North Korea and South Korea both tested ballistic missiles (CNN) today, adding new pressure to restart nuclear negotiations with North Korea that have been stalled since 2019.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Seoul’s missile test was prescheduled (Yonhap) and not a reaction to provocations from Pyongyang, while South Korean security officials voiced concern over the North Korean tests. So too did Japan, which said the North Korean tests violated UN Security Council resolutions (Nikkei). The tests came after the foreign ministers of China and South Korea met in Seoul. The officials discussed diplomatic relations with North Korea (Reuters), as well as steps to boost China and South Korea’s cultural ties. 

The Chinese military’s division in Tibet tested defenses (SCMP) against possible missile and fighter-plane attacks. Beijing and New Delhi are expected to begin a new round of negotiations soon related to a border conflict last year.
 
CFR’s Alyssa Ayres explains the China-India border dispute in this June 2020 In Brief.

In a phone conversation, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced their desire for a coordinated response (Dawn) to the crisis in Afghanistan.
 
CFR’s Manjari Chatterjee Miller unpacks Pakistan’s support for the Taliban.
 
India: The country announced $3.5 billion in new incentives (Reuters) for electric-vehicle and drone manufacturing. A previous initiative that planned to boost production of gas-powered vehicles was redrawn as Tesla prepares to enter India.

Ali Bagheri Kani, a hard-line critic of the 2015 nuclear deal, will take over (National) as Iran’s deputy foreign minister. His predecessor, Abbas Araghchi, was Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, though it is unclear if Bagheri Kani will also take up this role.
 
Egypt: The United States plans to suspend $130 million of a $300 million military aid package to Egypt over human rights concerns. Egypt could receive the rest of the funds if it fulfills certain requirements, U.S. officials told the Washington Post.

Following reports that Mali is considering contracting the Wagner Group, a Russian private security force, French diplomats warned that such a step would jeopardize funding (France 24, Reuters) from international partners. French counterterrorism forces are set to depart Mali by early 2022.
 
Guinea: The military leaders of the country’s recent coup began weeklong consultations (Al Jazeera) with business, political, and religious leaders on forming a transitional government.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a tax waiver for European-produced defense equipment and said she and French President Emmanuel Macron will convene a summit (AP) on European Union (EU) defense.
 
Spain: Negotiations between Madrid and Catalonia over Catalonia’s push for independence recommence today (Politico) after pausing for a year and a half.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry fired the prosecutor (Reuters) who named him a suspect in the July assassination of Haiti’s former president.
 
CFR’s Paul J. Angelo and David Gevarter lay out what to know about the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
 
Brazil: The country’s Senate repealed a decree (MercoPress) by President Jair Bolsonaro that made it more difficult for social media companies to remove content.

U.S. General Mark A. Milley held a secret meeting with top Pentagon officials (CNN) in January over fears that President Donald Trump would order a dangerous military strike, according to a new book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. They also wrote that Milley called a top Chinese military official (Reuters) in hopes of preventing a war with China.