epubdos : Afghanistan
SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO:
SCA & Staff
DATE:
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
Afghan Women Accuse Taliban Of Torture, Extortion Amid Dress Code Crackdown (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/16/2024 1:52 PM, Khujasta Kabiri, 223K, Negative]
The Taliban’s notorious religious police have detained scores of Afghan women and girls in recent weeks for allegedly violating the extremist group’s Islamic dress code.

Among them was Zahra’s younger sister, who was detained in the capital, Kabul, in early January for allegedly failing to cover herself from head to toe in public.

“My sister was humiliated and tortured while in Taliban custody,” Zahra, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. “They told her that she was an infidel because she wore tight clothes.”

Zahra said her family was forced to pay Taliban officials nearly $12,000 in bribes to secure her release.

The Taliban’s crackdown on women who allegedly violate the hard-line Islamist group’s dress code is the latest blow to Afghan women. Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban has severely curtailed women’s right to work and study, and imposed restrictions on their appearances and freedom of movement.

In May 2022, the Taliban ordered all women to wear the all-encompassing burqa or an Islamic abaya robe and niqab that covers the hair, body, and most of the face in public. The latter is common in the Arab Gulf states.

Afghan women, especially those in urban areas, consider the burqa and niqab to be alien to Afghan culture. Before the Taliban’s return to power, many women wore loose head scarves that only concealed their hair.

The Taliban’s enforcement of the dress code was sporadic and uneven across the country. But activists say that since the turn of the year, the group has intensified the enforcement of the law.

‘Going Through Agony’

Masuda Kohistani, a women’s rights activist in Kabul, said the Taliban has even targeted women and girls wearing the hijab, a headscarf that covers the hair and neck, but leaves the face visible.

Kohistani said she witnessed members of the Taliban’s religious police detaining a 20-year-old woman in the suburb of Khairkhana in northern Kabul who was wearing a hijab.

“The shopkeepers attempted to argue with the Taliban by pointing out that she was observing the hijab, but the militants beat them up,” Kohistani told Radio Azadi. “Her family is going through agony. They don’t know what to do as they struggle to find her.”

The Taliban’s religious police is overseen by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which is responsible for enforcing the Taliban’s morality laws, including its strict dress code and gender segregation in society.

A young woman, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, told Radio Azadi that the Taliban on January 3 detained several women in Dasht-e Barchi, a neighborhood in Kabul where many are members of the Shi’ite Hazara minority. She said she escaped arrest after an older man told her to hide.

“He told me to run towards my house because the Taliban had just arrested several women in the neighborhood,” she said.

Mina Rafiq, a women’s rights activist in Kabul, said the Taliban’s crackdown began in Kabul but has expanded to other parts of the country, including the central province of Daikundi, the western province of Herat, and the northern provinces of Balkh, Kunduz, and Takhar.

“Now, we are not even allowed to choose the clothes we wear,” she told Radio Azadi. “How will they ever allow us to get an education or speak freely?”

It is unclear exactly how many women have been detained in recent weeks.

‘Demeaning And Dangerous’

The United Nations and global rights watchdogs have condemned the Taliban’s latest clampdown on women.

“The Taliban’s dress-code crackdown and arbitrary arrests is a further violation of women’s freedom of movement and expression in Afghanistan,” Amnesty International said on January 14. “The crackdown must immediately be ceased, and those detained released.”

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on January 11 that it was looking into claims of mistreatment of women and extortion in exchange for their release.

“Enforcement measures involving physical violence are especially demeaning and dangerous for Afghan women and girls,” said Roza Otunbayeva, UN special envoy and head of the mission.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesman, dismissed UNAMA’s concerns.

“Afghan women wear the hijab on their own,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Neither have they been forced to do so, nor has the ministry of vice and virtue mistreated them.”

Afghan activists said the crackdown is another major blow to women, who have been effectively erased from public life.

“The situation for women in Afghanistan is becoming worse every day," said Ruqiya Saee, a women’s rights activist in Kabul.
Lack of snow sparks worry for drought-hit Afghanistan (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [1/16/2024 9:40 AM, Pascale Trouillaud and Qubad Wali, 11975K, Neutral]
Afghanistan saw almost no snow as of mid-January, a new sign of the heavy toll of global warming on the Central Asian country which is usually accustomed to harsh winters, experts say.

The exceptionally low level of rain in a country that relies heavily on agriculture has forced many farmers to delay planting.

"In previous years by January we had a lot of rain and snow," said Rohullah Amin, head of climate change for the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA).

But "now we don’t have enough of anything at all", he told AFP this week.

"It is very worrying, as there could be serious droughts in the future, putting heavy pressure on livelihoods and the economic sector."

Already in its third year of drought, Afghanistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to the UN.

The lack of snow, predicted by experts to arrive in December, threatens the vital snowpack that provides water in hotter months, Amin said.

Members of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) flew over the country in recent days, from the southern Helmand province to Kabul.

"On all the mountains, there is no snow at all," FAO spokesman Robert Kluijver told AFP.

"It’s very serious."

Farmers in the southwest of the country are hardest hit by drought, according to Amin, followed by those in southern provinces -- although dry conditions have touched every part of the country.

In the eastern Ghazni and Paktika provinces, only a few centimetres (an inch or less) of snow fell recently, and mountainous Badakhshan province just saw its first flakes only this week.

Even at 3,800 meters (12,400 feet) near the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains, only patches of snow dot the rocky ground, an anomaly in mid-January.

The tunnel has been frequently cut off by heavy snow and avalanches in winters of the past.

In December, the Taliban government instructed religious authorities in every province to carry out Namaz-e Istisqa -- prayers for rain in Islam.

But with little forthcoming, many farmers have held off on planting, usually carried out in October or November.

"If this goes on, we’ll be paralysed," said Nazeer Ahmad, a 25-year-old farmer in the western Herat province.

"Everyone is waiting for the rain or snow, but if there is none in 10 or 15 days we will not be able to sow wheat because the soil will be too dry," he told AFP.

But Afghan meteorologists do not anticipate any change in the next two weeks.

"If the Islamic Emirate doesn’t look after farmers, they may be forced to go to other countries like Iran for work, as farmers have no other income except their crops," Ahmad said.

Kluijver said there was still reason to hope if it starts to snow in early February.

"It’s only in mid-February that we can say the harvests are lost or not," he said.

"For now we can just say things are off to a bad start."

Winter wheat -- wheat making up around 60 percent of Afghans’ daily caloric intake -- is typically harvested in April and May, Kluijver said.

"The longer they wait (to plant), the lower the yields will be," he warned, adding that above-average temperatures and lack of precipitation "are clearly an effect of climate change".

Spring rains will likely also not be a saving grace, Kluijver said, as the little rain Afghanistan does see comes in "downpours that wash away the fertile layer of soil and cause damage".
Millions Of Afghans Go Hungry As Winter Cold Bites (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [1/16/2024 4:14 PM, Pascale Trouillaud and Abdullah Hasrat, 304K, Negative]
Khurma had to borrow her neighbour’s shoes to walk to Pul-e Alam city to collect a cash handout being given to the growing number of vulnerable Afghans who are struggling to survive the winter.

The 45-year-old widow waited in her threadbare blue burqa to receive 3,200 Afghanis ($45) from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in the eastern Afghan city, where temperatures can drop well below freezing.

"We are desperate," the mother-of-six told AFP. "When we can’t find any bread, we go to bed on an empty stomach."

She is one of millions facing months of hunger and cold, with natural disasters and displacement putting more Afghans at risk even as funding to one of the world’s poorest countries -- wracked by decades of war -- has plummeted.

"Things were already quite catastrophic" in Afghanistan, said Caroline Gluck, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. "But as winter starts we have two massive emergencies."

Thousands of people are still sleeping in tents in Herat province after successive earthquakes in October destroyed or rendered uninhabitable 31,000 homes.

And around half a million Afghans fleeing deportation from Pakistan have returned in recent months to a country where unemployment is rife, "at the worst possible time of the year", Gluck said.

Rabbani, 32, is one of them.

As a refugee, he is entitled to WFP aid: 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of flour, six kilograms of red beans, five litres of oil and 450 grams of salt.

But, "there is no work here", he said.

When freezing temperatures set in, his family of seven abandoned the tent they had occupied since crossing from Pakistan for a shack.

"When there is nothing left to eat, death is better than begging."

Shakar Gul, 67, had just received the first of six monthly payments of 3,200 Afghanis from the WFP.

"If we adults don’t have enough to eat for several days, that’s okay... but we don’t let our children die of hunger," she said.

With the money she will be able to buy household essentials -- but only enough for 15 days.

This year, there is less assistance, due in part to a spike in humanitarian emergencies around the world and donor fatigue.

"Excluded people still come here and wait, especially women," said Baryalai Hakimi, director of the WFP’s Pul-e Alam centre. "They are upset. We explain to them that the people who get help are more vulnerable than they are."

Such is the case for Bibi Raihana. Aged 40, she has eight children, a husband in prison, health problems and "not a single Afghani".

Her eyes were wet with tears behind the mesh of her burqa.

"My name wasn’t on the lists. They didn’t give me anything," she said.

This winter, 15.8 million Afghans need assistance, with 2.8 million at an emergency level of food insecurity, said Philippe Kropf, spokesperson for WFP, which provides 90 percent of food aid in Afghanistan.

Funding shortages have forced WFP to tighten the criteria for aid handouts, with just six million people eligible for emergency assistance in food, cash or vouchers, Kropf added.

"It leaves a gap of 10 million people."

Once flush with humanitarian aid following the US-led invasion of the country, funding to Afghanistan has plummeted since the Taliban returned to power in mid-2021, in part over the many restrictions imposed on women.

Today, approximately 85 percent of Afghans live on less than $1 a day, according to the UN, with extreme poverty found in both rural and urban areas.

The poorest are left with distressing choices: fall into debt, take their kids out of school to work in the streets, or marry off young daughters to lessen household expenses.

In a desert an hour’s drive from Pul-e Alam, WFP distributed essentials in the Baraki Barak district.

Hunched in the back of a three-wheeled flatbed, 77-year-old Zulfiqar said his family sometimes goes hungry for days.

"When we have nothing left to eat, we just wrap ourselves in our shawls and sleep," he said.

In the poverty-stricken Kabul suburbs, thousands of returnees from Pakistan have sought aid.

The Taliban authorities provided assistance at the border to the returnees, but government welfare programs are very limited.

Depending on eligibility, UNHCR distributes a maximum of $375 per person, sometimes much less.

Najiba arrived in Afghanistan two months ago with her husband and three children.

All five sleep on the floor in a room in her brother’s house.

"We fill cans with hot water to keep warm, we don’t have any wood," she said, rocking her youngest child in the courtyard. Her other children were barefoot nearby, despite the cold.

Benazira’s fate is just as uncertain: at 34, she has eight daughters, a son and a sick husband.

Clutching the money she had just received from UNHCR, she asked for help counting the crisp, unfamiliar US dollars -- $340, enough to survive three weeks.

"Only God is with us," she said, before setting off on the hours-long journey to Nangarhar province, where her family sleeps in a brickyard.
It’s Time to Confront the Taliban’s Corruption (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [1/16/2024 10:27 AM, David J. Kramer, Natalie Gonnella-Platts, and Jessica Ludwig, 201K, Neutral]
The United States cannot afford to neglect the intense suffering and exploitation of the population of Afghanistan since the Taliban seized the state over two years ago.

The Taliban’s extremism, misogyny, and brutality are actively undermining Afghanistan’s prospects for peace and stability. Fundamental to this vicious pursuit of power is the strategic use of corruption and kleptocracy to cement loyalty among the Taliban’s ranks, punish Afghans who refuse to comply, and, most especially, line leaders’ own pockets.

Although international leverage has changed, the United States and the global community must take a more definitive role in confronting the Taliban’s atrocities. The revenue streams the Taliban use to reward themselves represent the biggest untapped pressure point that the United States and the global community can target, as the George W. Bush Institute stated in a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia last week.

The Bush Institute remains steadfast in our solidarity with and support for the Afghan people, especially women and children, and we urge Congress and the administration to work together to hold the Taliban accountable.

For 20 years, brave Afghans partnered with the United States and our allies in the pursuit of peace and stability for all. Like people around the world, Afghans simply want to live in freedom and create a brighter future for their families and communities.

Corruption has featured prominently throughout Afghanistan’s history and was a significant contributing factor to the rapid collapse of democracy in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban should be measured against their own claims that they would eliminate corruption.

Since retaking power, the Taliban have leveraged their takeover of the state bureaucracy to expand the security apparatus, award government licenses and jobs to Taliban members and their families, and extort taxes, bribes, and valuable services from the Afghan population and the private sector. They have manipulated and siphoned the distribution of humanitarian aid and exploited their control over the country’s resources to their own benefit.

The Taliban continue to profit from the trafficking of drugs, weapons, and military equipment, as well as from human trafficking, forced marriage, and child labor, upending innocent lives.

Educators, artists, musicians, students, journalists, and activists have been detained, tortured, and often silenced. Former government officials, security forces, advocates, and ethnic and religious minorities have been hunted, imprisoned, and killed by the Taliban and other extremists with few if any repercussions.

Nearly 60 percent of the Afghan population is in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance, according to USAID, and the economy is on the brink of collapse.

No one has paid a greater price for the Taliban’s greed and unrelenting pursuit of power and control than Afghan women and children.

Barred from secondary and higher education, employment, and freedom of movement, Afghan women’s well-being has been suffocated under the Taliban’s brutal enforcement of gender apartheid; women are denied agency over their lives.

Taliban officials and their loyalists have intentionally ignored, manipulated, and eroded critical infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, clinics, and other essential services.

As a result, families face what the United Nations has described as “unparalleled” levels of malnutrition and food insecurity. This includes an estimated 4 million children under 5 and breastfeeding and pregnant women who need lifesaving nutrition support.

Preventable and curable illnesses have surged, tragically claiming the lives of at least 167 Afghan children every day, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

At the same time, sanctioned Taliban leaders have applied for and been granted travel ban and asset freeze exemptions by the U.N. Security Council for medical treatment in countries like Turkey because adequate care isn’t available in Afghanistan. Incredibly, the United States voted in favor of granting these and other travel ban exemptions to sanctioned Taliban leaders.

Access to justice for women and girls fleeing violence and abuse has been ferociously dismantled in favor of an archaic interpretation of Shariah law that often rewards and incentivizes abusers. Women are subjugated, victimized, and revictimized across every facet of the Taliban’s vision for Afghanistan.

Many of those who have escaped the horrors of the Taliban’s autocracy face additional challenges as visa pathways and permanent resettlement options remain out of reach, despite significant risk of persecution based on both their gender and their prior work in support of a free and democratic future in Afghanistan.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

The United States and its allies should expand anti-corruption sanctions; use the Global Magnitsky Act on Taliban leadership; and designate the Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Afghanistan as a Primary Money Laundering Concern under the USA Patriot Act, Section 311. These designations would have important cascading effects limiting the ability of corrupt Taliban officials to profit from business deals or maneuver looted funds to enrich themselves or to fund extremist activities.

U.S. government representatives must include and advocate for participation by a wider range of Afghan stakeholders in all convenings, hearings, and negotiations focusing on the future of Afghanistan. They should also regularly consult with women, ethnic and religious minorities, civil society leaders, and members of the Afghan diaspora, prioritizing intergenerational, regional, and socioeconomic diversity.

The United States should also support organizations and initiatives that collect data and amplify the perspectives of Afghan women and other marginalized communities while shedding light on the Taliban’s behavior and expenditures.

American leadership remains imperative to reining in the Taliban’s atrocities. Congress and the president should act today.
Pakistan
Deadly Iranian Strikes in Iraq and Pakistan Inflame Regional Tensions (New York Times)
New York Times [1/16/2024 4:14 PM, Alissa J. Rubin, 831K, Negative]
Iran hit its neighbors Pakistan and Iraq with missile strikes on Tuesday, prompting strong denunciations from both countries and raising fears that upheaval in the Middle East could spiral out of control.

Since the war in Gaza began in October, Iran has used its proxy forces against Israel and its allies. But on Tuesday, it said its latest missile strikes had been in response to terrorist attacks within its borders.

The missile strikes, nevertheless, raised tensions in a region where conflict has now touched at least five nations.

“They are contributing to the escalation of regional tensions — and it must stop,” Catherine Colonna, France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs, said after the strike on Iraq. Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, also denounced the strike on Iraq.

Iraq was the first to report being hit in a strike in the Kurdistan region, which it said killed several people, including an 11-month-old girl. Hours after the Iraqi government recalled its ambassador to Tehran and summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Baghdad to protest the strike, Pakistan said it, too, had been hit by its neighbor.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory, which resulted in death of two innocent children while injuring three girls,” the government said in a statement. “This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences.”

The missile strike in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state, hit a remote mountainous region on Tuesday. The strike in Iraq, which has close political and military ties with Iran, hit the Kurdistan capital, Erbil, around midnight Tuesday and involved ballistic missiles and drones. Iraqi government officials said it had killed four civilians.

In both cases, Iranian officials said they were going after terrorists they accused of being behind recent attacks on its territory that have badly shaken Iranians. This month, suicide bombers killed 84 people at a memorial procession for a revered Iranian military leader, and in December, an attack on a police station killed at least 11 officers.

The Iraqi and Pakistani governments rejected Iran’s justifications.

“Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action,” the Pakistani statement said, describing it as “even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran.”

Iran’s actions came amid widespread fears that the devastating war in Gaza could become a broader and deadlier regional conflict. Already, it has set off a low-level conflict between Iranian proxy forces and the United States and other Western powers.

The United States, Britain and France denounced the Iranian attack in Iraq, which set off sirens at the U.S. Consulate and forced the airport in Erbil to suspend flights.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, Iran has been sending conflicting signals about its general intentions in the region.

Privately, Iranian officials have been saying they want to avoid a larger conflict. But they have also been making bullish public pronouncements about proxy military forces that the country is propping up in the region and their importance in keeping the pressure on Israel and its allies.

The Iranian-backed Houthis, operating from Yemen, have been disrupting global shipping by attacking vessels in the Red Sea, while Hezbollah has been launching strikes on northern Israel from Lebanon. Iraqi militias closely linked to Iran have targeted U.S. bases and camps in Iraq and Syria more than 130 times in the past three months.

In addition to hitting Pakistan and Iraq, Iran in recent days has also struck Syria. The Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack on the Iranian memorial procession, has a presence in Idlib. So far, there has been no public objection from the Syrian government, which is closely allied with Iran.

The strike in Pakistan was launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s semiofficial Tasnim News agency reported, and hit an area where the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack on the police station in Rask, near Iran’s border with Pakistan, is believed to be based.

The missile strike on Iraq drove a wedge — at least temporarily — between Baghdad and Tehran.

Iraq filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council over the Iranian “aggression,” the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. And Iraq’s national security adviser, Qassim Al-Araji, called the Iranian explanation of its strikes “baseless,” using some of the strongest language Baghdad has lobbed against its neighbor.

“The house that was bombed belonged to a civilian businessman,” said Mr. Al-Araji, who rushed to Erbil from Baghdad a few hours after the bombing.

Mr. Al-Araji, who is the Iraqi government’s point man on a number of sensitive issues related to Iran, has a long history of working closely with Tehran and is rarely publicly critical. His comments on Tuesday suggested that Baghdad believed it was being undermined by its neighbor.

Those killed in the strike included Peshraw Dizayee, a Kurdish businessman; his daughter, Zhina; her babysitter, a foreign national; and a visiting business acquaintance, Karam Mikhail.

The strike on Erbil may have been an effort to convince Iranians that despite Tehran’s intelligence and security forces’ failure to prevent the attack on the memorial procession, the government was taking steps to punish the perpetrators, analysts said.

It is not the first time that the Revolutionary Guards have targeted Kurdistan. There were at least two attacks in 2022 and many during Iran’s 2019 protests, which Iranian government leaders said were being encouraged by Iranian dissidents in Kurdistan.

But the attack this week played into the fraught politics surrounding the Iraqi government’s effort to end the presence of American troops on its territory. They have been in Iraq since 2014, helping the country fight the remnants of the Islamic State and prevent its return.

Iran also wants the American troops to withdraw because it perceives their presence as a security risk, given the enmity between the Iranian and U.S. governments.

Iraq has been caught in the middle. The country’s Parliament — which includes many lawmakers with ties to Iran — recently voted to have the troops leave. After a U.S. strike killed a leader in an Iranian-linked militia in Baghdad, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that he wanted to begin determining how the troops’ departure should be carried out, and set up a committee to work out the details.

He did not specify a date, but recent New York Times interviews with many of the people involved have suggested that, unlike in the past, when the Iraqi government said it wanted the troops to leave but did little to achieve that end, this time it was serious.

The strike on Tuesday could make the negotiations considerably more difficult.

One constraint in negotiating a departure — in addition to worries about an Islamic State resurgence — has been the Kurds, who have a close relationship with the United States and have benefited from the sustained U.S. presence. U.S. troops protected the Kurds in 2014, when Islamic State militants came within a few miles of the Kurdish capital. Kurdish leaders were already reluctant to approve the departure of U.S. troops, but the attack on the capital seemed to deepen that view.

“We don’t think that terrorism has ended, and last night’s event is an indication that instability in the region is still very much at stake,” said Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Kurdistan, who sharply condemned the attack on Erbil at a news briefing while attending the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Iran Strikes Jihadist Group in Pakistan as Middle East Conflicts Spread (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal [1/16/2024 4:51 PM, Saeed Shah and Benoit Faucon, 810K, Negative]
Iran hit a jihadist group in Pakistan with a missile and drone strike Tuesday, according to Iranian state media, as a series of conflicts continue to spread across the Middle East in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The target of the unusual attack inside Pakistan was a militant group, Jaish al-Adl, in Pakistan’s remote western province of Balochistan, which has a long border with Iran. Islamabad condemned the attack, which it said had killed two children and injured three.

The strike came after Iran said Monday that it had launched ballistic missiles at targets in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of some of their officers and allies and at a militant target in Syria.

Tehran is in an indirect confrontation with Israel and the U.S., in response to the Gaza war, working with a network of regional allied groups. It is also defending against attacks against its regional allies and attacks at home—including a bombing this month in the Iranian city of Kerman claimed by a branch of the Islamic State group which killed around 100 people.

“Iran knows it is on the edge of the abyss,” said an Iranian official. “So it is only taking calculated risks and keeping the regional conflict contained.”

Tehran has long complained about Jaish al-Adl’s presence on Pakistani soil, an allegation denied by Islamabad. Iranian state media reported that the group’s training center and homes were struck Tuesday in Pakistan. Relations between Pakistan and Iran are uneasy but not hostile. Islamabad privately says that some groups that attack inside Pakistan are based in Iran.

“This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. “Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action.”

Jaish al-Adl is aiming to separate Iran’s mostly Sunni eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan from the rest of the Shiite-dominated country. Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Sistan-Baluchistan last month that killed at least 11 Iranian security personnel. At the time, Iran’s interior minister threatened a response.

There are ethnic Baloch minorities on both sides of the border. In Pakistan’s Balochistan, the authorities are fighting multiple insurgencies and don’t have full control of the territory.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took the rare step on Monday of launching strikes out of Iran into Syria, despite having its own military presence there. The Iranian paramilitary force said it had fired four ballistic missiles at Islamic State targets from Khuzestan in southwest Iran toward Idlib, a rebel-held enclave in northern Syria.

Idlib, while not under Islamic State control, has long hosted its leaders, many of which have been killed over the years in Western strikes. Islamic State’s Afghan branch trained in Idlib before carrying out the Kerman attack this month, Mohammad Sheltuki, an Iranian expert on defense issues, told state television. Iranian state TV showed what it said were Islamic State-controlled buildings reduced to rubble but gave no details on casualties.

Iran’s IRGC also launched ballistic missiles Monday at what they claimed were Israeli spy bases in Erbil, Iraq, in retaliation for the killing of some of their officers and allies, according to an IRGC statement carried by Iranian state media. In recent weeks, Israel has allegedly killed a top Guard adviser in Syria and senior members of Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon. Israel hasn’t commented on the strikes.

Iraqi Kurd officials, who have denied any Israeli intelligence presence in Erbil, said the IRGC had struck a private home, killing five civilians. The strike was near the local U.S. Consulate, but no American facilities were affected, according to U.S. officials. The Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment.

“The attack on terrorists in Idlib and the Mossad headquarters in Erbil was a response to the terrorist explosion in Kerman and the martyrdom of IRGC guards in Syria,” Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force who oversaw the strikes, told conservative news agency Tasnim.

Iranian officials and advisers said the strikes were a way to respond to domestic pressure over the killing of IRGC officers in Syria by Israel without entering a direct fight with Israel and the U.S.
Pakistan Condemns Iran Over Deadly Strike Inside Its Territory (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [1/16/2024 8:14 PM, Philip Heijmans, 5.5M, Negative]
Pakistan condemned its neighbor Iran for allegedly violating its airspace and carrying out a strike inside Pakistani territory that it says killed two children, amid already high regional tensions.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday it lodged a “strong protest” and summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires over what it called an “unprovoked violation” of its airspace by Iran. Tehran was reportedly targeting bases used by the militant group Jaish al-Adl. The ensuing strike also injured three girls, the ministry said.

“This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences,” the foreign ministry said in a statement posted to its website. “It is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran.”

Pakistan became the second of Iran’s neighbors to complain of an airstrike by the Islamic Republic on its soil in 24 hours.

Iraq criticized a deadly Iranian attack on what Tehran said was an Israeli spy base on Iraqi soil. Iran said its attack was revenge for the Israeli assassination of one of its commanders in Syria.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani, in an interview in Davos on Tuesday, said the attack was “a clear act of aggression.”

Al Sudani’s comment suggests tensions are on the rise throughout the region, as Israel’s war against Hamas passes the 100-day mark.
Pakistan condemns an attack by Iran, and says it killed 2 children and wounded 3 people (AP)
AP [1/16/2024 3:26 PM, Jon Gambrell, Negative]
An Iranian strike on targets inside Pakistan killed two “innocent children” and wounded three other people, the Pakistani government said, calling the attack an “unprovoked violation” of the country’s airspace.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming the attack, which were first first announced by Iranian media reports that were later withdrawn. The reports said the strikes were on bases of a Sunni militant group.

The attack further raises tensions in a Middle East already roiled by Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attack also threatens the relations between Iran and Pakistan, which long have eyed each other with suspicion while maintaining diplomatic relations.

The Foreign Ministry statement said Pakistan strongly condemned the attack on its Balochistan province.

“This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences,” it warned.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

JERSUALEM (AP) — Iran launched attacks Tuesday in Pakistan targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl, state media reported, potentially further raising tensions in a Middle East already roiled by Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Confusion followed the announcements as some of the reports soon disappeared. However, any attack inside of nuclear-armed Pakistan by Iran would threaten the relations between the two countries, which long have eyed each other with suspicion while maintaining diplomatic relations.

The reported attack follows Iranian strikes on Iraq and Syria less than a day earlier, as Tehran lashes out following a dual suicide bombing this month claimed by the Sunni militant group Islamic State that killed over 90 people.

The state-run IRNA news agency and state television had said that missiles and drones were used in the strikes in Pakistan, which were not immediately acknowledged by the Pakistani government.

Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice,” is a Sunni militant group founded in 2012 which largely operates across the border in Pakistan. Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan would be unprecedented for Iran.

The militants have claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past.

The state media reports were later suddenly removed without explanation, though the semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies still ran nearly identical stories on their websites Tuesday night. Press TV, the English-language arm of Iranian state television, later attributed the attack to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The reports described the strikes as happening in the mountains of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, the scene of low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades. Baluch nationalists initially wanted a share of provincial resources, but later initiated an insurgency for independence.

Authorities offered no explanation of what was happening, though sensitive stories in Iran can suddenly disappear from state media.

Officials in Pakistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Iran long has suspected Sunni-majority Pakistan as hosting insurgents, possibly at the behest of its regional archrival Saudi Arabia. However, Iran and Saudi Arabia reached a Chinese-mediated détente last March, easing tensions.

Late Monday, Iran fired missiles into northern Syria targeting the Islamic State group and into Iraq at what it called an Israeli “spy headquarters” near the U.S. Consulate compound in the city of Irbil.

Iraq on Tuesday called the attacks, which killed several civilians, a “blatant violation” of Iraq’s sovereignty and recalled its ambassador from Tehran.
Pakistan says Iran violated airspace, killing two children (Reuters)
Reuters [1/16/2024 4:09 PM, Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, 11975K, Negative]
Pakistan said neighbouring Iran has violated its airspace resulting in the death of two children, hours after Iranian state media said missiles targeted two bases of militant group Jaish al Adl on Tuesday.

Islamabad warned that the incident could have "serious consequences" and was "completely unacceptable" in a statement released by Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson in the early hours of Wednesday.

Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.

On Monday, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles.

Jaish al Adl has previously mounted attacks on Iranian security forces in the border area with Pakistan.

"These bases were hit and destroyed by missiles and drones," Iranian state media reported earlier, without elaborating.

Iran’s Nournews, affiliated with the country’s top security body, said the attacked bases were in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

Pakistan’s statement did not mention the location of the incident, nor the nature of the airspace violation, but said it had lodged a protest with Tehran and the head of the Iranian mission in Islamabad had been called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran," Pakistan’s statement said, adding that the incident had occurred despite the existence of several channels of communication with Iran.

The Pakistani military’s public relations wing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After Failed Talks, Busiest Border Crossing Between Afghanistan And Pakistan Remains Shut (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/16/2024 1:26 PM, Staff, 223K, Negative]
Taliban and Pakistani officials have failed to agree on reopening the busiest border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan following its closure last week after Islamabad imposed a requirement for passports and visas for Afghan drivers.

"Yesterday, our meeting with the Pakistani border officials ended without bearing any results, and the gate remains closed," Mullah Adil, the spokesman for the Taliban governor in Nangarhar, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on January 16.

The Torkham border crossing links Pakistan’s western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province to Nangahar, an eastern Afghan province, through the historic Khyber Pass.

Khan Jan Alekozai, a senior official of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, says the border closure is causing huge commercial losses in both countries.

"Up to 400 vehicles on both sides are carrying oranges and tangerines, damaging farmers and businesses in both countries," he said.

Stranded truckers say they have no food or water to wash themselves and are urging Islamabad to show some leniency.

"I am carrying potatoes which will rot soon," Abdul Wali told Radio Mashaal. "They should at least allow the stranded trucks carrying perishable food."

Alekozai added that Islamabad has also shut the minor border crossing of Dand-e Pathan and Kharlachi, Ghulam Khan. Angor Adda and Chaman, the second-largest border crossing, has been shut for over two months.

The Torkham border crossing closure follows a visit last week to Kabul by senior Pakistani Islamist politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman. His weeklong visit, which included a meeting with the Taliban’s supreme leader in Afghanistan, Haibatullah Akhundzada, was an attempt to revive strained ties between the erstwhile allies.

Since October, Pakistan has expelled more than half a million undocumented Afghans over the Taliban’s failure to rein in the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also called the Pakistani Taliban. Islamabad blames the group for escalating attacks on security forces and accuses the Taliban-led government of giving TTP militants shelter. Pakistani officials claim TTP attacks have killed more than 2,000 Pakistanis since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.

Pakistan is seeking to unilaterally impose regulated cross-border movement on Afghans and ethnic Pashtuns living along the shared 19th-century Durand Line border between the two countries.

The move has been met by intense backlash from Kabul and the Pashtun minority communities affected by the border closure.

Angor Adda and Birmal, a smaller border crossing linking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower South Waziristan district to Afghanistan’s southeastern province of Paktika, has been intermittently shut for more than two months.

Members of the local Ahmadzai Wazir tribe, who live on both side of the border, are demanding unrestricted travel and improved trade facilities.

Islamabad’s new policy to rescind their century-old rights to cross the border using just their identity documents has rattled other Pashtun communities.

In Chaman, hundreds of thousands of traders and porters have been protesting the imposition of travel documents since October 21. Chaman is a town in the southwestern Balochistan Province, and it borders the Afghan town of Spin Boldak in the southern province of Kandahar.

Ghosullah, a protest leader in Chaman, says they will turn their sit-in protest into a hunger strike if Islamabad fails to meet their demands by January 31.

But Jan Achakzai, the provincial information minister in Balochistan, said Islamabad will implement its decision requiring everyone crossing the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to have travel documents.
Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan indicted on charge of violating Islamic marriage law (AP)
AP [1/16/2024 10:54 AM, Munir Ahmed, 22K, Negative]
A Pakistani court on Tuesday indicted imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife on a charge that their 2018 marriage violated the Islamic law requirement that a woman wait three months before remarriage, his lawyer said.

Khan denied the charge, and his lawyer, Intisar Panjutha, called the case one of scores against the former prime minister that he sees as a politically motivated attempt to keep Khan out of Pakistan’s general elections to be held next month.

Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, who is a spiritual healer, was previously married to a man named Khawar Maneka who has claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months ahead of Khan’s Jan. 1, 2018 marriage, which was announced in February of that year. But Bibi has said the divorce was in August of 2017.

Khan, who previously was married to socialite Jemima Goldsmith and journalist Reham Khan, and his current wife have both denied that they violated the three-month waiting period.

Khan pleaded not guilty Tuesday when charges were read out to him by a judge at Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Bibi was not present at the time of indictment, though she has previously denied the charge.

“Everyone knows he’s being charged and incarcerated in bogus cases to keep him out of electoral race, however people of Pakistan don’t seem to be giving up on him,’’ Khan’s lawyer, Panjutha, said.

Khan, who was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022, is currently serving a prison term in a graft case. Khan has also been embroiled in more than 150 cases, which include inciting people to violence after his arrest in May 2023.

During nationwide riots in May, Khan’s supporters from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party attacked the military’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, stormed an air base in Mianwali in the eastern Punjab province and torched a building housing state-run Radio Pakistan in the northwest.

The violence subsided only when Khan was released at the time by the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, police arrested Khan ally Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on charges of inciting people to violence in May in the city of Rawalpindi. Ahmed served as interior minister in Khan’s government until his ouster.
A former ambassador argues that Pakistan needs a new political compact (The Economist – opinion)
The Economist [1/16/2024 8:03 AM, Husain Haqqani, 1141K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s next general election, scheduled for February 8th, is unlikely to resolve problems rooted in the country’s troubled history. Carved out from the Muslim-majority portions of British India, Pakistan has spent the best part of its life competing with India. In the process, the country has developed nuclear weapons and boasts the world’s sixth-largest standing army. But it has faced repeated economic failures and persistently poor human-development indicators.

Pakistan’s greatest failure, however, has been in developing a workable political system. For more than two decades after its creation in 1947, the country struggled to agree on a constitution and failed to hold general elections. The first ostensibly free and fair election, held under military rule in 1970, in response to huge pressure from civilians, led to civil war and the transformation of the country’s eastern wing into the independent state of Bangladesh. Ten more elections since then have either been disputed by the loser or resulted in governments that could not complete their terms.

Pakistan’s army, which does not trust the country’s politicians and has its own views on how the country should be run, has assumed power in four coups. The generals believe that the military has kept Pakistan’s disparate nationalities and ethnicities from tearing each other apart. But the military’s direct, and often indirect, intervention has not ended political chaos; indeed, it has caused much of it.

The army wants the final say on foreign policy and national security, and most politicians seem willing to concede that. Military-backed efforts to create dyarchy, or dual control, which allows generals and politicians to play well-defined roles in running the country, have not worked. Politicians initially favoured by generals have eventually turned on them, complaining of military meddling in all spheres of policy.

Pakistanis have not abandoned their desire for democracy, but Pakistan’s political class has failed to make democracy work. After each election, whoever is popular at the time takes up office, tries to silence their opponents, reportedly enriches their family and friends, and refuses to compromise with other politicians, until being toppled and, in most cases, jailed. There is little regard for democratic norms between elections: critics of the government and the businesses of opposition politicians are targeted by the police, security services, tax authorities or others, often on flimsy grounds.

Politics in Pakistan is not about alternative policies or visions; it is deeply personal and factional. Some factions, or parties, have evolved into dynasties while others are propelled by the populist rhetoric of a charismatic celebrity. Leading politicians often ignore parliament and show little regard for a free press, especially while in power.

In his tenure of three years and eight months as prime minister, Imran Khan attended just 38 (9%) of the 442 sittings of the National Assembly. His predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, did only marginally better, by turning up at 13.4% of parliamentary sittings. The attendance of most MPs in recent years has also been poor and continues to decline.

Politicians complain about repression while out of favour with the army but target their rivals for similar treatment upon gaining power, usually with the generals’ blessing. This pattern has become more blatant in recent years. In 2018 Mr Khan and his supporters saw nothing wrong with the military allegedly manipulating elections in his favour and against Mr Sharif. This time around, Mr Khan is at the receiving end of military-backed persecution, which has the tacit support of Mr Sharif and other opponents of Mr Khan.

Almost everyone in Pakistan, including the army’s current chief, publicly agrees that the military should have no role in politics. However, an election that is free and fair but offers voters a choice between one of Pakistan’s political dynasties and a conspiracy-minded populist like Mr Khan will do little to address the country’s serious economic and security problems. Tough decisions, such as expanding the tax base and making peace with India, cannot easily be addressed in a polarised polity. They require a measure of national consensus.

Economic realities require Pakistan to sell off or shut down state-owned enterprises that have been losing money for years, including the national airline and various transport and energy concerns. Swathes of the economy including agriculture, real estate and retail that pay little or no tax need to contribute more, to reduce Pakistan’s swelling debt and deficit: between now and 2026, Pakistan needs to repay $78bn in external debt, a tall order for an economy whose annual GDP is around $350bn. In addition to expanding its tax base, Pakistan would benefit from opening up trade with India, for which normalisation of diplomatic relations is a precondition.

Jihadist terrorist groups, encouraged or tolerated as part of sub-conventional warfare against India, have become a security threat to Pakistan. They benefit from the narrative of persecution that has become part of Pakistan’s psyche and is advanced by populists who blame conspiracies by India, Israel and America (or Hindus, Jews and Christians) against Islamic Pakistan for the country’s problems.

Action against the jihadists, and countering their narrative, is as important as economic reforms and shifts in foreign policy. None of these major initiatives is possible while Pakistan’s politicians are tangled in a game of oneupmanship or in confronting the army.

If Pakistan is to become a functioning democracy and address its complex, long-running problems, free and fair elections should not be the end but the beginning of the country’s journey. Pakistan needs a grand bargain between its generals and its politicians, as well as among the politicians, to determine political ground rules, to establish mechanisms for enforcing them and to end the prevailing “winner takes all” game of power.

Barring that, Pakistan will continue to lurch from one crisis to the next, and another election will make little difference.
India
Russian Crude Faces Delivery Hurdles in India as Sanctions Bite (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [1/16/2024 7:32 AM, Rakesh Sharma, 5543K, Neutral]
Russian crude oil tankers are facing some issues in delivering cargoes at Indian ports due to the enforcement of the price cap by the Group of Seven nations and challenges with shipping, the South Asian country’s Oil Minister Hardeep Puri said Tuesday.

“In the Russian case, it is a question of price cap and it is also a question of some of their shipping entities coming under adverse notice of others,” Puri said at Bloomberg House in Davos in response to a question on why Russian crude cargoes are stuck at Indian ports. “When Russian prices don’t conform, we buy from Iraq, the UAE, Saudi Arabia,” Puri said in an interview with Haslinda Amin.

Last month, the US tightened enforcement of the G-7’s $60 price cap by sanctioning several traders of Russian oil. The price cap is designed to limit Russia’s revenues from oil exports, denying it funds for the war in Ukraine, while ensuring the global economy remains well supplied.

India’s oil imports from Russia surged after the start of the war as Moscow offered heavy discounts. However, shipments fell in December to their lowest since January last year after sanctions were tightened. Some crude tankers have delayed deliveries, taken a U-turn or turned off their transponders after failing to deliver at Indian ports.

Puri said earlier this month that refiners had trimmed oil imports from Russia as discounts on cargoes weren’t attractive.

“We buy the oil at the point of delivery,” Puri said in Davos. If a country is not able to deliver because of sanctions imposed by others, India would not buy it, he said. The world’s third-largest oil consumer depends on overseas supplies for 85% of its demand, he said.

Oil prices are hovering between $70 and $80 a barrel, but India wants “oil to be much cheaper because we are big consumers,” Puri said.
India to keep diversifying oil supply, accelerate energy transition -Oil Minister (Reuters)
Reuters [1/17/2024 4:03 AM, Una Galani, 5239K, Neutral]
Supply cuts by OPEC+, costly shipments from some traditional Middle East suppliers and geopolitical tension is driving India, the world’s third biggest oil importer, to diversify its crude sources and accelerate its energy transition, its Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

"Whenever there is vulnerability and uncertainty in the market, the transition gets accelerated. No-one is looking at that", Puri told Reuters in an interview at this week’s World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, referring to attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea.

Puri said that while OPEC+ nations have a right to decide on their energy production, supply cuts against such uncertainty, and the resulting adverse impact on global prices, will dent long term demand.

It is "imperative" for India to accelerate its transition to green energy in this scenario, he added.

Iraq followed Saudi Arabia in charging a premium for oil supplies to Asian markets which made their crude "more expensive than crude sourced elsewhere", the minister said, noting India is now buying from 37 countries up from 29 earlier.

Saudi Aramco, the national oil giant, this month cut the price of its flagship Arab Light crude to Asian customers to the lowest level in 27 months.

"I didn’t tell them to reduce it but they did it because they also wanted to. If you look at the Indian figures in the last 2-4 years, some of the major suppliers suddenly became number three and somebody who had only 0.2% (import share) went up," Puri added.

Iraq replaced Saudi Arabia as the top oil supplier to India a few years ago and now cheaper supply from Russia in the aftermath of Western sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine has pushed it to the top spot followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

While concerned over the disruptions in the Red Sea, Puri said he was "cautiously optimistic" that they will be resolved.

Puri said he had just signed a memorandum of understanding with Guyana to cooperate across the entire energy value chain of the South American country.

He is also talking to companies in Davos who are interested in making investments in India and with whom he would like Indian oil companies to partner with to explore acquisitions and assets in regions such as Latin America.

Puri said countries, including in the Middle East, had told him they want to acquire Indian oil companies outright, he said, but they are strategic and not for sale.
Modi’s promised Ram temple is set to open and resonate with Hindus ahead of India’s election (AP)
AP [1/16/2024 12:33 PM, Sheikh Saaliq and Biswajeet Banerjee, 456K, Neutral]
Frenzied preparations were underway Wednesday in India’s northern holy city of Ayodhya to mark the opening of a grand temple for Lord Ram, Hinduism’s most revered deity.

The Ram Mandir’s opening Monday would fulfill a decadeslong Hindu nationalist pledge that is expected to resonate with voters during the upcoming national election expected in April or May.

Several sprawling tent cities were being erected nearby to accommodate tens of thousands of devotees who are expected to attend. Dozens of private jets will fly India’s powerful elite, including top industrialists, movie stars and celebrities, to Ayodhya to see the ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has planned live screenings across the country, as well as at some Indian embassies across the world.

Modi will be in attendance, alongside several Hindu priests, for the consecration ceremony in which a statue of Ram is to be placed in the temple’s inner sanctum.

Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has long campaigned for the temple to replace the 16th-century Babri Mosque that was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking nationwide riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. The decadeslong dispute ended in 2019 when, in a controversial decision, India’s Supreme Court granted the site to Hindus and gave a different plot of land to Muslims for a mosque.

The temple’s opening at one of India’s most contentious religious sites ahead of the national polls scheduled for the spring is expected to give major momentum to Modi as he looks to extend his rule for a record third-consecutive term by drawing on the religious sentiments of Hindus, who make up about 80% of India’s population.

The temple, a three-story structure clad in pink sandstone, stretches across 2.9 hectares (7.2 acres) in a 28-hectare (70-acre) complex. It will have a 1.3-meter (4.25-foot) idol of Lord Ram, whom Hindus believe was born at the exact site where the razed mosque once stood.

The city, once dotted with tightly packed houses and rundown stalls, is already witnessing an elaborate makeover.

Nearly 7,500 people are expected at the opening ceremony, and by the end of the year a staggering 100,000 devotees per day are predicted to descend on Ayodhya, according to official estimates.

The narrow roads have given way to four-lane pilgrim route, including the newly developed 13-kilometer (8-mile) Ram Path leading to the temple. The city boasts a new airport and a sprawling railway station with a daily passenger capacity of more than 50,000 people. Major hotel chains are building new properties and locals are converting their homes into homestays. Flower sellers and street food vendors, anticipating a surge in demand, have transformed their shops.

Ananya Sharma, a local tour operator, said Ayodhya’s transformation gained momentum after the 2020 groundbreaking ceremony of the temple, also attended by Modi.

“Subsequent development initiatives have elevated Ayodhya to a destination of both spiritual and economic significance,” Sharma said.

The temple is being built at an estimated cost of $217 million, but it is far from complete. The site is filled with roaring bulldozers and busy builders still working on the elaborate 46 doors — 42 of which will have a layer of gold totaling around 100 kilograms (220 pounds) — and numerous wall carvings that will form the final architecture of the temple.

At least two head priests from a Hindu sect have refused to go the opening ceremony, saying consecrating an unfinished temple goes against Hindu scriptures. Some top leaders from India’s main opposition Congress party have turned down invitations to attend, with many opposition lawmakers calling the temple a political project.

Across India, however, the mood among Hindus has reached a feverish pitch.

Politicians are visiting local temples and mopping the floors, obeying a directive that came directly from Modi. Indian TV channels are running wall-to-wall coverage ahead of the event. And volunteers from Modi’s party and other Hindu nationalist groups are going door to door, distributing religious flags and pamphlets.

On a recent afternoon, Om Prakash Bhatia went to house after house in a New Delhi neighborhood inviting people to take part in Hindu ceremonies at local temples. Joined by other volunteers, he passed saffron flags — a color associated with Hinduism — to the residents, who presented him with marigold garlands and smeared vermillion on his forehead.

“Lord Ram is the center of our faith. After slavery and struggle of 500 years, finally the name of Lord Ram is victorious,” Bhatia said, referring to the Mughals who ruled India before the British colonized it.

He chanted “Jai Sri Ram,” or “Hail Lord Ram,” a slogan that has become a battle cry for Hindu nationalists, who claim the Muslim Mughal rulers destroyed Hindu culture. It has prompted Hindu nationalists to seek ownership of hundreds of historic mosques, sparking fears over the status of religious places for India’s Muslims, a minority community that has come under attack in recent years by Hindu nationalist groups who seek to turn officially secular India into an avowedly Hindu nation.

Many others shared Bhatia’s feelings about the temple’s opening.

“I am very happy,” said Gaurav Shourey, a local resident. “While our ancestors saw the temples being destroyed, our generation takes pride in seeing the construction of them.”
India’s top court halts plans for survey of centuries-old mosque (Reuters)
Reuters [1/16/2024 3:32 AM, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, 5.2M, Neutral]
India’s Supreme Court halted on Tuesday plans for a survey of a centuries-old mosque to determine if it contained Hindu relics and symbols, just days before another key temple, built on a razed mosque, is set to be inaugurated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside at Monday’s event centred on a temple in the town of Ayodhya dedicated to Lord Ram, a deity worshipped by millions of Hindus, during his campaign to win a third term in general elections due by May.

The Supreme Court stayed a lower court order allowing the setting up of a commission to survey the Shahi Eidgah mosque in the city of Mathura in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

Its panel of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said the application filed for appointment of the local commission was very vague, the Bar and Bench news website reported.

Last December, the state’s Allahabad high court had permitted a survey of the 17th century mosque, where Muslims still pray, to determine if there were any relics or Hindu symbols in the complex.

Members of hardline Hindu groups linked to Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believe that Islamic invaders and rulers destroyed Hindu temples over several centuries.

Last year, another court allowed a similar survey of the centuries-old Gyanvyapi mosque in Modi’s constituency of Varanasi, to determine if it had been built atop a Hindu temple.

Nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, most of them minority Muslims, broke out in 1992 after a Hindu mob razed a mosque on the Ayodhya site they believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, saying there had earlier been a temple there.

In 2019, the Supreme Court handed over the land to Hindus, and construction of the temple began in 2020.
India’s Growth Has Chinese Characteristics (Bloomberg – opinion)
Bloomberg [1/16/2024 5:00 PM, Andy Mukherjee, 5.5M, Neutral]
“Fifteen years, 6 governments, 5 prime ministers, one direction. 6 percent average annual GDP growth.” That was the marketing blitz India took to Davos in 2006. The idea was not so much to woo the West overnight as to wean it away from its fascination with China, whose gross domestic product back then was expanding at double-digit rates.

Eighteen years later, India is hosting a second coming-of-age party this week at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine town, though in vastly changed circumstances.

For one thing, the most-populous nation no longer needs qualifiers like “the world’s fastest-growing free-market democracy” to highlight its exceptionalism — at 7.3%, it’s expanding quicker than any other major economy. Nor does New Delhi need to apologize for frequent political change. Narendra Modi has been prime minister for the past decade, and will most likely win a third five-year term. For a West that has fallen out of love with China under President Xi Jinping, India is quite naturally the next big thing.

But there is a fly in the ointment. The structure of the Indian economy is also turning Chinese, or at least exhibiting characteristics associated with the People’s Republic. The world’s second-largest economy has relied too much on investment, and suppressed consumption. Continuing with the status quo may worsen its debt overhang. But shifting gears won’t be easy either.

India has always been different. While China’s private final consumption expenditure has struggled to get past 40% of output in the past two decades, Indian households’ outlay on goods and services has routinely accounted for 55% to 60% of GDP. Underinvestment may have held back growth, but a higher share of domestic spending has helped the economy avoid Chinese-style financial excesses and debt addiction.

However, something has snapped. Private purchases of goods and services in inflation-adjusted terms is crawling at just 4.4%, its second-slowest pace in more than two decades and much more sluggish than the broader economy. Now that the post-pandemic boom in spending has petered out, families that aren’t at the top of the income pyramid are struggling. They’re becoming more dependent on debt, with unsecured personal loans surging 30% a year. Yet, two-wheeler sales, a barometer of mass consumption, is way below its pre-pandemic peak.

This may not be a blip. From the gleaming new $2 billion bridge in Mumbai that Modi inaugurated last week to a new international airport in a northern town where he will consecrate a Hindu temple on Jan. 22 to buttress his reelection bid, the emphasis is on boosting the capital stock.

Expect this focus to become even sharper in Modi’s third term. Since its 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization, China has regularly invested more than 40% of output. India’s needle is stuck at 30%, six percentage points lower than the peak it hit before the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. And this is despite an all-out push to shore up physical capital with corporate tax cuts, $24 billion in fiscal incentives for domestic manufacturing, and a pickup in public spending on infrastructure.

The question is, will this top-down effort — spearheaded by a small national team of influential billionaires — trickle down fast and deep enough to absorb the surplus labor that got stuck in villages during the Covid-19 outbreak? In Mumbai-based Axis Capital’s calculations, India’s GDP is 1.2 years behind its pre-pandemic path. For an economy that adds 12 million potential jobseekers a year, that automatically shuts out 1.2 times 12 — or about 14 million to 15 million workers — from the employment market.

That’s a big hole, not just in the wages earned by 21% of the workforce, but also in the operating surpluses of the 39% who run their own business, and in the incomes of another 18% employed by them. Labor in India doesn’t yet have sufficient pricing power to beat inflation, says the Axis report. A new investment cycle might just mean consumption growth lagging GDP expansion on a more sustained basis, though not everyone will be affected. The top 20% of income earners will witness faster growth than the bottom 50%. “Labor markets are unlikely to be much better for the middle-30% as well,” the analysts say.

The talk in Mumbai’s financial circles is about a cheery prediction by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that by 2027 100 million Indians will enjoy incomes of at least $10,000 a year, five times the national average. That this so-called affluent class was only 24-million-strong when Modi came to power shows why he enjoys robust support among the neo-rich, especially asset owners. Still, luxury spending and a buoyant stock market can’t be the end goals of policymaking. Growth that doesn’t raise the living standards of 80% of the workers is perhaps the wrong template.

There may be a better one, and it also happens to be Chinese. Ashwini Deshpande, an economist at Ashoka University in New Delhi, has argued in favor of China’s Township and Village Enterprise model. Before giving way in the 1990s to a more capital-intensive growth engine concentrated in coastal parts of southern China, TVEs had already raised rural China’s share in industrial production to 30%, a 10-fold jump from 1971. Something similar may help draw out India’s excess farm labor, especially women who can’t travel long distances to look for work in cities — the supporting social and economic infrastructure simply doesn’t exist. Still, the odds are that policymakers will continue to prioritize high-tech manufacturing. But who’ll be the buyers of Indian-made electric cars if local purchasing power is limited?

In the 2000s, it was the West that overlooked the interests of its workers to allow the rise of China’s factory labor. Rich nations are unlikely to repeat that politically costly experiment with another large, labor-surplus country, especially as the world economy’s potential growth rate is seen slowing to a three-decade low. India’s resilience will come from broad-basing domestic spending with better-quality jobs and higher purchasing power. For a country of 1.4 billion people to be driven by just 100 million consumers will store up trouble.

While China is knocking on the doors of the rich-nations’ club, India is still a lower-middle-income economy, with many more years of wooing at Davos ahead of it. If New Delhi gets the strategy right, the allurement will follow.
NSB
Maldives Signals Tilt Toward China (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [1/16/2024 5:09 AM, Mimrah Abdul Ghafoor, 201K, Neutral]
President Mohamed Muizzu’s recent visit to China signals a significant shift in the Maldives’ foreign policy, one that is overtly tilted in favor of Beijing. The shift came amidst a visible fraying in India-Maldives relations in recent weeks.

In China, Muizzu expressed strong commitment to enhancing bilateral ties with Beijing. In addition to declaring that China would be the Maldives’ “closest development partner,” he committed to implementing a free trade agreement, and agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.” This was reinforced by the signing of 20 Memoranda of Understanding to foster cooperation between the two governments in a wide range of fields.

During his state visit to China spanning January 8-12, Muizzu met with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang and held official talks. Earlier, he met with the regional leadership of Fujian province, where he attended the Invest Maldives Forum, aimed at bolstering business ties between the two countries.

This was Muizzu’s first state visit since assuming the presidency in November. His choice of Beijing as the first destination for a state visit signifies a notable shift from the traditional Maldivian presidential practice of heading to India for the maiden state visit. This departure from tradition is further underscored by the fact that before his trip to China, Muizzu had already undertaken an official visit to Turkey and attended COP28 in the United Arab Emirates. He is yet to visit New Delhi.

Muizzu’s visit to Beijing came amid escalating concerns in New Delhi, which perceives a gradual distancing from India by the Muizzu-led Progressive Alliance coalition government, which includes the People’s National Congress (PNC) and the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). This is a stark contrast to the foreign policy of the preceding Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)-led administration under Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (2018-2023), which prioritized close bilateral ties with India.

Muizzu’s approach appears to follow the footsteps of his now-estranged mentor, ex-President Yameen Abdul Gayoom (2013-2018) of the PPM, who had cultivated close commercial relations with China during his presidency and later initiated an “India Out” campaign while in opposition.

Significantly, the timing of Muizzu’s visit to China coincided with a bizarre diplomatic spat with India, emblematic of the new government’s foreign policy direction.

Since its transition to democracy in 2008, successive Maldivian administrations have alternated between New Delhi and Beijing as their favored partners, with both countries vying for strategic influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago. China aims to safeguard maritime routes essential for its energy supplies and to advance its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while India strives to maintain its preeminence in its immediate sphere of influence.

However, as an import-dependent small island state, the Maldives is acutely aware that it cannot afford to completely alienate either India, its closest and largest neighbor, or China, an economic powerhouse.

For instance, the “pro-China” Yameen administration took steps to ease tensions with New Delhi, while the “pro-India” Solih administration maintained strong commercial and bilateral ties with Beijing. Similarly, as president-elect, Muizzu initially aimed to alleviate concerns from New Delhi and Washington regarding a potential shift toward China by clarifying that the Maldives wished to remain neutral in global power struggles and to maintain positive relations with all countries.

Despite an intellectual understanding of these nuances, Maldivian foreign policy is often overshadowed and sometimes driven by domestically focused nationalist rhetoric, which occasionally borders on xenophobia and targets either India or China. In the lead-up to the 2023 presidential elections, former President Yameen attempted to stake his comeback on an “India Out” campaign, criticizing the Solih administration for being overly subservient to India and tolerating an Indian military presence in the Maldives. This military presence comprises about 88 personnel assisting in operating Indian-gifted aircraft used for search and rescue and disaster relief operations.

Yameen was subsequently disqualified from the 2023 presidential race due to a money laundering conviction, paving the way for Muizzu to emerge as a viable alternative candidate. Upon winning the presidency in the September presidential contest, Muizzu inherited the “India Out” movement’s legacy, even as he has largely sidelined Yameen. Muizzu’s stated determination to remove the Indian personnel remains a significant source of friction with India, which aims to retain them, presumably not only for their stated purpose but also for the strategic value they provide in observing China’s activities in the region.

Exacerbating tensions, senior officials from Muizzu’s government recently incited a diplomatic spat with India by mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep, a trip intended to promote local tourism in India. Some in the Maldives perceived this as a deliberate challenge to their own tourism industry. Three deputy ministers in Muizzu’s government resorted to a series of childish insults directed at Modi, even calling him a “clown.” Although the government officially distanced itself from these comments and nominally “suspended” the involved officials, the episode sparked a nationalist backlash in India, leading to multiple calls to boycott the Maldives on India’s social media. This poses a significant risk to Maldivian tourism, given India’s role as a major tourist source.

It was amid these tensions with India that Muizzu embarked on a state visit to China. During this visit, Muizzu and Xi discussed several issues, including enhancing tourism cooperation, likely aimed at countering the effects of an Indian tourist boycott on the Maldives’ economy. Their discussions concluded with a Joint Communique that indirectly criticized New Delhi by condemning external interference in the Maldives’ internal affairs, a pointed allusion to India.

Upon his return, Muizzu adopted a more assertive stance in his public statements in regards to India. In a press conference, he declared that the Maldives’ small size does not grant any country the “license to bully it” and that the Maldives is not any country’s “backyard.” He further asserted that the Indian Ocean is not the exclusive domain of any single nation. This mirrors a prevalent saying among Chinese diplomatic circles that the “Indian Ocean is not India’s Ocean.” Moreover, Muizzu has now set March 15 as the firm deadline for the withdrawal of Indian personnel from the Maldives, diverging from his earlier equivocations relevant to a specific date.

The stark contrast in Muizzu’s rhetoric toward India and China was further emphasized following the recent presidential elections in Taiwan. Shortly thereafter, the Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to the One China policy and denouncing any separatist activity in Taiwan.

Further, upon returning from his trip to Beijing, Muizzu announced that China has pledged $130 million in grant assistance to the Maldives and revealed new significant Chinese commercial investments in the country, including agricultural collaboration in Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF). UTF is an island hosting a coastal guard port and dockyard, constructed with Indian assistance, which the Progressive coalition had previously claimed to be an Indian military base while in opposition.

Despite Muizzu’s initial promises to maintain balanced foreign relations, his recent visit to China, followed by subsequent statements and announcements, indicate an unequivocal pivot toward Beijing at New Delhi’s expense, at least for the time being.

Yet, India remains the Maldives’ most powerful neighbor, in addition to being a major source of the country’s imports and holding much of the Maldives’ external debt. With that in mind, how long the Muizzu administration can sustain this path without taking steps to ease tensions remains to be seen.
Sri Lanka’s Colombo port sees jump in traffic amid Red Sea tensions (Reuters)
Reuters [1/16/2024 8:44 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe, 5239K, Neutral]
Sri Lanka’s Colombo port has seen a big jump in container volumes in recent weeks as vessels steering clear of tensions in the southern Red Sea have found it a convenient transit point, officials said on Tuesday.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have since November attacked ships in the Red Sea, part of a route that accounts for about 12% of the world’s shipping traffic, in what they say is an effort to support Palestinians in the war with Israel.

In response, some shipping companies have instructed vessels to sail around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, a slower and more expensive route.

Due to Colombo’s strategic location, stopping at the port gives ships convenient access to the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia, said Lal Weerasinghe, a senior official at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

"When ships come past South Africa, Colombo is the first hub they meet...Singapore is further away. So this is the easiest port to access," Weerasinghe said.

Port of Colombo is a key port between Africa, the Middle East and East Asia and handled 6.94 million 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) in 2023, a 2% jump for the year, SLPA data showed. In December, TEUs jumped 15% on year.

Over the last four to six weeks, shipping lines requested more berthing windows at the port’s three terminals and transhipment volumes from neighbouring India also grew, two terminal operators said.

"We typically handle about 5,000-5,500 TEUs (per day) but since late last year there has been an increase of about 1,000 TEUs per day," said Weerasinghe.

"We were forced to decline requests from about four shipping lines to increase traffic because it would cause delays for existing customers."

As much as 50% of the uptick is from Mediterranean Shipping Company, the leading container shipping company, Weerasinghe added.

Shipping companies are also increasingly using Colombo as a relaying port, sometimes offloading their entire cargo to a different ship, he added.

Vessel calls have risen at other Colombo port terminals too.

"There is a lot of transhipment from India. We are hoping increased traffic will help Colombo port edge closer to double-digit growth in the first quarter," said an official from a privately-run terminal.

He declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan Declares State Of Emergency In East Over Heavy Snowfall (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/16/2024 7:20 AM, Staff, 223K, Negative]
Authorities in the Kurshim district in the East Kazakhstan Province on January 16 declared a state of emergency due to blizzards that are blocking highways and other transportation in the remote district. According to local officials, there are already 2 meters of snow in some areas. A day earlier, authorities had to call for a helicopter from the regional capital, Oskemen, to transport a 71-year-old local resident who suffered a stroke to a clinic in the district’s administrative center after medical personnel were unable to reach him.
Kazakhstan: Ex-president’s nephew, former top security official, to go on trial (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [1/16/2024 4:14 PM, Almaz Kumenov, 57.6K, Neutral]
Prosecutors in Kazakhstan say they have concluded their investigations into the actions of a former senior security official related to former President Nursultan Nazarbayev during bloody unrest in January 2022 and that the case will now be taken up by the courts.

Samat Abish, Nazarbayev’s nephew, who was serving as deputy head of the National Security Committee, or KNB, at the time of the turmoil, stands accused of abuse of office.

The Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement on January 15 that details of the investigation will be classified as they include state secrets.

Abish, who is said by officials to still be in Kazakhstan under a written undertaking not to leave the country, although he has not been seen by any independent parties, faces up to 10 years in prison.

His fate in many respects mirrors the declining fortunes of Nazarbayev’s close relatives and associates, who have over decades amassed sweeping power and riches.

In the immediate wake of the events popularly known as Bloody January, Abish’s then-boss, KNB chair Karim Masimov was arrested on charges of allegedly abetting the instigators of the unrest. A court in Astana in April 2023 sentenced Masimov to 18 years in prison on charges of high treason. Several of his deputies also got long prison terms.

Analysts have long openly argued that Abish is likely to have played an equal, if not much larger, role in directing the events than Masimov. One widely circulated theory is that Abish was among a group of revanchist Nazarbayev cronies displeased at the implications of President Kassym-Jomart’s growing influence.

But to begin with, Abish was merely dismissed, not arrested. That fact prompted commentators to speculate that Tokayev was reluctant to instigate full-out intra-elite conflict.

When General Prosecutor Berik Asylov was quizzed in January 2023 about what was happening with Abish, he insisted that the former KNB deputy chief was being handled only as a witness not a criminal suspect, although he struggled to address the question of whether Abish had been aware of the impending unrest ahead of time.

That changed in September, when prosecutors announced they were, after all, launching a criminal investigation into Abish. The specifics of what prosecutors believe Abish did, though, has not been divulged.

Another Nazarbayev nephew, Kairat Satybaldy, proved less able to avoid the fallout of the Bloody January unrest. He was arrested in March 2022 and later charged with defrauding the national telecommunications giant Kazakhtelecom and a railway services company to the tune of 12 billion tenge ($25 million) and 28 billion tenge, respectively. In September that year, he was sentenced to six years in prison.
Kyrgyzstan Authorities Raid News Outlets, Detain 11 Reporters (VOA)
VOA [1/16/2024 5:10 PM, Staff, 761K, Negative]
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan this week detained 11 journalists from four independent outlets in a crackdown that human rights groups say underscores democratic backsliding in the Central Asian country.

The raids began on Monday when police in the capital Bishkek raided the newsroom of the independent outlet 24.KG and briefly detained and interrogated its director and two top editors.

On Tuesday, police detained 11 reporters, according to press freedom groups and media reports.

Those detained on Tuesday have investigated alleged corruption among the country’s elites, according to the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, or RSF.

"This wave of arrests on the basis of a dubious charge amounts to a purge of local investigative journalism," Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said in a statement.

"Investigating corruption is not a crime and police should not be used as a tool of intimidation. We denounce this witch-hunt against journalists and call on the Kyrgyz authorities to release them at once," Cavelier continued.

Kyrgyzstan’s interior ministry said the arrests were over material calling for "mass riots" on the social media pages of the outlets Ayt Ayt Dese and Temirov Live.

Kyrgyzstan’s embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, called on Kyrgyz authorities to drop the criminal cases of "war propaganda" and "calls to mass disorder" that had been initiated against several outlets.

"The Kyrgyz authorities need to take immediate and decisive steps to bring the country’s respect for press freedom in accordance with its international obligations," the statement said.

Out of 180 countries, RSF in 2023 ranked Kyrgyzstan 122 in terms of press freedom, which marked a drop of 50 spots from the previous year.

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament is currently considering a draft media law that human rights groups have warned would expand government control over the media, including giving authorities broad powers to shut down news outlets.

The parliamentary committee on international affairs on Monday postponed consideration of the draft law.
More Journalists Detained For Questioning Amid Kyrgyz Crackdown (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/16/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 235K, Neutral]
A day after searching the offices of the news website 24.kg, law enforcement officers in the Kyrgyz capital detained for questioning eight current and former members of the Temirov Live investigative group and the Ait Ait Dese project, as the government continues to pressure independent media.

Temirov Live’s founder, prominent investigative journalist Bolot Temirov, said the journalists who were detained for questioning after their homes and offices were searched on January 16 included his wife and the director of the Temirov Live group, Makhabat Tajybek-kyzy.

Temirov said on X, formerly Twitter, that the searches and detentions may be connected to two recent investigative reports by Temirov Live -- one about a private New Year’s Eve flight by President Sadyr Japarov to Milan, Italy, on a government plane, the second about corruption among top officials of the Interior Ministry, including minister Ulan Niyazbekov.

The Interior Ministry issued a statement, saying that the searches and detentions for questioning were linked to a probe launched into unspecified Temirov Live publications that "carried elements of calls for mass unrest."

Temirov said that Temirov Live reporters Sapar Akunbekov, Azamat Ishenbekov, and Aike Beishekeeva, as well as former journalists of the group Aktilek Kaparov, Tynystan Asypbek, Saipidin Sultanaliev, and Joodar Buzumov, also had their homes searched.

Temirov, who was deported to Moscow in November 2022 after a court ruled that he illegally obtained Kyrgyz citizenship, which he denies, added that two other employees of the Temirov Live group, whom he identified as Maksat and Jumabek, were detained.

Kyrgyzstan’s civil society and independent media have traditionally been the most vibrant in Central Asia, but that has changed amid a deepening government crackdown.

Just a day earlier, officers of the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) detained for questioning the director-general of the 24.kg news website, Asel Otorbaeva, and two editors, Makhinur Niyazova and Anton Lymar, in a case of "propagating war" in an unspecified report about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The three were later released but ordered not to reveal details of the case.

Lawmaker Janar Akaev called the moves against the journalists "an attack on freedom of speech."

"Such types of situations lead to self-censorship, and obstruct investigative reports on political and corruption issues," Akaev said, adding that the latest developments around independent journalists will be raised at parliament’s next session.

Another lawmaker, Nurjigit Kadyrbekov, told RFE/RL that the ongoing pressure on independent journalists "could damage the president’s image."

UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Liz Throssell expressed concern over the developments around Kyrgyz journalists in the past two days.

"These latest actions by the authorities appear to be part of a larger pattern of pressure against civil society activists, journalists and other critics of the authorities," Throssel said in a statement on January 16, adding, "It is all the more concerning that the Kyrgyz Parliament is considering a draft law on mass media which would restrict the right to freedom of expression which includes media freedom."

"We call on the authorities to protect freedom of expression and ensure that media legislation in the country is in line with international human rights standards," Throssel said.
Tajikistan: As expat worker life gets harder, Russian citizenship tempts (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [1/16/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
With each passing year, expatriate laborers from Tajikistan in Russia come up against new difficulties in securing work permits and formalizing their right to live in the country.

At the same time, though, something entirely counterintuitive is happening. It is, judging by the figures, becoming easier for those same expats to obtain Russian citizenship.

At the start of 2024, the Russian representative office of Tajikistan’s Labor, Migration and Social Protection Ministry issued a new warning to Tajik nationals about new tightened rules for receiving labor patents – the term for a temporary work permit.

Under the updated system, migrants in receipt of a patent are now required to inform the local branch of the Interior Ministry migration service within two months. If that condition is not met, the patent is revoked without warning and the holder is not permitted to apply for a new one for at least another year.

Since January, the cost of a patent has increased sharply, by around 13-15 percent, depending on the region. In Moscow and the Moscow region, the fee for the document, which has to be renewed monthly, has gone up to 7,500 rubles ($85), up from around 6,600 rubles.

In some regions, local authorities have introduced restrictions on where migrants can work. In the Kemerovo, Kurgan, Magadan, and Tula regions, expat laborers are prohibited from working in the production of baby food and dietary food products. Other off-limits areas are public transportation, the hotel industry, education and healthcare at all levels, and beauty and massage parlors.

Where they are able to work, migrant laborers often run the risk of not getting paid.

The Tajik Labor, Migration and Social Protection Ministry reported on January 12 that it had negotiated the payment of $2.7 million of unpaid back wages to Tajik nationals. That is likely only a paltry proportion of the unknown overall total.

As officials in Dushanbe freely admit, employment contracts are often nonexistent and it similarly common for workers to be hired off the books. Workers can be employed by people whose names they do not know and companies whose legal address is a mystery. The option of going through the legal system to press employers to pay back wages is usually only available when all the rules have been followed.

A more drastic solution for those seeking certainties is simply to apply for Russian citizenship. Ever more Tajiks are doing just that.

In 2020, more than 63,000 Tajik citizens received Russian citizenship. In 2021, that went up to 104,000. In 2022, it was 174,000. That record number looks to have been matched in 2023 — in the first half of the year, 87,000 Tajik nationals got Russian citizenship.

Under an agreement signed with Russia in 1997, Tajik nationals are allowed to hold dual citizenship.

Russian citizenship has come with an added element of peril since February 2022, when President Vladimir Putin embarked on a disastrous full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Such is the need for manpower that the Kremlin has introduced a new path of expedited citizenship.

Under a decree signed into law by Putin earlier this month, foreigners who sign a minimum one-year contract with the Russian armed forces will be eligible to apply for citizenship. Relatives of people benefitting from that fast-track system will also qualify for an expedited application process.

Many Tajiks unable to find decently paid work in their home country will likely fall to the temptation of that dangerous bait.
Turkmenistan: On the move (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [1/16/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
Later this month, senior representatives of Central Asian governments and European Union peers will meet in Brussels for an Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity.

At the January 12 Cabinet meeting, Mammetkhan Chakiyev, the head of Turkmenistan’s state agency for transport and communications, delivered a briefing on ongoing preparations for the event. President Serdar Berdymukhamedov stressed that he sees the forum as an opportunity to tout the investment appeal of the country’s transport sector.

An EU-commissioned study on sustainable transport corridors between the EU and Central Asia, however, highlights how much more needs to be done before Turkmenistan can contribute usefully to the agenda.

The opportunities are theoretically considerable.

Modernization of the Turkmenbashi port, completed in 2018, should have put the country in pole position to exploit the potential of growing cargo traffic across the Caspian Sea. With European officials talking up the usefulness of the Middle Corridor route as a backup alternative to Russia, this is very much of the moment. As things stand, though, Turkmenbashi is playing second fiddle to ports further to the north, in Kazakhstan.

In an article for state media in September, Chakiyev volunteered a panoramic oversight of a whole lot of other projects that should make a transit champion of Turkmenistan. Construction of a number of railway routes — namely, Uzen-Bereket-Gorgan, Kerki-Ymamnazar-Akina, Ashgabat-Dashoguz and Zerger-Kerk — have contributed to an increase in international freight traffic passing through, he said. A similar logic underlies the acquisition high-power diesel locomotives from China and Russia.

Leaving aside the trifling matter of suspect practices in the doling out of contracts, there is important work being done on highways too. The 600-kilometer, north-south, Ashgabat-Turkmenabat route, once completed, will be a valuable channel for Turkmenistan and its neighbors to the Caucasus, Europe, Iran and Persian Gulf nations.

A fly in this particular ointment, however, is the disruption that is being caused to motorists struggling to use this particular route at present. As Amsterdam-based Turmken.news reported on January 10, cars are forced to negotiate giant potholes created by heavily laden dump trucks. In late December, a couple in the Lebap province was killed after they swerved to avoid a hole and veered into the path of an intercity bus. And as Turmken.news observes, the highway should have been put into operation already, but work has been held up because of funding issues.

Perhaps better things can be expected of another ongoing major project to build a highway from the city of Garabogaz along the shores of the Caspian Sea to the border of Kazakhstan.

Where Turkmenistan is really lagging is in implementing what the EU report terms “soft connectivity measures.”

“Visa requirements for drivers remain a significant barrier to trade, as do additional requirements for specific imports,” the report notes. “The relaxation of such measures would lower transaction costs for users of the network and help the country’s network become part of regional trade corridors.”

Turkmenistan has been sluggish in moving to paperless trade. While the country has acceded to the system of electronic waybills known as e-CMR, it “needs to take steps towards implementation.” There is a simple reason rank-and-file border management personnel may resist such initiatives: they reduce opportunities for kickbacks. And as independent media have reported, things inspected by Turkmen customs officials have a habit of vanishing.

Overbearing state involvement in all aspects of the trade chain is another cited problem. All Central Asian countries apart from Turkmenistan have adopted some kind of public-private partnership framework, which can offer benefits in efficiency and savings. For all the government’s vaunted aspirations to transform Turkmenistan into a market economy, state control over things like railway tariff-setting remains in place.

As the EU report notes, Turkmenistan “would benefit from the introduction of market-reflective tariffs and the frequent reassessment of tariff levels, as well as the consistent implementation of tariffs.”

Turkmenistan is making progress improving its air connectivity at least. In addition to the new Ashgabat-Milan and Ashgabat-Ho Chi Minh City routes reported earlier this month, Turkmenistan Airlines is poised to offer scheduled flights to Jeddah and Kuala Lumpur, state media reported on January 12.

Many people are choosing to leave Turkmenistan forever. The government of Kazakhstan released data on January 15 showing that more than 21,000 ethnic Kazakhs had migrated to their native land in 2023. Out of that total, 6.8 percent, more than 1,400 people, arrived from Turkmenistan.

There is no immediate evidence that the three-way Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkmenistan natural gas swap, which was put on hold earlier this month, is going to return. An unnamed and hazily described source in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry has told Interfax-Azerbaijan news agency that Baku is able to do without imports from Turkmenistan this year even if the deal is not revived.

“Considering the fact that in 2024 a significant increase in the volume of commercial gas supplies on the domestic market is expected in Azerbaijan — primarily from the Umid and Absheron gas condensate fields — the need to import gas from Turkmenistan may no longer be necessary,” the source told Interfax-Azerbaijan.

Other options remain on the table for Turkmenistan. Turkey has latterly been exploring prospects for a similar swap deal involving Iran.

That idea was given tacit blessing last week by the U.S. ambassador to Turkmenistan, Matthew Klimow, who said at a press conference last week that swap deals involving Iran did not, as far as Washington is concerned, violate any sanctions.

“It will depend on how the deal is structured,” Klimow was quoted as saying in remarks translated into Russian by Interfax-Azerbaijan.

The ambassador also returned to the idea of reviving the trans-Caspian gas pipeline project, which he reportedly described as being a relatively uncomplicated proposition from an engineering perspective.
Engage Central Asia and keep it from falling back into Russia’s orbit (The Hill – opinion)
The Hill [1/16/2024 8:00 AM, Janusz Bugajski, 1592K, Neutral]
The results of the Russia-Ukraine war will have a profound effect on several regions bordering Russia. Most significantly, a Ukrainian victory, if achieved, will weaken Russia and boost the development of closer political, economic and security ties between Central Asia and the West. Such an outcome would better protect the region from China’s pursuit of regional hegemony and provide Washington and Brussels with committed strategic and business partners.

To enhance national consolidation, state resilience, and protection from potential hegemons, the Central Asian countries, led by Kazakhstan, are pursuing a strategy of international engagement and closer ties with the U.S. and European Union. In 2023, the Kazakh government relaunched the Astana International Forum as a platform for dialogue on looming global challenges and to highlight the region’s strategic importance. The EU is also planning a high-level summit with the Central Asian governments in early 2024.

A Russian victory in Ukraine could reverse Central Asia’s pro-Western orientation by generating new pressures to return the region to Moscow’s orbit. By the same token, a clear Ukrainian triumph in liberating all its territories would signal that aggressive states cannot pursue the partition of neighbors by claiming they are defending their co-ethnics, as the Russians did in Ukraine.

This has profound implications for Central Asia, and for Kazakhstan in particular, which hosts a sizeable Russian minority.

The foundations of Kazakhstan’s independence were laid down by Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country’s first president, by focusing on four main pillars: strong institutions, a balanced foreign policy, economic growth based on foreign trade and investment, and the consolidation of national identity. The current president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has continued this successful strategy, as have other Central Asian states, such as Uzbekistan.

Nazarbayev’s vision helped to develop Kazakhstan into an economic engine for Central Asia and a bridge between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, accounting for approximately 70 percent of total foreign direct investment flows into the region. Astana is chairing the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation in 2024 and is focused on the construction of the Middle Corridor, or the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), connecting China and Europe via Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. This will halve the current transport time across the Indian Ocean.

Kazakhstan pioneered Western investment in the region and developed economic ties with China. However, Astana’s economic ambitions are constrained by its strong economic ties with Russia. Around 80 percent of Kazakhstan’s oil exports to Europe go through Russian pipelines, and Russia remains Astana’s largest trade partner, accounting for up to 40 percent of non-oil exports.

Kazakhstan has tried to maintain economic relations with Russia while not running afoul of the sanctions regime against Moscow. The region also depends on Russia as a destination for migrant laborers. If Moscow remains aggressive, Central Asian countries will need Western support in connecting to the outside world through energy and trade routes that bypass Russia. Kazakhstan is already expanding the capacity of its Caspian ports and transportation links to increase east-west trade across the region.

Some European states are poised to expand their connections with Central Asia. As Russian oil exports to the EU have virtually collapsed since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has become the Union’s third-largest oil supplier, after Norway and the U.S.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Central Asia in November 2023 highlighted the region’s increasing importance to Europe’s supply of nuclear and fossil fuels. As France is heavily dependent on nuclear energy, it is seeking greater volumes of uranium, and in return, Kazakhstan hopes to obtain French investment in developing its own nuclear power industry.

The U.S. cannot offer direct security guarantees to Central Asia, but it can demonstrate its commitment to stability and growth through deeper economic and diplomatic engagement. The U.S. has invested about $62 billion into Kazakhstan’s economy since the country gained independence and can benefit from the ongoing privatization of major state-owned companies. America can help Kazakhstan, which has an estimated 40 percent of the world’s uranium reserves and abundant rare earth minerals, to expand its processing capabilities. It can also directly assist all Central Asian states in countering jihadist terrorism, reducing drug trafficking and devising ways of sharing water resources in a region deeply affected by climate change.

In a landmark event in New York in September 2023, the first-ever C5+1 Presidential Summit, between President Biden and the five Central Asian presidents, outlined their commitment to a “Security, Economic, and Energy Partnership.” Among other initiatives, the summit proposed launching a dialogue about critical minerals such as chromium, copper and lithium. These are essential for expanding clean energy technologies.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will benefit substantially, as Washington is keen to limit its dependence on Russian and Chinese minerals and curtail Beijing’s global dominance in that market. All such steps to enhance trade and economic development will strengthen the security and independence of Central Asia.
Twitter
Afghanistan
SIGAR
@SIGARHQ
[1/16/2024 2:00 PM, 168.2K followers, 16 retweets, 26 likes]
Growing presence of foreign terrorist fighters in #Afghanistan and Taliban’s domestic security issues have heightened regional security concerns and raised increasing questions about the Taliban’s credibility in upholding their counterterrorism commitments https://sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2023-10-30qr-section2.pdf#page=27

SIGAR
@SIGARHQ
[1/16/2024 11:00 AM, 168.2K followers, 5 retweets, 12 likes]
In Sept, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West stated TTP posed most serious threat to regional stability, marking a shift in how TTP is viewed by #StateDept, & IS-K remains greatest threat emanating from #AFG to U.S. & its allies https://sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2023-10-30qr-section2.pdf#page=27

SIGAR
@SIGARHQ
[1/16/2024 7:30 AM, 168.2K followers, 24 retweets, 68 likes]
(1/2) Taliban continued to face compounding challenges to their authority from Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), & anti-Taliban resistance groups. UN Security Council reported Taliban maintain strong ties with al Qaeda & TTP, both of which benefit…

SIGAR
@SIGARHQ
[1/16/2024 7:30 AM, 168.2K followers, 7 retweets, 22 likes]
(2/2)…from increased freedom of movement & protection under Taliban. However, UN Security Council Analytical Support & Sanctions Monitoring Team assessed TTP’s expansion—emboldened by Taliban support—could surpass Taliban’s ability to maintain stability https://sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2023-10-30qr-section2.pdf#page=27

Amrullah Saleh
@AmrullahSaleh2
[1/16/2024 3:42 AM, 1.1M followers, 100 retweets, 516 likes]
In 2024 the Biden administration of the United States will say & produce some of the biggest lies. Very unfortunately Afghanistan will be a theme in their book of lies. Int their propaganda campaign they will try to minimize the scale & scope of their betrayal & say the only issue in Afghanistan is restriction for women. They will increase the un-supervised stipend to the Taliban & call it funds for humanitarian purposes. In the art of propaganda I had heard phrases such as useful idiots, active measures, hearts & minds campaign, psyops, info war, soft space & so on. I just learned they have created a new entity “proxy liars”. In the recent days the signer of the Doha conspiracy deal has asked the insolvent Azizi Bank in Afghanistan to announce an investment of US$10,000,000,000 (ten billion). The Bank owner is a close associate of Khalizad & is known for his scams & mafia-style money dealing and money laundering. Had Khalilzad & co not orchestrated the Doha deal conspiracy Azizi would have been either in jail or hiding. No credible external entity recognizes him as a millionaire let alone a billionaire. He is a Madoff of Afghanistan who is now lobbying for normalization of Taliban and legitimization of drug money. The collapse of the Republic saved his skin & is he is now under no pressure to pay back 600 million dollars hard earned deposits of the common Afghan fellows. It is a matter of time before this Afghan Madoff will come to surface. I hope this message gives a due alert to anyone dealing with this massive Afghan Madoff who is based in Dubai. His scam will surface. Inshallah.
Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[1/16/2024 1:07 PM, 3.1M followers, 7 retweets, 10 likes]
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar Meets U.S. Presidential special envoy on Climate, John Kerry on the sidelines of the #WorldEconomicForum During the meeting, the local and global impacts of climate change, with a specific emphasis on the challenges faced by developing countries as a consequence, were discussed. #PakAtWEF #PMKakarAtWEF

Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[1/16/2024 10:09 AM, 3.1M followers, 8 retweets, 31 likes]
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar met the President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, today in Davos. During the meeting, the promotion of trade between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and regional issues were discussed.#PakAtWEF #PMKakarAtWEF #WorldEconomicForum

Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan
@PakPMO
[1/16/2024 11:10 AM, 3.7M followers, 15 retweets, 66 likes]
Brian Sikes, CEO of Cargill Inc called on the Prime Minister today on the sidelines of the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Prime Minister emphasized the immediate need to realize the true potential of Pakistan’s agricultural sector by scaling up investments in its modernization and mechanization for achieving food security. #PMKakarAtWEF #WorldEconomicForum

Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan
@PakPMO
[1/16/2024 9:45 AM, 3.7M followers, 15 retweets, 89 likes]
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar meets Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, today. #PMKakarAtWEF #WorldEconomicForum

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/16/2024 11:21 PM, 204.7K followers, 83 retweets, 346 likes]
Iran has staged cross-border operations against Pakistan-based militants in the past, but I don’t recall anything on this scale, given reports of drones and missiles. This plunges Pakistan-Iran ties—a delicate relationship even in the best of times—into serious crisis.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/16/2024 3:44 PM, 204.7K followers, 24 retweets, 74 likes]
On the reported Iranian attacks on Jaish al-Adl facilities in Pakistan: There’s a long history here. Cross-border militant threats are a longstanding Pakistan-Iran tension point. In fact Iran has staged such operations in the past. See this, from 2014: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29752647

Madiha Afzal
@MadihaAfzal
[1/16/2024 3:20 PM, 41.6K followers, 9 retweets, 29 likes]
Pakistan responds to Iran’s strike on its territory: “completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences”

Amrullah Saleh
@AmrullahSaleh2
[1/16/2024 2:57 PM, 1.1M followers, 219 retweets, 855 likes]
I read that Iran has launched missile attack against Jaish Adle terrorist group in Pakistan’s border edge. Great & courageous move. I wish we had such capability to target Quetta Shura when they were based there for 20 plus years. I can imagine the feelings of the GHQ in Rawilpindi. Gen. Musharaf in his famous encounter with me had said "Pakistan is not a banana republic where you can send your agents & then tell us that Usma Bin Laden is here". I replied, Mr. President, that is the title you just give to your country not me. Maybe it is. I din’t know then and I don’t know now the meaning of the banana republic but I think it means that if a country has nuclear arsenal but gets kicked from all sides i.e. US drones fly from Qatar let alone night attack of May 2011, TTP from Waziristan, Iranian missles from West, Indian surgical strikes from east and so on. The vision of Jinah and the re-visionism of Gen. Zia are all faltering. I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Hamid Mir
@HamidMirPAK
[1/15/2024 11:50 PM, 8.3M followers, 111 retweets, 801 likes]
“I am hopeful and passionate about bringing a change once I am elected” Daughter of a Hindu father and Christian mother contesting General Election from a conservative Muslim area. Her success can change the image of not only Buner but the whole Pakistan.
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/16/2024 8:01 AM, 94.6M followers, 6.3K retweets, 37K likes]
For all those who are devotees of Prabhu Shri Ram, Lepakshi holds great significance. Today, I had the honour of praying at the Veerbhadra Temple. I prayed that the people of India be happy, healthy and scale new heights of prosperity.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/16/2024 1:03 AM, 94.6M followers, 4.6K retweets, 25K likes]
Over the next two days I will be among the people of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Today, 16th January, I will have the opportunity to pray at the Veerbhadra Temple, Lepakshi. I will also hear verses from the Ranganatha Ramayan, which is in Telugu. Thereafter, I will inaugurate the new campus of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics. \ On the 17th, I will pray at the Guruvayur Temple, Thriprayar Shree Ramaswami Temple and address a public meeting in Kochi where key projects will be inaugurated. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1996084

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/16/2024 6:22 AM, 94.6M followers, 2.6K retweets, 8.5K likes]
Speaking at inauguration of the new campus of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics in Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[1/16/2024 7:42 AM, 3M followers, 598 retweets, 5.8K likes]
Delighted to meet with the Indian Foreign Service batch of 2023 this evening. Shared with them experiences of life as a diplomat and expectations that the nation has today in our Amrit Kaal. Wish them the best in their journey in service of the country.
NSB
Tarique Rahman
@trahmanbnp
[1/15/2024 11:00 PM, 44.7K followers, 144 retweets, 613 likes]
The 7 January sham election, boycotted by 63 pro-democracy political parties and marked by less than 5% genuine voter turnout, proves five crucial points.

First, over 95% of the people of Bangladesh responded to our call and refrained from participating in the so-called election, which was neither inclusive nor participatory, and served as the public referendum for Sheikh Hasina’s resignation.

Second, Awami League is a violent party, and its politics is characterized by intra-party clashes and no less than 13 recent murders, with election rigging and manipulation embedded in its organizational DNA, even without any opposition.

Third, a free and fair election at any level is simply not possible under the illegal and illegitimate Hasina regime, as evident by the biased and politicized exploitation of a section of the state apparatus, including Election Commission, law enforcement agencies, judiciary, and civil and military bureaucracy.

Fourth, the regime is increasingly aligning with other authoritarian governments, against the interests of the democratic world and the aspirations of the 180 million Bangladeshis who cherish the ideals of their democratic and voting rights.

Fifth, as per public mandate and political consensus, a non-party, neutral, election-time government to administer the election is the only solution to restore democracy in Bangladesh, which in turn, would ensure human rights, rule of law, and fundamental freedoms of the nation.

Awami League
@albd1971
[1/16/2024 11:39 AM, 635.5K followers, 18 retweets, 62 likes]
The United States has expressed its keenness to bolster commercial ties with Bangladesh, aiming to increase investments in various areas, including in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector. After a meeting with @USAmbBangladesh Peter Haas, State Minister for ICT @zapalak said that the US is committed to the realisation of #Bangladesh’s #Vision2041. https://daily-sun.com/post/730679

Awami League
@albd1971
[1/16/2024 3:58 AM, 635.5K followers, 34 retweets, 111 likes]
Prime Minister #SheikhHasina said the absolute win of the #AwamiLeague in the 12th national parliamentary election was the victory of #Bangladesh, its people, and the continuation of #democracy and #development. https://albd.org/articles/news/41260 #BangladeshPolls #Election2024

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[1/16/2024 10:43 AM, 5K followers, 4 likes]
In the coming weeks, expect a reoriented US focus away from elections and more toward promoting rights and democracy in Bangladesh more broadly—though more visa restrictions are possible for those that hindered free and fair polls. What’s next for US policy in #Bangladesh? https://thedailystar.net/opinion/geopolitical-insights/news/whats-next-us-policy-bangladesh-3520386

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/16/2024 10:33 AM, 204.7K followers, 19 retweets, 67 likes]
What’s next for US policy in Bangladesh, after an election the US has characterized as not free or fair? In this new op ed for @dailystarnews, I lay out several possible US policy responses, and what factors may drive them. https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/geopolitical-insights/news/whats-next-us-policy-bangladesh-3520386

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/15/2024 1:55 PM, 204.7K followers, 17 retweets, 137 likes]
Sri Lanka is formally participating in the US-led Red Sea coalition military campaign against the Houthis. It agreed to supply a ship. Just the latest reminder that when it comes to the West and the Global South, the two camps don’t always line up in ways that one might expect.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/15/2024 1:55 PM, 204.7K followers, 1 retweet, 26 likes]
Sri Lanka’s government hasn’t said much publicly about the war in Gaza, or about the worsening instability in the Middle East more broadly, but it does have formal relations with Israel. Israel’s ties with SL have been quite strong of late after some turbulence in earlier years.
Central Asia
Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[1/16/2024 6:03 PM, 22.4K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Out of 180 countries, RSF in 2023 ranked Kyrgyzstan 122 in terms of press freedom, which marked a drop of 50 spots from the previous year.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[1/16/2024 1:57 PM, 151.3K followers, 5 retweets, 15 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev received a delegation of the European Union headed by Vice-President of the @EU_Commission @MargSchinas. The issues of further expansion of the multifaceted partnership with the EU were considered

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[1/16/2024 11:36 AM, 151.3K followers, 10 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the members of the Cabinet of Ministers, governors and heads of governing bodies on the priorities of ensuring macroeconomic stability and economic development in 2024.

{End of Report}
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