Asia-Pacific

Photo: Ulaanbaatar Forum participants engaged in discussion during a break. Credit: Blue Banner.

Ulaanbaatar Forum Pleads For Denuclearization Leading To Korean Unification

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Korean Unification has not been at the heart of a growing thaw in inter-Korean relations. But it was the centerpiece of the International Forum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Entitled 'Korean Unification through Reduction of Tension and Confidence Building', the Forum on June 7-8, 2018 adopted a Statement drawing attention to "the centenary of the Korean Independence Movement" in 2019 and supporting "the goal of peaceful unification of the Korean people."

The Korean Declaration of Independence read out aloud on March 1, 1919 at Taehwagwan Restaurant in Seoul said: "We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. This we proclaim to all the nations of the world in witness of human equality. This we proclaim to our descendants so that they may enjoy in perpetuity their inherent right to nationhood."

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 17 June 2018

Photo: Kim and Trump walking to the summit room during the DPRK–USA Singapore Summit on June 12, 2018. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Substance Eludes Kim-Trump Historic Summit

By Sergio Duarte

The writer is Ambassador, former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and President of Pugwash.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The off-again, on-again meeting between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un which finally took place in Singapore on June 12 was undoubtedly an historic occasion. However, a sober analysis of its outcome can hardly conclude that it was either a success or a failure. Even so, the mere fact that after several weeks of mutual provocations and derogatory exchanges the two leaders agreed to meet in a cordial, almost congenial atmosphere is in itself an auspicious achievement.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 16 June 2018

Photo: Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, to be seen in the middle. Danielle Bell, head of UNAMA Human Rights, presenting the report.

UN Report Faults Access to Justice of Afghan Women

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI | KABUL (IDN) – Though a law on the elimination of violence against women has been in place in Afghanistan since 2009, Afghan women’s access to justice remains severely inadequate, says a new report released by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Entitled Injustice and Impunity: Mediation of Criminal Offences of Violence against Women, the report documents the individual experiences of Afghan women, survivors of violence across the country, between August 2015 and December 2017, and identifies the human rights implications of the widespread use of mediation in cases of violence against women.

: Devinder Kumar; UN INSIDER; 16 June 2018

Photo: Kim and Trump shaking hands at the red carpet during the DPRK-USA Singapore Summit on June 12, 2018. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The Trump-Kim Singapore Summit Relieves Tensions, Nuclear Dangers Remain

By David Krieger

The writer is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is the author and editor of many books on peace and nuclear weapons abolition, including ‘Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action.’ This article first appeared on NAPF. – The Editor.

SANTA BARBARA (IDN) - The Singapore Summit was a dramatic turn-around from the adolescent name calling that Trump and Kim had engaged in only months before. Trump had labelled Kim as “Little Rocket Man,” and Kim had labelled Trump as “Dotard.”

Having gotten through this, the summit was on for June 12, then it was abruptly cancelled by Trump when Mike Pence had referred to the “Libya model” for North Korean nuclear disarmament, and a North Korean official had called Pence a “political dummy.”

: David Krieger; OPINION; 14 June 2018

Photo: Snapshot of Hamid Karzai's Interview with NTV Russia. Courtesy: Office of Hamid Karzai.

Karzai Blames U.S., Pakistan For Afghanistan Chaos

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BONN (IDN) – Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has blamed the United States and Pakistan for the chaos created in his country over the past two decades. He firmly believes that the West, including Germany, should admit to their failures in his war-torn country.

He followed up on this argument, initially advanced in a keynote address to the Global Media Forum on June 12, 2018, in a panel discussion and an interview with Forum host, the German public international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 13 June 2018

Photo: First Anniversary Commemoration of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund. Credit: UNOSSC

UN Chief Lauds India for Deepening South-South Cooperation

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Secretary‑General António Guterres has commended India's "very important role in shaping the Sustainable Development Goals". He was speaking at an event marking the first anniversary of the India‑United Nations Development Partnership Fund in New York.

The Fund aims at supporting sustainable development for low-income nations with 22 projects having already been approved in 25 partner countries ranging from hurricane rehabilitation and climate early warning system to government accountability and agriculture.

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 June 2018

Photo: North Korea's Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol delivers a personal letter from Chairman Kim to President Trump, in the White House Oval Office on June 1, 2018. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Paving the Way to Denuclearization and Peace with North Korea

By Daryl G. Kimball

The author is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. Following is the text of an Issue Brief analyzing the prospects beyond the U.S.-North Korean Summit on June 12 in Singapore.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The South Korean-brokered diplomatic opening between leaders from the United States and the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK) that began in January 2018 is a welcome shift away from the missile and nuclear tests and “fire and fury” threats of 2017 that brought the region to the brink of a catastrophic war.

Donald Trump deserves credit for being so bold as to agree to pursue the June 12 summit meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The ongoing inter-Korean dialogue and prospect for a historic U.S.-North Korean summit has lowered tensions but tensions could flare up once again – especially if Trump goes off-script, acts impulsively, or if either side has unrealistic expectations about what the meeting can accomplish.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 09 June 2018

Photo: Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Credit: The Star

Malaysia Starts on a Journey Towards a New Beginning

By Jayant Menon*

MANILA (IDN) – The world has seen a number of unexpected electoral outcomes lately; the most widely reported being Brexit in Europe and the election of President Donald Trump in the United States. But the ouster of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government in Malaysia was not only unexpected; it was amazing.

Even the winners could hardly believe that they had won, while the losers took an ungraciously long time to accept defeat. With probably the worst gerrymander in history, the incumbents technically required only 16.5 per cent of the vote to win, but still lost.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 05 June 2018

Photo: India's top beach destination Goa commits to #BeatPlasticPollution. Credit: World Environment Day.

Grassroots India Beginning To Beat Plastic Pollution

By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE (IDN) – A 32-year-old Rajeswari Singh launched on a six-week marathon mission on World Earth Day setting out to walk some 1,100 kilometres from Vadodara in western India to reach New Delhi on World Environment Day on June 5, spreading a simple message 'Stop using plastic', and accentuating it by forgoing all the way any kind of plastic packaged drinks or food.

In fact, she hasn’t used any kind of plastic over the past decade. Besides, her message echoes the theme of this year's World Environment Day – 'Beat plastic pollution' – with India, among the world’s top ten consumers of plastic, playing global host.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 01 June 2018

Image: Buddhism – which has shaped Asian civilizations for over 2000 years – has much to offer in guiding Asia's development path.

Asia's Buddhists Should Step Forward to Pave the Way to Sustainable Development

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne*

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Buddhists across Asia are going to temples, bathing the baby Buddha, giving food to monks, lighting lamps and offering incense sticks accompanied by chanting paying homage to the Buddha on Vesak day, May 29 this year. While keeping with these traditions is important, Asia's Buddhists are letting go a great opportunity to shape the global development path in an ecologically friendly, compassionate and a sustainable manner.

As the centre of gravity of the world’s economy shifts to Asia, Buddhism – which has shaped Asian civilizations for over 2000 years – has much to offer in guiding Asia's development path. Buddhist philosophy has a rich reservoir of ideas on living sufficiently and comfortably without exploiting nature and people, ideas that anyone can adopt irrespective of your religious affiliations, as the mindfulness fad in the West shows. Mindfulness itself is rooted in the age-old Buddhist meditation practice of 'Vipassana Bhavana'.