India and China are scheduled to hold the 12th round of Corps Commander-level talks on Saturday with the focus on working out an agreement for the second phase of disengagement from Gogra and Hot Springs in Eastern Ladakh.
During his visit, the Pentagon chief hoped to “discuss avenues to further strengthen” defense cooperation with the Philippines, as the two allies mark the 70th Anniversary of the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty.
Despite closer military relations, more than four decades after the Vietnam War ended in 1975, President Joe Biden’s administration has said there are limits to the relationship until Hanoi makes progress on human rights.
The two allies will launch full-fledged, working-level talks in early August in the United States to conclude the multiyear agreement as Tokyo seeks to convince Washington it cannot greatly increase its burden due to strained finances.
The first virtual meeting on August 5, hosted by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, will involve 30 parties, including international organisations, such as the United Nations, vaccine developers and foreign ministers from other countries, the Chinese foreign ministry said, without naming the countries.
Malaysia’s constitutional monarch delivered an unprecedented rebuke of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration on Thursday, accusing the government’s law minister of “misleading” Parliament over the alleged revocation of emergency ordinances that have been in effect since January to stem a rising tide of Covid-19 infections.
South Korea’s Blue House made a surprise announcement on Tuesday that the two Koreas had reestablished communication channels following the exchange of letters between the two countries’ leaders beginning in April.