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:
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
A gunman kills 6 worshippers inside a Shiite mosque in western Afghanistan, the Taliban say (AP)
AP [4/30/2024 3:27 AM, Staff, 456K, Negative]
A gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan, opening fire and killing six people as they were praying, a Taliban official said Tuesday. Local media reports and a former president of Afghanistan said the mosque was targeted because it was a place of worship for members of the country’s Shiite Muslim minority.

According to Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Taliban Interior Ministry, the attack happened on Monday night in the district of Guzara in Herat province. He said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that an investigation was underway.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded another worshipper, and the attacker fled the scene. Local media reported that the mosque’s imam was among those killed.

“I strongly condemn the attack on the Imam Zaman Mosque,” former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on X. “I consider this terrorist act against all religious and human standards.”

The Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan is a major Taliban rival and frequently targets schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, during the last weeks of the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops from the country after 20 years of war.

Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Chilling warning to America: Anti-Taliban resistance leader warns terror attack on US soil is a ‘matter of when, not if’ (Daily Mail)
Daily Mail [4/29/2024 1:59 PM, Wills Robinson, 11975K, Negative]
The leader of the anti-Taliban resistance in Afghanistan has issued a chilling warning that a new terrorist attack on America is a matter of ‘when not if’.

Ahmad Massoud said terrorism is ‘breeding’ in the vacuum left by the U.S. pulling out in August 2021 and it is ‘very possible ‘ extremists will now try to strike America or Europe.

Massoud is the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the legendary resistance leader known as the ‘Lion of Panjshir,’ who was assassinated by Al Qaeda two days before 9/11.

As he continues his father’s cause the Biden administration’s withdrawal from his country was the final nail in the coffin.

The chaotic evacuation and bloodshed resulted in a moment he has spent years trying to stop: The return to power of the evil, radical Islamists who are sending his country back in time.

Now, Massoud, who has a degree in war studies from King’s College, London, has a warning to the U.S. and foreign forces who left: Ignore Afghanistan at your peril.

The head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan says terrorist activity and recruitment has reached historic highs in the two-and-a-half years since the Kabul International Airport debacle.

He told DailyMail.com: ‘An attack on US or European soil is very much possible now. It is not about a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.’

Massoud says there is the same furious rivalry between terrorist factions that was seen in the build-up to 9/11.

In an interview with DailyMail.com - ahead of the release of his memoir In the Name of my Father: Struggling for Freedom in Afghanistan - he says his people feel abandoned and hopeless.

They have been left to fend for themselves against a brutal regime that is systematically stripping away basic rights.

The Afghan people now see the West as ‘hypocrites’, he says.

Foreign forces who spent years preaching about the need for a democracy have left the population in the hands of a government that has stopped girls going to school.

They beat and tortured the women who dared to protest their abuses in the weeks after they ascended to power.

Massoud’s resistance is all that is left, and he needs help.

He believes President Joe Biden needs to rethink his Afghanistan policy, or it could have enormous consequences.

The growing problems he faces challenging the legitimacy of the Taliban government began with the peace deal signed by Donald Trump’s administration in February 2020.

As the withdrawal date approached in August 2021, he warned the U.S. there would be catastrophic results if conditions on the Taliban weren’t put in place.

They didn’t listen, and 20 years of work improving the lives of the Afghan people unraveled in a matter of days.

On September 9, 2001, Massoud’s life changed forever when his father was assassinated by Al Qaeda.

Two days later, the world changed forever when the Twin Towers fell.

Massoud was still a child, but his future in the resistance movement was already apparent.

As Afghanistan became the focal point of the War on Terror and the mammoth international manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, Massaoud followed in the footsteps of his legendary father who became known as the Lion of Panjshir.

He strives for the liberation of Afghanistan through diplomacy and a guerrilla warfare operation centered in their stronghold in Panjshir, north of the capital Kabul.

Educated in London, he has led mujahideen fighters who have spent decades fighting the Taliban and other terrorist factions.

He has also called on the world to not recognize the Taliban government.

The speed at which they seized control stunned the world and forced foreign forces to accelerate their departure.

But Massoud saw it coming, and even warned the U.S. of the calamity that would unfold.

For him, anyone who thinks the hardline Islamist group has changed should be ashamed of themselves and those who think they can govern a people subjected to years of poverty are delusional.

When the Taliban returned to power for the first time since 2001, the majority of the population struggled to find enough money to eat.

Many years ago, while he was still in Panjshir, Massoud started working on his memoir.

He wanted to write as much as he could because he feared he might have to make the ultimate sacrifice and take his own life if the enemy arrived.

His story of leading the resistance and the bid to restore peace comes in the seminal In the Name of my Father: Struggling for Freedom in Afghanistan, which is out on Tuesday April 30.

He sets out a rational vision for the country of his birth where it is free from radical Islam and terror groups.

The resistance is almost solely fighting alone now Western forces have turned their backs on a country ravaged by war.

First it was the Soviet Union - where his father was a powerful guerilla commander of the resistance during the occupation between 1979 and 1989.

Then it was the US-led invasion. Now the nation’s starving people are under Taliban rule.

The population has been sent back in time.

Women’s rights have been taken away. Girls aren’t allowed to go to school.

Just last week, two TV networks were suspended because, according to the government, they didn’t do enough to spread Islamic values.

The crackdown has been widespread, and shows no signs of stopping while they are still in government and given legitimacy on a world stage.

Countries like China have restored diplomatic relations with the Taliban and started up trade partnerships.

Massoud fled to Tajikistan in September 2021 when the Taliban seized control of the Panjshir Valley.

A year earlier he formed the National Resistance front of Afghanistan, and warned of a civil war if there wasn’t a new power-sharing agreement with the Taliban.

Now his resistance has thousands of fighters who have battled with the regime across the country, including inside the capital of Kabul.

In the last three years he has been moving around the world and avoids staying in the same place for security.

He is leading the resistance movement from outside Afghanistan.

Their numbers have grown as resentment for the Taliban has risen.

They have ammunition and are recruiting more soldiers, including Afghan Special Forces commandos who fought alongside western forces.

But their opponents are well-equipped and still have access to the billions of dollars in weapons left behind when foreign forces left two years ago.

Massoud is confident that if the Taliban launched an assault, they would be able to give them a stiff response.

But they still need help, especially from the allies who packed up and left after two decades of being a constant presence.

The Taliban are also getting as much as $60 million a week from countries like the U.S. and Japan through the United Nations.

While the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated, the world has shifted focus to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Massoud understands that there the West may feel it has more pressing matters to attend to.

But if Afghanistan remains completely abandoned, it won’t just be a disaster for his country but could have global implications.

Massoud told DailyMail.com that the threat of terrorism is rising in the vacuum created by the withdrawal and the proceeding peace deal.

‘The political situation is helping the Taliban massively. From Ukraine to the war on Gaza and, and many other things happening around the globe.

‘It helps the fatigue (from the West) when they are busy elsewhere,’.

‘There is a numbness in the West. They are forgetting about what’s happening in Afghanistan.

‘If we received a fraction of support that Ukraine is receiving, or any other country, the Taliban would not be able to stand against us.

‘At least a quarter of Afghanistan would be liberated within months. Just the way that we were very much right and accurate with predicting the fall of a Kabul in Afghanistan.

He is urging the world to take notice of what is happening to the women in Afghanistan and how any shred of democracy is being eroded.

He says the Taliban are robbing Afghan people of their basic human rights, and the resistance is an effort out of desperation to get them back.

There is growing bitterness to the Taliban, but the Afghan people ‘feel hopeless, lonely, and completely empty-handed,’ Massoud says.

‘You are hearing from within the Taliban ranks that they are protesting against what’s happening in Afghanistan.

‘They are not happy with the current situation, and it just makes it 10 times or a hundred times worse.

‘I’m in touch with people from different ethnicities and genders in Afghanistan. All of them are fed up and they want to do something.’

He says the best course of action is to resist militarily.

‘We cannot give in to their forceful occupation. We need to stand against it. That’s what we are doing.’

The resistance started in one province and has now spread to 17 across the country.

But the place where they are having the most success, Massoud says, is in Kabul.

‘This is where we are hitting them the hardest. It shows our presence. We are having successes on a daily basis and we are becoming very successful in our tactics.

‘We were to even get as close as 500 meters to the Taliban headquarters’.

They have vowed to put special forces in urban areas and have frequently attacked Taliban checkpoints.

The Front said they killed seven members of the Taliban in an attack in front of the Serena Hotel, near the Presidential Palace. None of their members were hurt.

‘It just shows the capability and coverage of our units. Each day they are progressing and it’s just getting better’.

Massoud insists more Western boots on the ground is the last thing Afghanistan needs to defeat the Taliban.

Military intervention has failed. The withdrawal of NATO allies after 20 years sparked the rapid return to the society Afghan people had fought so hard to leave behind.

But completely forgetting about Afghanistan is ‘wrong’ and will have far-reaching consequences that have already reared their ugly heads.

While there has already been a surge in terror attacks inside Afghanistan, there has also been a rise outside its borders.

The mass shooting at the Moscow concert hall that killed 130 people in March was carried out by ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan), a terror group that has already slaughtered thousands in Afghanistan.

The group launched dozens of attacks in the buildup to the collapse of the Afghanistan government in August 2021.

But their most notorious was a suicide blast at Kabul International Airport when thousands of desperate Afghans were trying to flee on evacuation flights.

Thirteen American service members and hundreds of civilians were killed.

The operative who detonated the explosive was an ISIS militant who was freed from prison by the Taliban.

Former head of U.S. Central Command General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr has warned the threat from the Islamic State has grown since American forces left, and the desire to attack the U.S. is getting stronger.

Massaoud says the world just wants to bury their hands in the sand when it comes to Afghanistan.

‘If the world doesn’t pay attention, it can be a breeding ground for terrorism,’ he says.

‘In the past two years, with such actions, with such numbness from the West, the terrorism and Afghanistan has been heavily breeding.

‘They are expanding and they’re recruiting. They are recruiting more and more people inside Afghanistan to be foot soldiers for many other terrorist groups.

‘Not just the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Daesh (The Islamic State) but for many other groups.

‘An attack on US or European soil is very much possible now. It is not about a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.’
Nationwide Anti-Polio Campaign Kicks Off In Afghanistan (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/29/2024 7:45 AM, Staff, 223K, Neutral]
A nationwide polio vaccination campaign started on April 29 in Afghanistan, Taliban authorities announced. The Taliban-run Health Ministry said the four-day campaign will cover 31 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, while immunizations will start later in the remaining three -- Ghor, Daikundi, and Bamyan -- due to heavy rains and cold weather. Besides vaccines, children will also receive doses of vitamin A to increase their resistance to the infectious disease, the ministry said. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio has not been completely eradicated.
The Taliban are working to woo tourists to Afghanistan (AP)
AP [4/30/2024 1:46 AM, Riazat Butt, 456K, Neutral]
Around 30 men are crammed into a Kabul classroom, part of the debut student cohort at a Taliban-run institute training tourism and hospitality professionals.

It’s a motley crew. One student is a model. Another is 17 and has no job history.

The students vary in age, education level and professional experience. They’re all men — Afghan women are banned from studying beyond sixth grade — and they don’t know anything about tourism or hospitality. But they are all eager to promote a different side of Afghanistan. And the Taliban are happy to help.

Afghanistan’s rulers are pariahs on the global stage, largely because of their restrictions on women and girls. The economy is struggling, infrastructure is poor, and poverty is rife.

And yet, foreigners are visiting the country, encouraged by the sharp drop in violence, increased flight connections with hubs like Dubai, and the bragging rights that come with vacationing in an unusual destination. The numbers aren’t huge — they never were — but there’s a buzz around Afghan tourism.

In 2021, there were 691 foreign tourists. In 2022, that figure rose to 2,300. Last year, there were 7,000.

Mohammad Saeed, the head of the Tourism Directorate in Kabul, said the biggest foreign visitor market is China because of its proximity and large population. Afghanistan also has advantages over some of its neighbors.

“They’ve told me they don’t want to go to Pakistan because it’s dangerous and they get attacked. The Japanese have said this to me also,” Saeed said. “This is good for us.”

But there are disadvantages, too.

Visas are difficult and expensive to access. Many countries severed ties with Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power, and no country recognizes them as the legitimate rulers of the country.

Afghan embassies either closed or suspended their operations. There’s an ongoing power struggle between Afghanistan’s embassies and consulates staffed by people from the former Western-backed administration, and those under the Taliban administration’s full control.

Saeed concedes there are obstacles for Afghan tourism to develop but said he was working with ministries to overcome them.

His ultimate aim is to have a visa on arrival for tourists, but that could be years away. There are problems with the road network, which is half-paved or non-existent in some parts of the country, and airlines largely avoid Afghan airspace.

The capital Kabul has the most international flights, but no Afghan airport has direct routes with major tourist markets like China, Europe, or India.

Despite the challenges, Saeed wants Afghanistan to become a tourism powerhouse, an ambition that appears to be backed by the Taliban’s top leaders.

“I have been sent to this department on the instructions of the elders (ministers). They must trust me because they’ve sent me to this important place.”

The students also have aspirations. The model, Ahmed Massoud Talash, wants to learn about Afghanistan’s picturesque spots for Instagram posts and its history for media appearances.

Business school graduate Samir Ahmadzai wants to open a hotel but thinks he should know more about tourism and hospitality first.

“They hear that Afghanistan is backwards, poverty and all about war,” said Ahmadzai. “We have 5,000 years of history. There should be a new page of Afghanistan.”

Classes include Afghan handicrafts and anthropology basics.

An unofficial subject is how to interact with foreign women and how their behavior or habits could clash with local customs and edicts. Examples might be women smoking or eating in public, to mixing freely with men who are not related to them by blood or marriage.

The Taliban have imposed a dress code for women and requirements for them to have a male guardian, or mahram, when they travel. Dining alone, traveling alone, and socializing with other women in public have become harder. With gyms closed to women and beauty salons banned, there are fewer places where they can meet outside the home.

In a sign that the country is preparing for more overseas visitors, the country’s only five-star hotel, the Serena, has reopened its women’s spa and salon for foreign females after a monthslong closure.

Foreigners must show their passport to access services. Women with “born in Afghanistan” on their ID are barred.

The restrictions on Afghan women and girls weigh on overseas travel companies, who say they try to focus on the positive aspect of cultural interactions by making donations, supporting local projects or only visiting family-run businesses.

Shane Horan, the founder of Rocky Road Travel, said visiting Afghanistan should not be seen as an endorsement of any particular government or political regime.

“Ultimately, the goal should be to support responsible tourism practices that contribute positively to the local economy and foster mutual respect and understanding, while also remaining cognizant of the broader political context in Afghanistan.”

He said there was no input from authorities about what tour groups saw or did, and that the company worked closely with a women’s rights organization in Afghanistan. A percentage of the tour cost went into supporting this organization’s programs, Horan added.

There are no women at the Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management. The students don’t mention it. But an official at the Tourism Directorate does.

“It’s a heartbreaking situation,” said the official, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. “Even female family members ask if they can study here. But there was a change in policy with the change in government. The women who were studying before (the takeover) never came back. They never graduated.”
Meeting the Climate Crisis in Afghanistan (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [4/29/2024 10:10 AM, Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, 201K, Neutral]
One of the immediate impacts of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 was the country’s exclusion from the global climate change conversation and the blocking of its access to key U.N. climate funds, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The Conference of the Parties (COP) Bureau of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) decided in 2022 to not recognize any Taliban institution as a focal point in Afghanistan, thereby divesting the Taliban-run National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) of Afghanistan of any legal status.

Before the Taliban’s takeover, Afghanistan’s climate plan estimated that the country needed $20.6 billion to fund climate adaptation and emission-cutting initiatives between 2021 and 2030. The resource-dry GCF had approved nearly $18 million for a sustainable energy project in Afghanistan. That project was put on hold, pending a “full review of current and emerging risks,” according to the GCF. In addition, the erstwhile civilian regime had sought $750 million for various projects, such as improvements in irrigation and the deployment of rooftop solar panels in Kabul. They, too, have been deferred.

The NEPA has made several appeals for Afghanistan’s inclusion in the COP process and to restart 32 climate change-related projects worth $824 million postponed by donor institutions. In a recent meeting in April 2024, it also outlined smaller projects that it plans to undertake within its limited capacity.

Most of the international community tends to steer clear of any proposed inclusion of the Taliban in the COP process, which may inadvertently grant recognition to the regime. However, the United Nations and the European Union have continued to implement small projects to confront climate change, boost agriculture, and improve food security in Afghanistan.

The UNDP is implementing a solarization initiative aiming to tackle Afghanistan’s energy challenges. The country imports 75 percent of its electricity, which is barely enough to cover 40 percent of its needs, forcing health facilities among others to be without power for more than six hours every day. The situation is worse in more remote provinces where such shutdowns can last 12 hours a day. The UNDP project has benefited hospitals, health centers, schools, and small farmers in Kabul and Kapisa provinces.

In July 2023, the EU announced a donation of 7.6 million euros to address climate change and food insecurity in the country through an agricultural project to be implemented by the British non-profit Afghanaid in Badakhshan, Daykundi, Ghor, Jowzjan, Samangan, and Takhar provinces. Afghanaid lays special emphasis on implementing a women-centric climate action plan by training women in preparing bio-briquettes and gabion baskets, and involving them in kickstarting reforestation and nurturing drought-resistant home gardens.

Since September 2023, an EU-funded 3.3 million euro climate adaptation project in Afghanistan is being implemented by the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC). The project, which will last for three years, will enhance the capacities of local communities in seven provinces – Badakhshan, Daikundi, Faryab, Ghazni, Kapisa, Paktia, and Takhar – to take up climate-smart agriculture, livelihood diversification, and efficient and sustainable natural resource management. The NAC, in collaboration with Chr. Mikkelsen Institute (CMI) and the NEPA, recently concluded a successful three-day climate dialogue and symposium on the consequences of climate change in Afghanistan, where community members from rural Afghanistan were invited to discuss the impacts of climate change and share their recommendations.

The Aga Khan Development Network’s women-led climate resilience projects include growing micro-forests to support communities in combating climate change while supporting them in earning livelihoods in the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Bamyan and Takhar.

Between 1950 and 2010, the average annual temperature rose by 1.8 degrees in Afghanistan, which is about twice the global average. Currently, the country is experiencing its worst drought in 30 years, affecting 25 out of 34 provinces in the country, where around 80 percent of people depend on agriculture for a living. Changing weather patterns and erratic and unseasonal rains on parched land have led to at least three flash floods ravaging many provinces between July 2023 and April 2024. Food insecurity and malnourishment remain widespread, affecting as many as 40 million people, including close to 8 million children. International isolation of Afghanistan and the Taliban’s incapacity to respond have unveiled specters of looming crises that will spill over into the region and beyond.

The EU and UNDP projects may make a difference in the lives of Afghans, but they are limited to only one-third of the country’s provinces. The country needs a much larger and immediate range of international interventions in terms of enhancing the capacities of Afghans to act in the face of climate change. Like any other country, the primary respondent to climate change challenges will have to be the people of Afghanistan and the de facto government of the country. The international community has a responsibility to provide them with the necessary assistance they need as climate stress is leading to food insecurity, impacting public health and leading to climate migration. As the dilemma on recognition and assistance remains unresolved, Afghanistan will be subjected again to vicious cycle of conflict with climate change acting as a threat multiplier.
Pakistan
IMF approves immediate release of final $1.1 billion tranche of $3 billion bailout to Pakistan (AP)
AP [4/29/2024 4:24 PM, Staff, 22K, Neutral]
The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved the immediate release of the final $1.1 billion tranche of a $3 billion bailout to Pakistan, the global lender said in a statement.

Pakistan needs the money to overcome one of the worst economic crises in its history that had raised fears it could default on the payment of foreign debts.

As part of the bailout conditions, the government was required to reduce subsidies intended to cushion the impact of rising living costs. This contributed to an increase in prices, especially energy bills, and angered the public. Islamabad also imposed new taxes, another unpopular move.

But an IMF official said the country’s “determined policy efforts” have brought progress in restoring economic stability.

Moderate growth has returned, external pressures have eased and, while still elevated, inflation has begun to decline, said Antoinette Sayeh, the IMF’s deputy managing director and chair, in the statement.

“Given the significant challenges ahead, Pakistan should capitalize on this hard‑won stability persevering — beyond the current arrangement — with sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms to create stronger, inclusive and sustainable growth,” Sayeh added.

Last month, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Pakistan planned to seek a long-term loan to help stabilize the economy after the end of the current bailout package.

He didn’t provide a figure but officials have previously said they want another $8 billion from the IMF over three years.
IMF’s $1.1 bln tranche to help Pakistan’s economic stability, says PM Sharif (Reuters)
Reuters [4/30/2024 3:27 AM, Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Asif Shahzad, 5.2M, Positive]
The disbursement of $1.1 billion by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will help Pakistan achieve greater economic stability, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday, amid discussions for a new loan programme.

The funding was the second and final tranche of Pakistan’s $3 billion standby arrangement with the IMF which it secured last summer to help avert a sovereign default.

"The disbursement will bring more economic stability in Pakistan," Sharif said in a statement from his office, adding that the standby arrangement was important in saving the South Asian nation from defaulting on its external liabilities.

The IMF’s executive board approved the final tranche on Monday.

The approval came a day after Sharif discussed a new loan programme with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.

The IMF appreciated Pakistan’s policy and fiscal measures to achieve the targets under the standby arrangement.

"Macroeconomic conditions have improved over the course of the program," it said in a statement, adding that 2% growth was expected in the current fiscal year ending on June 30, given continued recovery in the second half.

It said the fiscal position continued to strengthen with a primary surplus of 1.8 percent of GDP achieved in the first half of the fiscal year, on track to achieve primary surplus of 0.4% of GDP.

Islamabad is seeking a new, larger long-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement with the IMF.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said Islamabad could secure a staff-level agreement on the new programme by early July.

Islamabad says it is seeking a loan over at least three years to help achieve macroeconomic stability and execute long-overdue and painful structural reforms.

Aurangzeb has declined to give details on the amount the country is seeking.

Islamabad is yet to make a formal request, but the Fund and the government are already in discussions.

If secured, it would be Pakistan’s 24th IMF bailout.

The $350 billion economy faces a chronic balance of payments crisis, with nearly $24 billion to repay in debt and interest over the next fiscal year - three-time more than its central bank’s foreign currency reserves.

Pakistan’s finance ministry expects the economy to grow by 2.6% in the fiscal year ending in June, while average inflation for the year is projected to stand at 24%, down from 29.2% the previous fiscal year.

The IMF said the inflation, while still elevated, continued to decline, and, with appropriately tight, data-driven monetary policy maintained, was expected to reach around 20% by end-June.

To move Pakistan from stabilization to a strong and sustainable recovery, authorities need to continue their policy and reform efforts, it added.
Pakistan Holds Key Rate at Record High Ahead of IMF Visit (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [4/29/2024 10:05 AM, Faseeh Mangi, 5543K, Positive]
Pakistan’s central bank left its interest rate at an all-time high ahead of a scheduled visit by an International Monetary Fund mission next month to hash out a new loan program.

The State Bank of Pakistan maintained the target rate at 22%, it said in a statement on Monday, signaling a delay of the monetary easing cycle. Twenty-four out of 41 economists predicted a hold in a Bloomberg survey, with 17 seeing a cut ranging from 25 to 100 basis points.

The decision took into account ongoing talks with the IMF and the upcoming budget, Jameel Ahmad, governor at the central bank, said in the analyst briefing after the decision. Economists have scaled back forecasts for rate cuts in recent weeks considering that Pakistan in the past has been asked to introduce new taxes in its budget and raise energy prices as a condition for securing IMF loans.

Pakistan is in talks with the IMF for a minimum three-year loan of at least $6 billion that the government wants by as early as June. It is moving from one bailout to the next with the IMF scheduled to review a final loan payment of $1.1 billion under its current program later on Monday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has pledged to stay the course on structural reforms suggested by the IMF in a meeting with Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh on Sunday.

Given risks to the inflation outlook from global oil prices, resolution of debt in the energy sector and higher taxes, it is “prudent to continue with the current monetary policy stance at this stage, with significant positive real interest rates,” the central bank said in a statement on its website.

The magnitude of the expected rate cuts have fallen among economists. They estimate the key rate dropping to 17.25% by the end of the year now compared with 16% in January, according to the median forecast in surveys conducted by Bloomberg.

The South Asian nation’s consumer price growth has dropped below the interest rate for the first time in three years. That’s a key indicator that economists were looking at earlier as a trigger for the central bank to cut rates.

Consumer price gains weakened to 20.7% in March, slowing for the third straight month. A Bloomberg survey showed inflation is likely to ease further to 17.5% in April when government issues the data later this week.

The central bank said economic indicators highlight moderate recovery in the current fiscal year, with real GDP growth projected to remain in the range of 2%-3%. Pakistan still needs to repay foreign debt of $1.8 billion in the next few months but that should not impact foreign exchange reserves, said Jameel.
Officials: Senior Pakistani judge freed from militant captivity ‘unconditionally’ (VOA)
VOA [4/29/2024 6:45 AM, Ayaz Gul, 761K, Neutral]
Authorities in Pakistan said Monday that militants had “unconditionally” released a senior judge who had been held hostage for two days in a volatile northwestern region.

Judge Shakirullah Marwat was kidnapped, along with his driver, on Saturday from a road near the militancy-hit district of Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

Mohammad Ali Saif, a provincial information advisor, confirmed to VOA the judge’s safe recovery, but he would not share further details.

Marwat was traveling to Dera Ismail Khan when dozens of armed men ambushed his vehicle.

The driver, who was briefly held captive, conveyed the kidnappers’ demands to Pakistani authorities for the release of their imprisoned relatives and militant partners in exchange for the judge’s freedom.

On Sunday, militants sent a video to journalists in which Marwat had stated that he was taken hostage by the Pakistani Taliban. He had also pleaded with the provincial and federal governments and the country’s chief justice to urgently meet militants’ demands to secure his recovery.

While police claimed the judge was “rescued” in a security operation, highly placed official sources told VOA that local tribal elders had helped secure the release of the hostage through negotiations with his captors. It was unclear immediately whether any prisoner exchange or ransom was involved.

Separately on Monday, a Pakistan military statement said that it carried out a pre-dawn “intelligence-based” operation against a suspected militant hideout in a district adjoining Dera Ismail Khan and killed “four terrorists.”

Pakistan’s border areas have lately experienced a dramatic surge in deadly attacks against security forces by militants linked to the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban.

Last week, eight Pakistani customs officials tasked to counter weapons smuggling were also killed by suspected TTP militants in separate attacks in Dera Ismail Khan.

Pakistan says TTP is orchestrating the violence from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, killing hundreds of civilians and security forces in recent months. The neighboring country’s fundamentalist Taliban authorities reject the charges, saying no foreign militant groups are based on Afghan soil.
India
India’s Spy Chief Cleared Plot to Kill Sikh Activist, Post Says (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [4/29/2024 8:19 AM, Dan Strumpf, 5543K, Neutral]
An alleged plot to kill a US citizen and Sikh activist on American soil last year was approved by senior-level members of India’s intelligence agency, including its chief at the time, the Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter it didn’t identify.

The alleged plan to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was cleared by the former head of the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s spy agency, while other high-ranking RAW officials have also been implicated, the newspaper reported Monday.

US intelligence agencies also tentatively found that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national security adviser was probably aware of RAW’s plan, although officials told the newspaper there was no smoking gun evidence that’s emerged.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the report when contacted by Bloomberg News.

The allegations in the Post run counter to the findings from India’s high-level committee set up to investigate the case. The findings haven’t been made public, however Bloomberg News previously reported the committee found rogue operatives not authorized by the government were involved in the plot.

In its report, the Post named the agent who allegedly directed the assassination, as well as the chief of RAW at the time and Modi’s security adviser. The newspaper wasn’t able to contact the agent, and the other two people didn’t respond to calls or text messages, it said.

News of the alleged plot against Pannun, which US officials said was thwarted, followed the June shooting death in Canada of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. That operation was also linked to the RAW, the Post reported. India has described both men as terrorists.

So far, only one person had been publicly charged in connection with the alleged plot against Pannun: Nikhil Gupta, an alleged middleman who was tasked with hiring a contract killer to assassinate Pannun, according to a US indictment. Gupta, an Indian national, was arrested in Prague last year and US officials are seeking his extradition.

News of the alleged plot against Pannun have presented a challenge for Biden administration officials, who have been working to cultivate India as a partner in the region as a counterweight to China. Since the case came to light, officials in both India and the US have downplayed the significance of the allegations and have continued to hold high-profile meetings on trade and other issues.

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said recently he was pleased with India’s progress in its investigation, and the issue wouldn’t hamper relations between the two countries.
Reported Indian role in assassination plots a ‘serious matter’, White House says (Reuters)
Reuters [4/30/2024 1:01 AM, Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalal, and Sudipto Ganguly, 5.2M, Neutral]
The White House said on Monday it viewed the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in two assassination plots in Canada and the United States as a serious matter.

The Washington Post reported that an officer in India’s intelligence service was directly involved in a foiled plan to assassinate a U.S. citizen who is one of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most vocal critics in the United States. It said the officer was also involved in the separate shooting death of a Sikh activist last June in Canada.

India’s foreign ministry said the Washington Post report made "unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter" while New Delhi is investigating the issue.

"Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful," foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

"This is a serious matter, and we’re taking that very, very seriously," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. "We’re going to continue to raise our concerns."

In November, U.S. authorities said an Indian government official had directed the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the United States and Canada.

India has expressed concern about the linkage and dissociated itself from the plot, saying it would formally investigate the concerns of the United States, and take ‘necessary follow-up action’ on the findings of a panel set up on Nov. 18.

Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, a group that India labeled an "unlawful association" in 2019, citing its involvement in extremist activities. Subsequently, in 2020, India listed Pannun as an "individual terrorist".

The issue is a delicate one for both India and the Biden administration in the United States as they try to build closer ties in the face of shared concerns about China’s growing power.

News of the U.S. plot came two months after Canada said it was looking at credible allegations potentially linking Indian agents to the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist, in a Vancouver suburb.

India strongly rejected Ottawa’s accusations.
India Rejects Sikh Plot Report, Slams Canada Over Separatists (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [4/30/2024 3:24 AM, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 5.5M, Neutral]
India dismissed a Washington Post report alleging senior members of the country’s intelligence agency approved a plot to kill a US-based Sikh activist, while on the same day raising concerns about separatists sentiments made at a Sikh event in Canada.

The newspaper “makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations of a serious matter,” Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement Tuesday. A high level committee set up by the government is investigating the matter and the “speculative and irresponsible” comments aren’t helpful, he said.

The Washington Post reported Monday that the former head of Research and Analysis Wing, India’s spy agency, and other senior ranking officials, had approved the alleged plan to kill a Sikh activist on American soil last year. The report was based on interviews with several officials in the US, India and elsewhere who were not identified.

India’s investigation committee, which hasn’t made its findings public yet, found rogue operatives not authorized by the government were involved in the plot, Bloomberg News has previously reported.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the intended victim in the US plot, is designated a terrorist by India for his involvement in a Sikh separatist movement seeking an independent state of Khalistan.

The Post report came the same day India lashed out at Canada for not doing enough to clamp down on separatist sentiments at an event attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday. India summoned Canada’s deputy high commissioner on Monday to lodge its protest after separatist slogans were shouted at the event in Toronto where Trudeau spoke.

“This illustrates once again the political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism and violence,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Monday. “Their continued expressions not only impact India-Canada relations but also encourage a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its own citizens.”

Relations between the two countries have plummeted after Trudeau last year accused India’s government of involvement in the killing of another Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has denied the allegations. Nijjar was part of the Khalistani movement and designated a terrorist under Indian laws.
India protests over Sikh separatist slogans at Toronto event (Reuters)
Reuters [4/29/2024 6:49 PM, Tanvi Mehta and Ismail Shakil, 11975K, Neutral]
India summoned the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner on Monday and expressed "deep concern and strong protest" after separatist slogans in support of a Sikh homeland were raised at an event addressed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Bilateral diplomatic relations soured last year after Trudeau said Canada was "actively pursuing credible allegations" that Indian agents were potentially linked to the June 2023 murder of a Sikh leader who was a Canadian citizen.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a "terrorist" in July 2020.

New Delhi has denied any formal government role in Nijjar’s murder.

India’s foreign affairs ministry said on Monday it had conveyed "deep concern and strong protest" at such actions "being allowed to continue unchecked at the event".

Slogans supporting the rise of a separatist state were raised at an event in Toronto, according to ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

"We will always be there to protect your rights and your freedoms, and we will always defend your community against hatred and discrimination," ANI quoted Trudeau as saying.

Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab in India, and the country has been the scene of many demonstrations that have irked India.

The Canadian foreign ministry told Reuters in a statement that Trudeau "gathered with thousands" in Toronto to mark the occasion of Vaisakhi, a harvest festival celebrated by the people of Northern India.
Indian lawmaker allied with Modi’s BJP faces sexual harassment probe (Reuters)
Reuters [4/29/2024 6:44 AM, Shivam Patel, 5239K, Negative]
India’s southern state of Karnataka will investigate a lawmaker whose party is a key ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on suspicion of sexual harassment, the state’s chief minister has said.

The scion of a prominent political family, the lawmaker, Prajwal Revanna, 33, is the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, the nephew of a former chief minister of the state and the son of another former Karnataka minister.

The accusations surfaced last week as half of the state voted in India’s seven-phase general elections, in which Revanna was seeking a second term for his Janata Dal (Secular) party.

"The government has decided to form a special investigation team in connection with Prajwal Revanna’s obscene video case," Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, whose Congress party is a BJP rival, said in a social media post over the weekend.

"Obscene video clips are circulating ... where it appears that women have been sexually assaulted," he added.

Police registered a complaint against Revanna based on the statement of a woman who worked in the family home, and also named his father, H.D. Revanna, as a suspect, media said.

Prajwal Revanna did not respond to requests for comment, with media saying he was out of the country.

"I will not react about anything," his father told reporters on Monday, but added the son would return when required.

"Since this has been handed over to a special investigation team, I will not say anything that will affect it," H.D. Revanna added. "He had to go on a trip and he has gone ... He will come when he is called to join the investigation."
India politician seeking reelection accused of making 3,000 sexual assault videos, using them for blackmail (CBS News)
CBS News [4/29/2024 12:34 PM, Arshad R. Zargar, 76K, Negative]
Prajwal Revanna, a member of India’s parliament from the southern state of Karnataka, has left the country amid allegations that he sexually assaulted multiple women over the last few years and recorded the acts on his phone. Another politician, from an allied party, said he received a USB drive containing the videos, some of which have leaked online, and he’s accused Revanna of using them to blackmail women into continuing sexual relationships with him.

Revanna is the grandson of former Indian Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. He’s currently a Member of Parliament for the Janata Dal Secular Party (JDS), which is allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

Revanna is seeking reelection to his seat in the general elections that kicked off last week. India’s national election is taking place over about seven weeks, in phases, and is set to be the largest election ever held globally, with almost 1 billion eligible voters.

Some of the video clips of the alleged sexual assaults involving the 33-year-old politician first leaked online just days before the polls opened in Revanna’s constituency.

Revanna has denied the allegations and filed a police complaint alleging that the videos are manipulated. Soon after the videos leaked, two women appeared on local news outlet Power TV accusing Prajwal of sexual assault.

Separately, another woman, a 47-year-old who’s worked at the politician’s home, filed a police case alleging that she too had been sexually abused by Revanna multiple times between 2019 and 2022 — and once by his father HD Revanna.

The woman has also accused the younger politician of behaving inappropriately on a video call with her daughter, according to reports in Indian media.

Karnataka police have registered a case against Revanna on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman, and the state government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the allegations.

Revanna has not been questioned or detained, however, as he reportedly left India soon after the leaked videos surfaced.

Prajwal’s father, who’s the leader of the JDS party and is also named in the police complaint, told journalists Monday that his son was traveling but would come back to India if and when required for the investigation.

The prime minister’s party has sought to distance itself from the controversy swirling around its political allies, but a local BJP leader, Devaraje Gowda, has reportedly issued the stunning claim that he warned BJP’s leaders in Karnataka state against aligning with JDS a year ago, after receiving a "pen drive" he said contained 2,976 explicit videos of women.

"We will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist," Gowda warned in a letter to BJP’s leader in the state, according to the report by India’s NDTV.

India’s main opposition party, called the Congress Party, held a protest in Bengaluru on Sunday and pointedly questioned the ruling BJP party’s decision to ally with JDS despite the apparent knowledge of the videos.

"Why did the PM campaign for and shared the stage with Prajwal Revanna despite knowing that Prajwal is the kingpin of the world’s biggest and murkiest sex abuse?" Congress leader Pawan Khera wrote in a social media post.
NSB
Bangladesh shuts schools again with no let-up in heatwave (Reuters)
Reuters [4/29/2024 2:20 PM, Ruma Paul, 11975K, Neutral]
Bangladesh again closed all primary schools across the country and educational institutions in almost half of districts including the capital as a severe heatwave saw temperatures climb to 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) on Monday.

Schools across the country that closed last week due to the heatwave reopened on Sunday despite persistent high temperatures across the South Asian nation, which resulted in lower attendance.

Classes of all government primary schools will remain closed till Thursday and educational institutions in 27 districts out of 64, including the capital Dhaka, will remain closed on Tuesday, the education ministry said on Monday.

Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel said on Sunday that if the temperature in any district exceeds 42 degrees, the educational institutions in those districts will be closed.

Separately, the High Court on Monday ordered countrywide shutdown of primary and secondary schools until Thursday due to extreme heat.

The order came after a lawyer alerted the court about reports of deaths and illnesses, including those of teachers and students, in the past few days.

Scientists have said climate change is contributing to more frequent, severe, and lengthy heatwaves during summer months.

This month, Bangladesh has recorded extreme temperatures every day except April 9 and 10. Authorities have encouraged citizens to stay indoors during the day.

But for those who work outdoors, like rickshaw driver Mohammed Shameem, there is not much respite.

"There are not many people who are coming out which means getting passengers is tough. But we have no option but to come out and work," Shameem said.

Like Shameem, tens of thousands of rickshaw operators in Dhaka are suffering in the scorching sun, waiting for customers while most people choose to stay inside.

"I have never experienced such heat in my life. Yes, summer should be hot, but there would have been gusts of wind and rain. But it’s not happening this time. People are suffering a lot," said rickshaw operator Shaheb Ali.
‘Husband eaters’: the double loss of Bangladesh’s ostracised tiger widows (The Guardian)
The Guardian [4/30/2024 12:00 AM, Thaslima Begum, 12.5M, Negative]
Nobody saw exactly what happened in the minutes leading up to Aziz Murad’s death. But when his friends got back to the boat where they had left him, they found only his severed hand in the fishing net he was untying.

“We were only gone for about five minutes,” says Abu Sufyan, who was first to reach the boat. “When we got back, he was gone and there was blood everywhere.”

Conflict between people and wildlife is intensifying across the planet as habitat loss, growing populations and the climate crisis fuel competition for fertile, habitable land. In the Sundarbans, on the southern coast of Bangladesh, an estimated 300 people and 46 tigers have been killed in human-tiger conflict since 2000.

Bangladesh’s Sundarbans is the world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest. The Unesco world heritage site – a maze of islands, winding creeks and mudflats – is home to a huge variety of plants and animals. It is also a sanctuary for some of the world’s most endangered species, including the largest single population of Bengal tigers.

Over the next few decades, researchers predict that climate change and rising sea levels mean no suitable tiger habitat will be left in the Sundarbans by 2070. According to Bangladesh’s last census, 114 tigers are estimated to remain; down from 440 in 2004. The results of the latest census are expected in July.

But it is not only tigers that face an existential threat. More than 3.5 million people live on the edge of the Sundarbans, eking out an existence by fishing, collecting honey or wood, and subsistence farming. More than 40% of households are below the poverty line, but the climate emergency has made life here even harder.

As sea levels rise, islands disappear and increasing water salinity threatens the health of mangrove forests and the quality of soil and crops. Disruptions to fish populations also create disastrous consequences for communities.

As a result, desperate villagers are often left with little choice but to venture deeper into the forest, making them more vulnerable to tiger attacks. The intensive exploitation of the forest is also forcing tigers to leave the forest in search of food, targeting livestock and humans.

The Bangladesh government is constructing a 40-mile fence to keep tigers and people out of each other’s territories and has set up 49 tiger-response teams in an effort to lessen the conflict.

These groups of villagers are trained to scare tigers back into the forest, monitor local human-tiger conflicts and stop other local people killing tigers. The teams, with Bangladesh’s Forest Department, might release dozens of tigers back into the forest over a year, preventing harm to both animals and people.

But they could not save Aziz Murad. On a cool spring morning in Koyra, a coastal sub-district of Khulna, Murad’s widow, Shuna Banu, 43, sits in the shade of a banana tree and recounts how her life changed that fateful day.

“I remember receiving the phone call,” she says. “Though tiger attacks are common in this area, nothing prepared me for what would come next.”

The attack in 2020 did not just leave Banu without a husband; it turned her into an outcast overnight. In a superstitious society where being a “tiger widow” carries its own stigma, she was considered cursed and ultimately blamed for her husband’s death.

Banu joined hundreds of other women living in the Sundarbans region referred to as swami khejos – “husband eaters”.

“You won’t find a family here that hasn’t been affected,” says Maksudur Rahman, chief executive of the Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (Beds). “Villagers live in constant fear of death. In almost every neighbourhood, there are women whose husbands were killed by tigers.”

Banu’s in-laws decided she could no longer stay with them in case she brought bad luck, so she moved back in with her parents. In a rural area that relies on agriculture and fishing, she says tiger widows like her are prevented from undertaking traditional occupations.

“Not only did I lose my husband, I lost my right to a dignified life,” she says. Confined to her parents’ small mud hut and unable to work, Banu fell further into poverty.

A few doors away lives Reshma Khatun, 38, whose husband was killed in a tiger attack four years ago. Abdul Gazi had been collecting honey from the Sundarbans for more than a decade. One evening, as he was getting ready to cook at a camp in the forest, a tiger pounced on him.

Since his death, Khatun has struggled to provide for their two boys. Tiger widows are meant to receive government compensation of 300,000 taka (£2,190) but in reality it is difficult to make a claim and the amount is not sufficient for families who have lost their sole breadwinner. Women widowed before the policy came into effect in 2011 are also ineligible.

Across the Kholpetua River, in an old rickety house on the edge of the forest, lives 60-year-old Jamiroon Bibi. Her husband was killed by a tiger during a fishing trip nearly two decades ago. In that time, she has watched countless other women become pariahs after losing their husbands to tiger attacks.

“People around here have always been superstitious. But why should we have to suffer because of some age-old folklore that makes witches out of widows – and pits us against one another?” she asks.

The aim of Beds is to create employment opportunities for vulnerable communities living around the Sundarbans, including tiger widows, while at the same time protecting the environment. “Our mission has always been to promote ecological balance and create harmony between humans and their environment,” says Rahman.

“Nature has always provided for those who have little,” he adds. “But the people here have nothing – so they over-harvest what they can, putting pressure on the entire ecosystem.”

To reduce dependence on forest resources, the non-profit organisation has helped set up two cooperatives employing local women, including tiger widows, who are taught how to harvest honey and plants responsibly to produce sustainable non-timber forest products, including juice, mango pickle and traditional handicrafts.

The women gather raw materials from communal areas rather than the forest and are involved in the entire process, from collection and processing to packaging and labelling.

“We also help them to market and sell the products at a fairer price,” says Rahman. The women earn about 25,000 taka a month, with the initiative helping more than 300 households so far.

Many tiger widows are now earning a living and regularly visit one another, sharing meals and taking turns to look after the children when one of them has to work.

“Society will always find ways to blame women,” says Bibi, looking out into the vastness of the Sundarbans beyond her small veranda. “Life here is difficult enough, we don’t need to burden ourselves any further.”
BNP Boycotts Elections in Bangladesh Again (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [4/29/2024 5:03 AM, Mubashar Hasan, 201K, Neutral]
Following the controversial elections to parliament in January, Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) is set to organize elections to upazila parishads (subdistrict, local bodies) in multiple phases from May 8.

The “local government elections are completely open. Anyone can participate,” the ruling Awami League’s General Secretary Obaidul Quader claimed. However, Bangladesh’s opposition parties are not convinced by the AL leader’s assurance. They do not believe the EC can organize free and fair elections under the current government in Bangladesh. Many are boycotting the election.

These include the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which had also boycotted the January general election. The BNP announced that it is boycotting the “farcical election” to the upazila parishads and will not contest an election under a “subservient” EC.

In addition to the BNP and other parties, the Bangladesh Communist Party, which was formerly allied with the AL, as well as the rightwing Islami Andolan Bangladesh are staying away from the election as they too expect that it will not be free and fair.

Upazilas are sub-units of districts and form the second tier of government administration after the districts. There are currently 495 upazilas in Bangladesh. Upazila parishad officials are responsible for organizing, implementing, and coordinating the government’s development initiatives, delegating public services to the people, as well as resolving social and environmental issues.

Traditionally, participation in upazila elections provided Bangladeshi political parties with opportunities to build grassroots leadership, expand public engagement at local levels, and assert influence into the lower tiers of the government.

The BNP’s decision to boycott the upazila parishad elections would therefore adversely impact the party “for a long time,” the AL’s Quader said.

Explaining the BNP’s decision to boycott the upazila elections, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the BNP’s senior joint secretary, told The Diplomat that “engaging in a prearranged elections is a political offense that only serves to validate an authoritarian political system that has been subverting peoples’ right to vote for over a decade.”

However, the BNP’s boycott of successive elections may be weakening its support at the grassroots level and facilitating the AL’s consolidation of power at all levels. Several BNP grassroots activists have, therefore, called on the party to participate in the upazila elections. At least 73 BNP leaders who decided to participate in the upazila elections have been expelled from the party.

Dismissing criticism of the BNP boycott decision, the BNP’s Information and Technological Affairs Secretary A.K.M. Wahinduzzaman told The Diplomat that it is a calculated move by the party aimed at undercutting the authority of the current authoritarian regime, its “claim to represent the will of the people and deny it the appearance of legitimacy that comes with its practice of rigging elections.”

By boycotting these elections, BNP hopes to mobilize public support for institutional change and democratic reform, while undermining the legitimacy of the current authoritarian government, Wahiduzzmaan said.

Going forward, the BNP’s election boycott will have immediate and longer-term impacts on the country. First, the BNP’s decision to boycott the local government elections is part of its plans to organize a larger political and cultural movement against the AL’s political repression and authoritarianism. It has taken an ambiguous position on the ongoing “Boycott Indian Products” campaign in Bangladesh, spearheaded by Bangladesh’s most influential political YouTuber Pinaki Bhattacharya in criticism of India’s unconditional support to the AL. Officially the BNP does not support the campaign to boycott Indian products in Bangladesh but unofficially, it does not mind if its activists participate in the campaign, which is slowly gathering steam across the country.

Second, the BNP’s boycott of the upazila parishad elections could worsen infighting among AL candidates. The party is already mired in factionalism at the grassroots level. The BNP’s participation in the upazila elections would have provided the AL with a common enemy and forced its factions to close ranks against it. To quell the infighting, the AL is considering not allocating the party symbol to any of the candidates in the upcoming local elections.

The strategy of boycotting elections is not exclusive to Bangladesh. Opposition parties in Zimbabwe and Venezuela too boycotted elections in protest of vote rigging and the absence of a level playing field that would ensure fair political competition.

However, in Pakistan, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf contested the general elections in February and showed that participation in elections could serve to push back against the absolute consolidation of power by the military and its political allies and proteges. Nevertheless, each political context is different.

The success or otherwise of the BNP’s strategy to boycott elections will become apparent only over time. For now, it is evident that apart from the AL most parties in Bangladesh are convinced that they have little to gain from playing in a field that favors only the ruling party.
Maldives expected to accelerate shift from India to China following parliamentary polls (VOA)
VOA [4/30/2024 3:40 AM, Anjana Pasricha, 761K, Neutral]
The sweeping victory of Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s People’s National Congress in recent parliamentary elections is seen as a strong endorsement of his policy since he took office six months ago to pursue close ties with China and reduce the archipelago’s dependence on neighboring India.

Having won three-quarters of the seats including allies, that policy could be fast-tracked, setting back India’s efforts to limit China’s influence in the Indian Ocean region, according to analysts in New Delhi. The April 21 elections handed more than 70 seats to Muizzu’s party and its allies in the 93-member assembly.

“There will be certainly some worry in India that now there is one-party rule in the Maldives, there will be momentum to President Muizzu’s policies in favor of China and tilted against India,” said Harsh Pant, director of studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Muizzu is expected to strengthen strategic ties with Beijing and press ahead with Chinese-funded infrastructure projects that had been blocked by the outgoing opposition-controlled parliament.

His party has promised an infrastructure boom, including apartments, bridges and a new airport.

"We will bid farewell to the enduring anguish of housing insecurity, a pressing and longstanding concern burdening the Maldivian populace," his office said last week after the election results were announced. The push for infrastructure projects comes even as the International Monetary Fund has warned that the Maldives faces a high risk of debt distress.

China established its footprint in the Maldives a decade ago under a pro-Beijing administration that had joined Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. But its influence diminished under Muizzu’s predecessor, former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who had flagged concerns about Maldives’ huge debt to China and built strong ties with India.

The ground for strengthening ties with Beijing was set by the Maldivian president during a visit to China in January – he made his first official overseas visit to China instead of making New Delhi as had been customary. Both China and Maldives agreed to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership."

Following last week’s landslide parliamentary victory by Muizzu’s party, Beijing’s foreign ministry said it is ready to strengthen cooperation with Maldives.

Small countries like Maldives and Sri Lanka, sitting along vital shipping routes for trade in the Indian Ocean are the new focus of a geopolitical tussle between Asian rivals China and India.

India had been the primary defense partner for Maldives that lies close to its southern tip, but analysts say the strong parliamentary victory has given its new leader the mandate to strengthen strategic ties with Beijing. The two countries signed a military assistance agreement last month, which according to the Maldivian Defense Ministry would be given for free.

After its signing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning said that “normal cooperation between China and the Maldives does not target any third party and will not be disrupted by any third party.”

The view in New Delhi is different. “China will want to use Maldives as a springboard or a launchpad to have more eyes and ears in the region, to maintain pressure on India and deter its ability to be the dominant player in the Indian Ocean,” according to Sreeram Chaulia, dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs.

Strategic ties that India built under Muizzu’s predecessor have already taken a hit as the Maldivian leader vows to boost the country’s own defenses. The last of about 90 Indian troops in the archipelago who crewed helicopters and assisted in humanitarian evacuations are due to leave the country by May 10 – most have already returned to India after the Maldivian president said he would not allow Indian soldiers in the country.

“Dislodging India and bringing in China as a defense partner is certainly something which one will have to observe,” said Pant. “While the expectation was that he would balance ties between India and China, now they appear to be going one-way. So step-by-step engagement, defense diplomacy, then buying some limited defense equipment from China might be the first few steps that we might see.”

Analysts also expect Chinese naval presence in the Maldives is likely to increase. A Chinese survey ship, Xiang Yang Hong 3, docked in Maldivian waters in February raising concerns in India. According to local media reports in the Maldives, the ship has now come to the country for a second visit.

China says the ships enhance scientific understanding of the ocean. But India fears that such vessels could collect data of military value.

“Number of visits of Chinese naval vessels will go up, that is for sure. Joint exercises could also happen,” according to Sankalp Gurjar, assistant professor in geopolitics and international relations at India’s Manipal Academy of Higher Education.

However analysts say Muizzu, who had campaigned on an “India-Out” platform, could also moderate his anti-India stand as the tiny archipelago of half a million relies on its giant neighbor for several essentials such as food and healthcare. Earlier this month, New Delhi allowed limited exports of commodities, such as sugar, wheat, rice, and onions, to the Maldives, despite having placed curbs on their exports to control prices in the domestic market.

“They need economic assistance from many players. India is continuing to commit economic aid, foreign assistance, development partnership work and that is one means by which we will try to maintain leverage,” said Chaulia.

Analysts say New Delhi has taken a cautious stand as diplomatic ties fray and will adopt a “wait and watch” policy.
Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzu Consolidates Control (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [4/29/2024 5:56 AM, Umang Bhansali, 201K, Neutral]
Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) secured a landslide victory in the Indian Ocean archipelago’s fourth multiparty parliamentary elections on April 21. The party won 66 seats on its own, and with six independents aligning with it, the PNC government’s tally in the 93-member Maldivian parliament has risen to 72 seats. As for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which had swept to power in the 2018 presidential elections and the 2019 parliamentary elections, it won only 12 seats in the recent election. The People’s National Front (PNF) and The Democrats, which were floated by former Presidents Abdullah Yameen and Mohammad Nasheed, drew a blank.

As a candidate of the People’s National Congress-Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) coalition, Muizzu secured 54.04 percent of the vote in last year’s presidential election to become the Maldives’ eighth president. With his party, the PNC, now holding a supermajority in parliament, Muizzu has consolidated his position. Moreover, there is a measure of stability in the Maldives now.

Over the past year, the Maldives has grappled with political infighting and instability. Parties have split and/or joined hands with rivals. The then-ruling MDP split a few months before the 2023 presidential elections. The breakaway group under Nasheed went on to form The Democrats. This had a significant impact on the outcome of the September 30 presidential election—the MDP’s presidential candidate President Ibrahim Solih was defeated. This split also impacted the recent parliamentary elections.

Although the PPM and PNC joined hands to contest the presidential elections, relations soured soon after. Yameen, who was in prison then had expected to be acquitted of the corruption and money laundering charges once Muizzu became president. But that did not happen. President Muizzu reportedly didn’t respond to even a single phone call from Yameen after winning the presidential elections. It led to Yameen leaving the PPM a week after Muizzu assumed office as president to form a new party, the PNF.

Since becoming president, Muizzu has come under intense opposition scrutiny. Indeed, the parliamentary elections were conducted amid corruption allegations leveled against Muizzu. These charges were based on a leaked intelligence report prepared by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Maldives Monetary Authority, claiming irregularities in money transfers to Muizzu’s personal bank account that highlighted ten critical red flag indicators of financial misconduct.

In January, clashes broke out inside parliament between PNC and opposition parliamentarians over the latter’s refusal to approve Muizzu’s appointments to cabinet posts. The MDP, along with The Democrats, then considered impeaching President Muizzu. Their plan, however, ran aground. Wresting control of parliament from the MDP was therefore important for Muizzu.

By winning the 2024 parliamentary elections Muizzu has been able to end the tussle between the legislative and executive arms of the island nation. Attaining a supermajority has further bolstered his political capital as he aims to deliver fast-tracked developmental policies and continue his ‘Maldives First’ policy.

The MDP and The Democrats have been unhappy with the government’s regulation of state-owned enterprises, political favoritism in appointments, the pro-China and anti-India tilt in foreign policy, and its opaqueness on expenditure, financial status, and agreements with countries. But their weakened position has muted their opposition to Muizzu’s policies.

Muizzu won the 2023 presidential elections primarily on the back of an ‘India Out’ and ‘Maldives First’ campaign agenda. Soon after becoming president, he put this into effect. He abandoned the tradition of making India the destination of his first official international visit and instead, chose to visit Turkey and later China. This indicated a diversification in Maldivian foreign policy under Muizzu and a possible drift away from India.

With India completing the withdrawal of its troops deployed in the archipelago, Muizzu was able to show that he had fulfilled his campaign promise to end all foreign military presence on Maldivian soil The Maldivian President stressed the need for India to respect Maldivian sovereignty to get it to pull out its personnel. However, the role played by India in the Maldives cannot be overlooked. In the last five years, more than 500 medical evacuations have been carried out by Indian personnel, saving 523 Maldivian lives.

Meanwhile, India-Maldives relations have frayed further in recent months with three Maldivian ministers making derogatory remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It prompted Indian citizens to avoid visiting the Maldives as tourists. Although the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators apologized for the ministers’ remarks and the government took action against the ministers, Indian tourist footfalls in the Maldives have not picked up since the controversy erupted.

India-Maldives cooperation is important for India’s efforts to maintain regional security and the safety of sea lanes of communications (SLOCs) in the Indian Ocean. Additionally, Maldives holds a key position in India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and Neighborhood First policies.

India has been extending substantial financial aid to the Maldives. In FY 2023, India allocated $47 million in its budget as financial aid to the Maldives. The revised estimates indicate that around $84 million was spent. The interim budget for FY 2024 estimates a budget of around $72 million for developmental assistance, which is to be extended through High Impact Community Development Projects.

Despite such efforts, India-Maldives bilateral relations have continued to sour since Muizzu took charge. Maldives did not send representation to the 6th National Security Advisor (NSA)-level meeting at the Colombo Security Conclave hosted by Mauritius, on December 7, 2023. The Colombo Security Conclave engages India, Maldives, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, primarily focusing on security issues within the Indian Ocean Region.

However, Maldivian Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef attended the 2nd China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation on December 7-8, 2023. CIORFDC is an initiative organized by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).

Further, during President Muizzu’s official state visit to China in January, 20 key agreements were signed. The two governments signed a military assistance agreement subsequently. While its contents were not disclosed, the agreement seeks to provide military assistance ‘gratis’ to the Maldives.

More recently, the Muizzu government welcomed the Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 which India deems to be a surveillance ship, to its shores. China has also extended financial aid, developmental assistance and other infrastructural investments to the Maldives.

With the PNC winning the parliamentary elections and holding a supermajority in parliament, President Muizzu’s position has strengthened remarkably. Regarding foreign policy, the Maldives’ tilt toward China in recent months can be expected to become more pronounced. The India-Maldives relationship will become more of a partnership, meaning the relationship will be more consensual than in the past and non-coercive in its approach.
Will the Uma Oya Multipurpose Project Impress Sri Lankan Voters? (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [4/29/2024 3:38 AM, Rathindra Kuruwita, 201K, Neutral]
On April 24 Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his visiting Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP). Executed by Iran’s Farab Energy and Water Projects, the $514-million project was primarily financed by the Sri Lankan government.

The Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project will water approximately 4,500 hectares of new land and 1,500 hectares of existing agricultural land in the Moneragala District, according to the President’s Media Division. Moreover, the districts of Badulla, Moneragala, and Hambantota, which are among Sri Lanka’s poorest, will benefit from 39 million cubic meters of water for drinking and industrial purposes. Additionally, the project will contribute 290 GWh of electrical energy annually to the National Grid. These areas heavily rely on agriculture as the primary source of livelihood for most of their residents.

The Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project sets a precedent for collaboration among nations of the global south, President Wickremesinghe said at the joint press conference in Colombo. He described the project as a testament to the enduring partnership between Iran and Sri Lanka in energy generation, irrigation, and water management.

Meanwhile, President Raisi highlighted the strides in technology that Iran has made, despite harsh sanctions over the last 30 years, and said Iran was ready to export its “technical and engineering services to Sri Lanka.”

Large-scale infrastructure projects have long served as political trump cards for governments across South Asia, where leaders often leverage such projects to trumpet their achievements to secure electoral victories. However, the success of such endeavors has become increasingly uncertain amidst a changing political landscape.

Nowhere is this uncertainty more palpable than in Sri Lanka, where the inauguration of the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project stands as a stark example of the potential pitfalls facing governments banking on infrastructure projects for political mileage.

The inauguration of the Uma Oya project presents both the Iranian and Sri Lankan governments with strategic PR opportunities. For Iran, amidst escalating tensions with Israel, this inauguration serves as a platform to demonstrate its regional alliances, particularly in Asia. Sri Lanka’s decision to proceed with the visit despite unofficial objections from U.S. diplomats signals that the Iranians are not isolated.

As for Sri Lanka, presidential elections are nearing and the Wickremesinghe administration is facing formidable challenges from the National People’s Power (NPP), which is leading opinion polls. Unveiling significant infrastructure projects tends to generate favorable publicity, a tactic frequently employed by Sri Lankan governments as elections draw near. Some of the government politicians had attempted to use the “success” of the project to tarnish the reputation of the NPP which had objected to the project due to environmental concerns.

However, the public reaction from Sri Lankans has been lukewarm. Most people see the publicity surrounding the event as an election gimmick and the negative environmental and social impact of the project has been massive.

The Uma Oya project was a part of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration’s infrastructure project drive and its dream of converting Hambantota, the hometown of the Rajapaksas, into a modern metropolis and hub of industry and logistics.

The groundwork for the project was laid in 2008, when the Sri Lankan cabinet approved on February 20, 2008, a memorandum presented by the Minister of Irrigation.

Critics of the project point out that while the project cost was estimated at $250 million, the contract awarded to the Iranian Company was pegged at over $529 million. Initially, the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) was to provide $450 million and the balance of $79 million was to be paid by the Sri Lankans.

The 2010 annual report of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance and Planning stated that the project would involve the construction of two reservoirs on the tributaries of the Uma Oya River and a 23-km tunnel to divert water to an underground powerhouse of 120MW further downstream. The water accumulated in these reservoirs would be diverted into the Southern Province, where Hambantota is. Work on the project had already commenced, the report said, and would be completed by 2014.

Among the projects that were to be supplied water were the Mattala Airport, Hambantota Port, Hambantota Industrial Zone, and Hambantota Oil Refinery—projects that were to turn Hambantota from a sleepy second-tier town into Sri Lanka’s hub of trade and manufacturing. It is worthwhile noting that out of all these projects, only the Hambantota Port remains a successful endeavor, mainly due to the heavy lifting by China Merchants Port Holdings.

From its inception, environmentalists said that geographical and geological features were not conducive to extensive tunneling in the area. They warned that previous governments had considered and dropped the project due to potential disastrous environmental consequences.

Environmentalist Sajeewa Chamikara from the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) told The Diplomat that the idea of an irrigation and electricity generation project utilizing Uma Oya was initially explored back in 1987. The German consulting firm LAHAMAYOR conducted the first feasibility study. Subsequently, in 1991, the Central Engineering Consulting Bureau conducted another feasibility study and presented it to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). However, the ADB rejected the proposal, citing a failure to adhere to accepted international norms. Between 2002 and 2003, a Canadian consulting firm, SNC-LAVALIN, also conducted a feasibility study to assess the potential for a multipurpose development project centered around Uma Oya. These studies primarily focused on the feasibility of constructing two reservoirs in Puhulpola and Dayaraba. When this proposal was submitted to the ADB, it was once again rejected due to various technical issues, including concerns regarding the transfer of water between different basins.

Chamikara said that Iran, on the other hand, held the belief that providing financial resources and technical support would lead the Sri Lankan government to prioritize the welfare of its citizens. The project hit a snag in 2013 after Iran was sanctioned and was unable to continue funding the operation. While the Iranian company continued to be the project implementor, the Sri Lankan government coughed up the funding to continue the project.

The tunneling took place in areas with metamorphic rocks, which are more resistant to deformation and weathering than sedimentary rocks. And then, the worst fears of the environmentalists came true.

In December 2014, a leak occurred in the tunnel being constructed as a part of the project after the tunneling destabilized the ground, leading to cracks appearing on the surface, which in turn caused cracks to appear on the buildings in these areas. Moreover, as groundwater seeps deeper due to the destabilization, the surface water is lowered, depriving water for agriculture and general consumption.

According to Chamikara, thousands of families were affected and even now the problems faced by 17,000 families have not been solved. Once farmers, these affected people now eke out a living as day laborers and travel long distances each week in search of drinking water.

The calamities faced by tens of thousands of people can no longer be hidden due to the prevalence of social media, which has ensured that mainstream media no longer control the narrative. On Facebook and TikTok, which has become increasingly popular among Sri Lankans, social media users have been vitriolic about government politicians calling the project a success.

In South Asia, parties and politicians in power use large-scale infrastructure projects to draw mileage. However, examples from Sri Lanka show that this does not always work especially if the party in power is losing popularity.

Inaugurating the Norochcholai power plant and providing a significant electricity tariff reduction in 2014, did not stop Mahinda Rajapaksa from losing in 2015. In 2019, leaders of the then government declared open several sections of highways, but this did not stop the landslide victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

It is likely that the inauguration of the Uma Oya project too will not impress those about who to vote for in elections a few months down the line.
Central Asia
Booming Trade, ‘Expansion’ Rumors On Kazakhstan’s Chinese Border (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/29/2024 12:17 PM, Petr Trotsenko, 223K, Neutral]
"You and I are not just driving along any road, we are driving along the great Silk Road," Ertugan, the driver who is taking me east toward the border with China, says with pride. But today instead of camel caravans carrying silk and spices, the route rumbles with trucks hauling sneakers and bed linen.

As we near Zharkent, a city in Kazakhstan’s southeastern Zhetysu region, we approach a car transporter that has been burned to a husk along with the Chinese electric vehicles it was hauling to market. According to Ertugan the fire was sparked either by a short circuit or a carelessly thrown cigarette. The driver was able to offload some cars as the blaze spread, but most of the electric vehicles were destroyed.

In Zharkent, I find the topic of Chinese cars to be a sensitive one for locals. Some are convinced that China, after flooding the local market with affordable cars, will use this to get a foothold inside Kazakhstan.

"They are moving slowly, but bit by bit they are taking over," Asylbek, a local man aged around 50, claimed. "Now they’re bringing in a lot of their equipment: cars, electric cars, trucks. Do you know that if a Chinese car breaks down, they can’t fix it here? If the engine dies, you won’t be able to start it again, because in Kazakhstan we have neither the parts nor the specialists for repairs."

Asylbek used to drive cars from China to Kazakhstan, but when the border was closed during the pandemic he switched to raising cattle.

Once the market is saturated with Chinese vehicles, Asylbek said, "then they will open companies in the big cities to supply spare parts for Chinese cars. They will send their own workers to Kazakhstan to repair those cars. And that’s it, the Chinese have already infiltrated. Little by little, you’ll see a lot of Chinese here."

The same thing, Asylbek is convinced, is happening in the industrial sector. "The Chinese are building factories and installing their equipment there which Kazakh specialists are unable to operate. Following the equipment, engineers come from China, and local residents, at best, get jobs in factories as truck drivers or laborers."

Chinese car brands are dominating sales lists in Kazakhstan. In 2023 seven of the 10 bestselling car brands in Kazakhstan were Chinese. Industry experts predict a further strengthening of Chinese car sales in the central Asian country in 2024.

Zharkent is home to more than 40,000 people, but it hardly feels like a city at all. Old vehicles bounce down rough roads, and on the outskirts cows and horses nibble on meager grass.

Most of the city’s population are ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghur Muslims. People I speak to avoid the topic of China’s infamous "re-education camps" across the border in China’s western Xinjiang Province. Every time I attempt to enquire about the anti-Muslim repressions from Beijing locals either swiftly change the topic or refuse point blank to talk further.

Surrounding Zharkent lies swathes of agricultural land where corn is grown. A factory renders the crop into corn starch, syrup, and animal feed.

The city’s main attraction is a wooden mosque built at the end of the 19th century by a Chinese architect who was commissioned by a local merchant. The landmark’s distinctive curled eaves remind visitors of Zharkent’s proximity to China.

Inside, workers tell me that they receive the occasional Western tourist but most are either Chinese on package tours through Central Asia or Kazakhs on their way to Khorgos, some 30 kilometers east of Zharkent.

In 2005, Kazakhstan and China set up a duty-free trade zone on the border at Khorgos. On the Chinese side, an entire city has sprung up since then with paved roads and shopping centers with boutiques selling clothes, shoes, household appliances, and textiles.

On the Kazakh side there is little to show for the nearly two decades of free trading. Several shops hold a meager selection of products, including sweets and honey, but this is not a surprise. Fancy shops are not a requirement for Kazakhstan’s most valuable sales to China -- largely oil, gas, and precious metals.

Last year, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China reached a record high of $31.5 billion. The figure is up sharply from $24 billion in 2022 and $18 billion in 2021. Many believe that spike in trade is a result of Western sanctions against Russia being subverted by countries friendly -- or at least willing to trade -- with Moscow. Kazakh authorities deny they are helping the Kremlin circumvent sanctions and call the booming trade with China "a long-term driver of sustainable progress."

Beijing has poured billions of dollars into its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to increase Chinese influence through a host of infrastructure projects in Eurasia and beyond. Kazakhstan serves as a buckle in this belt largely due to its transport infrastructure. A railroad network makes it possible to deliver goods from China to Europe in just two weeks. In 2015, the Khorgos "dry port" was opened on the border with China, where cargo is processed and stored.

I had read the statistics, but I wanted to see Khorgos to find out how this large-scale international cooperation affects the lives of ordinary people.

Every morning Kuanysh starts up his old Volkswagen Golf and heads to the Zharkent bus station to join the other taxi drivers who transport people to the border with China. He once worked as a mechanic repairing heavy trucks. He hopes his taxi job is temporary and he can soon do something more stable. "You save every penny then the car breaks down and you have to spend everything on repairs," he complains.

On the road toward the border we pick up two passengers, Asemgul and Gulzhan. They’re headed to Khorgos to earn some extra money exploiting a legal loophole of the border.

Kazakhstan nationals are permitted to export up to 31 kilograms of goods each month duty-free from Khorgos. But traders will pay people like Asemgul and Gulzhan to register the goods under their name as a way to skirt the restriction.

As we pass villages and neatly maintained Soviet-era bus stops, the women share with me the ins and outs of trading on the border.

"The Chinese don’t speak Kazakh or Russian, so they hire one of our traders to handle the goods," Asemgul tells me.

But those non-Chinese traders then mark up the price by some 50 percent once it’s in their hands.

"If I see something I like in Khorgos, I first ask the price. If the seller speaks Russian, Kazakh, or Uyghur, I move on; I know that it will be marked up," Asemgul says.

"But if a Chinese man has to show me the price on a piece of paper then you know you’ll be able to get a good deal," she tells me as we drive. "Even if he says 1,000 tenge ($2.30), you can bargain down to 700 or even 500."

The shops are similar to any cheap city market. Shoes, clothes, and bed linen feature prominently. Some people come for fur coats, car parts, and tires. There is plenty of choice, but finding quality products is probably a lengthy process.

At the entrance to shopping centers people stand calling for intermediaries who can register their goods they hope to transport out of China. My travel companions Gulzhan and Asemgul immediately approach one of the men, negotiate a fee, and head to a building where boxes with other people’s purchases are packed up waiting for transport.

As I browse one stand selling children’s clothing, a Chinese saleswoman calls out in good Russian, "Mister come in, get what you need!"

The saleswoman tells me she has never made the short journey to Kazakhstan. "We’re not tourists, we’re traders," she says with a smile.

Other than the Russian-speaking saleswoman, it’s almost impossible to strike up a conversation here. Some merchants glance darkly at my camera. Eventually I stuff my camera into my backpack to avoid unnecessary attention.

One woman aged around 30 does speak. It turns out she lives over the border in Zharkent and commutes here to work. Skills of a successful seller, she says, are to be adept with numbers and have the charm of a seller. Language ability is also key. She won’t tell me her salary, which is based partly on commission, saying only that it’s "enough to live on."

On the border from China into Kazakhstan, trucks loaded with goods enter Kazakhstan in a constant flow, and on the railway trains snake up to the border in long queues. There are untold millions of dollars worth of goods entering each day from China, yet ordinary people, the taxi drivers and middlemen I have encountered, appear to get only pennies.

China has recently become Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, displacing Russia, and Beijing and Astana have big plans for the further development of Khorgos. Whether that development of trade will impact the lives of residents of Kazakhstan’s border region here is a separate question. I asked economist Rasul Rysmambetov.

"Khorgos is a center of cross-border cooperation for the whole of Kazakhstan. It was not originally conceived in such a way as to develop the border area," the expert explains.

In March of this year, it was reported that the special economic zone shared by China and Kazakhstan may soon boast a major passenger and cargo airport. The new facility is planned to be operational by 2027.

"The disadvantage of border trade zones, including Khorgos, is that they tend to be created with the minimal participation of private initiative and with maximum participation from the state budget," Rysmambetov says. In general, the role of the state in trade centers of cross-border cooperation should be minimal, because not all private traders want to be partners with the state."

But he says, there is some potential that the cross-border trading may revive Kazakhstan’s impoverished border areas. "Khorgos is located in an agricultural area, and if we were to come to an agreement with the Chinese on the export of agricultural goods, it’s possible that local residents will be more actively involved in the economic relations between the two countries."

With my reporting trip completed I head west toward Almaty. After three hours on the road we enter the outskirts of the city, which begins with markets selling the same Chinese consumer goods I had seen back in the markets of Khorgos.
Tens Of Thousands In Kazakhstan Return Home As Flooding Recedes (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/29/2024 10:34 AM, Staff, 223K, Negative]
Kazakhstan’s Emergencies Ministry said on April 29 that among those forced to flee the recent unprecedented flooding in the north, 38,521 people had returned home. About 120,000 people, including 44,000 children, had been evacuated from areas affected by the floods, which were caused by abrupt warm weather that led to a massive snowmelt. According to a ministry statement, some of the rescue teams and military personnel deployed to help flood-affected regions had started leaving as water levels begin to recede.
Sino-Kyrgyz Relations: A (Very) One-sided Relationship (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [4/29/2024 9:25 AM, Wilder Alejandro and Marin Ekstrom, 201K, Neutral]
Neighboring countries should ideally interact as equals, yet this is rarely true in global geopolitics. China and Kyrgyzstan are a case in point. The relationship between the two countries is heavily skewed in favor of Beijing, as Bishkek is deeply indebted to its neighbor and depends on it for future economic growth and development via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Debt will continue to be the Sword of Damocles hanging above Bishkek for the foreseeable future. The country’s accumulated debt is estimated to be $6.2 billion, including approximately $1.7 billion owed to China’s Export and Import Bank. According to Voice of America, the loans have been used for “infrastructure projects as part of Beijing’s global BRI,” including modernizing Bishkek’s central heating station, reconstructing the North-South highway, and renovating the country’s electrical grid.

According to media reports, Beijing has refused to renegotiate the debt or accept alternative methods of payment offered by Bishkek. There is societal concern about “what China will do if Kyrgyzstan fails to repay its debt,” as Voice of America phrased it. In addition to China potentially seizing major Kyrgyz assets as collateral, another potential scenario involves a new wave of anti-Chinese protests. Protests against Chinese investment and influence in Kyrgyzstan occurred in 2019 and 2020, including alleged calls to ban Kyrgyz-Chinese marriages.

On the one hand, China and the BRI have aided Kyrgyzstan in opening up to global trade. As a developing country in the heart of Eurasia, Kyrgyzstan has limited development and partnership options. When China formally launched the BRI in 2013, Kyrgyzstan swiftly joined the mega project to secure investment and infrastructure to break out of its geographical isolation and economic stagnation. In certain respects, the Kyrgyz partnership with the BRI has led to positive outcomes: BRI projects have improved domestic and international transit and have contributed to increased foreign trade. Infrastructure projects have also provided jobs to Kyrgyz citizens.

On the other hand, debt and dependency on Chinese loans are alarming. Beijing’s tendency toward exploiting other countries and pumping them out of resources does not help improve China’s image. It is debatable whether the BRI has become a project that is, as Lee YingHui wrote in The Diplomat in 2017, “too big to fail.” Nevertheless, even if the BRI falls short of expectations, small infrastructure upgrades to the Kyrgyz arteries of BRI trade corridors could still lead to China’s dominance of the country in political and economic terms, as well as to an increase in the flow of Chinese labor migration at the expense of the Kyrgyz workforce.

Despite societal opposition toward China and the BRI, Bishkek will continue to rely on Beijing for investment and trade in the foreseeable future. China has become the indispensable trade partner for Kyrgyzstan. In 2023, China was Kyrgyzstan’s top trade partner, comprising approximately $5.5 billion, or a 35 percent share of Kyrgyzstan’s annual trade turnover total of $15.7 billion. Furthermore, China is integrating itself into Kyrgyz affairs through transport and logistics projects.

This past January, the Chinese news agency China.org.cn reported that a third checkpoint between China and Kyrgyzstan, the Bedel Pass, will be opened later this year. The location of the pass is strategic, as it is some 70 km from Wushi County and Aksu County in Xinjiang, some 80 km from Karakol in Kyrgyzstan, and only 350 km from Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty. Construction of the pass includes “border crossing infrastructure and the creation of smart checkpoints” to speed up customs clearance processes and customs cargo clearance capabilities.

Another notable project is the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway, which could benefit Kyrgyzstan by providing jobs and offering a new option to reach neighboring countries and markets. However, the project will also ensure Bishkek remains indebted to Beijing, as Kyrgyzstan cannot finance the necessary infrastructure independently.

A 2023 report on Kyrgyzstan by the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs acknowledged President Sadyr Japarov’s “desire to attract greater, more diversified foreign direct investment (FDI) and to develop the IT, creative, and green economy sectors to contribute to sustainable economic growth.” However, for all his talk about diversifying the country’s economy and attracting new investors, Japarov has regularly praised his country’s relations with China and has maintained high-level contact with Beijing. On February 28, 2024, the Kyrgyz president attended a ceremony marking the start of construction of a vehicle factory that could produce up to 80,000 vehicles annually. Unsurprisingly, the project is a joint investment with a Chinese partner, Hubei Zhuoyue Group.

The future looks problematic for Kyrgyzstan, and helping it escape the Chinese debt trap will not be easy, particularly since the international community is focused on, and investing in, more visibly pressing global hot spots and conflict zones.

Nevertheless, a few countries have explicitly stated their intentions to develop closer relations with Kyrgyzstan. In the case of Kyrgyzstan-U.S. relations, the historic presidential C5+1 summit in 2023 concluded with the New York Declaration, which acknowledged “increased access to global markets and attracting sustainable international investment to Central Asia.” Moreover, in March 2024, the first-ever B5+1 Business Forum took place in Almaty to promote connectivity between U.S. and Central Asian businesses and entrepreneurs.

Despite these promising initiatives, it will take time and some luck before greater U.S. investment and trade with Kyrgyzstan occurs. Trade between the two nations reached $128.5 million in 2023, which is still very far from the volume of Sino-Kyrgyz trade.

Another contender for enhanced ties with Kyrgyzstan is the United Kingdom. On April 22, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron visited Kyrgyzstan with a straightforward message: “We’re saying we are a new partner that is keen to work with you with common interests, where we can make success together,” he told RFE/RL.

U.S. and U.K. engagement with Kyrgyzstan, though limited in scope, indicates that Bishkek is nevertheless attracting extra-regional attention. However, pulling Kyrgyzstan out of China’s orbit will not be easy – or cheap – and potential partners must be aware of these challenges when seeking to foster closer relations with Kyrgyzstan.
Tajikistan summons Russian ambassador over Moscow’s treatment of Tajiks (Reuters)
Reuters [4/29/2024 9:27 AM, Nazarali Pirnazarov, 5239K, Negative]
Tajikistan’s foreign ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador on Monday to protest over what it described as unfair treatment of its citizens by Moscow, in a rare dispute between post-Soviet allies.

It said it was seriously concerned with frequent cases where Tajik citizens were treated in a deliberately negative way.

The ministry made no mention of Russia’s arrest of several men that Moscow said were from Tajikistan following a deadly attack on a concert hall on the edge of the capital on March 22.

The Tajik ministry said in a separate statement on Sunday almost 1,000 of its citizens trying to enter Russia had been stranded in Moscow’s Vnukovo airport since April 27 "without appropriate sanitary conditions being provided to them".

It said 27 Tajiks have been deported and 306 more have been put on a list of people to be deported from Russia.

"Such restrictive measures are only being taken with regards to citizens of Tajikistan," it said. Tens of Tajiks were also stuck in other Moscow airports, it added.

Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday that Russia has temporarily tightened controls on its border as a measure to prevent terrorism, but was taking steps to resolve long delays on the frontier.

"We especially stress that such steps are of temporary nature and do not take into account the nationality of those arriving (in Russia)," she said.

Tajikistan is a member of a Russian-led security and trade blocs and hosts a Russian military base. Its economy depends heavily on remittances from more than a million Tajik migrant labourers working in Russia.
Secretive Uzbek Network Scrambles To Cover Online Tracks After RFE/RL Exposé (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [4/29/2024 12:07 PM, Carl Schreck, 223K, Neutral]
A shadowy Uzbek firm with ties to the president’s family has scrambled to reanimate its dormant website after a recent RFE/RL investigation revealed it had secured more than $100 million in secretive state gas deals despite having a virtually imperceptible public business footprint.

The RFE/RL exposé published on April 25 found that the company, Ultimo Group Limited, quietly won a 2021 tender to serve as a middleman for at least $36 million in overpriced natural gas for delivery to Uzbekistan’s largest cement factory, which was owned by the state at the time.

The investigation found that Ultimo Group, which was granted the state contract just over a month after it was founded, had multiple ties to a close confidant of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s son-in-law, Otabek Umarov, who serves as his deputy security chief.

The sudden and lucrative emergence of Ultimo Group in the Uzbek gas sector was striking in part because the company was all but unknown to the public and did not have a functioning website.

But shortly after RFE/RL published its investigation, Ultimo Group added a corporate logo and content to its website, primarily stock photographs and several curt, backdated news items going back more than three years.

The date given for the earliest of these newly added news items -- March 11, 2021 -- actually predates the existence of the Ultimo Group website, whose domain was registered nearly a month later, online records show.

Most of the news items added to the website are no longer than a paragraph and closely mirror headlines and articles posted by the Uzbek news site Gazeta.uz.

The website’s newly added claim that Ultimo Group "supplies natural gas to the Republic of Uzbekistan" and that its "business interests cover mainly the regions of Central Asia and South-East Asia" appears to contradict comments by company director Ravshan Mutalov one week before RFE/RL published its investigation.

"We haven’t been operating for more than a year," Mutalov said by telephone when asked about the company he works for in the gas sector. Mutalov declined to name the company or provide further details.

RFE/RL could find no record of commercial activity by Ultimo Group after 2022.

RFE/RL’s investigation also found that Ultimo Group received at least $66 million in wire transfers from Uzbek state gas-transit monopoly, Uztransgaz, under a gas contract whose details remain unclear.

While Mirziyoev has repeatedly made public calls to stamp out graft and cronyism, the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International wrote in its most recent assessment of Uzbekistan that the gas-rich nation, Central Asia’s most populous, "remains an authoritarian state characterized by high levels of corruption, nepotism, and abuse of power."

Mutalov is among several individuals and companies in a cross-border network linked to Ultimo Group and Umarov, including Umarov’s close confidant, Uzbek Judo Federation head Azizjon Kamilov.

This network includes several companies in the United Arab Emirates that have operated under the name Ultimo Group and Rushmore. One of these U.A.E.-based Ultimo Group companies was managed by the British license holder of Umarov’s personal sports-apparel brand, 7Saber.

A key figure in the U.A.E. - based part of this network is an Uzbek associate of Umarov and Kamilov named Doniyor Kadirov.

The new life for Ultimo’s dormant website was not the only notable online change visible following RFE/RL’s investigation.

After it was published, Kadirov temporarily locked his Instagram account. When it became visible to the public again, a photograph showing him together with Umarov and Kamilov had been removed.

Kadirov operates both the U.A.E.-based company Ultimo Group FZCO and several companies operating under the name Rushmore, which all use the same phone number. Following the RFE/RL investigation, that telephone number was removed from their websites.

On April 29, RFE/RL called the two listed contact telephone numbers on the refurbished website of the Tashkent-based Ultimo Group, which did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

Automated messages said the numbers were not in service.
Twitter
Afghanistan
Habib Khan
@HabibKhanT
[4/29/2024 11:28 PM, 226.4K followers, 17 retweets, 51 likes]
Mosque bombing targeting the Hazara/Shia community killed women and children in western Herat province of Afghanistan. This group, characterized by its ethnicity and religion, has faced historical and ongoing systematic targeting and persecution. #StopHazaraGenocide

Heather Barr
@heatherbarr1
[4/29/2024 11:01 AM, 62.5K followers, 32 retweets, 62 likes]
One of many heartbreaking things in this story is its illustration of the link between women’s lost financial autonomy under the Taliban & increased domestic violence. In Roya’s case, it was immediate. If there were any stats on DV now, they’d be shocking. https://rukhshana.com/en/the-unraveling-of-the-life-of-a-policewoman-under-taliban-rule
Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif
@CMShehbaz
[4/29/2024 12:48 PM, 6.7M followers, 126 retweets, 459 likes]
Held a productive meeting with Mr. @BillGates, on sidelines of WEF #SpecialMeeting24 . We reaffirmed our commitment to a polio-free Pakistan and discussed strengthening Pakistan-BMGF partnership on financial inclusion, gender equality and child nutrition. Grateful for Mr. Gates’ appreciation of Punjab’s immunization & polio campaigns during my term as CM. Extended an invitation to Mr. Gates to visit Pakistan.

Shehbaz Sharif
@CMShehbaz
[4/29/2024 3:07 AM, 6.7M followers, 134 retweets, 442 likes]
Honored to participate in a high level panel @wef #SpecialMeeting24 with @BillGates and @AnitaZaidi of the @gatesfoundation , @DrTedros DG @WHO , @KSRelief_EN Supervisor General Abdullah Al Rabeeah to discuss challenges to global health including inequalities, access to quality healthcare, health financing, climate change and need for international cooperation to meet requirements of developing countries such as Pakistan.

Prime Minister’s Office
@PakPMO
[4/29/2024 12:27 PM, 3.7M followers, 20 retweets, 51 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif speaks at a Closing Plenary -Rejuvenating Growth, at a Special Meeting of the World Economic Forum (Riyadh-29 April, 2024.) #SpecialMeeting24 #PMShehbazatWEFRiyadh

Anas Mallick
@AnasMallick
[4/29/2024 6:34 AM, 73.3K followers, 19 retweets, 49 likes]
Five and a half years later, Four people involved in the killing of @abidifactor have been sentenced to life imprisonment by Anti Terrorism Court in Karachi -- Ali Raza Abidi was assassinated outside his residence in Karachi in Dec 2018, he was an MNA and belonged to the MQM.

Anas Mallick
@AnasMallick
[4/29/2024 4:07 AM, 73.3K followers, 3 retweets, 39 likes]
This week in Pak diplomacy;
PM Shehbaz Sharif and FM Ishaq Dar in Saudi Arabia for WEF Summit
IMF Board meet on Pak review in DC
Senior US Delegation in Pak for bilat talks in Islamabad
FM Ishaq Dar to travel to Gambia for OIC CFMs meet ahead of the OIC Summit
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/29/2024 11:30 AM, 97.5M followers, 6.8K retweets, 22K likes]
Do watch my interview to the News18 Network where I speak on a wide range of subjects. https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1djxXNOEOWXGZ

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/29/2024 11:13 AM, 97.5M followers, 3.2K retweets, 17K likes]
These pictures are from Solapur and Satara. The people of Maharashtra feel the NDA is best placed to serve them and ensure all-round progress. INDI alliance’s votebank politics has no takers.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/29/2024 9:28 AM, 97.5M followers, 3.6K retweets, 12K likes]
Incredible energy at the public meeting in Pune! Gratitude to everyone for joining the rally in huge numbers.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/29/2024 6:24 AM, 97.5M followers, 6.7K retweets, 42K likes]
I bow to Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji on the sacred occasion of his Parkash Purab. He is remembered by millions across the world as the embodiment of courage, compassion and selflessness. His life serves as a guiding light, illuminating the path of righteousness and devotion. His unwavering commitment to justice and protecting the rights of all individuals stands as a testament to his greatness. In the face of tyranny and oppression, he fearlessly defended the principles of fairness and equality.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[4/29/2024 5:27 AM, 3.1M followers, 398 retweets, 2.9K likes]
Glad to join the Northeast Festival at Kirori Mal College today in New Delhi. Spoke about Northeast India’s connect with Southeast Asia and Japan. Modi Sarkar’s initiatives have benefitted the North East immensely. Confident that Modi 3.0 will take this development journey forward.

Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
[4/29/2024 5:39 AM, 24.1M followers, 1.1K retweets, 3.8K likes]
My gratitude to the people of Lucknow for turning out in record numbers during today’s roadshow. The blessings of the people give me strength to serve them and the nation. Thank you!

Brahma Chellaney
@Chellaney
[4/29/2024 1:57 PM, 263.4K followers, 207 retweets, 603 likes]
If Canada has become the global epicenter of Sikh militancy, India must share some of the blame. It let Canada off the hook over the death of 329 people in the 1985 Air India bombing, which two separate Canadian inquiries found was carried out by Canada-based Sikh terrorists.

Brahma Chellaney
@Chellaney
[4/29/2024 8:10 AM, 263.4K followers, 97 retweets, 360 likes]
Amid Indian elections, the story in today’s @washingtonpost based on new US official leaks about an alleged Indian failed plot to kill a US-protected Sikh militant who has been making terrorist threats against India confirms this recent analysis of mine.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[4/29/2024 11:52 AM, 209.8K followers, 4 retweets, 10 likes]
Important new reportage here that points to direct Indian involvement in and approval of the Pannun plot. Such involvement (as opposed to a rogue officer doing so) would make New Delhi less likely to carry out the credible investigation it’s pledged to do.
NSB
Awami League
@albd1971
[4/29/2024 5:41 AM, 637.2K followers, 28 retweets, 69 likes]
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affair Minister Anisul Huq said "Getting #legalaid is the right of poor and helpless people, it is not any kind of charity done for them. It is very natural thing that any insolvent citizen would get government legal aid." https://tbsnews.net/bangladesh/legal-aid-helpless-peoples-right-not-charity-anisul-838361 #Bangladesh #Judiciary #LegalRight

Awami League
@albd1971
[4/29/2024 9:58 AM, 637.2K followers, 26 retweets, 52 likes]
Sector Commanders Forum, Liberation 71, has deplored what they described alarming spike in efforts by @BJI_Official and its student arm @info_shibir to glorify the #warcriminals and undermine the war crimes through #socialmedia targeting students. https://unb.com.bd/category/Bangladesh/war-heroes-voice-concern-over-jamaat-shibirs-efforts-to-glorify-1971-war-criminals/134643

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[4/29/2024 10:56 AM, 257.3K followers, 8 retweets, 30 likes]
As a result of discussions btn. Hon. Mr. Narayan Kaji Shrestha, DPM & FM and the Chinese leaders during his recent China visit, the Chinese side has decided to exempt Nepali citizen from visa fees for Mainland China with effect from 1 May 2024. @nksthaprakash @sewa_lamsal

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[4/29/2024 10:56 AM, 257.3K followers, 2 retweets, 4 likes]
We would like to appreciate the Government of the People’s Republic of China for this important decision that would promote the friendly relations further and facilitate people to people exchanges between our two countries.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[4/29/2024 5:10 AM, 257.3K followers, 8 retweets, 23 likes]
Hon. DPMFM @nksthaprakash chaired a Parallel Session on ‘Investment Opportunities in Green and Climate-Resilient Businesses in Nepal’ at Third Nepal Investment Summit 2024 this morning.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[4/29/2024 5:10 AM, 257.3K followers, 3 retweets, 6 likes]
While concluding the Session, he invited prospective partners and investors to bring in greener and climate-resilient businesses and investments to Nepal. @sewa_lamsal @IBNOffice #NIS2024

Martin Raiser
@MartinRaiser
[4/30/2024 12:23 AM, 5.8K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
Good to meet @ADB_HQ VP Yingming Yang & team. The @WorldBank Group & ADB are harmonizing efforts to strengthen our support to #Nepal through our upcoming country partnership strategies & in sectors such as hydropower. Together we hope to create greater impact for all Nepalis!

Martin Raiser
@MartinRaiser
[4/29/2024 8:50 AM, 5.8K followers, 2 retweets, 9 likes]
Great to meet Hon. Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun @mofnepal again. We discussed preparations for the #IDA21 replenishment meetings in Kathmandu in June and operationalizing #Nepal’s homegrown GRID platform.
Central Asia
Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis
[4/30/2024 1:30 AM, 28.9K followers, 1 retweet, 4 likes]
Former interior minister Turgumbayev arrested on suspicion of abuse of office, in a case investigators say involves state secrets #Kazakhstan https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/za-chto-zaderjali-eks-glavu-mvd-turgumbaeva-533851/

Peter Leonard
@Peter__Leonard
[4/29/2024 6:40 AM, 22.6K followers, 9 retweets, 6 likes]
Kazakhstan’s state-owned arms export company denies it is selling Soviet-era fighter and bomber aircraft to intermediaries for onward delivery to Ukraine. Says all component being crushed into scrap so as to be rendered unusable https://kaspex.kz/ru/announcement-kaspex/oproverzhenie-na-nedostovernuyu-informacziyu-smi-po-povodu-realizaczii-aviaczionnoj-tehniki/

Chris Rickleton
@ChrisRickleton
[4/29/2024 10:29 PM, 7.3K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Оfficers accused of torturing Kyrgyz jazz musician Vikram Ruzakhunov and others during January 2022 crackdown in Kazakhstan are finally on trial. But the judge barred the journalist that has done the most on this case (@mldbkvd) from attending court.

Furqat Sidiqov
@FurqatSidiq
[4/29/2024 11:05 PM, 1.3K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
Together w/ Nozimakhon Davletova, Head of Department at the Administration of @president_uz & Atabek Nazirov have presented the "Ildiz" platform in #NYC. During the event, our compatriots showcased their forward-thinking ideas aimed at serving UZ’s development.

Furqat Sidiqov
@FurqatSidiq
[4/29/2024 7:55 PM, 1.3K followers, 3 likes]
Samarkand trip took place within Utah delegation’s visit to Uzbekistan, led by Utah Senate President @StuartAdams. High-level American guest was received by regional Governor @ErkinjonTurdimov. Cooperation in interregional trade, investments and social spheres were discussed.

Furqat Sidiqov
@FurqatSidiq
[4/29/2024 8:22 AM, 1.3K followers, 4 retweets, 8 likes]
Had an engaging conversation w/ @shahidboston, a member of the U.S. President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts. During our insightful talks, we exchanged views on the strengthening of cultural & p2p ties, as well as fostering artistic collaborations between Uzbekistan & the U.S.

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[4/29/2024 12:32 PM, 23K followers, 2 retweets, 1 like]
Uzbekistan will legalize/liberalize bookmaking/lottery/gambling starting next year. It’s been banned since 2007. Mirziyoyev admin thinks this policy has been ineffective. It is aware that people have been using foreign and illegal services. More here: https://gazeta.uz/en/2024/04/26/napp/

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[4/29/2024 11:07 AM, 23K followers, 3 retweets, 2 likes]
Uzbekistan’s mining industry expanded to nearly $11 bln last year, according to Mirziyoyev admin (discussed Apr 29, 2024). UZ is eager to develop 32 metals and minerals it has, such as platinum, indium, vanadium, tungsten, molybdenum, zinc, and manganese.

{End of Report}
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