epubdos : Afghanistan
SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO:
SCA & Staff
DATE:
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
U.S. Report Highlights Rights Abuses In Russia, Iran, Afghanistan (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/23/2024 7:33 AM, Staff, 223K, Negative]
Russia has continued to show blatant disregard for human rights both in its unprovoked war against Ukraine and in the treatment of its own citizens over the past year, the U.S. State Department has said in its latest annual report on human rights around the globe, which also highlights the abuses committed by Iran’s theocratic regime and the Taliban’s mistreatment of Afghans -- especially its discrimination against women and girls.

Russian troops continued to commit numerous abuses and atrocities, some amounting to war crimes, the report says, highlighting the issuance by the International Criminal Court of arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

"There were credible reports of summary execution, torture, rape, and attacks killing and injuring civilians and damaging or destroying civilian infrastructure by Russia’s forces in Ukraine, as well as war crimes, including those involving forced deportation or transfer of civilians, and the forced placement in foster care or adoption of Ukrainian children," the report notes.

At home, Russian authorities continued to step up the pressure on dissent and independent expression, imprisoning political opponents and anti-war protesters, clamping down on the media, prosecuting numerous people for expressing their opinions online, and forcibly closing down nongovernmental organizations.

More moves were made to persecute opposition politicians such as the sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison on charges including treason and the slapping of an extra 19 years for "extremism" on the already imprisoned Aleksei Navalny, who subsequently died under suspicious circumstances in February in a penitentiary in Russia’s Arctic region.

"Tragically, as we saw with Aleksei Navalny’s unjust imprisonment in a Russian penal colony, incarceration can come with horrific conditions -- with abuse, even death," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 22 while presenting the report.

The report also highlights a multitude of other human rights abuses committed by Russian authorities on Russia’s territory and abroad, such as, but not limited to, arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; pervasive torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; and serious problems with the independence of the judiciary.

Harsh Punishments Meted Out In Iran

Brutal human rights abuses continue to take place and even worsen in Iran, where women and members of marginalized communities bear the brunt of the regime’s human rights violations and abuses, the report says, highlighting the harsh punishment meted out to prisoners, including executions, for bogus or unjust reasons.

"Women continued to face discrimination, including through enhanced means for enforcing the mandatory dress code, which led to acts of civil disobedience," the report says, adding that many people have reportedly disappeared during extended protests that were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police in September 2022.

The number of executions was up by more than one-third last year compared to 2022, with 798 people being put to death, some of them political dissidents.

"The government often charged political dissidents with vague crimes, some of which carried the death penalty, such as ‘antirevolutionary behavior,’ ‘corruption on earth,’ ‘siding with global arrogance,’ ‘waging war against God,’ and ‘crimes against Islam,’" the report notes.

The Iranian regime is also guilty of serious violations outside its borders, which include enabling abuses by terrorist groups throughout the region by the Syrian government, Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq, and Yemeni Huthi militants, as well as the unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers, the document said.

Systemic Mistreatment, Discrimination In Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the Taliban has resorted to systemic mistreatment of and discrimination against Afghanistan’s women and girls since it returned to power in August 2021 following the hasty withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

"In Afghanistan, the Taliban have limited work opportunities for women, shuttered institutions found educating girls, and increasing floggings for women and men accused of, quote, ‘immoral behavior,’ end quote," Blinken said.

The report says Taliban authorities have issued more than 50 pieces of legislation "that effectively erase women from public life."

The Taliban authorities have shown continuous and widespread "disregard for the rule of law and official impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses," the document says, adding that both the Taliban and their current arch-foe, the Islamic State group, have been using child soldiers.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on April 23 pushed back against the criticism, emphasizing the Taliban’s commitment to upholding Shari’a law, which he argued defines and guarantees the rights of Afghan citizens based on their wishes.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has a Shari’a and Islamic obligation to give the rights of its citizens," Mujahid said on state-controlled RTA Radio. "When America or other Western countries talk about rights, they should not impose Western culture on other countries. What is defined as rights in America may not be the same in Afghanistan."

Referring to the ongoing war in Gaza that was triggered by an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, the report notes "serious abuses...by Hamas and Israel."

It says those abuses include unlawful or widespread civilian deaths and harm, enforced disappearances or abductions, torture, as well as "violence or threats against journalists."
Exclusive: New evidence challenges the Pentagon’s account of a horrific attack as the US withdrew from Afghanistan (CNN)
CNN [4/24/2024 5:01 AM, Nick Paton Walsh and Mick Krever, 223K, Negative]
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations, the latest of which was released last week, into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The incident was a gruesome coda to America’s longest war, leaving dead 13 United States military service members and about 170 Afghans who were desperately seeking US help to flee the Taliban takeover of Kabul. For two years, the US military has insisted that the loss of life was caused by a single explosion, and that troops who reported coming under fire and returning it were likely confused in the chaotic aftermath, some suffering from the effects of blast concussion.

But video captured by a Marine’s GoPro camera that has not been seen publicly in full before shows there was far more gunfire than the Pentagon has ever admitted. A dozen US military personnel, who were on the scene and spoke to CNN anonymously for fear of reprisals, have described the gunfire in detail. One told CNN he heard the first large burst of shooting come from where US Marines were standing, near the blast site. “It wasn’t onesies and twosies,” the Marine said. “It was a mass volume of gunfire.”

An Afghan doctor who spoke to CNN on the record for the first time said he personally pulled bullets from the wounded, and with his hospital staff counted dozens of Afghans who died from gunshot wounds.

Combined, the new evidence challenges the credibility of the two US military investigations and raises serious questions for the Pentagon, which has continued to dismiss mounting evidence that civilians were shot dead.

The blast at 5:36 p.m. on August 26, 2021, outside Hamid Karzai International Airport marked the worst casualty incident for Afghan civilians and US troops in Afghanistan in over a decade.

For days, hundreds of desperate Afghans – military aged-men, women, children, and the elderly – had been standing in the blistering heat, hoping to persuade their way into the airport and onto a stream of US cargo planes that flew over a hundred thousand people out to safety.

The scene outside the airport’s Abbey Gate, where crowds were densest, was gruesome even before the blast. Former translators and other Afghans who had assisted the near-20-year NATO presence waded in trash and knee-deep sewage water that filled a concrete drainage canal.

When an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated a backpack device just above the densely populated concrete canal, the evacuation was drastically curtailed.

The Pentagon has insisted all deaths and injuries were caused by the explosive device and the ball bearings it fired into the crowd. Though it has acknowledged there was gunfire from American and British forces, it says that was limited to three bursts that were near-simultaneous – one of 25 to 30 warning shots from UK troops, and two bursts of fire from US troops aimed at suspected militants, which did not hit anyone.

The US Army Central Command ordered a supplemental review into the incident in September 2023, after criticism of its investigation’s conclusions, particularly around whether the bombing could have been prevented – in harrowing emotional testimony from survivors on social media and to Congressional hearings.

Those results, which were released on April 15, reaffirmed that a lone ISIS-K bomber carried out the attack, and found that “new information obtained during the review did not materially impact the findings in the November 2021” investigation, and the review “did not recommend any modifications to those findings.” The review did not pursue numerous reports from Afghan survivors of significant gunfire in the wake of the blast.

The Marine’s GoPro footage runs nearly continuously for many minutes before and after the blast. It shows 11 episodes of shooting after the explosion, over nearly four minutes. This is significantly more than the three “near simultaneous” bursts of gunfire that the Pentagon investigations have claimed occurred.

One sustained burst of about 17 gunshots comes just over 30 seconds after the bomb detonates, according to the video, with the other 10 bursts of two to three rounds each. At no point are Marines seen firing on camera or is anyone visibly hit by gunfire. It is unclear where the gunmen are or what they are firing at.

It shows Marines, some on their first deployment to a warzone, race for cover from gunfire, and choke from CS gas released when the blast tore open a canister on a Marine’s flak jacket.

One Marine, presumably the cameraman, notes after the blast: “I got that on film, dude.” Seconds later, as Afghans seem to race towards the airport walls to seek safety, another voice adds: “They’re breaking through.” The remainder of the footage shows the Marines swiftly getting accountability of their own units, struggling to come to terms with the blast’s impact, and hearing a steady series of controlled, isolated bursts of gunfire close by.

Robert Maher, an audio forensic expert at Montana State University in Bozeman, who reviewed the footage for CNN, found at least 11 episodes of gunfire over a four-minute window, totaling a minimum of 43 shots. He added that the burst near the start contained at least 17 shots, with multiple weapons likely firing and overlapping. He said in two other bursts of fire, the rounds appeared to follow a “crack-boom” sequence – the crack of the bullet breaching the sound barrier recorded before the sound of the gunshot reached the microphone – indicating the bullet traveled over or across the camera.

Sarah Morris, a digital forensics expert from the University of Southampton in England, examined both the audio and video files for evidence of digital corruption, alteration, or manipulation, and found none. She said the location data and metadata of the two clips that lead up to and follow the blast showed they were filmed “very close to each other.”

Separately, Morris used an algorithm to phase out predictable background noise on a GoPro from clothing or motion, and found in 16 instances where there were peaks in audio which she said were “unusual noises that appear consistent with a firearm.” The 16 overlapped with the 11 episodes discerned by Maher.

While some Marines aid wounded Afghans, the video also shows that, 21 minutes and 49 seconds after the bombing, Marines fired a CS gas canister from inside the airport walls towards the area near the blast. It may have landed near injured and dead Afghan civilians, still gathered around the sewage trench that ran along the scene of the blast at that time, according to videos shared on social media.

The Pentagon’s investigations have made no reference to the video, half an hour of which CNN obtained. It is unclear how much of it the Pentagon saw prior to publication of this story. It released four seconds of the video – the moment of the blast itself – as part of its initial investigation in February 2022, although the source of that brief clip remains unclear.

CNN described the full video and findings of this story in significant detail to the Pentagon ahead of publication. A spokesman said the Pentagon would need to see any “new, previously unseen, video out there” before assessing it. Army Lt. Col. Rob Lodewick, public affairs adviser to the supplemental review team, said the latest review supported the Pentagon’s initial findings.

He said in a statement: “The 2021-2022 Abbey Gate Investigation thoroughly investigated the allegations of a complex attack”, which would have involved gunfire from militants after the blast, “as well as allegations of outgoing fire from US and coalition forces following the blast. The Supplemental Review found no new evidence of a complex attack, and uncovered no new assertions of outgoing fire post-blast. Consequently, the Supplemental Review found no materialistic impact to the original findings of the Abbey Gate investigation.”

A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defense said that its troops fired “warning shots above the crowd to prevent a surge,” none of which were fired at people – the same position it held in 2022.

CNN has previously reported that 19 Afghan witnesses said they saw gunfire or were shot themselves.

“I saw people who were injured in the explosion trying to get up, but they fired on them,” Shogofa Hamidi, whose sister Morsal was shot in the face, told CNN for an in-depth report published in February 2022. “They were targeting people,” another, Nazir, 16, told CNN. “In front of me, people were getting shot at and falling down.”

Noorullah Zakhel, whose cousin was killed, said that bullets appeared to hit those who tried to flee, and recalled soldiers standing in front of him, as he dropped to the ground below the canal wall. Their accounts were supported by that of a doctor and 13 medical reports which detailed bullet wounds among Afghans.

Read more: Horror at Kabul’s gate to freedom

In 2022, Dr. Sayeed Ahmadi, director of the Wazir Akhbar Khan hospital in Kabul, spoke to CNN anonymously as he feared for his safety. He now has asylum in Finland, where he agreed to speak on camera about the harrowing scenes that night in his trauma unit.

“Explosion injuries come with severe injuries and lots of holes in the bodies,” he explained. “But people who were shot had just one or two holes in the chest or head.”

Ahmadi spent many years treating injuries across war-torn Afghanistan. “Of course, when you see the bullets, it’s totally different from the ball bearing. Everybody knows if they are a soldier or a doctor.”

Video obtained by CNN shows bodies piling up outside the hospital on the night of the attack. As they treated patients, Ahmadi said he received a threatening phone call telling him to stop his team from recording which patients had been shot and who had been killed or injured by the blast.

“He spoke fluently Dari,” he said. “He told me, ‘What are you doing, Doctor? You love your life. You love your family. This is not good when you are collecting that data. It would make a big dangerous situation for you. You should stop that as soon as possible.’”

The man called another time to repeat the warning, and Ahmadi advised his team to stop recording data and destroy the evidence they had collected.

The Pentagon, in response to Ahmadi’s initial anonymous statement to CNN in 2022 that he had treated gunshot wounds, said that he was mistaken. They said bullet and ball-bearing injuries are hard to distinguish – a claim disputed by multiple combat medics who spoke to CNN, and by Ahmadi himself.

Ahmadi said he was never approached by American investigators.

“I hope one day they ask me,” he said. “Now I am safe. I feel well… Sometimes just this secret that I have in my mind haunts me.”

Pentagon spokesman Lodewick said no Afghans were interviewed for the original AR 15-6 investigation “because its scope and focus on US operations did not demand it.” He said the supplemental review was “even more refined” in its scope, focusing more on events before the blast and the bomber, “and again presented no overwhelming need for the pursuit of external Afghan-centric information.”

Accounts from US servicemen of the aftermath have often been dismissed by officials as the product of blast concussion, or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). As Marine survivors leave active duty and continue to struggle with their trauma and an official narrative that jars with their personal experience, their dissent has grown.

CNN spoke with about ten Marines anonymously, many of whom described hearing gunfire and feeling under attack from it. Some have reported seeing what they thought was a militant gunman. The Pentagon has insisted no other gunmen opened fire in the area at the time of the attack, bar US and UK troops. No American or Afghan witness has specifically stated they directly saw a militant open fire.

One Marine, who decided to speak out of conscience and requested anonymity, fearing reprisals for his account, has become the first American eyewitness to describe shots fired from where US personnel were located. He said that the burst of gunfire after the explosion – heard by witnesses on the ground and audible in the new video – came from the area around the Abbey Gate sniper tower, where US Marines were grouped.

While he could not be certain the Marines had fired directly into the crowd of Afghan civilians in front of them, he said: “They would not have fired into the air.” Marines had been told to not fire warnings shots, he said, as these rounds fired in the air often landed later in civilian areas. “It wasn’t a direct order,” he added. “But it was a common understanding: no warning shots.” He said he did not think any of the shots fired in the four-minute window of gunfire audible on the new video would have been warning shots.

Public orders issued in the Navy in December 2020 banned warning shots unless specifically permitted on deployment. The Pentagon’s report said Marines from the 2/1 unit that made up most of those on the scene “did not use warning shots and only used flash bang grenades infrequently.” The Marine said he did not see any US military open fire and did not fire himself.

The Marine calmly described key details of blast and its aftermath, but became emotional when discussing the Pentagon’s investigations, including what he described as a lack of transparency about what happened, and the possible role Marine gunfire played in raising the Afghan civilian death toll.

But he defended the immediate response of his colleagues under attack. “The reaction that the Marines had was a reaction that I believe anybody trained to do in that scenario would have had,” he said, suggesting they were in the first phase of the three-stage practice of RTR – Returning fire, Taking cover and then Returning accurate fire.

“You’ve got to think, these are kids,” he said. “They’re young. And they’ve only been taught what they’ve been taught. Some of these kids had been with the unit for quite literally two, three months prior to deployment. They didn’t have the training to be able to recognize some of the things that, you know, might have occurred – nor could you have the training for what had happened on August 26. Or really what happened in Kabul.”

He said the significant gunfire response from Marines after the blast was common knowledge among Marine survivors, even though it was not spoken of publicly. “It’s incredibly weird,” he said. “It’s frustrating, you know? Why hide from what happened?”

Reacting to the Pentagon’s dismissal of accounts from US personnel who recalled gunfire as the product of TBI, the Marine said: “It’s a pathetic excuse. To say that every Marine, every soldier, every Navy corpsman on the deck has a traumatic brain injury and cannot remember gunfire is, is lunacy. It’s outright disrespectful. And especially for it to come from somebody that wasn’t there.”

“To the Afghani [sic] families – I’m sorry that after 20 years of war, that that is the way that this (was) conducted. And that we weren’t able to uphold a promise that we gave your people after removing the Taliban in 2001. And it should not have ended like that.”

Many of the 10 other Marines with whom CNN spoke anonymously also describe gunfire.

One told CNN that he ran through a hole in the fence outside the Abbey Gate in the minute after the blast to assist with the wounded. As he emerged, he said, he heard suppressed rifle fire nearby from another Marine. Many US Marines’ rifles were fitted with suppressors, reducing the noise of their fire, according to footage from the incident.

“I would probably say five, 10 meters away from me, was where it was,” he said. He said the Marine firing was not from his own unit, and after he had opened fire, “whoever was shooting at us wasn’t shooting at us anymore.”

Another Marine told CNN he was about 20 meters (65 feet) from the blast. “There was definitely, shooting,” he said. “Snapping over our heads after the blast and it wasn’t the Taliban.” He said he used his rifle optic to look at the Taliban, who were some distance away on nearby shipping containers used to control access to the Abbey Gate area. “When I looked over at them, none of them were holding their guns. They looked just as shocked as us.”

Other US servicemen who said they witnessed gunfire in the aftermath of the bombing have spoken out on social media.

Sgt. Romel Finley, who received a Purple Heart, said that another sergeant ordered US troops into position to open fire after the bomb blast. Finley told The Brrks YouTube channel, a social media account run by a former Marine and Master Barber which interviews active or former Marines, that he recalled, while being dragged from the scene, “My platoon sergeant running past us, saying ‘get back on that wall and shoot back at those motherf**kers.’ So I was like, we are in a gunfight too.”

Finley, who sustained significant leg injuries in the attack, added that he did not witness Marines firing, or responding to the order. He declined to comment to CNN, as did his platoon sergeant. CNN is withholding the names of Marines who did not specifically consent to being identified in interviews.

Christian Sanchez, another Marine survivor, who was injured in his left arm, told the same Brrks Barber channel that he opened fire after the blast. “All I see is flashes. And all I could hear was ringing. Like all hear is ringing and f**king flashes going on. And I start hearing snaps. And I start realizing that that’s a f**king dude shooting at me,” he said. “And I just started shooting at the dude,” he added, breaking down.

Sanchez also declined to speak to CNN about his recollections and it is unclear if he specifically saw the purported militant gunman open fire.

Significant gaps remain in the evidence presented by the Pentagon. Investigators have only released five edited minutes of drone footage from the aftermath, which they said supported their findings that no gunfire hit anyone.

A recent congressional hearing for the then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and then-Central Command Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie ended with Congressman Darrell Issa presenting the two generals with a list of unpublished video that, under a Freedom of Information Act request, the Pentagon had admitted they held. The generals told the session they had seen the videos, and that it should be released to congressional investigators.

Another American military survivor who spoke to CNN said he had endured two years of “leadership saying what you saw was basically not the truth.” He summarized the two investigations as: “Shut your mouth. We’ll talk for you.”
Small businesses a lifeline for Afghan women facing Taliban restrictions (VOA)
VOA [4/23/2024 3:45 PM, Roshan Noorzai and Zheela Noori, 761K, Neutral]
Zuhal Akbari has opened a new pastry factory in the western Afghan city of Herat, recruiting women “so that they can do something for themselves, their families and their health.”

Akbari told VOA that most of the 11 women who work with her are university graduates who lost their jobs after the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Under the Taliban, women are barred from working in the public sector and for NGOs, getting a secondary and university education, traveling long distances without male relatives, and going to parks, public baths and gyms.

Although the Taliban said that they have no problem with women working in the private sector, they have imposed restrictions on certain businesses, such as beauty salons.

Last year, the Taliban closed beauty salons that employed tens of thousands of women.

“Many women are coming to us for jobs, but we cannot hire more,” said Akbari, adding that she does not have the resources.

A U.N. Development Program report released last week stated that despite challenges, women-run businesses “emerged as a lifeline” for women in Afghanistan.

Based on a survey of some 3,100 women-led businesses, the report said that “66% of respondents reported an increase in business activities.

“You see the thriving push forward of these women moving more and more into the commerce trade area,” said Kanni Wignaraja, assistant secretary-general, assistant administrator and director of the regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

Multiple challenges

Wignaraja, however, told VOA that women-led businesses face multiple challenges.

“The first is affordable capital. The second is modern new skills.... And the third is mobility. The ability to physically move around, follow the markets, particularly cross-border and outside Afghanistan.

Salma Yusufzai, CEO of the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries told VOA that the number of women in business has increased from two years ago when the Taliban seized power when many women-led businesses closed.

“There are more than 9,126 registered women [business owners with the AWCCI] and in total there are 120,000 [registered and unregistered] women-led businesses active in Afghanistan,” Yusufzai said.

She said women-led businesses are “mainly in the areas of carpet weaving, making clothes, jewelry, fruit processing and other areas in agriculture.”

Yusufzai said that one of the major problems for businesswomen in Afghanistan is the “lack of a market” for their products as they do not have access to foreign markets.

“There are no exports to the market outside the country, and no country is granting visas to Afghan businesswomen,” Yusufzai said.

She said that women-led businesses, if supported, have the potential to recruit more women because they are banned from working in other sectors.

No other options

Because women in Afghanistan are deprived of their basic rights under the Taliban, their mental health has deteriorated as they are confined to their homes.

Adela Ghafari, a resident of Herat City, had to stay home for more than a year until she found a job in a local pastry factory.

She graduated from a university with a degree in history. She wanted to be a history teacher or work for the government.

“After I graduated, I wanted to get a job as a history teacher or a government employee,” said Ghafari, “But I cannot.”

“Now I have no other option but to work here,” said Ghafari, adding “but, I have to say it is better than doing nothing at home.”
Pakistan
US Warns of Sanctions Risk as Pakistan Inks Deals With Iran (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [4/24/2024 1:37 AM, Ismail Dilawar, 5.5M, Neutral]
The US has warned of sanctions risks for Pakistan after the government in Islamabad signed security and economic deals with Iran during a visit by President Ebrahim Raisi to the South Asian country.

“We advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential risk of sanctions,” US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters in Washington Tuesday. “Ultimately, the Government of Pakistan can speak to their own foreign policy pursuits.”

The warnings came as Washington imposed sanctions last week on suppliers to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, which included four based in China and Belarus. Patel said on the sanctions that the US will continue to “disrupt” and take action against proliferation networks and weapons of mass destruction.

Pakistan has been looking to revive a project to build a gas pipeline from Iran, which has been delayed for decades due to the risk of sanctions from the US. Last month, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu said in a congressional hearing that the Biden administration will uphold all sanctions related to Iran when he was asked about the Pakistan-Iran pipeline.

While Pakistan plans to request for a sanctions waiver on the pipeline, there was no mention about the project during Raisi’s three-day trip. Raisi said in a news conference on Monday that Pakistan and Iran needed to boost bilateral trade to about $10 billion in the next three to four years.

“The US will certainly not like Pakistan and Iran to come closer,” said Shaista Tabassum, a professor at the University of Karachi.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Raisi witnessed the signing of eight agreements in Islamabad, including the setting up of a special economic zone, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The two countries are looking to repair ties after firing missiles at each other in January to target militant hideouts on either side of their shared border.

This week, Iran and Pakistan agreed to ban terror groups operating on each other’s soil, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said in a separate statement. Raisi, the first Iranian president to visit Islamabad in eight years, concluded his visit on Wednesday.

His visit was an “attempt to reaffirm ties and reestablish a warm relationship,” said Madiha Afzal, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Chuck Schumer Privately Warns Pakistan: Don’t Kill Imran Khan in Prison (The Intercept)
The Intercept [4/23/2024 4:04 PM, Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain, 152K, Neutral]
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned in a conversation with Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington that the safety of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan was a high priority of the United States, multiple sources familiar with the exchange told The Intercept.

The warning issued late last month by Schumer, the most powerful Democrat in Congress, to Pakistan came after intense activism by members of the Pakistani diaspora amid concerns that the Pakistani military may harm Khan, the former prime minister who was ousted from office in 2022.

“Chuck Schumer speaking to the ambassador regarding the safety of Imran Khan is very constructive,” Mohammad Munir Khan, a Pakistani American political activist in the U.S., told The Intercept. “The Pakistani American diaspora has felt let down by Washington’s failure to engage power brokers in Pakistan and hold them accountable for blatant violations of human rights, and destruction of basic fundamentals of democracy.”

Imran Khan is currently incarcerated on corruption charges that are widely seen as politically motivated. Khan, who is regarded as the most popular politician in Pakistan, was removed from power in an April 2022 no-confidence vote orchestrated by the country’s powerful military establishment and encouraged by the U.S. Since then, Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, has faced a brutal repression that has raised international alarms and been denounced by human rights groups.

The concerns about Khan’s life that prompted Schumer’s call to the Pakistani Ambassador Masood Khan reflect a growing fear that the military may deal with Khan’s stubborn popularity by simply putting an end to his life behind bars. (Schumer’s office declined to comment for this story. The Pakistani Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

The outreach from Schumer, who represents a large, vocal Pakistani American community in New York, came as a new governing coalition in the South Asian country seeks to consolidate power despite public disaffection over a February election rife with fraud.

In addition to banning PTI, Pakistan engaged in heavy repression ahead of the February vote. A record turnout suggested PTI-aligned candidates had the upper hand. Ignoring widespread fraud, however, a coalition of parties supported by the Pakistani military successfully formed a government led by Shehbaz Sharif in the vote’s aftermath.

The international community, including the U.S., noted voting irregularities, and credible allegations arose of vote rigging and flagrant fraud in the election.

“There is undeniable evidence, which the State Department agrees with, that there were problems with this election,” Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, told The Intercept in March. At the time, Casar and other members of Congress had just called on President Joe Biden to withhold recognition of the government, but Washington’s ambassador to Pakistan congratulated Sharif in early March.

Foreign policy experts in Washington said the Biden administration’s approach risked transgressing democratic principles in the name of security. Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, said, “This appears to be an example where the administration is allowing its security relationship with a foreign government to crowd out other critical concerns like democratic backsliding and human rights.”

Imran Khan himself has reportedly been held in dire conditions at a prison in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Last month, his visitor privileges were abruptly suspended for two weeks, prompting fears from his supporters about his physical conditions in custody. Earlier this month, one of his lawyers claimed that his personal physician was not being allowed to see him in jail. Khan’s wife, who is imprisoned on politically motivated charges of an un-Islamic marriage and graft, has also reportedly suffered health problems due to conditions of her confinement, according to remarks from her lawyer this week.

In a statement given to reporters from prison and later shared on social media, Khan, who was wounded in an attempted assassination in November 2022 at a political rally, alleged that there had been a plot to kill him while behind bars. Khan suggested his fate was in the hands of Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief.

“Let it be known that if anything happens to me or my wife, it’ll be him who will be responsible,” Khan said.

Schumer’s call to the Pakistani ambassador, however, may play into the military’s calculations about killing Khan. “A senior Democrat influential in the Biden administration is sending a warning, which is somewhat significant,” said Adam Weinstein, the deputy director of the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute, adding that he did not believe the military would kill Khan in prison.

As extreme as a step it would be, the military harming or even killing a leader it ousted, even one as popular as Khan, would fit a pattern in Pakistani history. Several Pakistani leaders have died violently in the past few decades after falling out with the military, some under murky circumstances, while others, like former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, were executed by military rulers after being deposed from power.

Although nominally led by a civilian government today, Pakistan’s military is widely known to call the shots in the country politically and is currently led by Munir, whose clashes with Khan and his party have been the main political storyline in the country for over a year.

For Pakistani activists in the U.S., the American relationship with Pakistan creates leverage that can be used to ensure that Khan is not murdered behind bars. Mohammad Munir Khan, the Pakistani American activist, said, “The least Washington can do is to ensure Imran Khan is not harmed physically.”

Capitol Hill Hearing

The U.S. has played an outsized role in Pakistan’s internal politics, especially over the past several years, including a pivotal role in Khan’s ouster from power.

In August 2023, The Intercept reported on and published a classified Pakistani diplomatic cable — a contentious document that had become a centerpiece of political drama, though its contents had remained unknown — showing that Khan’s removal from power had taken place following intense pressure placed on the Pakistani government by U.S. State Department officials.

In the cable, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, whose office covers South Asia at the State Department, is quoted as telling the Pakistani ambassador to Washington that the countries’ relations would be seriously damaged if Khan were to remain in power.

“I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington,” Lu said, according to the Pakistani cable.

Since Khan’s removal from power, the U.S. has worked closely with the new military-backed Pakistani regime. Pakistan provided weapons to Ukraine in exchange for the U.S. brokering a favorable International Monetary Fund loan package, according to previous reporting from The Intercept.

Before being imprisoned, Khan made frequent reference to the classified cypher and even claimed to be brandishing a physical copy during a political rally. He is now facing a lengthy prison sentence on charges related to his handling of classified information, in addition to the raft of corruption charges that initially landed him in custody.

Coming in the context of a broader crackdown on his party — which has including killings, extrajudicial disappearances, and torture targeting supporters of PTI and members of the press — most observers believe Khan’s continued imprisonment is a politically motivated gambit to keep him and his movement out of power.

Following this year’s election, with Casar and others in Congress raising questions about Khan’s removal and the vote, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing featuring Lu, the assistant secretary of state.

The sole person testifying, Lu denied that he had been involved in a “regime change” in Pakistan — a reference to Khan’s comments about his role and the content of the cable reported by The Intercept.

On the election, Lu paid lip service to concerns about how the ballot was carried off, while failing to outline what consequences there would be for the vote rigging.

“You have seen actions by our ambassador and our embassy,” Lu said, alluding the congratulations extended by the U.S. to Pakistan’s new prime minister. He then quickly added: “We are in every interaction with this government stressing the importance of accountability for election irregularities.”

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., raised the issue of Khan’s safety in detention at the hearing. Sherman urged Lu to meet directly with Khan in prison, earning applause from the mostly Pakistani audience in hand.

“Ensuring the safety of leaders, regardless of political differences, is paramount,” said Atif Khan, another Pakistan American diaspora activist. “Congressman Brad Sherman rightly advocated for accountability and protection, urging the US Ambassador to visit former Prime Minister Imran Khan and prioritize his well-being.”

While Khan’s fate hangs in the balance, members of Congress have warned that continued U.S. support for a government seen as illegitimate by most Pakistanis risks harming not just Pakistan, but also the U.S. position in a critical region.

“Promoting democracy is important in itself, but it’s in our interests as well,” Casar, the Texas Democrat, told The Intercept. “Regardless of the short-term military benefits, in the long term it has never worked out in the United States’ benefit to be seen as propping up illegitimate, military-led governments.”
Iran, Pakistan Seek to Patch Up Ties With Pledge to Boost Trade (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [4/23/2024 9:48 AM, Ismail Dilawar, 168K, Negative]
Iran and Pakistan took steps to repair relations after deadly military strikes by the two Asian neighbors early this year, with both countries signing multiple agreements on security and economic cooperation during a high-profile visit by President Ebrahim Raisi.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Raisi oversaw the signing of eight agreements in Islamabad including the setting up of a joint special economic zone, state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan said in a statement on Monday. The two sides also agreed in principle to ban terrorist organizations operating on each other’s soil and combat terrorism, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Raisi is the first Iranian president to visit Islamabad in eight years.

The move comes after Tehran conducted a missile strike on a militant group in Pakistan that was followed by Pakistan carrying out targeted strikes against, what it said, militant hideouts in Iran. Both sides had then agreed to ease tensions after the tit-for-tat strikes.

“Iran must be seeking to mend its ties with Pakistan, which had soured after January’s border tensions,” said Shaista Tabassum, a professor at the University of Karachi.

Pakistan and Iran need to boost bilateral trade to about $10 billion in the next three to four years, Raisi said at a joint news conference on Monday.

Pakistan is also planning to revive a project to construct a gas pipeline from Iran that has been delayed for decades due to the risk of possible sanctions from the US.

Joe Biden’s administration said it will uphold all sanctions related to Iran, according to Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu last month in a congressional hearing when asked about the pipeline. Pakistan plans to request a waiver for the project. There was no mention about the pipeline during Raisi’s trip.

“The US will certainly not like Pakistan and Iran to come closer,” said Tabassum.
Iran, Pakistan urge U.N Security Council to take action against Israel (Reuters)
Reuters [4/24/2024 5:27 AM, Charlotte Greenfield, 1071K, Negative]
Iran and Pakistan called on the United Nations Security Council in a joint statement issued on Wednesday to take action against Israel, saying it had "illegally" targeted neighbouring countries and foreign diplomatic facilities.

The joint statement, released by Pakistan’s foreign ministry, followed a three-day visit to the country by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East.

Explosions were heard last Friday over the Iranian city of Isfahan in what sources said was an Israeli attack. However, Tehran played down the incident and said it had no plans for retaliation.

"Recognizing that the irresponsible act of the Israeli regime forces was a major escalation in an already volatile region, both sides called on the UN Security Council to prevent the Israeli regime from its adventurism in the region and its illegal acts attacking its neighbours...," Iran and Pakistan said in their joint statement.

Muslim neighbours Iran and Pakistan are seeking to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes this year.

Raisi, who wrapped up his visit and flew on to Sri Lanka on Wednesday, vowed to boost trade between Iran and Pakistan to $10 billion a year.

During his visit to Pakistan, Raisi was quoted by Iran’s official IRNA news agency as saying any further Israeli attack on Iranian territory could radically change the dynamics and result in there being nothing left of the "Zionist regime".

On April 13, Tehran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s suspected deadly strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, but almost all were shot down.

Pakistan has previously called for de-escalation by "all parties".

Iran and Pakistan vowed during Raisi’s visit to boost trade and energy cooperation, including on a major gas pipeline deal that has faced delays due to geopolitical issues and international sanctions.
What’s Behind The Deadly Surge Of Violence In Pakistan’s Balochistan? (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/23/2024 5:22 PM, Abubakar Siddique, 235K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency and a brutal government crackdown for decades.

But the vast and resource-rich province -- home to the South Asian country’s ethnic Baluch minority -- has witnessed a surge in deadly attacks in recent months.

The gun attacks and suicide bombings have targeted Pakistani security forces as well as foreign nationals.

Who Is Behind The Attacks?

Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group and U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

The Majeed Brigade, the BLA’s suicide squad, is believed to have carried out the most complex attacks.

The BLA is considered the largest armed group operating in Balochistan. It is allied with the Baloch Liberation Front, the other major separatist militant group active in the province. Experts believe the BLA has several thousand members.

Last year, Baluch militants carried out 110 attacks, according to the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank. In the first three months of 2024 alone, the groups have launched 62 attacks, suggesting a sharp rise.

Who Are They Targeting?

The BLA is targeting the Pakistani Army and police and has been blamed for killing Chinese workers.

Since January, the group has attacked government offices in the port city of Gwadar, the lynchpin of Chinese investments in energy and infrastructure in Pakistan. The BLA also attacked Pakistan’s largest naval air force base and attempted to overrun the strategic town of Mach.

Assassinations and improvised-explosive-device (IED) attacks have been reported almost daily.

"Anyone affiliated with the state’s crackdown in Balochistan is their target," said an Islamabad-based expert who tracks the region and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Zafar Baloch, a Balochistan researcher based in Britain, says the BLA and other separatist groups seek independence from Pakistan. The groups have demanded that the Pakistani military leave Balochistan and for China to end its "exploitative" projects in the province.

The Baluch blame Islamabad for exploiting the vast natural resources in Balochistan and committing grave human rights abuses in the impoverished region.

Why Was There A Sharp Increase In Attacks?

The expert in Islamabad said the "recruitment of the separatist militant organizations has skyrocketed" recently. That, the analyst said, has enabled the groups to "launch more attacks."

The disputed February elections, marred by widespread allegations of fraud, added "fuel to the fire" because they deprived the Baluch of real political representation, the analyst says.

The Baluch youth, the analyst says, do not "see any avenue for expressing their dissent."

Baluch political parties, which had formed most provincial governments in the past, lost power in the controversial elections.

Sarafaz Bugti, a Baluch politician who is backed by the military, now heads the provincial government.

Baloch, the Britain-based researcher, said that "Islamabad’s counterinsurgency strategy, based on a militarized approach, is the root cause" of instability in Balochistan.

Activists have accused the Pakistan military of the enforced disappearances of thousands of people and a "kill-and-dump" policy against political activists and suspected armed separatists.

Baloch says Islamabad’s suppression of a sit-in protest by the relatives of Baluch victims of forced disappearances and unlawful killings in January dented the community’s hopes for a political solution to their woes.

Are Baluch Separatists Growing In Strength?

Analysts say the Taliban takeover of neighboring Afghanistan has boosted the capabilities of armed groups in the region, including Baluch separatist groups.

Some of the military gear and weapons left behind after the U.S. military withdrawal in 2021 and seized by the Taliban have turned up and been used by Baluch armed groups.

The influx of U.S. weapons has "opened new avenues for these groups to thrive," Baloch said.

The researcher says the BLA has also evolved in recent years. Once led by tribal figures, the group is now run by educated middle-class professionals who think in "modern and unconventional ways." Since 2018, several Baluch separatist groups have coalesced around the BLA.

Baloch says the group has used digital and social media to attract new recruits and cultivate sympathy from the civilian population.

Pakistan is not willing to address the deep-rooted political grievances that keep Balochistan unstable, the Islamabad-based analyst says.

"If 20 years of kinetic operations have not solved anything," the analyst said. "It will not solve anything in the next 20 years."
‘I only protest. I want to go to school’: the childhoods lost in Pakistan when loved ones are ‘disappeared’ (The Guardian)
The Guardian [4/23/2024 6:39 AM, Shah Meer Baloch, 12499K, Negative]
When people filled the streets and parks to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in Pakistan earlier this month, Sammi Deen Baloch was not among them. Instead, she picked up a placard and joined a protest at the Karachi Press Club with dozens of other families.

Sammi, 25, says there was no celebrating for the families of Pakistan’s disappeared, just an ongoing and painful wait.

“Our lives are spent in the missing persons’ camps, staging sit-ins for months and taking part in rallies. I did not have a childhood like every other child after the abduction of my father,” she says.

Sammi was one of thousands of protesters who joined rallies on the festive day of Eid across Balochistan province, and in major cities including Karachi and Islamabad.

Sammi was nine years old when her father, Deen Mohammed Baloch, a doctor, was allegedly taken by security forces in Khuzdar, a district of Balochistan, in 2009.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s south-western province, has been at the centre of a separatist insurgency since the early 2000s. The Pakistani security forces are accused of kidnap, torture and murder in the fight to quell the insurgency, an accusation they have denied on several occasions.

According to the NGO Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, more than 5,000 people have been abducted since the early 2000s, their fates unknown. Since December 2016, at least 6,224 people have disappeared in the province, while 2,065 have been released and 2,766 killed, figures from the Human Rights Council of Balochistan show. Earlier this month, the Balochistan government denied there were “thousands” of missing people and disputed accusations that its Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances was stalling its investigations.

The first major protest calling for the release of all missing persons began in late 2013, when families walked more than 2,000km (1,200 miles) from Balochistan to Karachi and Islamabad, arriving in February 2014. Today, rallies, road blocks and sit-ins continue.

But protesters say spending weeks at a time in protest camps, sleeping in the cold, is taking its toll on their health, especially among young women and children.

Seema Baloch, whose brother Shabir Baloch disappeared in October 2016, was also protesting in Karachi during Eid. She was pregnant when she first joined rallies to campaign for his release. Her son Meeras, five, and three-year-old daughter, Shari, have grown up in protest camps.

In July 2022, Shari became very sick during a 50-day sit-in in Quetta when there were heavy downpours, says Seema. “Our children are growing up in a very hopeless and helpless situation and they are suffering. The disappearance of one family member is a collective punishment for the entire family,” she adds.

Shari was among dozens of children who spent more than a month in a protest camp outside the National Press Club in Islamabad from December to January, when they talked to the Guardian about their experiences.

Holding a photo of her uncle, Shari joined in chants of “missing persons ko, baziab karo”, meaning “release all”, says Seema.

“It was the first sentence Shari learned. Even at home, she starts chanting slogans. This breaks my heart, as I never wanted her to grow up like this.”

Ayesha Khalil was four years old when her father, Khalil Ahmed, was abducted in 2019 in Kech, Balochistan. She was also at the Islamabad sit-in, with her mother and siblings, holding a framed picture of her father.

“I don’t like it here,” Ayesha, now nine, said at the protest camp earlier this year. “I cry every night in the blanket. I want to go back to my home and school, but I can’t go back alone. I want my father back. My mother told me that Baba gave me rides on his motorbike when I cried. I don’t remember that and I want my father back to give me rides again.”

Asadullah Marri, 11, the son of Sharbat Khan Marri, was not born when his father was abducted. “I never went to school. I don’t remember the days and months I have spent in protests, on roads and camps. I wish to go to school. I don’t play any sports. I only protest for the release of my father,” says Asadullah.

Mir Aalim, 13, who joined the sit-in to protest for the release of his brother, and Anisa Ramzan, 14, whose father is one of the disappeared, said the games they played in the camp outside the National Press Club in Islamabad were all related to the trauma of losing family members.

“All children took part in games and drama,” says Anisa. “One play was how the FC, a paramilitary force, barged into our house, tried to abduct my father, and blindfolded him. I act as my mother, beg them to stop, but they kick my face with their boots and take him away.”

Hamid Mir, a journalist who was at the camp in Islamabad, says: “An entire generation is living in trauma. The state has created psychological patients through enforced disappearances. You can’t expect them to love the state if you treat them like this. Sadly, powerful people who run the state don’t listen and they think what they are doing is right – but it is destructive.”

Dr Farah Nasim Saeed is a psychologist who has worked with victims and family members of the disappeared. “The trauma doesn’t go away, the pain and the loss,” she says. “Families might be stuck in the protest and don’t go through the process of grieving. This means normal sense of living is lost and sometimes it may transfer to later generations; children don’t know how to make sense of their lives.”

For Sammi, the fear is that these children will become like her. “I want them to have a career and life and be normal people. The state should have mercy on us and these children and bring our family members back,” she says.
India
Australian journalist says Indian government pressured her to leave (Washington Post)
Washington Post [4/23/2024 2:28 PM, Gerry Shih, 6902K, Negative]
An Australian journalist with the country’s public broadcaster was pressured to leave India after Indian authorities expressed anger over her reporting on Sikh separatism and informed her that her journalist visa would not be renewed, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the journalist, ABC South Asia bureau chief Avani Dias, said Tuesday.

The ABC, the only Australian media organization with resident journalists posted in India, said in an article published on its website that “weeks of lobbying” by Australian diplomats and the office of Foreign Minister Penny Wong prompted the Indian government to overturn its decision and give Dias a two-month visa extension, but the reversal came less than 24 hours before Dias was due to leave the country. Dias flew to Australia on Friday, the first day of India’s national elections.

“It felt too difficult to do my job in India,” Dias said in a new episode of her podcast series, “Looking for Modi,” that was released by the ABC on Tuesday. “I was struggling to get into public events run by Modi’s party, the government wouldn’t even give me the passes I need to cover the election, and the ministry left it all so late that we were already packed up and ready to go.”

Indian officials said Dias was “found to have violated visa rules while undertaking her professional pursuits” and characterized her account as “not correct, misleading and mischievous.” The officials said Dias was granted a visa extension on April 18 but chose to leave India on April 20. She would have been free to cover the elections had she stayed, they added.

Dias’s case marked the first time in years that a foreign correspondent on a resident journalist visa has left India under such circumstances. But many other foreign nationals working as journalists under other visas have faced mounting pressure in India.

This year, India stripped French journalist Vanessa Dougnac — who had worked in India for 23 years for newspapers including Le Croix and Le Point — of her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, a permanent residency status that is granted to foreign nationals who are married to Indian citizens or have Indian heritage.

India’s Home Ministry accused Dougnac of producing “malicious and critical” reporting that created a “negative perception” of India, inciting disorder and traveling to restricted areas, according to the Indian news website ThePrint. Dougnac denied misconduct and returned to France on Feb. 16 after French officials unsuccessfully appealed her case during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron to New Delhi.

Since 2021, the Indian government has required OCI holders to apply for separate permission to work as journalists, lawyers or missionaries. But authorities have denied reporting credentials for at least six Western journalists, including high-profile employees at the BBC and Al Jazeera. These foreign nationals had been living in India and working as journalists for years before the government began its clampdown, forcing several to leave.

In 2023, Indian tax authorities raided the BBC newsroom in India shortly after the broadcaster aired a documentary in Britain that was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In her latest podcast episode, Dias said she was told by Indian officials that a 30-minute program she produced on the Khalistan separatist movement and the Indian intelligence agency’s alleged assassination of Khalistan leaders abroad had “gone too far.” Indian officials also took issue with her previous podcast episodes, which have delved into Modi’s personal life, she recalled.

Dias declined further comment.

The Indian government considers the Khalistan movement and its supporters to be threats to national security and ordered YouTube to take down the ABC episode in India after it was released in March. YouTube complied with the order. In the wake of Dias’s departure, an unnamed Indian official told the Hindustan Times on Tuesday that her documentary “glorified terrorism,” lacked objectivity and offered a platform to “extremists and a fringe group of separatists.”

ABC Managing Director David Anderson said in a statement that the broadcaster “fully backs and stands by the important and impactful reporting by Avani Dias during her time as ABC correspondent in India. … The ABC believes strongly in the role of independent journalism across the globe, and freedom of the press outside Australia.”

India in recent years has steadily declined in the Reporters Without Borders annual World Press Freedom Index, reaching a low of 161st place in the 2023 edition. Indian journalists are often subject to pressures exceeding what foreign correspondents face, including online harassment, tax investigations, electronic surveillance and arrest.
Australia Reporter Leaves India, Citing Visa Troubles, Video Ban (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [4/23/2024 6:19 AM, Anup Roy and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 5543K, Neutral]
The South Asia bureau chief for Australia’s ABC News left India after she said she faced problems extending her visa following a critical report about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Avani Dias said on social media platform X that she returned to Australia last week after being told by an Indian government official that she wouldn’t get an extension on her visa because of her reporting. The government eventually gave her a two-month extension after lobbying by the office of Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong and other diplomats, ABC News reported. The notification came 24 hours before Dias was due to leave the country, she said.

Dias had published a video report on YouTube Inc. last month about India’s alleged involvement in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. YouTube has blocked the video from being viewed in India, saying it’s following an order from the government related to national security or public order.

Indian officials extended Dias’s visa until the end of elections, and she was told her case would be taken up again after that, according to government officials familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. ABC didn’t have the required permissions to film along the India-Pakistan border in its video documentary, the officials said. The government also objected to ABC’s documentary for giving a platform to extremists and separatists, the people said.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the matter when contacted Tuesday.

In the video, Dias and her team are shown being stopped by security officials at the Wagah border between India and Pakistan and prevented from filming a public ceremony, which takes place daily, of soldiers on both sides taking down their flags.

India is holding national elections from April 19 to June 1, with Modi widely expected to secure a third consecutive term in power.

Australia has been trying to ramp up its diplomatic and economic ties with India under Modi, with Canberra seeking to diversify its trade partners in the wake of the tensions with China.

Local and international media have faced restrictions in India for reporting perceived as critical of Modi and his government. Last year, the British Broadcasting Corp.’s offices in New Delhi were raided by Indian tax authorities, which followed its publication of a documentary critical of Modi’s role in the deadly 2002 Gujarat riots.

Journalists at online paper NewsClick also had their homes and offices raided last year, with some arrested under anti-terrorism laws.

India’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index fell to 161 out of 180 countries last year, according to Reporters Without Borders, which compiles the index.
Indian court extends pre-trial detention of opposition leader Kejriwal (Reuters)
Reuters [4/23/2024 6:08 AM, Staff, 11975K, Negative]
A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the pre-trial detention of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal until May 7 in a corruption case, the legal news website Live Law reported.

Kejriwal, the chief minister of the national capital territory of Delhi, was arrested last month in connection with graft allegations relating to the city’s liquor policy, weeks before general elections.

The Enforcement Directorate, India’s federal financial crime fighting agency, is investigating allegations that a liquor policy implemented by the Delhi government in 2022 gave undue advantages to private retailers.

The policy was subsequently withdrawn. Kejriwal, who rose to power as an anti-corruption crusader and is a critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has denied wrongdoing.

His arrest on March 21 sparked protests in Delhi and in the northern state of Punjab governed by his decade-old Aam Aadmi Party, and also drew the attention of the United States and Germany.

His detention has united the 27-party opposition alliance called INDIA, which includes AAP and the Congress party.

However opinion polls suggest that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has a strong lead in elections that are under way and is likely to win a historic third term.

Opposition parties have alleged that the action against Kejriwal is politically motivated but Modi and his party deny the accusations and say law enforcement agencies operate independently.

A seven-phase general election is under way in India, with the second phase of voting scheduled to take place on Friday.
Why Did Modi Call India’s Muslims ‘Infiltrators’? Because He Could. (New York Times)
New York Times [4/23/2024 4:14 PM, Mujib Mashal, 831K, Neutral]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his power at home secured and his Hindu-first vision deeply entrenched, has set his sights in recent years on a role as a global statesman, riding India’s economic and diplomatic rise. In doing so, he has distanced himself from his party’s staple work of polarizing India’s diverse population along religious lines for its own electoral gain.

His silence provided tacit backing as vigilante groups continued to target non-Hindu minority groups and as members of his party routinely used hateful and racist language, even in Parliament, against the largest of those groups, India’s 200 million Muslims. With the pot kept boiling, Mr. Modi’s subtle dog whistles — with references to Muslim dress or burial places — could go a long way domestically while providing enough deniability to ensure that red carpets remained rolled out abroad for the man leading the world’s largest democracy.

Just what drove the prime minister to break with this calculated pattern in a fiery campaign speech on Sunday — when he referred to Muslims by name as “infiltrators” with “more children” who would get India’s wealth if his opponents took power — has been hotly debated. It could be a sign of anxiety that his standing with voters is not as firm as believed, analysts said. Or it could be just a reflexive expression of the kind of divisive religious ideology that has fueled his politics from the start.

But the brazenness made clear that Mr. Modi sees few checks on his enormous power. At home, watchdog institutions have been largely bent to the will of his Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P. Abroad, partners increasingly turn a blind eye to what Mr. Modi is doing in India as they embrace the country as a democratic counterweight to China.

“Modi is one of the world’s most skilled and experienced politicians,” said Daniel Markey, a senior adviser in the South Asia program at the United States Institute of Peace. “He would not have made these comments unless he believed he could get away with it.”

Mr. Modi may have been trying to demonstrate this impunity, Mr. Markey said, “to intimidate the B.J.P.’s political opponents and to show them — and their supporters — just how little they can do in response.”

The prime minister sees himself as the builder of a new, modern India on the march toward development and international respect. But he also wants to leave a legacy that is distinctly different from that of the leaders who founded the country as a secular republic after British colonial rule.

Before joining its political offshoot, he spent more than a decade as a cultural foot soldier of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or R.S.S., a right-wing organization founded in 1925 with the mission of making India a Hindu state. The group viewed it as treason when an independent India agreed to a partition that created Pakistan as a separate nation for Muslims, embraced secularism and gave all citizens equal rights. A onetime member went so far as to assassinate Mohandas K. Gandhi in outrage.

Over his decade in national power, Mr. Modi has been deeply effective in advancing some of the central items of the Hindu-right agenda. He abolished the semi-autonomy of the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir. He enacted a citizenship law widely viewed as prejudiced against Muslims. And he helped see through the construction of a grand temple to the Hindu deity Ram on a plot long disputed between Hindus and Muslims.

The violent razing in 1992 of the mosque that had stood on that land — which Hindu groups said was built on the plot of a previous temple — was central to the national movement of Hindu assertiveness that ultimately swept Mr. Modi to power more than two decades later.

More profoundly, Mr. Modi has shown that the broader goals of a Hindu state can largely be achieved within the bounds of India’s constitution — by co-opting the institutions meant to protect equality.

Officials in his party have a ready rebuttal to any complaint along these lines. How could Mr. Modi discriminate against anyone, they say, if all Indian citizens benefit equally from his government’s robust welfare offerings — of toilets, of roofs over heads, of monthly rations?

That argument, analysts say, is telling in showing how Mr. Modi has redefined democratic power not as leadership within checks and balances, but as the broad generosity of a strongman, even as he has redefined citizenship in practice to make clear there is a second class.

Secularism — the idea that no religion will be favored over any other — has largely been co-opted to mean that no religion will be allowed to deny Hindus their dominance as the country’s majority, his critics say. Officials under Mr. Modi, who wear their religion on their sleeves and publicly mix prayer with politics, crack down on public expressions of other religions as breaching India’s secularism.

While right-wing officials promote conversion to Hinduism, which they describe as a “return home,” they have introduced laws within many of the states they govern that criminalize conversion from Hinduism. Egged on by such leaders, Hindu extremists have lynched Muslim men accused of transporting cows or beef and hounded them over charges of “love jihad” — or luring Hindu women. Vigilantes have frequently barged into churches and accosted priests they believe have engaged in proselytizing or conversion.

“What they have done is to create a permissive environment which encourages hate and valorizes hate,” said Harsh Mander, a former civil servant who is now a campaigner for social harmony.

In reference to Mr. Modi’s speech on Sunday, he added: “This open resort to this kind of hate speech will only encourage that hard-line Hindu right in society.”

Tom Vadakkan, a spokesman for the B.J.P., said the prime minister’s comments on Muslims had been misinterpreted. Mr. Modi, Mr. Vadakkan said, was referring to “intruders” or “illegal migrants” who the party claims are being used by the political opposition to “redefine the demography.”

Privately, Western diplomats in New Delhi do little to hide their discomfort with some of Mr. Modi actions as a democratic ally, from the targeting of minorities to his crackdowns on opposition and dissent. But they acknowledge that he is exploiting a particularly open season in the global order, with many of their own capitals providing a less positive example than they once did, and with so much focus on China and trade deals.

Mr. Markey, the Washington-based analyst, said the U.S. government was holding back from voicing concerns publicly for several reasons beyond its national interest in having India serve as an economic and geopolitical counterweight to China.

The United States, he said, realizes the growing limits of its public criticism in changing partner nations’ behavior. That was demonstrated most recently by the repeated instances in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel ignored President Biden’s demands that the Israeli military change its conduct within the war in Gaza.

Criticism of Mr. Modi, Mr. Markey added, could also backfire for U.S. politicians who “do not want to get crosswise with Indian diaspora groups.”

But Mr. Modi may not remain immune as he pursues closer partnerships with the United States in areas like joint weapons manufacturing, transfer of high technology and sharing of intelligence.

“My sense is that Washington’s increasing discomfort with Modi’s domestic politics is gradually lowering the ceiling of potential U.S. cooperation with India,” Mr. Markey said. “The question is just how far Washington is willing to trust India. Will India be treated as an ally in everything but name, or as a partner more like Vietnam or Saudi Arabia?”
India’s Modi calls rivals pro-Muslim as election campaign changes tack (Reuters)
Reuters [4/23/2024 7:04 AM, YP Rajesh and Rupam Jain, 5239K, Neutral]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party have begun attacking opposition rivals, saying they favour minority Muslims, in what analysts see as a bid to invigorate their hardline base after general elections began last week.

India began voting on Friday in a seven-phase election at which Modi seeks a rare third consecutive term, with campaigning that had so far largely focused on his record of growth and welfare as well as his personal popularity.

But in a speech on Sunday, Modi referred to Muslims as "infiltrators" who have "more children", linking the comment to what he called an election plan of the main opposition Congress party to redistribute the wealth of Hindus among Muslims.

The Congress denied making any such promise and petitioned the Election Commission to act against Modi, who surveys suggest will win a comfortable majority, though analysts say his party wants to avert possible voter fatigue and overconfidence.

The controversial remarks were an unusual "deviation" from Modi’s usual practice as he rarely targets Muslims directly, said Hilal Ahmed, a political analyst at Delhi’s Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

They followed low voter turnout in areas where the BJP had done well in 2019, he added.

"The low turnout simply means that the committed BJP voter has not yet come out," Ahmed said. "They obviously want the committed voter to come out. That is the reason for this deviation."

The comment on redistribution of wealth to Muslims was supported and amplified on Monday by BJP members, including Modi’s powerful cabinet colleague, Home Minister Amit Shah, who mentioned it in a campaign speech.

Modi aired the claim again on Tuesday, a day after speaking about the gains Muslims have made during his 10-year rule.

In the southern state of Karnataka, half of which votes on Friday in the second phase of elections, BJP members have staged protests against last week’s murder of a Hindu woman by a Muslim man.

They say the incident is an instance of "love jihad", a term Hindu groups use to accuse Muslim men of waging a campaign that lures Hindu women to convert to Islam with promises of marriage.

EXPOSING OPPOSITION, BJP SAYS

Modi’s government has repeatedly been accused of targeting and discrimination against India’s estimated 200 million Muslims, who form the world’s third-largest Muslim population.

The government has denied all accusations, and Modi has said he works for the betterment of all.

"Stating facts and exposing the flawed strategy of the opposition is our job," BJP president J.P. Nadda told Reuters, when asked about Modi’s weekend comments.

But he said the BJP remained committed to its slogan of betterment, underlining reforms pushed by Modi’s government to help Muslim women and the poor among the community.

Another senior BJP leader and member of the party’s central election panel said Modi’s Sunday comments should not be seen as "polarising", as he had only reminded voters about the "Muslim-first strategy" of Congress and its allies.

He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

In January, Modi inaugurated a grand temple to the Hindu god-king Lord Ram on a once-disputed site believed to be his birthplace, fulfilling a longstanding promise projected by the BJP as a symbol of Hindu rejuvenation.

In campaign speeches Modi refers to the temple, but he has focused more on his development and welfare record and national pride to counter the opposition focus on joblessness, price rise and rural distress in the world’s fastest growing major economy.

"When the campaign started, the focus was entirely on development, welfare, reaching out to marginalised people and Hindutva came last," said analyst Ahmed, referring to the Hindu nationalism espoused by the BJP.

"After the first phase, they realised they need to go back to their own voters ... back to the basics."
Unemployment biggest worry in India, world’s fastest growing economy: Reuters poll (Reuters)
Reuters [4/23/2024 10:15 PM, Millounee Purohit, 5239K, Neutral]
The biggest economic challenge for the government after the ongoing election is unemployment, according to economists polled by Reuters who expected the world’s most populous country to grow a healthy 6.5% this fiscal year.

Despite growing at the fastest pace among major peers, the economy has failed to generate enough jobs for its large and expanding young population, a key issue among citizens in the midst of electing the next government.
A majority of economists, 15 of 26, in the April 16-23 Reuters poll who answered an additional question said the biggest challenge for the government after the national election would be unemployment.

Eight said rural consumption, two picked inflation and one said poverty.

"Following a decade of near jobless growth, the rising number of discouraged workers had pushed India’s LFPR (labour force participation rate) down well below levels exhibited by the four Asian tigers at comparable stages in their demography," said Kunal Kundu, India economist at Societe Generale.

"Bharatiya Janata Party’s focus on existing employment drivers (infrastructure, manufacturing, and government jobs) that have not moved the needle much to date is all the more worrying. Without a more concrete plan, India runs the risk of missing out on potential demographic dividends."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, widely expected to return to power for a third straight term, had promised to create more jobs when elected in 2014.

Despite that promise, the unemployment rate over recent years indicates not enough jobs have been added to make a significant difference. Periodic Labour Force Survey data showed the unemployment rate which stood at 3.4% in 2013-14 was only marginally lower at 3.2% in 2022-23.

According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, an economic think tank, the unemployment rate was 7.6% in March.

Although job creation has stayed lacklustre, the government ramping up of capital expenditure helped the economy grow a faster-than-expected 8.4% in the October-December quarter.

The economy likely grew 6.5% last quarter and 7.6% in the previous fiscal year that ended on March 31, the survey showed.

It was forecast to expand 6.5% and 6.7% this fiscal year and next, broadly unchanged from last month.

"Repeating the exceptional strength of 2023 shouldn’t be taken for granted. Last year’s growth was strongly supported by the government’s capex push, but the need for fiscal prudence will limit the boost this year and over the coming years," said Alexandra Hermann at Oxford Economics.

"We currently see risks to the upside with increasing signs the economy’s resilience of last year was maintained into the beginning of 2024."

With various institutes like the International Monetary Fund upgrading India’s growth forecast the risk to the outlook was to the upside.

A strong majority of economists, 20 of 28, who answered an additional question said economic growth this fiscal year was more likely to be higher than they expected rather than lower.

Consumer price inflation, at 4.85% in March, was forecast to average 4.5% this fiscal year and next. However, a majority of economists, 19 of 28 said it was more likely inflation would be higher than they currently predict.
Amid China tensions, India delivers supersonic cruise missiles to Philippines (VOA)
VOA [4/23/2024 6:46 AM, Anjana Pasricha, 761K, Neutral]
India has begun delivery of supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines as the two countries tighten defense and strategic ties amid rising tensions between the East Asian nation and China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

The BrahMos missiles are being acquired by the Philippines under a $ 375 million deal signed in 2022.

"Now we are also exporting BrahMos missiles. The first batch of this missile is going to the Philippines today,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday at an election rally.

India and Philippines have ramped up defense cooperation as concerns over an increasingly assertive China deepen in both countries.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have escalated over the past year as Beijing, citing historical rights, presses its claims to areas inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone. Efforts to resolve New Delhi’s four-year long military standoff with Beijing along its disputed Himalayan border have made little headway.

In New Delhi, analysts say India wants to be part of a larger pushback against China in the South China Sea as concerns rise over Beijing’s territorial ambitions.

“BrahMos missile delivery to the Philippines is in itself not a game changer. But the idea is that we are part of a broader coalition of countries including the U.S. trying to build up the muscle and shore up the security of smaller countries like the Philippines. It is what we call lattice work strategy,” according to Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs.

Tensions between Philippines and Beijing have ratcheted up following recent confrontations between the coastguards and other vessels of the two countries.

China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, deploys coastguard vessels to patrol what it deems are its waters – besides Philippines, Beijing also has maritime disputes with countries including Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The missiles being supplied by India are produced under a joint venture with Russia. They are a shore-based, anti-ship system with a range of 290 kilometers. Under the deal, India will supply three versions of the missile system, according to domestic media reports in New Delhi.

Philippine National Security Council assistant director general, Jonathan Malaya, told reporters in Manila that the missiles will be deployed by the Philippine Marines.

“This adds an important and practical layer of deterrence for the Philippines amidst its limited military resources vis-a-vis China,” Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and lecturer at the Department of International Studies, De La Salle University, Manila told VOA in emailed comments. He said the missiles will “bolster its coastal defence to more effectively exercise its sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea at a time when China has been relentlessly pursuing its expansionist ambitions against international law.”

Analysts say building defense cooperation with the Philippines also signals that New Delhi is now moving beyond the Indian Ocean to contribute to maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

During a visit to Manila last month, Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reiterated “India’s support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty.”

Asserting that both countries have a “very deep interest” in ensuring a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific Ocean, his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo, said that “it’s in this region and it is in this context that we are having extensive discussions regularly on defense cooperation, security cooperation.”

An Indian coast guard ship visited the Philippines during the Indian minister’s visit. The two countries are also expected to hold more joint naval drills.

“India is also a close security partner of Manila’s key strategic partners, such as the U.S, Japan, and Australia. This makes it even more practical for the Philippines to strengthen ties with India,” pointed out Don McLain Gill.

India had for many years been hesitant about exporting the BrahMos missiles, believing that advanced defense cooperation with countries like the Philippines with which China has disputes would rile Beijing, but analysts say New Delhi has reversed course. India has also been steadily building military ties with Vietnam, which is also embroiled in maritime disputes with China.

“As our dispute with the Chinese is not settling, there is a clear change of mind on the part of the Indian government and it has decided to assist the security needs of countries like the Philippines in a very concrete way,” said Chaulia. “From our point of view, this helps to send a clear signal to the Chinese that they cannot be arming our adversaries like Pakistan with advanced weapons and defense technology and expect that we will not reciprocate.”

The delivery of the missiles to the Philippines marks India’ s first export of the missile systems. India, which imports most of its own arms, is a marginal exporter of military equipment, but has been trying to build a defense industry.
Democracy put to the test in India’s general election (Nikkei Asia – opinion)
Nikkei Asia [4/24/2024 1:00 AM, Staff, 293K, Neutral]
India’s general election for the lower house of parliament kicked off on April 19. With about 970 million eligible voters, it is the world’s largest national election. To avoid confusion, the voting is being divided into seven phases across the different states and regions, with ballot counting scheduled for June 4.

India is the undisputed leader among the developing countries collectively known as the Global South. We hope the election will be carried out in a free and fair manner without inciting divisions within the country. That would underscore the value of democracy, which some have noted to be in retreat worldwide.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power for 10 years over two terms, appears to be leading the election. India’s high economic growth -- the World Bank forecasts a 7.5% expansion in real gross domestic product for fiscal 2023 -- will provide a tail wind for the ruling party.

The opposition coalition of more than 20 parties has been disrupted by defections and infighting, and it has been unable to even decide on a candidate for prime minister.

Modi proudly touts India as "the world’s largest democracy," but in reality, his tenure has been marked by his heavy-handed rule. The BJP is eager to consolidate support among Hindus, who make up 80% of the population. In January, for example, Modi visited a Hindu temple in northern India that was built on the site of a former mosque that had been destroyed by Hindu extremists. He was aiming to further boost his popularity by leading the inauguration ceremony for the temple, which was still under construction.

A revised citizenship law that took effect in March has been criticized as being anti-Muslim. The legislation grants citizenship to those who fled religious persecution from neighboring countries, but excludes Muslims.

Also in March, Arvind Kejriwal, head of the national capital territory of Delhi and leader of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party, was arrested on corruption charges. Kejriwal has been the spearhead of the anti-Modi movement. Critics at home and abroad have questioned the appropriateness of leveling such charges just before the election.

People wait at a polling station in Rajasthan, India, on April 19. Some 970 million people are eligible to cast ballots in the general election, which extends into June. © Reuters
April 24, 2024 13:00 JST

India’s general election for the lower house of parliament kicked off on April 19. With about 970 million eligible voters, it is the world’s largest national election. To avoid confusion, the voting is being divided into seven phases across the different states and regions, with ballot counting scheduled for June 4.

India is the undisputed leader among the developing countries collectively known as the Global South. We hope the election will be carried out in a free and fair manner without inciting divisions within the country. That would underscore the value of democracy, which some have noted to be in retreat worldwide.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power for 10 years over two terms, appears to be leading the election. India’s high economic growth -- the World Bank forecasts a 7.5% expansion in real gross domestic product for fiscal 2023 -- will provide a tail wind for the ruling party.

The opposition coalition of more than 20 parties has been disrupted by defections and infighting, and it has been unable to even decide on a candidate for prime minister.

Modi proudly touts India as "the world’s largest democracy," but in reality, his tenure has been marked by his heavy-handed rule. The BJP is eager to consolidate support among Hindus, who make up 80% of the population. In January, for example, Modi visited a Hindu temple in northern India that was built on the site of a former mosque that had been destroyed by Hindu extremists. He was aiming to further boost his popularity by leading the inauguration ceremony for the temple, which was still under construction.

A revised citizenship law that took effect in March has been criticized as being anti-Muslim. The legislation grants citizenship to those who fled religious persecution from neighboring countries, but excludes Muslims.

Also in March, Arvind Kejriwal, head of the national capital territory of Delhi and leader of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party, was arrested on corruption charges. Kejriwal has been the spearhead of the anti-Modi movement. Critics at home and abroad have questioned the appropriateness of leveling such charges just before the election.

The suppression of other religions and opposition parties encourages the majority camp to be more intolerant of those with different beliefs and ideas. This is incompatible with the spirit of democracy, in which minorities are treated with respect. Modi should exercise restraint in these matters.

According to Sweden’s V-Dem Institute, global democracy has waned significantly in recent years, with last year’s reading falling to the level seen in 1985, when the Cold War was still raging. We hope India, which enjoys calling itself the world’s largest democracy, will be able to put a stop to this worrisome situation.
NSB
China and India compete for influence in the Maldives (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [4/23/2024 10:42 AM, Murali Krishnan, 2728K, Neutral]
The landslide victory of President Mohamed Muizzu’s party, securing 70 out of the 93 seats in the Maldives parliamentary elections over the weekend, could mark a pivotal shift towards a pro-Beijing foreign policy in the country.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), led by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is widely perceived as a pro-India leader, held 65 seats in the previous parliament but won only 15 seats this time round.

Muizzu, who ran the "India Out" campaign, has made no secret about his anti-India and pro-China stance since he assumed office in November last year.

Cutback on Indian military operations

Within hours of taking up office, Muizzu had demanded the repatriation of Indian military personnel operating three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May.

Both countries had agreed to complete a withdrawal of 89 Indian soldiers and their support staff from the nation of 1,192 islands by May 10.

In March, 25 Indian soldiers deployed in the southernmost atoll of Addu left the archipelago as part of the withdrawal deal. Maldives also decided not to renew a 2019 agreement with India on a hydrographic survey of the island nation’s waters.

Following Muizzu’s Peoples National Congress (PNC) victory, China expressed its willingness to deepen the partnership between the two countries.

Beijing has been undertaking infrastructure projects and economic investments in the Indian Ocean region as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

"China would like to work with the Maldives and carry forward the traditional friendship and cooperation in all fields, deepen our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and build a community of shared future between the two countries that benefits the two peoples," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing on Monday.

Maldives seeks to reduce economic dependency on India

Some policy experts believe China has been leveraging its economic muscle to court Muizzu, but also warned that anti-Indian and nationalistic posturing could be counterproductive.

Gulbin Sultana, an associate fellow with the South Asia Center at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in India, said China’s presence will increase in the short run, especially after Muizzu’s China visit in January where both sides signed agreements in several areas of cooperation.

"However, even if the PNC and President Muizzu would like to reduce import-dependent Maldives’ dependency on India, it will have to walk the tightrope given the country’s debt burden and economic situation as well as the global geopolitical situation," Sultana told DW.

India has also extended financial aid for some infrastructure projects in the Maldives, but the country has requested that India restructure the debt. According to Sultana, the Maldives are approaching Turkey and Thailand as part of efforts to reduce dependence on India, particularly for food items and health facilities.

Strengthen friendship with India, or more Chinese aid?

P Sahadevan, a professor of South Asian Studies in India, says Maldivian politics today is split down the middle between those who favor better ties with India and those who seek more Chinese aid.

"Muizzu is going to be more vulnerable to the opposition’s protest politics now, though he will play to China and the new nationalists," Sahadevan told DW.

"It all depends on how he manages the economy and how the main opposition MDP is going to take on the regime — a united opposition will be bad for him," Sahadevan said, adding that the president cannot antagonize India and cause total alienation.

"Maldives owes about $400 million (€374 million). The Chinese are also not going to be liberal. There is dependence on basic commodities from India and there will be economic compulsion to constrain Muizzu," added Sahadevan.

Maldives faces increasing debt, low revenue, and depleting foreign reserves. The country has run on a budget deficit, while seeking assistance and grants.

"For tourism revenues and for other economic issues, Muizzu cannot ignore India for long," Srikanth Kondapalli, a China expert at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies, told DW.

"India also needs to make a mid-course correction by cultivating Maldivian constituents" and China’s policies are "structurally predatory in nature and would result in a backlash in Maldives in the near future," he added.

Anil Wadhwa, a veteran Indian diplomat, believes the Maldivian president’s latest political victory will only embolden him to pursue collaboration with China, which could be detrimental to the security of India in the long term.

"China will also try to consolidate more in the Maldives. India’s options will get limited and it will be a struggle to keep the Chinese influence from growing," Wadhwa told DW.
Qatari emir in Nepal, expected to tackle migrant conditions and Nepali student held hostage by Hamas (AP)
AP [4/23/2024 9:56 AM, Staff, 22K, Negative]
The emir of Qatar landed in Nepal Tuesday on his first-ever visit to the South Asian country, after visiting Bangladesh and the Philippines, where improving migrant workers’ conditions in the Gulf state and a Nepali student still held hostage by Hamas are expected to be on the agenda.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is set to meet Nepali dignitaries, including President Ram Chandra Poudyal and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal during his two-day visit.

Qatar hosts an estimated 400,000 Nepali workers, most in construction and manual labor. Concerns about working in extreme heat — that could reach over 40 C (104 F) — inadequate living facilities and abuse have risen in recent years.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called on Qatar, Nepal and Bangladesh in a statement Sunday to prioritize labor protection for migrant workers during the emir’s visit.

“It is important ... to go beyond exchanging diplomatic pleasantries over their longstanding labor ties and seize this moment to publicly commit to concrete, enforceable protections that address the serious abuses that migrant workers in Qatar continue to face,” the statement quoted Michael Page, the agency’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, as saying.

The statement added that while Qatar-based jobs have allowed migrant workers “to send remittances back home to their families,” many experience abuse, including “wage theft, contract violations, and chronic illness linked to unsafe working conditions.”

Nepali officials are also likely to seek Al Thani’s help in freeing a local, Bipin Joshi, who is held hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Joshi was among 17 Nepali students studying agriculture in Alumim kibbutz, near the Gaza Strip, when Hamas attacked Southern Israel on Oct.7. Ten of the students were killed, six injured and Joshi was held captive.

Though there has been no information on his condition or whereabouts, Nepali officials said they believed he was still alive.

Hamas’ sudden attack in October killed 1,200 people and some 250 others hostage were taken hostage. This has sparked a war that has so far killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, at least two-thirds of them women and children, according to the local health ministry.

Qatar has been a key intermediary throughout the war in Gaza. It, along with the U.S. and Egypt, was instrumental in helping negotiate a brief halt to the fighting in November that led to the release of dozens of hostages.

A spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday his country was undergoing an assessment of its role in mediating talks between Israel and Hamas over a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. He also said discussions were ongoing about Hamas’ presence in Qatar where the militant group has had a political office in the capital, Doha, for years.

France and Qatar mediated a deal in January for the shipment of medicine for the dozens of hostages held captive by Hamas.
Why a Bhutan-India Tourism Meeting Excited Entrepreneurs in Nepal (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [4/23/2024 10:11 AM, Birat Anupam, 201K, Positive]
Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay was in India last month. He addressed the “captains of Indian industries” in Delhi on March 15, in an event organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

In the function, titled “India-Bhutan Tourism: Expanding Horizons,” an Indian industry leader raised the issue of not just Indo-Bhutan bilateral tourism collaboration but also the bright prospects for multilateral and regional tourism collaboration among the South Asian countries.

Dipak Deva, chair of the Tourism and Cultural Committee of FICCI, said, “I would also recommend countries in the region – Bhutan and Nepal, Sri Lanka and India – combine their beautiful tourism assets and promote them as a region, which will help bring in large share of world tourism market and help our economy grow both in terms of investment and employment.”

Tobgay took that proposal positively and promptly okayed the idea: “Mr. Deva has suggested we develop [tourism] packages of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and India. Done. Done. Done.”

Tobgay was also positive on Deva’s suggestion to improve e-visa policies. The prime minister said work is underway to make on-arrival and online visa services tourist-friendly and India-friendly.

The Bhutanese prime minister’s enthusiasm for regional tourism connectivity had immediate impacts among Nepal’s tourism insiders.

Basudev Baral is a Nepali tourism entrepreneur from the town of Dharan, which is just a few hours’ drive away from Bhutan’s border with India. “If Bhutan gives greenlight for regional tourism packages, it means a lot for tourism entrepreneurs of BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) countries,” Baral, who has been to Bhutan for tourism activities, told me.

Baral said that multi-country packages would give a competitive edge to all tourism operators in the region, targeting both domestic and foreign audiences. Baral’s assessment was seconded by almost all tourism leaders and insiders in Nepal.

In the same event in Delhi, Deva raised other issues relating to foreign direct investment (FDI). “If Bhutan allows FDI in the tourism sector, it would ensure that we would have [a] large team of specialists on the ground that would be trained to deliver seamless, high quality experience towards our customers traveling through India and Bhutan,” Deva argued. “Sri Lanka is the good example. [You] don’t have to give 100 percent FDI; they give 40 percent FDI and they have seen the results immediately.”

Nepal, India, and Bhutan all feature landscapes in the Himalayan Mountains, which offer tourists similar and still unique features of Himalayan nature, culture, and adventure. A combined travel package offering access to all these countries could prove irresistible to world travelers.

However, according to the World Bank, “South Asia is one of the least integrated regions in the world.” Within South Asia, BBIN is also the least connected subregion. Despite being members of both the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), BBIN countries are yet to integrate whole-heartedly on the economic front.

Owing to connectivity barriers in the region, traveling from Kathmandu to Bangkok is easier than traveling from Kathmandu to Thimphu. A BBIN tourism corridor can help tackle these woes. The proposed tourism connectivity among the BBIN countries could thus be a great beginning for subregional connectivity – a win-win situation for all four countries.

For India, it can display New Delhi’s leadership in connecting regional countries in its vicinity.

For Bhutan, it can be an opportunity both for earning regional tourism revenues and also to show its carbon negative, environmentally conscious identity to the world. Likewise, it would be an enabler for its futuristic Gelephu Mindfulness City, which aims to be the regional economic and spiritual hub.

For Nepal and Bangladesh, offering regional tourist packages can help increase tourism footfalls, and thus revenues. A visitor to any BBIN country might choose to extend their visit to include other countries for a few days, resulting in the growth of tourism revenues.

A regional tourism agreement would have to overcome some of the issues that have plagued BBIN connectivity, including fears of potential security threats and national sensitivities. However, countries can cooperate on intelligence and information sharing to mitigate threats, and ultramodern technology and screening processes could be applied to deal with potential irritants. As the biggest country in the region, India can take the lead toward this end.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to inaugurate Sri Lankan hydropower and irrigation project (AP)
AP [4/24/2024 4:07 AM, Staff, 456K, Neutral]
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Sri Lanka on Wednesday to inaugurate a hydropower and irrigation project that was long delayed due to international sanctions on his government and other issues.

Raisi is the first Iranian leader to visit Sri Lanka since former President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad visited the country in 2008.

The project, valued at $514 million, was started in 2010 by Iran’s FARAB engineering group and Iran initially provided $50 million. But in 2013, funding could not be continued because of international sanctions against Iran. The Sri Lankan government then decided to complete the project with its own funds using the same Iranian contractor.

The project was scheduled for completion in 2015 but was delayed by the sanctions, technical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, the government said.

The project will add 290 GWh of electricity annually to the national grid and irrigate 4,500 hectares (11,100 acres) of new land and 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of existing agricultural land.

Raisi and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe are to witness the signing of five memoranda of understanding and are scheduled to issue a joint statement.

Raisi arrived in Sri Lanka from Pakistan, where the two countries agreed to strengthen economic and security cooperation.
Iran’s Raisi arrives in Sri Lanka to foster ties, open hydropower project (Reuters)
Reuters [4/24/2024 3:48 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe, 5.2M, Neutral]
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Sri Lanka on Wednesday for a brief state visit aimed at strengthening ties, during which he will also open a $514-million hydropower project.

The first visit by an Iranian president to Sri Lanka since an April 2008 trip by its then president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will see the two countries sign five pacts, or Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).

Iran agreed to build the hydro power project in 2010 but funds dried up after the release of $50 million, as U.S. sanctions imposed later that year on the Middle East nation made it hard to transfer money, forcing Sri Lanka to fund the rest.

It was also hit by delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental concerns and protests from villagers.

The project will add 290 GWh to the national grid, while supplying water to 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of farmland and drinking water to thousands of families in three districts, the office of Sri Lanka’s president said in a statement.

"The ceremony, chaired by the presidents of Iran and Sri Lanka, will symbolise the co-operation between the two nations in this significant infrastructure endeavour," the statement said.
Central Asia
Unstable nuclear-waste dams threaten fertile Central Asia heartland (Reuters)
Reuters [4/23/2024 5:26 PM, Aigerim Turgunbaueva, 5239K, Negative]
Dams holding vast amounts of uranium mine tailings above the fertile Fergana valley in Central Asia are unstable, threatening a possible Chernobyl-scale nuclear disaster if they collapse that would make the region uninhabitable, studies have revealed.

Dams holding some 700,000 cubic meters (185 million gallons) of uranium mine tailings in Kyrgyzstan have become unreliable following a 2017 landslide. A further landslide or earthquake could send their contents into a river system used to irrigate Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Tajik farmlands, the studies at the Soviet-era radioactive waste disposal facility showed. That event would possibly displace millions in those three countries.

The studies, part of a project by the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to reinforce the facilities, show that the type of waste involved cannot be safely contained in their current locations and needs to be moved away from the banks of the Mailuu-Suu river.

The Fergana valley, where the contaminated water would go, is the most densely populated area in Central Asia with 16 million people, many of whom are involved in the cultivation of cotton, rice, grains, fruit and vegetables.

"If a landslide causes the river to burst, the waste from two mine dumps will enter the water," says Gulshair Abdullayeva, a manager of the Mailuu-Suu radiology lab.

"The environmental disaster would almost be comparable with Chernobyl."

Studies have shown that the waste in those dumps is liquid, making it more hazardous, and it could flow into the river in the event of a strong earthquake, says Sebastian Hess, an engineer with German firm G.E.O.S. contracted by the Kyrgyz government.

"That would be a horrible catastrophe," he said. "This water is used to irrigate fields which means agricultural produce would be contaminated."

The dams’ foundations were weakened by water during a 2017 landslide which raised the river’s water level, bring it closer to the tailings, engineers have said.

The Bishkek government and G.E.O.S. estimate that 22-25 million euros would be needed to move the waste from the two unsafe locations to one further away from the river.

The area near the town of the Mailuu-Suu, one of the world’s biggest uranium ore dumps, was developed by the Soviet Union between the 1940s and 1960s. A factory in the town also processed uranium ore from other nearby mines.
RFE/RL, Kazakhstan Reach Agreement On Accreditation (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/23/2024 9:33 AM, Staff, 223K, Neutral]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has reached agreement with the Kazakh Foreign Ministry over the accreditation of dozens of its journalists in the Central Asian country amid fears the government was trying to stifle independent media.

Details of the agreement, reached on April 23, were not immediately available.

"We welcome the agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said in response to the deal.

"Throughout this process, all we have wanted was for our journalists to be able to continue their vital work in Kazakhstan safely, without compromise. We remain committed to serving our audiences with independent, trusted reporting and I am confident that this agreement will enable us to do just that."

In January 2023, the ministry denied accreditation to 36 journalists of RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, known locally as Radio Azattyq. Some of the correspondents had not been able to extend their accreditation since late 2022.

The situation around the accreditation of RFE/RL correspondents turned into a hot topic in January after a group of Kazakh lawmakers approved a draft bill that would allow the tightly controlled former Soviet republic’s authorities to refuse accreditation to foreign media outlets and their reporters on grounds of national security.

According to the draft legislation, the Foreign Ministry could refuse accreditation to foreign media outlets and their reporters "in case of a threat to the national security of the Republic of Kazakhstan."

The bill states that any activities of foreign media and their journalists without accreditation are banned, and the decision to suspend the activities of foreign media in the country can be made by the ministry without a court ruling.

In accordance with current legislation, the Foreign Ministry must make decisions on accreditation within two months of receiving an application. In case of refusal, the ministry must provide an explanation for its decision.
Kazakhstan grappling with a fresh wave of flooding (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [4/23/2024 4:14 PM, Almaz Kumenov, 57.6K, Negative]
Already struggling to cope with the damage done by flooding that started in late March, Kazakhstan is contending with a new bout of inundations that are forcing tens of thousands of Kazakh citizens from their homes in western areas of the country.

The new flooding is centered on the Ural River, which burst its banks on April 21. Approximately 13,000 dwellings inundated in suburban “dacha” districts of Oral, known as Uralsk in Russian, the capital of the West Kazakhstan Region. The water is still rising in the area, forcing the evacuation of at least 14,000 individuals. Roughly 600 people have received medical treatment relating to the flooding with no initial reports of any deaths. Elsewhere, the northern Pavlodar Region was also bracing for more high water.

Overall, at least 120,000 people have been displaced by flooding in recent weeks, described by authorities as the worst in 80 years. The flooding prompted officials to declare a state of emergency in 10 of the country’s 17 regions. Outside of West Kazakhstan, conditions have stabilized in some hard-hit areas, including North Kazakhstan and Atyrau. In other areas, flood waters have receded, and clean-up operations have begun.

At an April 16 meeting with citizens displaced by high waters in the Kostanay Region, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed to implement a massive public works program to provide housing to those now living in flood zones.

“I see it as my priority to provide maximum assistance to you affected by the floods,” a presidential press office statement quoted Tokayev as telling flood victims. “Funds will be allocated to those who have lost their housing or need repairs. Whoever wants to move into apartments, we will buy and provide apartments. For those who want to stay in place, but under no circumstances should they stay in dangerous places, we will build standard houses for those people.”

Officials have not put a price tag yet on the cost of following through on the presidential pledge. During a cabinet session on April 23, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov authorized a plan to provide financial compensation to over 11,000 families. The one-time payments of roughly $850 each are designed to help flood victims replace basic appliances and clothing lost in the natural disaster.

Bektenov echoed the presidential administration’s reassuring messages, urging citizens and small business owners to remain steady in the face of adversity. “No one will be left without help. All issues are under the president’s personal control and my control,” he said.

Authorities are also contemplating disaster-prevention initiatives. The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation has announced plans to build 20 reservoirs in 11 flood-prone areas to reduce the threat of future flooding to residential areas, as well as ensure water supply during the irrigation season.

There is a sense of irony attached to the current flooding: Kazakhstan has wrestled with drought in southern and western regions over the past several years, and weather forecasters are predicting drought conditions will begin in some regions in May. Some of the same areas hit by flooding, such as Kostanay, Pavlodar and West Kazakhstan, are going to experience “very humid” conditions, said Alina Ismagulova, a spokesperson for Kazakhstan’s meteorological service.
Turkmenistan’s Afghanistan Policy: Balancing Risks and Untapped Opportunities (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [4/23/2024 9:02 AM, Eldaniz Gusseinov, 201K, Positive]
The recent delegations from the Taliban regime to Turkmenistan underscore a significant warming of relations between the two countries. On March 15, workers from Turkmenistan were scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan for three months to work on the TAPI pipeline. According to Afghan officials Turkmenistan has also agreed to provide a credit line for the realization of the project.

Sharing a long border with Afghanistan, Turkmenistan relies heavily on water resources originating from its neighbor’s territory. Turkmenistan has a delicate balance to maintain between hewing to its traditional neutrality and mitigating potential security threats from Afghanistan. In response to these challenges, Turkmenistan has strategically opted to enhance its diplomatic engagements with Afghanistan, aiming to influence the Taliban and safeguard its national security.

A New Era of Relations Between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan?

Since the beginning of this year, there has been an intensification of contacts between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan around key topics such as the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline and the promotion of transport corridors, including the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, which would link Afghanistan through Turkmenistan’s ports with Azerbaijan, Europe, and Russia. The Taliban government’s foreign minister visited Turkmenistan twice, on January 14 and February 26, and in early March a joint business forum was held in Turkmenistan.

On March 15, Turkmen workers were set to arrive in Afghanistan for the construction of the TAPI pipeline. As RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, Radio Azatlyk, reported, thousands of workers, including oil and gas specialists, installers, and laborers are being sent for three months to work on the pipeline. This is indeed a turning point, as the construction of TAPI has been underway since 2015. However, the unstable security situation in Afghanistan had created serious obstacles to the full realization of the project.

Taliban officials report that Turkmenistan has committed to providing a loan to cover the costs associated with the TAPI pipeline project. The estimated cost of the project at present ranges from $9 to 10 billion, with the TAPI Pipeline Company Limited (TPCL) tasked with its construction and oversight. This initiative represents a significant regional development effort.

A key problem in the development of relations between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan since the Taliban movement came to power in 2021 has been a lack of clarity on the further development of the situation inside Afghanistan, as well as what risks the new situation inside Afghanistan could pose to the national security of neighboring countries. The construction of the Qosh Tepa canal on the Amu Darya River aggravated the situation, providing motivation for Turkmenistan to engage more seriously with the Taliban.

For Turkmenistan, the canal posed a danger. The country experienced a record number protests due to the economic crisis in 2020; problems with the food supply compounded existing economic problems. The most affected areas of the country were those that border Afghanistan, Lebap and Mary, both of which are also seriously affected by the implementation of the Qosh Tepa canal by the current ruling regime in Afghanistan.

In June 2023, farmers in Lebap province were unable to irrigate their cotton fields because the water simply did not reach these areas. The worsening water situation could spark a new wave of protests in the country.

The Taliban started the project in March 2022 and are said to have completed about 100 km of the planned 285 km. The Qosh Tepa canal will irrigate 550,000 hectares of land, diverting 25 percent of the Amu Darya River’s flow into the northern Afghan provinces of Balkh, Jawzjan and Faryab, bordering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. According to some estimates, which were described by Kunduz Adylbekova, in five to six years, when the canal is completed and operational, Turkmenistan’s average water availability in the middle and lower reaches of the transboundary river will drop from 80 to 65 percent.

Against this background, it was important for Turkmenistan to actively pursue a strategy of engagement with the new authorities in Afghanistan. On the one hand, Turkmenistan is aware of the threats to the country from the territory of Afghanistan; on the other hand, there are new opportunities for the launch of pipelines and transport corridors. For these reasons, Turkmenistan has decided to invest in developing good relations with the Taliban government and thus build the connections to have a dialogue on the topics of most concern to Turkmenistan: border security and joint use of water resources.

The official statements of made by Ashgabat during the Turkmen-Afghan business forum on March 4 are illustrative in this regard. A readout posted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan said that “Turkmenistan is actively promoting its initiatives for the systematic use of water resources, taking into account the interests of all states in the region and the comprehensive solution of water management issues.” In fact, the statement was one of the first official comments from Ashgabat regarding Afghanistan’s water projects.

In a speech at the forum, Acting Minister of Industry and Trade of Afghanistan Nuruddin Azizi stressed that Kabul would prioritize mutual consent, equality, and respect in managing transboundary water resources and the construction of water facilities. He highlighted Turkmenistan’s longstanding friendship and good-neighborliness as foundational to these efforts. Although the foreign ministry readout did not mention the canal by name, it’s clear there was an official exchange of views between the two parties.

Indeed, since the start of the year, a new chapter in Afghan-Turkmen cooperation has unfolded through several key meetings and events. On January 14 and again on February 26, delegations led by Taliban Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made visits to Turkmenistan, marking a significant step in this collaboration.

On March 3, ahead of the business forum, Azizi led a delegation on a visit to Turkmenbashi International Sea Port. This visit allowed the delegation to explore the capabilities of Turkmenbashi International Sea Port and its infrastructure. The following business forum included a showcase of Afghan products at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and concluded with discussions between Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and the delegation led by Azizi.

Nothing Personal, Just Business

Turkmenistan’s relations with Afghanistan are driven by pragmatic goals – maximize the benefits of cooperation with the Taliban government and minimize the risks. Turkmenistan’s top leader, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, met with Azizi during the Taliban minister’s visit on March 5 and underscored Turkmenistan’s “positive neutrality” in supporting “only political and diplomatic efforts” in addressing Afghanistan’s internal situation.

Berdimuhamedov noted Turkmen interest in power transmission and railway lines, in the context of Turkmenistan’s transport potential. Afghanistan is particularly interested in promoting the Lapis Lazuli Corridor project, which covers Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey and dates back to 2012. The name refers to Afghan lapis lazuli, a kind of gemstone that was historically traded through the Caucasus. The corridor was opened in road form in 2018, while the railway part of the project involves connecting Herat to the Torghundi station on the Turkmen border. In December 2023, the issue was discussed during talks between the Taliban and Turkmenistan foreign ministers.

Russia remains interested in the corridor as well. On February 1, representatives of Russian Railways Logistics visited Turkmenbashi International Sea Port to consider the possibilities of using it to export goods to Afghanistan and Iran. The delegation studied the port’s infrastructure and its capabilities for handling various types of cargo.

The first results of joint work in this area are already visible now. On April 15, Joint Stock Company “Commercial Sea Fleet” sent its Ro-Pax ferry “Bagtyyar” on its first voyage this year from the port of Turkmenbashi to the Russian port of Olya with 40 cargo trucks loaded with food products. On the return voyage to Turkmenistan, the ferry will leave with 800 tons of Belarusian cheese and Russian products in 42 trucks. According to Oleg Lychagin, head of the customs post Sea Port Olya, over the last five years mostly construction goods, mainly from the UAE and Iran, were imported by sea through the Olya; Turkmenistan has now been added to the list.

Turkmen Strategic Objectives in Relations With the Taliban

It is crucial to understand Turkmenistan’s strategic objectives in its relations with the Taliban in order to anticipate future developments. These objectives include a strong interest to guarantee the successful implementation and security of the TAPI project, which is vital for Turkmenistan’s economic future; to ensure a stable and secure environment along Turkmenistan’s borders, thereby reducing risks such as terrorism and drug trafficking; aims to enhance regional connections through transit and transportation initiatives that are mutually beneficial; Turkmenistan’s inclination to contribute to peace and stability in the wider region; and Ashgabat’s hope to navigate the intricate regional dynamics by positioning itself as a neutral player while at the same time engaging in dialogue with the Taliban to achieve its aforementioned strategic objectives.
Farewell Barak: Uzbekistan Absorbs Kyrgyz Exclave As Part Of Historic Border Deal (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/23/2024 2:11 PM, Chris Rickleton, 223K, Neutral]
In the formerly Soviet countries of Central Asia, there are enclaves, exclaves, and now, ex-exclaves.

This month, with minimal fanfare and scant press coverage, the last remaining residents of the village of Barak found themselves leaving a foreign country to return to their homeland.

Not that it necessarily felt like that.

"It’s really hard to leave," said Kuvat Turakulov, a lifelong resident of the village, in an interview in a car before he departed his home village.

"On the other hand, they resolved this issue for the better," his wife, Gulnaz, chimed in from the passenger seat, grinning. "They say they will build us a house."

"Yes, if you look at it from that side, it is good that the issue was resolved," Turakulov conceded.

The issue that Turakulov was referring to was Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan’s disputed border, which after more than three decades and plenty of suffering along the way, is disputed no more.

In accordance with the terms of a bilateral agreement, Barak -- a 208-hectare cutout of Kyrgyz territory entirely surrounded by Uzbekistan -- was absorbed by the larger country, with Kyrgyzstan receiving an equivalent parcel of Uzbekistan’s Andijon Province in exchange.

Barak residents are set to be permanently resettled in that area by the end of the summer.

The April 15 deadline for Barak’s evacuation saw nearly a hundred houses and several government buildings stripped down to their core. Roofing, support beams, and anything else that might help in the rebuild was loaded onto trucks and carted to Kyrgyzstan.

A woman who spoke to RFE/RL complained she hadn’t been given enough time to gather all of her firewood.

But residents’ sense of loss might still be accompanied by a sense of relief.

While Soviet mapmakers have had many victims in Central Asia, the people of Barak were among the longest-suffering.

And that explains why Turakulov and his wife were among the last few hundred remaining in Barak at the end of a multistage exodus whose peaks coincided with troughs in Bishkek and Tashkent’s relationship – nadirs that at one stage looked like a prelude to war.

"On a practical level, these two countries have offered an example that proves that disputes need not be eternal," Bishkek-based political analyst Emil Juraev told RFE/RL.

Yet Juraev argues that the land swap deal that worked for Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan is likely a "unique case" that may not be replicable for other exclaves in Central Asia.

So Close And Yet So Far

With Uzbekistan becoming the first country to impose hard borders in Central Asia after the breakup of the Soviet Union, life was never going to be easy for residents of Barak -- one of eight such isolated territories in the region historically known as the Ferghana Valley.

In Soviet times, villagers enjoyed free movement to the broader Osh region in the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic, just a couple of kilometers away.

For Soviet cartographers, the independence-era ramifications of having pockets of one country awkwardly inserted into another were hardly a priority.

Crossing the border was often difficult for Barak locals, but things deteriorated sharply after 2010, when Uzbekistan shut its borders in response to deadly ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Tashkent later reopened some of those crossings but put the hex on the territory again in 2013, when it unilaterally blocked the shortest road connecting Barak to the Kyrgyz mainland.

This forced residents to make roundtrips of hundreds of kilometers to access goods and services in southern cities like Osh and Kara-Suu that were literally just a few kilometers over the border, while bringing in everyday products and farming equipment for the territory was a perennial pain.

At this point, relations between the two governments -- strained by disputes over water use as well as land -- were toxic.

In 2016, the countries mobilized their militaries close to a small mountain known in Uzbek as Ungar-Tepa and Unkur-Too in Kyrgyz.

But less than six months later, a major event occurred that would lead to improved relations.

Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s inflexible authoritarian president, passed away.

New leader Shavkat Mirziyoev, who spent 13 years as Karimov’s prime minister, quickly signaled that he had very different views on neighborhood policy.

By 2017, border crossings that had been mostly closed since Kyrgyzstan’s year of political turmoil were thrown open, reuniting families that lived on either side of the frontier and boosting trade.

Life became somewhat easier, too, for the people of Barak.

But at least half the village’s population had by then already moved to new land allocated to them in the Kara-Suu district of Kyrgyzstan’s Osh Province.

And while Kyrgyz authorities say that 98 houses were dismantled in this month’s final relocation, a Kyrgyz lawmaker speaking in the parliament in February 2022 said that just 15 families remained in the territory.

Farmers -- the main occupation in Barak -- were struggling because Uzbekistan was not providing them with irrigation water, claimed the lawmaker, Alisher Kozuev.

And of course Tashkent had long eyed Barak as a legitimate gain in any border deal.

Every Exclave Is Different

While Mirziyoev’s determination was enough on the Uzbek side, on the Kyrgyz side, traditionally combustible politics made moving toward an agreement over the 1,380-kilometer border more difficult.

In his first presidential term, the Uzbek head of state met with three Kyrgyz presidents -- Almazbek Atambaev, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, and Sadyr Japarov.

Despite early progress, work on border delimitation had mostly stalled by 2018.

The breakthrough came with Japarov’s arrival to power in 2020 after yet another bout of political turmoil in Kyrgyzstan.

Following successful talks with the Uzbek side, Japarov’s government forced the agreement through parliament, steamrolling objections related to a strategic reservoir on Kyrgyz territory that Uzbekistan increased its control over through the agreement.

More than 20 critics of the border deal were jailed in the second half of 2022, some of whom are still behind bars awaiting trial on coup-plotting charges.

But Mirziyoev was effusive in his praise for his opposite number when he arrived in Bishkek on a state visit in January 2023.

“If not for his political will, we would have not reached today’s result. We could have said like we used to that we will solve these problems tomorrow or the day after. Well, tomorrow lasted 30 years and the problems weren’t solved," the Uzbek president said.

Japarov is also putting his name on the relocation of Barak families.

Osh Governor Elchibek Dzhantaev said in an interview with RFE/RL that Japarov had donated 270 million soms (around $3 million) from his “personal fund” to provide permanent accommodation for the villagers, who are now mostly living in temporary accommodation in the province.

The deadline for the relocation is August 31 -- Kyrgyzstan’s independence day.

If Barak is an example of a land-swap proposal meeting the needs of both parties, then one doesn’t need to look very far for the opposite.

Comments by Japarov’s top ally and national security chief, Kamchybek Tashiev, in 2021 about a potential swap that would have seen Kyrgyzstan gain control of the Vorukh exclave in Kyrgyzstan that belongs to Tajikistan were met with anger from Vorukh locals, not to mention a former top Tajik official who publicly lambasted Tashiev.

Within two months the two countries engaged in a border conflict of unprecedented scale that left dozens dead on each side, a toll subsequently surpassed by even deadlier clashes the following year.

But after over a 1 1/2 years of no notable violence, and a stream of optimistic updates on border delimitation talks, there is real hope that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan can also go all the way in resolving their disputed frontier.

That will depend on the willingness of both sides “to take on the difficult decisions,” argued Juraev, the analyst, who says Vorukh’s status is unlikely to change.

“It’s a massively more difficult situation, with around 40,000 people in Vorukh compared to just a few hundred in Barak,” he said.
Twitter
Afghanistan
Lina Rozbih
@LinaRozbih
[4/23/2024 9:35 AM, 409.3K followers, 8 retweets, 36 likes]
The U.S. State Department annual human rights report for 2023 highlights further decline in women’s rights in Afghanistan. The Taliban rejected this report and said the human rights values in Afghanistan “is different than the rest of the world”.

Lynne O’Donnell
@lynnekodonnell
[4/23/2024 2:20 PM, 27K followers, 18 retweets, 26 likes]
90 Percent Of people Detained by #Taliban in #Afghanistan Are Political Prisoners, Says US State Department | RoW says: Duh https://www.afintl.com/en/202404233001

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 20 retweets, 101 likes]
The Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation on Afghanistan, Mr. Zamir Kabulov called on IEA-Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. The meeting focused on bilateral political, economic matters between Afghanistan & Russia, and issues regarding

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 8 likes]
the upcoming UN-meeting of Special envoys on Afghanistan including regional issues. At the outset, commending Russia’s supportive position in regional and international forums, FM Muttaqi reiterated further strengthening political & trade relations between the two countries;

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 6 likes]
additionally, FM Muttaqi said that Afghanistan’s relations with regional countries are in expansion, & currently Afghanistan’s embassies are active almost in all the countries of the region. Calling the relations of the two countries of great significance, FM Muttaqi stressed

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 6 likes]
on understanding the existing ground realities of Afghanistan, thus, there remains no conditions in Afghanistan requiring a special representative for Afghanistan, adding further, FM Muttaqi said that the Afghan government is engaged in discussions with the United Nations,

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 6 likes]
& will express its position following obtaining enough clarification in regards to the agenda & structure of the next Doha meeting. Mr. Kabulov insisted on having the agreement of the Afghan side regarding any meeting held on Afghanistan, adding further, Mr. Kabulov said it

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 5 likes]
is also important for the UN to have the agreement of the Afghan government in the next Doha meeting, emphasizing that it can’t bear any result without the agreement of the Afghan government. Mr. Kabulov said instead of multilateral mechanisms of contact, the governments of the

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 7 likes]
world should engage with the Afghan government through bilateral mechanisms & emphasized that the US should release sovereign reserves of Afghanistan and end the unilateral and illegal restrictions on the banking system, and fulfill its responsibilities.

Hafiz Zia Ahmad
@HafizZiaAhmad
[4/23/2024 10:45 AM, 90.2K followers, 7 likes]
In the end, Mr. Kabulov said that the two countries should have more coordination, & expressed hope that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan will visit Moscow during this year.

Zhao Xing
@ChinaEmbKabul
[4/23/2024 8:31 AM, 28.1K followers, 21 retweets, 119 likes]
I have great pleasure to meet with H.E. Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan and exchange views on strengthening China-Afghanistan cooperation.

Zhao Xing
@ChinaEmbKabul
[4/23/2024 3:21 AM, 28.1K followers, 3 retweets, 40 likes]
Glad to meet with Mr. Stephen Rodriques, UNDP Resident Representative for Afghanistan, and appreciate UNDP’s work in Afghanistan. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with UNDP for the benefit of Afghan people.

SIGAR
@SIGARHQ
[4/23/2024 11:00 AM, 169.9K followers, 15 retweets, 27 likes]
Despite mounting economic pressure & food insecurity experienced by more than half of Afghan population, #StateDept told SIGAR there was no indication the Taliban were devoting any significant portion of their budget to the welfare of the Afghan people https://sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2024-01-30qr-section2.pdf#page=32

SIGAR
@SIGARHQ
[4/23/2024 7:00 AM, 169.9K followers, 2 likes]
(1/2) Last quarter, #WorldBank reported #Afghanistan’s currency, the afghani, continued to appreciate this year despite expanding trade deficit. Report explained, “the forex [foreign exchange] market seems in surplus due to ongoing cash shipments for…

SIGAR
@SIGARHQ
[4/23/2024 7:00 AM, 169.9K followers, 1 like]
(2/2)…humanitarian and basic service aid and remittances, influencing a higher supply of US$ than the local currency.” https://sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2024-01-30qr-section2.pdf#page=32
Pakistan
The President of Pakistan
@PresOfPakistan
[4/23/2024 10:33 AM, 733.9K followers, 28 retweets, 43 likes]
A delegation of Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH) called on President Asif Ali Zardari. During the meeting, the President said that steps should be taken to enforce the display of health advisories about the quantity of sugar in carbonated and sugary beverages.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan
@ForeignOfficePk
[4/23/2024 5:12 PM, 476.4K followers, 22 retweets, 112 likes]
Iranian President Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi held a meeting with Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in Karachi. The Governor welcomed President Raisi to the province and highlighted the strong civilizational and cultural links with the people of Iran. The Chief Minister shared the positive sentiments of the people of the province for the people of Iran and briefed the Iranian President on the developmental projects in the province President Raisi expressed his deep appreciation for Sindh’s rich culture and history of the province and the role played by saints and Sufis in spread of Islam. He appreciated the positive initiatives taken for the socioeconomic progress in Sindh and said there was great potential for enhanced trade and cooperation between the province of Sindh and Iran.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan
@ForeignOfficePk
[4/23/2024 4:21 PM, 476.4K followers, 38 retweets, 165 likes]
The President of Iran Dr. Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi visited the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam in Karachi and paid homage to Pakistan’s founding father and offering his respects. He was accompanied by Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah. President Raisi praised Quaid-i-Azam as a visionary leader and for the contributions he made for the Muslims of South Asia. His leadership was instrumental in Pakistan’s independence and laying the foundation of Pakistan-Iran relations.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan
@ForeignOfficePk
[4/23/2024 8:30 AM, 476.4K followers, 48 retweets, 263 likes]
Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz held a meeting with Iranian President Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi @raisi_com in Lahore today. They reaffirmed commitment to enhancing cultural exchanges and fostering people-to-people contacts. The Chief Minister explained the measures taken in the province for socio-economic development and expressed a desire for close engagement with Iranian cities and provinces for mutual benefit and prosperity. President Raisi appreciated the rich cultural history of the city of Lahore and expressed admiration for the poet of the East, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, who is revered in Iran as “Iqbal-e-Lahori”.

Anas Mallick
@AnasMallick
[4/24/2024 2:18 AM, 73.4K followers, 1 retweet, 20 likes]
President of #Iran, President Raisi departs from Karachi in Pakistan for SriLanka after completing his 3 day visit to Pakistan -- He was seen off by Fed Minister Riaz Pirzada, Governor Sindh and Chief Minister Sindh -- Was the first visit by any Irani President to Pak since 2017
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/23/2024 11:31 PM, 97.4M followers, 3.2K retweets, 14K likes]
Here is my interview with Vijayavani, in which I speak at length about the NDA Government’s work and efforts to improve people’s lives. I also spoke about the strong bond between our Party and Karnataka, reflecting in the work we’ve done for the state.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/23/2024 11:13 PM, 97.4M followers, 2K retweets, 7K likes]
On Panchayati Raj Day, greetings to all those working at grassroots to transform rural India and ensure a better quality of life for the people. Our Government will continue to work to strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions and give wings to people’s dreams.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[4/23/2024 10:38 AM, 3.1M followers, 199 retweets, 950 likes]
Speaking on Foreign Policy the India Way: From Diffidence to Confidence in Hyderabad, Telangana. https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1mrGmynNZndGy

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[4/23/2024 5:26 AM, 3.1M followers, 572 retweets, 3.5K likes]
My remarks at the first ASEAN Future Forum. https://twitter.com/i/status/1782702504905765141

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[4/23/2024 5:20 AM, 3.1M followers, 307 retweets, 2.4K likes]
Accompanied @BJP4India candidate for Bhongir, Telangana, Dr. Bura Narsaiah Goud on a massive Road Show before filing his Lok Sabha nomination. The zeal and enthusiasm is a practical manifestation of people’s faith in #ModiKiGuarantee.

Richard Rossow
@RichardRossow
[4/23/2024 10:33 AM, 28.7K followers, 5 likes]
India’s competition regulator invites proposals to study the competition landscape in India, legal frameworks, use cases, enforcement & advocacy. https://bit.ly/4b2lggq

Richard Rossow
@RichardRossow
[4/23/2024 3:35 AM, 28.7K followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes]
Though India removed capital gains tax exemptions from tax treaties with Singapore & Mauritius, they still account for 45% of FDI inflow in FY ‘24. Of course, it’s all smoke & mirrors; conduits for other investment sources. GoI should adopt more transparent reporting.
NSB
Maldives in USA
@MDVinUSA
[4/23/2024 2:49 PM, 412 followers, 2 retweets, 4 likes]
Amb. @aghafoormohamed met today with @WhiteHouse NSC’s Senior Director for South Asia, Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher. The discussions focused on enhancing the ongoing cooperation between #Maldives and #US.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives
@MoFAmv
[4/23/2024 7:12 AM, 53.7K followers, 14 retweets, 19 likes]
Minister Zameer sends a message of condolence to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Press Release | https://t.ly/ie1Fc

NP Saud
@NPSaudnc
[4/23/2024 10:39 AM, 3.2K followers, 3 retweets, 30 likes]
Nepal welcomes His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar on his historic State Visit. Our two countries share a bond of friendship which stands on the solid foundation of mutual trust, respect, understanding, and cooperation as well as strong connection at people’s level. Nepal has appreciated Qatar’s active mediation role in the Middle East conflict and, on this important occasion of His Highness’s visit, requests once again for cooperation in securing the release of the Nepali national Mr. Bipin Joshi from captivity. Bipin was in Israel under the ‘learn and earn’ programme and was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023. His whereabouts is still unknown and the family desperately waits for the beloved boy’s homecoming. Our sincere request to His Highness to make this urgent humanitarian accomplishment possible. I wish for the success of His Highness’s visit and wish him a memorable stay in Nepal.

Namal Rajapaksa
@RajapaksaNamal
[4/23/2024 11:20 AM, 437.1K followers, 6 retweets, 25 likes]
An esteemed pleasure hosting Hon. Ms. Sun Haiyan, Vice Minister, IDCPC, and H.E. Mr. Qi Zhenhong, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka. Strengthening the enduring alliance between #SLPP and #CPC, setting the stage for collaboration and shared vision. @ChinaEmbSL

Namal Rajapaksa
@RajapaksaNamal
[4/23/2024 7:58 AM, 437.1K followers, 11 likes]
Reflecting on our #SLPP journey, marked by discipline and resilience, free from violence. Our pledge endures: securing a prosperous future for every child in our nation. Today, as we inaugurate the Kurunegala District Village Party Office, once destroyed in #Aragalaya violence.
Central Asia
Bota Jardemalie
@jardemalie
[4/23/2024 7:31 AM, 8.2K followers, 19 retweets, 27 likes]
Political prisoner, journalist, and activist Aigerim #Tleuzhanova, sentenced to 4 years in prison on false charges of "organizing mass riots at #Almaty airport" during the mass anti-government protests in #Kazakhstan in Jan. 2022, has been on a 13-day hunger strike in a prison colony. She was placed in solitary confinement (SHIZO), used for punishments, justified by authorities’ claim of "no specially designated places for hunger strikers," despite not violating any rules. Aigerim began her hunger strike to protest detention conditions, including intrusive video surveillance, even over the toilet (!!!), in the female prison camp. This practice reflects the regime’s disregard for the dignity and privacy of women in prison.

MFA Tajikistan
@MOFA_Tajikistan
[4/24/2024 2:00 AM, 4.7K followers, 1 retweet]
Meeting with the Asian Water Council Secretary General/Director General of K-Water Global Corporation Department https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/14914/meeting-with-the-asian-water-council-secretary-generaldirector-general-of-k-water-global-corporation-department

MFA Tajikistan
@MOFA_Tajikistan
[4/23/2024 7:27 AM, 4.7K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Meeting with the Director of International Centre for Water Security & Sustainable Management (iWSSM) under the auspices of UNESCO https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/14907/meeting-with-the-director-of-international-centre-for-water-security-sustainable-management-iwssm-under-the-auspices-of-unesco

MFA Tajikistan
@MOFA_Tajikistan
[4/23/2024 7:24 AM, 4.7K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Meeting with the Deputy Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade of the IRA https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/14905/meeting-with-the-deputy-minister-of-industry-mining-and-trade-of-the-ira

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[4/23/2024 9:36 AM, 23K followers, 6 retweets, 19 likes]
Uzbekistan ranks lowest in Central Asia for women, according to this finding... Globally, it is rated as worse than Saudi Arabia and Sudan, not to mention several other countries with extremely harsh conditions. https://ceoworld.biz/2024/04/15/revealed-worlds-best-countries-for-women-2024/

Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis
[4/23/2024 10:01 AM, 28.9K followers, 2 retweets, 7 likes]
"We’re not asking you to choose between partners" - UK foreign secretary on trip to #Uzbekistan as he tours #CentralAsia. Western tactic is to nudge Russia’s allies to reject Putin’s zero-sum, with us or against us attitude and keep them onside

Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis
[4/23/2024 7:59 AM, 28.9K followers, 1 like]
Jurors in Bishimbayev murder trial reduced to tears at video of him swearing at and bullying his wife on the day of her death #Kazakhstan https://kz.kursiv.media/2024-04-22/dlzh-bish-nuk-prisyazhnye-video/

{End of Report}
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