SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Friday, January 19, 2024 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Women’s rights key for Afghanistan’s economic recovery (UN News)
UN News [1/18/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, Neutral]Economic recovery in Afghanistan hinges on international support for boosting productivity and reinstating women’s rights, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a new report released on Thursday.The report paints a bleak picture of socio-economic conditions since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, with the erosion of women’s rights and a banking system near collapse, identified as major areas of concern.
The Afghan economy has not recovered from the cumulative 27 per cent shrinkage experienced since 2020 and appears to be stabilizing at a very low level of activity.
Restrictions and disruptions
This is largely due to restrictions on the banking sector, disruptions in trade and commerce, weakened and isolated public institutions and almost no foreign investment and donor support for sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Public institutions, particularly in the economic sector, continue to lose technical expertise and capabilities, including women employees, which is further exacerbating the situation.
Although progress has been made in some areas - including in maintaining stability and security, and controlling opium production and illicit trade - it has not been enough to change the country’s trajectory.
Severe impact on women
Furthermore, the humanitarian and economic crises, as well as restrictions on women’s rights, have had a severe impact on the female population.
Women not only have limited access to public spaces, they also now consume less food and experience greater income inequality compared to men. The proportion of women working across all sectors has also dropped dramatically, from 11 per cent in 2022 to just six per cent this year.
The report also introduces the Subsistence-Insecurity Index (SII), which utilises 17 non-monetary indicators across three dimensions to measure deprivation.
Nearly 70 per cent of Afghans are unable to fulfil their basic needs for food, healthcare, employment and other daily requirements, according to the index.
Decline in foreign aid
International assistance has been vital in Afghanistan. It has saved millions from starvation, prevented thousands of livelihoods and microenterprises from disappearing, and helped stave off economic collapse.
However, aid flows are declining at a time when an overwhelming majority the population remains highly vulnerable, said Stephen Rodriques, UNDP Resident Representative in the country.“The assistance and efforts require complementary investment to stimulate the recovery of the private sector, financial system, and overall production capacity of the economy,” he said.
Put women first
The report stressed the need to address challenges in the banking system, including the microfinance sector - crucial for supporting women-led micro and small enterprises, which have experienced a 60 per cent contraction since 2021.
Women’s economic participation must be at the forefront of any efforts aimed at addressing the crises in Afghanistan, UNDP said.
The agency called for integrating local economic development, resilience against shocks and robust private sector-led growth to sustain livelihoods.
It also called for a focus on lasting recovery and prioritizing the needs of all vulnerable Afghans, particularly women and girls. Pakistan
Pakistan fires retaliatory strikes at Iran, raising fears of new conflict (Washington Post)
Washington Post [1/18/2024 5:13 AM, Shaiq Hussain, Rick Noack, Frances Vinall, and Susannah George, 6902K, Negative]
Pakistan launched a series of retaliatory strikes Thursday on militants in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, its Foreign Ministry said, amid an increasingly tense situation in the Middle East that now appears to be straining relations between the nuclear-armed Pakistan and its neighbor.Iranian state media reported that at least nine people, including three women and four children, were killed in the strikes, while Pakistani officials cited only the deaths of “a number of terrorists.”The Pakistani attacks, carried out with “drones, rockets, loitering munitions and standoff weapons,” were launched in response to Iranian strikes inside Pakistan on Tuesday that killed two children, according to Pakistani officials. Both sides said they had targeted separatist militant groups that pose cross-border threats.Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Pakistani officials said their military — one of the largest in the region — remained on high alert.While the Pakistan-Iran border has seen occasional outbreaks of violence in recent years, this week’s attacks came amid growing concerns over rising instability in the region following the launch of Israel’s war with Hamas militants, who are supported by Iran. Over the past week, the United States carried out several strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, who have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea; Iran, meanwhile, attacked targets in Iraq and Syria earlier this week.The strikes between Iran and Pakistan appeared somewhat unrelated, in that they targeted militant groups that primarily pose local challenges and pursue limited regional goals.Pakistan said its strikes targeted members of the separatist Baluchistan Liberation Army and Baluchistan Liberation Front, which view themselves as representing the Baluch community that lives across Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni group that Iran said it targeted Tuesday, also views itself as a Baluch separatist group. Pakistani officials dispute that the groups targeted by the Iranian and Pakistani strikes this week truly represent the Baluch communities.Both Iran and Pakistan have for years portrayed the insurgencies in the border region as at least in part rooted abroad. While Pakistan accused Tehran of turning a blind eye on militants operating from Iran, Iranian officials have in the past said that Jaish al-Adl was hiding out in Pakistan and receiving Israeli support.Beyond both countries’ years-long grievances, no obvious trigger or major separatist militant attack immediately preceded Iran’s strikes this week. But amid mounting volatility across the region, Tehran “likely calculated this was an opportune moment” to strike militants that it had long threatened to target unless Pakistan takes action itself, said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.While Thursday’s Pakistani retaliatory strikes mark an escalation that Iran may not have expected, the severity of Pakistan’s response could also “create openings for de-escalation,” said Kugelman, especially as “the Pakistan-Iran relationship is not a hostile one and channels for dialogue are readily available.”But “if either side strikes again, all bets are off, and we’d have a real risk of a conflict,” he said.The strike in Pakistan was one in a string of recent Iranian attacks in the region, coming later the same day that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched missiles at Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan region, targeting what it called an “espionage headquarters” of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Iraqi and Kurdish officials denied the claims.The Revolutionary Guard also said it launched missiles in Syria, claiming to hit “the commanders and the main agents” behind two explosions this month in the Iranian city of Kerman that killed at least 95 people, an attack claimed by the radical Islamic State group.Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political scientist, said he suspects the attack in Kerman put public pressure on the Iranian leadership to stage a response that would domestically be perceived as decisive. Hitting targets abroad, including in Pakistan, may have been seen by the leadership as the most effective option, he added.Pakistani officials portrayed Thursday’s strikes in Iran as proportionate.“It’s a measured, targeted response,” said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistani Senate Defense Committee, citing the lack of an Iranian apology for Tuesday’s strikes in Pakistan and “arrogant” and “offensive” comments from the Iranian Foreign and Defense ministries.On Wednesday, Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, had defended Tehran’s strikes, saying they “only targeted Iranian terrorists on the soil of Pakistan” and no Pakistani citizens. “We don’t allow our national security to be compromised and to be played with, and we have no reservations, no hesitations when it comes to our national interests.”In justifying its retaliatory strikes on Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry used similar wording, saying it “fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” but that its “security and national interest” cannot be compromised.But for Pakistan, growing instability in its Baluchistan province could in the medium term have serious economic repercussions, especially at a time when the country already faces high inflation and a growing debt burden. China’s plans for a trade corridor through Pakistan rely on access to Baluchistan and Beijing appeared eager to step in to de-escalate on Thursday.Additional attacks would be “catastrophic,” Hina Rabbani Khar, a former Pakistani foreign minister, told The Washington Post.Neither Iran nor Pakistan “can afford the escalation.” Pakistan fires retaliatory strike at Iran, stoking regional tension (Reuters)
Reuters [1/18/2024 2:34 PM, Asif Shahzad and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, 11975K, Negative]
Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday, in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.Iranian media said several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people, including four children.The tit-for-tat strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm over wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.However, both sides appeared to signal a desire to keep the situation contained. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it was committed to good neighbourly relations with Pakistan, but called on Islamabad to prevent the establishment of "terrorist bases" on its soil.Pakistan issued a similar statement. "The sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised," the foreign ministry said."A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation," the ministry said, describing the strikes as a "series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts".Tehran strongly condemned the strikes, saying civilians were killed, and summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires, its most senior diplomat in Iran, to provide an explanation."The information received indicates that four children, three women and two men, who were foreign nationals, have been killed in the explosion that occurred in a village," Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV.In Islamabad, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar would cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and return home."The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons," a Pakistani military statement said. It said the targets were bases used by the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the associated Baloch Liberation Army.Iran said on Tuesday it had hit targets inside Pakistan that it alleged were bases of Jaish al Adl (JAA). All the targeted groups are ethnically Baloch, but it was not clear if JAA has links with the other two.Nuclear-armed Pakistan said civilians were hit and two children killed. Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran on Wednesday in protest against a "blatant breach" of its sovereignty.ESCALATION FEARSAgainst the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Iran and its allies had been flexing their muscles in the region, even before its cross-border incursion into Pakistan.Iran launched strikes on Syria against what Tehran said were Islamic State sites, and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage centre.The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.Pakistan and Iran had appeared to be improving ties, with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Pakistan’s Kakar meeting at Davos this week.But analysts warned of the threat of escalation."Iran’s motivation for attacking Pakistan remains opaque, but in light of broader Iranian behaviour in the region it can escalate," Asfandyar Mir, a senior expert on South Asia security at the U.S. Institute of Peace, told Reuters."What will cause anxiety in Tehran is that Pakistan has crossed a line by hitting inside Iranian territory, a threshold that even the U.S. and Israel have been careful to not breach."Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday called on Pakistan and Iran to show maximum restraint and solve their differences through diplomacy.Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after speaking with his counterparts from both countries that neither side wanted to escalate tensions.The targeted militant groups operate in an area that includes Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both are restive, mineral-rich and largely underdeveloped.The BLF, which Islamabad targeted inside Iran, is waging an armed insurgency against the Pakistani state, including attacks against Chinese citizens and investments in Balochistan.The Jaish al Adl, which Iran targeted, is also an ethnic militant group, but with Sunni Islamist leanings that primarily Shi’ite Iran sees as a threat.The group has carried out attacks in Iran against its powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps. ‘War-Like’: Cross-Border Strikes A Major Escalation In Long-Running Iran-Pakistan Row (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/18/2024 12:49 PM, Abubakar Siddique, 223K, Negative]
Iran and Pakistan have been battling insurgencies in a large swathe of desolate territory along their 900-kilometer-long shared border for decades.The two neighbors have occasionally attempted to cooperate. But more frequently they have accused each other of sheltering militants who carry out deadly attacks on the other country.In a major escalation, Tehran and Islamabad both launched deadly cross-border attacks this week in the worst-ever flare-up of violence involving the two countries.The tit-for-tat strikes have plunged relations between Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan into crisis and threatened to ignite a full-scale war in the volatile region, experts said."The situation after the attacks is war-like," said Kiyya Baloch, a Pakistani journalist and commentator who tracks militancy in the region. "It will have grave consequences."Iran carried out a drone and missile attack on Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan late on January 16, killing two children. Tehran said it had targeted Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch militant group believed to be operating out of Pakistan.In response, Islamabad said it conducted air strikes on January 18 in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan targeting the hideouts of the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), two separatist groups suspected of hiding out in Iran.Iranian officials said the strikes killed at least nine people, including six children and two women. The attack was the first time that a foreign country had launched an assault inside the Islamic republic since the devastating 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.Underscoring the breakdown in relations, Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Iran and blocked Tehran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad."It is a new twist and a major diplomatic setback, which was not expected in their bilateral relations," Baloch said.Experts said the neighbors had appeared to be improving ties after years of mutual mistrust.Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Pakistan’s acting prime minister, Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. Meanwhile, a Pakistani delegation visited Iran’s southeastern Chabahar Port on January 16 in a bid to boost bilateral trade.History Of SuspicionPakistan and Iran’s relations have long been overshadowed by the low-level insurgencies simmering in predominately Baluch areas spanning both countries.Pakistan’s resource-rich but impoverished province of Balochistan has been the scene of a separatist insurgency and a brutal state crackdown that have killed thousands of people since 2004.Meanwhile, separatists and militant groups operating in Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran’s poorest provinces, carry out sporadic attacks against Iranian security forces.Jundallah, a Baluch militant group, began carrying out bomb and gun attacks against Iranian security personnel after it was formed in 2005. After a deadly government crackdown and the execution of Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi in 2010, Jaish al-Adl emerged as its successor.Since 2013, Tehran has launched cross-border missile attacks and carried out assassinations of Jaish al-Adl leaders in Pakistan and accused Islamabad of sheltering them. In turn, Pakistan has accused Iran of supporting the BLA and BLF.Experts said the recent cross-border strikes could prompt Tehran and Islamabad to boost their alleged support to their militant allies."This, in turn, will prolong and intensify the [Baluch] conflicts in these two countries," said Baloch.A Wider War?There have been concerns that the recent flare-up could trigger a full-blown war. But experts have played down that possibility, saying the two countries have little appetite for a costly conflict as they grapple with a litany of internal and external challenges."The Islamic republic has enough on its plate in the region and is overstretched," said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. "A new war on its eastern border is the last thing they want."Experts said Tehran has been flexing its muscles in the region since Israel, Iran’s archenemy, launched a war in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Hamas, which is backed by Iran, launched an unprecedented attack inside Israel on October 7.Prior to its air raids on Pakistan, Tehran recently conducted missile attacks in Syria and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. The former was seen as retaliation against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group for its deadly suicide bombings inside Iran on January 3 that killed nearly 100 people.Pro-Iranian militant groups, including Lebanon’s Hizballah and the Huthi rebels in Yemen, meanwhile, have hit Israeli and U.S. targets in the Middle East, putting the region on edge.Azizi said Tehran’s decision to hit targets in Pakistan was a miscalculation, adding Iran was not prepared for Pakistan’s retaliatory attack."It was a grave strategic mistake by Iran to create unnecessary conflict while it is already struggling with an array of different conflicts in the region," he said.Although experts said new strikes by Iran and Pakistan cannot be ruled out, they expected Tehran and Islamabad to pursue deescalation.In statements issued on January 18, Tehran and Islamabad both called for good neighborly relations, even as they urged each other to tackle militancy in their territories.China, which has ties with both Pakistan and Iran, has urged restraint. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on January 18 that Beijing "would like to play a constructive role in cooling down the situation.""Being the main ally of Islamabad and a close partner of Tehran, Beijing is trying to calm the situation down," said Azizi. Biden says Iran-Pakistan clash shows Iran is not well-liked in region (Reuters)
Reuters [1/18/2024 1:28 PM, Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt, 5239K, Negative]
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the clashes between Iran and Pakistan this week show that Iran is not well-liked in the region as the White House said it does not want to see an escalation.Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday, in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory."As you can see Iran is not particularly well liked in the region and where that goes, we’re working on now. I don’t know where that goes," Biden said.The United States has been locked in a test of wills with Iran over its support for Houthi rebels in Yemen who have been launching attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One as Biden flew to North Carolina that Washington is monitoring the Iran-Pakistan clashes closely."We don’t want to see an escalation clearly in South and Central Asia. And we’re in touch with our Pakistani counterparts," Kirby said.Kirby said the attack on Pakistan was another example of Iran’s destabilizing behavior in the region. US, China Urges Calm as Pakistan, Iran Look to Ease Tensions (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [1/19/2024 2:41 AM, Khalid Qayum, 5543K, Negative]
Diplomats from Washington to Beijing asked Pakistan and Iran to show restraint after the two nations engaged in back-and-forth missile strikes, with both sides now showing signs they don’t want tensions to escalate.“We have repeatedly said Iran is a friend,” Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said by phone on Friday. “We do not want an escalation and we also got similar kind of sentiments from their side. So we are taking it further.”The statement came after the US, China and a chorus of nations called on the two Muslim nations to stop the situation from spiraling out of control at a time of rising turmoil in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war. The Biden administration spoke out after Pakistan’s army responded to an attack by Iran on militant hideouts with its own missile strikes.“We don’t want to see this conflict escalated in any way, shape, or form,” Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesperson, said at a news briefing on Thursday. “There’s no need for escalation, and we would urge restraint on all sides in this case.”Miller’s comments came after China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing was tracking the developments and urged the two countries to avoid making matters worse. China, an economic and military ally of Pakistan and Iran, has been seeking to expand its geopolitical reach.The tit-for-tat missile attacks began earlier this week when Tehran launched air strikes against Jaish al-Adl, a separatist group based in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Beyond its own retaliatory strikes, Pakistan also downgraded its diplomatic ties with Iran.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both countries to address their security issues peacefully. Pakistan and Iran share a porous frontier dominated by militant groups including Jaish al-Adl. It has launched multiple attacks on Iranian security forces, most recently a December assault on a police station that killed 11 people.After this week’s flare-up, Turkey offered to help defuse tensions, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shuttling through calls with his Pakistani and Iranian counterparts. Taliban-ruled Afghanistan also asked Pakistan and Iran, both of which it borders, to resolve their differences through diplomatic channels.The strikes hit less than a month before Pakistan heads into national elections on Feb. 8. Interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar cut short his visit to Davos as the crisis unfolded. He is expected to chair the Pakistani cabinet and national security committee meetings later Friday to discuss security issues, local media reported.Pakistan’s major rival, India, was silent on the retaliatory strikes Thursday, although Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesman with India’s External Affairs Ministry, said after Iran’s action that “We understand the actions that countries take in their self defense.” US, China Call on Pakistan, Iran to Avoid Escalation (VOA)
VOA [1/18/2024 3:11 PM, Akmal Dawi, 761K, Negative]
Tensions between Pakistan and Iran have reached a boiling point following reciprocal airstrikes across their shared border, leaving civilians dead and raising fears of further escalation. The situation has drawn the attention of the United States and China, with both calling for no further escalation in violence.On Thursday, Pakistani airstrikes in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan provinces killed several people, including four children and three women, Iranian officials said.Pakistan justified the airstrikes as targeting "hideouts used by terrorist organizations" in Iran, a claim strongly rejected by Tehran.The strikes took place two days after Iran bombed targets on Pakistan’s side of the border, killing two children in an attack it said was aimed at a Sunni "terrorist" group.Both sides vehemently deny violating international law and each accused the other of breaching its territorial sovereignty. Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Iran on Wednesday.On Thursday, the White House said it was monitoring the situation closely.“We don’t want to see an escalation of any armed conflict in the region, certainly between those two countries,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, told reporters.U.S. officials have long blamed Iran for its “destabilizing behavior” in the region, charges Iranian officials have repudiated.China has also called for calm and restraint.“If there is need from the two sides, we would like to play a constructive role in cooling down the situation,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing on Thursday.China’s offer to mediate stems from its significant economic and political ties with both nations. It has invested heavily in resource extraction and infrastructure projects in Pakistan, particularly in the restive Baluchistan province, where the recent airstrikes took place.Additionally, both Pakistan and Iran are members of several Chinese-led regional enterprises, including the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.While both Pakistan and Iran claim their airstrikes targeted terrorists, independent observers paint a picture of civilians caught in the crossfire.“Both parties are targeting Baloch civilian population on both sides of the border,” the Human Rights Council of Baluchistan, an organization advocating for the rights of Baluch people, said in a statement on Thursday. UN chief urges maximum restraint by Iran, Pakistan (Reuters)
Reuters [1/18/2024 2:27 PM, Michelle Nichols, 5239K, Neutral]
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Iran and Pakistan to "exercise maximum restraint to avoid a further escalation of tensions" after an exchange of military strikes between the countries, his spokesperson said on Thursday."The Secretary-General underlines that all security concerns between the two countries must be addressed by peaceful means, through dialogue and cooperation, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and good neighborly relations," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday, in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory. Pakistan’s civil, military leaders to review Iran standoff -minister (Reuters)
Reuters [1/19/2024 1:19 AM, Asif Shahzad, 235K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders will carry out a security review on Friday regarding the standoff with neighbouring Iran, the information minister said, following their strikes on each other with drones and missiles.Pakistan’s Thursday strikes on separatist militants inside Iran were a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar will chair a meeting of the National Security Committee at which the review is to be done, with all the services chiefs in attendance.It aims at a "broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents," the minister, Murtaza Solangi, told Reuters by telephone.The tit-for-tat strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm about wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7. Iran Tries To Allay Fears Of Rising Tensions Following Pakistan Cross-Border Attacks (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/18/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 235K, Neutral]
Iran has condemned what it called a "disproportionate and unacceptable" attack by Pakistan on its territory, which came in response to an Iranian strike, raising fears of escalating military exchanges between the two neighbors.
While criticizing Islamabad for the scale of the attack, Iran’s Foreign Ministry also appeared to try and allay concerns of rising tensions, striking a conciliatory tone in its statement on January 18 by referring to Pakistan as a "friend and brother."
Pakistani warplanes launched air strikes early on January 18 on alleged militant targets in Iran, an attack that Tehran said killed at least nine people, including six children and two women, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in response to the attack, the first by another country on Iranian soil since the end of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.
The strikes in Sistan-Baluchistan Province came after an attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province on January 16 that killed two children.
In a statement on January 18, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern with "recent developments that started" with Iran’s attacks against targets in Iraq on January 16 before it attacked Pakistan.
"We hope that all issues will soon come to an end through dialogue and cooperation without further threatening regional security and stability," the ministry said, adding that Ankara "is ready to contribute to the peaceful resolution" disputes.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry later said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Turkey’s top diplomat Hakan Fidan had spoken on the phone, with the Iranian official expressing his country’s desire to "expand relations with neighboring countries."
In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China was ready to mediate between Iran and Pakistan."The Chinese side sincerely hopes that the two sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid an escalation of tension," spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
"We are also willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides so wish," she said.
UN chief Antonio Guterres urged both countries "to exercise maximum restraint to avoid a further escalation of tensions," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
U.S. President Joe Biden said the air strikes by Pakistan and Iran on each other’s territory showed Tehran was not "particularly well-liked in the region."
The United States is trying to understand how the situation will develop, Biden said. The White House also warned against any escalation.
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told reporters that none of the people killed was Iranian. Some reports said all of those killed were Pakistani citizens.
Alireza Marhamati, an official in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan Province, said Pakistan used three drones to target a border village. He added that all of those killed were citizens of Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the strikes targeted "terrorist" bases.
"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan-Baluchistan Province of Iran. A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed Marg Bar Sarmachar," the statement said.
The Pakistani retaliatory strike came hours after Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran in protest to the IRGC’s attack, and said it "reserves the right to respond" to Iran’s "illegal attack."
The statement also said that Iran bears responsibility for the "consequences" of the attack.
The IRGC claimed its January 16 strike targeted sites in Balochistan that were linked to the Sunni Baluch militant group Jaish al-Adl.
Following the IRGC’s strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Pakistani counterpart on a call that Tehran "strongly respects" Islamabad’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and described Pakistan as a "brother."
The porous, 900-kilometer border between Iran and Pakistan has proved difficult to control, allowing various militant groups, particularly those who harbor Baluch nationalist ideologies, to operate in the area.
On January 16, Iraq also recalled its envoy from Tehran after civilians were killed in an IRGC missile strike in Irbil in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. Iranian missiles also struck Idlib in Syria.The IRGC said the attacks in Iraq and Syria had targeted "spy headquarters" and "terrorist" targets.
The exchange of strikes is likely further strain relations between Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan while also raising the prospect of wider conflict in the Middle East amid the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Pakistan and Iran aim to dial down tensions as China offers mediation (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia [1/19/2024 1:16 AM, Adnan Aamir, 293K, Neutral]
Pakistan and Iran have signaled that they would prefer to de-escalate tensions after trading strikes on purported militant camps in each other’s territory, though experts warn the stage is set for a proxy conflict that could haunt residents in border regions.
China, meanwhile, has made it clear that it is watching closely and wants to avoid hostilities that could threaten its Belt and Road interests in the region, offering to play a "constructive role" in managing the tensions.
After Iran launched airstrikes on targets in Pakistan earlier this week, the Pakistani military reciprocated with strikes in Iran on Thursday. But the neighbors also indicated that they did not intend to let the spat get out of hand.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a statement on Thursday that the government "does not allow enemies to strain the amicable and brotherly relations of Tehran and Islamabad."
Rahim Hayat Qureshi, Pakistan’s additional foreign secretary for West Asia, echoed the sentiments. "Pakistan and Iran have fraternal [relations] and shall move [forward] to resolve all issues through positive dialogue," he wrote on X. "It is important to restore trust and confidence that has always defined our [bilateral relations]."
A well-placed security official told Nikkei Asia on condition of anonymity that Pakistan does not want to escalate further. But he cautioned, "If Iran does something in the future, it will be dealt with [using] the same force."
Some experts believe Pakistan’s firm response to what it termed a "blatant violation" of its sovereignty has galvanized support for the army at a challenging time. With the country due for elections on Feb. 8, the military establishment has faced unusually strong criticism from the allies of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan for allegedly sidelining his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in favor of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by his rival, Nawaz Sharif.
Sabookh Syed, a political analyst in Islamabad, said the response to Iran’s strikes has indeed increased the popularity of the army, although he did not expect this would "influence the outcome of elections in a major way."
Border communities may have more immediate concerns than politics. While the two sides may be dialing down the overt tensions, experts fear that a proxy war could now intensify.Kiyya Baloch, an independent security analyst, said that the reciprocal strikes had created deep mistrust between Pakistan and Iran. "The proxy war between Pakistan and Iran will significantly increase in the future," he said, with increased militancy from the Islamist group that Iran targeted, Jaish al-Adl, and Baloch separatists likely in the months ahead.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, agreed. "Even if there is de-escalation in the coming days, trust has been shattered and each side will indeed have a stronger incentive to resort to proxy tactics to hit out at the other side," he said, suggesting the neighbors had crossed the Rubicon.
Uncertainty hangs over districts in the south of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, far from the infrastructure and supply chains in more developed areas to the east. Residents rely on Iran for their livelihoods and daily essentials, but there are unconfirmed reports of a border closure in these districts.
"If the border is closed in the aftermath of the strikes for a prolonged time, then it can result in a humanitarian crisis in border districts," Kiyya Baloch said. He added that over 1 million people in south Balochistan depend on border trade.
Tania Baloch, a veteran Balochistan journalist, said they would be economic as well as social repercussions. "Not only will people of Iran-bordering districts of Pakistan have a hard time earning a livelihood, but they will be under suspicion on both sides of the border," she said.
At the same time, analysts see a real threat to Chinese interests in southern Balochistan, which is home to the port of Gwadar -- center stage of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday told reporters that Beijing hopes Pakistan and Iran will remain calm and exercise restraint. "If there is a need from the two sides, we would like to play a constructive role in cooling down the situation."
Tania Baloch said, "For projects like CPEC to be successful, good relations with neighbors are a must and that is why China is offering to intervene, to create a scenario where CPEC interests are protected."
Kugelman believes that China is capable of mediating between Pakistan and Iran due to its close relations with the former and rapidly growing ties with the latter, since a long-term strategic partnership accord was inked in 2021.
"Pakistan and Iran are both dependent on China for economic support," he said, "which gives Beijing leverage over both countries." Iran tensions rattle Pakistan stocks, bonds, raise economic woes (Reuters)
Reuters [1/18/2024 8:33 AM, Ariba Shahid and Karin Strohecker, 5239K, Negative]
An escalation of geopolitical tension between Pakistan and neighbouring Iran on Thursday sent ripples through Pakistan’s bonds and stocks, and raised the spectre of more pressure on the country’s struggling economy.Pakistan conducted strikes inside Iran, targeting separatist Baloch militants two days after Tehran said it had attacked the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.The country, where an election is scheduled for Feb. 8, is already facing a crippling financial crisis with its $350 billion economy beset by high inflation and yawning fiscal and current account deficits.A $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme agreed in July helped pull Pakistan back from the brink of a sovereign debt default, but the short-term nine-month standby arrangement is set to expire this spring.Pakistan’s international bonds fell by as much as 1.3 cents in early trade before trimming or reversing losses, with some shorter-dated bonds down 0.4 cent while longer-dated issues eked out small gains, data from Tradeweb showed .Bonds maturing in 2031 and beyond were trading between 60.9-64.1 cent, well below the 70 cent in the dollar threshold below which debt is seen as distressed.The benchmark share index (.KSE), opens new tab dropped as much as 1.6% before recovering some ground to close 0.57% lower.MORE PRESSUREEconomic ties with Iran, while not huge, are important for Islamabad as it struggles to supply its western-most regions in Balochistan with critical commodities.Iran provides electricity to many areas in Pakistan, and there is sizeable unofficial trade in commodities including Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Iranian diesel.Pakistan passed a special order in June to allow barter trade with Iran, along with Afghanistan and Russia, for certain goods, among them petroleum and natural gas."The bilateral trade, valued at over $2 billion, is crucial for both economies, especially regions like Balochistan...where the local economies are significantly dependent on trade with Iran, particularly for agricultural products and petrochemicals," said Aneel Salman, chair economic security at Islamabad Policy Research Institute.Salman said that the interruption of trade routes would have an immediate impact, including shortages in Pakistan and a notable decrease in the critical $2 billion trade volume.The conflict could also significantly affect long-term collaborative projects like the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, known as the Peace Pipeline, he added.The pipeline, already delayed, would transport natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and potentially India. It may now face further delays and funding challenges.Pakistan’s then-minister of state for petroleum in August said the government was "actively engaged" with Iran to dissuade it from pursuing international arbitration over delays to the pipeline. Pakistan has until March to negotiate a settlement to avoid legal battles.The two countries signed a five-year trade plan in August 2023 and set the bilateral trade target at $5 billion."On the surface, this episode...should not lead to any more serious an escalation than its precedents," said Hasnain Malik, head of equity research at Tellimer."But it is worth noting that this latest exchange is taking place as Pakistan is trying to improve relations with the United States." India
India goes big at Davos as world’s most populous country tries to woo investors (CNBC)
CNBC [1/18/2024 3:42 PM, MacKenzie Sigalos and Ryan Browne, 6.8M, Neutral]
Along the Davos Promenade, attendees of the World Economic Forum stumble across the WeLead Lounge, a repurposed storefront showcasing India’s female leadership and talent. There’s also the India Engagement Center, a space promoting India’s growth story, digital infrastructure, and its burgeoning startup ecosystem.
Elsewhere at the forum, Indian technology and consulting giants Wipro, Infosys, Tata and HCLTech are out in full force to showcase the country’s prowess in key technologies like artificial intelligence, the subject that’s on everyone’s lips.
The hefty Davos promotions come after India surpassed China last year as the world’s biggest country by population. Now India is touting its growing strength as a nation of innovation and as a global business hub in front of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people.“India’s presence is certainly sizable — it has some of the most sought-after spots on the main promenade for tech companies,” Ravi Agrawal, editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy and former CNN India bureau chief, told CNBC at Davos. “As China’s economy slows down, India’s relatively rapid growth stands out as a clear opportunity for investors in Davos looking for bright spots.”
China’s gross domestic product increased 5.2% last year, up from 3% in 2022 but down from 8.1% the year prior. India grew 7.2% in the last fiscal year, down from just over 9% a year earlier.
India has been increasingly looking to promote itself as a more dominant figure on the world stage when it comes to technology and business. States such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka have their own presence at Davos, positioning themselves as tech hubs for manufacturing and AI.“In that sense, the separate state pavilions send a message — that various regions in India are competing with each other to offer global companies the best access,” said Agrawal, who has been attending Davos for more than a decade and is the author of “India Connected,” which chronicles how the smartphone led to a more connected and democratic India.
India still faces plenty of challenges.
In most years, India sees more people migrate out of the country than into it, according to date from the World Bank. In 2021, net migration topped 300,000. The rupee, meanwhile, has weakened heavily versus the dollar, pressured by high U.S. interest rates and volatile oil prices.
One of the key risks of doing business in India, according to the International Trade Administration, is “price sensitivity” among consumers and businesses.“The challenge, as always, is whether India can actually make it easier to do business there, and whether India’s domestic consumers can spend enough to make continued global investment worth it,” Agrawal said.
Seeking foreign investment
Still, foreign direct investment has surged in the last few years, increasing from $36 billion in 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was first elected to office, to $70.9 billion in 2023, according to figures compiled by digital media publisher Visual Capitalist, which used Reserve Bank of India and S&P Global data.
Dell, HP, Lenovo and other major manufacturers are committing to making their products locally in India as part of the country’s production-linked incentive scheme.
Apple is one of the biggest examples of a U.S. company that’s looked to divert its production from China and source manufacturing from India to avoid facing supply issues with the iPhone and other key products.
Last year, Apple opened its first store in India, highlighting the importance of the market to the iPhone maker’s future. The store, called Apple BKC, is in the populous city of Mumbai.“We had an all-time revenue record in India,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said on the company’s latest earnings call in November, in response to an analyst’s question about the company’s momentum there. “It’s an incredibly exciting market for us and a major focus of ours. We have a low share in a large market. And so it would seem that there’s a lot of headroom.”
India is also making a big push to encourage investment from U.S. chipmakers. The country hosted a major semiconductor industry event last year, SemiconIndia, with chip producers from the U.S. invited to tout their investments in India and announce new ones.
AMD, which is chasing Nvidia in the AI chip market, said it plans to invest around $400 million in India over the next five years, including a new campus in Bangalore that will be the company’s largest design center. And Micron announced plans to invest up to $825 million toward setting up a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in the state of Gujarat.
Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, which applies AI and quantum computing tech to areas like cybersecurity and drug discovery, said India is seeing accelerating adoption of technology due to inefficiencies in health care and other core public services.
AI, in particular, offers an opportunity for India to stand out from the pack, Hidary said.“This is a transformation that is well beyond even the mobile phone,” Hidary said. After the U.S. and China started investing in mobile infrastructure two decades ago, “almost everyone in those countries quickly got a smartphone and had access to the web and to apps,” he said.
However, “600 million people in India out of the 1.3 billion still don’t have a smartphone,” he said, adding “that’s about to change.”
Hidary said Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s smartphone company Jio will serve about 600 million people in India through a $12 device. Ambani, Asia’s richest person, is also in Davos for WEF.“He and a few other services in India are going to close that digital gap literally in the next three years,” Hidary said. Broadly, India is making a big push at the event because its leaders “know it’s a moment of great transformation,” Hidary said.
Big year for India
It’s poised to be a pivotal year for India in other ways. General elections are set to be held between April and May, as Modi seeks reelection.
During Modi’s tenure, major U.S. tech companies, including Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon have made massive bets on India. Amazon invested $2 billion into the country in 2014, and another $3 billion in 2016. Walmart acquired e-commerce company Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018.
In 2020, Meta invested $5.7 billion in Jio, the digital arm of Ambani’s Reliance Industries. Google followed up by pouring $4.5 billion into the company.
As India has ascended, China has faced mounting trouble on the world stage, with the U.S. leading a charge to isolate the world’s second-largest economy particularly when it comes to accessing key technology.
Beijing has for months been unable to import some of the most advanced chips from U.S. companies such as Nvidia, Intel, and AMD.
Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, told CNBC that India has a good chance to strengthen further due in large part to being a democracy.“The good thing about India is the fact that it’s a stable country, with a very popular leader,” Bremmer said. “They’re about to have an election that’s going to be absolutely uncontroversial, and free and fair. And their growth is pretty strong.”
Bremmer contrasted India with the U.S., noting that it’s a “very decentralized country,” with lots of states almost competing against each other for investment. He said he could imagine U.S. states eventually taking a similar approach.“It’s not inconceivable to me that in five years time at Davos, you would see individual U.S. states deciding to do the same thing,” he said. “Texas would be mopping up on fossil fuels and sustainable energy, if they had a storefront in Davos this year. And you know, California, frankly, would, too.” India ministers sell bullish view at Davos as China’s growth falters (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia [1/18/2024 2:28 PM, Kenji Kawase, 293K, Negative]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet ministers came to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos with a clear and direct message. If now was time for India to assert itself as a powerful economy, then "India has seized the moment."This message was hammered home to audience members at a session on Thursday titled "Can India seize its moment?" Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of petroleum, natural gas, housing and urban affairs, kicked off the panel session, saying it already had.Smriti Zubin Irani, minister for women and child development and the head of the Indian delegation to the Davos conference, repeated the same line.Indicators gauging the country’s economy have backed up this bullish view.Last month, the Asian Development Bank revised India’s annual growth rate forecast for the financial year through March 2024 to 6.7% from 6.3%, outpacing all major economies in the region including China’s 5.2% for the calendar year in 2023. India is expected to maintain momentum next fiscal year, while China’s growth is forecast to taper off to 4.5% in 2024.India’s equity market was one of the best performers among the region’s benchmarks last year, with the Sensex Index gaining 18.7% for the year, outpaced only by Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average and Taiwan’s Taiex.Meanwhile the CSI300, which encompasses blue chips in the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, lost over 11%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, predominantly consisting of top Chinese names, dipped 13.8%. They were two of the worst performers, slightly ahead of Thailand’s SET Index.In the latest survey released by BofA Securities on Tuesday, major fund managers were net 18% overweight on India, second only to Japan’s 59% among major Asia-Pacific markets. This is in sharp contrast to China, where it remains 20% underweight. The survey was conducted this month, covering 256 funds with aggregate assets under management of $669 billion.Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister of railways, communications, electronics and information technology, cited four pillars that have been instrumental in transforming the Indian economy over the last decade under Modi: building physical and digital infrastructure, achieving inclusive growth, enhancing the manufacturing sector, and cutting red tape.Some of the figures he provided were eye-catching.For instance, 510 million bank accounts were opened over the past 10 years, meaning a substantial portion of lower income people were "brought into the formal financial system," Vaishnaw said.On deregulation, more than 1,500 laws and statutes were repealed, including the abolishment of many colonial period laws and procedures. The telecom sector benefitted greatly, with the time it takes to obtain a permit to set up mobile base station slashed from an average of 230 days to just seven days.Formal job creation in 2019 totaled about 600,000 a month, but has increased to 1.5 million a month recently, Vaishnaw said.James Quincey, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola who was on the same panel, agreed with the ministers. "India’s moment is for the private sector to seize," he said, adding that he expects consumption to grow faster than gross domestic product.For the Atlanta, U.S.-based company, India is already the fifth-largest market globally with 54 plants and 50,000 direct employees. Quincey vowed to pump up the level of annual investment to $1 billion from around $750 million in the past few years.India’s rise comes at a time when signs of China’s economic slowdown have become prevalent, including two consecutive years of population decline.The total population drop in China last year was about 2.08 million, according to the statistics bureau’s announcement on Wednesday. The decline was steeper than the 850,000 in 2022, which was the first drop since 1961 during the Great Famine that followed the disastrous Great Leap Forward campaign led by Mao Zedong.While India’s 2023 population data is not yet available, it is set to surpass China’s 1.409 billion, adding to growth prospects in the years to come.Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who spoke in Davos on Tuesday, emphasized the country’s economic strength, including its domestic market being vast. "Choosing the Chinese market is not a risk but an opportunity," he said. However, as India is about to overtake China in population, Beijing’s standard line does not resonate as it did in the past.Samir Saran, president of New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation, said India’s GDP as a whole and per capita stands at about the same level 15 years ago of a country which is now the "single-most important partner for over 100 countries worldwide."Alluding to China, but without mentioning it by name, he stressed that India is at an inflection point similar to when the world’s second-largest economy began attracting investments globally. He said he believes "India is now at that moment." India Plans to Push WTO to Ease Subsidy Rules on Grain Purchase (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [1/18/2024 9:34 AM, Shruti Srivastava, 5543K, Negative]
India will continue to push the World trade Organization to ease subsidy rules for its public grain-procurement program at next month’s ministerial meeting, an official said.The world’s most-populous nation procures grains including wheat and rice from farmers at predetermined prices, and then subsidizes it through the public distribution system to feed the poor. Buying food grains at predetermined prices is considered a subsidy for farmers under WTO rules, and trade distortion by developed countries.A looming global food crisis has brought a new urgency to this decade-old debate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will make a case for quickly resolving the subsidy issue unconditionally and before all others, the official told reporters in New Delhi on the condition of anonymity as the matter isn’t public.Developed countries have demanded a discussion on export curbs placed by India along with the domestic support it offers to farmers. India has curbed the export of wheat, rice, sugarand onions in a bid to cool domestic food prices ahead of an election this year, raising concerns over food security.Asia’s third-largest economy will protect its policy space for taking actions such as export bans to ensure food security for its population, the official said. New Delhi has been seeking a ‘permanent solution’ to the peace clause on public stockholding that was agreed over a decade ago. The clause aimed at shielding developing countries from being legally challenged over the so-called subsidies.The Geneva-based trade body will hold the 13th ministerial conference — its highest decision-making body — from Feb. 26-29 in Abu Dhabi. At least 12 children, two teachers drown in Indian lake after pleasure boat capsizes (Reuters)
Reuters [1/18/2024 10:31 AM, Sumit Khanna, 5239K, Negative]
At least 12 children and their two teachers drowned in India on Thursday when a boat on which they were riding during a picnic capsized, officials said.Rescuers pulled 20 children to safety from Harni lake in Vadodara city and are searching for two more who are missing, police and district officials said, adding that some children are undergoing intensive care treatment.It was not immediately clear how many people were on the boat and local media reports cited overcrowding as a possible reason behind the incident, which police did not confirm.Senior city police official Anupam Singh Gahlaut said the victims had not been provided life jackets during the boat ride.He said the children were aged between seven to 13 and studied in a school in Vadodara, which is about 120 kilometres away from Ahmedabad, the largest city of state.National and local disaster management officers are engaged in the rescue, Gahlaut added. "Distressed by the loss of lives ... My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief," Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office said in a social media post.
Federal government will provide compensation of 200,000 rupees ($2,400) to families of the deceased and 50,000 rupees to the injured, Modi’s office said.
The state government also announced compensation of 400,000 rupees for families of the deceased.
Five people killed in India’s northeastern Manipur - media (Reuters)
Reuters [1/19/2024 1:11 AM, Asif Shahzad, 235K, Neutral]
At least five people were killed in the latest violent attacks in India’s troubled north-eastern state of Manipur, media reported on Friday.Four people from the Meitei community were killed by armed men on Thursday while they were tilling a farm, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported, while another Meitei was killed in a separate gunfight in the Imphal West district of the state.The media did not say who the attackers were.At least 180 people have died since fierce fighting broke out between members of the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities in the state in May, following a court order suggesting privileges granted to Kukis also be extended to Meiteis.On Wednesday, two police personnel were killed in another attack by armed militants.Manipur, bordering Myanmar, is among the smallest states in India with a population of 3.2 million people.Of its residents, 16% are Kukis, who live in the hills and receive economic benefits and quotas for government jobs and education, while 53% are Meiteis, who control the more prosperous lowlands. Why India Isn’t the New China (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal [1/19/2024 12:05 AM, Megha Mandavia and Nathaniel Taplin, 810K, Neutral]
China’s economy is struggling, but another Asian giant, neighboring India, is suddenly squarely on investors’ and manufacturers’ radar. The first two decades of the 21st century were largely the story of China’s rise. Will the next two be the story of India’s?
There are plenty of reasons for optimism. The country’s population surpassed China’s last year. More than half of Indians are under 25. And at current growth rates, it could become the world’s third-largest economy in less than a decade, having recently overtaken the U.K., its old colonial ruler, for the no. 5 spot. India’s equity market has now seen eight straight years of gains. Worsening trade relations between the West and China only helps its case.
But India’s path forward is likely to look very different—and more challenging—than China’s.
While its labor resources are, in theory, plentiful, a host of barriers still make it difficult to connect workers with employers. That makes it hard for households and companies alike to build up the savings needed for the kind of investment booms that transformed East Asian tigers like Taiwan and South Korea and lifted them out of poverty. Still-high barriers to trade are another problem, especially if India wants to become a gadget assembly hub like China.
That isn’t to say that recent progress hasn’t been impressive, or that it won’t continue. Big electronics assemblers like Foxconn and Pegatron have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the country, and its share of global exports has risen.
Demographically, India is where China was when its growth was taking off in the 1990s. According to the U.N., almost one-fifth of the world’s 15- to 64-year-olds will be Indian by 2030. India’s age-dependency ratio—a measure of the burden of child and elderly care on households—has fallen to 47 in 2022 from 82 in 1967, according to the World Bank.
Low dependency ratios often help lift savings and investment: Plentiful workers keep labor costs for companies in check while households themselves invest excess income rather than spending it supporting children or parents.
Unfortunately, India has struggled to smooth the path into the labor force—especially for women. Only a third of India’s female working-age population was in the labor force in fiscal year 2022, according to figures from India’s Ministry of Labour and Employment released last year. That is up about 10 percentage points since 2018, but still well below the global average for low-middle income countries of around 50%, and far below China’s 71%.
Moreover, much of the improvement since 2018 is in rural, rather than urban workforce participation—little help for labor-hungry urban factories.
Hefty subsidies for agriculture and rural food aid may be one reason. A lower tolerance for traveling away from home to live and work, compared with China where many female workers live in dormitories, may be another: 45% of women surveyed by the government last year said child care and homemaking duties kept them out of the workforce.
India’s love-hate relationship with trade is another problem. Unlike China, India is a boisterous democracy. People-pleasing protectionist measures are part of the equation. According to the World Trade Organization, India had the among highest import duties globally in 2022, with an average Most Favored Nation (MFN) rate of 18.1%. In comparison, China was at 7.5%, the European Union at 5.1% and the U.S. at 3.3%. Such import restrictions may be cumbersome for manufacturers reliant on importing components to assemble and export their products.
India has been investing heavily in infrastructure in recent years, and the nation’s creaky transport network has improved—for example the average speed of freight trains has increased over 50% in the past two years, and wait time at ports has fallen by 80% since 2015, according to Macquarie. But the government is already highly indebted, which may make continued progress difficult if a big private-sector boom doesn’t lift tax revenues.
India’s public debt load stands at about 85% of GDP—second only to Brazil among emerging economies. Central government capital expenditures will rise to an almost a two-decade high of 3.3% of GDP by the end of this financial year ending 2024. Sustaining that level of infrastructure build will require higher revenues, lower subsidies or a lot more involvement from the private sector.This all makes it crucial for India to do everything it can to smooth the path for foreign direct investment, especially in manufacturing.
In order for India to punch its geopolitical weight, it needs outside investment to help push the manufacturing sector’s share of GDP up from below 15%, where it has been for years, to somewhere near the official 25% target. But recent signals are mixed. FDI dipped in 2022 and 2023 after hitting record levels in 2020.
Part of this decline is easy to explain: the collapse of the global tech bubble, of which India was an important part, and the general retreat in global venture-capital finance. But FDI into sectors like computers, which was equal to about 0.5% of GDP in 2021 according to HSBC, has also dropped back markedly. That is worrying because India desperately needs those labor-intensive assembly jobs. Electronics giants like Foxconn are investing heavily, but are also contending with inflexible labor laws, among other issues.
For now, at least, India remains a primarily consumption and services driven economy. Unless it can truly supercharge manufacturing FDI—which probably means solving labor market bottlenecks and reducing trade barriers, among other tasks—it may struggle to match the ferocious takeoff trajectories of the onetime Asian tigers and dragon. NSB
Bangladesh solar power surge set to unlock thousands of green jobs (Reuters)
Reuters [1/18/2024 5:01 AM, Md. Tahmid Zami, 11975K, Positive]
Farzana Akter Isha, 24, works as a production supervisor at SOLshare, a renewable energy technology company that provides home-based solar power solutions to poor, rural families.When she started her career in 2014 straight after leaving school, Bangladesh’s solar sector was facing hiccups with sluggish demand - and Isha saw many of her colleagues switch to other jobs.But following years of slack progress, renewable energy in Bangladesh has recently seen a strong turnaround on the back of more affordable solar power. That momentum is expected to create 3,000 to 4,000 new green jobs in the next few years.From rooftop solar projects alone, including industrial and commercial installations, a record 42 megawatts (MW) of new capacity were added in 2023.In addition, about 10 large-scale grid-connected solar projects mounted on the ground are now operating, with more than 3,000 MW of capacity from both types of project approved or in the final stages of approval.RENEWABLES SURGE AS PRICES FALLExperts are predicting a surge in the renewable energy sector in Bangladesh as solar power becomes increasingly cost-effective compared to fossil fuels.The country has been struggling to pay for its oil and gas imports with shrinking dollar reserves - and rising fuel prices have created pressure on the economy.In 2023, the government resorted to tripling coal-based generation to tackle the energy crisis, but experts say renewables are a better long-term solution.Shahriar Ahmed Chowdhury, director of the Centre for Energy Research at United International University (UIU), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the upsurge in solar installations is being driven by new investors, both local and foreign, entering the market, while the average project size is increasing.Ground-mounted projects have higher capacity and will give a larger boost to the share of solar in the electricity mix, he added, while rooftop projects - which are cheaper to install - are set for rapid growth on new factories in the 100 economic zones being built around the country.According to a 2023 report published by BloombergNEF, the cost of solar power generation from utility-scale projects in Bangladesh now stands at $97-135 per megawatt hour (MWh), making it a credible competitor to coal or gas-based power that cost $110-150/MWh and $88-116/MWh respectively.By 2025, solar power will become the cheapest energy source for the country, the report said.Chowdhury said recently approved independent solar photovoltaic (PV) projects have a tariff of less than 10 US cents per unit of power, while one unit of liquid fuel-based electricity in Bangladesh costs more than 16 US cents.The economic advantage of transitioning to solar power is becoming increasingly evident to businesses and the government.Last month, a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) showed that the Bangladesh government could save between 52.3 billion taka ($477 million) and 110.32 billion taka ($1 billion) a year if industries, commercial buildings and other establishments installed 2,000 MW of rooftop solar, beyond the 161 MW so far installed.The savings would come from not having to import expensive fuels like furnace oil and diesel to generate power.Shafiqul Alam, lead energy analyst for the IEEFA, said that by installing a rooftop solar system, an industrial business could save around Tk 5 per kilowatt hour of electricity during the day, and the rate of savings would be even more for commercial buildings that pay higher tariffs for grid power.One key problem is a lack of reliable and rigorous estimates for how much solar power can be generated in Bangladesh."A true assessment of the country´s rooftop solar potential is essential to understand the investment needed in the sector," said Alam.That would send the right signals to financial institutions, while the government and solar developers would be able to plan for the transition with more certainty, he added.POTENTIAL JOBS BOOMA significant expansion of solar power could mean thousands of new green jobs for engineers, technicians, project managers and manual workers.A 1 MW solar project can produce 26.6 jobs in the residential sector, 10.1 jobs for commercial projects, and 2.1 jobs for utility-scale solar power, said Chowdhury from UIU.A study by the Dhaka-based Centre for Policy Dialogue last year estimated that renewable energy could add about 13,800 jobs by 2030 - and if Bangladesh pursued a highly aggressive energy transition, more than 37,000 new jobs could be created.Skilled people - like engineers and technicians with a few years of experience - are now in high demand as large companies move to invest in green energy."Earlier we would have to look for job opportunities, and now companies and headhunting firms reach out to us," said SM Imran Hasan, an experienced engineer working as a solar project manager at the Al-Mostafa Group.There has also been a shift in the type of jobs, with rising demand for higher technical skills to match evolving technology.A decade ago, the main pivot of solar power growth in Bangladesh was small-scale solar home systems that could be installed and repaired by low-skilled workers. But most of these are being phased out as larger solar projects are added to the expanding national grid.Experts said many low-skilled jobs in solar home systems had been shed, but new higher-quality jobs will surpass the losses.Solar project manager Abdul Arif said Grameen Shakti, the clean energy social enterprise where he works, employed as many as 15,000 people in solar home systems just a decade ago.But many are now working as entrepreneurs or service providers as the rural economy enjoys better electricity supplies thanks to rooftop solar panels, mini-grids and electric mobility, he added.MORE ADVANCED SKILLS SOUGHTChowdhury from UIU said the installation of large-scale solar PV projects requires workers with more advanced engineering and technical skills, while low-skilled workers can be recruited for maintenance and security of the solar plants."Ultimately, the total employment in this industry will increase and can exceed the previous levels as (it) grows," he said.The skills shift calls for better training of workers and technicians, industry experts said.Nuher L. Khan, managing director of Joules Power Limited, a leading solar energy company in Bangladesh, said recruiters are aiming to support young workers to acquire the right skills and orientation."We try to recruit fresh graduates so that engineering and business students look at the renewables sector as a prospective sector where they can build their career," he said.The growing demand for skilled labour may also open a door for young women like Isha with relevant technical qualifications in a sector that has so far offered them fewer opportunities.Isha said her workplace SOLshare - which has an all-female production team - is setting an example by showing that women with the right skills can shine in the solar sector.She mentors her female co-workers to take on more technical challenges, which is slowly bearing good results."These days women are also showing interest in tech-based work, including the heavy work of developing technology," she said. Bangladesh seeks careful balance between China and India (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [1/18/2024 8:41 AM, Anupam Deb Kanunjna, 2728K, Positive]
After Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League recently won a fourth consecutive term as prime minister, the country’s partners in the West voiced concerns over democratic backsliding, while China and India rushed in to congratulate her. Both Asian powers have interests in forming partnerships with smaller countries to extend their spheres of influence. Experts caution that Bangladesh must carefully balance its interests with those of India and China.Michael Kugelman, the South Asia director at the Wilson Center, said Bangladesh is successfully "reaping the benefits of great power competition" in its relationship with China and India."Its economic and defense ties with Beijing have grown significantly in recent years. We’ve gotten to the point where China is financing Bangladesh’s first submarine base. This is another reflection of Dhaka’s successes as a balancer," he told DW.China makes inroads in BangladeshLast year, Bangladesh inaugurated a $1.2 billion (€1.1 billion) submarine base in Cox’s Bazar named after Sheikh Hasina. The base was built with Chinese help and caused concern in India that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was trying to covertly move into India’s sphere of influence.A 2023 US Department of Defense report also warned about China considering Bangladesh for PLA military logistics facilities.According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the country’s investment in Bangladesh now stands at about $1.5 billion. Bangladesh has also been part of China’s global infrastructure-for-influence project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), since 2016.Bangladesh’s former Foreign Secretary Md. Touhid Hossain told DW that a new China-funded project proposal on the Teesta River, which flows between India and Bangladesh, is likely to cause friction with New Delhi.Bangladesh’s government is considering a proposal from China to undertake dredging and embanking on significant sections of the river. The so-called Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project is tagged at around $1 billion."A potential problem may arise if China pushes too far, particularly with any advancements in the Teesta project," said Hossain.The Chinese proposal came after Bangladesh and India failed to sign a water-sharing treaty after almost a decade of negotiations. In 2011, a potential deal was postponed due to opposition from the Indian state of West Bengal.India’s Siliguri Corridor, often called the Chicken’s Neck, is near the proposed project site. It is a geopolitically sensitive passage connecting northeastern Indian states to the rest of India through a narrow strip of Indian territory measuring 20-22 kilometers (12-14 miles) at its narrowest section.India fears China might aim to establish its presence near the corridor under the guise of development work with Bangladesh."These developments might have implications both domestically and in the broader context of regional geopolitics," Hossain said.Can Bangladesh afford to turn away from the West?Bangladesh’s election on January 7 was criticized in the West over concerns of democratic backsliding following a crackdown on the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which ended up boycotting the polls.Following the announcement of Hasina’s win, the United States said it would not recognize the Bangladeshi election as "free and fair." After the election on January 9, Hasina gave a speech to her Awami League party workers accusing the BNP of working on behalf of unnamed "foreign masters."Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from the UN’s list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in 2026. After this transition, it will have three years before the current duty and quota-free export privileges it enjoys within the European market are dropped.Former Chief Economist of the World Bank in Bangladesh Zahid Hussain told DW that Bangladesh can pursue other options to retain economic advantages with Western countries."The benefits we get for being on the LDCs list can also be reinstated by taking an alternative approach," he said. "For instance, if Bangladesh enters into a free-trade agreement or an economic alliance, it can easily access the markets of those alliances."Bangladesh’s new foreign minister, Hasan Mahmud, is known for his positive relations with European countries.The EU’s ambassador to Bangladesh, Charles Whiteley, after meeting with the new foreign minister on Wednesday, commended Mahmud’s "strong connection" with the EU and his "deep understanding" of Europe.Whiteley told reporters that the relationship between Bangladesh and the EU will be driven by a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). This legally binding agreement, he said, will be negotiated soon and will be "much more political in nature than the existing agreement."Analyst Kugelman said he believes Bangladesh won’t be forced to choose a side and will able to balance between the superpowers quite well."This is a country that, much like India, has showed a strong capacity to balance rivalries instead of succumb to them," he said."Sheikh Hasina has been especially adept at balancing relations with developed and developing worlds, with India and China, with West and non-West, and so on," he added. Maldives’ Muizzu Throws in With China (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [1/18/2024 8:43 AM, Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, 201K, Neutral]
New Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu appeared to have a successful visit to China last week. Breaking the tradition of a new Maldivian president making his first trip to India, Muizzu went to Turkey for his first official visit, followed by the United Arab Emirates for the U.N. climate change meeting, COP28. On the sidelines, Muizzu met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and they reportedly “agreed to set up a core group to discuss the multidimensional relations and further deepen ties.” But things have not been going great for the two countries’ relationship, even before Muizzu assumed office. Muizzu campaigned on an anti-India platform and called for the withdrawal of some 70-odd Indian military personnel from the Maldives. He also said that bilateral agreements with India will be reviewed, while announcing the government’s decision to ditch a hydrographic survey agreement with India. Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel, undersecretary for public policy at the Maldives president’s office, said in a press conference that the Muizzu government, “in consideration of national security, has decided not to renew the hydrography agreement.” The five-year agreement is to expire in June 2024. The agreement, signed during Modi’s visit to Malé in June 2019, allowed the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) and the Indian Navy to carry out joint hydrographic surveys in Maldivian territorial waters. A media report citing a statement from the Indian High Commission in the Maldives said that the two agencies conducted three joint hydrographic surveys in February-March 2021, April-May 2022, and January-February 2023. According to the statement, the surveys “will generate updated navigational charts/electronic navigational charts” in order to “enhance the navigational safety of ships and enhance the Blue Economy of Maldives.” The cancellation of the agreement was a clear indication of the anti-India stand of the new government. This became even more evident with Muizzu’s five-day visit to China where he met with several top Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. During the visit, China and the Maldives signed 20 agreements covering a number of areas including strengthening tourism between the two countries, disaster risk reduction, blue economy, and investment in the digital economy. Agreements were signed also to step up the pace of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as on a social housing project on Fushidhiggaru Falhu, fisheries products processing factories, and the re-development of roads in Malé and Villimalé. In his meeting with the Chinese premier, Muizzu made a case for enhanced cooperation in e-commerce, the capital Malé development plan, and an airport expansion. In what may have been particularly pleasing to the Chinese leaders, Muizzu is reported to have said, “We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the license to bully us. We aren’t in anyone’s backyard. We are an independent and sovereign state.” It is clear that Muizzu was targeting India with these comments. India had traditionally played a very critical role in the sovereignty and security of the Indian Ocean Island nation.After his return from China, Muizzu took another swipe at India saying, “Though we have small islands in this ocean, we have a vast exclusive economic zone of 900,000 square kilometers. Maldives is one of the countries with the biggest share of this ocean. This ocean does not belong to a specific country” – echoing a comment China has often made that Indian Ocean does not belong to India. In a joint press statement, the two sides made the strongest iteration in terms of “safeguarding” each other’s core interests. China on its part said it “firmly supports the Maldives in upholding its national sovereignty, independence and national dignity, respects and supports the Maldives’ exploration of a development path that suits its national conditions, and firmly opposes external interference in the internal affairs of the Maldives.” The Maldives similarly endorsed the One China policy by saying that it “is firmly committed to the one-China principle, recognizing that there is but one China in the world, the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The Maldives opposes any statement or action that undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, opposes all ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities, and will not develop any form of official relations with Taiwan.” The statement added, “The Maldives opposes external interference in China’s internal affairs under any pretext and supports all efforts made by China to achieve national reunification.” Maldives also publicly backed China’s new concepts such as the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) in addition to extending full support for carrying out projects under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) while appreciating the “selfless help” given by China for the Maldives’ social and economic development. As Muizzu and the first lady received a ceremonial red carpet welcome at the Great Hall of the People in Beijin, the Maldives’ relations with India were taking a nosedive. In fact, on the day Muizzu landed in China, there was a diplomatic row after three deputy ministers of the Muizzu government made derogatory comments that were disrespectful of India and Modi. The Maldivian High Commissioner to India, Ibrahim Shaheeb, was summoned by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. In response, Muizzu is reported to have suspended the three deputy ministers – Maryam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Mahzoom Majid.Prior to Muizzu’s visit, Maldivian Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef visited China on his first foreign trip, wherein he participated in the China-sponsored China-Indian Ocean Region Forum in Kunming. What the Maldives is trying to do is nothing unique. Given the presence of two major powers in its neighborhood, Malé is playing India and China against each other and trying to get the best deal, but Muizzu appears to have gone a bit overboard this time. Sri Lanka to continue drug crackdown despite rights group concerns - minister (Reuters)
Reuters [1/18/2024 8:56 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe, 5239K, Neutral]
Sri Lanka vowed to continue an anti-narcotics campaign that has seen more than 35,000 people detained over the last few weeks despite concerns raised by multiple rights groups, top officials said on Thursday.Sri Lankan police have detained 38,525 people since the operation - code-named "Yuktiya" or "Justice" - began in December."They (rights groups) can issue statements, I will not stop this operation," said Public Security Minister Tiran Alles."If we are doing anything wrong on ground, people are not going to support us like this," he said.Thirty-three rights organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and International Commission of Jurists, this week expressed concerns over what they call "drastic intensification" of anti-narcotics operations in Sri Lanka leading to significant human rights violations."These arrests are been made very arbitrarily. There is no reasonable suspicion, the kind of people arrested have a lower marginalised economic status," said Thiyagi Ruwanpathirana, a researcher for Amnesty International Sri Lanka."The way in which the operations are carried out - there is cavity searches, strip searches in public, some of which are televised - it is really giving a lot of concern for human rights organisations," Ruwanpathirana said.Deshabandu Tennekoon, acting chief of Sri Lanka’s police, dismissed concerns of violations, saying police had followed due process in dealing with detained suspects resulting in only about 5,000 ultimately being jailed. The raids, which are carried out countrywide on a daily basis, have unearthed 4.7 billion rupees ($14.5m) worth of drugs, he added."We will identify new suspects and continue as this is an effort to dismantle the drug trafficking and distribution network within the country."Sri Lanka had over 97,000 drug-related arrests in 2020 with 53% of arrests for heroin and 42% for cannabis including possession offences, according to latest data from state-run National Dangerous Drugs Control Board. Central Asia
Kazakhstan’s egg help to Russia causes grumbling (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [1/18/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
Kazakhstan has agreed to help Russia alleviate its chronic shortage of chicken eggs only to spark grumbling from domestic consumers in border areas who now say there is not enough for them to buy.
The pledge of assistance arrived at a meeting on trade issues between Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin and his Russian counterpart, Alexei Overchuk, in Astana on January 17.
Eggs featured on the agenda. As the Russian state statistics service has reported, the price of the commodity soared by more than 61 percent last year, prompting the government in Moscow to adopt some radical fixes. One was a plan to exempt 1.2 billion eggs from customs duties in the first half of this year.
But first Russia needs to find somebody to supply the eggs. At the Astana meeting, Overchuk asked for Kazakhstan’s help, and he received a positive response.
Zhumangarin instructed the Agriculture Ministry to increase the supply of eggs to Russia as soon as possible.“In matters of food security, flexibility in decision-making is necessary,” he said.
But this gesture of goodwill is not going down well in Kazakhstan, which has struggled for years to cope with its own inflation woes.
On January 18, residents in the northwestern city of Uralsk told journalists that they have seen a quota imposed on the number of eggs being sold at state-run stores, where goods are traded at subsidized prices. The limit is 10 per person. Residents suspect plans to begin exporting more to Russia may be to blame.“It will be more profitable for entrepreneurs to send eggs for export at an inflated price than to sell them here at a reduced price. After all, everyone will think about their own benefit. But will anyone think about us?” the local news site Moi Gorod quoted Kulyash Dauylbaeva, a resident of Uralsk, as saying.
Agriculture officials told Moi Gorod that the quota was introduced to prevent speculators from buying up excess amounts of the local product and taking it across to Russia to sell at a handsome profit.
Otherwise, the egg situation has generally been satisfactory in Kazakhstan of late. According to government data, the egg supply level in 2022 was 2 percent above the population’s needs. Last year, Kazakhstan was able to export 190 million excess units to neighboring Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. U.S. ‘deeply concerned’ after recent Kyrgyzstan raid of independent news outlets (Miami Herald)
Miami Herald [1/18/2024 4:50 PM, Ehren Wynder, Neutral]
The U.S. State Department on Thursday expressed concern over press freedoms in Kyrgyzstan.
Authorities there conducted raids this week on two news outlets, arresting journalists and keeping them incarcerated for several hours.
Officers from Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security on Monday raided the office of 24.kg in the capital of Bishek. Police confiscated the news outlet’s equipment and detained its general director Asel Otorbaeva and chief editors Makhinur Niyazova and Anton Lymar.
The SCNS said a criminal investigation was opened accusing 24.kg of "propaganda of war," without further elaboration. Authorities questioned Otorbaeva, Niyazova and Lymar for about 45 minutes each before releasing them.
Niyazova told reporters the investigation was related to a report from 24.kg about Russia’s war with Ukraine and that the investigation is retaliation for the news outlet’s "independent position."
Bishek police on Tuesday also raided the office of Temirov Live, confiscated its equipment and arrested and searched the homes of 11 current and former staff.
Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a criminal case against Temirov Live and sister project Ait Ait Dese for unspecified publications that called for "active disobedience" against government officials and for "mass riots," as well as "violence against citizens."
The 11 detainees were held in police custody for 48 hours, pending a court ruling on further custody measures, according to media reports.
Temirov Live founder Bolot Temirov told media outlets that editors did not call for riots in their materials and that it was unclear which publications the police allegations targeted.
This was not the first time Temirov Live came under fire from authorities. The publication was raided in 2022 and Bolot Temirov was deported to Russia on charges that he forged documents to obtain a Kyrgyz passport.
By Kyrgyzstan law, propaganda of war is punishable by a fine or up to five years in prison, and calling for mass unrest could lead to five to eight years in prison.
Established in 2006, 24.kg is one of Kyrgyzstan’s oldest online news outlets and one of the country’s leading sources of news. The organization also has come under heavy fire in recent months. Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor in September ordered access to the website be blocked due to its "anti-Russian" coverage of the invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Millerreleased a statement Thursday, which said the United States is "deeply concerned" by the Kyrgyz government’s recent crackdowns on independent media outlets.
"These actions contribute to a pattern of government activity that appears aimed at stifling public debate and free expression," Miller said in the statement. "A free and independent press is essential for protecting human rights, maintaining effective democratic institutions, and promoting peace and security."
U.N. Human Rights Office Spokesperson Liz Throssell also issued a statement condemning the arrest and detention of Kyrgyz journalists.
"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," Throssell said, adding the arrests are more concerning as the Kyrgyz Parliament is considering a bill to further restrict media freedom. Kyrgyzstan’s Lucrative Reexport Of Vehicles Getting The Squeeze From Russia (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/18/2024 6:27 AM, Kubatbek Aibashov and Chris Rickleton, 223K, Neutral]
Businessman Yasir Hakimov is engaged in a trade that has become very fashionable in his home city of Bishkek the past two years -- reexporting cars from third countries to vehicle-hungry, sanctions-struck Russia.In November and December alone, Hakimov said he sent to Moscow nearly 200 vehicles initially imported to Kyrgyzstan, which is a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) trade bloc.Most of the cars came from China, with South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Europe sending in the remainder.But having only got into the trade last summer, Hakimov is worried that business has peaked, as Kyrgyzstan’s government warned importers of an incoming customs-duty hike -- perhaps as high as 20 percent -- in the near future.Hakimov believes the measure is the result of "pressure" from the Kremlin, whose Federal Customs Service last year complained that cars imported into Kyrgyzstan were being deliberately undervalued.Large-scale reexports of cars from Kyrgyzstan to Russia emerged after many countries ceased trading with Russia in the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.The trade then boomed in the first half of last year as Russia’s demand for cars recovered to prewar levels.Kyrgyz reexporters began having problems in the second half of the year after Russian authorities changed the recycling fees levied on imported cars in August and October. The October rule change in particular disproportionately impacted individuals, who are now forced to pay the same fees as official dealerships, and who formed the bulk of the demand for cars imported via Kyrgyzstan.The fee changes -- essentially a nontariff barrier that bears little relation to the actual cost of recycling -- were enthusiastically welcomed by Russia’s domestic auto industry, which has watched forlornly as Chinese automakers and imports claimed a majority of the market.But the changes were too much for some in Kyrgyzstan’s "car-forwarding" business."The smallest players simply got squeezed out," Hakimov told RFE/RL of the effects of the increased recycling fees on Kyrgyzstan-based reexporters.Losing A Competitive Advantage?Reexports were long a cornerstone of Kyrgyzstan’s economy, but suffered after it joined Armenia, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan in the protectionist EEU in 2015.Since joining, Kyrgyzstan has on multiple occasions been accused by fellow members of funny business at the borders of the union -- especially on its border with China, which remains something of a smugglers’ paradise.Russia’s tolerance for Kyrgyzstan’s booming export trade seems to have grown thinner now that it no longer faces such an acute shortage of new vehicles and is instead coming to terms with a domestic market suddenly dominated by Chinese cars.In July, Moscow’s Federal Customs Service released a statement noting the "practice" of cars imported to other EEU countries being deliberately undervalued, singling out Kyrgyzstan as the main violator. "If the Federal Customs Service identifies cases of undervaluation, then data on this is...transmitted to Kyrgyzstan [or other EAEU states] to organize post-control and take measures to collect unpaid payments," the statement said.Kyrgyz car importers were informed at a meeting in December by Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Service about the new customs duties that would be imposed in 2024. The reason for the decision was not mentioned.Kyrgyzstan’s customs duties on cars are currently around 15 percent compared to 20-25 percent in Russia depending on the car’s year of manufacture. Value-added tax (VAT) on cars is also more favorable in Kyrgyzstan, at around 12 percent versus 19-20 percent in Russia.In one YouTube video enthusing over Kyrgyz practices, Aleksandr Dolgov, a Russian involved in transporting cars from Kyrgyzstan to Russia, claimed that savings "on customs clearance alone" when importing a new Chinese Geely Monjaro SUV via Kyrgyzstan rather than Russia could total up to half a million rubles (nearly $5,800).In the short-term, says Tilek Kozhokulov, chairman of the Association for the Protection of the Rights of Motorists and Auto Importers of Kyrgyzstan, reexporters fear the new duties will be slapped on cars currently in transit and already slated for sale in Russia.He argues that in the long run the country risks losing the initiative to countries such as Belarus and Kazakhstan, who he says are tweaking their laws to benefit vehicle importers. "And we are doing the opposite -- raising duties," he told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service.Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Service did not reply to a request for comment.Russia’s BackdoorNotoriously modest official Kyrgyz customs data shows a fivefold increase in imports of vehicles, totaling almost 160,000 for the first 10 months of 2023.Data from the same source for car exports would suggest exports in the low thousands, outnumbered even by imports from Russia.In reality, according to Suiyunbek Myrzakanov, a businessman who spoke to RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, that is probably because only cars that are registered in Kyrgyzstan and receive Kyrgyz number plates count toward exports. Myrzakanov estimated that at most 10 percent of the vehicles imported this year had remained in Kyrgyzstan.Among the cars Kyrgyzstan imported, vehicles from China lead the way, totaling more than 60,000.Chinese customs data, for its part, shows a more than 60-fold year-on-year increase of car exports to its Central Asian neighbor in the first 11 months of 2023.Distances and logistics make working with Europe harder for Kyrgyz reexporters, yet the fact that countries like France and Germany have cut ties with the Russian market has opened up opportunities there, too.In December 2023, Robin Brooks, a former senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, highlighted official German data that showed a 5,500 percent increase in exports of cars and parts to Kyrgyzstan, reaching 30 million euros ($34 million) monthly in the first half of 2023, before tailing off to around 20 million euros ($23 million) toward the end of the year."This export surge started after Russia invaded Ukraine, so it’s obvious this stuff is going to Moscow. This has to stop," Brooks wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Brooks had previously argued that Kyrgyzstan was an ideal "test case" for secondary sanctions.Although the decisions of countries like Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan not to join Belarus in vocally backing Russia’s invasion helped challenge perceptions of the region as Moscow’s "backyard," there is no doubt that the EEU has proven a Russian "backdoor" for sanctions evasion.From the moment the United States and its allies in Europe and Asia imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion, analysts had highlighted the trade bloc’s usefulness for Moscow.A 2022 Chatham House explainer on the organization stressed that actual economic integration between the five members remains "cumbersome and patchy" with only around 40 percent of customs duties harmonized and "Russian unilateralism and its uneasy relationship with the smaller member states" coloring trade relations inside the group.Nevertheless, "the aftermath of the 2022 aggression has made the EEU considerably more useful economically to Russia than ever before," the authors concluded, noting member countries’ roles in helping Moscow access dual-use goods to aid its war effort.Kyrgyz entrepreneurs would argue in response that the war has created enough economic problems for their country, and that they are only taking advantage of new opportunities that are available.Moreover, many of these opportunities only last as long as conditions in the Russian market allow.Sewing shops in Kyrgyzstan, for example, saw orders from Russia go through the roof in 2022, with many turning to freelance seamstresses in a bid to meet demand. But 2023 has been a different story, with the ruble’s weakness relative to the Kyrgyz som undermining the trade and sending some factories out of business.Such bumps in the road matter less to gargantuan China, the source of much of the raw fabric for Kyrgyzstan’s garments industry as well as the tens of thousands of cars that Kyrgyz reexporters now send to Russia.Citing Chinese customs data, a report by the Eurasian Rail Alliance Index showed that Beijing’s garment exports to Russia rose by around 30 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2023, reaching $1.43 billion.Chinese exports of cars and car parts to Russia rose by more than 350 percent in the same period, meanwhile, hitting $16.41 billion as Russia became the No. 1 market for Chinese-made cars in the world. He’s Back: Turkmen President’s ‘Sidelined’ Cousin Ignites Punch-Up At Ashgabat Bar (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/18/2024 11:55 AM, Farangis Najibullah, 223K, Neutral]
A cousin of Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhammedov was seen punching a bartender and a man’s wife in a dustup at bar in the capital in what seemingly marks a return to his untouchable status as a relative of the first family.Shamyrat Rejepov is well-known in Turkmenistan for acquiring enormous wealth through his family connections and often boasting about his luxurious lifestyle. He also had a reputation for unbridled behavior under the long reign of his uncle, authoritarian leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.But he had been relatively quiet since Serdar replaced his father as president of the resource-rich country, leading many to think the new president had put the reins on his privileged cousin. Now they’re not so sure.Rejepov apparently was angry that the restaurant had not been immediately vacated for him to drink and dine alone, people said.Describing the incident at the Sky Bar in the popular Gyul Zemin Mall around 9 p.m. on January 6, an eyewitness said someone began shouting for people to leave the bar because Rejepov was about to enter."There were still a few people left in the bar when [Rejepov] arrived with two bodyguards, and he shouted at the barman: ‘Why haven’t you gotten rid of everybody?’ before punching him," the witness, a frequent patron of the Sky Bar, told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity.Rejepov -- flanked by his bodyguards -- also reportedly hit a pregnant customer in the face and threw punches at her husband as he tried to defend her, another eyewitness said.RFE/RL cannot independently verify the claims. There was no comment by police or other officials in the strictly controlled country where criticism of the president, his family, and government policies is not tolerated.A source in Ashgabat told RFE/RL that the incident dashed hopes that many had that Serdar had sidelined Rejepov and his brother, Hajimyrat, who both enjoyed immense influence when Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov ruled from 2006 to 2022.Rejepov is the son of 63-year-old Durdynabat Rejepova, the eldest of Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s five powerful sisters, who have used nepotism to enrich themselves with companies and property and who have been cited by observers as having strong influence over the former president, their little brother.Rejepov, 38, married his cousin, the daughter of Gulnabat Dovletova, the former chairwoman of Turkmenistan’s Red Crescent Society. Dovletova, 61, is Gurbanguly’s second-oldest sister.Rejepov reportedly used his mother-in-law’s position to import cigarettes and other goods under the guise of Red Crescent shipments to avoid paying the customs tax.Like the rest of the extended first family, the Rejepovs became fabulously wealthy using their presidential connection to secure lucrative contracts and allowed to privatize state properties at discounted prices.According to a 2021 investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a firm controlled by Hajimyrat was granted a $25.7 million contract to import food to Turkmenistan. The company had no experience importing food, the investigation found.Nusay Yollary, a company linked to Rejepov’s father, Annanazar, was reportedly among subcontractors who were awarded a deal in 2019 to build the $2.3 billion Ashgabat-Turkmenabat highway.‘The Brothers Are Back’The Rejepovs angered many Turkmen by showing off their life in the lap of luxury on social media as most people in the Central Asian country of some 6 million live in poverty.Many of these social media posts have been deleted and some family members privatized their Instagram accounts since Serdar took office in a managed election in March 2022.Serdar, 42, has reportedly long been unhappy with his cousins, accusing them of "bringing shame to the family."He had launched an attack on the Rejepov brothers even before becoming president, closing down several Ashgabat stores owned by Shamyrat and ordering the arrest of one of Shamyrat’s close friends in 2021, the Europe-based Turkmen.news website reported.Just a month after taking power, Serdar dismissed his scandal-hit aunt Dovletova -- Shamyrat’s aunt and mother-in-law -- from the post of Red Crescent chief due to the accusations of her exploiting her position chief to illegally sell humanitarian aid through her private network of pharmacies.Shamyrat and Hajimyrat temporarily left the country and moved to the United Arab Emirates after Serdar became president.
But Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, 66, went on to gain even more political power than the president in his newly created role as the head of the People’s Council, which oversees all branches of rule in Turkmenistan with the right to change the constitution, adopt laws, and determine government policy.
"It seems that with the ‘return’ of their uncle [Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov] to power, the Rejepov brothers regained their confidence," a source in Ashgabat said. "People were happy when they disappeared after Serdar became president."
Uzbekistan: President lambasts failure to achieve export boom (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [1/18/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
Fully half of Uzbekistan’s exports go to just four markets: Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Turkey.
Addressing government officials on January 18, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that needs to change, especially since those countries have been battered to varying degrees by economic fluctuations.“Due to devaluation in countries that are our main markets, as well as conflicts in the world and logistics, exports to [those countries] have diminished,” Mirziyoyev was quoted as saying by his press secretary, Sherzod Asadov.Mirziyoyev said that the target going forward should be to increase the overall volume of exports by 30 percent annually.
The timer has been set for Jamshid Khodjayev, the deputy prime minister with the portfolio for investment and foreign trade, to start putting Uzbekistan on that path.“If he does not make changes by the end of this quarter, his suitability for that position will be reconsidered,” Mirziyoyev said.
To show he was serious, the president gave deputy Investment, Industry and Trade Minister Badriddin Abidov the chop on January 18, citing shortcomings in his work. Mirziyoyev also fired numerous local officials who he said had allowed foreign trade done by their regions to decline.
Official data for January-November 2023 show that Uzbekistan’s trade turnover increased by 26.2 percent, up to $57.3 billion, compared to the same period the year before. Of that total, $23.2 billion were exports.
China accounts for 21.3 percent of trade, but exports to China dropped by 9.6 percent (to $2.3 billion) over that 11-month period. That trend has been caused to a considerable degree by the reduced amounts of natural gas that Uzbekistan is able to sell abroad.
Mirziyoyev has attributed failure to advance the export agenda to inefficiencies in the system.
The presidential administration says that $200 million have been set aside as export credits, but that the officials responsible for overseeing the allocation of these resources have not been up to the job.
Prospective exporters are also failing to do their bit. There were 31 enterprises that received a total of 4.5 billion sums ($360,000) of financial support last year to help implement international certification protocols, but they failed to export any goods, Mirziyoyev’s office said.
In another bureaucratic shake-up, the Export Promotion Agency — a body created in late 2018 that Mirziyoyev dismissively described as a bean-counter that arbitrarily hands out money — will be replaced by something called the Trade Development Company, which will operate within the framework of World Trade Organization requirements.
Uzbekistan is currently in the process of seeking accession to the WTO.
Under the incoming dispensation, only exporters able to show that they propose to go to foreign markets with high value-added products will be eligible for subsidies, loans and other forms of assistance from the yet-to-be-created Trade Development Company. Twitter
Afghanistan
Abdul Qahar Balkhi@QaharBalkhi
[1/18/2024 5:03 AM, 227.8K followers, 205 retweets, 629 likes]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers the recent violence between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan alarming, and calls on the two neighboring countries to exercise restraint.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi@QaharBalkhi
[1/18/2024 5:03 AM, 227.8K followers, 19 retweets, 90 likes]
In light of the region’s newfound peace and stability after protracted imposed wars and instability, both sides should direct efforts towards further strengthening regional stability and resolving disputes through diplomatic channels and dialogue.
SIGAR@SIGARHQ
[1/18/2024 2:00 PM, 168.2K followers, 3 retweets, 12 likes]
Due to disruption to international banking transfers & liquidity challenges since Taliban takeover in August 2021, the UN transports cash to #AFG for use by UN agencies & its approved partners https://sigar.mil/interactive-reports/sigar-quarterly-report-2023-10-30/#reportDevelopments
SIGAR@SIGARHQ
[1/18/2024 8:00 AM, 168.2K followers, 14 retweets, 24 likes]
(1/2) Taliban claim to have combined military & police force of over 366,000 personnel as of October 3. This is larger than the last, also questionable, ANDSF strength of 300,699 reported in the Afghan Personnel & Pay System by the former Afghan govt before it collapsed
SIGAR@SIGARHQ
[1/18/2024 8:00 AM, 168.2K followers, 3 retweets, 7 likes]
(2/2) #StateDept and SIGAR unable to independently verify Taliban’s reported army and police data. Prior to the Taliban takeover, SIGAR repeatedly warned about the issue of “ghost” soldiers in #Afghanistan’s former security forces https://sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2023-10-30qr-section2.pdf#page=32 Pakistan
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[1/19/2024 12:19 AM, 205.3K followers, 2 retweets, 18 likes]
There’s reason to be cautiously optimistic that the Iran-Pakistan crisis is winding down. Public messaging on both sides today was more conciliatory than earlier this week, and no new threats were made. Still, this crisis has inflicted unprecedented damage on the relationship.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[1/18/2024 9:01 AM, 205.3K followers, 41 retweets, 134 likes]
I’ve written a piece for @theipaper on why Pakistan retaliated after the earlier Iranian strike, why it won’t want further escalations, and what needs to be done to bring about de-escalation.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[1/18/2024 10:58 PM, 205.3K followers, 1 retweet, 8 likes]
Earlier today I spoke to @carolynbeeler @TheWorld about Iran’s possible motivations for its recent strikes on Pakistan and why Pakistan felt it necessary to respond. https://theworld.org/media/2024-01-18/pakistan-responds-iran-strikes-strikes-its-own
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[1/18/2024 4:44 PM, 205.3K followers, 7 retweets, 10 likes]
According to this report, Iran had provided evidence to Pakistan indicating that Jaish al-Adl-the group Iran targeted in Balochistan-was involved in the attack on the Solaimani event in Iran earlier this month. It had called on Pakistan to act against it.
Madiha Afzal@MadihaAfzal
[1/19/2024 12:17 AM, 41.7K followers, 2 retweets, 12 likes]
Pakistan says it targeted Baloch militants (its own citizens) in its retaliatory airstrikes in Iran. Of the 9 killed in those airstrikes, Iran says 4 were children, and 3 were women.
Madiha Afzal@MadihaAfzal
[1/18/2024 12:17 PM, 41.7K followers, 17 likes]
Pakistan says its retaliatory strikes on Iran targeted Baloch militants, & the language used is careful: "highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes... the sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest"
Madiha Afzal@MadihaAfzal
[1/18/2024 12:21 PM, 41.7K followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
Iran says the 9 people killed in the strikes were "foreign nationals" -- presumably Pakistanis.
Madiha Afzal@MadihaAfzal
[1/18/2024 11:46 AM, 41.7K followers, 1 retweet, 10 likes]
Pakistan stressed its right to respond to Iran multiple times yesterday -- foreshadowing its retaliatory strikes.
Madiha Afzal@MadihaAfzal
[1/18/2024 10:57 AM, 41.7K followers, 36 retweets, 223 likes]
Amid Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes on Iran, worth remembering that Pakistan has a caretaker government right now — with a limited mandate. The shots are being called by the army (even more than usual). India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[1/18/2024 4:04 AM, 94.6M followers, 7.2K retweets, 64K likes]
It was a delight to meet Jayalakshmi, who is passionate about agriculture and especially organic farming. Over two years ago, my friend @TheSureshGopi Ji gave me a guava sapling nurtured by her. I deeply cherish that gesture. I wish Jayalakshmi the very best in her endeavours.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[1/18/2024 4:54 AM, 94.6M followers, 7.8K retweets, 52K likes]
At Guruvayur, I received a Bhagwan Shri Krishna painting from Jasna Salim Ji. Her journey in Krishna Bhakti is a testament to the transformative power of devotion. She has been offering paintings of Bhagwan Shri Krishna at Guruvayur for years, including on key festivals.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[1/18/2024 3:47 AM, 94.6M followers, 5.3K retweets, 36K likes]
During my visit to Kerala yesterday I had the opportunity to meet Sriman Narayanan Ji, whom I had mentioned in one of the #MannKiBaat programmes. Hailing from Ernakulam, he has done exceptional work in ensuring animals and birds don’t remain thirsty during the peak summer season. He distributed several earthen pots over the years.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[1/18/20244 9:51 AM, 3M followers, 1K retweets, 10K likes]
Met Maldives FM @MoosaZameer today in Kampala. A frank conversation on India-Maldives ties. Also discussed NAM related issues.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[1/18/2024 7:50 AM, 3M followers, 521 retweets, 5.5K likes]
Arrived in Kampala to represent India at the 19th NAM Summit. Looking forward to engaging colleagues over the coming two days. NSB
Awami League@albd1971
[1/18/2024 10:18 AM, 635.2K followers, 26 retweets, 56 likes]
The @tibangladesh’s latest report on Bangladesh’s election held on #7January is an attempt to undermine #Bangladesh’s electoral process while giving a free pass to @bdbnp78 who resorted to extreme violence and deadly arson attack in the runup of the 12th National Parliamentary Election. Democracy has no place for intimidating the people of the country so that they don’t exercise their constitutional rights. TIB has failed to acknowledge the violent actions and #BNPJamaat hence their report is merely a political one. #BangladeshElection #Election2024 #BNPJamaatViolence
Awami League@albd1971[1/18/2024 6:54 AM, 635.2K followers, 24 retweets, 74 likes]
.@ADB_Bangladesh Country Director Edimon Ginting on Wednesday said #SheikhHasina’s return as prime minister was very urgent for the good future of Bangladesh. He also said ADB is ready to continue its partnership with #Bangladesh in the coming days. https://link.albd.org/yq3yx
Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP@bdbnp78
[1/18/2024 5:44 AM, 47.4K followers, 45 retweets, 173 likes]
This @AlJazeeraWorld report confirms @albd1971 men held the most vulnerable community hostage for votes to get their state-funded stipends. This was a state policy in 2024 dummy election, this report confirms. @StateDept @State_SCA @srpoverty @FCDOHumanRights @amnesty @hrw
Moosa Zameer@MoosaZameer
[1/18/2024 10:08 AM, 12.4K followers, 118 retweets, 304 likes]
It was a pleasure to meet with the External Affairs Minister of #India @DrSJaishankar in the margins of #NAMSummitUg2024. We exchanged views on the ongoing high-level discussions on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, as well as expediting the completion of ongoing development projects in the #Maldives, and cooperation within SAARC and NAM. We are committed to further strengthening and expanding our cooperation.
Moosa Zameer@MoosaZameer
[1/18/2024 4:26 AM, 12.4K followers, 35 retweets, 65 likes]
I had an engaging meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Narayan Prakash Saud, in the margins of the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, in Kampala, Uganda today. We discussed key issues, explored opportunities for collaboration, and strengthened the traditional bonds between our nations. @NPSaudnc @MofaNepal #NAMSummitUg2024
Mohamed Nasheed@MohamedNasheed
[1/18/2024 2:58 AM, 270.3K followers, 146 retweets, 586 likes]
Maldivians have achieved self rule for centuries because we are tactful & strategic. Not because of brute strength. If our leaders lack foresight & go stomping about beating their chest, we will suffer. India is our neighbour & friend. We should afford India respect at all times.
MOFA of Nepal@MofaNepal
[1/18/2024 7:07 AM, 256.2K followers, 15 retweets, 28 likes]
A meeting was held today between Foreign Minister Hon @NPSaudnc and the Foreign Minister of Maldives H.E. Moosa Zameer on the sidelines of NAM ministerial in Kampala. Two Ministers exchanged views on different areas of engagement between two countries. @sewa_lamsal @amritrai555 Central Asia
Chris Rickleton@ChrisRickleton
[1/18/2024 12:31 AM, 7.2K followers, 4 retweets, 16 likes]
Surely a Central Asia #flippening due in @RSF_en’s next rankings? I’d argue for Kyrgyzstan being the worse place for journalists last year, too, but scale of this week’s raids/detentions + incoming media law highlight regime’s commitment to wiping out independent press.
Hugh Williamson@HughAWilliamson
[1/18/2024 4:53 AM, 10.4K followers, 21 retweets, 20 likes]
1/ A year ago today Tajik opposition activist Abdullohi Shamsiddin was wrongly deported from Germany to Tajikistan. Since then he has been jailed, mistreated & sentenced in an unfair trial to 7 years in prison. A thread @HRW
Hugh Williamson@HughAWilliamson
[1/18/2024 4:57 AM, 10.4K followers, 4 likes]
2/ Shamsiddin was held in an isolation cell for 2 months & deprived of necessary medicine. He is now in jail in Dushanbe & relatives are v concerned for his health & rights. When a German embassy official visited, 8 prison staff were present.
Hugh Williamson@HughAWilliamson
[1/18/2024 4:59 AM, 10.4K followers, 4 likes]
3/ Tajik authorities have since his detention questioned, detained & charged some of Shamsiddin’s friends, relatives in Tajikistan. They obtained contacts from his mobile phone, which was given to them by German police @HRW
Hugh Williamson@HughAWilliamson
[1/18/2024 5:01 AM, 10.4K followers, 4 likes]
4/ Germany should urge Tajikistan to release Shamsiddin & allow him to return to his wife & 2 small kids. Berlin should investigate why he was deported despite a high risk of torture, mistreatment in Tajikistan
Hugh Williamson@HughAWilliamson
[1/18/2024 5:02 AM, 10.4K followers, 4 likes]
5/ We appreciate engagement of German MPs @robinwagener @FrankSchwabe & others, but @GermanyDiplo must engage more strongly on Shamsiddin’s case & human rights in Tajikistan
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[1/18/2024 10:54 AM, 151.6K followers, 1 retweet, 14 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the members of the Cabinet of Ministers, governors and state bodies on priority tasks in the field of #investment, #export and #industry for 2024.Furqat Sidiqov@FurqatSidiq
[1/18/2024 8:58 PM, 1.2K followers, 1 retweet, 3 likes]
Had a great meeting on Capitol Hill with @RepJimBaird, a member of @HouseForeign Subcommittee on Central Asia. Discussed issues related to Uzbekistan and strengthened U.S. bilateral relations. Grateful for the opportunity to exchange ideas on advancing our partnership.
Furqat Sidiqov@FurqatSidiq
[1/18/2024 8:34 PM, 1.2K followers, 2 likes]
Had a productive meeting with @RepBrianMast, who served in the U.S. Army for over 12 years. We shared the views on ensuring sustainable peace and stability in #CentralAsia.
Furqat Sidiqov@FurqatSidiq
[1/18/2024 8:13 PM, 1.2K followers, 3 retweets, 10 likes]
Always a pleasure meeting with @RepTrentKelly Co-chair of the Caucus on #Uzbekistan @HouseFloor. Exchanged of ideas on expanding Uzbekistan-US relations in 2024. I appreciate Congressman’s continued support of relations between our nations.
Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[1/18/2024 9:11 AM, 28.7K followers, 5 retweets, 9 likes]
#Uzbekistan to build new "tourist centres" in 12 places, including, well, big tourist centres like Bukhara + Samarkand. Also Nukus in #Karakalpakstan, Qarshi, Termez and Zaamin District in Jizzakh Region, Mirziyoyev’s birth place{End of Report} To subscribe to the SCA Morning Press Clips, please email SCA-PressOfficers@state.gov. Please do not reply directly to this email.