Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: September 27, 2015 Edition

What do Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan have in common? Though geographically disparate, each of these states seeks permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council and has the economic and political heft to make its bid not entirely unrealistic. Additionally, each member of this so-called G4 group of states supports each other’s bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council. This week, on the sidelines of the 70th United Nations General Assembly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will convene the group for the first time in more than ten years at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will be in attendance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his opening remarks at China’s September 3 parade to celebrate Japan’s defeat in World War II, made a surprise announcement: the Chinese People’s Liberation Army would reduce its troop count by 300,000. Since the 1980s, the PLA has restructured and been cut four times, in 1985, 1997, 2003, and finally, in 2015, with Xi’s announcement.

The Indonesian Navy revealed earlier this week that it plans to purchase two new submarines to augment its fleet.

Navy spokesman Comr. Muhammad Zainuddin told The Jakarta Post that it had opted to procure two Kilo-class submarines from Russia as part of the strategic planning for the next few years. The submarine procurement plan was also confirmed by Indonesian defense minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, who noted that it was consistent with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to buy new weapons systems instead of second-hand items.

We finally know what the big announcement for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States is: China has announced a national cap-and-trade program designed to limit its overall emissions. Theofficial announcement came at the Obama-Xi summit Friday afternoon; the New York Times broke the story on Thursday night, citing White House officials.

Under a cap-and-trade program or emissions trading system (ETS), a government puts a limit on the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions. This cap is set at a level that will lower the overall emissions in the target region; permits for emissions are then issued based on the cap. Businesses can then buy and sell these permits, allowing the market to regulate the cost. China’s national program, to take effect in 2017, will cover “industry sectors such as iron and steel, power generation, chemicals, building materials, paper-making, and nonferrous metals,” according to the just-released U.S.-China Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change.

After hitting the 15 million follower mark on Twitter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is officially the world’s second most popular leader on that service, behind U.S. President Barack Obama, who has a 64.2 million-strong following. Though 15 million for a leader of a country with a population of 1.2 billion might not seem that significant, Modi has found ways to make social media work for him in courting the media, foreign publics, and even other leaders. He’s shown a penchant for selfies when traveling abroad (a gallery of his finest selfies is just a click away). When Modi traveled to China, he even took to Weibo to uniquely appeal to the Chinese public.

On October 10, North Korea will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea. Observers are wondering whether Pyongyang will decide to mark the occasion with a literal bang, by launching a satellite via a long-range missile during the celebrations.

On September 23, Singapore and the United States concluded a military exercise codenamed Valiant Mark.

Valiant Mark is an annual bilateral exercise held between the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). According to a statement by the USMC, the exercise is meant to enhance U.S. and Singaporean forces’ combined combat readiness through live fire and urban terrain training as well as amphibious operations familiarization. Building relationships and exchanging tactics allows both militaries to prepare for future joint combat operations and ensure smoother collaboration to accomplish missions.

India and China are set to hold a round of bilateral exercises next month in spite of border tensions over the past few weeks, officials confirmed last week.

According to Indian defense sources, the two militaries will hold the fifth edition of their “Hand in Hand” exercises in Kunming, Yunnan province for two weeks from October 11.

The exercise, which is meant to alternate between India and China, is part of a series of confidence-building measures that the two Asian giants have put in place to manage tensions between them, including on border issues.