- 14 minutes ago
In this edition of Statecraft, anchor Geeta Mohan analyses key geopolitical developments across the globe. At the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended strikes on Iran and displayed a Starlink terminal alongside references to pager explosions, amid a walkout by delegates and a cancelled meeting with Elon Musk. Meanwhile in Washington, US President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping with full ceremonial honours, agreeing to extend the bilateral trade truce by two months while strategic disagreements over Taiwan, artificial intelligence, and rare earths persisted. The broadcast examines the regional implications of potential US-China rapprochement for India and the wider Indo-Pacific. Additionally, the programme covers Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif evading questions on Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed at the UN, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's new cabinet decree prohibiting face coverings in schools and capping non-Italian speakers at 30% per classroom.
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00:08what happens when a device meant to connect people becomes a weapon and when a summit meant to ease
00:14tensions only exposes deeper rivalries today two stories about the power behind technology
00:20and diplomacy in new york netanyahu put starlink pages and elon musk at the center of a un message
00:27even as a planned texas meeting with musk disappeared and trump stayed out of the picture
00:33was it just logistics or something more then shift to washington trump gave xi jinping a spectacular
00:40welcome but beneath the red carpet trade taiwan rare earths and ai remained unresolved one story is
00:48about who controls the network the other is about who controls the relationship itself hello and
00:53welcome you're watching statecraft with me gita mohan day three of the un general assembly turned
00:59into a major diplomatic showdown with gaza once again dominating the hall and benjamin netanyahu's
01:05speech triggering a wave of walkouts the israeli prime minister rejected accusations of genocide in gaza
01:12calling them the greatest lie of the century as he took the podium many delegates walked out while
01:18protesters gathered outside u.n headquarters in new york netanyahu also defended israel's decision to strike
01:24iran saying it was one of the easiest decisions he had made because in his words israel had no real
01:31choice
01:33devastating iran's nuclear facilities was hard it was very hard to do
01:42but for me it was one of the easiest decisions i've ever had to make as prime minister
01:50because if we hadn't done it we'd all be dead now you want to hear the ultimate irony
02:00in defending itself israel is also also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall
02:11in fact i want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out iran's
02:20nukes
02:22it's hard to imagine more mind-blowing hypocrisy but that's exactly what it is
02:28palestinian president mahmoud abbas addressed the assembly by video he called for support for a
02:33two-state solution and sharply criticized israel and the united states over gaza netanyahu's speech
02:39then triggered another diplomatic clash iran turkey and qatar used their rights of reply to attack his remarks
02:47showing just how deep the divisions remain we will not remain in waiting nor will we accept whatever
02:54the governments of the israeli occupying state decide for us they have no right to decide for us
03:02no lasting security can be built upon the occupation of another people and the denial of its legitimate rights
03:11we have our own national project
03:16protecting our people from displacement preserving our land and its unity democratically renewing our institutions
03:24and building our state while remaining committed to international law and exercising our right to
03:31self-determination leading to the realization of an independent sovereign palestinian state with east
03:38jerusalem as its capital along with the return of refugees in accordance with u.n resolution 194
03:46but another moment caught attention outside the main speeches pakistani prime minister shabazz
03:52sharif faced questions about lashkar-e-taiba chief hafiz saeed as he entered the u.n headquarters
03:58reporters asked sharif when pakistan would prosecute saeed and when it would stop harboring terrorists
04:05sharif gave no answer and walked away he was asked again while leaving and again he remained silent and the
04:12u.n ga drama is not over pakistan is scheduled to address the general assembly today with gaza iran
04:18and terrorism dominating the debate day four is unlikely to bring much calm to the u.n floor
04:27prime minister when will you prosecute hafiz saeed when will you prosecute hafiz saeed
04:46did netanyahu want to turn iran's phones into bombs netanyahu's u.n speech came with a walkout
04:53a pager and a starlink terminal but the strangest part happened before he even reached the podium
04:59a planned texas meeting with elon musk vanished at the last minute even after an israeli advance
05:05team had already reached texas then came another awkward detail no meeting with president donald trump
05:12yet prime minister netanyahu still put musk starlink at the center of his u.n message coincidence maybe
05:20but when a cancelled billionaire meeting a mass casualty communications attack and a satellite internet
05:26device appear in the same political performance the questions write themselves did the musk meeting
05:32collapse because of logistics politics or optics and why did netanyahu use musk's technology anyway
05:39the answer sits in the strange duel between a pager and a satellite dish first the ghost meeting
05:46ynet reported that netanyahu's texas top with musk was cancelled after the advance team had already
05:53arrived israeli israeli official cited coordination and logistical problems including a refueling stop
05:59and american reluctance over last minute arrangements so did musk back out there is no evidence for that
06:06did netanyahu cancel because the optics became awkward also unproven what is confirmed is simple
06:14the meeting vanished the advance team had done the work and netanyahu's u.s trip shrank to a few hours
06:21in new york city then there was no trump meeting either that does not prove a diplomatic rupture
06:26but it made the musk cancellation more curious then came the starling stunt netanyahu held up the
06:33terminal as a symbol of freedom for iranians offering satellite internet beyond iran's controls
06:39sounds like an olive branch right but can a device offered as freedom also become a tracking device
06:46the iranian regime is especially afraid when their people have this when their people have this
06:57this is a communications device starlink that allows people to access truth to exercise choice
07:07to exercise freedom of thought and freedom of speech
07:11that's why the iranian regime spills rather spends millions and billions of dollars censoring the
07:21internet mr president
07:25i'm going to leave this device with you so you can give it to the iranian delegation
07:32so when they inevitably defect they too will be able to freely tell their story on social media
07:38reports say israeli linked cyber intelligence firms have developed systems that can reportedly
07:44locate starlink terminals and connect them with users through other data if that capability works
07:50as reported the danger is quite obvious a dissident could think great free internet while leaving a
07:57trail back to themselves that does not prove netanyahu's offer was a trap but it does show why the offer
08:04deserves scrutiny an israeli diplomat even went up to the iran diplomat and asked them to take the starlink
08:11terminal i thought it's appropriate to give you the starlink if you are the prime minister it can be very
08:19useful for you to allow the iranian people to get their freedom after what you did to them so you
08:25want
08:25to take it and deliver it back to tehran
08:29it can be very useful for you in iran we love the iranian people and we pray for the regime
08:35change
08:35there it will come that day then came the strangest visual the pager netanyahu invoked the 2024 pager
08:44explosions which killed dozens and wounded several including civilians un experts said simultaneous
08:51targeting of people without knowing who held the devices where they were or who stood nearby
08:57violated international human rights law and could where applicable violate international humanitarian
09:03laws so why place that besides starlink you remember the beepers remember these things remember them
09:11well i can tell you this hezbollah certainly remembers them
09:22guess what happened to the bulk of the hezbollah's vast arsenal of 150 000 ballistic missiles and rockets
09:33all aimed at our civilians because together they send a brutal message about communications technology
09:40one device becomes a weapon another becomes a promise of freedom the same technology can become surveillance
09:47propaganda or destruction netanyahu speech turned technology into the battlefield but what about musk if
09:56netanyahu could not secure trump and then lost the texas meeting does that mean tech ceo diplomacy has
10:02replaced traditional power not necessarily the public explanation remains logistics and scheduling but the
10:09the sequence is a sequence is striking musk cancelled trump absent and musk's technology still got a starring role at
10:17the un
10:18so what did netanyahu actually want from musk starlink access a cyber conversation or simply a high profile photo op
10:27we do not know
10:28because the real story is that communications technology can carry opposite meanings depending on who controls it
10:35the pager the pager represented penetration starlink represented escape one said we can reach you the other
10:43said you can reach the world and between those messages sits the uncomfortable reality freedom can depend on who owns
10:51the network who can locate the device and who controls the data so was the texas cancellation just a logistical
10:58headache
10:58officially that is the explanation but with the meeting gone trump absent and starling center stage the
11:05question is simple what exactly was on the texas agenda that disappeared and why did technology survive the
11:13meeting donald trump rolled out the red carpet for xi jinping literally a lavish state dinner military
11:20ceremonies fighter jets and bombers roaring overhead billionaires and tech giants filling the room and trump
11:27personally welcoming xi jinping at andrews air force base but behind all the pomp and circumstance was
11:34a much harder question what did the two leaders actually achieve the answer a little on trade some
11:41dialogue on ai but the biggest disputes remain firmly on the table and for india there is an even bigger
11:48question is washington trying to manage china or accommodate it because this was not just another u.s china
11:55summit it was a carefully choreographed display of cooperation between the world's two biggest powers
12:02trump spoke of prosperity and security she spoke of national rejuvenation both leaders talked about
12:09avoiding confrontation but beneath the smiles are disagreements over trade taiwan technology and the
12:16future of artificial intelligence so was this a breakthrough or simply a pause in a much bigger rivalry
12:23let's start with the clearest outcome trade the u.s and china have extended their trade truce but only for
12:31two months the agreement was due to expire in november now it has been pushed into january that gives
12:37washington and beijing more time to negotiate but it does not settle the trade war the difficult questions
12:44have simply been moved down the road tariffs chinese purchases of american goods rare earth supplies technology
12:52restrictions these remain unresolved u.s treasury secretary scott besant said china was meeting its
12:59commitment to buy 25 million tons of soybeans but was still behind on its pledge to purchase 17
13:07billion dollars and other agricultural goods washington has also said chinese rare earth deliveries
13:13are falling short as the leaders of our two nations president xi and i both understand that
13:20we represent different systems but the ties between our people endure and we've never gotten along better
13:29since the first trade ships from new york left the harbor to arrive on the banks of the pearl river
13:36americans
13:37and chinese have always exchanged goods knowledge customs and ideas this has been the foundation of
13:43commerce and mutual respect between our countries and together we can continue to build a relationship
13:50that promotes prosperity and security for future generations so the first message from the summit
13:57is clear trump and xi have avoided another immediate trade confrontation but they have not solved the
14:04underlying economic dispute the truce buys time it does not deliver a final deal then comes taiwan and here
14:12the distance between washington and beijing remains wide she urged trump to handle the taiwan question
14:19with prudence chinese state media said she also wanted washington to oppose taiwan independence but there's no
14:26indication that the trump administration has changed its long-standing position on the issue
14:32and white house did not release a detailed readout of that exchange that is the second message the two
14:39leaders can sit down they can shake hands they can talk about cooperation but taiwan remains one of the
14:45most sensitive fault lines in the u.s china relationship and then there's artificial intelligence the technology
14:52giants surrounding the summit were a story in themselves elon musk tim cook jensen wong sam altman the
15:01guest list showed just how central technology has become to the u.s china relationship but even here the two
15:08leaders are not saying exactly the same thing trump has argued against imposing new ai guardrails
15:15saying technology should be allowed to develop with the u.s department of justice handling concerns
15:22she struck a different tone he said the u.s and china have both the capability and responsibility to
15:29develop and manage ai for good and to ensure that it remains under human control so there is a shared
15:36recognition that ai cannot simply be ignored but there is no grand u.s china ai agreement emerging from
15:44this summit the competition for technological leadership continues and so does the debate over
15:49how much regulation is necessary then comes the biggest question can washington and beijing prevent
15:55their rivalry from becoming a military confrontation she once again invoked the so-called thucydides trap
16:01the fear that competition between a rising power and an established power can end in conflict
16:09xi jinping argued that the relationship should be a race to catch up with one another not a struggle
16:15where one side has to defeat the other he also called for regular military dialogue and stronger crisis
16:21prevention mechanisms trump meanwhile pointed to the two countries shared history and argued that
16:28cooperation was possible when their interests overlapped as i have said many times china and the united
16:38states as two major countries stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in confrontation we do not
16:46need to avoid mentioning competition but our competition should be a healthy one and should be kept within
16:52in bounds it should be a race of catching up with one another not a wrestle in which one either
16:58wins or
16:58loses china and the united states must hold the line of no conflict and no confrontation between us and we
17:06can certainly find the right path for our two great countries to get along on the planet we both call
17:12home
17:12and this is where the spectacle meets reality white house was redesigned for the occasion troops marched
17:20in ceremonial uniforms fighter jets and bombers flew overhead trump hosted xi jinping at a lavish state dinner
17:28surrounded by america's business and technology elite but the biggest strategic disputes were not redesigned
17:36and away and that brings us to india because new delhi has a direct stake in what happens next india
17:44does
17:44not want washington and beijing to turn their rivalry into a confrontation but neither does it want the
17:50world's two biggest powers to decide major global questions between themselves that is why the phrase g2
17:58matters the idea that the us and china could jointly manage the world's biggest geopolitical questions
18:05has long worried countries such as india and japan trump has so far avoided explicitly describing the
18:12relationship with xi as a g2 but his extraordinary welcome for the chinese leader has been closely watched
18:19across asia trump personally went to andrews air force base to receive xi a gesture that drew attention because of
18:27how rarely he has extended that level of welcome to foreign leaders for countries already watching america's approach
18:34to china the message was unmistakable washington wants stability with beijing the question is
18:40how far that stability will go and for india there is another layer a more stable u.s china
18:46relationship could reduce the risk of a major confrontation in asia but if washington and
18:52beijing begin coordinating too closely on issues affecting the indo-pacific india will have to watch
18:59how its own strategic space is affected so here is the irony trump gave xi the full washington welcome
19:06the two sides extended their trade truths they kept negotiations alive they talked about ai cooperation
19:12and avoiding conflict but tariffs remain rare earths remain taiwan remains technology restrictions remain
19:22and the larger u.s china's strategic rivalry remains this summit therefore produced something important
19:29but limited it created breathing space it kept the trade truce alive it maintained dialogue between two
19:35nuclear armed powers but it did not erase the fundamental disagreements the red carpet has been rolled away
19:42the state dinner is over fighter jets have landed but the real trump she contest is far from over for
19:50now
19:51trump and she have chosen to keep the relationship alive but keeping a relationship alive is one thing
19:56changing the relationship is another the red carpet showed the world how close the two leaders can look
20:03the negotiations will show how far apart they really are italy is drawing a new line in its classrooms and
20:11the move is already triggering a political storm prime minister georgia maloney's cabinet has approved a
20:16decree banning the burqa and niqab in schools while limiting to 30 percent the share of students in a
20:22class who do not have adequate italian language skills the government says the goal is integration not
20:29exclusion maloney says the measures will prevent so-called ghetto classrooms and give students a common
20:35starting point under the decree if a child seriously struggles to integrate because of language difficulties
20:42social services can be involved parents may also be required to attend free italian language classes
20:48and refusing to comply can bring a fine of up to 1 000 euros the face covering ban also carries
20:55fines
20:55with exceptions for specific health or security reasons education minister giuseppe valdi tara argues that
21:03poor italian proficiency can hold back a child's education but the opposition is hitting back at least
21:10democratic party leader ellie schline has accused maloney's government of launching a witch hunt
21:16at the expense of children save the children organization has also warned that moving children
21:22because of nationality or language could create first and second class students and with migration and
21:28integration emerging as major issues ahead of at least 2027 general elections maloney's classroom
21:35crackdown is now much bigger than education it is becoming a battle over language identity religion
21:42and integration that's all in this edition of statecraft before we go chinese president xi jinping
21:49has wrapped up his three-day visit to the us trump has rolled out the red carpet the two sides
21:54extended
21:54their trade truce but the bigger tensions remain trade taiwan and technology are still unresolved the smiles
22:01may have been warm but the rivalry is far from over for now she bids goodbye to the u.s
22:07president and with
22:08that we bid goodbye too goodbye and take care