Latest news with #trilateralcooperation
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan, China, Bangladesh agree to enhance cooperation in trade, investment and maritime affairs
ISLAMABAD: Senior officials of Pakistan, Bangladesh and China on Friday vowed to enhance trilateral cooperation in various sectors such as trade, investment, health, education, maritime affairs and others, the Chinese foreign ministry said. Pakistan and Bangladesh are both part of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which aims to connect Asia, Africa and Europe. China envisions the BRI to be a global network of roads, railways, ports, energy pipelines and trade corridors that strengthens Beijing's trade ties with other regions for the benefit of its economy. Pakistan and China are historic allies while strained ties between Islamabad and Dhaka have started to improve since the ouster of former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina last year. The China-Pakistan-Bangladesh Trilateral Vice Foreign Minister/Foreign Secretary meeting was held in Kunming, Yunnan on Thursday, to discuss cooperation in various sectors between the three countries. The meeting was attended by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, Bangladeshi Acting Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique and Pakistani Additional Secretary (Asia Pacific) Imran Ahmed Siddiqui. Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch participated in the first phase of the meeting via video link. 'The three sides agreed to explore and implement cooperation projects in such areas as industry, trade, maritime affairs, water resources, climate change, agriculture, human resources, think tanks, health, education, culture, and youth,' the Chinese foreign ministry said. The statement said Pakistan, Bangladesh and China will establish a working group to follow up and implement the understandings reached during the meeting on Thursday. The three sides emphasized that China-Bangladesh-Pakistan cooperation adheres to true multilateralism and open regionalism, not directed at any third party, it added. Pakistan's foreign office said Baloch conveyed Islamabad's readiness to work with China and Bangladesh to enhance ties in trade and investment, agriculture, digital economy, environment protection, marine sciences, green infrastructure, culture, education and people-to-people exchanges. 'The three sides agreed that trilateral cooperation would be guided by the principles of openness, inclusivity, good neighborliness, mutual respect and trust, while working toward win-win cooperation,' Pakistan's foreign office said. Pakistan has recently eyed closer cooperation in trade and investment with regional allies as it grapples with a macroeconomic crisis that has drained its financial resources, significantly weakened its currency and triggered a balance of payments crisis for the South Asian country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has repeatedly spoken about his government's intention to enter 'mutually beneficial' partnerships with allies as opposed to seeking loans from them. In recent months Pakistan has signed memoranda of understanding with allies such as Saudi Arabia, China, United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Turkiye and others worth billions of dollars.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Japan, U.S. and South Korea conduct joint aerial drill
Japan, the United States and South Korea conducted a joint aerial exercise in the airspace south of South Korea's Jeju island Wednesday, according to the South Korean Air Force. It was the first three-way joint training since the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was inaugurated on June 4. According to the South Korean Air Force, the drill was conducted with the aim of strengthening trilateral security cooperation to deter North Korea's increasingly sophisticated nuclear and missile threats. F-2 fighters of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, F-16 fighters of the U.S. Air Force and F-15K fighters of the South Korean Air Force took part in the drill. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that, while previous joint drills included U.S. aircraft carriers and strategic bombers, the latest one comprised only fighter jets. Lee, who is seeking to deescalate tensions with his northern neighbor, may have opted to avoid using weaponry viewed as threats by the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The Lee administration has indicated that it will maintain security cooperation with Japan and the United States, which was expanded under Lee's predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol. The South Korean president and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba confirmed the close cooperation among the three countries in a meeting Tuesday in Canada.
South China Morning Post
05-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Russia moves again to join with China and India despite trust issues from border disputes
Russia's fresh bid to revive a strategic triangle with China and India as a counterbalance to the Western-led international order faces headwinds given the deep-seated distrust between the two Asian powers, according to observers. Advertisement However, United States President Donald Trump and his aggressive and unpredictable policies could be the catalyst to bring the three together, one analyst says. The assessment was made as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov objected to what he described as Nato's attempt to draw India into 'anti-China' efforts, and reaffirmed Moscow's hope for India and China to restore a three-way mechanism that has been in limbo since the deadly 2020 China-India border dispute 04:07 Xi Jinping says China, Russia have 'special responsibility' to stand up to power politics Xi Jinping says China, Russia have 'special responsibility' to stand up to power politics 'Now that India and the People's Republic of China are reaching an understanding on de-escalating tensions along their shared border, the moment has arrived to revitalise RIC,' Russia's top diplomat said at a Eurasian security forum in the Russian city of Perm last week, referring to the Russia-India-China framework. It is not the first time since violence broke out at the China-India border in May 2020 that Russia has tried to push for a resumption of the trilateral mechanism. The border dispute largely froze bilateral ties until a disengagement agreement was reached in October last year in a bid to de-escalate tensions between the world's two most populous nations and normalise the relationship. Russia brokered two high-level meetings between senior defence and foreign policy officials of China and India months after their countries' border conflict broke out in 2020, a move that highlighted Moscow's influence within the RIC mechanism. Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putin also tried to push for a leaders' summit of the two countries when he had separate talks with his Chinese and Indian counterparts in December 2021, before his country invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Japan Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Australian defense chief doubles down on trilateral ties but rules out Asia pact
Australia is doubling down on a push to deepen trilateral military cooperation with Japan and the United States, but has ruled out a broader Indo-Pacific collective defense pact for now, the nation's defense chief told The Japan Times. 'The three countries are doing a whole lot to, in a sense, trilateralize bilateral activities that each of us have, and that is greatly enhancing our capacity and our capability across our three nations," Richard Marles said in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore over the weekend. One example of this approach, he said, is in the area of air and missile defense where they are aiming to build a networked architecture. 'We look at the really good work that the two of them, Japan and the U.S., are doing, and we have sought to do what we can to join in,' Marles said, pointing out that such opportunities come about because of the 'very deep trust that exists between the three countries.' Other examples include greater intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cooperation, more joint training activities such as the first trilateral Bushido Guardian exercise set to be held in September and the reciprocal deployments of trilateral air assets, including airlift and F-35 fighters. Efforts are also under way to enable Japan's Amphibious Rapid Deployment to participate in the U.S. Marines rotations that take place in the northern Australian city of Darwin every year. The push, which comes at a time when Washington is urging both allies to ramp up defense spending, also extends to defense-industrial cooperation in a bid to not only boost military capabilities but also supply-chain resilience. For instance, efforts are under way to leverage Australia's long-range strike weapons, Japan's stand-off defense capabilities and U.S. systems to increase trilateral deterrence. The three partners are also looking to accelerate technology transfer in the rapidly emerging field of 'collaborative combat aircraft and autonomy' and start joint research on composite aerospace materials by mid-2026. Cooperative projects under the trilateral Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) arrangement are also being planned. Marles' remarks followed a trilateral meeting in Singapore with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Pete Hegseth and Gen Nakatani, where the defense chiefs agreed to more trilateral alignment of both policy and operational objectives as well as to enhance activities around Japan while including the Self-Defense Forces in more bilateral activities between the U.S. and Australia. 'As a priority, we direct each defense authority to further explore the reinforcement of systems, to support trilateral policy and operational coordination,' the partners said in a joint statement released during the security conference. U.S. Marines utilize a combat rubber raiding craft for transit during an amphibious assault with the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade in Australia during Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 in August 2023. | U.S. Marine Corps Much of the military cooperation with Tokyo is expected to be coordinated via the SDF's newly launched Joint Operations Command, which is set to play a critical role in responses with allies and partners to a broad spectrum of potential crises. A key factor behind the trilateralization push has been the speed at which Japan-Australia ties have been expanding — observers and officials both say the quasi-allies appear committed to closely coordinating their national security policies than ever before. 'The depth and extent of our relationship with Japan is profound,' said Marles, who also serves as Australia's deputy prime minister. 'It has never been greater ... and that's not by accident,' he added, noting that the bilateral visiting-forces pact — formally known as a Reciprocal Access Agreement — that entered force in August 2023 'has clearly been a really important enabler,' facilitating more frequent and complex joint activities across all domains. The strategic partners are also gearing up for boosted industrial tie-ups over the coming months. 'Japan is a technological powerhouse, right at the cutting-edge of modernity ... and so it just makes sense that we should be doing more in terms of cooperating across our innovation systems, our defense-science systems,' Marles said. 'We have talked about wanting to do that, and are looking at opportunities for us to cooperate more at that level and across our defense-industrial bases.' A key opportunity could potentially arise from the Royal Australian Navy's program to acquire general-purpose frigates to replace its aging Anzac-class warships. Australia is now examining the bids put forward by manufacturers from Germany and Japan, the latter of which is proposing an Australianized version of its upgraded Mogami-class frigates. A decision on the winning bid is expected to be made before the end of this year. 'Both bids are very impressive,' Marles said. 'We are currently working through those in an appropriate way.' Ultimately, he noted, "we need to be making the best decision for Australia in relation to this,' adding that an important aspect will be the speed of acquisition. 'The commitment is to do that in this decade, in the a very short time frame. And so that's the focus of both tenders, in terms of the way they put forward their bids.' Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles arrives for a trilateral meeting between Japan, the U.S. and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday. | REUTERS To get the frigates as quickly as possible — the first one needs to be in the water by 2029 — the three initial vessels would be built overseas in the yard of the designer, while manufacturing of the remaining ships, up to eight more, would transition to Henderson in Perth, Western Australia. But Australia's growing security cooperation with like-minded countries goes beyond the U.S. and Japan, as it is also a member of U.S.-led groupings such as AUKUS, 'the Quad' and 'the Squad,' which also involve countries such as Britain, India and the Philippines. Asked whether he would welcome steps to transform these 'informal' defense initiatives into a collective defense pact, Marles said Canberra is comfortable with the arrangements it has with the United States and New Zealand, and 'wouldn't be seeking to alter that.' That said, he pointed to the numerous cooperation opportunities offered by these 'minilateral' groupings, which often follow specific agendas. 'It's not the same as the mutual defense obligations that exist in relation to NATO,' Marles said, but in a practical way, 'what we're doing is working with these countries to build up our interoperability, our levels of cooperation and our capability.' All of that, he added, is aimed at 'contributing to the stability and rules-based order within the region, and ultimately, therefore contributing to peace and prosperity.'
Russia Today
21-05-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
China, Afghanistan and Pakistan look to boost trade and security cooperation
China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will enhance trilateral cooperation in various sectors, including trade and security, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement was posted on X after informal talks in Beijing between Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Wednesday. 'The three Foreign Ministers reaffirmed trilateral cooperation as a vital platform to promote regional security and economic connectivity,' the Pakistani ministry said. 'They discussed enhancing diplomatic engagement, strengthening communications, and taking practical steps to boost trade, infrastructure, and development as key drivers of shared prosperity.' Islamabad and Beijing have also agreed to expand China's global infrastructure development program, the Belt and Road Initiative, to Afghanistan through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).Earlier this month, the Taliban-led Afghan government issued a statement through its Interior Ministry, calling for 'mutual respect and constructive engagement' with both Pakistan and China. Before Wednesday's trilateral meeting, Dar held separate talks with Wang, in which the Chinese Foreign Minister called Pakistan an 'iron-clad friend' and 'all-weather strategic partner.' The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that the two countries agreed to enhance cooperation in various sectors, including trade, investment, agriculture, and industrialization, in addition to maintaining regular communication. China had said on Tuesday that it supports Pakistan in defending its 'national sovereignty and territorial integrity.'Pakistan's overtures towards China and Afghanistan come in the wake of a brief military confrontation with India that ended in a ceasefire on May 10. During the four-day clash in South Asia in May, Beijing, which has traditionally enjoyed warm relations with Islamabad, had called on both sides to de-escalate. Hours before India and Pakistan agreed to the ceasefire, Wang called Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and expressed hope that New Delhi and Islamabad 'would remain calm and restrained, properly handle differences through dialogue and consultation and avoid escalating the situation.' On Monday, an official from a think tank affiliated with the Indian Defense Ministry told Bloomberg that China had provided Pakistan with air defense and satellite support during the recent military standoff in South Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, Member of the CPC Political Bureau & Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, Wang Yi, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, held an informal trilateral meeting in…
