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

Exposés in the media about the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a strategic development company owned by the government and founded by Najib himself, have raised questions about corruption and a lack of transparency. A sum of RM2.6 billion ($700 million) in the prime minister’s personal bank account has also attracted allegations of fraud. Najib claims the amount comes from a donor in the Middle East, but he and his party are still on shaky ground. Critics have suggested that the NSC Bill is a desperate move to hold on to power no matter what.

In Brunei, criticism of the monarch Hassanal Bolkiah is strictly forbidden, alongside acts of charity. As one senior government observer told this reporter: “Charity implies His Majesty is incapable of looking after his own people.”

Such attitudes are difficult to challenge, particularly since Bolkiah began imposing Sharia law on his tiny oil-rich Sultanate more than two years ago. It was gradual process, culminating with a ban on Christmas festivities, including the wearing of Santa hats in public.

The ban was initially introduced a year ago. Despite an international outcry back then and for all the hallmarks of the bigotry it entails, the monarch and the Islamic clergy are insisting it will continue.

Under such laws, Muslims caught celebrating Christmas festivities face five years in jail. The fear is that Christmas could lead Muslims astray, even though such laws are impossible to enforce.

Who doesn’t love a good free-shipping deal during the holiday season? The Russian government just completed the delivery of an S-300 missile defense system to Kazakhstan for free. The delivery will speed up missile defense cooperation between Moscow and Astana—the two countries aspire to a common, networked missile defense system. The Russian government is planning a similar expansion of missile defense with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of former Soviet states. “We have approved for 2016 a plan of work of the Defense Ministers’ Council of the CIS countries and a plan of common steps on the joint air defense system,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu noted, according to Russian media reports.

In a diplomatic controversy, Pakistan has recalled a junior diplomat from its high commission in Dhaka after allegations by Bangladeshi authorities that the diplomat abetted and financed terrorist activities in Bangladesh. Farina Arshad, a relatively junior diplomat the Pakistani mission in Dhaka, left the country two days after the Bangladeshi government issued an informal request to Pakistan requesting her removal.

Arshad’s recall comes after the Pakistani high commission denied the claims against her. “All diplomatic norms and courtesies have been thrown out to the wind by publishing fabricated details of an imaginary ‘sinister plot’ to destabilise the host country,” the Pakistani high commission had said in a statement last week.

History has presented the party with a similar situation today. The opposition Congress Party is still reeling after its crushing defeat in the 2014 general elections. Last week, the Party President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi (her son) had to appear before a local court in Delhi seeking bail for a case related to the restructuring and ownership of the organization’s mouthpiece, the National Herald. A controversial leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Subramanian Swamy, filed a case against the Congress leaders, alleging misappropriation of the properties of the National Herald through a private company.

After the closure of the paper in 2008, the Congress leadership formed a separate company to handle the debts and properties of the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL). Swamy accuses the Gandhi family of appropriating assets worth $300 million through the AJL, which was formed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi’s grandfather and India’s first prime minister, in 1938.

The Congress Party denies any wrongdoing. It says that the new company had been set up to manage the defunct newspaper’s financial assets and that no individual received any financial benefit. Besides, the issue relates to Congress’ internal adjustment and does not impact anyone outside the party.

Interestingly, Malaysia announced an interest in the JF-17 just two days ago. Kuala Lumpur’s interest in the aircraft was signaled by its high commissioner to Pakistan, Dr. Hasrul Sani, who, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan, discussed the fighter against the backdrop of boosting the bilateral relationship in general. “I think the Malaysians might be genuinely interested because Pakistan has a respectable defense industry, with the products being considerably cheaper compared to the West due to cheap labor,” he said.

“These products have been amply proven in the hands of very professional armed forces. These are reasons enough for many developing countries to look for defense hardware from Pakistan,” he added. Malaysia has long indicated a desire to replace its remaining U.S.-supplied F-5E/F fighter aircraft, and the MiG-29s it acquired from Russia in the 1990s. This may result in an order for 36-40 aircraft.

The JF-17 has one thing going for it that none of its competitors can match: price. However, there is one crucial element which will undoubtedly be an important factor in Malaysia’s choice of aircraft: its relationship with China. Considering that China and Malaysia are currently parties to the territorial disputes in the South China Seas, it is probable that Beijing will have some kind of say in the potential sale.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Russia on Wednesday, where he will spend two days meeting with senior Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit will cover the gamut of the India-Russia bilateral relationship, touching on economic, defense, energy, and counter-terrorism. Notably, Modi is expected to confirm India’s sale of Russia’s advanced S-400 Triumf missile defense system. India will become the second buyer of the advanced platform after China. The visit marks Modi’s first state visit to Russia since becoming India’s prime minister in May 2014. Modi previously traveled to Russia for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS Summits over the summer in Ufa. Last year, Putin traveled to India for a bilateral visit, signing billions in agreements on trade and nuclear cooperation.

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The submarines are part of a deal Vietnam reached with Russia’s Admiralty Shipyards for six Project 636 Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines for $2 billion back in 2009. Under the agreement, signed during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Moscow that year, Russia agreed to provide the submarines, train Vietnamese crews, and supply necessary spare parts.

The latest delivery comes amidst simmering disputes in the South China Sea, where both Vietnam and China are claimants alongside the Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Just last week, Vietnam protested China’s building of a filling station and schools on Woody Island, part of the Paracel Islands which Beijing seized from Hanoi back in 1974. Separately, Reuters reported last week that Vietnamese officials had said that the first Kilo-class submarine had begun patrolling the South China Seam, which it billed the first confirmation of their involvement there.