VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, following messages between the country's leaders, as the trading partners seek to stabilise their frosty diplomatic relationship.

Ties between Australia and its major trading partner China had deteriorated in recent years, with Beijing imposing sanctions on Australian exports after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, following messages between the country's leaders, as the trading partners seek to stabilise their frosty diplomatic relationship.

Ties between Australia and its major trading partner China had deteriorated in recent years, with Beijing imposing sanctions on Australian exports after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting followed a message from China's President Xi Jinping sent earlier in the day to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promising China will work to promote a comprehensive strategic partnership, state media reported.

Before meeting Wang, Wong addressed staff at the Australian embassy on a video link from Diaoyutai, where she will stay for the duration of the overnight visit as part of a so-called "closed loop" system that will isolate her and her entourage amid China's COVID-19 outbreak.

Albanese thanked Xi for his telegram commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries in which he said, "I attach great importance to the development of China-Australia relations and am willing to work with the Australian side", according to CCTV.

Albanese told a news conference in Sydney, "It is important that we deliver better relations with our major trading partner in the future."

The rapprochement between Australia and China ends years of frozen relations. Wong's visit is the first by an Australian minister since 2019 and the first formal talks in Beijing since 2018.

In addition to the call for an investigation of COVID's origins, Beijing was also angered by the previous Liberal government in Canberra effectively banning Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei from Australia's 5G network.

A meeting between Albanese and Xi on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali last month signalled a thaw in ties, although China's trade sanctions remain in place.

Wong's meeting with Wang took place as part of the sixth Australia–China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue. (Reuters)

India's government has asked the country's states to keep a sharp lookout for any new variants of the coronavirus, citing an increase in COVID-19 cases in China and other parts of the globe.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met senior government officials on Wednesday to discuss the matter, with all those present wearing masks - a practice that has not been mandatory in most parts of the country for several months.

China has seen a surge in infections after ending strict COVID restrictions, while data from the World Health Organization shows infections have risen in countries like Japan, South Korea and the United States in recent days.

"In view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, the United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples," Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote in a letter to the states on Tuesday.

"Such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any."

The government has asked all states to ensure that samples of positive cases are sent to the country's 54 designated genome sequencing laboratories.

Some opposition leaders and Twitter users in India have called for a suspension of flights to and from China. A government source, who was not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified, said there was no such plan.

Mandaviya also asked participants in a cross-country march organised by the opposition Congress party to ensure they are vaccinated and follow safety measures like wearing masks.

With more 44 million COVID cases to date, India has reported the most in the world after the United States. Its number of confirmed infections has, however, fallen sharply in the past few months, with about 1,200 cases being reported every week at present. (Reuters)

Pakistan's security forces killed 25 of 35 Islamist militants holed up in a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern city of Bannu, while one hostage and two commandos died in the operation to retake the compound, the army said.

Militants being held at the centre took control of the compound on Sunday after overpowering their interrogators and taking their weapons, leading to a two day siege and ultimately army commandoes storming the compound on Tuesday.

"Resurgence in terrorism poses a renewed threat to our national security," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet, adding, "Our valiant security forces are fully capable of dealing with this threat."

Army spokesman Major General Ahmed Sharif speaking to local TV channel Geo News late on Tuesday said seven of the 35 holed up militants surrendered, and another three who tried to escape were arrested. One hostage, a security official, died during the raid, he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said all of the militants had been killed and all hostages rescued, but later clarified that the army would provide the final figures and details of the operation.

The army spokesman's comments provided the first detailed official account of the standoff, in which two security personnel were killed when the militants first took over the compound, and two commandoes killed in the ensuing raid.

He said one militant was able to first overpower his interrogator with a brick and seize his weapon. Later other militants at the centre broke into a storeroom where confiscated weapons had been stored.

"We tried very hard to get them (militants) to surrender unconditionally. They weren't ready," Sharif said, adding that they wanted safe passage to Afghanistan, which was rejected by authorities.

STANDOFF

After talks failed to resolve a two-day standoff, army commandos stormed the centre on Tuesday. Ten soldiers, including three officers, were also wounded.

Sharif described the raid being a fierce firefight. Earlier, residents said they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the centre on Tuesday as helicopters hovered overhead.

The militants mostly belonged to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of Sunni Islamist and sectarian groups that associates itself with the Afghan Taliban.

The TTP emerged to fight the Pakistani state and enforce its own harsh brand of Islam in the years after U.S.-led allied forces intervened in neighbouring Afghanistan to oust its ruling Taliban in 2001 and drive them over the border into Pakistan.

The TTP has ramped up attacks in recent weeks since announcing the end of an Afghan Taliban-brokered ceasefire with the Islamabad last month.

The TTP initially confirmed the militants' demand to be given passage to Afghanistan, but later said Pakistan's former tribal regions were also safe for the militants to flee to. (Reuters)

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati affirmed that priority programmes of Indonesia's G20 Presidency would be continued by India as the new G20 presidency holder from December this year.

"Priority programmes of Indonesia's G20 Presidency will be continued by India as the next (holder of the) presidency," Indrawati stated after the G20 Presidency Appreciation Night here, Tuesday (December 20).

Some of the priority programmes are the pandemic fund that will be used to bolster prevention, mitigation, and response to possible pandemics in future as well as programmes relevant to climate change, she noted.

Other priority programmes enacted by Indonesia's G20 Presidency are digital transformation, food and energy crises handling, and central bank digital currency (CDBC) and global taxation, the minister remarked.

CDBC is a centralized digital currency intended as a legal tender and digital representation of national currencies, while global taxation is the imposition of income tax from all sources that disregards the characteristics, sources, and types of incomes obtained by taxpayers.

Indrawati said that her side and state electricity company PT PLN would follow up and monitor various agreements on the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) finalized during the G20 Summit in Bali last November, such as the US$20-billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

"We will monitor some ETM deals, including the US$20-billion JETP, with PT PLN. Realising ETM programmes would ensure the fund received (by Indonesia)," the minister remarked.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto urged all parties to follow up and monitor various investment commitments obtained by Indonesia during the G20 Summit last November.

"We ask for support from ministries and institutions in the sherpa track or finance track to follow up (investment) commitment agreements," Hartarto remarked.

Some investment commitments obtained by Indonesia during the summit include grants for sustainable development and funding for green energy and public transportation developments. (Antaranews)