WORLD

PM Narendra Modi met his Spain counterpart Pedro Sanchez on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome on Sunday. The two leaders discussed India-EU relations as well as cooperation on climate action and priorities at upcoming COP26.

They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific, said a government statement. “The two leaders welcomed the growing bilateral trade and investment linkages including the recent signing of the contract to procure 56 C295 aircrafts from Airbus Spain, 40 of which will be ‘Made in India’ in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems,” it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and top leaders of the European Union in Rome on Friday, ahead of the G20 Summit on Saturday.

India and Italy are likely to come up with a joint document on “energy transitions” which will focus on cooperation in non-renewable energy, sources told The Indian Express.

Modi and Draghi held extensive talks on diversifying India-Italy ties.

The Prime Minister will meet Pope Francis on Saturday. He is also likely to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

The top US military officer, General Mark Milley, has provided the first official US confirmation of a Chinese hypersonic weapons test that military experts say appears to show Beijing's pursuit of an Earth-orbiting system designed to evade American missile defenses.

The Pentagon has been at pains to avoid direct confirmation of the Chinese test this summer, first reported by the Financial Times, even as President Joe Biden and other officials have expressed general concerns about Chinese hypersonic weapons development.

But Milley explicitly confirmed the test and said that it was "very close" to a Sputnik moment -- referring to Russia's 1957 launch of the first man-made satellite, which put Moscow ahead in the Cold War-era space race.

Adding on to the already existing tension between the two governments, China has now claimed that Taiwan has no right to join the United Nations. China’s displeasure with the probability of Taiwan getting a seat in the United Nations General Assembly came after the US said that Taiwan should have more involvement in the United Nations.

"As the international community faces an unprecedented number of complex and global issues, it is critical for all stakeholders to help address these problems. This includes the 24 million people who live in Taiwan," US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said.

"Taiwan's meaningful participation in the UN system is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one. That is why we encourage all UN member states to join us in supporting Taiwan's robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community," Blinken added. However, this angered China who do not consider Taiwan as an independent country. As per China, Taiwan is a province that needs reunification, even if it means by force.

The Imran Khan-led government in Pakistan is afraid to discipline, but is ready to talk, to various Islamist militant groups that, emboldened by the rise of a Taliban government in Afghanistan next door, are increasingly taking to the streets to force their demands.

Challenged from various quarters, the government's immediate threat comes from the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) that has launched a 'Long March' to lay siege to the national capital.

The body of hardline Sunni activists demands that the government fight the perceived 'Islamophobia' in the Western world. More specifically, it wants the French envoy in Islamabad expelled for France's expulsion of Islamists at home and its role in the Charlie Hedbdo cartoons controversy.