WORLD

In a a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga on Monday expressed concern over “unilateral attempts” to change the status quo in the East and South China Sea, China’s recently-passed Coast Guard Law and the situation in Hong Kong.

China passed a law last month explicitly allowing, for the first time, its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels.

In the interaction which lasted for about 40 minutes, Suga and Modi affirmed their cooperation towards realising a free and open Indo-Pacific. They also agreed to steadily advance both Japan-India bilateral cooperation and Japan-Australia-India-US quadrilateral cooperation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make an overnight visit to Bangladesh on March 26 to join celebrations in the neighbouring country to mark the 50th anniversary of its freedom in 1971, people aware of the matter said.

The two-day trip to Dhaka will be PM Modi’s first foreign visit in 15 months and is seen to reflect New Delhi’s emphasis on its ties with Bangladesh which PM Modi has described as “an important pillar” of India's neighbourhood first’ policy. He last travelled abroad In November 2019 and like everyone else, had to scrap his travel plans over the last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

PM Modi will be the chief guest at the main event organised by the Sheikh Hasina government to commemorate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring erstwhile East Pakistan as an independent country, Bangladesh, on March 26, 1971. India sided with Bangladesh and helped defeat Pakistani forces who eventually surrendered on December 16, 1971.

Human rights groups called on the Philippine government to investigate what they said was the use of "lethal force" during police raids on Sunday that left at least nine activists dead.

The raids in four provinces south of Manila resulted in the death of an environmental activist as well as a coordinator of left-wing group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, among others, and resulted in the arrest of four others, activist groups said.

"These raids appear to be part of a coordinated plan by the authorities to raid, arrest, and even kill activists in their homes and offices," Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said in a statement.

China hiked its defence budget to $209 billion on March 5, maintaining a single-digit growth for the sixth consecutive year with a 6.8 percent increase in 2021.

The budget hike was announced by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the country's Parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC).

Defending the increase, Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for the NPC, told the media here that China's efforts to strengthen the national defence do not target or threaten any country.

Whether a country poses a threat to others depends on what kind of defence policy it pursues, he said, adding that China is committed to the path of peaceful development and adheres to a defence policy that is defensive in nature.

A severe 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the east of New Zealand's North Island on Thursday, prompting a tsunami warning, and authorities advised people in some coastal areas to move immediately to high ground.

There were no immediate reports of damage, but the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said there was land and marine threat in some areas of the east coast of North Island.

"Coastal inundation (flooding of land areas) is expected in areas under Land and Marine threat," NEMA said in a tweet.

The closest major city to the epicentre is Gisborne with a population of about 35,500. People near the coast from Cape Runaway to Tolaga Bay were told to evacuate.