Saudi Arabia vows to work with Biden on way forward in Yemen

Mandya, Mar 12: The police and agencies deputed to ensure the security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mandya got the T-shirt removed from a boy who had come to attend the public rally on Sunday.

The boy was wearing a black T-shirt and had come to attend the rally with his mother. The police stopped him and asked his mother to remove his T-shirt as it was black.

The mother removed it and took his son topless inside the premises where the rally was planned. The mother again put the T-shirt on her boy after passing through the metal detectors.

 But, the police personnel rushed to her and told her that they can not allow the boy inside with the black T-shirt due to protocols.

The mother had to remove her son's black T-shirt again and took him inside topless. The police maintained that they could not take chances with the protocols.

New Delhi, Mar 18: Food supply in India and across the globe will go down by at least 6 per cent by 2050 as water crisis and heat stress caused by climate change will hit productivity, the Global Commission on Economics of Water (GCEW) has warned.

The commission is convened by the Government of the Netherlands and facilitated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Its latest report used a large dimensional computable general equilibrium model to project impacts on global irrigated food production and food security.

Food supply decreases were projected for two climate change scenarios or representative concentration pathways (RCP) based on the intensity of the greenhouse gas emissions. The optimistic RCP 4.5 based on drastic cut in emissions and RCP 8.5 the worst-case scenario. The model used 2014 as base year.

"Even under the best-case climate change scenario of RCP4.5, most African countries experience an increase in people with severe food insecurity by more than one third," the report 'The What, Why and How of the World Water Crisis' said.

The "best case" scenario for India meant a 6.52 per cent fall in food supply while it was 16.1 per cent in the worst case scenario. In China, it was 8.97 per cent and 22.4 per cent, respectively while the fall in the US was pegged at 4.8 per cent and 12.6 per cent.

Food insecurity affects 72-81 crore people globally and is linked to water insecurity. The fall in production, the study said, will push 100 crore people into severe food insecurity, the report said.

In another report titled 'Turning the Tide', the GCEW issued a seven-point agenda for collective action: managing global water cycle with just and equity, adopt outcomes-focussed approach to water conservation, cease underpricing water, phase out subsidies in agriculture and water, establishing just water partnerships, fortifying freshwater storage systems and reshape the multilateral governance of water. 

Various countries have welcomed the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, while the regime in Tel Aviv seems to view the development as a “fatal blow” to its regional coalition building against the Islamic Republic.

After several days of intensive negotiations hosted by China, Iran and Saudi Arabia finally clinched a deal on Friday to restore diplomatic relations and re-open embassies, seven years after ties were severed over several issues.

The important development soon became a hot topic in regional as well as international media and reactions from other countries began to pour in.

“The return to normal relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia provides great capacities to both countries, the region, and the Muslim world,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who is set to soon meet with his Saudi counterpart to make the necessary arrangements, wrote in a post on his Twitter account.

“The good neighborliness policy, as the key axis of the Iranian administration’s foreign policy, is strongly moving in the right direction and the diplomatic apparatus is actively behind the preparation of more regional steps,” he said.

Riyadh eyeing continuation of dialogue

Saudi National Security Adviser Musaid Al Aiban, who negotiated the agreement with his Iranian counterpart Ali Shamkhani, said that Riyadh “welcomes the initiative of His Excellency President Xi Jinping, based on the Kingdom’s consistent and continuous approach since its establishment in adhering to the principles of good neighborliness.”

He said Saudi Arabia takes “everything that would enhance security and stability in the region and the world,” while “adopting the principle of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve differences.”

“While we value what we have reached, we hope that we will continue to continue the constructive dialogue, in accordance with the pillars and foundations included in the agreement, expressing our appreciation for the People’s Republic of China’s continued positive role in this regard.”

China: This is ‘victory for dialogue’

China’s Top Diplomat Wang Yi praised the agreement as “a victory for dialogue, a victory for peace, offering major good news at a time of much turbulence in the world.”

China will continue to play a constructive role in handling hotspot issues in the world and demonstrate its responsibility as a major nation, Wang said. “The world is not just limited to the Ukraine issue.”

Nasrallah: Agreement could lead to new horizons

Addressing a local event on Friday, the secretary general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the agreement will be “to the benefit” of the region.

“The rapprochement of Iran and Saudi Arabia proceeds in its normal path and can open new horizons for the region and Lebanon,” he said.

The Iranian foreign minister also held separate phone conversations with his Omani, Iraq, and Qatari counterparts who embraced the resumption of ties.

Turkey and the United Arab Emirates also welcomed the new development in separate statements.

US welcomes ‘de-escalation’

In the first reaction, the United States claimed that it embraces “de-escalation” in West Asia.

“Generally speaking, we welcome any efforts to help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region. De-escalation and diplomacy together with deterrence are key pillars of the policy President Biden outlined during his visit to the region last year,” a White House National Security Council spokesperson told Reuters.

Ansarullah hails move against foreign interference

Mohammed Abdulsalam, the Yemeni Ansarullah resistance movement’s chief negotiator, said the region is in need of resumption of “normal ties” between its countries.

“The region needs the resumption of normal ties between its countries for the Islamic nation to reclaim its lost security as a result of foreign, especially American-Zionist, interferences,” he tweeted.

Foreign interference, he said, has taken advantage of differences in the region and used Iranophobia to wage aggression on Yemen.

‘Dangerous development for Israel’

Meanwhile, the Israeli regime did not seem to take the development so well. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the agreement a “political victory” for Iran and a “serious and dangerous development for Israel.”

“This delivers a fatal blow to efforts to build a regional coalition against Iran,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid also described the reconciliation deal as a dangerous development that strips Israel of its regional defensive wall. “The agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran reflects the complete and dangerous failure of the Israeli government’s foreign policy,” Lapid said.

Benny Gantz, former minister of military affairs, also reacted to the rapprochement, stating that it was a cause for concern.