Page 2 - Antony Blinken

China violated sovereignty of nations across 5 continents: Antony Blinken

China has "violated the sovereignty" of not just the United States but of countries across five continents, Secretary of State Antony Blinken alleged Wednesday, days after US fighter jets shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon. Earlier this week, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed diplomats from about 40 friendly nations, including India, Japan and Australia, over the surveillance balloon. The balloon was shot down on Saturday off the coast of South Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean. It had hovered over continental America for several days after entering the US airspace on January 30 in Montana. China has acknowledged that the ballon was theirs but denied that it was for surveillance purposes rather for weather monitoring and that it had drifted off course. The US, however, has asserted that it has enough evidence to prove that this was a surveillance balloon. It accused China of intruding on its sovereignty and violating international laws. China on the other hand has

US committed to using full range of capabilities to defend S Korea: Blinken

"We are committed to defending the Republic of Korea using the full range of our capabilities -- nuclear, conventional missile defense capabilities," said Blinken

Doval meets Blinken, exchanges views on wide range of global issues

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during which they exchanged views on a wide range of global and regional issues and discussed deepening the bilateral strategic partnership. Blinken, who has just arrived from a trip to the Middle East, including Israel and Egypt, met Doval on Wednesday. The United States is expanding cooperation with India to address global challenges, Blinken said in a tweet after the meeting. "I had a good meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today to discuss deepening our strategic partnership, Blinken tweeted. Both sides exchanged views on a wide range of global and regional issues of mutual interest and how to further strengthen the #India- US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, the Indian Embassy here said in a tweet. Doval is leading a high-powered delegation to the US. He also met his American counterpart Jake Sullivan on Tuesday. During their meeting, India and the United State

Blinken's 2-day visit to Mideast highlights US limitations in region

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday wrapped up a two-day visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank with no visible signs of progress toward halting one of the deadliest outbreaks of Israeli-Palestinian violence in years. The anemic outcome highlighted what appears to be the limited influence the Biden administration has over Israel's new government, which is dominated by hard-line nationalists who oppose concessions toward the Palestinians. But it also reflected a years-long process that has turned the U.S. into little more than a conflict manager drawing Palestinian accusations that Washington is a dishonest broker with a bias toward Israel. Blinken arrived in the region at a particularly tense time ending a month in which 35 Palestinians and seven Israelis were killed. The bloodshed overshadowed what was meant to be a mission to establish working relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new far-right government. Instead, Blinken spent much of

Israeli-Palestinian tensions test US diplomacy as Antony Blinken visits

An alarming spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence and sharp responses by both sides are testing the Biden administration as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plunges into a cauldron of deepening mistrust and anger on visits to Israel and the West Bank this week. What had already been expected to be a trip fraught with tension over differences between the administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new far-right government has grown significantly more complicated over the past four days with a spate of deadly incidents. Blinken's high-wire diplomatic act begins on Monday after he completes a brief visit to Egypt that has been almost entirely overshadowed by the deteriorating security situation in Israel and the West Bank. US officials say the main theme of Blinken's conversations with Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will be de-escalation. Yet Blinken will arrive in Israel just a day after Netanyahu's Security Cabinet announced a series of punitive

Blinken to travel to Mideast amid US concern over Israel-Palestine violence

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this weekend in his first trip to the Middle East this year, amid an escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence, US concerns over the direction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government and ongoing issues with Egypt's human rights record. The State Department said on Thursday that Blinken would leave Washington on Saturday for stops in Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah. The announcement came just hours after an Israeli raid on suspected terrorists in the West Bank city of Jenin that Palestinian officials say killed nine people in the deadliest such incident this year. After visiting Cairo for talks on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Blinken will go to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday to see Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the department said. With both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the secretary will underscore the urgent need for the .

LIVE: 10 killed in shooting at Chinese New Year party in California

Catch all the latest news and updates from around the world here

China no longer comfortable with status quo on Taiwan: Antony Blinken

Blinken called what Hong Kong went through in recent years and the reversal of development towards democracy one of the most sobering realities for people around the world

US Secy Blinken cautions China against changing status quo in Taiwan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has cautioned China against changing the status quo on Taiwan which is vital to maintaining peace and stability in the region. Over the last few years, China has been trying to build military and economic pressure on Taiwan, Blinken said during a conversation with University of Chicago's Institute of Politics Founding Director David Axelrod on Friday. "On Taiwan, what we have seen over the last few years is, I think, China made a decision that it was no longer comfortable with the status quo, a status quo that had prevailed for decades, that had actually been successful in terms of the relationship between our countries and managing what is a difficult situation," the secretary of state said. "We have seen them, over the last few years... ratchet up the pressure on Taiwan, military pressure, economic pressure, trying to cut off its ties to countries around the world, to international organisations," he said. From America's perspective, that stat

Antony Blinken to travel to China early next month: US State Department

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China early next month and the details of his visit are being worked out, an official spokesperson said

US, Japan to hold Security Consultative Committee meet on Jan 11: Ned Price

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will co-host the 2023 US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting with Japanese counterparts on January 11

Google India to mentor 1 mn Indian women entrepreneurs: Antony Blinken

Applauding the efforts of the US-India Alliance for Women's Economic Empowerment that connects the private sector and civil society to help women grow their businesses, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Google India has committed to mentoring 1 million Indian women entrepreneurs. Launching US Strategy on Global Women's Economic Security here on Wednesday, Blinken also said that the Biden administration will promote women's entrepreneurship by addressing some of the challenges that too often hold women back, including a lack of mentorship and training opportunities. "We're working to both create and also, as appropriate, replicate efforts like the US-India Alliance for Women's Economic Empowerment," Blinken said. "That connects the private sector and civil society to provide Indian women with technical skills and networking opportunities to help them grow their businesses. At the alliance's launch, Google India committed to mentoring one million Indian women ...

Blinken will have several opportunities to travel to India in 2023: US

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken will have several opportunities to travel to India, which currently holds the G-20 presidency, this year, a State Department spokesperson said. Blinken, along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, is expected to travel to India early this year for the 2+2 dialogue with their respective Indian counterparts -- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. "I don't have a date to announce just yet, but it is an important opportunity for the Secretary, for the Secretary of Defense, to engage with their Indian counterparts every single year," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference. "It's an opportunity to discuss the breadth of our global strategic partnership that we have with India, he said. "The Secretary will of course have probably several opportunities to travel to India over the course of the year, given India's hosting of the G-20, something we look forward to taking part

Devastating for Afghan people: Blinken on Taliban banning women from NGOs

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced grave concerns over the Taliban regime's decisions to ban women from jobs in Afghanistan.Taking to Twitter, Blinken posted, "This decision could be devastating for the Afghan people. Women are central to humanitarian operations around the world."The Ministry of Economy under the caretaker Taligan regime on Saturday ordered all national and international non-government organisations to suspend the jobs of women employees until further notice, Afghan news agency TOLO News reported.Citing the spokesperson for the Taliban, Abdul Rahman Habib, TOLOnews said Afghanistan's Ministry of Economy (MOE) warned that any organisation, which does not implement the order, will lose the MoE licence.US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, in response to the temporary job ban on women, said the Islamic Emirate (the caretake Taliban regime in Afghanistan) has forgotten its real responsibilities to its people."The Taliban's decree barring women ..

Indian American Richard Verma to be Dy Secy of US State Department

Verma will have to be confirmed by the US Senate, which may not be a problem because he has been confirmed twice before by the chamber

US ready to help China with vaccines to control Covid: State Secy Blinken

"We want to see China get this outbreak under control," Blinken told a press conference

Blinken raises concerns over China's Covid surge, Taliban and Ukraine war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concern over the surging Covid cases in China, the Taliban banning women from universities and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war

China's Covid-19 outbreak has US worried about new mutations of virus

The US is sending a delegation led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing early in the new year

Quick commerce finds it footing amid funding winter, now needs to scale

The sector has fared well both on the fund raising front and on operational performance

US Senator wants 'robust discussion' with India on religious freedom

A Republican US Senator has urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to hold a robust discussion with India on the issue of religious freedom of minorities. Senator James Lankford sent a letter to Blinken after the State Department in its annual release of Countries of Particular Concern, Special Watch List, and Entities of Particular Concern designations did not follow the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom's recommendations, specific to India, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. In its report early this year, the USCIRF had urged the Department of State to designate India as a country of particular concern on religious freedom issues. The Biden administration did not agree with the recommendations of the USCIRF. Lankford is asking for the State Department's legally required explanation to Congress on its designations, a media release said. India was not formally designated despite overt and repeated severe violations of religious freedom. India is an important secu