World

China foreign minister Wang Yi in Sri Lanka to discuss Belt and Road Initiative

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Sri Lanka on Sunday seeking to advance China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, as the island nation looked to Beijing for help as it tries to rescue itself from a foreign currency and debt crisis.

Wang arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday from the Maldives on the last leg of a multi-city trip that also took him to Eritrea, Kenya and Comoros in Africa.

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In Sri Lanka, Wang was scheduled to meet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Later, Wang and Prime Minister Rajapaksa were to speak at Colombo’s Port City, a reclaimed island developed with Chinese investment.

The diplomatic visit comes as Sri Lanka faces one of its worst-ever economic crises, with foreign reserves down to around $1.6 billion, barely enough for a few weeks of imports. It also has foreign debt obligations exceeding $7 billion in 2022, including repayment of bonds worth $500 million in January and $1 billion in July.

The declining foreign reserves are partly due to infrastructure built with Chinese loans that don’t generate revenue. China loaned money to build a sea port and airport in the southern Hambantota district, in addition to a wide network of roads.

Central Bank figures show that current Chinese loans to Sri Lanka total around $3.38 billion not including loans to state-owned businesses, which are accounted for separately.

“Technically we can claim we are bankrupt now,” said Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, principal researcher at the Point Pedro Institute of Development. “When you have foreign reserves in the red, that means you are technically bankrupt.”

The situation has left households facing severe shortages. People wait in long lines to buy essential goods like milk powder, cooking gas and kerosene. Prices have increased sharply and the Central Bank says the inflation rate rose to 12.1 percent by the end of December from 9.9 percent in November. Food inflation increased to over 22 percent in the same period.

Because of a currency shortage, importers are unable to clear their cargo containing essentials and manufactures are not able to buy raw materials from overseas.

Expatriate remittances have also fallen after the government ordered the mandatory conversion of foreign currency and controls over exchange rates.

Rating agency downgrades have resulted in Sri Lanka losing much of its borrowing power. In December, Fitch Ratings noted an increased probability of credit default.

The Central Bank has added a currency swap in Chinese currency worth $1.5 billion to the reserves but economists disagree whether it can be part of foreign reserves or not.

Wang’s visit also has regional significance, as both China and India, Sri Lanka’s closest neighbor, vie for influence in the island.

“We can see Sri Lanka being saddled between India and China for a potential bailout package,” said political analyst Ranga Kalansooriya. “India is dragging its feet for some time while China is trying to manipulate the situation to the maximum,” he added.

India has been wary of China’s increased investments and loans in Sri Lanka since a civil war ended in 2009. India considers Sri Lanka part of its territory of influence. China considers Sri Lanka to be a critical link in its Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative.

Kalansooriya says Wang may also be looking to iron out relations with Sri Lanka after they were recently strained over a shipment of fertilizer that allegedly contained harmful bacteria and business agreements that were inked with China’s rivals, the United States and India.

Kalansooriya said that China is unlikely to bail Sri Lanka out of its economic crisis.

“They will look for more business opportunities, fishing in the troubled waters of economic doldrums in the country,” he said.

World

Saudi Arabia on track to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030: Minister

Saudi Arabia is on track to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the country’s Deputy Minister for Water told the UN this week.

Dr Abdulaziz al-Shaibani – who headed the Kingdom’s delegation participating in the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York between March 22-24 – said the Kingdom will achieve its goals thanks to the restructuring of the water sector and the development of the National Water Strategy, state news agency SPA reported Friday.

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Saudi Arabia has allocated $80 billion for water projects within the coming years as part of Saudi efforts to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

Dr. Al-Shaibani added that the Kingdom launched Vision 2030 and adopted the National Water Strategy in line with the goals of sustainable development.

The National Water Strategy aims to preserve water resources, protect the environment, and provide high-quality and efficient services.

The objectives of the National Water Strategy are in line with SDG6 in enabling access to clean and safe water globally.

“The Kingdom aspires to provide sanitation services to all by increasing the percentage of the population covered by sanitation services to be more than 95 percent by 2030. Also, KSA established the National Water Efficiency and Conservation Center,” Dr. Al-Shaibani added.

He noted that sustainable and resilient water management was on the G20 agenda during Saudi Arabia’s presidency and stressed that the Kingdom is on the right track to improving water demand management in agriculture to achieve SDG6.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, saw all 193 member countries of the UN unanimously adopt a landmark set of development goals intended to accelerate the world’s efforts to eradicate poverty, end hunger, protect the oceans and address climate change by 2030.

The 17 sustainable development goals are broken down into 169 specific targets that each country has committed to try to achieve voluntarily over the next 15 years.

Saudi Arabia progresses with its 2030 climate action plan: Energy Minister

Saudi Arabia announces 13 new renewables projects in latest move towards net-zero

World

South Korea’s Yoon vows to make North pay price for its provocations

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Friday he will make sure North Korea pays a price for its “reckless provocations”, hours after the North said it has tested a new nuclear-capable underwater attack drone.

North Korean state news agency KCNA said on Friday it tested a new nuclear underwater attack drone under leader Kim Jong Un's guidance this week, as a US amphibious assault ship arrived in South Korea for joint drills.

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The North's state news agency also confirmed it fired cruise missiles during the weapon test and firing drill that took place from Tuesday to Thursday.

During the drill, the North Korean drone cruised underwater for over 59 hours and detonated in waters off its east coast on Thursday, the KCNA said. It did not elaborate on the drone's nuclear capabilities.

The drone system is intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval striker groups and major operational ports, the KCNA said.

“This nuclear underwater attack drone can be deployed at any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operation,” the news agency said.

World

Ukraine prepares counteroffensive as Russia’s assault on Bakhmut flags

Ukrainian troops, on the defensive for months, will soon counterattack as Russia’s offensive looks to be faltering, a commander said, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that without a faster supply of arms the war could last years.

Zelenskyy said Europe must increase and speed up its supply of weapons, again calling for long-range missiles, ammunition and modern aircraft, and impose additional sanctions on Russia.

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“If Europe waits, the evil may have time to regroup and prepare for years of war,” a clearly frustrated Zelenskyy said on Thursday in a video address to European Union leaders, delivered from a train.

At the EU summit, leaders approved a plan agreed by foreign ministers on Monday to send 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine over the next year. They also discussed global food security and sanctions on Russia.

Britain has pledged to supply armor piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to help destroy Russian tanks, a step President Vladimir Putin said would force a response from Russia as the weapons had “a nuclear component”.

Slovakia said on Thursday it had handed over the first four MiG-29 jets it has pledged to Ukraine, with the rest to be delivered in weeks.

Ukraine’s top ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces would soon begin a counter offensive after withstanding Russia’s brutal winter campaign.

He said Russia’s Wagner mercenaries, who have been at the front line of Moscow’s assault on eastern and southern Ukraine, “are losing considerable strength and are running out of steam”.

“Very soon, we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we did in the past near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balakliya and Kupiansk,” he said, listing Ukrainian counteroffensives last year that recaptured swathes of land.

There was no immediate response from Moscow to suggestions its forces in Bakhmut were losing momentum, but Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin issued statements in recent days, warning of a Ukrainian counterassault.

On Monday, Prigozhin published a letter to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, saying Ukraine aimed to cut off Wagner’s forces from Russia’s regular troops.

Reuters journalists near the front line north of Bakhmut saw signs consistent with the suggestion that the Russian offensive in the area could be waning. At a Ukrainian-held village west of Soledar, on Bakhmut’s northern outskirts, the intensity of the Russian bombardment noticeably lessened from two days earlier.

“It was really hot here a week ago, but in the last three days it has been more quiet,” said a Ukrainian soldier who used the call sign “Kamin”, or “Stone”.

“We can see this in the enemy’s air strikes. If before there were five-six air raids in a day, today we had only one helicopter attack,” said the soldier.

A slowdown by Russia in Bakhmut could mean it is diverting its troops and resources to other areas.

Britain said on Thursday that Russian troops had made gains further north this month, partially regaining control over the approaches to the town of Kreminna. Intense battles were also under way further south.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov agreed with that assessment. He said on YouTube that Russia’s attacks on Bakhmut were decreasing, and it was shifting its efforts south to the town of Avdiivka.

Russia’s forces have become more active in areas to the north in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions as well as central Zaporizhzhia and southern Kherson regions, he said.

Any shift in momentum in Bakhmut, if confirmed, would be remarkable given the city’s symbolic importance as the focus of Russia’s offensive, and the scale of the losses on both sides there in Europe’s bloodiest infantry battle since World War Two.

On the ground in Ukraine, front lines have largely been frozen since November. Ukraine had looked likely to pull out of Bakhmut weeks ago but decided to fight on.

Zelenskyy had earlier on Thursday continued a tour of front-line provinces, visiting the Kherson region in the south a day after meeting troops near Bakhmut.

A video showed him meeting residents in Posad Pokrovske, a bombed-out village on the former Kherson front line recaptured in Ukraine’s last big advance last year.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what it calls a “special military operation”, saying Ukraine’s ties to the West were a security threat. Since then, tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers on both sides have been killed.

Russia has destroyed Ukrainian cities and set millions of people to flight. It says it has annexed nearly a fifth of Ukraine. Kyiv and the West call the war an unprovoked assault to subdue an independent country.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU would work to find Ukrainian children deported to Russia and press for their return. She said 16,200 children had been deported and only 300 returned to Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin a week ago for the forcible removal of Ukrainian children.

“It is a horrible reminder of the darkest times of our history … to deport children. This is a war crime,” von der Leyen said.