13 JULY 2016

Ø  Hundreds of Indians continue to remain stranded in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, where a civil war erupted six days ago killing at least 300 from various ethnic factions. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) held an “emergency assistance meeting” to plan evacuation of the stranded nationals from South Sudan.

Ø  China on Tuesday rejected an international ruling on the South China Sea, which went in favour of the Philippines, as “null and void” and devoid of any “binding force”. Two statements, one by the Chinese government, and the other by the Foreign Ministry, strongly defended Chinese claims in the South China Sea. “With regard to the award rendered on 12 July, 2016 by the Arbitral Tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration established at the unilateral request of the Republic of the Philippines (hereinafter referred to as the “Arbitral Tribunal”), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China solemnly declares that the award is null and void and has no binding force. China neither accepts nor recognises it,” the Foreign Ministry statement asserted. The Chinese response follows the ruling by the five-member international tribunal, which rejected the legal validity of the nine-dash line — the demarcation line underlying Beijing’s claim to most of the South China Sea. “There was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line’,” the court ruled.

Ø  Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and France's Safran Helicopter Engines announced that they will jointly set up a helicopter engines maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre to service Indian and foreign customers using Safran’s aero engines.