Miscellanous Quiz: International Relations |30 Mar, 2021

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.

• This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.
• Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
• Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
• With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting (February 2004, Thailand), the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC).

Source: ForumIAS factly

The Maldives re-joined the Commonwealth, more than three years after the Indian Ocean island nation quit the association amid mounting criticism of its human rights record then.

• In 2016, the Maldives pulled out of the Commonwealth terming “unjust” the grouping’s decision to penalise the country over former President Mohamed Nasheed’s controversial ouster in 2012.
• It followed the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG)’s warning to Maldives of suspension from the bloc, voicing “deep disappointment” over the country’s lack of progress in resolving the political crisis during former President Abdulla Yameen’s presidency, whose authoritarian slant sparked concern domestically and internationally.

Source: The Hindu

The Group of Twenty, or the G20, is the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

• The G20 brings together the leaders of both developed and developing countries from every continent.
• Collectively, G20 members represent around 80% of the world’s economic output, two-thirds of global population and three-quarters of international trade.
• Throughout the year, representatives from G20 countries gather to discuss financial and socioeconomic issues.
• Originated in 1999 at the level of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, the G20 gathered for high-level discussions on macro-financial issues.
• In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the G20 was elevated to include the leaders of member countries.
• The first G20 Leaders’ Summit took place in Washington D.C. in November 2008.
• Consequently, the G20 agenda expanded beyond macro-financial issues, to include socio-economic and development issues.

Source: Indian Express

In a significant development for the region, the Quadrilateral Strategic Dialogue (“the Quad”) between India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. held its first Minister-level meeting since it was revived in 2017.

• The group is seen as a regional counter-weight to China and has only met at the Joint or Assistant Secretary level since 2017.
• Members of the Quad, barring Australia, are currently engaged in the annual Malabar exercises – military exercises that started between India and the U.S. in 1994 and became trilateral (with Japan) in 2015.
• India has not permitted Australia to participate in these exercises, concerned about what message it would send to China, which is wary of the exercise.

Source: The Hindu

The Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.

• It is established on October 14, 2013 in Song-do, South Korea and the permanent secretariat is located at Seoul.
• Representatives from election bodies in over 50 countries will congregate in Bengaluru to share their electoral experience with programmes connected to the Fourth General Assembly of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).
• Currently, the A-WEB has 115 members and 20 regional associations/ organizations as associate members.
• The members include 24 from Asia, 37 from Africa, 31 from America, 17 from Europe, and six from Oceania.
• The ECI will continue to remain on the executive board of the A-WEB for 2021–23 in its capacity as immediate former chair of the A-WEB.

Source: The Hindu

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) first met in November 1975 in London, and is thus popularly referred to as the “London Club”. It is a Group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

Source: The Hindu

Baltic States, the northeastern region of Europe, includes the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea.

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu concluded his 5-day tour to the three Baltic nations Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in August 2019.
• The visit was aimed at strengthening the bilateral engagements with the three nations, besides giving the relationships a fresh impetus in the context of a changing global order.
• Besides considering the strategic interests, the focus of the visit was also on improving cooperation in the fields of security, especially countering terrorism.

Source: Oriental Black swan

On April 1, 2020, China and India usher in the important moment of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

• Looking back at the past 70 years, China-India relations have moved ahead despite wind and rain and gone through an extraordinary development path.
• In the 1950s, the leaders of the older generation of the two countries made the historical decision to establish diplomatic relations between China and India, and jointly advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
• “Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai” (Indians and Chinese are brothers) resounded throughout our two countries.
• From the 1980s, the two sides agreed to solve the boundary question through peaceful and friendly consultation, established strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity, and achieved all-round development of bilateral relations.

Source: The Hindu

The Eastern Economic Forum was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in 2015 to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Unveiling the Russian edition of India’s ‘Look East, Act East’ policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged on September 2019 to extend a $1 billion Line of Credit to Russia’s Far East region (RFE).

Source: The Hindu

The Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID) brings together key decision makers, stakeholders and practitioners who are engaged in the field of remittances and migration for development.

• Since its first forum in 2007, IFAD has gathered over 1,000 participants from the public and private sector, and the civil society, to facilitate the creation of partnerships and the exchange of best practices in maximizing the impact of remittances to the benefit of migrants’ communities of origin.
• In doing so, IFAD partners with key international financial institutions and other prominent organizations, such as the European Commission (2015) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2017).
• The forum is held biannually, in conjunction with the observance of the International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) on 16 June.

Source: UN IFAD