Ukraine Situation Should Not Be Allowed in Indo-Pacific

Washington / Tokyo — 

Leaders of the Quad grouping of countries — the United States, India, Australia and Japan — agreed on Thursday that what is happening to Ukraine should not be allowed to happen in the Indo-Pacific, the prime ministers of Japan and Australia said.

A virtual meeting of the four-country grouping was held as concerns are increasing about Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China that has stepped up its alert level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, wary that Beijing might take advantage of a distracted West to move against it.

“We’ve agreed that unilateral changes to the status quo with force like this should not be allowed in the Indo-Pacific region,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, referring to Russia’s invasion.

“We’ve also agreed this development makes it even more important to work toward realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Kishida told reporters after the meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We cannot allow what is happening in Ukraine now to ever happen in the Indo-Pacific,” Morrison said in a statement after the meeting.

“We are resolute in our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region where smaller states do not need to live in fear of more powerful ones,” he added.

Reaffirming their ‘dedication’

A joint Quad statement said the leaders met to “reaffirm their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected and countries are free from military, economic and political coercion.”

The leaders, whose call followed a meeting of their foreign ministers in Australia last month, also “reaffirmed their dedication to the Quad as a mechanism to promote regional stability and prosperity.”

The statement, which added that the leaders had agreed to meet in person in Tokyo “in the coming months,” didn’t mention Taiwan but did say the leaders discussed the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

“They agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine,” it said.

Biden tweeted that the meeting with the Quad leaders covered “our commitment to sovereignty and territorial integrity around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific.”

Taiwan responds

Taiwan’s representative office in Washington said it welcomed the Quad’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. “Taiwan will continue to work with all peace-loving partners in the region for prosperity and stability,” it said.

Modi “underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” his office said.

It said developments in Ukraine were discussed, including the conflict’s humanitarian implications, and Modi “emphasized the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy.”

Washington sees the Quad and its growing relations with India as essential to its efforts to push back against China, but it is in a delicate balancing act with New Delhi, given the latter’s long-standing ties with Russia.

Of the Quad countries, only India has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the main supplier of arms to the Indian military, and India faces the possibility of U.S. sanctions for its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system.

Analysts say any moves by the U.S to impose sanctions on India for working with Moscow could set back Quad cooperation.

Donald Lu, U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, told a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that Washington had been fighting a “pitched battle” with India in diplomatic channels to urge it to take a clear position opposed to Russian actions in Ukraine.

He also said it was looking “very closely” at whether to the apply sanctions on India over its Russian arms deals.

Joint work allowed the seizure of a ton and a half of export-type cocaine hydrochloride - Colombia

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

The alkaloid is valued at the sum of $55 million dollars.

Thanks to the investigative work and collection of information by units attached to the SIJIN Criminal Investigation Section of Sucre and in development of the Operation called ‘FALCON’, the coordinated and inter-institutional work between units of the Colombian Navy and the National Police allowed the seizure of 1,518 kilograms of high-purity export-type cocaine hydrochloride.

Using available land, sea and air resources, the troops of both forces carried out the operation in the sector known as ‘Boca de Tinajones’, jurisdiction of the municipality of San Bernando del Viento, Córdoba.

The cache was located exactly in the ‘Sicara’ district of that municipality, where an illegal deposit was used by a transnational criminal organization dedicated to the transport and sale of drugs to Central America and finally to the United States markets.

According to judicial police investigations, the drug would belong to the logistics and financial subsystem of the Organized Armed Group GAO Clan del Golfo, and it was established that said structure would be gathering the cache to be used in a shipment with drugs by boat modality. fast; 61 sacks of this illicit substance were presumably destined for North American countries.

This result was achieved thanks to the forcefulness of the public force that spares no effort to guarantee coexistence and security in this area of ​​the Atlantic coast.

It should be noted that members of the Technical Investigation Corps of the Prosecutor’s Office applied the approved preliminary identification test – PIPH to the substance found inside the packages, which was positive for 1,518 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride.

During the operation, no captures were recorded, however, investigations continue to determine those allegedly responsible for guarding and marketing the alkaloid that would be valued at approximately $55 million dollars placed in US territory.

Putin Must Not Be Allowed to Flout International Humanitarian Law

Geneva — 
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns that rules of the international order that help protect peace and security will be weakened if Russian President Vladimir Putin is allowed to get away with his premeditated invasion of Ukraine.

In a video address to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Blinken warned the human rights and humanitarian crises affecting Ukraine will get worse if Putin succeeds in toppling the country’s democratically elected government.

“Look at Crimea, where Russia’s occupation has come with extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, the brutal repression of dissent. … Reports of Russia’s human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law are mounting by the hour,” Blinken said.

Photo Gallery:

In Photos: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, March 1, 2022

Since Russia invaded Ukraine six days ago, Blinken notes Russian strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructures have escalated. He says schools, hospitals and residential buildings have been targeted. He says critical infrastructure providing millions of people with drinking water, with gas to prevent them from freezing, with electricity to keep the lights on has been destroyed.

“The High Commissioner said yesterday that Russia’s attacks had killed at least a hundred civilians, including children, and wounded hundreds more — and said she expects the real figures are much higher. … Russia’s violence has driven over half a million Ukrainians from the country in just a few days,” Blinken said. “Children, the elderly, people with disabilities, who are making harrowing journeys through conflict zones.”

The Kremlin insisted Tuesday that Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.

The U.N. Refugee Agency is preparing for up to 4 million Ukrainians to flee for safety to neighboring countries. UNHCR officials say the situation looks set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.

Blinken says Russia’s repression does not stop at Ukraine’s borders. He says the Kremlin also is ramping up its repression within Russia. He says human rights defenders, journalists, Putin’s political opponents have long been subjected to harassment, intimidation, poisoning and imprisonment.

He says this treatment now is being meted out to Russians peacefully protesting the invasion of Ukraine. He says thousands have been detained, and anyone found to be assisting a foreign country or organization could be imprisoned for up to 20 years.

Putin Must Not Be Allowed to Flaunt International Humanitarian Law

Geneva — 
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns that rules of the international order that help protect peace and security will be weakened if Russian President Vladimir Putin is allowed to get away with his premeditated invasion of Ukraine.

In a video address to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Blinken warned the human rights and humanitarian crises affecting Ukraine will get worse if Putin succeeds in toppling the country’s democratically elected government.

“Look at Crimea, where Russia’s occupation has come with extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, the brutal repression of dissent. … Reports of Russia’s human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law are mounting by the hour,” Blinken said.

Photo Gallery:

In Photos: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, March 1, 2022

Since Russia invaded Ukraine six days ago, Blinken notes Russian strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructures have escalated. He says schools, hospitals and residential buildings have been targeted. He says critical infrastructure providing millions of people with drinking water, with gas to prevent them from freezing, with electricity to keep the lights on has been destroyed.

“The High Commissioner said yesterday that Russia’s attacks had killed at least a hundred civilians, including children, and wounded hundreds more — and said she expects the real figures are much higher. … Russia’s violence has driven over half a million Ukrainians from the country in just a few days,” Blinken said. “Children, the elderly, people with disabilities, who are making harrowing journeys through conflict zones.”

The Kremlin insisted Tuesday that Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.

The U.N. Refugee Agency is preparing for up to 4 million Ukrainians to flee for safety to neighboring countries. UNHCR officials say the situation looks set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.

Blinken says Russia’s repression does not stop at Ukraine’s borders. He says the Kremlin also is ramping up its repression within Russia. He says human rights defenders, journalists, Putin’s political opponents have long been subjected to harassment, intimidation, poisoning and imprisonment.

He says this treatment now is being meted out to Russians peacefully protesting the invasion of Ukraine. He says thousands have been detained, and anyone found to be assisting a foreign country or organization could be imprisoned for up to 20 years.