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This episode of Statecraft examines US diplomacy and domestic accountability following the civil nuclear agreement between Washington and Riyadh. The deal faces uncertainty after a condition was added requiring formal diplomatic recognition of Israel through the Abraham Accords.
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00:07can one extra condition kill the biggest nuclear deal of the year and when millions of students
00:13lose faith in an examination who should really take the blame the officials or the minister
00:18tonight two stories about accountability in washington president trump signs a landmark
00:24nuclear deal with saudi arabia then adds a condition that could derail it recognize
00:28israel or the deal is off and in india the neat paper leak sparks nationwide protests with students
00:35demanding education minister dharamendra pradhan's resignation but does history support that demand
00:41one story of diplomacy rewritten overnight the other of political accountability under pressure
00:46hello and welcome you're watching statecraft with me gita mohan all this and more but first up the
00:51headlines in a significant development in bangladesh president mohammad shahabuddin has reportedly
00:57resigned according to local media shahabuddin submitted his resignation after informing
01:02prime minister mohammad rahman earlier this week a day after trump in a post said the saudi u.s civil
01:08nuclear deal was subject to saudi joining the abram accords there are reports that pakistan army chief
01:14field marshal asamunir brokered a deal for a de facto ceasefire between iran and saudi arabia
01:20the deal was in exchange for facilitating the off-the-books export of iranian oil the philippine
01:25coast guard accused its chinese counterpart of firing water cannon at government vessels near
01:30a disputed shoal for a second day in the third confrontation between the two countries in the
01:35south china sea this week a new wave of tariff imposed by the u.s came into effect on friday
01:41targeting 60 trading partners the levy ranges from 10 percent to 12.5 percent and will impact major
01:48economies like china india and the european union u.s trade representative jameson greer announced the
01:55new tariffs on 60 countries under section 301 of the trade act it comes a day before the expiration
02:01of 10 percent additional levies on all countries under section 301 of the trade act of 1974 the 60
02:09economies were imposed tariffs because of their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition
02:15on the importation of goods produced with forced labor the act refers to work or service extracted
02:22from a person under the menace of any penalty for its non-performance and for which the worker does not
02:29offer himself voluntarily the 10 percent tariff rate applies to 17 countries including india the united
02:36kingdom canada mexico argentina bangladesh cambodia ecuador el salvador guatemala honduras indonesia jordan
02:46malaysia pakistan sri lanka and trinidad and tobago earlier india was included in the bracket of 12.5
02:54percent tariffs on the 14th of june india amended its foreign trade policy thereby prohibiting the import of
03:01goods produced using forced labor under the trump administration two investigations were initiated
03:07after the u.s supreme court had dismissed last year's reciprocal tariffs using emergency powers as
03:13illegal the administration responded by levying 10 percent tariffs on all countries that expired on the
03:1924th of july meanwhile the india u.s trade deal is in the last stages of its framework and could
03:26be
03:26signed within the next three to four months with the changes in india's foreign policy on the 14th of
03:32june the deal could see the light of the day soon the u.s central command concluded its strikes on
03:39iran
03:39for the 13th consecutive night sound of explosions were reportedly heard in kharamabad jasak ahwaz and
03:47bandir abbas four people were dead and five injured after u.s missile strike struck near ahwaz along with two
03:54injuries at each side on kharamabad and the port city of bandir abbas meanwhile axios reported that
04:01president trump is seriously considering restarting major combat operations in iran including strikes
04:07that would be bigger than operation epic fury launched on the 28th of february the report further
04:13said trump has not yet given a deadline to restart the attack meanwhile iran's foreign minister sayed
04:19abbas arahchi in a post said the mindless aggression will only see trump pay a heavier price for a deal
04:26to end the war in a 49 to 47 vote the u.s senate blocked a democratic-led resolution aimed
04:32at reigning
04:33in president trump's authority to wage war against iran until hostilities are authorized by the congress
04:39earlier that day the house of representatives passed a separate non-binding resolution calling on
04:45the administration to seize hostilities against iran meanwhile the iranian army announced that
04:50it had launched fresh drone strikes targeting important u.s military facilities in jordan and
04:56bahrain the army said it had struck the u.s army's fuel depots large equipment warehouses and troop
05:02accommodation facilities at sheikh isa airbase in bahrain as well as aircraft hangers and troop
05:09accommodation at al azraq airbase in jordan 24 hours was all it took for president trump to sign and then
05:17destroy an agreement one day america signed a landmark nuclear deal with saudi arabia the next day
05:23trump slapped on a condition that could make the entire agreement impossible saudi arabia must join the
05:30abram accords and recognize israel but hold on wasn't this deal already signed why add the biggest
05:37political hurdle after the celebration ended so did trump outsmart everyone or did he accidentally
05:43kill his own deal why was this deal such a big deal because this was not just about reactors or
05:49electricity this was about america agreeing to help saudi arabia build a civilian nuclear program through
05:55what is known as a one two three agreement the agreement opened the door for american nuclear
06:00technology fuel and equipment under safeguards meant to prevent weaponization for saudi arabia this
06:07had been a goal for years for washington it meant strategic depth with one of its most important
06:12partners reports suggested saudi arabia could eventually enrich uranium on its own soil once
06:18certain conditions were met that immediately raised eyebrows critics warned it gave saudi arabia too much
06:24while asking for too little in return some feared it could trigger a regional nuclear competition
06:30either way everyone agreed on one thing this was a massive deal then trump hit the brakes in a truth
06:38social post trump declared the agreement would only move forward if saudi arabia joined the abraham
06:44accords which are u.s brokered agreements under which several arab states established diplomatic ties with
06:51israel a club trump has long wanted saudi arabia to join in plain english no recognition for israel no nuclear
06:59deal that condition had not been part of wednesday's public celebration even trump's own negotiators
07:06reportedly did not expect the sudden announcement so what changed overnight the bigger goal was
07:12strategic depth for israel saudi normalization would strengthen israel's regional security by bringing
07:18the arab world's biggest power into its diplomatic camp trump reportedly grew frustrated after criticism
07:24exploded across conservative media and expert circles some reports say chris wright failed to
07:31coordinate with the white house before formally announcing and signing the saudi deal on the 22nd of
07:37july so why can't saudi arabia simply say yes and move on because for riad this is not a small
07:44diplomatic
07:45formality saudi arabia has repeatedly said it will not normalize relations with israel without a pathway toward
07:52palestinian statehood that position has stayed consistent israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has
07:58dismissed that condition so trump's new requirement effectively asked saudi arabia to cross a bridge
08:04that at least for now does not exist especially after gaza imagine promising someone a house then handing
08:13them the contract the next morning with one extra line buried at the bottom by the way you also have
08:20to
08:20marry the neighbor technically it is still the same contract practically it is a completely different
08:27deal so if saudi arabia refuses does the whole agreement collapse according to the white house yes
08:34press secretary caroline levitt made the position crystal clear if saudi arabia does not join the abraham
08:41accords the deal is off that means the agreement announced with so much fanfare suddenly sits on a very
08:47shaky ground congress still has to review it but before lawmakers even debate it the biggest obstacle
08:53now sits between washington and riad look the president is always the final deal maker as you
08:59know and this is something that he has mentioned on numerous occasions going back i can provide you
09:03with those statements and he has said if they don't join the abraham accords the deal is off so we'll
09:10continue to have those conversations with our saudi counterparts moving forward so the deal is dead if
09:14saudi arabia doesn't join and have you any any indication that saudi arabia is even considering
09:19this again we've spoke the president has spoken directly with the saudis about this in numerous
09:24conversations in the past and the administration will continue to engage in those conversations
09:28so was this clear negotiating or a spectacular self-goal trump supporters can argue this was leverage all
09:35along why hand over a historic nuclear partnership without securing a historic diplomatic breakthrough
09:41that sounds like classic trump negotiation ask for the biggest prize before closing the deal but
09:48there's another possibility by changing the rules after the signing ceremony trump may have made the
09:54deal impossible to complete saudi arabia gets cornered american negotiators look blindsided and what
10:00looked like a diplomatic victory suddenly turns into a diplomatic headache so did trump save leverage or kill his
10:08own nuclear deal right now the answer is brutally simple the signatures may already be on paper but the deal
10:14no longer stands on those signatures it stands on one condition saudi arabia has refused for years and until that
10:22changes the biggest nuclear agreement of the year looks less like a breakthrough and more like a deal that tripped
10:29over its own finish line the new u.s defense bill could significantly deepen military cooperation between
10:36washington and israel the house passed ndaa includes provisions to speed up joint weapons development expand defense stockpiles and
10:44strengthen collaboration on emerging technologies from missile defense to artificial intelligence and that has invited a lot of
10:52criticism here's a report by mahasweta lala the yays and nays have been requested those favoring as the u.s
10:59carried out its 13th consecutive strike on iran and israel continued its offensive in gaza the u.s house passed
11:07the fiscal year
11:082027 national defense authorization act along with 1.15 trillion dollars in defense spending the bill includes a major provision
11:17to deepen
11:18u.s israel military cooperation the provision does not merge the two militaries instead it aims to integrate
11:26the defense innovation ecosystems it also creates a permanent u.s israel defense technology cooperation
11:34initiative for collaboration on emerging military technologies the proposal stems from the u.s israel
11:42futures act introduced by republican ronnie jackson and democrat don davis backed by the pro-israel lobby
11:51aipac it comes as israel comes at war with hamas and the houthis while the u.s faces growing technological
11:58competition from china the yeas are 216 the nays are 212 the bill is passed the house cleared the bill
12:05by a
12:05narrowed 216 to 212 vote most republicans supported it while several democrats opposed it over president
12:14trump's pending cuts to social programs and his war with iran the bill now faces uncertainty in the senate
12:22after republicans linked it to the save america act senate democrats blocked it last week but republican
12:30leaders say they will bring it back before the august recess with mahashweta lala bureau report india today
12:40when millions of students lose faith in an examination who should pay the price the officials
12:46who run the system or the minister who oversees it in india thousands of students are out in the streets
12:53demanding the resignation of union education minister dharamendra pradhan students are demanding
12:58accountability after the paper leak of the country's national medical entrance examination also known
13:04as neat the paper leak triggered a mental health crisis with at least 12 student suicides reported
13:10but history tells a different story across democracies education ministers have rarely resigned
13:16over exam failures alone most have stepped down only when the scandal became personal political or
13:23impossible to defend so what does recent global history actually tell us let's begin with germany one
13:30of europe's most high-profile education resignations had nothing to do with school examinations it was
13:36about academic integrity and personal credibility in the year 2013 germany's education minister annette
13:43schawan resigned after heinrich hein university revoked her doctoral degree concluding that her phd dissertation
13:50contained systematic plagiarism shawan denied deliberately misleading the university and
13:56challenged the decision in court but she acknowledged that remaining education minister while fighting a university
14:03would damage the government's credibility she resigned voluntarily making personal misconduct
14:09not an education policy failure the reason for her exit a similar story unfolded in norway once again the
14:17resignation was swift once again it's centered on plagiarism not on a botched examination system
14:24in january of 2024 norway's research and higher education minister sandra botch stepped down within days
14:32after admitting that parts of her master's thesis had been copied without proper attribution the revelations
14:39triggered widespread criticism particularly because botch had taken a tough public stand against academic
14:46misconduct she apologized and resigned almost immediately as the controversy became politically untenable but what
14:54happens when the controversy is about examinations themselves surprisingly resignation is often not the
15:00outcome governments have repeatedly weathered major education crises without asking their ministers to quit
15:07take britain in 2020
15:09take britain in 2020
15:09you
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