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:
Thursday, February 29, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
UN ‘Appalled’ By Afghanistan Public Executions (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [2/28/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 341K, Neutral]
The United Nations on Wednesday condemned recent public executions in Afghanistan, urging the Taliban authorities to cease the use of capital punishment.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government publicly executed three convicted murderers in the past week on death warrants signed by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

All three men were shot multiple times in front of large crowds that included the families of their victims.

"We are appalled by the public executions of three people at sports stadiums in Afghanistan in the past week," said Jeremy Laurence, spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner in a statement.

"Public executions are a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," the statement added.

"Such executions are also arbitrary in nature and contrary to the right to life protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Afghanistan is a State party."

The United States, the only Western democracy that still practises capital punishment, also condemned the public executions.

"It’s another sign of the brutality that the Afghan government shows to its own people," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday.

During the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, public executions were common.

Since their return to power in August 2021, a handful of executions have been conducted in accordance with their government’s austere vision of Islam.

Corporal punishment -- mainly flogging -- has been common, however, and employed for crimes including theft, adultery and alcohol consumption.

The UN statement urged the authorities "to establish an immediate moratorium on any further executions, and to act swiftly to prohibit use of the death penalty in its entirety.

"Corporal punishment must also cease," it added.

Amnesty International last week called the Taliban government’s death penalty policy "a gross affront to human dignity".

China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United States were respectively ranked the world’s most prolific practitioners of the death penalty in 2022, according to Amnesty.
Asylum seekers in Europe reached a 7-year high last year. Syrians and Afghans file most claims (AP)
AP [2/28/2024 9:31 AM, Lorne Cook, 22K, Neutral]
The number of asylum seekers in Europe reached a seven-year high last year, with more than 1.1 million people applying for international protection in 2023, most of them Syrian nationals, the European Union said Wednesday.

The increase in asylum seekers and other migrants is a divisive issue in many European countries, pitting those who say more should be turned away at borders against those who feel the continent should continue to welcome people fleeing persecution.

The EU asylum agency’s figures are compiled from claims in the 27 countries of the bloc, plus Norway and Switzerland.

The agency said 181,000 Syrians sought asylum last year — a 38% rise from 2022 — while Afghan nationals made up the second biggest group, with 114,000 claims filed, though the number of Afghans was 11% down, compared to 2022.

Syrians stood the best chance of all nationalities of having their claims accepted, the agency said.

More Palestinians lodged asylum applications last year — nearly 11,600, or two thirds higher than the year before.

Under international refugee law, people have the right to apply for asylum when they are fleeing conflict, fear for their safety or due to possible persecution over their race, gender, sexuality or religion. In Europe, people who apply because they are seeking jobs or better lives are often refused entry.

Germany received the most applications by far last year, with 334,000 people seeking asylum, but Cyprus was under the greatest pressure from migrants wanting to stay on the island, relative to its population. The agency said 12,000 people applied for protection in Cyprus in 2023.

France received 167,000 applications, Spain 162,000, and Italy 136,000. Combined with Germany, the four received more than two thirds of all the applications made in 2023.

People from Turkey — a candidate to become an EU member, though its talks are at a standstill over concerns about democratic and human rights standards — also applied in far greater number, with 101,000 asylum applications by Turkish citizens, up 82% from 2022.

Around one fifth of all the claims were made by people entitled to visa-free travel in Europe, including 68,000 Venezuelans and 63,000 Colombians.

The rise in applications, along with Europe welcoming in, at least temporarily, more than 4.4 million Ukrainians who have fled the war since Russia’s invasion two years ago, is overwhelming Europe’s asylum capacities. The agency said that in December, it was helping 13 countries to cope.
Pakistan
Pakistan swears in new parliament amid chaotic scenes, as Imran Khan’s party protests vote count (AP)
AP [2/29/2024 3:46 AM, Munir Ahmed, 456K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s National Assembly swore in newly elected members on Thursday in a chaotic scene, as allies of jailed former Premier Imran Khan protested what they claim was a rigged election.

Lawmakers from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party repeatedly chanted “Vote-thief!” as Shehbaz Sharif, who’s expected to form the government, entered the lower house of parliament with his brother Nawaz Sharif. Both men are former premiers.

Outgoing National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf administered the oath to incoming legislators at noon.

The house echoed with chants of “Long Live Sharif!” when the brothers signed the register after taking their oaths of office. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the young chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party and a key Sharif ally, was met with similar chants.

The new government will face challenges including a surge in militant attacks and shortages of energy; as well as an ailing economy that will force Pakistan to seek another bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Lawmakers from Khan’s PTI told reporters that they will continue their campaign against the rigging in the elections in and outside the parliament.

“Yes, the election has been rigged,” said Gohar Ali Khan, the current head of PTI.

PTI has called for nationwide rallies on Saturday. The party claims it results were changed in dozens of constituencies to prevent it from winning a majority, a charge the Election Commission of Pakistan denies.

After the Feb. 8 elections, observers from the Commonwealth praised election officials for holding the vote despite multiple militant attacks, but the U.S. State Department said that the vote was held under restrictions of freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The European Union also criticized the inability of some political actors to contest the elections. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has fired back at such criticism, saying the vote was held in a free, fair and transparent manner.

None of the foreign observers described widespread vote-stealing.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party, or PML-N, and Pakistan People’s Party of former President Asif Ali Zardari, emerged from the vote as the largest presence in the 336-seat National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament.

Under a power-sharing formula, Sharif’s party will support Zardari in next month’s presidential elections. Outgoing President Arif Alvi is an ally of Khan and was a senior member of PTI before becoming president.

Khan is currently serving prison terms in multiple cases and has been barred from seeking or holding office. He has been convicted on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws in three separate verdicts and sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 10, 14 and 7 years. Khan is appealing all the convictions. He still faces some 170 legal cases on charges ranging from corruption to inciting violence and terrorism.

On Wednesday, the PTI wrote a letter to the International Monetary Fund, urging it to link any talks with Islamabad to an audit of the country’s recent election, which his party alleges was rigged. The latest development came days before the IMF releases a key installment of a bailout loan to Pakistan.

Khan’s move had drawn widespread criticism from his rivals, including Sharif, said Khan wanted to harm the country’s economy. Sharif who replaced Khan after his ouster through a no-confidence vote in April 2022 had struggled hard to avoid a default on foreign payments last summer when the IMF approved the much-awaited $3 billion.

Sharif has said he wants a new bailout from the IMF after March when last year’s IMF bailout expires.
Pakistan’s newly elected assembly meets amid pro-Imran Khan protests (Reuters)
Reuters [2/29/2024 3:26 AM, Gibran Peshimam, 5.2M, Neutral]
Pakistan’s newly elected lower house of parliament met for the first time on Thursday with freshly elected members taking oaths amid protests on the floor of the house by supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party backed by Khan alleges that the Feb. 8 national election was rigged against them and has called for an audit of the polls. No single party won a majority.

Candidates backed by Khan won the most seats but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have agreed to an alliance to form a coalition government.

"Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan, Imran Khan," SIC members chanted as legislators, including the prime minister in waiting Shehbaz Sharif, signed the membership register of the National Assembly.

One SIC member held up a poster reading "Release Imran Khan" as he went up to the speaker’s dais to sign.

SIC’s Omar Ayub, Khan’s candidate to be prime minister, told journalists the party would seek the release of the former cricket hero who was has been convicted in a string of cases and faces over a decade in jail.

The election for the prime minister will be held on Mar. 4, local broadcaster Geo News reported.

The session took place under tight security after earlier this week the inaugural session of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly, where Khan’s supporters will form government, was marred by the pelting of some members with pens and slippers from the visitor galleries.

A note from the National Assembly’s media wing said visitor passes for upper galleries had been cancelled due to security reasons.

Not all members of the 336-member house took the oath, with the apportioning of 70 reserved seats for women and minorities still pending adjudication by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The commission will decide on allocating reserved seats to the SIC, which did not win any seats in the polls but was later joined by Khan’s successful supporters, who had contested as independents. The ECP completed hearings on the matter on Wednesday but has yet to deliver a ruling.

Khan’s party was barred from the polls for breaching electoral laws and independent candidates are not eligible for reserved seats.

The ECP decision will not affect the ability of Sharif’s alliance to form the government, but extra seats will be critical to ensure the minority government remains comfortably placed to pass critical legislation, and also to contain SIC’s opposition.
Pakistan National Assembly opens as election disputes mar proceedings (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia [2/29/2024 3:40 AM, Adnan Aamir, 293K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s National Assembly convened Thursday under a cloud of controversy cast by general elections that the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan insists were rigged.

After lawmakers take their oaths, a coalition of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and some smaller parties is set to secure the posts of speaker, deputy speaker and prime minister in the coming days. But even the procedure for calling the assembly session was contentious -- yet another sign that the country faces prolonged political turmoil.

On Wednesday, a parliamentary party meeting of the PML-N formally nominated Shehbaz Sharif for prime minister, positioning him to reprise the role he took after Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022. The party also nominated Ayaz Sadiq for speaker. "I believe the next [year and a half] or two years will be difficult but we have to stay united and face our opponents," Nawaz Sharif, a three-time prime minister and supreme leader of the PML-N, said during the meeting.

Nawaz had been widely expected to become prime minister again with the tacit backing of Pakistan’s powerful military establishment. But after the PML-N struggled on election day against independent candidates tied to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party cobbled together a coalition and nominated his brother Shehbaz.

The legislature opened under unusual circumstances.

Normally, it is up to Pakistan’s president to call a session. But current President Arif Alvi, who hails from the PTI, refused to do so until 70 proportional representation seats reserved for women and minorities are doled out appropriately. Although the PTI was barred from contesting the elections itself on a technicality, the independent candidates it supported won the most seats, and 86 of them have so far joined an alliance called the Sunni Ittehad Council. In theory, this should give them a share of the reserved seats in the 336-seat chamber, yet the assignments remain up in the air.

Until 2010, the president had the sole authority to call the inaugural session of the assembly. That year, an amendment was passed giving presidents a deadline: 21 days after elections. So when Alvi refused to comply by Thursday’s deadline, the speaker called the session.

The amendment "bound the president to call the session within a fixed period to ensure that he can’t manipulate the system," said Tahir Naeem Malik, a professor of international relations at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Islamabad.

Abdul Jabbar Nasir, an election analyst in Karachi, said the speaker did the right thing by going ahead. "While the case of the reserved seats of PTI-backed independents is a serious one," he said, "it does not justify a delay in convening the first session of the National Assembly."

Alvi is due to be replaced by the new coalition government’s pick for president, the PPP’s Asif Ali Zardari, in the weeks ahead. But forging onward with parliamentary proceedings in this manner was sure to further anger supporters of Khan, who remains imprisoned on corruption and other charges that he denies.

"People voted for PTI [aligned] candidates en masse," said Muhammad Inayat, an Islamabad resident. "First, the results were [allegedly] tampered with, and now PTI as a group is being deprived of its due share of reserved seats."

He described the situation as a "dark chapter in the electoral history of Pakistan."

The Election Commission of Pakistan took up the reserved seats issue on Wednesday, with PTI lawyers arguing that the lawmakers who joined the Sunni Ittehad Council must be granted the proportionate spots in the legislature. Lawyers for the PML-N, PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan argued otherwise.

If the Sunni Ittehad Council is not granted the seats, they would go to other parties.

"I see this matter ending up in courts, where the final decision will be made," said Malik at NUML.

Said Nasir, "There is no justification to deprive [the Sunni Ittehad Council] of these seats." He also noted that there are relevant precedents.

The controversy over the seats is a microcosm of the turmoil surrounding the elections, in which the PTI says its candidates really won as many as 177 seats before the numbers were allegedly manipulated. Election authorities have denied the accusations.

Now the legislature is getting off to a rocky start that bodes ill for resolving Pakistan’s problems, including an economic crisis and pressing concerns over a rise in militant attacks. Scrambling to avoid a debt default, Islamabad is relying on support from the International Monetary Fund, while on Thursday the caretaker finance minister told Reuters that China had agreed to roll over a $2 billion loan due in March.

Nasir said political differences should have been sorted out before calling the first session "to avoid any unwanted controversy."

Malik agreed that the circumstances are unfortunate. "These developments," he said, "will surely push Pakistan deeper into political instability."
Imran’s party urges IMF to ensure Pakistan election audit done before any more bailout talks (Reuters)
Reuters [2/28/2024 12:15 PM, Asif Shahzad and Ariba Shahid, 5239K, Negative]
The party of Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan asked the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday to ensure an audit of the disputed Feb. 8 elections is carried out before any more bailout talks with Islamabad.

Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy is struggling to stabilise after securing a $3 billion standby arrangement from the IMF last summer, with record inflation, rupee devaluation and shrinking foreign reserves.

Analysts say a new government - which Khan’s opponents are expected to form - is likely to need more funds from the global lender after the standby arrangement expires in April.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said that it had sent a letter on the matter to the IMF’s Pakistan representative, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

"We have today sent this letter to IMF," the party’s acting chairman Barrister Gohar Khan told a news conference in Islamabad.

The letter, shared with Reuters by two sources and confirmed by the party’s Zulfikar Bukhari, called on the IMF to honour its commitment to demanding free and fair elections.

In the last interaction between Imran Khan and IMF representatives in 2023, it said, the PTI had agreed to support the lender’s financing facility for Pakistan on condition that free and fair elections be held in the country.

The IMF had sought support from all political parties, including Khan’s, shortly after agreeing with Islamabad on the $3 billion standby arrangement, which the lender said was in the lead-up to national elections.

"An audit of at least thirty percent of the national and provincial assemblies’ seats should be ensured," the PTI said in its letter.

Last week, the IMF declined to comment on the country’s political situation after Khan’s aides said they would urge the Fund to call for an independent audit of the disputed elections before any more talks with Islamabad.

Mohammed Sohail, the CEO of Karachi-based Topline securities said the letter was unlikely to have a major market impact.

"The IMF will do its own due diligence," he said.

China has rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan for one year, which is due in March, according to local Geo TV.

Another of Khan’s aides Muzammil Aslam told the news conference that the IMF delegation also met the acting party chairman late last year when the former cricket star was in jail before releasing the last tranche of the programme.

The IMF communication section said in an email to Reuters that it was yet t receive the letter, and it was yet to respond to the delegation’s meeting.
Khan Formally Asks IMF to Link Future Lending to Audit of Pakistan’s Disputed Vote (VOA)
VOA [2/28/2024 10:19 PM, Ayaz Gul, 761K, Neutral]
The political party of Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote Wednesday to the International Monetary Fund, asking that lending to the cash-strapped country be tied to an independent audit of the disputed Feb. 8 elections.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, addressed the letter to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, saying it was written on his behalf to remind the U.S.-based global lender to uphold its commitment to demanding free and fair elections.

The letter, shared with VOA, stated that the polls for the national and four provincial assemblies, which cost of $180 million, “were subjected to widespread intervention and fraud in the counting of votes and compilation of results.”

Islamabad has struggled to keep the national economy on track after securing a $3 billion standby arrangement from the IMF last June, with record inflation, local currency devaluation and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

The letter stated that in the last meeting between Khan and IMF representatives in the lead-up to the standby arrangement, it was agreed that the financing facility would be granted on the condition that free and fair elections were held in Pakistan.

“We, therefore, call upon the IMF to give effect to the guidelines adopted by it with respect to good governance as well as conditionalities that must be satisfied prior to the grant of a finance facility that is to burden the people of Pakistan with further debt,” the letter said.

“An audit of at least 30% of the national and provincial assemblies’ seats should be ensured,” it added.

There was no immediate comment from the IMF on the letter.

The independent candidates fielded by the PTI Party in this month’s elections secured the highest number of seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, but fell short of winning a simple majority. The party also swept the polls for the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

However, the elections were marred by accusations of widespread electoral fraud, triggering calls for a thorough investigation into the charges by both domestic critics and foreign countries, including the United States.

The military-backed interim government suspended nationwide mobile phone and internet services on the polling day and for hours beyond. The move gave credence to suspicions the results were manipulated to help anti-PTI parties gain the upper hand.

Several political parties and independent election watchdogs have declared their support for PTI’s claims that they were on the path to a sweeping victory but were prevented from doing so due to alleged electoral fraud that favored army-backed rival political parties, particularly the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Sharif is set to become the prime minister again to lead a minority coalition government in partnership with the Pakistan People’s Party and a smaller regional group. Newly elected lawmakers will take oath during Thursday’s inaugural session of the National Assembly before electing Sharif as the country’s chief executive.

As the standby arrangement expires in April, the new government will likely reach out to the IMF as soon as possible to secure more funds, analysts say.

An IMF spokesperson told reporters in Washington last week that it was focused on completing the existing funding facility to support Pakistan’s efforts to stabilize the economy.

“We look forward to working with the new government on policies to ensure macroeconomic stability and prosperity for all of Pakistan’s citizens,” said Julie Kozack.

Khan, now 71, was removed from office in 2022 through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. He accused the powerful military of orchestrating his ouster at the behest of the United States, charges Washington and Islamabad rejected.

The cricket celebrity-turned-deposed prime minister has since faced scores of state-instituted lawsuits and prosecutions on charges ranging from terrorism and corruption to sedition and murder.

Khan has been serving lengthy prison terms since last August after having been convicted on disputed charges of corruption, leaking state secrets in office, and a fraudulent marriage. He has also been disqualified from holding public office for 10 years.

The former leader denies all the charges and alleges Pakistan’s powerful military has orchestrated the legal actions to block his return to power.

The legal challenges and subsequent convictions were part of a state crackdown on PTI leaders, workers and supporters in the lead-up to the elections, allegedly to force them to abandon Khan.

Pakistan has experienced more than three decades of direct military rule through multiple coups since gaining independence in 1947.

Even when not in power, army generals are said to covertly influence the success or failure of civilian governments, according to Pakistani politicians, including Khan, and many independent critics.
Pakistan’s Army Still Firmly in Command Despite Election Rebuke (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/28/2024 7:00 PM, Betsy Joles, Faseeh Mangi, and Kamran Haider, 5543K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s voters expressed their disillusionment with the nation’s powerful military in a surprising election result earlier this month. But the army is still poised to have more control from behind the scenes than ever — and reviving the economy will be its ultimate test.

The military, which has ruled Pakistan directly or indirectly for most of its modern history, is set to make all important decisions on foreign policy and security for the country’s new government and have a more expanded role in running the nation’s economy, a person familiar with the matter said. Shehbaz Sharif, who’s expected to become prime minister, is likely to be only a figurehead, the person said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

The army is consolidating power as Pakistan faces the worst inflation in Asia, a crippling debt load and the need to negotiate another bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Observers are largely pessimistic that a weak coalition propped up by the military will fare any better than similar governments in the past.

While the army “definitely has more credibility” than politicians, “it has not shown historically a strong grasp or understanding of what needs to be done,” said Yousuf Nazar, a former Citigroup Inc. banker and author of The Gathering Storm: Pakistan.

Pakistan’s military and Sharif’s party did not respond to a request for a comment.

Pakistan’s two old-guard political parties — controlled by the Sharif and Bhutto clans — agreed last week to form a government, breaking an almost two-week impasse after an inconclusive election on Feb. 8. The elected lawmakers will meet on February 29 in the first session of National Assembly that will select a prime minister with former premier Shehbaz Sharif expected to take the job.

The move thwarts the former premier Imran Khan, who fell out of favor with the military and ended up in jail. His party colleagues were forced to run as independents, and still won the most seats but fell short of an outright majority. Khan’s party did better than most surveys, which is seen as a sharp rebuke of the military’s attempts to sideline Khan and engineer the elections to their desired outcome.

The new coalition regime “will be entirely reliant on the goodwill of the military to be able to stay in place,” said Omar Warraich, a political commentator and special advisor at Open Society Foundations, an organization that gives grants in support of civil society. The army can easily bring it down if it disagrees on policy, he said.

That has been the story for much of Pakistan’s history since independence in 1947. Khan himself, for instance, was widely seen as backed by the generals when he came to power in 2018. But the relationship soured when the former cricketer tried to influence military appointments, leading to his ouster. Shehbaz was anointed as his successor. His brother Nawaz, a three-time former premier, also had a history of being backed and then deposed by the military, including once in a coup.

Shehbaz has been conciliatory with the military, including publicly praising army chief Asim Munir. During his time in office, Shehbaz’s government passed two bills to give the military more power. One criminalized criticism of the armed forces; the other gave the security forces unlimited power to arrest any individual they deem a threat.

Pakistan set up a Special Investment Facilitation Council in June, during Shehbaz’s term, to promote foreign investments and spur growth. One of the council’s members is the army chief, Munir. Its immediate aim has been to increase foreign direct investment to $5 billion. So far no major deals have been signed.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2023 Democracy Index, released earlier this month, downgraded Pakistan to an “authoritarian regime” from a “hybrid regime.”

Pakistan’s arch-rival India expects Pakistan’s military to play a more pivotal role with the fractured mandate making it impossible for any individual leader turning against the army, an official familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as the person isn’t authorized to speak to the media. They do not rule out peace overtures with India after new governments settle in both countries, said the official. India’s elections are scheduled for later this year.

Some in Pakistan see the military’s heavy-handed role as a good thing.

“Whenever we’ve had a military government, decision-making is easier. So the economic indicators are at times better,” said Omar Mahmood Hayat, a retired military lieutenant general and chairman of Unity Foods Ltd., a Pakistani food manufacturer, citing the economy under former military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf ruled from 1999 until 2008 and oversaw an economy that fared better than other elected governments, according to the misery index by Bloomberg Economics, which looks at unemployment and inflation rates. Musharraf was favored by Western allies. His tenure, which largely coincided with the worst years of the War on Terror, saw a healthy inflow of dollars into Pakistan for combating terrorism.

Hayat says the army offers continuity of policies that civilian governments often can’t.

One question is how the public will respond to the new government after voters delivered a rebuke to the status quo by voting for Khan’s loyalists. Supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party took to the streets last weekend to protest alleged vote-rigging.

“Definitely the message is that people are not happy with their intervention,” Ayesha Siddiqa, a political scientist and senior fellow at King’s College London, said of the army.

Shehbaz’s brother, Nawaz, was widely expected to become the new prime minister, with the backing of the army, after he returned from exile in London and was acquitted of corruption charges.

But Shehbaz became the military’s choice, according to Mohammad Waseem, a political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

“He is a great compromiser,” Waseem said. “He will try to stabilize the situation by giving and taking during critical moments.”

Still, brokering an agreement with the IMF will for Sharif — and the military behind him - require accepting tough conditions from the multilateral lender, which are likely to anger the public even more.

The military may be more powerful than ever, but it has never faced a harder task.

“The economic crisis has now become a national security issue,” Warraich said. “If this economic turnaround doesn’t work, it can easily all be put on Shehbaz Sharif and he could be dispensed with.”
China rolls over $2 billion loan to Pakistan, finance minister says (Reuters)
Reuters [2/28/2024 9:39 PM, Gibran Peshimam and Ariba Shahid, 5.2M, Neutral]
China has rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan, caretaker finance minister Shamshad Akhtar confirmed in a response to Reuters on Thursday.

The $2 billion loan was due in March and has been extended for one year, Geo News which first reported the news said, citing sources in the Pakistan finance ministry. Beijing had communicated the decision to Islamabad, it added.

Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy is struggling to stabilise from a financial crisis and secured a $3 billion standby arrangement from the International Monetary Fund last summer.

Pakistan’s vulnerable external position means that securing financing from multilateral and bilateral partners will be one of the most urgent issues facing the next government, ratings agency Fitch said last week.
Two Pakistanis charged over calls for Dutch far-right leader’s killing (Reuters)
Reuters [2/28/2024 1:43 PM, Benoit Van Overstraeten, 5239K, Negative]
A Dutch court said it had charged two Pakistani nationals on Wednesday over public calls for the murder of far-right anti-Muslim leader Geert Wilders, who aims to lead a new government after his party won elections in November.

In a statement on Wednesday, the court said prosecutors had asked authorities in Pakistan to extradite the two suspects - aged 55 and 29 - to stand trial in the Netherlands.

It said the two Pakistanis were suspected of publicly calling on people to kill Wilders and promising them a reward in the afterlife if they did so. It did not say how those calls were made.

In September, a Dutch court sentenced a Pakistani former cricketer to 12 years in prison after he was tried in absentia for publicly urging people to kill Wilders.

"I hope they (two suspects) will be extradited, convicted and jailed!" Wilders wrote in a post on X.

The court scheduled its first hearing on the case for Sept. 2. The Netherlands and Pakistan do not have an extradition treaty, leaving prospects for a trial unclear.
India
India Denies Blocking WTO Progress, Wants Justice and Fairness (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/28/2024 8:43 AM, Shruti Srivastava and Brendan Murray, 5543K, Positive]
India pushed back at suggestions that it’s blocking progress at a World Trade Organization meeting this week, saying it wants “fair play” in a global economy where the rules have long been tilted against poor nations.

Trade Minister Piyush Goyal, in an interview on day three of the four-day ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi, said the South Asian country has neither raised any contentious issues nor has it stalled any process as it is “conscious of all its international obligations.”

“I am not blocking anything at the WTO, I have an open mind and am willing to engage with everybody on every issue,” Goyal said. “But clearly there are countries who are not working in the same spirit of accommodation, flexibility and openness.”

The minister said the top priority before the Geneva-based trade body is to restore the appellate body so pending disputes can be resolved. That’s a reference to the seven-person WTO panel of judges that stopped functioning in late 2019 after the US blocked new appointees.

Heading into the meeting’s final scheduled 24 hours, India is a key player in the negotiations and its positions are being closely watched as the WTO struggles to deliver deals on issues ranging from agriculture and e-commerce to reform of the institution itself. The multilateral trade body has delivered only two major agreements in its almost 30 years of existence.

On advancing a fisheries agreement, Goyal said that India is not responsible for overfishing or overcapacity that is under discussion at the WTO.

Food Subsidies

“Since we are not a part of the problem we first need to know that those countries who are responsible for the problem, what will be the retribution, what will be the steps taken by them to reduce this problem. They have to answer, not me,” the minister said.

Asked about an extension of a WTO ban on e-commerce tariffs, he said India had agreed to renew the so-called moratorium on electronic transmissions in 2022 with an understanding that the extension was with a deadline. However, no efforts have been made so far to “find a solution to this.”

On public procurement of grain for food program to feed its poor citizen, the minister said the issue is a mandated one and should be resolved. Reopening the issue will challenge the very “essence and foundation of the WTO.”

The world’s most populous nation — where 65% population lives in rural areas of which 47% depends on agriculture for livelihood — procures grains from farmers at predetermined prices to feed its 813.5 million poor people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has argued for relaxing subsidy rules to meet its domestic food-security needs amid a looming global food crisis.

As Asia’s third-largest economy heads toward elections likely in April, which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is poised to win for a third term, the agricultural-subsidy stance at the ministerial is crucial for farmers which form a significant voting bloc.
India, South Africa block major investment deal at WTO talks (Reuters)
Reuters [2/28/2024 1:15 PM, Rachna Uppal and Emma Farge, 5239K, Neutral]
India and South Africa have filed a formal objection against an investment agreement at a World Trade Organization meeting in Abu Dhabi, blocking its adoption in a move that observers say could block hundreds of billions of dollars in investment.

The deal agreed by some 125 countries, or about three-quarters of the WTO’s members, aims to simplify red tape, improve the investment environment and encourage foreign direct investment.

But according to WTO rules, any of its 164 members can block a deal from being adopted by the body - a step which is necessary to ensure that countries are in compliance.

"We underscore that given the lack of exclusive consensus, this is not a matter for the...(meeting) agenda," a WTO document showed.

The Indian and South African delegations did not immediately comment publicly on the development.
Alan Yanovich, partner at Akin Gump Strauss, said the "deplorable" development would hurt the world’s poorest countries the most.

"The notion that two members can prevent a broad group of willing members from moving forward is absurd," he said.

A Western trade delegate at the talks called it "ironic that India and South Africa stand in the way of something with such manifest benefits for developing countries."

The initiative known as the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement led by Chile and South Korea with China’s strong support, could lead to between $200-$800 billion of improvements in global welfare, according to one study, opens new tab.

Four-day WTO talks to set new global trade rules on a broad range of topics including fishing and agriculture are due to wrap up on Thursday, although delegates said that little progress has so far been made, barring the formal accession of two new members to the body: East Timor and Comoros.

The U.S. trade chief on Tuesday ruled out a deal on reforming the WTO dispute settlement system, hobbled for four years due to U.S. objections.

A paragraph on climate change is confined to a WTO annex of the draft package of deals since members cannot agree.

"These are not small, easy to deal with issues, these are some of the big things that either distort trade or stop nations from being able to feed their own people," New Zealand’s trade minister Todd McClay told Reuters.

"They are hard and they are challenging."
India seeks reforms on agriculture, disputes system at WTO meeting (Reuters)
Reuters [2/28/2024 9:01 AM, Rachna Uppal, 5239K, Neutral]
India hopes to reach a deal on a key element of agricultural reform as well as the restoration of the World Trade Organization’s arbitration powers at a high-level meeting in Abu Dhabi this week, its trade minister said on Wednesday.

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to be one of the main players at the four-day talks where delegates are seeking deals on fisheries and digital trade tariffs.

"Unless we build trust with each other and we deliver on what has already been promised and agreed, any engagement on other issues will only be subsequent," Goyal told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting on Wednesday.

He added that some members were seen to be blocking potential routes to a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding (PSH) - state policies on food procurement aimed at ensuring food security - and the WTO’s hobbled dispute-resolution system, reducing confidence in the world’s biggest trade body.

"All these old things have to be sorted out... I do hope the ministerial conference will finally find a solution and get the appellate body for trade disputes back in shape," Goyal said.

The trade ministers of the Group of 33 nations led by Indonesia and India met ahead of the WTO conference, seeking a permanent solution to the issue of PSH programmes for food security in developing and poor countries.

India has said the WTO’s development agenda would remain incomplete without a permanent solution, seen as crucial for achieving the global goal of zero hunger by 2030.

Goyal missed the first two days of the Abu Dhabi meeting due to other political engagements in India and said he was amused by the excitement his absence had generated.

Some richer countries say that PSH programmes, particularly where they involve subsidies offered to farmers such as in India, distort global agriculture trade. India says it needs to provide food security for its 1.4 billion people.

In Tuesday’s session on agriculture, which Goyal did not attend, India pointed out that some developed countries were providing much higher subsidies to their rich farmers.

Goyal said if India felt that all members were working cooperatively, then he believed lots could be done at this meeting.

"I am a born optimist," he said.
India, US at loggerheads over WTO reform at Abu Dhabi talks (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [2/28/2024 2:15 PM, Staff, 11975K, Neutral]
A US-led push to reform the World Trade Organization’s embattled dispute settlement system sparked divisions at a WTO meeting Wednesday, with India accusing Washington of bringing the trade body to a "standstill".

A working session on dispute settlement reform was held on the third day of the WTO’s 13th ministerial meeting (MC13) in Abu Dhabi, where little progress is expected on the issue amid major disagreements.

Washington, under former President Donald Trump, brought the system to a grinding halt in 2019 by blocking the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s appeals court, the organisation’s highest dispute settlement authority.

Dispute settlement reform is a "hard issue" but the dynamic in the negotiating room at MC13 is "constructive, it’s positive, it’s sober," US Trade Representative Katherine Tai told reporters on Wednesday.

But "there is more work to do," she added, following the working session.

During the last WTO ministerial in 2022, member states reached a commitment to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system in place by 2024.

The overall outcome of MC13 could only reiterate this commitment, despite demands by some member states, including India, for stronger progress at the Abu Dhabi talks.

Tai said "convergence is happening" on various areas of dispute settlement reform.

But "there is another set of issues that are going to be harder and that are going to take longer to address, including what to do with the appeals mechanism and how to have a mechanism for review that doesn’t repeat the problems of the appellate body that came before it," she said.

Washington has accused the appellate body of over-interpreting WTO rules, with Tai on Wednesday saying the now-defunct body was formerly more powerful than member states.

It was "extremely activist, extremely powerful, more powerful than even the members, where members could secure new rules through litigation and not have to rely on the very hard work of negotiating with each other," she said.

‘Sense of urgency’

Washington’s push for reform has angered India, which accused the United States on Wednesday of bringing the WTO to a "standstill".

India threatened to hold off on any new deals before progress is made on the appellate body, which could imperil agreements on fisheries subsidies and agriculture, largely seen as the main agenda items of the ministerial talks.

"It’s important that the first issue we should settle is that there should be an appellate body and some countries are not allowing that to happen," India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal told AFP.

"The entire working of WTO currently has come to a little bit of a standstill".

Responding to his remarks, Tai said: "There is nothing standing still in this ministerial conference."

There is a concern among observers that delays to the restoration of the appellate body could throw it into jeopardy, especially if Trump is re-elected as US president in November.

During his tenure, Trump blocked the WTO’s ability to settle trade disputes and threatened to pull the US out of the trade body –- all the while launching a trade war with China.

"There is no momentum to relaunch the discussions" on the appellate body, said a source close to the talks.

The European Union, meanwhile, would like the outcome of MC13 to "get out that sense of urgency... of restoring the system by 2024," said an EU official familiar with the negotiations.

"Political will is required... especially as something that is as bogged down as this," said the official on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak on the issue.

"We have shown openness to say let’s address concerns about maybe some functioning of the appellate body in the past and to see how things can be improved" but the EU maintains its adherence to the two-tier system, the official said.

The WTO’s 13th ministerial meeting was set to wrap up on Thursday, but that is looking increasingly unlikely.

"We have made tremendous progress but we are running out of time," WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told delegates on Wednesday, according to a source close to the discussions.

The delegations expect the talks will be extended into Friday, but a decision on that is likely to be made during Thursday, added the source.
US, India Agree to Share More Information on Opioid Trade (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/29/2024 5:39 AM, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 201K, Neutral]
The US and India are looking to strengthen information sharing on the illegal trade of opioids such as fentanyl, to combat its misuse in the North American country.

Kristie Canegallo, acting deputy secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, discussed the matter with her Indian counterparts at the Senior Officials’ Homeland Security Dialogue in New Delhi on Wednesday. The exchange between law-enforcement agencies is part of the 2010 India-US counter-terrorism initiative.

“We talked about ways that we can build on our extensive information sharing,” particularly about fentanyl, Canegallo said in an interview. The two countries have an existing counter-narcotics working group.

Opioid misuse has long been an issue in the US. More than 100,000 people died of drug overdose in 2021 with synthetic opioids like fentanyl causing two-thirds of those deaths.

India legally produces opioids, including fentanyl, and exports them to the US. While Mexico and China are the primary sources of fentanyl and other related substances, including precursors, the US Drug Enforcement Agency has, in the past, highlighted India’s role in the trafficking of some of these drugs into the US.

“We talked about the precursor drug, the precursor chemicals, and how we can be taking joint steps to try to disrupt those flows,” Canagello said about discussions with her Indian counterparts.

The US and China launched a joint anti-narcotics group to curb the production and trade of the highly addictive substance in January.

On countering terrorism, Canagello said India and the US discussed the rising threat of individuals radicalized by on-going conflicts and the continuing peril from organized terror groups.

“The dynamism and complexity of the threat landscape is higher today than it was 10 years ago or 20 years ago,” Canagello said, when asked about the potential for lone-wolf attacks affecting the US.
India Looks Elsewhere for Oil as US Sanctions Crimp Russia Trade (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/29/2024 4:02 AM, Rakesh Sharma and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 5.5M, Neutral]
Tightening enforcement of US sanctions is denting India’s oil trade with Russia, forcing processors to consider other supplies, according to refinery executives familiar with the matter.

Russia is still the dominant supplier to India, but there are signs refiners are buying more from elsewhere. Overall imports from Saudi Arabia are 22% higher this month than January, with the biggest private refiner — Reliance Industries Ltd. — taking its highest volume since May 2020, according to Kpler.

India’s refiners are keen to take more Russian oil, but there would need to be US approval for buying to ramp up again, the executives said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Russian oil is now only $2-$4 a barrel cheaper than other supplies and double-digit discounts are unlikely to return due to competition for barrels from China, the executives said. The discount blew out to more than $30 after the war.

India’s imports of Russian oil surged after the war as refiners took advantage of cheaper barrels that other buyers shunned. At its peak last year, crude from the OPEC+ producer accounted for almost half of the nation’s purchases, but fresh US sanctions has recently stranded some cargoes.

Moscow is also seeking payment in yuan due to increased scrutiny by some banks over using dirhams to settle the trade in the past few months, said a refinery executive and a government official.
India’s farmer protest fuels opposition hopes of denting Modi’s appeal (Reuters)
Reuters [2/28/2024 11:21 PM, Rupam Jain, Rajendra Jadhav and Manoj Kumar, 5239K, Neutral]
When India’s powerful Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed in 2021 to repeal three farm laws aimed at overhauling the antiquated agriculture sector, he seemed to have won over farmers who had been protesting for over 12 months.

But just over two years later, farmers are on the warpath again in the politically sensitive north of the world’s most populous nation, seeking legal guarantees for a minimum purchase price for all crops. The protest comes just months before a general election due by May.

Although the farmers’ protest is confined to the breadbasket state of Punjab for now, their complaints of falling incomes resonate more widely, highlighting a perception in India’s huge rural hinterland that Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have done too little to support the farming community and raise living standards.

Over 40% of India’s 1.4 billion people are dependent on agriculture and many say they have suffered economically under Modi at the expense of their urban counterparts.

While pollsters say Modi’s image as a strong no-nonsense leader and his muscular brand of majoritarian Hindu nationalism will almost certainly give him a rare third term in office, the discontent of farmers will be a headache for years to come.

"Since India has failed to move people out of agriculture, unlike most Asian countries, income levels have dropped, and that is why the anger is spilling over," said Uday Chandra, assistant professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar.

"The current protest will not harm the BJP in elections, but Modi has a really serious issue to deal with in his next term in office."

The protest began earlier this month with hundreds of farmers in Punjab setting out to take their campaign to the capital, Delhi. They were blocked by police and paramilitary troops at Shambhu, at the border with neighbouring Haryana state, about 200 km (125 miles) from the capital.

Authorities set up concrete and barbed wire barricades and laid out rows of metal spikes on the highway to block the farmers’ caravan of tractors and trucks.

Clashes between farmers and security forces with repeated cane charges and tear gas grenades dropped by drones have played on television screens for several days. The farmers say at least one protester has died in the clashes while dozens have been injured on both sides.

"Modi has failed to keep his promises, and I am not going back to my fields until our demands are accepted," said Satpal Singh, a farmer from Punjab, wearing a green turban and standing next to his tractor near the Shambhu border.

Singh and other farmers say Modi has ignored a 2016 promise to double their incomes by 2022. Instead, a series of export curbs on wheat, sugar, onion and most rice grades - designed to keep consumer prices under control - has deprived them of access to global markets and more remunerative prices.

READY FOR THE LONG HAUL

India’s beleaguered opposition parties, searching for a narrative to counter Modi and dent his carefully cultivated strong-man image, have rallied behind the protesting farmers.

Before the march began, Singh, also a member of the opposition Congress party’s farmers’ wing, pooled 600,000 rupees ($7,240) from his fellow growers to buy medicine and gas masks, anticipating they would have to brave tear gas shells from the security forces.

The farmers have converted their tractors and trailers into makeshift homes by covering them with tents and tarpaulin sheets and set up community kitchens that are supplied with vegetables and wheat flour from nearby villages.

"We have not been able to defeat Modi, but we have created some disruption for the right reason," said Sukhpal Khaira, a farmer and a senior leader of the Congress in Punjab.

Farmers and opposition leaders say they expect the protest to spread beyond Punjab, just like the 2020/21 movement, believing it would take the shine off Modi’s popularity.

The government has held several rounds of talks hoping to placate the farmers, but so far to no avail.

Voters know that Modi’s government is committed to helping the poor, and it is making every effort to address farmers’ concerns, said Shehzad Poonawalla, a national spokesperson for the BJP.

CRISIS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

Although the protest is mainly confined to Punjab, farmers from other parts of the country have also cited falling incomes, exacerbated by export curbs, and cheaper imports as signs of a deepening crisis in the countryside.

"Just before harvesting, the government banned onion exports, and prices crashed to 8 rupees a kg from 40 rupees. How do we recover our production costs?" asked farmer Jagannath Ghorpade, who had planted the crop on a two-acre plot in Nashik, in the west of the country.

A sharp reduction in an import tax on edible oils, to 5.5%from 30% in 2021, has led to record vegetable oil imports, has dampened local prices of oilseeds such as soybean and rapeseed, other farmers in western India have said.

Currently the government offers minimum purchase prices only for wheat and rice but here too, there have only been relatively modest increases, said Devinder Sharma, an independent farm and food policy expert.

During the ten years of Modi’s rule, government-fixed minimum purchase prices for rice and wheat rose 67% and 63% versus 138% and 122% over the previous decade, government data showed.

The farm sector, which accounts for around 15% of India’s $3.7 trillion economy, has grown at an average of around 3.5% a year in the last nine years, compared to over 6% growth in manufacturing and services.

Farm lending has gone up by three times during the last nine years to nearly 20 trillion rupees, according to the central bank. More than half of India’s 93 million farm households are in deep debt, with an average of a 74,121 rupees loan for each of the households, according to government estimates.

The pace of growth in real rural wages was around 1% in 2023 after contracting nearly 3% in the previous two years, according to ICRA, the Indian arm of rating agency Moody’s, while average salaries in urban areas have been going up by nearly 10% a year.

"The disparity between urban and rural India has widened in recent years, and that imbalance will only get wider if the government does not address the crisis in agriculture," said Arun Kumar, a former economics professor at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

"India’s policymakers will have to work on a series of measures to ensure that farming becomes viable and rural incomes go up."
Narendra Modi Won’t Turn India Into a Theocracy (Wall Street Journal – opinion)
Wall Street Journal [2/28/2024 1:14 PM, Sadanand Dhume, 810K, Neutral]
With India’s Hindu nationalist prime minister, Narendra Modi, cruising toward a third successive term in elections this year, a clutch of activists and academics warn that the world’s largest democracy is about to degenerate into a full-blown theocracy.

To hear these observers tell it, India is morphing into a Hindu version of an Islamist autocracy like Taliban-run Afghanistan. Oxford historian Pratinav Anil asserted in an article last month that India has already entered “the ranks of the world’s surviving theocracies—Iran, Afghanistan, the Vatican City.” Lawyer and activist Indira Jaising warned Financial Times readers that India is “moving towards becoming a theocratic state.” According to journalist Shikha Dalmia: “The Indian Republic is dead. The Hindu theocracy has won.”

A theocratic India would be a disaster. It would mark a big setback for democracy worldwide and almost certainly ensure that India fails to achieve its economic and geopolitical ambitions. For the U.S., which has cultivated closer ties with New Delhi for more than two decades, a Hindu theocracy would more likely be an adversary than a partner.

Fortunately, these fears are overblown to the point of nonsensical. Those who believe that Mr. Modi will usher in religious rule fundamentally misread the nature of the Hindu nationalist movement and the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Hindu nationalists may not be instinctive liberal democrats, but that doesn’t make them theocrats. The odds of India being run according to ancient laws from Hindu scripture are essentially zero.

Why then do Ms. Jaising, Mr. Anil and others worry about India becoming like mullah-led Iran? Hindu nationalism does share characteristics with Islamism, the quest to order all aspects of the state and society according to Shariah. Adherents of both tend to look on followers of other faiths with suspicion or hostility. Both ideologies also tend to hark back to the glories of a mythical golden age. For Islamists this is the time of the prophet Muhammad (570-632) and his immediate successors, the “rightly guided” first four caliphs. Hindu nationalists look to the period before the first Islamic incursions into the Indian subcontinent in the year 711. Mr. Modi speaks of India’s “1,200 years of slavery,” a reference to both Muslim and British rule.

The prime minister styles himself as part technocrat, part Hindu sage. Over the past three months alone he has inaugurated at least three large Hindu temples—in the Hindu holy towns of Varanasi and Ayodhya, and in Abu Dhabi. It seems barely a week goes by without the prime minister’s advertising his piety at a temple somewhere. Last week the 73-year-old Mr. Modi carried a bouquet of peacock feathers underwater with navy divers to visit an ancient temple to Krishna long submerged off the coast of Gujarat.

Mr. Modi’s most likely successor within the BJP, 51-year-old Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is an actual priest, who has long headed a 1,000-year-old Hindu order headquartered in Gorakhpur, in the eastern part of India’s most populous state. Should Mr. Adityanath ascend to the prime ministership, India would be one of the few countries in the world run by a cleric.

Step beyond superficial similarities, however, and a critical difference between Hindu nationalists and Islamists becomes plainly visible. The end goal of the Islamist project is essentially religious—to govern according to what Islamists view as God’s law. The most influential 20th-century Islamist thinkers laid out detailed visions of Islamic rule on everything from banking to clothing.

Hindu nationalism, by contrast, is a political project. From its inception in 1925, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps)—the most important Hindu nationalist organization, whose offshoots include the BJP—sought to unite Hindus from all castes to resist what it viewed as a threat from better-organized and often violent Muslims. Far from espousing a system of religious governance, the RSS’s political goals put it at odds with Hindu orthodoxy.

The BJP, like most Indian political parties, aggressively champions quotas for so-called lower castes in education and government jobs. In a Hindu theocracy such an idea would be absurd. India would be run by leaders from the warrior caste (Kshatriyas), ably advised by wise Brahmins. It’s laughable to think anyone serious would espouse that in a country that implemented the universal franchise shortly after independence in 1947.

Pointing out that Hindu nationalists aren’t theocrats by any stretch isn’t the same as agreeing with their vision. The political scientists Ashutosh Varshney and Connor Staggs argued recently in the Journal of Democracy that several BJP-ruled states browbeat the Muslim minority through a combination of leniency toward vigilante violence and implicitly anti-Muslim legislation curtailing practices such as beef-eating and interfaith marriage. In a country that is 14% Muslim, the BJP doesn’t count a single Muslim among its nearly 400 members of Parliament and only one among more than 1,400 members of state legislatures.

Over time, India under the BJP may well become a Hindu version of Malaysia, a country where non-Muslims are pointedly treated as second-class citizens. But it will never become a Hindu Iran.

Correction: The BJP has one Muslim state legislator. An earlier version misstated this.
Why India Became Indispensable to US Foreign Policy and Pakistan Was Left Behind (The Diplomat – opinion)
The Diplomat [2/28/2024 8:49 AM, Syed Abdul Ahad Waseem, 201K, Neutral]
In recent years, Indian officials and analysts have tried to make it unambiguously clear that, despite close cooperation with Washington, India will not play second fiddle to the United States in its geopolitical games. India, as it always has, eschews any talk of joining camps in the emerging great power competition. In the past, India’s policy of neutrality or non-alignment allowed it to, among other things, deepen military cooperation with the Soviet Union, only to later sign a strategic partnership with the United States that enabled it to secure nuclear materials and know-how for its civilian nuclear power industry.

Today, as an emerging powerhouse, India would prefer to aim for its own geostrategic realm of influence, like other great powers, rather than resign itself to a regional role as a balancing power. Despite India’s assertive neutrality and its hesitation to toe the U.S. line on issues as crucial to Western interests as the war in Ukraine, India enjoys widespread popularity in the United States, and U.S. policymakers remain glued to India.

The big question is: why?

At the heart of India-U.S. ties is not just a big Indian market that American capitalists would love to have a piece of, or a common foe to counter in the form of China. The core of the relationship is also based on “shared values.”

If officials and analysts are to be believed, the ideological glue of the India-U.S. relationship lies in their “shared values,” as the U.S. State Department puts it, “of a commitment to democracy and upholding the rules-based international system” (notwithstanding the many contradictions in the commitment of the two countries to those values). In fact, the phrase “the oldest and largest democracies in the world” when referring to the United States and India has become a cliché.

In most joint statements by Indian and U.S. officials, “shared interests” are quickly coupled with “shared values.” Analysts emphasize convergence between India’s values of democracy, plurality, cultural openness, and the free market and American values of freedom, liberty, rights, and the pursuit of happiness.

“Shared values” are one of the five key pillars of the India-U.S. partnership; the others are defense and security, economics, global cooperation, and people-to-people ties. Most analyses of India-U.S. ties, especially in Pakistan, put overwhelming emphasis on the latter four pillars. But as Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, noted, “Democracy has also been a force multiplier, bolstering the other pillars of the relationship.”

To many in the United States, India is seen as an island of democracy in the region, surrounded by authoritarian China, Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia. (Pakistan, to its detriment, is seen as part of the latter group.) In fact, this normative convergence is India’s chief source of soft power in the West and an increasingly binding force between the United States and India. And it is likely that U.S. public perceptions of India as a country that shares American values will deepen as the world moves toward an increasingly likely confrontation between democratic and authoritarian powers, possibly in the form of great power competition.

Contrary to the fears of a democratic recession in recent years, data suggests that Americans strongly prefer democracy at home and abroad. Various credible studies and polls by Pew and YouGov suggest that an overwhelming majority of Americans support democracy, and most of those who express negative views about it are opposed to authoritarian alternatives. As for the desire to see a democratic world, despite willingness among Americans to work with non-democracies on strictly national security grounds, a 2022 poll by the Chicago Council of Global Affairs found that a solid majority (60 percent) of Americans say “democracy is the best form of government for all countries”; a majority (85 percent) agree that governments that oppress their people at home are more likely to be aggressive abroad; and a majority (57 percent) disagree that the way China treats ethnic and religious minorities within their country is “none of our business.”

A Freedom House study found that a majority (71 percent) of Americans favored the U.S. government taking steps to support democracy and human rights in other countries; 84 percent agreed that “when other countries become democratic, it contributes to our own well-being”; 67 percent believed that “when other countries are democratic, rather than dictatorships, it often helps make the U.S. a little safer”; and a whopping 91 percent majority agreed that “we can’t control what happens in the world, but we have a moral obligation to speak up and do what we can when people are victims of genocide, violence, and severe human rights abuses.”

This is not to say that countries that do not share values cannot cooperate. The point is that countries that do share values tend to work together more closely on a long-term, non-transactional, sustainable basis. The creation of the European Union, the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, the West’s ties with Taiwan, and the Western defense of Ukraine in its war against Russia are all based on shared values. In fact, if the world returns to a Cold War-like state of affairs, ideological alignment or a preference for a certain regime type will once again become a crucial factor in determining international relations.

The ideological alignment and the preference for a democratic world, as evidenced from the above-cited studies and public surveys, can explain the overwhelming approval of India – “the world’s largest democracy” – in the United States. Gallup’s annual World Affairs survey shows India is perceived by Americans as their sixth favorite nation in the world, with 77 percent holding a favorable view of the country in 2022, even above Israel (71 percent). A 2021 Chicago Council survey found that 42 percent of Americans find India to be a “necessary partner” with which the United States must strategically cooperate, while another 21 percent called India “an ally that shares American interests and values.”

Against this backdrop, Pakistan will be well-advised to heed Sun Tzu’s advice, later popularized by Michael Corleone in “The Godfather: Part II”: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” The wisest among us learn from their enemies, and so should Pakistan.

There is no doubt that Pakistan’s long-term strategic cooperation with its biggest benefactor, China, is warranted. But it would be folly to build Pakistan’s cooperation with China at the cost of ties with the West, the mightiest and most influential bloc in the world. To establish robust ties with the West, Pakistan, already a democratic country in theory, should emerge, like India, as a robust democracy in practice.

An authoritarian Pakistan, as the latest Democracy Index of the Economist magazine confirmed, is unlikely to forge a long-term, non-transactional relationship with the West. To many in the West, who form their perspectives based on what they absorb from electronic and social media, there is no ideological convergence between the West and Pakistan.

True, various U.S. administrations have cooperated in the past with dictators in Pakistan. But that was strictly for national security purposes. The strategic convergence of interests of the two governments is far from the ideological convergence of the two nations.

Unfortunately, weak democratic credentials solidified by this year’s sham elections, as reported by the Western media, have made Pakistan a pariah in the democratic world. If any of Pakistan’s decision-makers were inclined to mend Pakistan’s ties with the West, they would face an uphill battle; a barrage of condemnations and vocal demands for investigations of electoral fraud by dozens of U.S. legislators, the British foreign secretary, and the EU certainly have not carved out a soft space for Pakistan in the hearts of Western people.

Such a situation is particularly distressing given the commitment to democracy that Pakistani voters have shown in the recent general elections. In other words, Americans, British, French, and Pakistanis do share the values of democracy and a belief in the power of the ballot to bring about change. Perhaps in a world where Pakistanis will be able to form governments as they please, Pakistan could reap the benefits of these shared values.
NSB
Bangladesh and U.S. Pursue Post-Election Reset (Foreign Policy)
Foreign Policy [2/28/2024 5:31 PM, Michael Kugelman, 315K, Neutral]
The highlights this week: A U.S. delegation visits Bangladesh amid an apparent shift in relations, Pakistan moves forward with a natural gas pipeline to Iran, and India gets into a fresh spat with social media platform X.

U.S. Delegation Visits Bangladesh

A senior U.S. government delegation visited Bangladesh this week with an agenda that included strengthening diplomatic ties and advancing shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region. The group comprised the National Security Council’s Eileen Laubacher, the State Department’s Afreen Akhter, and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Michael Schiffer. Their discussions also focused on climate change, trade, the Rohingya refugee crisis, and labor rights. The delegation met with senior officials, business executives, civil society organizations, and top opposition leaders.

The visit came amid an apparent shift in bilateral relations, especially in terms of tone and messaging. In the months ahead of Bangladesh’s Jan. 7 elections, the United States took strong steps to promote human rights and democracy, including through sanctions, visa restrictions, and public criticism. The State Department characterized the vote as not free or fair. However, on Feb. 6, U.S. President Joe Biden sent a letter to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that welcomed the “next chapter” in the U.S.-Bangladesh relationship; it did not mention rights or democracy.

During the U.S. delegation’s visit this week, Bangladeshi officials, including Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, underscored the fresh start theme. Salman Rahman, an advisor to Hasina, said the “election is now a thing of the past.” Messaging from both sides was warm and effusive, with plenty of references to the partnership’s strength. This makes for quite the contrast from last April, when Hasina stood before the Bangladesh Parliament and accused the United States of attempting regime change.

What accounts for the turnaround? One possibility is Washington’s desire to distance itself from the highly charged political environment in Dhaka. The more U.S. officials publicly opine about human rights and democracy in Bangladesh, the more they risk getting dragged into it. Last November, for example, the U.S. Embassy expressed deep concerns about violent threats directed at Peter Haas, the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh.

Strategic considerations are also likely at play. Repeated U.S. public pressure on Bangladesh to hold free and fair elections emboldened both China and Russia, giving them pretexts to accuse the United States of meddling in Bangladesh’s domestic affairs. That pressure also upset India, a key U.S. partner that is closely aligned with Bangladesh’s ruling party. The previous U.S. approach effectively gave Beijing and Moscow an advantage in Dhaka and rankled New Delhi.

Geopolitical factors also play a role in the new U.S. approach. The conflict in neighboring Myanmar is intensifying, and Bangladesh hosts hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees but seeks to repatriate them. Washington wants to ensure that it has sufficient diplomatic space to engage with Dhaka on these sensitive issues. Additionally, with U.S. foreign-policy attention increasingly focused on instability in the Middle East, the United States wants to reduce diplomatic headaches elsewhere.

The shift in U.S.-Bangladesh relations isn’t as sharp as it may seem. Despite tensions over the election, ties were already deepening, especially in the areas identified by Biden as priorities in his letter: trade, defense, climate change, and humanitarian issues. Furthermore, the focus on human rights and democracy will continue. During this week’s visit, Akhter met with leaders of Bangladesh’s main opposition party and discussed the “thousands of opposition members in prison,” according to a U.S. Embassy readout.

Dhaka remains a test case for Washington’s values-based foreign policy, but the experiment is now being conducted with less rigor. The relationship’s tone and messaging are emphasizing positivity and potential, not public pressure. Ultimately, this reflects that, for now, the United States has concluded that smooth relations with Bangladesh are a strategic imperative.

What We’re Following

Pakistan’s gas pipeline to Iran. For more than a decade, an envisioned natural gas pipeline from Pakistan to Iran has gone nowhere, with critics dismissing the initiative as a pipe dream. Iran constructed its part several years ago, but Pakistan has struggled to find partners to fund the project on its side. It also fears international sanctions. However, last Friday, Islamabad approved plans to start construction on its part of the pipeline, which will eventually stretch 50 miles from the port of Gwadar to the border with Iran.

Pakistan plans to cover the $158 million cost through taxes and possibly through revenues from payments from energy consumers. Significantly, a new government investment unit influenced by Pakistan’s powerful army chief has also approved the project. If completed, it would be a major boon for the economically stressed country, which has acute energy needs and a long-standing reliance on expensive oil imports.

On one level, the timing is curious: Pakistan-Iran relations are still recovering from a crisis last month after each side traded cross-border strikes. Iran is deeply vulnerable to growing instability in the Middle East. And amid soaring U.S.-Iran tensions, the sanctions risks for Pakistan are especially high. What likely prompted Pakistan to move forward is Iran’s threat of a $18 billion fine for Islamabad not meeting its contractual obligations—a penalty that it can’t afford.

For Pakistan, the challenge is to get a sanctions waiver from Washington. The costs of possible sanctions and a potential crisis in relations with the United States should be prohibitive for Pakistan, but so is Iran’s penalty threat. Islamabad will bank on its currently cordial relations with Washington and the Biden administration’s precedent in not threatening sanctions after Pakistan began importing oil from Russia last year.

India’s social media tensions. India and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, are embroiled in a fresh spat. X’s Global Government Affairs account posted a message last week noting that India had issued executive orders calling on the platform to take down accounts and posts. X said it withheld the content from India and that it remains viewable elsewhere but also that it rejected India’s demands on free speech grounds and plans to appeal.

No details were provided about the restricted accounts and posts, although they likely relate to ongoing farmers’ protests. India is a critical market for X: It has more than 30 million users in the country. But the platform has long had a difficult relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. It has previously sued New Delhi and accused the government of threatening to shut down the site to get content it objected to removed.

X hasn’t received much support from Indian courts. Its earlier litigation was dismissed, and it has been saddled with fines. In a country where space for dissent is rapidly shrinking, online freedoms are the prime casualty.

Pakistan close to forming new government. After no single party won an outright majority in this month’s election, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced last week that they had reached an agreement to form a coalition government. The news hasn’t eased Pakistan’s political turmoil. The PML-N and the PPP won the second- and third-highest number of seats in parliament, respectively. Independents backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, took the most seats.

PTI has rejected the results of the election, alleging that vote-rigging deprived the party of more seats that would have given it a majority and an opportunity to form a government on its own. It has published election documents that it alleges show discrepancies between final vote tallies at polling stations and the official results that came later. After a top official overseeing Rawalpindi, a city in northern Pakistan, made a stunning admission to helping to manipulate results, Pakistan’s Election Commission promised to investigate.

PTI will sit in the opposition, but it is contesting the election results in court and plans to hold protests this weekend. Post-election arrests of prominent government critics have exacerbated tensions, as have intensifying crackdowns on social media. Political instability could be a distraction for a new government, likely to take office next week, that is keen to prioritize economic stabilization.
Under the Radar

This month, Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Authority issued a notice that it will no longer let Russian and Ukrainian tourists remain in the country with expired visas. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sri Lanka allowed tourists from both countries to overstay their visas, acknowledging the difficulties of returning home during a conflict. The new guidance stipulates that those without valid visas must leave Sri Lanka by March 7.

According to Sri Lankan media reports, the country’s immigration department pushed for tourism officials to make the move. But then came a twist. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Sunday that the decision was made without cabinet approval, and he has ordered an investigation. It’s unclear if this is true or if he is trying to appease Russia and Ukraine. Sri Lanka, like most South Asian countries, has taken a neutral position on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The next day, the announcement was abruptly taken down from the Tourism Development Authority website, amid reports that Sri Lanka’s internal security ministry had not signed off on the move. It is not known how many Russians and Ukrainians are in Sri Lanka on expired visas, but official figures indicate that nearly 300,000 Russians and 20,000 Ukrainians have traveled to the country since the war began.

Sri Lanka benefits from the extra revenue, but there are concerns that some tourists are running unregistered businesses—worries that were likely in part behind the aborted visa move. A sensitive policy challenge has now become overshadowed by an interagency tussle, bureaucratic confusion, or some combination of both.

Regional Voices

In the Kathmandu Post, former electricity official Prabal Adhikari calls on Nepal to better harness its indigenous energy supplies to bolster regional energy security in environmentally friendly ways. “Given its rich hydropower potential, Nepal can play an important role in the clean energy transition in the South Asian region,” he writes.

Scholar Ajaz Ahmed argues in Dawn that Pakistan’s climate change policy should be focused less on mitigation and more on adaptation. “Investing in climate adaptation not only makes economic sense but is, with the more prudent use of scarce resources, also a high-value investment,” he writes.

In the Print, writer Akanksha Mishra decries a controversy over the suspension of an Indian forestry official for naming a lioness living in a safari park after a Hindu goddess. The government is “willingly making a mockery of its own forest institutions, by embroiling them in controversies that they probably didn’t start and are not responsible for,” she writes.
Nepali Nationals Are Fighting and Dying in Russia’s War on Ukraine (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [2/28/2024 12:19 AM, Santosh Sharma Poudel, 201K, Neutral]
In an article in The Diplomat at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, I wrote that the conflict would have “hardly any direct impact” on my country, Nepal. I could not have been more wrong.

Nepal is directly entangled in the war. Not only have many Nepali citizens gone to Russia to join the Russian Army, but also several have died fighting on the frontlines.

The estimates of the number of Nepali citizens in the Russian military vary widely. Nepal’s Foreign Minister Narayan Prasad Saud estimated that around 200 Nepalis were serving in the Russian Army towards the end of 2023. The government had received complaints from around 200 families regarding their kin being injured or missing in war. Fourteen citizens are confirmed to have died in the war zone so far.

On the other hand, a recent CNN report, based on testimony from men returning from the war zone, estimated that the number could be as high as 15,000. However, it provides no further evidence to back up the number. Nepali journalists closely following the issue estimate the number to be above 500.

What is driving Nepali nationals to fight in Russia’s war on Ukraine?

On their own volition and against government restrictions, Nepali citizens are heading to Russia on a tourist visa or through third countries to participate in the war as mercenaries. The lack of economic opportunities at home and the lure of big payments in Russia have attracted Nepalis. Therefore, the youths have risked their lives in hopes of better earnings and gaining citizenship/permanent residence in developed countries. Unless the prospects improve in the home country, government restrictions will unlikely stem the flow of young men to war zones.

This dynamic has thrust Nepal into the middle of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Nepal has a tripartite agreement with Britain and India to allow for the recruitment of its citizens in the Gurkha regiments of their militaries. Britain also recruits Nepali citizens specifically to deploy in Singapore and Brunei. It is a proud tradition, and Nepali recruits are recognized as among the most loyal and brave soldiers. Though no agreement exists with other countries, Nepali citizens have joined the U.S. and French militaries as well.

Sam Manekshaw, former Indian field marshal, once effusively quipped, “If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha.” The Gurkha lahures, as they were affectionately called, commanded respect and had a special place in Nepali society and culture.

Nepali citizens found ways to serve as security guards or service staff to the American and coalition forces during their missions in Afghanistan and Iraq too, despite Nepal banning travel to those countries for work.

Additionally, Nepal is currently the largest troop-contributing nation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). By November 2023, Nepal had deployed 6,247 troops for the UNPKO, leapfrogging Bangladesh to take the top spot. Nepal takes pride in its contribution to global peace via the UNPKO.

However, there is a critical difference between those who join the Indian Army, British Army, or the UNPKOs and those who join the battlefield frontlines in Russia with little to no training. In the case of the latter, Nepali citizens are being used as dispensable and cheap mercenary forces.

The impact on Nepal’s foreign policy has been immediate and real.

Nepal has sent multiple diplomatic notes and summoned the Russian ambassador to Nepal. Nepal has urged Moscow to stop recruiting Nepali citizens and repatriate those deployed in the war. Russia has quietly ignored the messages. Nepal’s government belatedly busted a network of influential people involved in trafficking Nepalis to join the Russian Army. Kathmandu negotiated with Moscow to provide compensation to the families of Nepalis killed during the war through the Nepali Embassy in Moscow.

Nevertheless, the sentiment within the political and bureaucratic circles is apathy and disinterest. Nepali officials “knew that Nepalis were going to Russia even via various Gulf states” and yet did not respond immediately.

The impact has still been limited because Ukraine is of tertiary interest to Nepal. Imagine the scenario if a similar number of Nepalis were fighting for Ukraine! It would have jeopardized Nepal-Russia relations.

Such a scenario also adds to the concerns of the Agnipath scheme, a four-year recruitment scheme of the Indian Army, after which only one-fourth of those recruited will continue to be employed in the military. Before the Agnipath scheme, India recruited around 1,400 Gurkhas annually from Nepal. Nepal has halted recruitment after India introduced the Agnipath scheme. Had it continued, the recruitment would have gone up, but three-quarters of the soldiers would have been released after four years in service. That means that Nepal would have thousands of unemployed former Indian Army recruits of 21-27 years of age, with excellent training.

Russia would have salivated at a chance to recruit such professionals.

As stated earlier, the push and pull factors of Nepalis going to war zones like Russia are so strong that the government restriction has not had the intended effect. As such, Kathmandu could seek to regulate such recruits by opening talks with other friendly countries. This could pave the way for the Nepali government to negotiate the conditions of recruitment, and the recruiting countries would treat Nepali soldiers with respect and not as cheap, dispensable mercenaries.

That would be a big change in Nepal’s foreign policy orientation. So far, Nepal allows for such recruitment for India and Britain. Doing so would open the doors of other nations’ militaries to recruit Nepali citizens and would further expand Nepal’s image as the “land of Gurkhas.”

It would enmesh Nepal further into the security issues of such friendly nations. However, it would be economically and diplomatically more prudent than individual citizens going to war zones illegally while the government seems apathetic to the plight of its nationals.
Press in crisis in Nepal as media revenue dips (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [2/28/2024 10:37 AM, Lekhanath Pandey, 2728K, Negative]
Bhupa Raj Khadka, a journalist with three decades of experience in media, recently opened a retail shop in Bhaktapur, a suburb of Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital.

He had been running a current affairs news portal for six years. But now, he is struggling to pay his two remaining reporters due to dwindling advertisement revenue.

"I saw no future in journalism, so I started a retail shop to make ends meet," he told DW.
Journalism no longer a viable career path

Khadka’s situation reflects a broader trend in Nepali journalism. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) — an umbrella trade union — reported in 2021 that more than 10% of journalists across the country faced lay offs, underpayment or delayed payments within a few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Since then, there has been no comprehensive study on how many journalists have been laid off or quit the field.

Tara Nath Dahal, chairman of Freedom Forum Nepal, a media rights NGO, told DW that many more people have left journalism than rejoined the profession since the pandemic.

The vice chairwoman of FNJ, Bala Adhkari, told DW that about 2,500 journalists across the country have been facing various labor rights violations such as unfair layoffs or failure to receive payments

"Almost 1,000 of them have approached FNJ seeking help to resolve their issues," she added.

The crisis has pushed many journalists to change professions. In its recent report, the organization Freedom Forum Nepal notes journalists have turned to teaching, businesses, and working at NGOs to meet their financial needs, while some have opted to work abroad. Many have found employment in the Gulf countries or Australia.

The FNJ has also seen its own membership plummet drop by half, Adhikari estimates.
Rise and fall of Nepalese journalism

Nepal’s media landscape thrived following its democratic transition in 1990, when a new constitution paved the way for liberalizing the media industry.

At its peak, Nepal boasted more than 7,000 registered print media outlets. Today, there are 4,859 registered print titles, including 730 daily papers. However, only 928 of all newspapers — including 191 dailies — were published at regular intervals as of mid-July 2023.

Dahal said Freedom Forum had observed that more than half of Nepal’s FM radio stations and TV networks went off the air since the pandemic, while the remaining ones have either severely cut the number of their employees or reduced their editorial content.

Major newspapers — except government-owned ones — have reduced the number of pages, laid off staff, and closed their regional editions. Leading Nepalese media house Kantipur Media Group (KMG) recently slashed almost one-third of its 1,200-plus jobs. This includes around 100 journalists who have reportedly been laid off or quit.

A representative of KMG said the company planned further layoffs as it faces declines in revenues. For years, KMG’s flagship newspaper, Kantipur Daily, printed 24 to 32 pages – now, it has dropped to eight pages.

No salaries, perks or benefits

Activist Janmadev Jaisi said every media house in the country faced accusations of violating workers’ rights, driven by management’s decision to withhold payment or inflict illegal layoff due to alleged lack of resources.

"Media houses want to operate with as little staff as possible, while not ensuring basic salaries, perks, benefits and timely payment," he said.

Rabi Raj Baral, founder of Media Kurakani — a popular blog focused on press issues — said news outlets struggle with digital transition and lack crisis management skills.

"The media sector largely opted for an easy way out by laying off staff, trimming content and/or ceasing operations" said Baral, who was also laid off by KMG in 2020 when it closed its Nepal magazine.

Advertising funds are moving away from the papers and toward tech giants such as Meta and Google

Prior the pandemic, the estimated worth of Nepal’s advertisement market was approximately 12-13 billion Nepalese rupees (around €88 million, $95 million), with government advertisements accounting for nearly a quarter of it, according to the Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN).

The majority of government ads goes to state-owned media.

Ranjit Ahcarya, who runs the Prisma Advertising agency, said his company had witnessed a 70-75% decline in annual advertising revenue for news media.

This situation has been further exacerbated by Nepal’s bleak economic outlook, which is still struggling to revive since the pandemic.

"We do not have an official data of the amount of advertising revenue allocated to Nepali news media versus digital spaces, as the latter often occurs informally or even illegally," said Acharya, a who is also a member of ANN.

Acharya said the post-pandemic economic downturn made TV advertising less appealing. Consequently, they shifted toward digital platforms, which offer access to more targeted audiences at lower costs.
Who will now be the public watchdog?

Netra Prasad Subedi, spokesperson of the Communication and Information Technology Ministry, has acknowledged the current crisis of Nepal’s media landscape. However, he says the government doesn’t have any policies or the resources to rescue the media financially. Instead, the ministry lets the market forces correct itself.

The crisis is not only a threat to journalists’ livelihoods but also undermines the media’s role as a public watchdog.

Kundan Aryal, associate professor of journalism at Nepal’s Tribhuvan University, said there was a decline in quality reporting and shrinking focus on public interests.

This trend has exacerbated with local bodies hiring hundreds of active journalists as press advisers and public relations officers.

"With the weak media landscape, public trust in media has weakened, its watchdog role has compromised, civic space has shrunk, and this has ultimately undermined democratic governance and democracy at large," said Dahal, from Freedom Forum Nepal.

Bimala Tumkhewa, chairwoman of Sancharika Samuha — an NGO devoted to the rights of women journalists — also warns that "women and marginalized voices were already underrepresented in Nepali mainstream media."

"As the entire media sector is facing an economic crisis, they are mainly focusing on political and economic issues, rather than social and inclusion issues," she said.
Central Asia
Over 50,000 Central Asians crossed the U.S. border illegally in 2023 top Republican claims in warning about ‘sleeper cells’ that could attack American soil (Daily Mail)
Daily Mail [2/28/2024 4:18 PM, Jon Michael Raasch, 11975K, Negative]
A top GOP senator is ominously warning about a growing network of terrorists entering the U.S. through the southern border that could be plotting an attack on American soil.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told reporters at a press conference Tuesday that a ‘high-level individual’ warned him that over 50,000 central Asians crossed illegally into the U.S. in 2023.

That same individual from central Asia, Daines said, also expressed concern about a possible terror attack within the U.S., as the migrants could be a ‘part of sleeper cells for a possible terror attack on our soil.’

Currently, at least 40,000 Central Asian nationals are awaiting U.S. asylum court proceedings, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a non-profit that tracks asylum court hearings.

Of those Central Asian nationals 17,000 are from Uzbekistan, 7,000 are from Kyrgyzstan, 3,000 are from Tajikistan, 2,700 are from Kazakhstan and 2,000 from Turkmenistan.

Daines’ revelation comes as lawmakers are increasingly concerned about Chinese nationals crossing over the border into the U.S.

The number of Chinese nationals crossing the southern border near San Diego has eclipsed the number of Mexicans in recent months, according to a new report.

The CBP has recorded 21,000 encounters with Chinese nationals in the San Diego Sector since the fiscal year began in October, according to CBP data obtained by Fox News that is not yet public.

That’s more than the 18,700 encounters with Mexican nationals during the same period, and second only to the 28,000 Columbians CBP reported encountering in the sector.

‘The result of Biden’s border crisis is deadly,’ Daines continued. ‘When will enough be enough?’

DailyMail.com reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security regarding the top senator’s concerns regarding central Asians in particular.

Daines’ warnings about terrorist sleeper cells are not unwarranted.

In August 2023, more than a dozen migrants from Uzbekistan who claimed asylum in the U.S. were being investigated after the FBI uncovered the smuggler who helped them cross into the country had ties to ISIS.

Additionally, Ex-FBI and Homeland Security officials sent a letter to Congressional leaders in January warning them about the possibility of an ‘imminent’ terror attack as ‘military-aged’ foreigners have streamed across the porous southern border.

At least 50 individuals on the FBI terror watchlist have been arrested while crossing into the U.S. since October.

Federal data shows that over 7.3 million migrants have crossed into the country illegally since Biden took office in 2021.

The president, meanwhile, is scheduled to visit the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday. The trip would be his second to the border while in office.

The visit comes as border security has become a top priority for voters in the upcoming presidential election.

Former President Donald Trump is also expected to visit the border the same day.

Biden is making the trip is because ‘he’s got a political crisis on his hands, not because he wants to solve the border crisis,’ Daines said.
Kazakhstan: Oil services company cracks down on strikers with mass firings (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [2/28/2024 4:14 PM, Almaz Kumenov, 57.6K, Negative]
An oil services company in western Kazakhstan whose operations have been hampered by a strike that began in December has escalated the standoff by announcing that it will dismiss 50 employees involved in industrial action.

The firings, announced by West Oil Software on February 27, represent the company’s largest mass dismissal since the strike started.

The company has stated that the strike is costing it millions of dollars daily, with the financial damage to date around 1 billion tenge ($2.2 million). It cited a December court ruling, which declared the protest unlawful, as the legal basis for the dismissals.

“For the vacant positions that appear, we will recruit from among the citizens currently seeking employment,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, West Oil Software has sought to sow discord among the strikers by pledging that even dismissed employees are eligible to get their jobs back before any new hires. The company urged holdouts to follow the example of their 120 or so colleagues who crossed the picket line. More dismissals will follow if the strike persists, West Oil Software warned.

It is unclear how many will heed these warnings. The Vlast news website quoted protesting workers as saying they are “already used” to layoffs and that they intend to stand fast until their demands are met.

Around 500 West Oil Software workers began a strike on December 11, demanding employment in subsidiaries of the state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas, or KMG, which they believe would secure them higher salaries and better certainty of long-term employment.

Reprising a theme often heard among disgruntled oil industry workers in the Mangystau region, strikers have argued that the decision, adopted in 2018, to sever ties with KMG subsidiaries where they previously worked and to transfer employees was a cost-cutting measure that led to stagnation in salary growth.

Organizers of the West Oil Software action have said that in addition to pressure from the company, they are also being targeted with smear attacks. They specifically pointed to local press articles claiming the strikes were instigated by dishonest activists working for nebulous outside "forces."

“They want to show us as greedy and bad, that we are trying to organize something [illegal],” Vlast quoted one worker as saying.

The police have weighed in too. Law enforcement officials told the Orda.kz news website that they have received reports of West Oil Software workers being intimidated by strike ringleaders. Police are investigating the allegations.

Other companies in the Mangystau region have been more successful in defusing industrial action.

At the end of January, another protest broke out at the Kezbi drilling company. Around 800 workers downed their tools to demand higher wages, improved catering, and an internal investigation into claims of corruption. That strike ended within one day following apparently fruitful negotiations in which management agreed to fulfill the demands of the workers.
Kyrgyz Lawmaker Proposes Stripping Jeenbekov Of Ex-President Status (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [2/28/2024 1:13 PM, Staff, 223K, Negative]
A Kyrgyz lawmaker proposed on February 28 stripping former leader Sooronbai Jeenbekov of his status of ex-president over his alleged links to the fugitive former deputy chief of the Customs Service, Raimbek Matraimov.

The lawmaker, Akylbek Tumonbaev, emphasized that several lawmakers have resigned and some ministers have lost their posts over their connections to Matraimov, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Tumonbaev said it was Jeenbekov who brought Matraimov “to the political scene, but his name has not been made public.” Jeenbekov, meanwhile, “is living on the state budget’s expenses,” Tumonbaev told a session of parliament.

To strip him of his ex-president status, representatives of his party, the Social Democratic party, in the parliament must first agree on the move and then a special parliamentary commission must be created to implement the decision, according to lawmaker Nurlanbek Azygaliev.

Two of the five former Kyrgyz presidents -- Jeenbekov and Roza Otunbaeva -- have the official status of ex-president, which guarantees them, among other privileges, immunity to legal prosecution.

Other former Kyrgyz leaders -- Askar Akaev, Kurmanbek Bakiev, and Almazbek Atambaev -- were deprived of the ex-president status due to criminal cases launched against them.

Jeenbekov was elected president in 2017. In October 2020, he announced his resignation amid protests against official results of parliamentary elections that demonstrators called rigged. The results of the parliamentary elections were later canceled.

Tumonbaev’s proposal comes as police and security officers are targeting relatives and close associates of Matraimov, who in 2020-21 was at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal.

Last month, the State Committee for National Security added Matraimov to its wanted list on charges of abduction and the illegal incarceration of unspecified individuals.

Matraimov, who escaped imprisonment in 2021 by paying 2 billion soms ($22.4 million) to Kyrgyzstan’s state treasury, faced the new charges after Kyrgyz police shot dead criminal kingpin Kamchybek Kolbaev in October.

Last week, the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission annulled the mandates of two lawmakers with close ties to Matraimov -- his brother Iskender Matraimov and associate Nurlan Rajabaliev -- at their own requests.

Raimbek Matraimov faced the new charges after Kyrgyz police shot and killed Kolbaev, who had been added by Washington to a list of major global drug-trafficking suspects in 2011.
Kyrgyzstan: Building work starts on another auto plant (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [2/28/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
The president of Kyrgyzstan oversaw a ceremony on February 28 to lay the foundations of a vehicle factory that his office says will eventually produce up to 80,000 units annually.

The $115 million project is being implemented jointly by Kyrgyz companies and China’s Hubei Zhuoyue Group, President Sadyr Japarov’s office said in a statement.

Operations are scheduled to begin in August.

Japarov’s office said the plant, which is located in Sokuluk, just west of Bishkek, will assemble electric vehicles, and commercial and passenger vehicles, but it provided no insight as to which brands would be produced there.

The president noted in his speech, however, that he believes this project will serve as a cornerstone for the “Made in Kyrgyzstan” brand.

Kyrgyzstan’s main engagement with the auto business over the past year has been to serve as a re-export hub.

The National Statistics Committee reported earlier this month that more than 79,000 vehicles were imported from China in 2023 — a 44-fold increase on the year before.

Most of those cars are ending up in Russia. Car market analytics company Avtostat revealed in December that Kyrgyzstan had since the start of 2023 exported 60,000 cars to Russia.

Also in 2023, Kyrgyzstan imported some 50,400 cars from South Korea, up from around 10,600 in 2022.

The Sokuluk plant is just one of two auto ventures that are meant to open their doors in Kyrgyzstan this year.

In May 2023, work began on building a car assembly plant in the village of Ak-Suu in Kyrgyzstan’s northern Chui region. The factory will be operated as a joint venture between Uzbek government-controlled UzAvtosanoat, or UzAuto, which manufactures vehicles under the Chevrolet brands, and Kyrgyz company DT Tekhnik.

During its initial phase of operations, the Ak-Suu facility will have a capacity for producing 10,000 vehicles per year, Kyrgyz officials said.

UzAuto executives have indicated that the Kyrgyz plant will initially assemble cars from large pre-made sections or modules. UzAuto factories in Uzbekistan already manufacture those components and will likely serve as the primary source for assembly kits.

With Russia looking to clamp down on the current Kyrgyz auto re-export model, the Uzbek-Kyrgyz tie-up may offer an appealing alternative.

While Kyrgyzstan is a fellow member in the Eurasian Economic Union, or EAEU, trading bloc with Russia, Uzbekistan is not and its exports are not as a consequence covered by tariff-free privileges. By exporting components to Kyrgyzstan, however, UzAuto can avoid the full pain of the EAEU trade barrier as tariffs for parts are lower than for fully assembled vehicles.
Tajikistan takes swipe at women’s “immoral” Western clothing (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [2/28/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Negative]
State television in Tajikistan is worried about women’s clothes.

Earlier this week, Khatlon, a channel based in the eponymous southern region, broadcast a report lambasting pop music performers for failing to protect and preserve traditional Tajik values, and instead promoting Western-style permissiveness in how they dress.

Presenter Albina Abdusattor argued in the segment, aired on February 26, that Tajik singers are too interested in gaining popularity.

“Female artists keep trying every day to shorten their dresses, to make them more see-through and revealing,” Abdusattor said. “With their behavior, these singers propagandize American and European clothing styles, but why don’t they care for our national dress?”

The presenter went further, suggesting that the authorities should consider introducing legislation bringing in fines or jail time for performers who “spread immorality.”

Abdusattor did not single out any singers by name, but her remarks were accompanied by footage of music videos featuring three female acts: Mehrnigor Rustam, Farzona Khurshed, and Firuza Hafizova.

Abdusattor’s remarks have sparked a lively online conversation, with most commenters appearing to support her position. Opinions typically run along the lines that growing permissiveness could lead to a gradual loss of traditional values and customs in Tajikistan. Some propose their own solutions, including expelling offending artists from the country, banning them from performing or even putting them in prison for a few years.

“It is lawmakers that are to blame. They should adopt a decree to condemn singers like these and strip them of the right to perform at concerts and weddings,” wrote one Facebook user, Ismatullah Rajab.

The authorities have shown themselves perfectly willing to take a more hands-on role in shaping popular culture.

In January, parliament and then the president approved a new law regulating culture that obliges artists holding concerts outside the country to coordinate their tours with the Tajik Culture Ministry.

Akmal Olimshoyev, a lawyer at the Culture Ministry, told RFE/RL’s Tajik service, Radioi Ozodi, that the measure was needed as artists performing abroad are in effect representing their country to the wider world. Regulators need to know how Tajik culture is being represented on foreign soil, Olimshoyev said.

Tajik officials have, in truth, long reserved the right to dictate how women dress. Usually, however, they are irked that Tajik women are wearing too many items of clothing.

Over the last decade, law enforcement officers have routinely hauled up women wearing the hijab, on the grounds that it is alien to Tajik culture. Talking heads of state television habitually condemn overly Islamic-looking clothing.

This campaign is couched in a broader agenda to intimidate the public into eschewing Islamic piety, which the Tajik government often in effect equates to potentially violent religious radicalism.

Men have not been touched by the anti-Western turn. The authorities do not decry jeans, suits, T-shirts or other arguably untraditional Tajik clothes as alien.
Twitter
Afghanistan
Omar Sadr
@OmarSadr
[2/28/2024 1:15 PM, 12K followers, 2 retweets, 10 likes]
On the 3rd anniversary of the US-Taliban deal, I discussed how the deal failed Afg because of issues related to the design of the process, concessions, bargaining issues, lack of guarantees, indivisibility, ideology & identity. I have discussed these issues in a forthcoming paper

Omar Sadr
@OmarSadr
[2/28/2024 1:00 PM, 12K followers, 17 retweets, 44 likes]
.@thehill falsely puts the ordinary people of Afghanistan in conformity with the Taliban, claiming both are concerned about "warlords". The false equivalency clearly ignores the denial of the Taliban by the people. Portraying the Taliban as the... 1/2

Omar Sadr
@OmarSadr
[2/28/2024 1:00 PM, 12K followers, 2 retweets, 10 likes]
voice of ordinary people diminishes the diversity of views, including those of the women’s social movement, civil society & grass-roots resistance. In fact, the Talibs are a syndicate of extremist warlords. Be cautious about the false dichotomy of Taliban vs warlords. 2/2

Zalmai Nishat
@ZalNishat
[2/28/2024 7:11 AM, 4.9K followers, 7 retweets, 35 likes]
Taliban lobbyist like @james_durso must know by now that clearly who are the other side to the Taliban. It’s not "warlords" - whatever it means - and former discredited republic officials. It’s the brave women & the civil society and the armed resistances! https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4491271-who-will-talk-to-afghanistans-taliban/

Tajuden Soroush
@TajudenSoroush
[2/28/2024 4:13 PM, 159.3K followers, 7 retweets, 94 likes]
Three days ago NRF hit Kabul airport with at least 3 rockets which was verified by several people at the airport. Since then, the Taliban kept rejecting it. It looks like the airport is a very sensitive area for the Taliban which scared them a lot.

Tajuden Soroush
@TajudenSoroush
[2/28/2024 9:08 AM, 159.3K followers, 54 retweets, 173 likes]
Taliban leader, Habatullah Akhundzada has a very close relationship with Al-Qaida. The leadership of Al-Shabab and the Libya branch of Al-Qaida are now in Afghanistan. currently, Al-Qaida focuses on operational capability and making training camps, and Al-Shabab is very skilled in that area, says Sarah Adams, ex-CIA officer.
Pakistan
Hamid Mir
@HamidMirPAK
[2/28/2024 11:14 PM, 8.4M followers, 376 retweets, 1.1K likes]
The judiciary itself did not demand an explanation from Mr Asad Ali Toor. So, why should the FIA burden itself with the task? The goal is obvious. Silence all dissent. https://www.dawn.com/news/1817910

Hamid Mir
@HamidMirPAK
[2/28/2024 11:06 PM, 8.4M followers, 197 retweets, 614 likes]
Who is trying to silence the dissenting voices by using the name of judges? Journalists petition Supreme Court against FIA’s roving inquiries. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1162682-social-media-campaign-against-judges-journalist-bodies-ask-sc-to-strike-down-jit-probing-case
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[2/28/2024 8:07 AM, 95.8M followers, 3.1K retweets, 10K likes]
Delighted to be in Yavatmal. Various development initiatives are being inaugurated or their foundation stones are being laid. These will boost Maharashtra’s progress.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[2/28/2024 6:33 AM, 95.8M followers, 6K retweets, 34K likes]
These are glimpses from the massive rally at Tirunelveli. Over the last two days, the affection I have received from my sisters and brothers in Tamil Nadu is immense. The number of youth and women joining our programmes is tremendous. These blessings give me the strength to work even harder for the people.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[2/28/2024 4:13 AM, 95.8M followers, 11K retweets, 43K likes]
DMK’s advertisement today is hilarious. They have insulted Indian science and the Indian space sector, for which they must apologise.

President of India
@rashtrapatibhvn
[2/29/2024 2:59 AM, 24.1M followers, 70 retweets, 540 likes]
President Droupadi Murmu interacted with members of PVTGs of Kadalibadi village in Keonjhar, Odisha.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[2/28/2024 12:21 PM, 3M followers, 207 retweets, 1.8K likes]
My speech at the foundation stone laying ceremony & inauguration of various projects at the Sri Navagraha Teerth Kshetra, Varur.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[2/28/2024 9:30 AM, 3M followers, 181 retweets, 2K likes]
Pleased to join the launch of the book on colleague @JoshiPralhad ji’s service to the nation and Dharwad Loksabha constituency in the past 5 years. The enthusiasm of the youth present at the gathering was manifest. Dharwad is another example of Modi Sarkar’s development delivery changing people’s lives.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[2/28/2024 9:28 AM, 3M followers, 130 retweets, 1.6K likes]
Glad to attend the foundation stone laying for AGM Engineering College Block & inauguration of the Ayurvedic Medical College Block in Varur today. Can see the building blocks of New India being laid across the country as we enter the Amrit Kaal.

Rahul Gandhi
@RahulGandhi
[2/28/2024 11:45 PM, 25M followers, 4.5K retweets, 12K likes]
Today, most Indians do not have access to the opportunities and progress that only a few enjoy. We need to reimagine development and technology so that we create an economy that doesn’t leave 90% of our population behind.
Some immediate steps we can take:
- Simplify GST
- Redesign our tax system to help MSMEs
- Protect farmers through MSP
- Promote job creators’ capabilities and organise production by connecting high-tech networks
I recently had a conversation with IT professionals about the ongoing jobs crisis and the growing disparity in our economy. It is imperative that we use technology to include all Indians in the development process by bringing disconnected networks together. Watch Full Video: https://youtu.be/zd7Zd0JxrUI?si=yqp6upLqIavHxkaQ
NSB
Awami League
@albd1971
[2/28/2024 9:39 AM, 636.3K followers, 28 retweets, 90 likes]
President of India Droupadi Murmu said that #India attaches the highest priority to its friendship with #Bangladesh and is committed to realizing its full potential. She said both countries share a unique bond. https://link.albd.org/0xd40 @rashtrapatibhvn @ihcdhaka @BDMOFA

Awami League
@albd1971
[2/28/2024 8:28 AM, 636.3K followers, 42 retweets, 113 likes]
Mega projects, including the #BusRapidTransit (BRT), #MassRapidTransit (MRT), Elevated, and At-grade #Expressway emerge as the cornerstones of #Bangladesh transformative journey. Over the past decade, Dhaka has also experienced a remarkable surge in road network development, fueled by the implementation of such #megaprojects. These initiatives have not only reshaped #Dhaka’s physical landscape but have also intricately woven new patterns into its mobility fabric. https://link.albd.org/oe44s

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[2/29/2024 2:11 AM, 5.1K followers]
It would be interesting to know what an unelected & notoriously corrupt PM considers “tolerable”prices. Is she at all aware that the masses in #Bangladesh are intensely struggling with inflation of food items? What about the price hikes of electricity & gas? Prices of essentials will remain at tolerable level during Ramadan: PM https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/01umibotau

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[2/29/2024 2:03 AM, 5.1K followers, 1 like]
Bangladesh’s Financial Express released a survey stating that in 2022, there were between 500, 000 & 1 million Indians living illegally in #Bangladesh. The article states that these illegal Indian immigrants work in NGOs, the textile industry, garments, the IT sector, etc. They send billions of dollars of remittance back to India. Bangladeshis must remember that when India falsely claims there are illegal Bangladeshis (who are referred to as “termites”) in India. #BoycottIndianProducts is a great beginning, with the final goal being #IndiaOut completely.

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[2/28/2024 5:18 AM, 5.1K followers, 2 retweets, 3 likes]
CNN’s interview of Professor Yunus of #Bangladesh regarding the government’s clear politically motivated harassment. https://youtu.be/I36jzuJzyXE

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[2/29/2024 12:40 AM, 107.1K followers, 36 retweets, 39 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu arrived on N. Ken’dhikulhudhoo Island as part of his six-day visit to some Islands of the HA, HDh, Sh and N atolls. Upon arrival, the President was warmly welcomed by the island’s community.

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[2/28/2024 2:56 PM, 107.1K followers, 42 retweets, 47 likes]
Maldives-Sri Lanka ties have existed long before our independence, says the Vice President https://presidency.gov.mv/Press/Article/30198

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[2/28/2024 12:39 PM, 107.1K followers, 78 retweets, 113 likes]
Vice President @HucenSembe attends the 76th Independence Day reception of Sri Lanka, held this evening.

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[2/28/2024 11:10 PM, 107.1K followers, 66 retweets, 77 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu arrived on N. Manadhoo Island as part of his six-day visit to some Islands of the HA, HDh, Sh and N atolls. The President was greeted enthusiastically by the citizens of the island upon his arrival.

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[2/28/2024 8:20 AM, 107.1K followers, 65 retweets, 73 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu arrived on N. Miladhoo Island as part of his six-day visit to some Islands of the HA, HDh, Sh and N atolls. Upon arrival, the island community warmly greeted the President.

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[2/28/2024 5:14 AM, 107.1K followers, 62 retweets, 72 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu arrived on N. Holhudhoo Island, today as part of his six-day visit to some Islands of the HA, HDh, Sh and N atolls. Upon arrival, the President was warmly welcomed by the island’s community.

Abdulla Shahid
@abdulla_shahid
[2/28/2024 7:19 AM, 117.2K followers, 31 retweets, 63 likes]
Today, @mvpeoplesmajlis passed the amendment to the Elections (General) Act by 47 votes to 14 against, overriding the Presidential Veto. I warmly welcome the passing of the amendment and thank the Honourable @MDPSecretariat Members of Parliament and other MPs who voted in favour of the amendments once again. Our unwavering commitment to serve national interests will always prevail. The amendment prevents elections from being scheduled during the Holy month of Ramadan, in line with the aspirations of the people. This would facilitate greater voter participation in elections.

M U M Ali Sabry
@alisabrypc
[2/28/2024 2:53 PM, 5K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
Minister Sabry’s statements underscored the need for the UNHRC to avoid double standards and to foster an environment of depoliticization, constructive dialogue, and multilateral cooperation. This approach is deemed essential, especially in addressing … https://bnnbreaking.com/politics/sri-lanka-urges-unhrc-to-eschew-political-gains-over-principles-in-geneva-session

M U M Ali Sabry
@alisabrypc
[2/28/2024 5:58 AM, 5K followers, 7 retweets, 20 likes]
In my address to the High Level Segment of the Conference on #Disarmament, I highlighted the importance of resuming substantive work of the #CD and reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s consistent commitments in global disarmament affairs. I reiterated that the need is more vital than ever, for effective disarmament diplomacy and that #nuclear disarmament is of the highest priority, particularly in the present geo political context. I stated that in keeping with Sri Lanka´s unwavering commitment to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, we ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and also acceded to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in 2023 and that Sri Lanka has also been selected to host the Integrated Field Exercise (IFE25) in 2025. I cautioned that the crisis in #Gaza is in imminent danger of spilling over to the rest of the world and that history has shown us that peace and stability in the Middle East is crucial to global peace and stability. #Geneva @SLUNGeneva @MFA_SriLanka

Namal Rajapaksa
@RajapaksaNamal
[2/28/2024 9:51 AM, 438.1K followers, 3 retweets, 21 likes]
Today visited Mahapalassa Purana Viharaya, Alioluara Purana Viharaya, Bodhiraja Purana Viharaya and 9 Hamare 10 Kanduwa Purana Viharaya and receiving blessings from the Chief Incumbent Nayaka Theros.
Central Asia
Yerzhan Ashikbayev
@KZAmbUS
[2/28/2024 10:10 PM, 2.4K followers, 3 likes]
DPM-FM Murat Nurtleu delivered a speech at @UNHumanRights, emphasizing the crucial role of human rights and democratic reforms in shaping Just and Fair Kazakhstan. “Democratic transformations in Kazakhstan are irreversible,” he said.

Yerzhan Ashikbayev
@KZAmbUS
[2/28/2024 12:12 PM, 2.4K followers, 2 retweets, 16 likes]
Good to catch up with Senator @SteveDaines to discuss the growing strategic potential of the region, energy security, and critical minerals. In light of this, we explored the significance of mutual efforts in strengthening trade coop between #PNTR

Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis
[2/29/2024 1:29 AM, 28.7K followers, 3 retweets, 7 likes]
Oil company fires 50 striking workers in West #Kazakhstan, following the playback of Zhanaozen 2011. That did not end well. @eurasianet reports https://eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-oil-services-company-cracks-down-on-strikers-with-mass-firings

Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis
[2/29/2024 12:13 AM, 28.7K followers, 8 retweets, 23 likes]
Uzbek police summon London-based @bbcuzbek journalist Ibrat Safo for "chat" over social media post, accuse him of not being "patriot" - is that a criminal offence in the New #Uzbekistan? @CPJ_Eurasia @gulnozas @MihraRittmann @HughAWilliamson @article19org https://www.gazeta.uz/ru/2024/02/28/bbc/

MFA Tajikistan
@MOFA_Tajikistan
[2/29/2024 1:06 AM, 4.5K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Participation of the Ambassador at the 1st TRENDS-IICD Joint Scientific and Practical Conference https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/14488/participation-of-the-ambassador-at-the-1st-trends-iicd-joint-scientific-and-practical-conference

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[2/28/2024 12:59 PM, 157.8K followers, 2 retweets, 16 likes]
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on the priority tasks for increasing the use of renewable energy sources. The Minister of Energy, along with the regional governors, has reported on the strategic initiatives focusing on the enhanced adoption of renewable energy sources. These plans intend to scale up the use of clean energy and drive the development of supportive infrastructure in alignment with these goals.

Uzbekistan MFA
@uzbekmfa
[2/28/2024 12:43 PM, 6.9K followers, 2 retweets, 6 likes]
On February 28, 2024, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Muzaffar Madrakhimov met with @kahaimnadze, the Special Representative of the @UN Secretary-General, Head of the @UNRCCA. https://mfa.uz/35436

{End of Report}
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