Tag Archives: Israel

UN Security Council passes resolution on Gaza ceasefire, US abstains; Israel upset

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The Security Council, after more than five months of conflict, issued a historic demand for an immediate ceasefire on Monday, marking a significant shift in approach. The United States, typically an ally of Israel, abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to pass with unusual unanimity among the other 14 members.

Notably, the latest resolution does not directly tie the ceasefire to ongoing negotiations led by Qatar, the US, and Egypt, which aim to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. Israel has criticized previous resolutions for failing to condemn Hamas explicitly.

This shift in diplomatic efforts reflects the urgent need to address the humanitarian crisis and prevent further escalation of violence in the region.

This resolution, supported by diverse nations including Algeria, Slovenia, and Switzerland, emphasizes the need for a ceasefire during the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan. It calls for a truce to pave the way for a lasting peace and urges the release of hostages seized by Hamas and other militants on October 7.

However, Russia objected to the removal of the term “permanent” ceasefire, leading to a failed vote on that amendment. This development underscores the complex dynamics within the Security Council.

The United States’ evolving stance was evident in its recent proposal for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire,” indicating growing frustration with Israel’s military actions. Previous attempts by the US to broker a ceasefire were blocked, highlighting the delicate balance between supporting Israel and addressing concerns about civilian casualties.

 

India Signs Open Skies Pact With 6 Countries During ICAN 2016

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On the sidelines of International Civil Aviation Negotiations (ICAN) – 2016 held recently in Nassau from 5th to 9thDecember, 2016, R.N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation said that India signed agreements with six nations on air aviation.

The Conference was attended by 106 countries out of ICAO membership of 191 countries. India held negotiations with 17 countries and “Memorandum of Understanding” was signed with 12 countries.   The major issues resolved at these negotiations as per the directions in National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2016) are:

  1. Increase in traffic rights:- India renegotiated traffic rights with Oman increasing the entitlements with 6,258 seats effective from Summer 2017 as the existing entitlements were nearly exhausted. The points of call remained unchanged.

India agreed with Saudi Arabia to increase the capacity by 8000 seats per week from IATA season when Indian carrier’s utilization reaches 80%. This was in response to the needs of increasing traffic between the two countries where Indian carriers have been utilising open sky in Damman to mount more flights than the Saudi Arabian side.

India also agreed with Ghana to increase the present allocation of 2 frequencies to 7 frequencies per week to encourage connectivity between the two countries.

  1. Open Skies agreement as per NCAP 2016 :- allows unlimited number of flights to six metro airports namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai, was signed with six countries namely Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri Lanka. The new arrangement will encourage connectivity and passenger travel between India and these countries.
  2. New Air Service Agreements were signed with Jamaica and Guyana.
  3. Code Shares:- In the present scenario code shares provide seamless connectivity to the travelling passengers and make possible connectivity between far off destinations not served by direct flights.  As per NCAP 2016 code shares are to be encouraged and keeping this in view, negotiations were completed with 9 countries to enable the legal framework between the governments of these countries to make possible code shares between the airlines of two sides. The negotiations have  enabled domestic code shares with Czech Republic, Portugal and Malaysia, domestic and international code shares including third country airlines with Guyana, removal of restriction of counting of capacity in case of code share with 3rd country carriers and domestic code  share to additional two points to Mauritius, code share with 3rd country carriers and 4 additional domestic code share points with Saudi Arabia and Spain and code share with 3rd country carriers with Sri Lanka.
  4. Resolution of other issues relating to Air Services Agreement was also completed with Ghana, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Portugal, Hong Kong, Ethiopia and Bangladesh.