No mention of Rohingya in Asean Summit draft
MANILA : A draft of the statement to be issued after the Asean Summit makes no mention of the exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine state following a military crackdown that has been described by the UN as ethnic cleansing.
One paragraph of the communique, seen by Reuters on Monday, mentions the importance of humanitarian relief provided for victims of natural disasters in Vietnam and a recent urban battle with militants in the Philippines, as well as “affected communities” in northern Rakhine state.
The statement was drawn up by the Philippines, current chair of the 10-member Asean — which includes Myanmar — whose leaders met for a plenary session in Manila on Monday.
The draft did not give details of the situation in Rakhine or use the term Rohingya for the persecuted minority, which Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked foreign leaders not to use.
Some members, particularly Muslim-majority Malaysia, have voiced concern. However, keeping with Asean’s principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of one another, the issue appears to have been put aside at the summit. WASHINGTON: After a weekend of hectic diplomatic parleys, India is still in the hunt for votes needed to install Dalveer Bhandari in the International Court of Justice for a second nine-year term, ahead of a crucial decision on the fate of Kulbhushan Jadhav, jailed by Pakistan on allegations of being an Indian spy.
“The prediction of the elections is not an exact science,” said an Indian diplomat, hours before the UN General Assembly and the Security Council start a final round of voting to pick either Bhandari or Britain’s Christopher Greenwood.
To win, a candidate must secure an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, which will vote concurrently but not independently.
The General Assembly was easy for India, getting 115 votes in the final round last week, way past the cut-off mark of 97. But the Security Council, of which Britain is a permanent member, has been a tougher proposition. Greenwood won nine of the 15 votes, securing a majority.
If Bhandari fails to be elected, India would be at a disadvantage when the Jadhav case comes up for hearing in December.
Britain too needs a win — a British judge has always been on the court since 1946.