Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff on Official
Visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman
Feb252017
Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff on Official Visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman
Feb252017
Defence Security Corps Celebrates 70th Raising Day
Defence Security Corps (DSC), which was raised on 25 February 1947 as ‘Defence Department Constabulary’
Feb252017
Press release: Foreign Secretary to visit Egypt
In his first visit to Egypt as Foreign Secretary, Mr Johnson will also host a reception with British investors and some of Egypt’s best and brightest entrepreneurs. During the trip the Foreign Secretary will also meet with representatives of civil society and Human Rights activists.
Speaking ahead of the visit, the Foreign Secretary said:
I am looking forward to my first visit to Egypt as Foreign Secretary and meeting both President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry to discuss a wide range of issues and deepen the strength of our bilateral relationship.
The UK is a longstanding friend of Egypt. We are Egypt’s top economic partner and strong allies against terrorism and extremist ideas. The UK is a champion of a renewed Egypt, because stability, peace and growth in this region are the bedrock of opportunity and security for British people and people in the region.
Further information
Feb252017
Stop the exaggerations about Brexit
Most days I hear or read a news item that tells me something has happened because of Brexit, or something has happened despite Brexit. Usually the item has nothing to do with Brexit whatsoever, would have happened without the Brexit vote and would have been given a different explanation then.
Some of the media and political spin post Brexit were classic examples of fake news. The commentators , forecasters and journalists put on their dark Brexit glasses, and decided that anything bad which happened happened because of Brexit, and anything good which happened happened despite Brexit. They went out looking for negative stories. The property commentators and some of the valuers wanted to show commercial property was down 15-20%. The only problem was there were plenty of buyers and no sellers at such discounts. They wanted to show housebuilding declined and home prices fell. Apart from top end prices which had been in freefall ever since Mr Osborne’s anti Non Dom anti dear property budget in April, home prices stayed up. Housebuilders, often gloomy themselves, had to report good levels of sales and expand their production to cater with rising demand. There were plenty of large company executives prepared to say they were worried and reviewing their investment in the immediate aftermath of the vote, but when actual news came out about investment it was of new investment being made in the UK to reflect the good levels of consumer and business demand.
So here’s a thought for the gloomy commentators. Most of what is happening on jobs, inflation, investment, car buying, homeownership is nothing to do with Brexit. The price rises we have seen come from higher oil and commodity prices and are in line with similar rises in the USA and Germany which are not undertaking an exit from the EU. Just as joining the EEC did not lead to any increase in UK GDP, just as completing the single market did not lead to any increase in GDP, leaving it should not lead to any fall in GDP. I think leaving the EU is a most important political and constitutional event, but it is not for the UK much of an economic event. It is a bit bigger economic event for the rest of the EU, as they are the ones who will lose our contributions and need to secure their favourable access to our market which they use to such good effect at the moment.
Feb252017
UN Security Council calls for immediate investigation into recent violence in DR Congo’s Kasai region
25 February 2017 – The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the recent spate of violence in the south-central Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), calling on the Government to “immediately dispatch a credible and impartial investigation.”
In a press statement issued in New York yesterday evening, the Council expressed grave concern at the recent reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by local militia in that region, including unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers, and of killings of civilians by members of Congolese security forces, known as FARDC, “all of which might constitute war crimes under international law.”
Recalling that the DRC Government bears the primary responsibility to protect civilians within its territory, the Security Council urged the authorities to “constantly exercise maximum restraint and proportionate lawful use of force in its efforts to restore order.”
The Council also called on the Government to immediately dispatch an investigation and to bring to justice and hold accountable all those responsible. Welcoming the Government’s announcement in this regard, the Council encouraged the UN Stabilization Mission in the country, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, “to provide support to the Congolese authorities, if requested, in the conduct of this investigation, developments in which they will follow very closely.”
MONUSCO was further urged to monitor and report on violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and to update its contingency plans in this regard. In the longer-term, the Security Council encouraged the DRC Government to continue its efforts for the extension of State authority throughout the vast central African nation, ensuring credible governance with capable institutions, especially in the security sector, to prevent and deter violence.
As for the political situation in the country, the Security Council reaffirmed its strong support for the 31 December 2016 political agreement, “and its pursuit of peaceful, credible, free, fair and inclusive elections by December 2017, leading to a democratic transfer of power.”
In this context, the 15-nation body said it is “increasingly concerned” at the continuing lack of progress in the dialogue among the political stakeholders in DRC related to implementation modalities of the agreement. The Council expressed concern that, two months after the signing of the agreement, the appointment of a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement coalition, as well as the installation of a new transitional government and of the Comité National de Suivi de l’Accord (CNSA) have yet to take place.
As such, the Council stressed the need to maintain the political goodwill that led to the signing of the agreement in order to avoid further insecurity in the DRC. Further, the Council called on all stakeholders in the DRC, including President Joseph Kabila, the presidential majority and the opposition, to redouble, in good faith, their efforts towards a speedy conclusion of the ongoing talks on the “arrangements particuliers” of the agreement, in order to urgently nominate a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement.
The Security Council reaffirmed the need for all parties to support and participate constructively in the mediation led by the Conférence épiscopale nationale du Congo (CENCO), and recalled that full and timely implementation of the 31 December agreement, in accordance with the Congolese Constitution and in line with Council resolution 2277 (2016), is critical in upholding the legitimacy of the transitional institutions until elections.