China to repair missiles in Bangladesh: India concerned

Today's headlines: Japan holds prayer service to commemorate the 2011 Fukushima disaster; The Pentagon accuses North Korea of prepareing an intercontinental missile test; The Philippines is ready to give US bases for Ukriane war effort; After European sanctions, Belarus looks to Asia for its wood industry; A drone attack targets a Saudi refinery.

CHINA-BANGLADESH-INDIA

Delhi has expressed concern over the agreement between Beijing and Dhaka that will allow the Chinese to build a complex in Bangladesh for the repair and maintenance of Chinese missiles sold to the local government in 2011. The official announcement of the deal was postponed due to the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. While Bangladesh is a traditional ally of India, it has become a significant buyer of Chinese arms in recent years.

JAPAN

Prayers were held across the country today to remember the victims of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the Fukushima area, causing the worst nuclear accident in history after Chernobyl. The tragedy of 11 March 2011 left 18,500 people dead and missing.

NORTH KOREA

The North Korean missile launches on 26 February and 4 March were not part of the development of a recognition satellite, as Pyongyang claimed, but preliminary experiments for the imminent test of an intercontinental missile. according to the Pentagon. North Korea's last such launch was in 2017. 

PHILIPPINES

The Philippine ambassador to Washington said his country is ready to open its bases to US forces if the war in Ukraine spreads to Asia. The US and the Philippines are linked by a defence treaty that President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly opposed at the beginning of his term (now expiring).

BELARUS-ASIA

Minsk plans to direct the production of wood products towards the Asian market instead of the European one, now blocked by sanctions. The Belarusian government says it will not "put on straitjackets". In 2021, local wood trade with the EU reached a volume of $ 3.2 billion.

KAZAKHSTAN-RUSSIA

Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi made it clear that "Russia has no claim on our national territories". This is his comment on the claims of Russian communist leader Gennadij Zjuganov that the northern regions of Kazakhstan should return to Russia. For Tleuberdi, these are just "the opinions of an opposition figure".

SAUDI ARABIA

A refinery near the Saudi capital Riyadh was attacked yesterday with a drone. According to the local press, the attack did not affect oil supplies. The authorities have not yet stated who was probably responsible, but the country has suffered several sabotage attacks of this kind by the Houthi, pro-Iranian rebels who control parts of Yemen.

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