Viewpoint by Vijay Gokhale This article by a former Foreign Secretary of India and a former Ambassador to China first appeared on The Hindu on 20 March 2020. It is republished because of an insider’s view of the changing nature of China’s diplomacy characterised by unilateralism and a one-size-fits-all approach. “China, post-COVID-19, will be operating […]
NPT’s 50th Anniversary Encourages 17 Signatories To Remind Five Nuclear-Weapons States of Their Commitments
By UN Bureau NEW YORK (IDN) – The upcoming 2020 Review Conference of a landmark international treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, presents “a timely opportunity for the States Parties to undertake a comprehensive review and assessment” of its current status, says the Joint Communiqué issued on […]
India’s Kerala Is Combating COVID-19 Through Participatory Governance
By Yadul Krishna* NEW DELHI (IDN) – The left-ruled Indian State of Kerala remains in the global spot for its effective and efficient measures in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. The state subjugated the Indian news headlines, projecting its potential, strength and humane approach to the outer world, leaving an operative model that other states can […]
COVID Crisis Has Shone A Spotlight on Long-Festering Inequality
The Future Is Wide Open Viewpoint by Nathan Gardels, The World Post The author is WorldPost co-founder and editor in chief. This article appeared first on THEWORLDPOST* on 23 May 2020 and is being republished in view of its forward-looking approach. BERLIN (IDN) – The first real-time global pandemic has so broken the inertia of […]
COVID-19: Strong Global Partnerships Key To Bolstering Africa’s Response
Viewpoint by Bience Gawanas The author is UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa, OSAA. The following is the text of the statement by Ms. Gawanas from the OSAA website*. NEW YORK (IDN) – If there ever was a time for full-scale global solidarity and cooperation to fight for health rights that time is now […]
COVID-19 Endangers 80 Million Children by Disrupting Vaccination Efforts
UN Agencies Call for a Joint Effort to Safely Deliver Routine Immunization By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | NEW YORK (IDN) – Ahead of the virtual Global Vaccine Summit on June 4 in London, the World Health Organization WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have warned that COVID 19 is disrupting life-saving immunization services around […]
UN Launches Strategic Global Initiative to Combat Scourge of Misinformation
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN)—The United Nations has launched a strategic initiative to combat the growing scourge of COVID-19 misinformation by increasing the volume and reach of trusted, accurate information. “We cannot cede our virtual spaces to those who traffic in lies, fear and hate,” said UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who announced the initiative […]
COVID-19 Revives Racism Against Asian-Australians and Threatens Relations with China
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) – Australia is entering what observers here say could be a deep recession, the first in almost 30 years. It was the rise of China that helped this sparsely populated vast continent to avoid a recession for the past three decades, the most extended period of economic growth in […]
Strain in Relations Between India and South Asian Neighbours
News briefs compiled by Suresh Jaura* TORONTO | NEW DELHI (IDN) – While India-Nepal territorial dispute escalated into a diplomatic crisis, Pakistan Prime Minister has been locked in a Twitter war with India on the long-drawn Kashmir conflict. At the same time, Pakistan has opened key border crossings with Afghanistan for trade. Celebrating the 11th […]
Racial Prejudice in Quest of Cure for COVID-19 Pandemic?
Madagascar President Proposes Use of Herbal Tea Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) – In the fight against COVID-19, the war between biology and economics has just expanded to the nationalist front, spilling over with the ferociousness of a zero-sum game. […]