2+2: 'India's Iranian oil imports, Russian defence purchases not primary focus'

Agencies

September 5, 2018

Shannon, Sept 5: United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that issues like India buying Russian missile defence systems and Iranian oil exports to the country would be discussed in the upcoming 2+2 dialogue, but also added these issues will not be the primary focus.

"They're part of the conversation. They're part of the relationship. They will certainly come up, but I don't think they'll be the primary focus of what we're trying to accomplish here. There are half a dozen things on the agenda that we're really intent on making progress on. Those decisions are important, they're important to the relationship for sure, but I don't see us resolving those or having the intention to resolve those during this set of meetings of the Strategic Dialogue. They're really about things that are big and strategic and will go on for 20, 40, 50 years. Those are the kinds of topics that Secretary Mattis and I are hoping to address - not that those aren't important, but they're not part of the structural relationship between the two countries," Pompeo told US traveling media en route to Shannon, Ireland.

The US Secretary of State underscored that he and US Defence Secretary James Mattis are looking forward to the 2+2 talks, which he called an "incredibly important meeting." The former termed India as the only designated defence partner and added that Washington and New Delhi share a "great relationship", which is crucial to the success of the US' Indo-Pacific strategy.

The 2+2 dialogue was deferred twice and Pompeo blamed himself for the cancellation of the talks for the second time. He said, "I regret it was my fault the second time. I had to travel to Pyongyang. But Secretary Mattis and I are both looking forward to this. We have a true strategic partner who is our only designated major defence partner, with whom we have a great relationship and who is very important to our success in our Indo-Pacific strategy. (It's an) enormous country with incredible opportunity and capacity for wealth creation. We hope we can find opportunities to continue to expand the relationship not only diplomatic and military-to-military but a good set of business relationships as well."

Pompeo, on being quizzed about his visit to Pakistan, said that he is making the trip in an effort to improve the bilateral relationship between Washington and Islamabad. He acknowledged that there are plenty of challenges to be tackled, but expressed hope that the new Pakistan government led by Imran Khan would resolve the irritants affecting the ties of both countries.

He elucidated: "I wanted to get out there at the beginning of his time in an effort to reset the relationship between the two countries. We have worked closely with the Pakistanis in my role as CIA director. Our teams have been working together for a long time. There are lots of challenges between our two nations for sure, but we're hopeful that with the new leadership that we can find a common ground and begin to work on some of our shared problems together. They have expressed good-faith intention to do so."

Pompeo, who is also being accompanied by General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said they would meet Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Jawed Bajwa and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during their day-long visit to the country.

"Chairman Dunford and I are heading out there together to have those conversations. We'll also meet with General Bajwa, who I've met with a number of times, and my counterpart, Foreign Minister Qureshi. So we'll have three opportunities to walk through the complexity that is this relationship and hopefully begin to make some progress so that we can get back to a set of common understandings. So that's really the very straightforward objective. I think it's important to meet the new prime minister (Imran Khan) early on in his time in office," the US Secretary of State noted.

Pompeo and Mattis are slated to arrive in India later today, prior to which they will make a stopover at Pakistan for a brief period.
Commenting on the Syrian conflict, Pompeo said that Russia has made a commitment to not carry out attacks in the de-escalation zone.

With regards to US President Donald Trump's tweet on the expectations by Moscow and Damascus to resolve the crisis, Pompeo continued: "So I've had conversations with lots of the potential participants. I've spoken with Foreign Minister Lavrov about this. I spoke with my Turkish counterpart, (Mevlut) Cavusoglu, this morning about it. We have a shared goal there. The Turks have outposts in Idlib, continuing. We are hoping that this can be resolved diplomatically."

On Monday, Trump took to Twitter and gave a stern warning to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad not to "recklessly attack" Idlib province. He also cautioned Iran and Russia to not participate in a "potential human tragedy" for the fear of making a "grave humanitarian mistake." His response came after suspected Russian planes on Tuesday carried out airstrikes in the rebel-held targets in Idlib province.

Reacting on the same, Pompeo said: "I've seen the reports of the Russian bombing and the Syrian bombing that's taking place today, or took place - would have been last night their time. The Russians made a commitment that said this was a de-escalation zone and this would be resolved through the Geneva process. I think the President's tweet was an effort to remind them of the commitment that they made."

He underscored that both Russia and the US share their concerns about terror activities in the northern parts of the war-torn country.

"There's no place for these people to go, and the Russians have the narrative that there are terrorists in Idlib. That is a true statement. We share their concern about terrorism emanating from northern, northwest Syria. We absolutely agree with them there are terrorists in those locations and they need to be taken care of such that they don't export terror around the world," Pompeo added.

Expressing concerns on the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, the US Secretary of State further said: "It is not the way to do that to put the lives of all these innocent civilians at risk and create a humanitarian crisis, and I think that's what you saw the President say last night as we're happy to work on the terrorism issue in this place, you made an agreement to handle this in a way that is different from what it appears you're thinking, please take that seriously. Then of course, too, we're always concerned they may use chemical weapons in the process of trying to obtain their military objective, and I think the President could not have been more clear over the last year in both word and action about how he feels about the use of chemical weapons."

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Powerful solar storm hits earth; will it disrupt communication, power grids?

News Network

May 11,2024

Washington, May 11: The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain -- and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend.

The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun -- came just after 1600 GMT, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center.

It was later upgraded to an "extreme" geomagnetic storm -- the first since the "Halloween Storms" of October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. More CMEs are expected to pummel the planet in the coming days.

Social media lit up with people posting pictures of auroras from northern Europe and Australasia.

"We've just woken the kids to go watch the Northern Lights in the back garden! Clearly visible with the naked eye," Iain Mansfield in Hertford, England, told AFP.

That sense of wonder was shared in Australia's island state of Tasmania.

"Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4 am this morning. I'm leaving today and knew I could not pass up this opportunity," photographer Sean O' Riordan posted on social media platform X alongside a photo.

Authorities notified satellite operators, airlines, and the power grid to take precautionary steps for potential disruptions caused by changes to Earth's magnetic field.

Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite internet operator has some 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, described the solar storm as the "biggest in a long time."

"Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far," Musk posted on his X platform.

Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around eight minutes, CMEs travel at a more sedate pace, with officials putting the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.

The CMEs emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet. The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings heightened activity.

'Go outside tonight and look'

Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP that how far the effects would be felt over the planet's northern and southern latitudes would depend on the storm's final strength.

"Go outside tonight and look would be my advice because if you see the aurora, it's quite a spectacular thing," he said. People with eclipse glasses can also look for the sunspot cluster during the day.

In the United States, this could include places such as Northern California and Alabama, officials said.

NOAA's Brent Gordon encouraged the public to try to capture the night sky with phone cameras even if they couldn't see auroras with their naked eyes.

"Just go out your back door and take a picture with the newer cell phones and you'd be amazed at what you see in that picture versus what you see with your eyes."

Spacecraft and pigeons

Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially lead to blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems.

Spacecraft are also at risk from high doses of radiation, although the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.

NASA has a dedicated team looking into astronaut safety and can ask astronauts on the International Space Station to move to places within the outpost that are better shielded.

Following one particularly strong flare peak, the US Space Weather Prediction Center said users of high-frequency radio signals "may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth."

Even pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses could also be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Officials said people should have the normal backup plans in place for power outages, such as having flashlights, batteries, and radios at hand.

The most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event after British astronomer Richard Carrington, occurred in September 1859.

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