CURRENT AFFAIRS

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will commemorate its 80th anniversary with a special event on 23 January 2026, marking eight decades of its role as the UN’s principal body for coordinating global economic, social, humanitarian, and development cooperation.

The U.S. President Donald Trump has invited India to join the proposed Board of Peace for Gaza, a new governance and conflict-management mechanism.

Reports suggesting the possibility of a U.S. military takeover or acquisition of Greenland have triggered global concern, as such a move could undermine international law, fracture NATO unity, alarm allies, and hand strategic advantage to rival powers in the Arctic.

In recent years, the Arctic region has become an emerging center of global geopolitics. While melting ice due to climate change is providing new trade routes and resources, it has also intensified competition between superpowers. In this context, US President Donald Trump's intervention in Greenland and claims of Sino-Russian influence over Greenland reflect international concern about China's role in the Arctic.

Recently, particularly in the context of Venezuela, unilateral military actions by the United States have reignited global debates about violations of international law and the weakening of the UN-led multilateral order.

The United States has indicated that India will be invited to join the US-led Pax Silica initiative next month.

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) has projected that India will grow by 7.4% in the current financial year, driven primarily by strong domestic consumption and sustained public investment.

India’s External Affairs Minister recently participated in India’s first-ever engagement with the Weimar Triangle, holding discussions with counterparts from France and Poland, along with representatives from Germany.

China recently conducted large-scale military exercises around Taiwan under the banner of “Justice Mission 2025”, involving coordinated deployment of army, navy, air force, and missile units.

The drills come amid heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait, following major US arms sales to Taiwan, and reflect Beijing’s increasing use of military signalling and coercive deterrence to assert its sovereignty claims over the island.

Denmark and Greenland have strongly rejected US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the United States needs Greenland “for defence”, calling any attempt to annex or purchase the island unacceptable and absurd.