Jaishankar, Wang discuss next steps: Resuming Mansarovar Yatra, flights

A month after India and China agreed to disengage at two friction points along the Line of Actual Control leading to a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wangi Yi discussed the "next steps in India-China relations" that include "resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrimage, data sharing on trans-border rivers, direct flights between India and China and media exchanges".

Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the two ministers also agreed that a meeting of the Special Representatives and of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism will take place soon. 

Jaishankar, in a post, said, "On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio, met CPC Politburo member and FM Wang Yi of China."

Defence to space, India & Italy announce 5-year action plan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni announced a five-year strategic action plan outlining their vision for collaboration in a range of key sectors, including defence, trade, energy and space.

The two leaders unveiled the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025- 29 as they met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"Our talks centred around deepening ties in defence, security, trade and technology. We also talked about how to boost cooperation in culture, education and other such areas," Modi wrote on X. "India-Italy friendship can greatly contribute to a better planet"

No help coming from Rio G20, COP29 gets down to resolving differences itself

With the 'positive signals' it was desperately seeking from the G20 summit in Brazil nowhere to be found in the G20 leaders' declaration, the COP29 climate meeting got down to resolving the critical differences in finance negotiations on its own.

The host country's chief negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev said a new draft text on finance agreement, being called the New Cumulative Quantitative Goal on climate finance, or NCQG. 

The COP29 meeting is trying to finalise a comprehensive agreement on climate finance to enable a greater flow of money for climate action. 

Break barriers to the flow of finance, technology to Global South: India

Lamenting the fact that some developed countries were taking "unilateral measures", making it more difficult for developing countries to take climate actions, India said as far as climate change was concerned there should not be any barriers to the flow of finance and technology.

Speaking at the high-level segment at the COP29 climate meeting here, India's Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said any demand for more ambitious climate action from the developing countries must be accompanied by enabling technology and finance.

"Raising climate ambitions to align with Paris temperature goals has to be preceded by the free availability of green technologies, producing them on the scale, and availability of finance for their deployment, particularly in Global South," the minister said. 

Parliament panel unlikely to submit a report on Waqf Bill in Winter Session

With Ruling and Opposition MPs, who are a part of the Joint Committee of Parliament (JCP) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, seeing several run-ins, walkouts and differences of opinions in meetings, members of both camps agree that the panel is "unlikely" to submit its report in the upcoming Winter Session. 

Some members say proceedings have slowed down. "I do not think there is any scope to submit the report during the Winter Session. During informal talks, Opposition members discussed that an extension must be sought. 

The issue is a complicated one and we need to meet more stakeholders, hold more consultations and undertake more study tours to understand the Bill and the consequences of implementing it," an Opposition MP. 

Trump's art of the deal

Trump's deal-making focus, even from a position of strength, doesn't necessarily guarantee smooth sailing. 

A deal with Russia, for instance, must satisfy Vladimir Putin without compromising America's European allies. 

As Trump's team discusses ending the war in Ukraine, Putin is working to consolidate his military position before Trump takes office. 

Biden, with nine weeks left before handing over to Trump, is complicating Putin's plans by allowing Ukraine to use missiles against targets in Russia. 

Any restructuring of US relations with China under Trump must factor in the concerns of America's Asian partners, including India. 

An American deal with North Korea must have support from South Korea and Japan. 

Building on goodwill

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Federal Republic of Nigeria on November 16-17. 

The last visit of an Indian PM to Nigeria was by Manmohan Singh in 2007. Before that, Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the country in 2003. The first ever Indian Prime Ministerial visit to the country was by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962. Between 1983 and 2023, India has hosted seven Nigerian presidents. 

PM Modi had a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu followed by a delegation level meeting. He addressed and interacted with the Indian community in the capital. 

Three Memorandums of Understanding were inked during the visit. A highlight of the visit was the decoration of PM Modi with the national award of Nigeria, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger. The only other awardee of the honour is the Late Queen Elizabeth.

WHAT ARE ATACMS, THE US MISSILES UKRAINE FIRED INTO RUSSIA?

Ukraine's Military used long-range American-made missiles - known as the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) -on Tuesday to strike into Russia for the first time. 

The development came just two days after President Joe Biden's administration allowed Ukraine to use these missiles, marking a significant reversal of Washington's policy in the Ukraine- Russia conflict. 

What are ATACMS missiles? 

There are several variants of ATACMS, a long-range missile system that often carries varying amounts of cluster bomblets. 

Ukrainian forces used US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time in October 2023, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the weapons had "proven themselves".

The China Emissions Paradox

Despite being the world's second-largest economy, China is considered a "developing" country by the United Nations and is not mandated by the international climate change architecture to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in the short term.

However, China has been the world's biggest emitter for more than 15 years and now accounts for well over 30% of annual global emissions. If China does not reduce its emissions, the world is unlikely to meet its emission reduction targets.