Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (November 22, 2023) urged the G20 leaders to call with one voice for an instant ceasefire in Gaza and for an immediate, unhindered flow of humanitarian relief to the suffering victims. The prime minister made the call speaking at the G20 Leaders’ Summit virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the virtual G20 leaders’ summit to deliberate on the implementation of the Delhi Declaration prior to concluding India’s presidency this month. The G20 is a forum for international economic cooperation comprising 19 countries -Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US - and the European Union. Spain was invited as a permanent guest at the forum, while India included Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates as guest countries during its presidency. Hasina said that for over a month and a half, the world has been witnessing in Palestine a merciless, genocidal slaughter of thousands of men and women and tragically innocent children numbering over 10,000. Read more: G20 agreement reflects sharp differences over Ukraine and the rising clout of the Global South “All these monstrous acts have stunned the world, intensified global distress, and slowed worldwide economic progress,” she said. She also mentioned that the current war in Europe with sanctions and counter-sanctions has taken a worldwide human and economic toll and continues to do so. “In today’s globalized world, surely it would be easy to firmly say “NO” to all wars and conflicts to save human lives and humanity,” she said. In this connection, she mentioned that a good beginning could be fostering good neighbourly relations and spreading their reach far around the globe. “I am happy to draw your attention to Bangladesh and neighbour India’s excellent relations, which are recognised as a Role Model of Neighbourhood Diplomacy,” she said. She said that neighbours can certainly resolve issues through friendly “Dialogue,” as Bangladesh and India have proven with their maritime and land boundaries. The prime minister said that Bangladesh is committed to a peaceful and prosperous world. “It has become our duty to ensure the wellbeing of everyone in our global family. In that spirit, I seek your earnest support for the repatriation of more than a million Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingyas) from Bangladesh to Myanmar,” she said. She hoped that the commitments that the nations have made at the G20 Summit will bear fruition and transform into concrete action. “I also believe the Summit’s theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ will continue to inspire us to care for, protect, and make Planet Earth, our common home, a better place for our future generations,” she said. PM Hasina said that she was heartened that the leaders agreed in New Delhi to strengthen Multilateral Development Banks to help Low-and Middle-Income countries address their development needs, particularly those related to Climate Action, Technological Transformation, Digital Public Infrastructure, and women-led development, which are imperative for a better future. The meeting aims to provide an impetus to implement the Delhi Declaration unanimously agreed upon by all members at the 18th G20 leaders’ summit held in New Delhi in September. During the closing session of the New Delhi summit on September 10, Modi had announced India would be hosting a virtual summit. Leaders of the G20 nations, including the chair of the African Union, as well as nine guest countries, and heads of 11 international organisations have been invited to the meeting. On December 1, India assumed the mantle of the G20 presidency. India holds the G20 Presidency until November 30. The G20 troika during the Brazilian G20 presidency in 2024 will comprise India, Brazil and South Africa. The new troika will be formed when Brazil assumes the presidency next month, with India as the past presidency and South Africa holding the presidency after Brazil. The G20 members represent around 85 percent of the global GDP, over 75 percent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. Read more: India forges compromise among divided world powers at the G20 summit in a diplomatic win for Modi

Bangladesh has welcomed the UN brokered two-month long ceasefire between the parties of the Yemen conflict which came into effect from April 2 at the advent of Holy month of Ramadan. Bangladesh also appreciated the efforts of the Joint Forces Command of the Arab coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen and appreciated the efforts of all the parties in Yemen for agreeing to this ceasefire. Also read: Yemen rebels strike oil depot in Saudi city hosting F1 race “Bangladesh hopes that the stakeholders will take this opportunity to continue the political process to reach a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict in Yemen,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday. Bangladesh also noted the recent initiative by the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf for urging all stakeholders to enter into dialogue and for promoting Yemeni-Yemeni consultations for reaching a lasting and sustainable solution to the crisis. “Bangladesh remains committed to supporting all efforts for maintenance of peace and stability in the region,” MoFA said.  

Russian defense officials announced a a temporary cease-fire in two Ukrainian cities to allow civilians to evacuate, but a local official reported that shelling continued in his area Saturday despite the deal, a sign of the fragility of efforts to stop fighting across the country. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement it had agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces for the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern city of Volnovakha, which would be the first breakthrough in allowing people to escape the war . The vaguely worded statement did not make clear how long the routes would remain open. Mariupol had become the scene of growing misery amid days of shelling that knocked out power and most phone service and raised the prospect of food and water shortages for hundreds of thousands of people in freezing weather. Pharmacies are out of medicine, Doctors Without Borders said. A top official there said the cease-fire there was to last until 4 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT) and an evacuation was beginning at 11 a.m. (9 a.m. GMT.) Pavlo Kirilenko, head of the Donetsk military-civil administration that includes Mariupol, said the humanitarian corridor would extend from the city to Zaporizhzhia, about 226 kilometers (140 miles) away. Read: UN agency: Ukraine exodus reaches 1.45 million But Mariupol deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov later told the BBC that the Russians “continue to use hard artillery and rockets to bomb Mariupol. That’s why people are very scared, but anyway they go to three specific points from which we will go to evacuate them by municipal buses.” Youtube video thumbnailThe head of Ukraine’s security council, Oleksiy Danilov, had urged Russia to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the older adults to flee the fighting, calling them “question No. 1.” Diplomatic efforts continued as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Poland to meet with the prime minister and foreign minister, a day after attending a NATO meeting in Brussels in which the alliance pledged to step up support for eastern flank members. Blinken would visit a border post to meet refugees later in the day. As Russian forces batter strategic locations elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lashed out at NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you.” NATO said a no-fly zone could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia. But as the United States and other NATO members send weapons for Kyiv and more than 1 million refugees spill through the continent, the conflict is already drawing in countries far beyond Ukraine’s borders. Read: War in Ukraine: Zelensky slams Nato over rejection of no-fly zone Russia continues to crack down on independent media reporting on the war, also blocking Facebook and Twitter, and more outlets say they are pausing their work inside the country. And in a warning of a hunger crisis yet to come, the U.N. World Food Program says millions of people inside Ukraine, a major global wheat supplier, will need food aid “immediately.” Ukraine’s president was set to brief U.S. senators Saturday by video conference as Congress considers a request for $10 billion in emergency funding for humanitarian aid and security needs. In a bitter and emotional speech late Friday, Zelenskyy criticized NATO over the lack of a no-fly zone, warning that “the history of Europe will remember this forever.” A no-fly zone would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had ruled out that possibility. “The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,” he said. In a separate video message to antiwar protesters in several European cities, Zelenskyy appealed for help. “If we fall, you will fall,” he said. The U.N. Security Council scheduled an open meeting for Monday on the worsening humanitarian situation. The United Nations estimates that 12 million people in Ukraine and 4 million fleeing to neighboring countries in the coming months will need humanitarian aid. Read: Fire out at key Ukraine nuclear plant, no radiation released Russia’s attack on Friday on Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, in Zaporizhzhia, caused global alarm, but Russian forces did not make significant progress in their offensive to sever Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which would deal a severe blow to the country’s economy. A vast Russian armored column threatening Ukraine’s capital remained stalled outside Kyiv, but Russia’s military has launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites across the country. As homes in the northern city of Chernihiv burned from what locals described as Russian shelling, one resident accused Europe of merely looking on. “We wanted to join NATO and the EU and this is the price we are paying, and NATO cannot protect us,” she said. At least 331 civilians have been confirmed killed since the fighting began but the true number is probably much higher, the U.N. human rights office said. Kyiv’s central train station remained crowded with people desperate to join the more than 1.4 million who have fled Ukraine. “People just want to live,” one woman, Ksenia, said.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said it was necessary to immediately cease fire in Ukraine where Russian armed forces are conducting a military operation, the Elysee Palace said on Monday. Also read: Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert, escalating tensions "In connection with the start of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, the President of the Republic asked that the following be observed on the ground: a cessation of all strikes and attacks on civilians and their places of residence, the preservation of all civilian infrastructure, ensuring security on highways, especially south of Kiev," the Elysee said in a statement. The statement asserts that Putin "assured he was willing to commit himself on these three counts." The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure with precision strikes, and therefore there are no threats to the civilian population. Also read: Ukraine talks yield no breakthrough as Russians close in

Rival neighbors Pakistan and India have pledged to stop firing weapons across the border in disputed Kashmir, promising to adhere to a 2003 accord that has been largely ignored, officials from both sides said on Thursday.

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region starting Saturday noon, following lengthy negotiations in Moscow on Friday night.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday demanded "demonstrable evidence" from the Taliban that they can and will reduce violence before signing a deal that would lead to Afghanistan peace talks and a withdrawal of American troops from the country.

The Afghan government has linked holding peace talks with the Taliban outfit to observing ceasefire by the armed group, stressing that "ceasefire" is the demand of all Afghans before initiating any talks for peace in the militancy-battered country.

Libya's U.N.-supported government has accused its rivals of violating a ceasefire minutes after it was supposed to take effect.