INDIAN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER IN BEIJING
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj embarked on a three-day visit to Beijing where she was granted a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During her trip, Swaraj laid the groundwork for a visit to China by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this year, held a media forum with Chinese and Indian journalists, and attended the Russia-China-India Foreign Ministers’ meeting. Swaraj’s stay comes in the immediate aftermath of a high-profile visit to Delhi by US President Barack Obama. President Xi visited Delhi last year in a visit that was overshadowed by a People’s Liberation Army intrusion across the disputed China-India border. (India Today January 31, 2015)
OBAMA, DALAI LAMA WILL MEET IN PUBLIC FOR FIRST TIME
The Dalai Lama is scheduled to appear at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5, where President Obama is also expected to attend. The event will mark the first time the two leaders meet together in public. Obama and the Dalai Lama have met privately on three separate occasions, prompting loud protests from Beijing, which accuses the Dalai Lama of stirring unrest in Tibet. Last year, the Chinese Foreign Minister summoned a U.S. diplomat to convey his dismay at the U.S. president’s meeting with the Dalai Lama. (TIME January 29, 2015)
ISIS KHORASAN, PAKISTANI TALIBAN FORM ALLIANCE
The new South Asian branch of the Islamic State has formed an alliance with a collection of militants including the Pakistani Taliban. Lashkar-i-Islam, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and ISIS Khorasan comprise the new coalition of jihadist groups. The four groups reportedly formed the alliance to consolidate manpower and weapons, as well as to coordinate attacks in Khyber and other tribal areas. The head of the TTP, Mullah Fazlullah, ostensibly maintains control over the alliance. The TTP and Lashkar-i-Islam reconciled their differences in June 2014. Shahidullah Shahid, a former TTP spokesman, apparently facilitated the union when he traveled to Syria last summer to enter negotiations with ISIS. (The National February 1, 2015)
AT LEAST 40 KILLED IN PAKISTAN SHIA MOSQUE BLAST
A powerful bomb blast has killed at least 40 people in the Sindh province of southern Pakistan. The attack, which occurred in a Shia mosque, was allegedly carried out by militants from Jundallah, an anti-Shi’ite militant group allied with the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State. At the time of the blast, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was visiting Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. The bombing follows a wave of attacks against Pakistan’s Shi’ite minorities from various Sunni Islamist groups. (BBCJanuary 30, 2015)
MODI APPOINTS AMBASSADOR TO U.S. AS NEW TOP DIPLOMAT
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, current ambassador to the United States, to the position of Foreign Secretary. He replaces Sujatha Singh in a sudden and unexpected reshuffle transfer of power. Jaishankar helped to negotiate the 2008 civilian nuclear agreement between the U.S. and India. In a cable released by Wikileaks in 2010, the new foreign secretary stated that cooperation between the U.S. and India was important given China’s “more aggressive approach to international relations.” Jaishankar is expected “to consolidate the understandings that are growing between Washington and Delhi, and obviate tensions, as far as possible, between Delhi and Beijing.” (New York Times January 29, 2015)