

Power’s visit is taking place at a time when the United States has renewed its interests in South Asia, primarily to counter an aggressive China which has also poured significant investments in smaller South Asian nations including Nepal.

There have been a flurry of visits from the US to Nepal in recent weeks, indicating that the Biden administration wants to engage with the new China-friendly government to ensure that the US geo-strategic interests in the Himalayan region are not compromised, analysts said.

She further said,“We care about the Nepali people for their own sake. We are supporting Nepal in its aim to be a middle-income country.”

Power argued that the US is partnering with Nepal and respecting its sovereignty.

“We respect what we are partnering with Nepal but we support the Nepali-led development process. Our concerns and commitments are for the sake of Nepali people so we have been here for the past 75 years,” she said.

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‘Baseless’: ISPR denies Gen Munir’s visit to US

The ISPR added that the army chief is on an official visit to the UK from February 5-10 in connection with the fifth Pakistan-UK Stabilisation Conference….reports Asian Lite News

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Thursday termed the speculations over Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir’s visit to the US as “baseless”, local media reported.

In a series of tweets, the military’s media wing said: “There have been baseless speculations on social media that the COAS is visiting the US,” The News reported.

The ISPR added that the army chief is on an official visit to the UK from February 5-10 in connection with the fifth Pakistan-UK Stabilisation Conference.

The ISPR’s statement came just hours after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked to comment on the army chief’s speculated visit to the US, The News reported.

“We are not aware of the army chief’s trip to the US. ISPR could inform better on this matter,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told journalists during her weekly press briefing.

The military’s media wing explained that the conference is a bi-annual event for military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, in which senior Pakistani military leadership has been participating since 2016.

The visit is seen as highly important in view of the rising issue of Taliban militancy and the situation in the South Asian region. This is General Munir’s first visit to the UK after taking over as Pakistan’s army chief at the end of November last year, The News reported.

The conference will also focus on the Ukraine war’s impact on the EU, the UK, and its consideration for Pakistan.

According to a source, General Munir will also address a security think-tank towards the end of his visit.

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