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:
Monday, August 12, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
US commits to freeing Americans held by Taliban in Afghanistan (VOA)
VOA [8/11/2024 3:30 PM, Ayaz Gul, 4032K, Neutral]
The United States has promised to make every effort to secure the release of three Americans whom it says are being held “unjustly" by Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.

Ryan Corbett, Mahmood Habibi, and George Glezmann were taken captive in separate incidents in Kabul in 2022, roughly a year after the Taliban stormed back to power in the Afghan capital.

“My thoughts and prayers are with Ryan Corbett, Mahmood Habibi, and their families today,” Thomas West, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, said on X, formerly Twitter, marking the two-year anniversary of the capture of the two men.

“We will and we must continue every effort to bring them and George Glezmann home to their families,” he wrote Sunday.

Roger Carstens, the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, in separate remarks posted on X, said that the three “have been held for far too long and their families have endured unimaginable pain.”

Corbett is a humanitarian worker who had lived with his family in Afghanistan for years. He was evacuated during the August 2021 Taliban takeover following the withdrawal of U.S.-led Western troops.

Corbett returned to Afghanistan in 2022 and was detained by the Taliban but has not been charged with any crimes, according to his family.

Glezmann was visiting Kabul as a tourist lawfully traveling in Afghanistan when he was seized by the Taliban’s intelligence services on December 5, 2022, “without just cause or formal charge,” according to the Foley Foundation, working to secure freedom for Americans held unjustly captive abroad.

Separately on Saturday, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, released a statement seeking information into the disappearance of Habibi, saying he was taken from his vehicle near his home in the Afghan capital, along with his driver, on August 10, 2022.

The FBI stated that the Afghan-American businessman worked as a contractor for Asia Consultancy Group, a Kabul-based telecommunications company. “It is believed that Mr. Habibi was taken by Taliban military or security forces and has not been heard from since his disappearance,” the agency noted.

Habibi was detained by the Taliban reportedly on suspicion that his company was involved in a July 31 U.S. drone strike in Kabul that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the fugitive al-Qaida network chief. The FBI said that de facto Afghan authorities had also briefly detained 29 other employees of the Asia Consultancy Group.

The Taliban have officially not responded to the latest U.S. calls for releasing the three Americans.

While de facto Afghan authorities have publicly disclosed that Corbett and Glezmann are among “several foreign nationals” imprisoned in Afghanistan for allegedly violating local immigration and other laws, they refuse to acknowledge holding Habibi.

On Sunday, an Afghan television station quoted Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, claiming that they have imprisoned only two American citizens and are not holding Habibi.

He reiterated that Kabul would release the prisoners in exchange for Afghans in U.S. custody, the Ariana News network reported on its website.

“We don’t have anyone named Habibi in our prisons. But the investigation is ongoing to find out what happened in this regard,” Mujahid stated.

The Taliban announced last month for the first time that they had discussed a possible prisoner exchange in direct talks with U.S. officials on the sidelines of an international conference in Doha, Qatar, hosted by the United Nations.

"During our meetings, we talked about the two American citizens who are in prison in Afghanistan," Mujahid told reporters after the meeting.

"But they must accept Afghanistan’s conditions. We also have prisoners in America, prisoners in Guantanamo. We should free our prisoners in exchange for them,” he said without elaborating.

Last week, the U.S. State Department spokesperson told reporters in Washington that U.S. officials have raised the detainees’ fate in every meeting with the Taliban.

Matthew Miller stated that Corbett and Glezmann “are wrongfully detained,” according to the U.S. legal determination. “That’s not a determination we have yet made with respect to Mahmood Habibi, which is not to say we’re not working to try and secure his release,” he explained.

“Oftentimes, we can’t make a wrongful detention determination because we don’t have access to certain types of information or because the situation is unclear. There can be other factors as well,” Miller explained.
Wife of U.S. Taliban detainee Ryan Corbett pleads for help — and attention — from White House (CBS News)
CBS News [8/9/2024 5:26 PM, Olivia Gazis, Sami Yousafzai, and Haley Ott 47221K, Neutral]
When news of the historic, multi-country prisoner swap resulting in the release of three Americans who had been detained in Russia broke last week, Anna Corbett absorbed it slowly, fighting back tears.

"People kept texting me, emailing me about it, saying, ‘Oh, we wish it were Ryan,’" she said. "It was just so painful. I just had to distance myself, and I couldn’t read all the details of how all the negotiations were done."

"I’m really happy for them, but it’s bittersweet," she told CBS News. "I see how much focus it took for that to come together and to bring Americans home. It just takes effort. And I’m not seeing that effort."

Almost exactly a week later, following a set of meetings with national security council officials, Corbett, 43, found herself standing outside the West Wing of the White House, enlisting her teenage daughter, Ketsia, in taping a video on her phone. Anna felt she had run out of options, and wanted to say publicly that her entreaties for a meeting at higher levels — specifically with President Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan — had again been ignored.

"I am standing just yards away from the West Wing of the White House, where the president is sitting and where national security adviser Jake Sullivan is also sitting," Anna says in the video, her voice shaking slightly. "When I met with [Sullivan] in January, he said that he would meet with me again by the State of the Union if Ryan wasn’t home."

"I have written emails, I have asked to meet with him — they’ve all been ignored. He broke his promise to me," Anna continued. "Please meet with me and do everything you can to bring Ryan home as soon as possible."

That evening, she got one of the most encouraging calls she has gotten in months.

Two years of detention

August 10 will mark two years since Anna’s husband, 41-year-old Ryan Corbett, was arrested, along with three associates – a German citizen and two Afghans – during a business trip to northern Afghanistan.

Before Ryan’s abduction, the family had lived in Kabul for over a decade, from 2010 to 2021, where Anna homeschooled their three children, including their son Caleb, who was born in Afghanistan in 2010. Ryan, who is fluent in Pashto, worked for local NGOs before starting a microloan and consulting business in the Afghan capital.

The family fled Kabul amid the U.S.’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. A year later, in August 2022, Ryan made the fraught decision to return to the country on a business visa to support the staff employed through his business, Bloom Afghanistan, which at the time was still operational.

The State Department’s travel advisory for Afghanistan was at its highest level — Level 4: Do not Travel — amid what the Department warned was terrorist activity and the risk of arbitrary detention.

The four men’s arrest came days after a U.S. drone strike killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, on July 31. The three associates who traveled with Ryan have since been released, but he continues to be held in a facility run by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence.

He has been accused but never formally charged by the Taliban of anti-state activities — a common accusation against Westerners and one his family denies. The State Department deemed him "wrongfully detained" in September of 2023.

According to his family, who has spoken by phone with Ryan and with other Western detainees who met Ryan and have since been released, he has been kept in a windowless basement cell, where the Taliban have threatened to beat him and have forced him to listen to the torture of other prisoners. He is extremely malnourished and has been suffering from fainting episodes and numbness in his extremities.

"He is definitely weakening and deteriorating," Anna said in a recent virtual interview with CBS News. She worries incessantly that Ryan could die at any moment, either from maltreatment or neglect.

She also worries that for two years, the White House has not been focused at the necessary levels on finding a way to get her husband home.

"It should not be the case that only detainees with high profiles get this White House’s full attention," she said in a statement marking two years this week since Ryan’s detention began.

Anna has visited Washington, D.C., 13 times in the past 24 months, including to attend the State of the Union address in March at the invitation of Republican congresswoman Claudia Tenney of New York. Her children attended as guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

She has met multiple times with several influential members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — both of whom have personally appealed to the White House to take meetings with Anna — as well as House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, and others.

She has taken part in multiple rounds of public and private congressional testimony. At her urging, both the House and the Senate have passed resolutions calling for Ryan’s immediate release. Attorneys for the family have also filed urgent petitions with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture and the U.N. Working Group for Arbitrary Detention, and in June, a UN expert said Ryan risked dying in detention if he does not receive adequate medical care.

Though she has met consistently with members of the national security council and officials at the State Department, including UN Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) Roger Carstens, and has spoken once with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, what she most wants now and believes could make the most difference in Ryan’s case is getting President Biden and his top advisers to pay attention.

In the past six months, she said she has sent dozens of requests through multiple channels to meet with Sullivan and Mr. Biden, but that her requests had, until this week, been ignored.

"I’m not rich and famous. I don’t have as many resources as others," Anna said. "I just don’t know what else can be done."

Taliban demands

In addition to Ryan, the State Department has said publicly the Taliban are holding at least two other Americans: George Glezmann, a 65-year-old Atlanta native detained while on a tourist visit in December of 2022, and Mahmood Habibi, a dual American-Afghan national and civil aviation expert who was detained, along with dozens of other Afghans, on the same day as Ryan Corbett, in another part of Afghanistan.

In recent months, Ryan and George have been held in the same cell in the GDI-run facility, according to people familiar with their circumstances. CBS News could not confirm where Habibi is being held, and Taliban officials have offered conflicting messages over time as to whether Habibi is considered to be among the American prisoners it is holding.

In early July, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told CBS News the group had discussed U.S. detainees with American officials on the margins of a global security conference in Doha, Qatar, but did not specify any names or numbers of prisoners who may be involved in a potential exchange.

"There was a focus on the exchange of detainees, we [are] emphasizing the importance of Afghan prisoners held by the U.S. and suggesting a swap for American citizens detained by the Taliban," Mujahid said. "If the U.S. values its citizens, the Taliban equally value their own people."

Three separate senior Taliban officials told CBS News in July the group had been clear in recent meetings with U.S. officials about its desire for a deal that would potentially involve releasing three American prisoners in exchange for three Afghan prisoners held by the U.S.: Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani, the last Afghan national held in Guantanamo Bay, as well as two other Afghan nationals currently held in U.S. prisons on drug-related charges.

Rahim, who was transferred to Guantanamo Bay from CIA custody in 2008, and is believed by the U.S. government to have been a close associate of Osama bin Laden, has not been charged.

The Taliban sources did not name the two other Afghans, nor did any U.S. officials who spoke with CBS News.

One of the senior Taliban officials, who is with the GDI and claimed to handle the cases of foreign national prisoners, said Habibi had been arrested and was being held in a "prisoner guest house" in Kabul. That official, speaking with CBS News earlier this week, described Habibi’s case as "complicated."

When the other senior Taliban officials were contacted by CBS News again in August, however, two changed their previous statements, saying the group only held two American prisoners, and one Taliban official connected with the GDI denied the group held Habibi at all.

"The deal should not be complicated, as we have had similar successful exchanges in the recent past," one of the senior Taliban officials said. "The Taliban regime has no complications. It is the USA that has complications and cannot make a solid commitment."

Rahim’s "detention is a major barrier to progress in our negotiations," another one of the senior Taliban officials who said he had knowledge of the talks told CBS News.

Rahim’s attorney, James Connell, told CBS News while on a visit to Guantanamo Bay on Friday that he has not discussed a potential prisoner swap with any U.S. or Taliban official.

"No one has contacted me about any proposed resolution," Connell said.

Connell added that Rahim has not been cleared by Guantanamo’s Periodic Review Board, which determines "whether continued detention of particular individuals held at Guantanamo remains necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States," according to its website.

Multiple American officials familiar with the talks declined to comment on any discussions with the Taliban or confirm what the Taliban officials who spoke with CBS News claimed they had proposed.

One U.S. official said the government’s focus was on bringing the three Americans home. A spokesman for SPEHA declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the national security council said, "The U.S. government has engaged with Taliban representatives in pursuit of the immediate and unconditional release of Americans wrongfully detained in Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds."

"The Biden administration remains fully committed to doing everything we can to bring home Americans who are wrongfully detained abroad, including Ryan Corbett," the spokesperson said.

But for her part, Anna says it remains unclear to her what the U.S. government may be willing to consider.

"It’s been two years, and there’s never been a solution put on the table that comes close to allowing both sides to reach a deal," she said.

U.S. efforts today

During a press briefing Thursday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller acknowledged the approaching two-year mark of Corbett’s and Habibi’s detainment and said bringing them and Glezmann home continues to be a "top priority."

"We are deeply concerned about the well-being of Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan — Mahmood, Ryan, and George Glezmann — and raise their detentions in every engagement we have with the Taliban," Miller said, though he did not immediately specify how many engagements there had been.

"[Special Representative for Afghanistan] Tom West pressed for the immediate and unconditional release of U.S. citizens unjustly detained in Afghanistan directly with the Taliban in July at Doha 3," he later added, referring to the third U.N.-facilitated international gathering hosted by Qatar on a global approach to Taliban rule. "We continue to press for their release at every opportunity. Due to the sensitivity of these discussions, we do not make every engagement public."

In his comments Wednesday, Miller noted that both Corbett and Glezmann had been officially determined to be "wrongfully detained," a legal status conferred by the State Department on Americans held abroad according to criteria established by the Levinson Act. While "wrongfully detained" status is not a requirement for release, it unlocks U.S. government resources for family members and can help elevate a detainee’s profile.

Habibi is considered unjustly detained, Miller said, adding some of the Levinson Act criteria had not been applied either because they did not fit or because the U.S. still had insufficient information about his case.

Since the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, the American government has had no formal diplomatic ties with the Taliban and instead has adopted a position the State Department describes as "pragmatic engagement." The Department established an office known as the "Afghanistan Affairs Unit" in Doha, Qatar to manage diplomatic and consular issues in Afghanistan. Qatar has served as the U.S. protecting power in Afghanistan since 2021.

Intervention by the Qataris in recent months has made a difference in Ryan’s treatment, Anna said. After a team from Qatar met with the Taliban last spring, Ryan’s captors increased the amount of exposure to sunlight he receives — now 30 minutes a week, up from 30 minutes a month.

After Anna traveled to Doha in May to meet with Qatari officials, and they in turn engaged with the Taliban, she said Ryan has been able to call home roughly every two weeks, while previously months could pass without a call.

While the increased tempo of phone calls has offered important reassurance to Ryan and his family, Anna said the calls have also fueled concerns about his deteriorating health.

She and her children "prepare for each call to see what news we’ll share with him, but I also don’t push them to have to talk if they don’t feel up for it," she said. "I know it means a lot for him to hear their voices and hear news from them."

But, she added, "When he’s not been doing well emotionally, he doesn’t even ask about us or the kids."

"We know then he’s really not well," she said, her voice catching.

During her meetings in Washington this week, Anna said she pressed administration officials for specifics about a plan to get Ryan home, but had still come away with little clarity.

"This up and down, back and forth, trying to push and just feeling like I’m just running in circles and not seeing progress – it’s so frustrating," she said. "If I were at a two-year mark and I really felt like, ‘Oh my goodness, we’re really probably really close to this, I think I would feel better, but I don’t."

"And with the election season in full swing, I just don’t know what this means, and Ryan’s getting worse," she said.

A representative for the Corbett family who has helped facilitate Anna’s meetings in Washington said there was hope President Biden’s announcement last month that he would not seek reelection might increase the chances he would be able to take a personal interest in Ryan’s case during his final five months in office.

"Russia was hard. This is easy, and could have been resolved a long time ago if it had been put before the president," the representative said. "The president has a window to get this done. The support on the Hill is there. We’re trying to get his attention before it’s too late."

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas, whose office has met frequently with Corbett’s family and held public hearings with Anna, also called for more urgent engagement from the White House in particular.

"Despite repeated requests, President Biden has still not met with Ryan’s wife Anna or their family," McCaul said. "Ryan’s mental and physical health is deteriorating daily, yet the Biden-Harris administration still has no plan to bring him home. As chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I will not rest until Ryan is returned home to his family."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, where Ryan’s parents and family reside, also said in a statement,"For nearly 730 days, Ryan Corbett has languished inside a basement cell, denied his most basic human rights. As his health continues to deteriorate and his family suffers without their father, Ryan’s safe return is long overdue."

"I call upon the Taliban to release all Americans wrongfully detained," McConnell said.

In a statement provided to CBS News Friday evening, Schumer said, "I have worked closely with Ryan Corbett’s family to ensure that Ryan’s story is on the radar for the White House and the interagency and remains a bipartisan priority. As long as Ryan is held by the Taliban, I will never stop fighting to bring him back home and unite him with Anna, his children, and his family."

On Wednesday, after three days of meetings across offices in Washington – and roughly four hours after her video outside the West Wing was posted – Anna said she received two calls from the White House, and two emails the following day.

"I have a meeting on the calendar," she said, giving a rare, broad smile. She is now scheduled to meet Jake Sullivan on August 19.

"I’m expecting to get answers," she said.
Wife of American wrongfully detained by Taliban airs frustration (Washington Examiner)
Washington Examiner [8/10/2024 4:00 AM, Mike Brest, 3607K, Neutral]
Ryan Corbett, a father of three, was detained by the Taliban two years ago Saturday and remains held by them in Afghanistan.

His wife, Anna, is raising their children without him and is his most loyal advocate frequently traveling to Washington to make sure the government is exhausting all its options and resources attempting to secure his release. She spent this past week in Washington and will be “getting away” with their two younger children this weekend as a “distraction” from the anniversary, she told the Washington Examiner.

Anna Corbett, during her 13th trip to Washington this week, met with State Department officials in the office of the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, which handles wrongful detention cases, and met with staffers of members of the House and Senate.

She also met with White House officials but was unable to meet with President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, whom she met with last in January, and said her “emails were left ignored.”

“I would like to see responses to emails, keeping promises when a promise is made that Jake Sullivan will meet with me again, and does not. Seven months later, no response,” Anna Corbett said. “That’s just disrespectful, and I don’t appreciate that. How am I supposed to believe that Ryan is important and valuable if that’s the way the family is treated when I’m fighting so hard for his life and for his release? I would like to see effort made to prioritize the situation.”

A White House official told the Washington Examiner that another meeting between Sullivan and the Corbett family “is in the works.”

The Corbetts moved to Afghanistan in 2010 and Ryan Corbett started a consulting and microfinance company in 2017. The family evacuated Afghanistan when the Taliban took over in August 2021 as U.S. troops were departing. Ryan Corbett first returned to Afghanistan in January 2022 to help his business that was still running and had no problems coming home, but he was detained the next time he went to Afghanistan, and has been held since.

Anna Corbett expressed concern about Ryan Corbett’s health, which she said is growing worse with time.

Anna Corbett said that in her limited conversations with Ryan Corbett, he has shared details about “discolored extremities, struggling to stand up or he faints, and that his knees are really weakening,” and she said, “The fear at this time is that his body is so deteriorated and weak, and if his mental capacity has decreased so much that if something hits him, he’s just gonna decline and die really rapidly.”

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said they are “deeply concerned” about Ryan Corbett’s well-being, as well as that of other Americans detained in Afghanistan.

“When we say we’re not forgetting anyone, we mean it, and we have the record to back that up,” he said during Thursday’s briefing. “And we will continue to use every resource the United States Government has to try and bring Ryan and other wrongfully detained Americans home.”

Biden administration officials have said this month that they have secured the release of more than 50 Americans held abroad over the course of the administration.

“The Biden administration remains fully committed to doing everything we can to bring home Americans who are wrongfully detained abroad, including Ryan Corbett,” a senior administration official told the Washington Examiner.

“For months, senior officials from the White House and State Department have met with the Corbett family to keep them updated on the Administration’s tireless to bring him home,” the official added. “We will continue to do so, and we will continue the ongoing efforts to bring Ryan Corbett and all other wrongfully detained Americans home. We also continue to warn Americans, as we have for years, and especially since our withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, that they should not travel to Afghanistan.”

Last week, the U.S. pulled off a complex prisoner exchange that included 24 people and involved seven countries. In particular, the U.S. was able to secure the release of four Americans, including two journalists Evan Gershovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, from Russia.
Islamic State claims responsibility for explosion in the Afghan capital Kabul that killed at least 1 (AP)
AP [8/12/2024 2:24 AM, Staff, 456K, Neutral]
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Monday for a minivan explosion in the Afghan capital that killed at least one person.

The militant group said in a statement that it had detonated an explosive device on Sunday targeting carrying members of the Shiite minority community, killing and wounding about 13 people.

Police spokesman Khalid Zadran confirmed Monday that a bomb had exploded in western part of Kabul city, killing one civilian and wounding eleven.

He added that the explosion happened in the Dushti Barachi neighborhood, and that a police investigation is underway.

The Dashti Barchi area of Kabul has been repeatedly targeted by the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan. The group has carried out major assaults on schools, hospitals and mosques. It has also attacked other Shiite areas across the country

The IS affiliate has been a major rival of the Taliban since the latter seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and other troops withdrew. IS militants have struck in Kabul and other parts of the country.
Blast In Kabul’s Hazara Area Kills At Least 1, Injures 11 (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [8/11/2024 12:34 PM, Staff, 1530K, Negative]
An explosion in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killed one person and injured 11 others, Taliban police spokesman Khalid Zadran told RFE/RL on August 11, an attack apparently targeting the country’s minority Hazara community.

Zadran said the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in a minibus in Kabul’s Dasht-e Barchi area, where many Shi’ite Hazara reside.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the Sunni-led Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) branch has carried out numerous attacks since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, often targeting Taliban officials, foreign nationals, the Hazara community, and others it considers incompatible with its extreme interpretation of Islam.

A female resident told RFE/RL that the Taliban authorities have failed to protect residents of the Dasht-e Barchi area.

"Explosions in Dasht-e Barchi occur regularly without anyone taking responsibility for maintaining security," she said.

"The Taliban say they have ensured security, but that’s only words. They don’t care who’s killed or what attacks occur. If they’re genuinely ensuring security, why do explosions keep happening?"

Shi’ite Muslims, the country’s largest religious minority, have complained that the Sunni Taliban has not done enough to protect them from terror attacks and have accused the Taliban itself of abuses, including "killing, torture, and forced displacement." Most Shi’a in Afghanistan are members of the historically persecuted Hazara ethnic minority.

A report this year by the U.S. State Department cited several examples of terror attacks against the Hazara community and stated that religious freedoms have continued to deteriorate under harsh Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

"Consistent with trends observed in past years, many suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians targeted Shi’a Muslims, particularly ethnic Hazara," by the IS-K terrorist group, it said.

The report identified IS-K as the "most serious threat" in the Central and South Asia region and said the group was "projecting terror beyond Afghanistan."

The U.S. report also cited UN officials in Afghanistan as saying the Taliban "had marginalized the minority Shi’a Muslim population in an effort to force them to leave the country."
The last commander of the Afghan Army’s plot to defeat the Taliban and his warning to the U.S. after troops withdrew and left a breeding ground for terrorism (Daily Mail)
Daily Mail [8/11/2024 12:39 PM, Wills Robinson, 85570K, Negative]
As Lieutenant General Sami Sadat stepped onto a C-17 military plane at Kabul International Airport on August 19, 2021, bloodshed engulfed the country he loved and had spent his life fighting for.

Desperate Afghans surrounded the runway, trying to escape the Taliban and the inhumanity that would soon take over as Western forces left.

The three-star general in the Afghanistan Army was exhausted, humiliated, quietly nursing a shrapnel wound to his neck and about to make the hardest decision of his life: To leave his homeland behind. Staying would have likely meant death for him and his troops.

He had been fighting day and night for three and a half months to slow the Taliban’s rapid offensive towards the capital as allied forces withdrew.

Over two weeks in August, the airport was under siege from terrorists and thousands poured onto aircrafts to evacuate as the U.S. pulled their remaining troops and staff out.

At the beginning of the month, President Ashraf Ghani had named Sadat the commander of Afghanistan’s special forces, the country’s most elite fighters.

But by the time he had arrived in Kabul the situation was already dire. He was tasked with ensuring the security of the capital, but it was too late and Ghani had fled.

He lifted off over mountains his father traversed to defeat the Taliban after 9/11, and reflected on military career that saw him rise to become one of the country’s youngest generals.

As he flew above the carnage in the windowless plane, he was furious at the actions of President Joe Biden and the U.S. administrations before him.

His country had been betrayed. Afghans who fought alongside Western troops were forced into hiding and left to fend for themselves with targets on their backs.

Rights women had enjoyed for 20 years would vanish and children would be stopped going to school.

They are faced with barbarism and beatings if they show their face in public.

The military he’d led so valiantly were losing a battle almost impossible to win without support.

The Afghan Army - who lost 66,000 men over 20 years - no longer had the will to fight because they had been abandoned.

Three years after the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, the extremists have sent the war-torn nation back 20 years with their oppressive and corrupt policies.

Sadat is watching his nation deteriorate from the United Kingdom, where he is living with his wife and two children.

He wonders when he will be able to return so he can finally defeat the Taliban, and he is ready.

He still has hope that Afghanistan has a future free of the Taliban that he helped force into the mountains during the allied forces’ two-decade stay.

Sadat lays out his vision for his beloved country and gives a damning assessment of who is to blame for his its collapse in his book The Last Commander.

His story is the inside account of how Afghanistan was cast aside, and the pivotal role the U.S. and the West played in its abandonment.

Sadat rose rapidly through the Afghan military. He worked in intelligence and served in many senior roles that included the deputy commander of the Afghan ground forces and later the deputy chief of the Afghan National Army.

He received training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst - Britain’s officer training college - and in the U.S. and Germany.

His early work involved close cooperation with the C.I.A and U.S. forces, tracking down Al-Qaeda in the mountains of the Hindu Kush.

It was in conventional combat, leading from the front, where he became a legend in the ranks of the Afghan military.

Now, from afar, he leads the Afghan United Front after reluctantly fleeing the country he served with dedication.

He was on the frontlines of the battle with the Taliban for decades, and has since seen them take the upper hand while Afghanistan has turned into an even more dangerous breeding ground for terrorism.

The resistance in Afghanistan has made inroads against the Taliban in recent months and has even had successful operations near Kabul.

But Sadat says they need support to take back the country, and it needs to come from the nations that turned their back.

‘Direct responsibility lies with the U.S. and specifically with former President Barack Obama and his Democratic successor Joe Biden’, he writes.

He blames Obama for being ‘clearly intent’ on withdrawing from Afghanistan and ‘emboldening’ the Taliban by setting a timetable for getting American troops out.

Obama gradually drew down the presence of U.S. forces during his administration, leaving enough to provide support for the Afghan military after stopping combat operations in 2014.

Sadat says The Doha Agreement, the 2020 peace deal between the Taliban and Donald Trump’s administration, led to the U.S. virtually cutting off communications with the Afghan government.

It caused situations, he says, where the U.S. military weren’t authorized to conduct strikes in support of Afghan security forces.

The Taliban started to sense that they only had to wait for Americans to leave to achieve victory.

Before the 2020 deal was signed, they had not made any significant progress on the battlefield.

The deal was one of the key turning points where the situation for the Afghan army started to go downhill.

Sadat says Biden showed ‘withering contempt’ for Afghanistan and didn’t listen to generals who warned him that keeping a military presence on the ground would stop Al-Qaeda and ISIS being able to ‘rebuild’.

In 2021, Biden set out a timetable for the last U.S. forces to leave, but he was urged by Gen. Kenneth ‘Frank’ McKenzie - the commander of U.S. Central Command - to keep at least 2,500 troops on the ground to prevent the inevitable collapse of the Afghan military and government.

Now the terrorist groups the U.S. wanted to push to the brink of eradication are starting to thrive again, and Sadat believes the risk of attack is increasing by the day.

From when Biden was vice president under Obama, he was the most consistent critic of prolonged American involvement in Afghanistan, Sadat says.

He would have cut the number of U.S. troops to just one thousand and limited operations to just special forces raids.

Biden, Sadat says, also gave the Taliban a propaganda victory by choosing September 11, 2021, as the date the last soldier had to leave.

‘It was as if Osama Bin Laden had come back to life to ask for this date, so they could celebrate another victory against America’, he told DailyMail.com.

The withdrawal was brought forward a month to August because the Taliban was rapidly overrunning the country and making their way towards Kabul faster than the U.S. had anticipated.

Sadat says he met with the U.S. officials to try and tell them they needed to hold the capital city, but the Americans said their orders were to head for the airport.

Over two weeks during the evacuation, hundreds of civilians died. People fell to their deaths from the planes they were clinging onto in a bid to escape.

On August 26, 2021, an ISIS-K operative detonated a suicide bomb at the airport and killed 182 people - 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members.

‘Biden was the a**hole who turned his back and left things in chaos’, Sadat told DailyMail.com.

When Biden announced the withdrawal, he stated that the Afghan military was not able to fight for themselves.

From 2014 on, NATO and U.S. forces had essentially stopped fighting and left the Afghan forces to hold the ground.

Sadat says Biden is wrong. The local troops were winning and increasingly capable, but their ability to fight was taken away.

He admits there were a lot of problems in the Afghan military, including the police and the corruption of the Ghani government that impacted military leadership.

But the supply of ammunition was gradually taken away and political pressure on the Afghan government was pushing them to the point of disintegration.

They were crippled.

‘For us Afghans, it’s very difficult to counter a narrative that is set up by somebody like President Biden, because every single newspaper and TV channel picks that up and they don’t listen to the Afghans’.

Sadat’s forces were also trained to use U.S. military equipment. Their hardware was based on highly technical special reconnaissance units, helicopters and airstrikes.

They needed oversight, sophisticated maintenance and software. When the U.S. presence shrank, that all went away and the Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 transport planes were left idle.

‘We were already under immense pressure on the battlefield, the lack of ammunition, the lack of support, and then all of a sudden this political pressure caused us to fail,’ he says.

Sadat says that failure combined with the withdrawal has created a vacuum that has allowed terrorist groups including Al Qaeda to grow.

He said the American deal with the Taliban in 2020 ‘normalized’ terrorism and opened the door for neighboring nations in the region such as Iran to take advantage.

‘Taliban units were coming into Afghanistan in their thousands kitted with tactical gear and trained with new weapons. They had nice uniforms, good money and good shoes.

‘It was very clear that they’re getting paid a lot of money.’

For Sadat, the escalation in terrorism has created a three-pronged threat for the West that if not dealt with could have devastating consequences.

The first is the threat to large oil companies and shipping lanes in the Middle East.

American commercial vessels have already been targeted in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The second is Al Qaeda expanding into new terrain. Sadat says this has already happened in African nations like Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

‘Tribal factions in Africa are united and control more territory than the size of the United Kingdom,’ he says.

‘They are now a formidable conventional strategic threat in the Sahel area (a region that extends from Senegal eastward to Sudan), and they will expand because African countries will fall apart and ultimately fall into the hands of Al Qaeda.

The third is the threat of attacks in the West.

Sadat believes that Al Qaeda will use Islamophobia in Europe to invoke small-scale attacks and the direct risk to the U.S. is at one of its highest points since 9/11.

With the U.S. election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on the horizon, Sadat’s message to whoever ends up in the White House is clear.

‘Help the Afghan resistance. We don’t need soldiers, we don’t need boots on the ground, we just need political support and to be recognized as a freedom fighting group.

‘We need to buy equipment and technical and financial help so we can topple the Taliban regime and create a system.

‘We definitely don’t want to be the host for Al Qaeda and other terrible groups who go around and butcher people.

‘This is not who we are and we refuse to accept this. We are ready to sacrifice whatever it takes and we are more than capable of toppling the Taliban regime.

He says the dynamics have changed drastically in the region and China, Russia and Iran could use the Taliban as if it’s their friend against the U.S.

Russia and neighboring Pakistan have yet to give the Taliban military or financial support, but the time he says for the West to act is now.

‘I think we have a great opportunity to get rid of the Taliban now.

‘Later its regime will create so many problems in Africa, Middle East and Europe, that it will be near impossible to go back in and topple them

‘The more we wait, the more they will spread their practices around the world, and there will be more chaos.’

The Taliban has also declared war on women’s rights since they took back power by moving towards adherence of strict Sharia Law.

They have barred women from most areas of public life and have stopped girls going to school beyond the sixth grade.

There are restrictions on females visiting parks, gyms or holding certain jobs.

Morality police squads have scolded, arrested and punished citizens involved in activities they consider ‘un-Islamic’, such as wearing ‘Western’ hairstyles or listening banned music.

There has also been a crackdown on the free press - including the recent seizure of two TV networks - and civil society.

Sadat is urging Americans to address the widespread rights violations the United Nations has referred to as a ‘gender apartheid’.

‘The United States has been lecturing the rest of the world that we would like to share freedom, and democracy and freedom for all eyes.

‘I think it’s hypocritical not to support the desire for freedom for Afghans.

‘I think the Americans owe us this much, because we’ve been partners for so long, and we went beyond our scope, and we fought every enemy of the United States.

‘And ultimately, when the time came, they just pulled out and left us alone.’

If Kamala Harris does become president, Sadat wants her to publicly condemn the widespread abuse of women’s rights.

So far, he says, she hasn’t done anywhere near enough.

Sadat may be more than 3,500 miles away from Helmand Province, but he is still working towards a better future for Afghanistan and the people forced to live under the Taliban.

The Taliban is summarily arresting people every day. Some are even Sadat’s colleagues.

He has helped establish a team of Afghan patriots young, general officers, diplomats, governors to lead the resistance.

‘We know they love Afghanistan, we know they’re ready to sacrifice. So we established a good leadership team that could lead not only the war, but actually the future of the Afghan administration.

‘We also established an organization called the Afghanistan United Front to have a platform for the rest of the Afghans to come together and become a force.

Sadat has also been traveling the United States and Europe, lobbying for support.

‘We are at the stage right now that we need to mobilize a force to go in and start fighting, but mobilizing the force depends on the resources.

‘Right now we’re working to get some resources. We already have the soldiers.

‘We have a little bit of political recognition globally, and we definitely have that entire Afghanistan, we have the support of the tribes and support of the young generation of the Afghan people.

‘People are absolutely fed up with the Taliban. And once we mobilize our resources, then we will start going inside our country to face the Taliban in the battlefield and take our country back.’
Three Years After Taliban Return, Economic Woes Loom Large (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/11/2024 4:14 PM, Pascale Trouillaud, Qubad Wali, and Abdullah Hasrat, 1.4M, Neutral]
Despite three years of improved security following the end of the Taliban’s insurgency, Afghanistan’s economy remains stagnant and its population is in the grips of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

A third of Afghanistan’s roughly 40 million people live on bread and tea, according to the United Nations, there is massive unemployment, and the World Bank warns of zero growth over the next three years.

But there have been some positive changes since the Taliban takeover in 2021 -- even if their government remains unrecognised by any other country.

The currency has been resilient, corruption is no longer ubiquitous, and tax collection has improved.

Authorities have also built "economic, commercial, transit and investment" ties in the region, according to Ahmad Zahid, deputy commerce and industry minister.

Afghanistan has great mineral and agricultural potential, which the Taliban government is attempting to exploit, but they are impeded by poor infrastructure and a lack of domestic and foreign expertise and capital.

Though Afghans welcome the improved security in their lives, many are just trying to make ends meet.

AFP spoke to four people from different parts of the country ahead of the anniversary of the fall of Kabul this week:

For 54-year-old Azizullah Rehmati, business is booming -- his saffron company in the western province of Herat is set to double production this year.

Until 2021, his "Red Gold Saffron Company" hired armed guards to escort the valuable spice from the factory to the airport, but the improved security climate has done away with the need for such overt protection.

"Now there is no problem," said Rehmati, who exports to 27 countries.

At his processing facility, women sort the red stigmas of the precious saffron spice with tweezers.

Taliban government restrictions on women have slashed their participation in the workforce, but Rehmati’s company is among the 50 percent of Afghan employers who still hire women.

Still, a key challenge for Rehmati -- and Afghanistan as a whole -- is the crippled banking sector.

"It is so important that we have the banking channels reopened," said Sulaiman Bin Shah, deputy trade minister under the previous government.

The sector has been blocked by international sanctions and the freezing of central bank assets.

Rehmati’s bank can’t send money abroad -- or receive transfers -- meaning he has to resort to more expensive private money changers in Dubai.

Getting visas for foreign trips is also a major problem.

Many foreign nations shuttered their embassies in the wake of the Taliban takeover and Afghan passports are rated the worst in the world by the Henley Index, which tracks global ease of travel.

"We will fall back from the world market," Rehmati said.

Wahid Nekzai Logari played in Afghanistan’s national orchestra and performed concerts on the sarinda, a traditional stringed instrument, as well as the harmonium.

"I supported my whole family. We had a good life," said the 46-year-old in his modest home in a Kabul suburb.

But the Taliban government has prohibited public performances of music, deeming it un-Islamic, leaving thousands involved in the industry destitute.

"Now I’m unemployed," Logari said.

To feed his family of seven he sometimes drives a cab -- earning just 5,000 afghanis a month ($70), a fifth of what he used to earn from his concerts.

"Nobody told us, ‘you can’t play music anymore, but we’ll find you a way to feed your family’," he said.

Abdul Wali Shaheen wanted to "die a martyr’s death" in the Taliban ranks, but after their victory he swapped his rocket launcher for a computer at the Department of Information and Culture in Ghazni province.

"I wasn’t as stressed (then) as I am today," the 31-year-old said wryly.

"All we did was wage jihad, now it’s harder. I have more responsibilities in regards to the people."

"I give the Emirate a 10/10 for these three years," he said.

"Everything is going well and we have hope for the future."

The order to close beauty salons last year "broke her heart", but Sayeda -- not her real name -- reopened in secret four months ago elsewhere in Kabul.

"We found this place to rent, with the condition that customers come very discreetly and that some of our employees sleep here so that neighbours think a family lives here," said the 21-year-old manager.

"Before, we had 30 to 40 customers a day, now it’s six or seven," said Sayeda, who has nevertheless kept her 25 employees so that "everyone has an income".

Sayeda’s salary has dropped from 25,000 afghanis per month to between 8,000 and 12,000.

"We’re working in hiding and we don’t know for how much longer," she said, noting the risk of being shut down by the police.

When they’ve "found some (underground) salons, they broke the equipment, mistreated the staff" and imposed fines, she said.
The Biden-Harris failure in Afghanistan is making world a more dangerous place, even at Taylor Swift concerts (New York Post – opinion)
New York Post [8/11/2024 1:25 PM, John R. Bolton, 60169K, Negative]
The turmoil the Biden-Harris administration left behind in Afghanistan is responsible for the increased threats of terrorism worldwide, including the plot against Taylor Swift’s concerts in Austria.

According to investigators, al Qaeda, the Islamic State (“ISIS”), and ISIS-K (“ISIS-Khorasan,” an ancient name for much of central Asia, including Iran and Afghanistan) all had a hand in radicalizing the teens who planned the concert mass murder.

Al Qaeda is now almost embedded in the Kabul regime of the Taliban, while the ISIS factions are currently adversaries. The terrorism world, however, doesn’t function along the lines of corporate organizational charts. Loyalties and affiliations come and go, sometimes with cooperation and armed hostility existing simultaneously, and constantly changing.

Afghanistan after America’s 2021 evacuation provides the ideal environment: enough anarchy and lack of central Taliban control that it is once again a haven for international terrorists.

As far back as October 2021, just weeks after the bungled US and NATO withdrawal concluded, senior Biden Defense Department officials testified in open congressional hearings that ISIS-K and al Qaeda intended to launch worldwide terrorist attacks. One said, “we could see ISIS-K generate that capability in somewhere between six or twelve months, according to current assessments. And for Al Qaeda, it would take a year or two to reconstitute that capability.”

Outside observers saw exactly the same resurgence as America departed: “Afghanistan, Again, Becomes a Cradle for Jihadism — and al Qaeda,” as the New Yorker headlined in August 2021. Ominously, it was ISIS-K that masterminded the brutal August 2021, attack against our forces at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate during the evacuation.

Western concert and performance venues have long been favorite terrorist targets because of the crowds they attract and with security often looser than at airports and other sensitive locations. In what is now a terrorist paradigm, ISIS claimed responsibility for the simultaneous 2015 attacks at the Bataclan Theater in Paris and at the Stade de France, Paris’s main outdoor athletic stadium. More recently, Hamas’ barbaric October 7 strike on Israel featured an assault on a beach concert, with some 364 attendees and police killed, and 40 more taken hostage.

ISIS-K is increasingly capable of conducting distant attacks, even in the most hostile anti-terrorist environments. In January 2024, for example. ISIS-K attacked a memorial ceremony in Kerman, Iran, for deceased Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani, whom the United States had eliminated four years earlier. Despite extraordinary security precautions because of the number of high Iranian officials attending, and even advance warning from the Biden administration, ISIS-K killed 80 attendees, an extraordinary triumph in the heartland of the world’s most-dangerous state sponsor of terrorism.

Then, in March, 2024, ISIS-K struck again, this time against the Crocus Theater, a concert arena and mall complex in Moscow, killing over 137 and wounding roughly 100 more. Vladimir Putin tried to blame Ukraine, but ISIS-K was clearly responsible.

ISIS-K’s plot against Taylor Swift’s concerts underscores its growing confidence and geographic reach. How long can it be before ISIS-K-sponsored attacks reach America? The inescapable conclusion is that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has left us more vulnerable to external terrorist threats than before.

Too many politicians and commentators totally failed to see that America’s long watch in Afghanistan was precisely what stopped terrorists from returning and establishing bases from which to launch far-ranging attacks. In late 2020, for example, Senator Rand Paul said there was no “significant worldwide terrorist threat coming from Afghanistan,” and concluded erroneously that we could withdraw without risk.

Of course, it was precisely our presence that made us safe, just as our withdrawal has made us more vulnerable. In 2020, Paul thought it “laughable” to say it was not time to leave Afghanistan. No one should be laughing now.
Pakistan
Pakistan’s military backs Shehbaz Sharif in push for IMF reforms (Financial Times)
Financial Times [8/10/2024 4:14 PM, Humza Jilani, Benjamin Parkin, Farhan Bokari, and Janina Conboye, 14.7M, Neutral]
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has one advantage over his predecessors as he tries to turn around a stricken economy — the all-powerful military’s desire for change.

Sharif, whose administration secured a much-needed $7bn loan from the multilateral lender last month, has promised painful reforms, such as strengthening tax collection and raising household energy tariffs by a fifth.

Previous governments have made and recanted similar pledges in the face of public opposition. But Pakistan’s military has thrown its weight behind the deal, according to government officials, diplomats and analysts, fearing that prolonging the economic crisis would deepen instability and threaten its own considerable financial interests.

Islamabad teetered on the brink of default last year, as dwindling foreign reserves and import restrictions sparked shortages of vital commodities. Inflation soared to 38 per cent, stoking widespread public anger.

“The army is backing the IMF programme as they want Pakistan to avoid a default at all costs,” said a senior government official, who requested anonymity. “They consider themselves the main guarantor of Pakistan’s policies as they realise that the politicians with their history of previous failures will not be able to stabilise the economy.”

Pakistan has a mixed record with the IMF. The country has been forced to go to the multilateral lender two dozen times, and serial governments — including Sharif’s previous administration — have abandoned its prescriptions, dishing out energy subsidies or artificially propping up the currency.

This time, Sharif has vowed to quit rather than backtrack on reforms. His government is, however, “not a popular one”, said Bilal Gilani, executive director of pollster Gallup Pakistan, which is unaffiliated with the international pollster.

His administration’s mandate began on shaky ground, having come second in a February election in which candidates loyal to the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan won the most seats but were blocked from power.

As a result, Sharif has not had time to build public support for reforms. Islamabad has unveiled a tax-heavy budget that aims to raise Rs13tn ($46.6bn) by next July, a roughly 40 per cent increase from the current financial year. Authorities have also said they will expand the tax net — which at about 10 per cent is among the lowest in Asia — to more of the agricultural sector, which could trigger a confrontation with the politically powerful farm lobby.

The support of the military, which ruled Pakistan for half its post-independence history, could help his government stay on track and break the cycle of fiscal mismanagement, soaring inflation and spiralling government debt, observers said.

“Shehbaz Sharif has a long, consistent history of good relations with the military,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, forged during four stints as chief minister of Punjab, the province that is home to most of the army’s top brass. “There’s a strong consensus among the civilian and military leadership that IMF support is essential.”

Muhammad Aurangzeb, the finance minister, told the Financial Times that Islamabad had “no choice but to follow through” on reforms to the tax code, energy sector and lossmaking state-owned enterprises. “As a country, our hand has been forced,” he said. Aurangzeb travelled late last month to China, which is Pakistan’s biggest creditor and has invested about $20bn in energy projects, to discuss reprofiling debt.

Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s planning minister, expressed confidence that the “co-operation between civil and our military institutions” would assuage Beijing and other creditors’ concerns about political uncertainty and a deteriorating security situation, pointing to army chief General Asim Munir’s presence on an investment promotion council, an atypical role for military officer.

“If even political governments change . . . it [the military] provides some strong anchor of continuity,” Iqbal said. Army officers were tapped last week to lead committees tasked with overhauling the power sector and the tax agency.

“They stood at the knife’s edge last year,” said a western diplomat. “Both the Sharif government and the military seem serious about making some hard decisions to . . . keep things from getting that bad again.”

But the military’s ambition for fiscal reform may be limited, analysts and diplomats warned. The UN Development Programme in 2021 described the sprawling networks of army-controlled real estate, food, energy and fertiliser companies as the country’s “largest conglomerate of business entities”. The new tax code preserved exemptions on property sales by military- and bureaucracy-linked entities, and defence spending is still rising despite paltry public finances, stoking public outrage.

The government has also continued to suppress Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, raiding the party’s headquarters, arresting officials and threatening treason charges.

Sharif’s party “believes its survival depends on the PTI’s failure”, said Madiha Afzal, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “It has focused all its energies on repressing PTI, and hoping for Khan and the party’s popular support to wane.”

For now, the military’s backing — and Khan’s continued detention — has limited organised resistance, said Adeel Malik, a professor at the University of Oxford.

But with most of the tax increases set to fall on the salaried middle classes, “who already comply with the tax regime”, he said. “There will eventually be a point where they look for ways to stop complying or take to the streets and protest.”

“This can’t last for ever,” he added.
Attack on Pakistani army posts leaves 3 soldiers and 4 insurgents dead (AP)
AP [8/9/2024 3:13 PM, Staff, 456K, Negative]
Militants attacked three army posts in northwest Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan on Friday, triggering intense shootouts that killed three soldiers and four insurgents, the military said.

The attacks happened in the Tirah Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement. It said a search operation was underway in the area to eliminate any other insurgents and security forces were “determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism.”

The military gave no further details, but a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban in a statement claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Gul Bahadur group is based in Afghanistan, authorities say.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks in recent years, predominantly in the northwest.
India
India and Maldives look to reset ties after troops expelled (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/10/2024 3:03 AM, Staff, 85570K, Positive]
India’s foreign minister called for stronger ties with the Maldives Saturday, on his first trip to the archipelago nation since its pro-China president expelled Indian troops.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he was "committed to deepen India-Maldives ties", after meeting President Mohamed Muizzu in Male on Saturday.

Jaishankar earlier said he was in the Maldives to "take stock of our defence and security engagement", months after Muizzu’s administration signed a military assistance pact with Beijing.

Known as a luxury holiday destination with pristine white sand beaches and secluded resorts, the atoll nation has also become a geopolitical hotspot.

India is suspicious of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean, and Male’s military deal with Beijing came as Muizzu ordered a garrison of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives to assist with maritime patrols to leave.

Global east-west shipping lanes pass the nation’s chain of 1,192 tiny coral islands, stretching around 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator.

India’s government has traditionally considered the Maldives, home to around half a million people, within its sphere of influence.

"For India, neighbourhood is a priority and, in the neighbourhood, Maldives is a priority," Jaishankar said in a speech Friday.

Muizzu thanked India for "always supporting" the country, saying their "enduring partnership continues to strengthen, bringing our nations closer through cooperation in security, development, and cultural exchange", in a post on X.

Male’s foreign minister Moosa Zameer said the two countries had agreed to strengthen economic ties, proposing negotiations on a free trade agreement with New Delhi.

Defence links were also discussed, including "continuing joint exercises and expanding training opportunities for officers", he added.

In June, Muizzu visited New Delhi for Narendra Modi’s inauguration as prime minister.

Muizzu’s election successes hinged on a sustained campaign against India’s outsized political and economic clout in the Maldives.

Its influence has been a periodic source of resentment in the Muslim-majority nation.
India PM vows support after deadly landslide (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/10/2024 9:28 AM, Staff, 85570K, Neutral]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the site of landslides that killed more than 200 people last month, vowing to extend "every possible support" to those who lost homes and loved ones.

Torrential monsoon rains battered the southern coastal state of Kerala and triggered landslides on July 30, burying homes and people in Wayanad district under tonnes of rock and soil.

The number of fatal floods and landslides in India has increased in recent years and experts say climate change is exacerbating the problem.

Wayanad is known for the tea estates that crisscross its hilly countryside and which rely on a large pool of labourers for planting and harvest.

Many of the landslide victims were workers and their families, who were asleep in brick-walled row houses when they were inundated by a powerful wave of brown sludge.

Leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi, who used to represent Wayanad as a member of parliament, said Modi’s visit was "a good decision" and called on him to declare a national disaster.

Modi also visited camps where those who fled the landslides are recovering as well as hospitals.

"Our prayers are with those affected", Modi said.

"I want to assure the families of the deceased that they are not alone," he added, saying funds for relief or rehabilitation work would be provided.

Monsoon rains from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial for agriculture and replenishing water supplies, but they also bring regular destruction.
India’s volatile Kashmir feels sting of media crackdown (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia [8/12/2024 3:32 AM, Kamran Yousuf, 2M, Neutral]
Released after nearly two years in jail over terror and fake news allegations, Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah’s weary face tells the story of deepening media repression in the volatile Indian region.

Shah’s spiral from editor-in-chief of the influential weekly magazine Kashmir Walla to inmate at a high-security jail saw him become one of nearly three dozen local journalists targeted in recent years with police raids, threats, assault and criminal charges, according to Human Rights Watch.

"It is hard to get arrested and sent away to prison," the 34-year-old told Nikkei Asia at a cafe in Kashmir’s capital Srinagar. "It affects your mental health when you are suddenly in a changed atmosphere. ... And physically, I suffered various issues and had to consult medical attention, which is limited in prisons."

Shah’s revolving door of brief arrests linked to investigative reporting led to his jailing in 2022 over an op-ed article that had appeared in the digital magazine more than a decade earlier. It was written by a university scholar who was also jailed for what authorities said amounted to "narrative terrorism" and was "intended to create unrest, and aid and abet the gullible youth to take the path of violence."

Geeta Seshu, founding editor of the Free Speech Collective, said the case was "a signal to others to stay quiet and not to ask questions."

"It had an immediate chilling effect," she added.

Although the opinion piece called for the secession of Kashmir and neighboring Jammu, it didn’t incite violence or call for armed insurrection, the region’s High Court ruled in November, clearing the way for Shah’s release pending more legal proceedings.

Local officials did not reply to multiple attempts seeking comment on his case.

Kashmir is a sensitive topic for the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party yanked Muslim-majority Kashmir’s special autonomy status in 2019, stoking long-standing tensions.

Some 40,000 people have been killed in a separatist insurgency since the early 1990s -- punctuated by allegations of rights abuses -- in the Himalayan region, which is also claimed by neighboring Pakistan.

Critics say the government’s expanding use of anti-terrorism laws and the Public Safety Act has become a systemic tool for silencing dissent in Kashmir. This includes the case against Kashmir Narrator assistant editor Asif Sultan, who was granted bail in May after more than five years in detention.

"Almost every journalist arrested in recent years has faced charges under these laws," said Kunal Majumder, the India representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "For some journalists ... the charges are directly linked to their work. In other cases ... there are indirect connections to their reporting. These laws are often misused to intimidate journalists and stifle dissent, creating a chilling effect on press freedom in the region."

A clampdown on press freedom has rippled across the world’s most populous nation, with India sitting at 159 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

The challenges for Shah ramped up after Kashmir lost its autonomy status. Last year, the news website was blocked, and Shah and his team of 20 faced threats and intimidation that ultimately forced its closure.

"We had been summoned by various agencies, and there was a constant pressure," he said. "It wasn’t easy for my team to keep it running, but they did all they could."

In recent years, New Delhi has bolstered a push against "fake news" and other content it deems "unethical" or "anti-national," expanding its grip on media narratives.

"The consequences of the media crackdown are right in front of us," said an editor for an independent Kashmiri media outlet who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "The official version is the last version, and no one can question that."

The pressure has also put a squeeze on newsroom finances, with many outlets now on their "deathbed," the editor added.

"More and more professionals are succumbing to pressure and quitting. Local news outlets are starved of cash and cannot pay a decent wage. Newsrooms have two options: sell out or quit the space."
NSB
Bangladesh Put Its Eggs in One Economic Basket. Now, a Reckoning. (New York Times)
New York Times [8/11/2024 4:14 PM, Anupreeta Das, 831K, Neutral]
Not long ago, Bangladesh was hailed as an economic miracle. Its singular focus on exporting textiles and apparel delivered rapid growth, lifting millions out of poverty and winning the country’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, fame and admiration.

But Ms. Hasina’s abrupt exit from power this week has exposed the limitations of that strategy, as Bangladesh struggles to combat steep inflation and joblessness that economists say are largely the result of poor policy decisions. Her increasingly authoritarian rule and Bangladesh’s widespread corruption only added to the frustration that boiled over and forced her ouster.

Now, Bangladesh must decide its future.

Student protesters who had called for Ms. Hasina’s resignation have brought in Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer, to oversee an interim government. Mr. Yunus faces a daunting task.

Most immediately, the country must restore order and stabilize its economy. In the longer term, Bangladesh will have to confront the wider economic stresses that had sent the protesters into the streets in the first place. All of that must happen on top of urgent demands to address the widespread abuses of Ms. Hasina’s repressive tenure.

It is unclear how long the interim government will remain in place and how broad a mandate it will assume. But it and Mr. Yunus have the “aspirations of many entrusted upon them to deliver justice, create a functional economy and democracy, and establish rule of law and a transparent and accountable government,” said Saad Hammadi, a fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Canada.

These challenges might be too much for an interim government whose main purpose is to ensure that new leaders are elected through a free and fair process, Mr. Hammadi said in an email. “Institutional reforms will be required across the administration,” he added.

Bangladesh underwent economic reforms starting in the 1970s, and the garment industry has been central to the country’s economy for decades. But Ms. Hasina, who came to power in 2009, narrowed the country’s focus to that single sector and expanded into new global markets, which drove much of Bangladesh’s growth.

Cheaply made garments were attractive to global clothing retailers, especially fast-fashion brands like Zara and H&M. At the same time, that demand created livelihoods for millions of people, especially women, and transformed living standards.

Ms. Hasina spent heavily on infrastructure, reassuring international companies that they could rely on the country to meet their demands.

“What she brought was a level of stability, which was attractive for foreign investors,” said Thomas Kean, a consultant on Bangladesh at the International Crisis Group. Garment buyers were unlikely to send business to Bangladesh if there were worker strikes, power cuts or other factors that made it unreliable, Mr. Kean said.

Ms. Hasina also instilled domestic confidence. Even as she brought the armed forces and judiciary under her control, quashed dissent and turned increasingly authoritarian, there was almost a “compact” between Bangladeshis and her government, Mr. Kean added. “There was a belief that she and the Awami League were the party that would deliver economic growth and development,” he said, referring to the political party Ms. Hasina has led since 1981.

For more than a decade under Ms. Hasina, the economy grew at a blistering pace, in some years crossing 7 percent. Garment exports drove more than 80 percent of the country’s earnings.

But that dependency was also Ms. Hasina’s undoing.

The pandemic reduced global demand for textiles and apparel. At the same time, supply chain disruptions and Russia’s war on Ukraine sharply raised prices for imported food and fuel. With so little diversification in its economy, Bangladesh was unable to pull in enough revenue from other industries to help pay the bills.

As inflation soared, the Hasina government’s efforts to control it backfired. While trying to prop up the value of its weakening currency, Bangladesh spent down its foreign exchange reserves, which dropped so low that it was forced to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2022.

By the time garment exports bounced back after the pandemic, Bangladesh was mired in its short-term troubles — a situation that also highlighted underlying problems. Bangladesh collects very little in taxes, partly because of a lax bureaucracy and an unwillingness by many citizens to pay their taxes. Its tax-to-G.D.P. ratio, a measure of a government’s ability to fund its priorities, is one of the lowest in the world. That meant it could not count on tax revenue to pay its steep bills.

Bangladesh still has a high growth rate, but economists and others say that the growth has been uneven, and that income inequality is high. The sense that the growth story on paper did not match up with the reality people saw on the ground fed into distrust of the government, said Iftekhar Zaman, the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh.

Brazen corruption, including loan fraud and reports of money laundering by many in the business community who were seen as close to the prime minister, sowed further disaffection, Mr. Zaman said. “Everybody knew that this was being sustained by the people who were supposed to control corruption,” he said.

Perhaps the biggest long-term problem for Ms. Hasina was her government’s inability to create new jobs because of its narrow focus on the garment business. There aren’t enough new or better-paying jobs for the country’s large working-age population.

Last month, that cumulative frustration found an outlet when students began demanding an end to a preferential quota system for government jobs, which provide stability that Bangladesh’s private sector often does not. Once Ms. Hasina sent the armed forces to quell the protests, the bubbling frustration with a system that had failed to deliver boiled into rage against her.

On Thursday, Bangladesh swore in the new interim government, with Mr. Yunus, 84, as its leader. He called for calm and appealed to the nation to restore order and eschew violence. Although it’s unclear how long he will remain in office, Mr. Yunus — a social entrepreneur who married profit with development through the microlending operation he pioneered through Grameen Bank — is expected to institute market-friendly reforms.
Yunus Cleared in Graft Case After Becoming Bangladesh Leader (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [8/12/2024 5:14 AM, Arun Devnath, 5.5M, Neutral]
Bangladesh’s leader Muhammad Yunus has been acquitted in a graft case filed by the nation’s Anti-Corruption Commission, just days after he was sworn in to run an interim government following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.

A special court in Dhaka acquitted the Nobel Prize-winning economist along with 13 other people, The Daily Star reported on Sunday, citing an official with the anti-graft commission. If he was found guilty of money laundering in that case, Yunus faced the risk of life imprisonment.

A day before he was sworn in as the chief adviser to the interim government with prime ministerial powers, Yunus was acquitted in a labor violation case in which he had been sentenced to six months in jail. Human-rights lawyers have described both the cases as politically motivated.

Abdullah-Al-Mamun, a lawyer for Yunus, didn’t respond to calls from Bloomberg News.

It’s a swift reversal of fortunes for Yunus, 84, whose supporters say former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was behind the legal pressure. He had been frequently portrayed as a nemesis to Hasina, who once accused Yunus of “sucking blood from the poor.” Yunus has called her downfall a “second liberation” to the country.

After Hasina, 76, fled the country last week following a student-led uprising, the protesters’ attention turned to her loyalists in the judiciary and the central bank. Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan resigned as protesters called for all the judges to step down while Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder stepped aside.

Yunus’s interim government needs to shore up the economy, which is highly dependent on a massive garment-export sector and now a $4.7 billion program from the International Monetary Fund. Foreign currency reserves need to be stabilized after dropping to $20.5 billion last month from a peak of $48 billion about three years ago.

A microfinance pioneer, Yunus is untested as a political administrator, adding to the uncertainty on how he will go about rebuilding a country of over 170 million people. He has spent the first days in his new role urging for calm and warning against attacks on minority groups in the mostly Muslim country.

Yunus and the advisory council discussed the attacks on religious minorities over the weekend to work with the representatives of these groups to “find ways to resolve such heinous attacks.” The talks are taking place as minority Hindu groups staged rallies across the country for a third day on Sunday, demanding for protection and justice.

Members of minority communities faced at least 205 attacks in 52 districts since Hasina’s downfall, according to data compiled by Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council.

The police have called an end to their strike on Sunday after Sakhawat Hussain, who heads the home ministry, gave them a stark choice: return to work by this Thursday or lose their jobs.

Human Rights Watch said the situation for minorities, particularly the Hindus, is extremely dangerous, and it is crucial that public order is restored at the earliest.

“There is no police presence in many places to ensure their safety after policemen were targeted in reprisals for years of abuse under the Hasina government, including during the recent student protests,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director with the Human Rights Watch.
Bangladesh Should Hold Elections Soon, Says Key Political Party (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [8/12/2024 4:22 AM, Sudhi Ranjen Sen, 5.5M, Neutral]
Polls in Bangladesh must be held quickly to ensure stability and security in the South Asian nation, said a senior member of one of the country’s main political parties.

“Elections should take place as soon as possible because the reforms that political parties and the nation are looking for can only be done by a parliament,” said Rumeen Farhana, a lawyer turned lawmaker and a leader in the opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. “The people’s will is the last word and they can express that by exercising their right to choose.”

Sheikh Hasina, one of Asia’s longest-serving leaders, resigned and fled Bangladesh on Aug. 5 under pressure from scores of protesters who demanded she step down. The demonstrations, which were largely led by students, turned deadly as police and pro-government supporters clashed with protesters. More than 350 people were killed in recent weeks.

An interim government was appointed in Bangladesh on Thursday, led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus. Yunus’s administration and Bangladesh’s president haven’t commented on when polls will be held.

Farhana said the Yunus-led interim government has “a reasonable amount of time to steady the ship to hold elections.” But she didn’t specify how long political parties were willing to wait. An interim government in 2006 took about two years to hold a national vote.

The former lawmaker said the current situation was different and not comparable. “There was no revolution in 2006. This time it is revolution,” she said.

Weeks of unrest have made Bangladesh’s economy “susceptible to a collapse,” according to Moody’s Analytics, which slashed its growth forecast and said the country was in the “midst of a currency crisis.” Restoring order and holding elections represent the biggest tests for the Yunus-led interim government.

The former lawmaker also said that Hasina’s political party, the Awami League, should contest the next elections and there was no way Islamist political parties could be barred from the polls.

The Awami League should be allowed to run in the elections “no matter how bad or autocratic they are,” she said.
Bangladesh’s chief justice resigns under pressure as Yunus-led interim government starts working (AP)
AP [8/10/2024 11:22 PM, Julhas Alam, 47701K, Negative]
Bangladesh’s Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan resigned Saturday following new protests by a group of students and other demonstrators, as the country’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus started functioning days after a mass uprising forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India.

Asif Nazrul, law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser to the interim government, said in a video message posted on Facebook that his office received the resignation letter and they would forward it to the country’s figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin for further procedures.

Five other top judges in the Supreme Court also resigned later on Saturday, in an attempt by the new government to reorganize the judiciary.

Tensions rose Saturday morning after the chief justice called for a meeting of the judges of the country’s High Court and the Supreme Court to discuss the working of the judiciary under the new government. The protesters thronged the court premises and demanded that the chief justice and other judges of the top court step down.

A key student leader Asif Mahmud — who was appointed as an adviser at the Ministry of Youth and Sports — urged his supporters to gather at the court premises to press for their unconditional resignations, in a Facebook post in the morning.

The students say the judiciary should perform without any influence from politicians and other authorities.

“We all believe that these justices have not only favored the previous government, but we also believe they have been in the pockets of that party. So, we don’t want any corrupt justices in the judiciary,” said Tahsim Uzzaman, a 26-year-old student of governance and English literature, adding that “we want a whole new system -- the entire point of the movement is no discrimination and that’s not possible if there is still corruption in place.”

On Thursday, Yunus was sworn in, and 16 other members were included in his interim Cabinet, who were drawn mainly from civil society and included two student protest leaders after the president dissolved Parliament. New Cabinet members were chosen after talks earlier this week between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.

On Saturday, Yunus visited the family of a student who died in the northern district of Rangpur, triggering nationwide protests and violence. The death of the 25-year-old Abu Sayeed became a symbol of the protest as he spread his two hands, inviting police to open fire on him. He then fell and doctors declared him dead later. The video spread quickly on social media and the unrest spread.

Yunus was accompanied by two student leaders who were included in the interim Cabinet.

“We have to stand the way Abu Sayeed stood,” he said after visiting the family.

“Abu Sayeed’s mother is everyone’s mother. We have to protect her, protect her sisters, protect her brothers. Everyone has to do it together,” Yunus added.

Protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said benefitted people with connections to Hasina’s party. She resigned and fled to India Monday after the protests morphed into a movement against her government, leaving more than 300 people dead including students and police officers in the ensuing violence.

Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for helping the poor with his work developing a microcredit market in Bangladesh. He was in Paris for the Olympics when he was chosen for the interim role.

He called for peace and promised to bring reforms. The interim government is expected to announce a new election, but it is not clear how long they wish to stay in power and when the elections could be held. The country’s main opposition demanded a new election in three months, but that is unlikely to happen, according to analysts.

Nazrul said that the Yunus-led government would remain in power as long as necessary, trying to address the desires of people and political parties for “reforms” and “election.”

Hasina’s Awami League party has not said anything specific about the election timeframe, but her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said that an election without their party would not be acceptable as it is “the largest” party in Bangladesh.

Yunus had a frosty relationship with Hasina, who had called him a “bloodsucker” allegedly for using force to extract loan repayments from rural poor, mainly women. Yunus denied the allegations.

He faced many court cases and was convicted by a court for violating the country’s labor law and sentenced to six months in jail. But he was on bail upon appeal, and before his appointment, he was acquitted of the charges.

He was quickly selected as the head of the interim government when Hasina’s downfall created a vacuum and left the future uncertain for Bangladesh, which has a history of military rule and myriad crises.

Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand. The U.S. and U.K. denounced the result as not credible. Hasina’s critics say her administration increasingly was marked by human rights abuses and corruption, and was following a streak of authoritarianism.

The chaos on Bangladesh’s streets continued after her resignation. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country.

The military is helping police officers to return to work but it will take more time to get rid of their trauma and to restore police administration to its full functionality.
Hundreds protest in Dhaka over violence against Hindus in Bangladesh (Reuters)
Reuters [8/9/2024 3:39 PM, Ruma Paul and Ponir Hossain, 5.2M, Neutral]
Hundreds of people protested in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Friday against violence targeting the country’s minority Hindus since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled the country earlier this week.

A school teacher was killed and at least 45 people injured as homes, businesses, and temples of Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh were targeted following Hasina’s resignation on Monday.

Protesters - some of them carrying posters demanding Bangladeshi minorities be "saved" - chanted slogans of "who are we, Bengali Bengali" and appealed for peace as they blocked an intersection in the capital on Friday.

Hindus, who make up about 8% of Bangladesh’s population of 170 million, have traditionally supported Hasina’s Awami League party, which sparked people’s anger after violent clashes between anti-quota protesters and security forces last month.

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council estimates at least 52 of the country’s 64 districts have been impacted by communal violence since Aug. 5 and has sought the help of Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winning economist who took charge as head of a caretaker administration on Thursday.

"There is deep apprehension, anxiety and uncertainty among minorities across the country," the council said in an open letter on Friday.

The office of the United Nations Secretary General has said the violence in Bangladesh should be "tamped down", adding it stands against any "racially based attacks" or "racially based incitement to violence".

Thousands of Bangladeshi Hindus have been trying to flee to neighbouring India to escape the violence.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also appealed for the "safety and protection" of Hindus and Bangladesh’s other minorities in a message on X on Thursday.

In a televised address after he took the oath of office, Yunus said his government’s goal would be to ensure "democracy, justice, human rights, and full freedom of fearless expression" for all.
New Bangladesh Govt Says Working To ‘Resolve’ Attacks On Minorities (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/11/2024 7:44 AM, Sean Gleeson and Shafiqul Alam, 4032K, Negative]
Bangladesh’s new interim government said Sunday it was working to resolve attacks on Hindus and other religious minorities reported after the dramatic ouster of autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina.

Hindus are the largest minority faith in mostly Muslim Bangladesh and are considered a steadfast support base for Hasina’s party, the Awami League.

After Hasina’s abrupt resignation and flight abroad on Monday brought an end to her 15 years of autocratic rule, there were numerous reports of attacks against Hindu households, temples and businesses.

"The attacks on religious minorities in some places have been noted with grave concern," the interim cabinet said in its first official statement since its Thursday appointment.

The cabinet said it would "immediately sit with the representative bodies and other concerned groups to find ways to resolve such heinous attacks".

Sunday’s statement from the self-styled "council of advisors" tasked with steering democratic reforms in the South Asian nation of 170 million people listed numerous urgent priorities.

The government, led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, ordered "support" for the families of protesters who were killed in the weeks of demonstrations culminating in Hasina’s departure.

It directed public funds to pay for those injured in the unrest, which began in July and killed more than 450 people.

The council also said it would reopen the metro system in the capital Dhaka by the end of the week and soon appoint a new central bank governor, replacing a Hasina loyalist forced to resign.

Earlier in the day a new chief justice was sworn in to office the day after his predecessor, another Hasina ally accused of sublimating the Supreme Court to her government’s will, quit following protester demands.

It is the latest in a string of fresh appointments to replace an old guard viewed as linked to the previous regime, ousted by the student-led uprising.

New top justice Syed Refaat Ahmed studied at the University of Dhaka, Oxford and Tufts University in the United States.

Ahmed replaced Obaidul Hassan after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the court to demand the latter step-down.

Appointed last year, Hassan earlier oversaw a much-criticised war crimes tribunal that ordered the execution of Hasina’s opponents, and his brother was her longtime secretary.

Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India on Monday as protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted rule.

Her government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents, during her 15-year rule.

Cabinet ministers left blindsided by her sudden fall have gone to ground, while several other top appointees have been forced out of office, including the national police chief.

Interim leader Yunus, 84, returned from Europe on Thursday to lead a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of ending disorder and enacting democratic reforms.

The restoration of law and order was the caretaker administration’s "first priority", Yunus said.

Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance, credited with helping millions of Bangladeshis out of grinding poverty.

He took office as "chief advisor" to a caretaker administration, comprised of fellow civilians bar one retired brigadier-general, and has said he wants to hold elections "within a few months".
Bangladesh’s Hasina did not resign before fleeing, son says (Reuters)
Reuters [8/9/2024 3:31 PM, Krishna N. Das, 5.2M, Neutral]
Long-time Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina had not resigned as prime minister before fleeing this week to India as anti-government protesters marched on her official residence, her son and adviser told Reuters early on Saturday.

Hasina has been sheltering in New Delhi since Monday following an uprising that killed about 300 people, many of them students, ending her uninterrupted rule of 15 years in the country of 170 million people.

"My mother never officially resigned. She didn’t get the time," Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed told Reuters from Washington.

"She had planned to make a statement and submit her resignation. But then the protesters started marching on the prime minister’s residence. And there was no time. My mother wasn’t even packed. As far as the constitution goes, she is still the prime minister of Bangladesh."

He said though the president had dissolved parliament after consulting with military chiefs and opposition politicians, the formation of a caretaker government without the prime minister actually formally resigning "can be challenged in court".

Wazed also said Hasina’s Awami League party would contest the next election, which he said must be held within three months.

"I’m confident the Awami League will come to power. If not, we will be the opposition. Either way is fine," he said.

He said he was encouraged by a recent statement from Khaleda Zia, chief of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a Hasina foe, that there should be no revenge or vengeance after Hasina fled.

"I was very happy to hear Mrs. Khaleda Zia’s statement that let bygones be bygones," Wazed said. "Let’s forget the past. Let us not pursue the politics of vengeance. We are going to have to work together, whether it’s a unity government or not."

He said he was "willing to work with the BNP ... to have democratic elections in Bangladesh and restore democracy and to work with them to ensure that going forward, we have peaceful democracy where there will be free and fair elections".

"I believe that politics and negotiations are very important," he said. "We can argue. We can agree to disagree. And we can always find a compromise."

Asked whether he would be the Awami League’s prime ministerial candidate, he said: "My mother was going to retire after this term anyway. If the party wants me to, maybe. I will definitely consider it."

He said his mother was ready to face trial back home, as demanded by students who led the uprising.

"The threat of arrest has never scared my mother before," he said. "My mother has done nothing wrong. Just because people in her government did illegal things, did not mean my mother ordered it. That does not mean my mother is responsible for that."

He did not say who in the government was responsible for allowing the shooting of people during the protests.

"A government is a big, big machinery," Wazed said. "Those who are responsible, they should be brought to justice. My mother absolutely did not order anyone to commit violence against the protesters. The police were trying to stop the violence, but some police officers used excessive force."

"Our government immediately, and I was part of those conversations, I also told my mother, we need to immediately tell (our students wing) not to attack, stop the violence," he said.
"We suspended the police officers that shot at students. We did everything we could."
He said he would return home when he liked.

"I have never done anything illegal. So, how is anyone going to stop me?" he said. "The political parties are not going anywhere. You cannot wipe us out. Without our help, without our supporters, you are not going to be able to bring stability to Bangladesh."
Son says Hasina will return to Bangladesh (BBC)
BBC [8/9/2024 9:07 PM, Anbarasan Ethirajan, 65502K, Negative]
The ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, will return to the country when elections are declared, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy says.

Ms Hasina, who resigned and fled the country earlier this week following a massive unrest, is currently in India.

Bangladeshi media say more than 500 people were killed in weeks of demonstrations against Ms Hasina. Many of them were shot by the police.

Thousands were injured in the worst violence Bangladesh has seen since its war of independence in 1971.

“Absolutely, she will come [to Bangladesh],” Mr Wazed tells the BBC, saying his mother will return as and when the interim government decides to hold the polls.

The military-backed interim government, headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, was sworn in on Thursday along with 16 advisers.

Two of the student protest leaders are among the advisers.

Mr Wazed is an information technology expert who now lives in the US.

He worked as an IT adviser for Ms Hasina for several years during her tenure as prime minister from 2009 to 2024.

“She will certainly go back," her son says.

"Whether she comes back into politics or not, that decision has not been made. She is quite fed up with how she was treated."

The student-led movement started as a protest against quotas in civil service jobs last month before becoming massive unrest to oust Ms Hasina following a brutal police crackdown.

Mr Joy is confident that when the polls are held, the Awami League, the party of Ms Hasina, will emerge victorious.

“I am convinced that If you have elections in Bangladesh today, and if they are free and fair and if there’s a level playing field, then the Awami League will win," he says.

Ms Hasina became prime minister for a fourth consecutive term in a controversial election held in January 2024.

The main opposition parties boycotted the election saying under Ms Hasina’s government there could not be “any free and fair election”.

Her son termed the current interim government as unconstitutional and said elections should be held within 90 days.

However, he was a bit circumspect about his political ambitions or whether he would return to the country to stand for the leadership of the Awami League, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, and Ms Hasina.

“No decision has been made in this regard. I never had political ambitions,” he says.

But he adds that he was upset over the way the protesters had ransacked and set fire to their ancestral homes, including the museum dedicated to his grandfather in Dhaka.

“Under these circumstances, I am quite angry, I will do whatever it takes,” he says.

He says he is in touch with party supporters who are very upset and outraged over what happened in the past few weeks.

“If 40,000 protesters or so can force the government to resign, then what happens if protests are held by the Awami League, which has millions of supporters?” he asserts.

Ms Hasina and her sister (Rehana Siddiq) have been stranded in Delhi since Monday.

India has been a strong supporter of the Bangladeshi leader.

There have been reports she is trying to seek asylum in the UK, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.

“Those questions about her visa and asylum, they are all rumours," her son says.

"She’s not applied anywhere. She’s staying put for the time being, watching how the situation unfolds in Bangladesh.

“Her ultimate goal is always to go back home in Bangladesh.”

Asked about well-documented human rights violations and extra-judicial killings during his mother’s 15-year tenure, he says some mistakes were made.

“Of course, there were individuals in our government who made mistakes, but we always righted the ship,” he adds.

“We had one minister’s son, who was a member of the special police force. He is in jail convicted of extra-judicial killings. That’s unprecedented.”

“My mother tried to do the right thing in terms of arrests,” her son insists.
After Hasina, Bangladesh needs a foreign policy reset (Nikkei Asia – opinion)
Nikkei Asia [8/11/2024 4:05 PM, Thomas Kean, 2042K, Negative]
The remarkable downfall of Bangladesh’s leader Sheikh Hasina was shocking in its speed, but the prime minister’s hasty escape to India as angry protesters converged on her Dhaka residence on Aug. 5 was not a total surprise. The signs of deep rot have been clear for several years. Bangladesh’s "economic miracle," which lifted so many out of extreme poverty, was beginning to sour. There was also growing frustration at Hasina’s manipulation of national elections, curtailing of personal freedoms and undermining of institutions.

Economics and politics were inextricably linked in the slide of Bangladesh: corruption and mismanagement burdening the economy were essential for sustaining the patronage networks that kept an increasingly unpopular autocrat in power. A massive win for Hasina’s Awami League in the January 2024 election, after the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotted, failed to mask the seething discontent.

There was still little sense of the regime’s looming collapse when a group of students began protesting on July 1 against an unpopular quota system for government jobs. The protests gradually morphed into a mass movement calling for Hasina’s resignation. Ultimately, a combination of the protesters’ determination and Hasina’s own arrogance brought down her government.

With remarkable speed, an improbable interim government was sworn in on Aug. 8 after negotiations between the army chief, the president and student leaders. Leading the caretaker administration is Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the protesters’ preferred pick and a non-partisan figure widely admired for his integrity. It marks a stunning turnaround for the man known as the "banker to the poor" for pioneering microfinance initiatives; Hasina had waged a long, personal vendetta, hitting him with numerous charges.

Within Bangladesh there is now a mix of unease about the future and some optimism that Yunus can get the economy back on track while spearheading political reforms to rebuild democracy and prevent another dictator from emerging. It is a monumental challenge. But the diverse composition of the interim government, ranging from student leaders to technocrats, is an excellent first step.

Despite the temporary nature of the interim government, and a constitutional requirement to hold elections within 90 days, there is a widespread expectation that a constitutional workaround will be found to give Yunus, now 84, the time he needs to pursue major changes on both the political and economic fronts. The consensus seems to be that Yunus will likely serve for at least a year, possibly two. It is critical that any extension of his term be done in a way that preserves the legitimacy of his administration and as well as an ongoing mandate for reform.

Yunus will face the challenge of keeping in check the BNP and the Awami League, both capable of bringing masses onto the streets to push their agendas, while satisfying the army and the student movement. His first and most urgent task will be to re-establish rule of law and prevent reprisal attacks, including on minority Hindus; almost as many people have been killed since Sheikh Hasina fled as died during the protest movement that toppled her.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s international partners, while welcoming the change and the prevention of a catastrophic massacre, are now scrambling to respond.

The country with arguably the most at stake is India, Bangladesh’s influential neighbor, which was completely blindsided by recent developments. New Delhi was Hasina’s strongest backer during her 15 years in power, and it was where she turned for sanctuary on Aug. 5 when the army made clear it was not going to massacre protesters closing in on her residence.

New Delhi’s staunch backing for an unpopular leader has already cost it strategically by aligning it with her failed rule and amplifying pre-existing anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh. India now needs to tread carefully and avoid creating any perception it is undermining the interim government, and by extension the aspirations of the Bangladeshi people.

Many Indian commentators have pinned Hasina’s fall on foreign interference, with some even claiming the U.S. had "trigger[ed] a coup" for geopolitical reasons. But the evidence suggests that this could not be further from the truth. While Bangladesh has become something of a geopolitical battleground due to the rise of China, Hasina was generally adept at managing international relationships in order to maintain her grip on power.

Western countries have generally overlooked the regime’s democratic shortcomings, corruption and human rights abuses, instead prioritizing relations with Dhaka. Some in Bangladesh argue that this made them complicit in Hasina’s authoritarian behaviour, because their silence only emboldened her.

Assuming the caretaker administration is extended past 90 days, the West will find in Muhammad Yunus a more natural partner than the combative Hasina. He will try to drive forward political and economic reforms, and it is hard to imagine donors turning down any reasonable requests he makes for technical or financial support. As the major buyers of Bangladesh garments -- which generate 85% of export income -- strong relations with the U.S. and Europe are also essential for maintaining economic stability. At the same time, Yunus will also likely try to keep from relying too heavily on the West. As someone who was victimized by Hasina, he too might harbor some resentment at the West’s failure to rein her in.

This means that in addition to looking to the European Union and the U.S., Dhaka will also be cultivating relations in its own region. Big-spending development partners such as China and Japan could benefit. Yunus will look for financial support to fix Bangladesh’s infrastructure and maintain economic stability in the short-term amid declining foreign exchange reserves.

China, in particular, had shown growing dismay at Hasina’s reliance on India, which had seen Indian companies trump Chinese counterparts on some major projects, such as management of Mongla port and a dam on the Teesta River. Beijing made its displeasure clear when Hasina visited in July; it refused to give her the billions of dollars of economic assistance she was expecting, prompting her to cut the visit short.

Nevertheless, geography dictates that India will continue to be Bangladesh’s most important partner. Once New Delhi comes around to the new reality in Dhaka, there is no reason why it should not be able to get bilateral relations back on track. It can accelerate this process by actively engaging with political forces beyond the Awami League, such as the interim government and the newly empowered BNP, which for now appears the most likely to win a future election.

Although India has tended to view the opposition party as antithetical to its interests, the BNP would likely be open to greater engagement -- indeed, it attempted to persuade New Delhi prior to the January 2024 election that it was not a threat. Establishing a working relationship with the BNP would better position India to retain influence beyond the interim government, regardless of the election outcome.

Finally, Myanmar will be one of the interim government’s major foreign policy challenges. Since Myanmar’s military takeover in February 2021, the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, has seized control of almost the entire border with Bangladesh, including areas of Rakhine state from where Rohingya refugees fled in 2016-17. Bangladesh hosts almost 1 million Rohingya in camps near the Myanmar border. Under Hasina, Dhaka hewed closely to India’s approach to Myanmar, continuing to engage Naypyitaw on repatriation and ignoring overtures from the Arakan Army.

Bangladesh urgently needs to develop its own policies that reflect the changes in Myanmar over the past three years. Most urgently, a humanitarian crisis is brewing over the border that if left unaddressed could see another major influx of Rohingya. The day Hasina was being forced from power, the Arakan Army attacked the town of Maungdaw, the military regime’s last stronghold in northern Rakhine State, leading to the deaths of more than 100 Rohingya who were trying to flee. The interim government member responsible for the foreign ministry, Touhid Hossain, has recently advocated for greater engagement with the Arakan Army, signalling a potential policy shift.

Under Hasina, Bangladesh’s foreign policy was mainly a tool for keeping the regime in power; with some skill, she routinely played off international partners against each other. But Yunus’s interim government now has the chance to reset and advance policies that serve the interests of Bangladesh, and not a single person or party.
Bangladesh Garment Factories to Western Buyers: You Can Rely on Us (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal [8/10/2024 12:02 AM, Jon Emont, 810K, Neutral]
In recent weeks, Bangladeshi garment-factory owners have been on the phone with Western clothing brands, making the case that their country is a stable link in their supply chains. It has been a tricky sell.

The world’s second largest garment producer has been rocked in recent weeks by protests and instability triggered by anger over grim employment prospects. The turbulence followed large-scale wage protests last year that were marked by violence.

This time around, an industry body for the $38 billion clothing-export sector estimates the exporters have lost six days of production because of unrest that erupted in mid-July, though other factory owners say the loss is closer to twice that much time.

“It is not a massive body blow by any means,” said Miran Ali, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

On Sunday, deadly clashes killed at least 85 people, after weeks of tumultuous demonstrations that led the government to impose curfews and cut off the internet. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. Police have left their posts, and businesses associated with the old government were targeted by mobs.

Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate and economist who pioneered microcredit, took charge of a caretaker government Thursday and appealed for calm. “We are one family,” he said.

Congestion on roads and a minimal police presence mean some factory owners have decided to delay shipping finished clothes. A small number of factories were burned by arsonists during the turmoil.

With the situation now stabilizing, many factory owners say they have managed to get their factories back up and running, and workers have been eager to return to work and earn their paychecks.

With Yunus in charge “the global image of Bangladesh will be of a country that is being reformed,” Ali said. “I’m expecting a net benefit.”

But industry analysts say that the combination of recurring bouts of instability, higher wages and long-term problems—such as Bangladesh’s infrastructure being significantly worse than rivals like China and Vietnam—are gnawing at the country’s competitiveness.

Last October, hundreds of factories paused operations after a worker campaign for higher wages descended into violence. Garment workers eventually settled for a 55% rise in the minimum wage to around $113 a month—far less than worker advocates sought—but a significant boost nonetheless. In December, when the new minimum wage took effect, workers making clothing for Swedish giant H & M received a wage of $138, a 30% bump to what they received the month before, according to the company.

Bangladesh’s garment exports to the U.S., its top market, declined 11% in the first half of this year, compared with the first six months of 2023.

The 2024 Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study, a survey of about 30 major U.S. fashion companies, released in July found that 48% of major U.S. fashion companies intended to increase purchases from Bangladesh over the next two years, down from 58% in 2022.

Sheng Lu, a professor of apparel studies at the University of Delaware, said Bangladesh’s higher minimum wage and shifting consumer interest toward trendier items produced elsewhere had cut into the nation’s market share. Meanwhile, another low-cost rival, India, is gaining, thanks to its ability to produce its own fabric, which saves production time.

Bangladesh faces “some really tough situations right now,” said Lu, who helped conduct the benchmarking study.

From late July into August, shipping clothing from Bangladesh was far from smooth. Government curfews forced ports to work with skeleton staff. Some ships waited for up to five days to load and unload at the Port of Chittagong.

Maersk this week said container movement continues to be slow, with fewer officials on site at the port.

Clothing brands are staying nimble. During an earnings call on Tuesday, Bracken Darrell, the chief executive of VF Corp, an American company that owns brands such as North Face and Vans, said it is facing some disruption in Bangladesh, where about 15% of its production is based. Darrell said he was fairly confident that the situation would improve, but he added that orders could be shifted elsewhere if necessary.

An H&M spokeswoman said that according to the company’s latest information, factories are gradually opening again. She said H & M, one of the biggest buyers of Bangladeshi garments, has told suppliers it wouldn’t seek to claim discounts on goods that are delayed, a typical practice in the industry.

The period between June and September is a crucial time in Bangladesh for the industry, as factories rush to fulfill orders for the back-to-school season and the December holidays.

A 2013 factory collapse at Rana Plaza killed more than 1,000 workers, putting the spotlight on poor working conditions and causing a wave of worker protests around Bangladesh. While safety conditions have improved markedly since then, brands continue to treat Bangladesh as a sensitive place from which to source, even as it has emerged as a top garment exporter.

A critical question for retailers is whether the political situation will remain calm.

The latest round of unrest, which came after elections in January that were boycotted by opposition parties, has seen some of the country’s deadliest violence in years. More than 300 people have been killed after clashes intensified around mid-July.

Anger is still simmering toward Hasina’s Awami League over its autocratic rule, while student protest leaders and political parties are likely to differ over the road map to elections. If the instability continues, said Lu, it “surely will raise concerns about sourcing from the country.”
More injured Rohingya arriving in Bangladesh as Myanmar war intensifies (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [8/12/2024 3:00 AM, Staff, 20.9M, Negative]
More Rohingya are arriving in Bangladesh from Myanmar with war-related injuries amid escalating conflict between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) in western Rakhine State, according to international medical group Doctors without Borders, known by its French initials MSF.

MSF said its teams in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, treated 39 people for conflict-related injuries including mortar shell injuries and gunshot wounds in the four days leading up to August 7. More than 40 percent of the injured were women and children, it added in a statement.

Staff at its clinic said it was the first time in a year that they had seen serious injuries on such a scale.

“Considering the rise in the number of wounded Rohingya patients crossing from Myanmar in recent days, and the nature of the injuries our teams are treating, we are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of the conflict on Rohingya people,” said Orla Murphy, MSF’s country representative in Bangladesh. “It is clear that safe space for civilians in Myanmar is shrinking more each day, with people caught up in the ongoing fighting and forced to make perilous journeys to Bangladesh to seek safety.”

The mostly Muslim Rohingya have long been a target of discrimination and ethnic violence in Rakhine.

In 2017, at least 750,000 Rohingya fled into Bangladesh after the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown that is now being investigated as a genocide. Many of the thousands who remain continue to live in camps where their movements are restricted.

Fighting in the state has escalated in recent months after the AA, which claims to represent Rakhine’s Buddhist majority and is fighting for autonomy, joined armed groups fighting against the military, which seized power in a coup in February 2021.

At the end of June, the UK-based Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) warned of an “intensifying genocide” in Rakhine amid fierce fighting in Maungdaw, a coastal town near the Bangladesh border where many Rohingya live.

The same month the fighting forced MSF to suspend its health services in northern Rakhine.

MSF said the Rohingya seeking its assistance in Bangladesh had told them a “desperate situation” was unfolding in Rakhine.

“Some reported seeing people bombed while trying to find boats to cross the river into Bangladesh and escape the violence,” the statement said. “Others described seeing hundreds of dead bodies on the riverbanks. Many patients spoke of being separated from their families en route to safer areas and of loved ones being killed in the violence. Many people said they were fearful that family members remaining in Myanmar would not survive.”

A drone attack just outside Maungdaw a week ago killed dozens of people waiting to cross into Bangladesh, the Reuters news agency reported at the weekend.

A heavily pregnant woman and her two-year-old daughter were among the victims, it added, with the military and AA each blaming the other for the atrocity.

MSF said there was a need to immediately protect civilians caught up in the conflict.

“People must not come under indiscriminate attack and should be allowed to leave for safer areas, while all those in need of vital medical care should have unhindered and sustained access to medical facilities,” Murphy said.
Maldives Opposition Warns FTA With China Imperils Economic Sovereignty (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [8/12/2024 2:00 AM, Ahmed Naish, 1.2M, Neutral]
The Maldives is preparing to implement a controversial free trade agreement (FTA) signed with China nearly seven years ago.

The deal will come into force in September after legal processes are completed, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced in his Independence Day address on July 26.

“The result will be 298 fisheries items becoming duty-free. And many value-added items, a total of 7,897 items in nine sectors, will be duty-free,” he said. “This is a very big opportunity at the individual level for Maldivian businesses to sell these items in China.”

The process of entering an FTA with Turkey for 53 exports is at “a very advanced stage,” Muizzu revealed, expressing hope of signing similar deals with the United Kingdom and India.

A formal proposal from Muizzu to begin negotiations with India was made on Saturday (August 10) during Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar’s three-day visit to the Maldives. “This agreement alongside other economic and trade-related agreements will facilitate trade liberalization and ease the risks of doing business in both our countries,” Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer said in a statement.

The decision to implement the Sino-Maldives FTA came after Zameer led a ministerial delegation on an official visit to China in late July. During bilateral talks, the Maldives foreign minister briefed his Chinese counterpart on austerity measures planned to avert a looming debt crisis.

The Maldives owes $1.37 billion to China, representing about 40 percent of public debt, the bulk of which were loans from the Chinese EXIM Bank to finance infrastructure projects.

In his Independence Day address, Muizzu announced that China has “given the green signal” for deferring loan and interest payments for five years. “Technical work on that is ongoing. Isn’t this how foreign policy needs to be shaped to protect a nation’s independence, as I see it,” he added.

Despite the President’s optimism, Beijing has yet to confirm the five-year grace period. In May, the Chinese ambassador to the Maldives said China has no intention of restructuring debt. “We are prioritizing providing free aid to the Maldives so as not to further increase Maldives’ debt,” Ambassador Wang Lixin told the local press.

An undisclosed amount of grant aid pledged during Muizzu’s state visit to China in January has not been forthcoming so far. However China has agreed to finance feasibility studies to redevelop roads in the capital Malé.

After Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won a landslide victory in April’s parliamentary elections, a former senior Maldivian government official told Al Jazeera that “China has a lot of leverage” and was likely to seek favors in return, such as the ratification of the free trade deal.

The FTA with China, the Maldives’ first bilateral trade deal, was signed in December 2017 during former President Abdulla Yameen’s state visit to China. But his successor, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), decided against seeking the legislative changes needed for implementation.

The FTA will undermine Maldivian economic sovereignty and threaten the country’s independence, MDP Chairman Fayyaz Ismail, former economic development minister in Solih’s cabinet, warned in response to Muizzu’s announcement.

As the Maldives is not a major exporter, the FTA will disproportionately benefit China, Fayyaz argued at an MDP panel discussion on July 31.

“We are a country that imports 95 percent of the goods that we need. Economic sovereignty can only be upheld if trade sovereignty is upheld, by maintaining our trade sovereignty. For an importing country such as ourselves, we need to have a very strong policy for goods imports. That is how we can get the food and things that we need without depending on one party,” he said.

If tariffs are eliminated for Chinese goods, Maldivian businesses will be forced to exclusively import from China as goods from other countries would not be able to compete against cheaper Chinese goods in the market, Fayyaz explained.

The state would also lose revenue from customs duties as local businesses would be dissuaded from importing goods from elsewhere at a higher cost, he stressed. “So what happens is, gradually all the trade links we have formed over the years end up breaking,” he said, referring to traditional trading partners such as UAE, India and Thailand.

China is not a top destination for exports from the Maldives. According to customs data, in the first quarter of 2024, nearly half of fish exports went to Thailand. The United Kingdom and Germany were the other major markets. But along with Oman, India, Singapore and UAE, China was among the top five countries for imports with goods worth $108 million from January to March this year. During the same period, imports from India amounted to $174 million.

Fayyaz also cast doubt on the touted benefits of duty-free fish exports to China, which he called “one of our main competitors.” An FTA with the United Kingdom, a key market for Maldivian fish exports, would be more beneficial, the former trade minister suggested.
Central Asia
Astana Hosts 6th Consultative Meeting Of Central Asian Leaders (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [8/11/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 235K, Neutral]
The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan convened in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on August 9 to hold the sixth consultative meeting of the leaders of Central Asian states, the Kazakh president’s office said.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev greeted his counterparts and stressed that the regular meetings of the regional leaders indicate the Central Asian states’ commitment to strengthen "centuries-long ties of friendship and further develop cooperation between the neighboring nations."

Toqaev said thanks to the five countries’ joint efforts "enormous progress has been achieved" in developing the meetings since the first such gathering was held in 2018 in Astana.

"The results of the previous five meetings, at which important agreements were concluded, clearly demonstrate that," he said.

Toqaev also called on his colleagues to take into account global challenges when reaching mutual agreements on the Central Asian region’s further development.

Presidents Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Serdar Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan, and Shavkat Mirziyoev of Uzbekistan arrived in Astana on August 8.

The presidents signed several documents, including a joint statement on the results and the Central Asia -- 2040 development concept, outlining the priorities for regional convergence, primarily aimed at expanding five-party interaction and strengthening Central Asia’s international subjectivity.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Kakha Imnadze, head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, attended the meeting as guests.
Central Asian leaders sound optimistic note on expanding regional trade at Astana meeting (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [8/9/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
A growing spirit of cooperation underpinned the August 9 gathering of the leaders of all five Central Asia states, along with Caspian neighbor Azerbaijan.

“Sustainable development” was the buzzword of the day for participants of the 6th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, held in the Kazakh capital Astana.

“We are jointly shaping a new image of Central Asia as a region of great opportunities, looking to the future,” the gathering’s host, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, told his fellow regional leaders. “Given the combined potential of our countries, we can make a significant contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda.”

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev echoed those sentiments, asserting that “Central Asia is becoming a space of good-neighborliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and sustainable development.”

The font of such cheerful rhetoric is a shared regional desire to expand trade, both within and across the region, connecting China and Western markets via the so-called Middle Corridor. Tokayev noted all Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – were removing trade barriers and modernizing border checkpoints to speed freight transit. “Trade, economic and investment cooperation is developing dynamically,” he said.

A US-sponsored initiative, dubbed the B5+1 process, provides a framework for improving trade flows within the region. Most efforts to ease trade barriers have, to date, occurred on a bilateral, not regional level. There has been lots of talk about speeding commerce, but action to achieve that objective has been limited, and there is lots of work still to be done, experts and observers say. Agreements have been signed, but efficient implementation remains an open question.

The highest profile trade initiative in 2024 involves a “green power plan” by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to export solar- and wind-generated electricity across the Caspian Sea to Western markets. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated in the meeting, emphasizing in his address to the assembly that “Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia are a single historical, cultural and geopolitical space of increasing strategic importance.”

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the region’s two largest economies, are taking the lead in promoting regional economic cooperation and integration. At a one-on-one meeting August 8 that preceded the Astana regional gathering, Tokayev and Mirziyoyev signed over a dozen documents and agreements, including several aimed at streamlining border controls and procedures, and boosting trade in the agricultural sector.

“The volume of trade in this [agricultural] sector reached $1.7 billion, which is about a third of the total trade volume,” Tokayev noted in a statement released by the presidential press service. “Kazakhstan is interested in supplies of socially significant food products from Uzbekistan. In turn, we will continue to export flour, wheat and other products to our Uzbek partners.”

The two leaders, who billed their meeting as the inaugural session of the Kazakh-Uzbek Supreme Interstate Council, set a target of doubling annual bilateral trade volume in the coming years to $10 billion. The bilateral council will work not only to improve trade systems, but also address environmental concerns that can have an outsized impact on economic development, in particular the “integrated and rational use of water resources of transboundary rivers.”
Central Asia leaders call for joint policy on water issues (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/9/2024 10:20 PM, Staff, 4032K, Neutral]
Central Asian leaders met in Kazakhstan Friday to seek to agree a shared policy on water management in a region where the scarce resource causes frequent disputes.

Interruptions to water supplies are a regular occurrence in the five ex-Soviet Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan -- whose territory is 80% desert and steppe.

Hosting the summit, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said it was "necessary to develop a new consolidated water policy, based on equal and fair use of water and strict fulfilment of obligations", the presidential website said.

The way water access is shared in the Central Asian states has remained the same since the Soviet era and is fraught with problems: those countries with more water exchange it in return for electricity from the more energy-rich countries.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which have more water than the others, have often clashed over control of supplies.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, on Friday called for the creation of a "mutually economically beneficial mechanism for water and energy cooperation", taking into account "the limited amount of water resources and their importance for the whole region".

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed the need to adopt a "regional strategy on the rational use of water resources of cross-border rivers".

The volume of water in the main Central Asian rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, is set to continue falling in the years to come, according to experts.

And shortages of water along with global warming is compounded by significant waste due to outdated infrastructure.

After three years of tensions, the Central Asian states are now trying to coordinate efforts in numerous areas, particularly water management, amid growing demand for agriculture and energy generation in a region with a population of around 80 million.

Another concern for the Central Asian governments is the construction by the Taliban of the Qosh Tepa Canal to irrigate northern Afghanistan, which could further threaten water supplies.
Twitter
Afghanistan
Jahanzeb Wesa
@JahanzebWesa
[8/11/2024 11:42 AM, 2.6K followers, 3 retweets, 3 likes]
Migration in Afghanistan: Taliban rejects IOM report of 8 million Afghans migrating. IOM reported last week that nearly 8 million Afghans have emigrated from the country since 2020, a claim the Taliban rejects. #Migration #Afghanistan #Refugees #IOM https://x.com/hafizmiakhel/s/hafizmiakhel/status/1822647653705904212

Jahanzeb Wesa
@JahanzebWesa
[8/11/2024 9:50 AM, 2.6K followers, 5 retweets, 8 likes]
On the eve of the third anniversary, Afghan activists gathered in Germany, to protest against the Taliban’s "discriminatory" anti-woman policies. They called on the international community to refrain from engaging with the Taliban and recognize gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

Jahanzeb Wesa
@JahanzebWesa
[8/11/2024 9:26 AM, 2.6K followers, 2 likes]
Anna Corbett, the wife of Ryan Corbett, a US citizen who was arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan two years ago and is still in prison, says the Joe Biden administration must keep its promise to release her husband from Taliban prison. She says, "I’m not rich and famous."

Freshta Razbaan
@RazbaanFreshta
[8/11/2024 9:35 AM, 4.8K followers, 8 retweets, 23 likes]
August 15th, a grim anniversary for Afghanistan, stands as a stark reminder of a nation’s shattered aspirations. On this day, the Taliban’s resurgence cast a long, ominous shadow over a country once brimming with hope. It was a brutal coup, a violent retraction of progress that has had far-reaching and devastating consequences. The dreams of a generation, nurtured in the fragile bloom of newfound freedoms and opportunities, were abruptly curtailed. The nation’s potential, once envisioned as a beacon of resilience and growth, was eclipsed by the specter of authoritarianism. The return of the Taliban marked a tragic reversal, plunging Afghanistan into a crisis that continues to unfold. #AfghanProsecutors #BlackDay #15thAugust #Afghanistan

Freshta Razbaan
@RazbaanFreshta
[8/11/2024 8:06 AM, 4.8K followers, 1 like]
Afghan citizens, especially those in Kabul, are being interrogated like prisoners by Taliban terrorists even while they are trying to relax and enjoy themselves. https://x.com/i/status/1822605624665862599
Pakistan
Anas Mallick
@AnasMallick
[8/10/2024 5:24 AM, 73.4K followers, 6 retweets, 30 likes]
The United States has issued the Agreema(diplomatic document of acceptance) of Pakistan’s Ambassador Designate for the United States, Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh ( @Rizwanssheikh ) -- He will take charge later this month.
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/11/2024 1:14 AM, 100.9M followers, 7.6K retweets, 60K likes]
It is a proud moment for us to see Rashtrapati Ji being honoured with the Grand-Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste, the nation’s highest civilian award. This reflects the strong ties and mutual respect between our countries. It is also a recognition of her monumental contribution to public life for several years.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/10/2024 10:34 PM, 100.9M followers, 4.1K retweets, 28K likes]
Pained by the passing away of Shri Natwar Singh Ji. He made rich contributions to the world of diplomacy and foreign policy. He was also known for his intellect as well as prolific writing. My thoughts are with his family and admirers in this hour of grief. Om Shanti.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/10/2024 11:47 AM, 100.9M followers, 7.4K retweets, 46K likes]
The landslides in Wayanad have saddened us all. Since the tragedy unfolded, I’ve been closely monitoring the situation. The Central government has mobilised all resources to assist those affected. Today, I went there and reviewed the situation. I also undertook an aerial survey.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/10/2024 11:47 AM, 100.9M followers, 319 retweets, 1K likes]
I personally met those who have been impacted by the landslides. I fully understand the effect this has had on numerous families. I also visited the relief camps and spoke with those who have been injured.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/10/2024 11:47 AM, 100.9M followers, 1.1K retweets, 3.4K likes]
I assure everyone, especially those affected, that all possible support will continue being provided. We all stand with the people of Kerala during this challenging time.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/10/2024 11:47 AM, 100.9M followers, 1.1K retweets, 3.6K likes]
I also met officials and those working at the front lines to thank them for their service in challenging times. As soon as we receive detailed information from the Kerala Government, the Centre will take all necessary steps to assist in rebuilding essential infrastructure, including schools and homes, in the affected region.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/9/2024 1:29 PM, 100.9M followers, 4.1K retweets, 17K likes]
A home brings dignity and an enhanced ability to fulfil one’s dreams. With a record investment of Rs. 10 lakh crore, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0 Scheme will benefit countless people and contribute to better cities.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/9/2024 1:10 PM, 100.9M followers, 6.4K retweets, 24K likes]
A boost to connectivity related infrastructure. The Cabinet has approved 8 new railway line projects across India. This is great news for commerce, connectivity and will also enhance job creation.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[8/11/2024 10:22 AM, 3.2M followers, 257 retweets, 1.5K likes]
Joined Foreign Minister @MoosaZameer, Construction and Infrastructure Minister @muththo, Climate Change, Environment & Energy Minister @Thoriqibrahim and Mayor of Addu city @DhekunuNizar to inaugurate the Addu Reclamation & Shore Protection and Addu Detour Link Bridge. These IN-MV friendship projects will help develop Addu as a regional tourism hub and boost employment, entrepreneurship and trade.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[8/10/2024 3:35 AM, 3.2M followers, 587 retweets, 4.8K likes]
Privileged to call on President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. Conveyed greetings of PM @NarendraModi. Committed to deepen India-Maldives ties for the benefit of our people and the region. @MMuizzu

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[8/10/2024 2:05 AM, 3.2M followers, 264 retweets, 1.7K likes]
A very good meeting with Defence Minister @mgmaumoon.Discussed IN-MV defence and security cooperation, joint initiatives for maritime security and our shared interest in maintaining peace and stability in the region.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[8/9/2024 1:36 PM, 3.2M followers, 277 retweets, 1.6K likes]
Held productive discussions today with Foreign Minister @MoosaZamee in Malé.
- Agenda covered our engagement in development partnership, capacity building, bilateral and regional security, trade and digital cooperation.
- Jointly inaugurated 6 High Impact Projects in areas of street lighting, mental health, children speech therapy and special education.
- Witnessed signing of MoU between National Payments Corporation of India and Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Maldives on introduction of digital payment system in the Maldives.
- Welcome renewal of MoU between National Centre for Good Governance and Civil Services Commission on training of additional 1000 civil services officers.
Look forward to my meetings and discussions tomorrow.

Rahul Gandhi
@RahulGandhi
[8/11/2024 10:16 AM, 26.6M followers, 16K retweets, 47K likes]
The integrity of SEBI, the securities regulator entrusted with safeguarding the wealth of small retail investors, has been gravely compromised by the allegations against its Chairperson. Honest investors across the country have pressing questions for the government:
- Why hasn’t SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch resigned yet?
- If investors lose their hard-earned money, who will be held accountable—PM Modi, the SEBI Chairperson, or Gautam Adani?
- In light of the new and very serious allegations that have surfaced, will the Supreme Court look into this matter suo moto once again?
It is now abundantly clear why Prime Minister Modi is so afraid of a JPC probe and what it might reveal.
NSB
Tarique Rahman
@trahmanbnp
[8/11/2024 7:54 AM, 59.3K followers, 69 retweets, 499 likes]
To the resilient people of Bangladesh, despite enduring 16 long years of oppression: do not take the law into your own hands. We must avoid seeking vengeance, and instead act responsibly and humanely. Responding to injustice with more injustice is never the solution. We must rise above the turmoil and move forward, building a society that thrives on the cherished values of tolerance, unity, and, above all, good governance. To all our party leaders, activists, and supporters across the nation: let us unite with strength and determination to forge a safe and promising future for our youth and the entire nation. We should encourage engagement with all sections of society in each of our respective areas, and support them through every difficulty they may face in the coming days. I believe that the source of political power for @bdbnp78 lies with the people. Let us all come together to restore a truly democratic Bangladesh.

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[8/11/2024 5:37 AM, 109.4K followers, 133 retweets, 152 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu visited @MaleCitymv this morning. During the visit, the President met with the council members of the Male’ City Council. He also met with the members of the Women’s Development Committee (WDC).

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[8/10/2024 10:15 PM, 109.4K followers, 89 retweets, 100 likes]
Vice President @HucenSembe attends the function to mark the 10th anniversary of the “Rakkaa” programme.

Moosa Zameer
@MoosaZameer
[8/11/2024 5:38 AM, 13.7K followers, 49 retweets, 103 likes]
Bidding farewell to EAM @DrSJaishankar as he wraps up a successful visit to the Maldives. We achieved significant milestones in further strengthening our partnership. We remain grateful for the people and Government of India for the continued cooperation in reinvigorating the #MaldivesIndiaPartnership.

Moosa Zameer
@MoosaZameer
[8/11/2024 4:36 AM, 13.7K followers, 71 retweets, 106 likes]
Pleased to join External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar to jointly inaugurate the 4-Lane Detour Link road and the ceremony to mark the completion of the shore protection and reclamation project in Addu City. India continues to be a vital partner in our socio-economic development. The two projects inaugurated today further cements the strong bonds between our two countries.

Moosa Zameer
@MoosaZameer
[8/10/2024 12:01 PM, 13.7K followers, 63 retweets, 107 likes]
Pleased to review progress of the Greater Male’ Connectivity – Male’ to Thilafushi Link Project, together with External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and Infrastructure Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib @muththo. This is one of the pivotal infrastructure projects of our cooperation, linked to the economic prosperity of the country.

Moosa Zameer
@MoosaZameer
[8/9/2024 3:16 PM, 13.7K followers, 64 retweets, 121 likes]
Delivered a press statement with External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar. I highlighted our commitment to further strengthening our cooperation in different sectors. I conveyed our sincere appreciation to the people and Government of India for their generous assistance in advancing the lives of Maldivian communities. I also reiterated our commitment to continue working closely with the Government of India, bilaterally, regionally and multilaterally, to further strengthen and deepen the bonds between our two countries. My remarks https://t.ly/9kMCN

Moosa Zameer
@MoosaZameer
[8/9/2024 2:46 PM, 13.7K followers, 70 retweets, 133 likes]
I am pleased to witness with External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar the Exchange of the MoU between Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Maldives and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The MoU will amplify the international finance opportunities, attracting foreign investment and support for economic development of the Maldives. The renewal of the MoU between the Civil Service Commission of Maldives and the National Center for Good Governance of India, will enhance capacity building for our civil service officers. I am confident that tonight’s renewal will further boost productivity and efficiency in our civil service!

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[8/11/2024 7:55 AM, 259K followers, 18 retweets, 83 likes]
The visiting Foreign Secretary of India Shri Vikram Misri paid a courtesy call on the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Mr. K P Sharma Oli at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar today. Various matters of mutual interest were discussed on the occasion.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[8/11/2024 2:18 AM, 259K followers, 22 retweets, 118 likes]
Foreign Secretary Ms Sewa Lamsal warmly welcomed Foreign Secretary of India Shri Vikram Misri this morning upon his arrival at the TIA for an official visit to Nepal.

M U M Ali Sabry
@alisabrypc
[8/9/2024 8:57 AM, 6K followers, 24 retweets, 117 likes]
When our country was facing one of its darkest hours, with uncertainty hanging over us all, Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara made a choice that many would have hesitated to make. They put their differences aside and stood with the government at a time when Sri Lanka needed it most. It wasn’t an easy decision—they knew they were risking their political futures and their seats in Parliament. The results of their hard work are there for everyone to see. Tourism started to pick up, and foreign employment opportunities grew, bringing in vital revenue that helped stabilize our economy. These aren’t just numbers on a page—they represent real progress that has touched the lives of countless Sri Lankans. I’ve had my fair share of disagreements with both Harin and Manusha. But when the country called, they didn’t just sit back and criticize, they took action. They made a tough decision, knowing full well what it could cost them. In Sri Lanka, it’s easy to talk about putting the country first, but it’s much harder to actually do it when you know it could mean losing everything you’ve worked for. Harin and Manusha didn’t shy away from that challenge. They stepped up when it mattered most, and for that, they have my sincere appreciation. Thank you, Harin and Manusha. Your efforts during this crucial time have made a real difference, and it will not be forgotten.
Central Asia
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[8/10/2024 4:28 PM, 196.2K followers, 3 retweets, 30 likes]
During his state visit to #Kazakhstan, President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev met with the President of #Turkmenistan, Serdar #Berdimuhamedov to discuss strengthening friendship, good neighborly relations and strategic partnership between countries. They focused on increasing the volume of trade and cooperation in priority economic sectors.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[8/10/2024 3:28 PM, 196.2K followers, 14 retweets, 86 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev was honored with the Badge of Honor by the heads of state of Central Asia for his exceptional contributions to fostering friendship, good-neighborliness, and mutual understanding among the countries in the region. Expressing his gratitude to the Central Asian leaders, he assured them that making Central Asia a peaceful and prosperous region would remain a top priority in #Uzbekistan’s foreign policy.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[8/10/2024 2:39 PM, 196.2K followers, 6 retweets, 42 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev took part in the sixth consultative meeting of Central Asian heads of state in #Astana, #Kazakhstan. The discussions centered on enhancing regional cooperation in areas like trade, investment, and energy. During the meeting, he introduced several initiatives to promote regional development, including a proposal to establish a unified regional market and to draft a strategic document on regional security.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[8/9/2024 6:48 AM, 196.2K followers, 1 retweet, 40 likes]
President of #Uzbekistan, Shavkat #Mirziyoyev, and President of #Kazakhstan, @TokayevKZ , unveiled a monument to the great poet, Alisher Navoi, in #Astana. This significant event underscores the deep respect and friendship of our nations. As the leader of Uzbekistan emphasized, the work of Alisher Navoi, similar to the poetry of Abai Kunanbayev, continues to inspire generations and strengthen cultural ties between UZ and KZ

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[8/9/2024 5:07 AM, 196.2K followers, 3 retweets, 29 likes]
Following the first meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council, the presidents of #Uzbekistan and #Kazakhstan issued a joint statement and signed a number of important documents. These documents cover key areas of cooperation, such as healthcare, agriculture, and cultural and humanitarian fields.

Bakhtiyor Saidov
@FM_Saidov
[891/2024 8:07 AM, 4K followers, 9 retweets, 18 likes]
Today in #Astana during the #CentralAsian Leaders Summit, @President_Uz underscored that candid and productive dialogue, important initiatives put forward, multilateral projects and programs launched, a large number of joint events held, and much more have radically changed the image of the region.
President H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to:
- hold the next Central Asian Expert Forum meeting in #Uzbekistan to develop conceptual recommendations aimed at further advancing Consultative Meetings of Central Asian Heads of States;
- develop the Concept for Ensuring Regional Security and Stability;
- launch the Economic Council;
- establish the Central Asian Investment Council;
- create the Bank for Innovative Development of the region;
- hold the expert-level Conference on connectivity;
- develop a Regional Strategy for Food Security;
- adopt the Comprehensive Program for Sustainable Development of Central Asia and the Regional Strategy for the Rational Use of Water Resources of Transboundary Rivers;
- organize a Scientific Forum dedicated to practical aspects of regional identity formation;
- adopt the Central Asian Program of Educational and Academic Exchanges;
- consider mutual recognition of national ID cards and develop mass tourism products based on the principle of “One tour – the whole region”;
- prepare the Multilateral Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Cooperation in Central Asia.

{End of Report}
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