epubdos : Afghanistan
SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO:
SCA & Staff
DATE:
Friday, January 5, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
Taliban arrest women for ‘bad hijab’ in first crackdown since return to power (AP)
AP [1/4/2024 6:30 AM, Staff, 22K, Negative]
The Taliban have arrested women in the Afghan capital for wearing “bad hijab,” a spokesman at the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry said Thursday.

It’s the first official confirmation of a crackdown on women who don’t follow the dress code imposed by the Taliban since they returned to power in 2021 and has echoes with neighboring Iran, which has enforced mandatory hijab for decades.

The development is the latest blow to Afghan women and girls, who are already reeling from bans on education, employment and access to public spaces.

The spokesman from the Vice and Virtue Ministry, Abdul Ghafar Farooq, didn’t say how many women have been arrested or what constitutes bad hijab.

In May 2022, the Taliban issued a decree calling for women to only show their eyes and recommending they wear the head-to-toe burqa, similar to restrictions during the Taliban’s previous rule between 1996 and 2001.

Farooq said the women were arrested three days ago.

In voice notes to The Associated Press, he said the ministry has heard complaints about women’s lack of correct hijab in the capital and provinces for almost two-and-a-half years.

Ministry officials made recommendations to women and advised them to follow the dress code. Female police officers were sent to arrest the women after they failed to follow the advice, he added.

“These are the few limited women who spread bad hijab in Islamic society,” he said. “They violated Islamic values and rituals, and encouraged society and other respected sisters to go for bad hijab.”

Police will refer the matter to judicial authorities or the women will be released on strict bail, according to Farooq.

“In every province, those who go without hijab will be arrested,” he warned.

The arrests come less than a week after the UN Security Council called for a special envoy to engage with the Taliban, especially on gender and human rights.

But the Taliban criticized the idea, saying that special envoys have “complicated situations further via the imposition of external solutions.”

Late Wednesday, while expressing support for a special envoy for Afghanistan, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said America remained concerned about the Taliban’s “repressive edicts against women and girls and its unwillingness to foster inclusive governance.”

The decisions made risk irreparable damage to Afghan society and move the Taliban further away from normalizing relations with the international community, added Miller. The Taliban have arrested women in the Afghan capital for wearing “bad hijab,” a spokesman at the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry said Thursday.
Taliban Arrests Scores Of Women In Dress-Code Crackdown (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/4/2024 7:07 AM, Staff, 223K, Negative]
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has arrested dozens of women for failing to observe its strict dress code, which requires women to wear head-to-toe coverings, including over their faces.

Several eyewitnesses and some of the women detained told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have been making the arrests in various neighborhoods of the capital, Kabul, since January 1.

“There have been several incidents today in which the Taliban detained several women and took them to an unknown destination,” one eyewitness who requested anonymity said on January 3.

In May 2022, a decree by the Taliban, who seized power in August 2020 as international troops were withdrawing from the country, called on Afghan women to only show their eyes in public.

The order reinstated restrictions during the Taliban’s previous rule between 1996 and 2001. It is even stricter than neighboring Iran, where authorities have enforced the mandatory hijab, or Islamic head scarf, for decades, prompting widespread unrest.

The AP quoted the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry as saying women are being arrested for wearing "bad hijab," the first official confirmation of a crackdown on women who don’t follow the dress code.

A young woman who witnessed some detentions in Kabul said she managed to escape arrest after an older man intervened.

“He told me to run to run towards my house because the Taliban had just arrested several women in the neighborhood of Dasht-e Barchi in western Kabul,” she told Radio Azadi.

Some of the women detained were released on bail, while others are still being held by the Taliban.

The crackdown is the latest blow to women and girls in Afghanistan, who are already being marginalized in the country by Taliban bans on education, employment, and restrictions in access to public spaces.

Ruqiya Saee, a women’s rights activist, said Afghan women are no longer able to dress the way they like.

“The situation in Afghanistan is becoming dire daily," she told Radio Azadi.

The arrests come days after the UN Security Council called for a special envoy to engage with the Taliban, especially on gender and human rights.

The Taliban, however, criticized the idea, saying that special envoys have “complicated situations further via the imposition of external solutions.”

On January 3, the United States supported the new UN special envoy for Afghanistan.

Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington remained concerned about the Taliban’s “repressive edicts against women and girls and its unwillingness to foster inclusive governance."

He added that the decisions made by the Taliban risk irreparable damage to Afghan society and move the Taliban further away from normalizing relations with the international community.
Afghan women write open letter to UN over education of girls in Taliban’s madrassas (The Independent)
The Independent [1/5/2024 2:49 AM, Arpan Rai, 3.1M, Neutral]
Over 70 Afghan women have written an open letter to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres against UN’s head of Afghan mission Roza Otunbayeva’s latest remarks on education of Afghan girls in Islamic madrassas.

Ms Otunbayeva is the UN’s special envoy to Afghanistan and told the UN Security Council last month that there is “more and more anecdotal evidence that girls could study at the Islamic schools known as madrassas” run by the Taliban, without any proof of progressive education in these centres.

“Such statements are utterly irresponsible and perceived as normalising the education ban for girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban. For anyone familiar with the Afghan context, madrassa and formal school systems cannot be compatible for many reasons,” the letter to Mr Guterres, seen by The Independent, read. Madrassas are Islamic schools which also often provide free religious education, shelter and food to students.

The coalition of Afghan women, activists, former judges, diplomats, and human rights organisations, have rejected the UN envoy’s position and statements at the Security Council, stating that the top leader was trying to normalise the Taliban’s education ban against women and girls among other human rights violations.

“Since the Taliban returned in August 2021, they have formed hundreds of new religious madrassas across Afghanistan, not just for school-age boys and girls but adult men and women, where there is a genuine fear of mass radicalisation of youth,” the letter added.

“The Taliban are an ideological militant group that uses religion and people’s religious beliefs for their political and military purposes,” the letter read.

It pointed out that the formal education curriculum in Afghanistan was “consistent with both religious education as well as modern subjects including science, mathematics, literature, foreign languages, history, and geography”. Whereas in the Taliban’s madrassas where students are taught predominantly religious studies.

“Furthermore, there are multiple reports and research that show that people who attend Taliban-controlled madrassas are radicalised and even learning [about] militancy and insurgency,” the open letter to the UN chief said.

“Modern education is key for the advancement of a country, particularly for women’s active participation in social, political economic sphere,” the letter said, adding that any absence of a formal education system and deprivation of girls from advancing will have a serious impact on Afghanistan.

The women, representing millions of Afghan girls and women under the Taliban regime, have asked the UN secretary general to urge the Taliban to reverse policies responsible for the deteriorating human rights situation, particularly for women, girls and hold them accountable for systematic violations.

One of the five demands to the secretary general also asks the UN to push the Taliban to “stop spreading extremist ideologies including in the education system and madrassas”, stating that the implications of such policies are devastating for Afghanistan and beyond.

The UN has refused to recognise the Taliban, an Islamist militant group, as the legitimate government of Afghanistan since its fighters seized power by force in August 2021.

The Taliban took control of Kabul by ousting a democratically elected government after the withdrawal of Western allied forces. Since taking power, the Taliban regime has banned women from schools, workplaces and public recreational facilities, provoking international condemnation.

Afghanistan under the Taliban is the only country on the planet that has banned girls and women from attending secondary school and universities, a ban which has been in place for more than two years and is expected to have wide-reaching implications for the country’s society and economy if it persists.
Pakistan
US Urges Free and Fair Elections in Pakistan (VOA)
VOA [1/4/2024 8:15 PM, Ayaz Gul, 761K, Negative]
The United States said Thursday that it expects the upcoming national elections in Pakistan to be conducted in a manner that is both free and fair and follows the country’s laws.

The South Asian nation of about 241 million people is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on February 8. But the democratic process has been marred by widespread allegations of pre-poll rigging.

"It’s not for the United States to dictate to Pakistan the exact specifics of how it conducts its election," U.S. State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller told a news conference in Washington.

"But to make clear that we want to see those elections conducted in a free, fair and peaceful manner that includes freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and ultimately a full, open, reliable, vibrant democratic process," Miller said.

He was responding to charges that the military-backed Pakistani caretaker government was cracking down on the political party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and its members who are filing to run for office.

Khan wrote from prison Thursday in The Economist that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, was being unfairly muzzled.

"My party’s leaders, workers and social-media activists, along with supportive journalists, were abducted, incarcerated, tortured and pressured to leave PTI," he asserted. "Many of them remain locked up, with new charges being thrown at them every time the courts give them bail or set them free."

"In this scenario, even if elections were held, they would be a disaster and a farce, since PTI is being denied its basic right to campaign," Khan wrote.

The cricket hero-turned-prime minister was removed from office in April 2022 through an opposition-led vote of no confidence.

Khan repeated his allegations in his Thursday article that the Pakistani military and the U.S. orchestrated his ouster to punish him for pushing an independent foreign policy and refusing to provide military bases to American troops.

"I will just say, as we have said before, the former prime minister’s accusations are baseless, and I think I’ll leave it at that," Miller said when asked for his reaction to Khan’s claims.

Independent election monitors and human rights groups have also increasingly questioned the integrity and credibility of next month’s vote, citing the crackdown on PTI and growing media censorship.

"At this point, there is little evidence to show that the upcoming elections will be free, fair or credible," Munizae Jahangir, the co-chairperson of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told a news conference in Islamabad last week.

She denounced the crackdown against PTI, calling it a "systemic dismemberment" of the party.

"I think that there is no doubt in anybody’s mind that the strings of this country are being pulled by the military," Jahangir said when asked whether the military was influencing the electoral process in the poll run-up.

The Pakistani army denies it interferes with the election process or political matters, but critics dismiss it as mere claims. Generals have ruled Pakistan for more than three decades after ousting elected governments in military coups.
Pakistan’s senate approves delaying elections, but decision not binding (Reuters)
Reuters [1/5/2024 5:45 AM, Ariba Shahid, 5239K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s senate approved a resolution on Friday to further delay national elections which had been scheduled to take place on Feb. 8, the chairman of the senate said while addressing senators.

The resolution passed by the senate, however, is not binding and does not necessarily mean elections will be further delayed. There was no immediate comment from the election commission, the body that conducts elections in the country.

Elections in the politically and economically troubled South Asian nation were originally due to be held in November, 90 days after the dissolution of the lower house of parliament in August, but were first delayed to February due to the fresh demarcation of constituencies under a new census.

"January and February are the coldest months in majority areas in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (provinces),” said independent Senator Dilawar Khan, who moved the resolution during a session with only 14 lawmakers in attendance, adding that there were security concerns too.

Pakistan is currently being run by a caretaker government under interim Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar that is meant to oversee a general election.

Caretakers are usually limited to overseeing elections, but Kakar’s set-up is the most empowered in Pakistan’s history thanks to recent legislation that allows it to make policy decisions on economic matters.

The legislation is aimed at keeping on track the conditions for a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured in June.

Political analysts fear that a prolonged period without an elected government would allow the military, which has ruled Pakistan for over three decades since independence in 1947 and wields considerable control even if not in power, to consolidate control.
Pakistan Says 541,000 Afghans Have Left Amid ‘Undocumented’ Campaign (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/4/2024 8:10 AM, Staff, 223K, Neutral]
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says 541,000 Afghans have left for Afghanistan as Islamabad’s campaign to repatriate some 1.7 million "undocumented foreigners" continues, despite international concerns for their safety and means to shelter upon their return. Since its push began in October, Pakistan has extended a December deadline to February 29, with fines of $100 per month threatened for violators. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul-Haq Kakar linked the expulsions to the Afghan Taliban government’s inability to prevent the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from launching deadly attacks in Pakistan. The UN World Food Program says 15 million Afghans face food insecurity this winter.
India
India’s foreign minister signs a deal to increase imports of electricity from Nepal (AP)
AP [1/5/2024 3:06 AM, Staff, 456K, Neutral]
India’s foreign minister concluded a two-day trip to Nepal on Friday, during which he signed an agreement to increase the amount of electricity India imports from its neighbor.

“I assure you we are committed to extending our steadfast support and work with same earnestness to further realize the potential of the relationship for the full benefit of the people of the two countries,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in Kathmandu Friday, just before flying home.

India, which surrounds Nepal on three sides, has major influence on the country’s economy and politics.

Jaishankar arrived in Nepal Thursday where he met Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and President Ram Chandra Poudel and took part in a joint meeting where bilateral relations were discussed.

The two countries signed an long-term power trade agreement Thursday where India agreed to “to strive to increase the ... export of power from Nepal to India to 10,000 megawatts within a timeframe of 10 years,” according to a press statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

“During my visit this time we have signed some really important agreements both in the areas of power sector cooperation as well as project implementation,” Jaishankar said. “And I am very confident that these will positively impact the lives of the ordinary person in Nepal.”

Nepal, which is mostly covered by mountains, currently only has a capacity of about 2,600 megawatts of electricity but has several hydroelectricity projects that are being built or planned.

Nepal depends on its giant neighbor for importing most oil products.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, the government of India is committed to continue redefining its relationship with partners in our neighborhood, especially with Nepal,” Jaishankar said.
India to import 10,000 MW of hydroelectricity from Nepal over 10 years (Reuters)
Reuters [1/4/2024 9:18 AM, Gopal Sharma, 5239K, Positive]
Nepal and India signed a power trade agreement on Thursday for Kathmandu to export 10,000 megawatts (MW) of hydroelectricity to India over the next 10 years, officials said, in a deal they hope will draw investment to the cash-strapped Himalayan nation.

Nepal’s rivers, cascading from the Himalayas, have the potential to generate about 42,000 MW of electricity, but due to the lack of technical know-how and funds the country, wedged between China and India, produces less than 3,000 MW now.

India, which has a short term electricity trading deal with Nepal, is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure including hydropower plants, as New Delhi looks to grow its influence among its smaller neighbours, where China is also increasingly active.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal agreed the long-term power trade agreement last year which, officials said, would be key to attracting investment in Nepal’s hydroelectric sector.

Prem Rai, a spokesperson for Nepal’s ministry of foreign affairs, told reporters the new agreement was one of four deals formalised at a meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission in Kathmandu on Thursday.

"This is a milestone for the attraction of investment for the development of our hydrosector," Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority, said.

"But we need to update our laws and coordinate line ministries and other agencies to finish the work on time," Bhattarai told Reuters.

The Joint Commission meeting was attended by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Nepali counterpart N.P. Saud.

Indian companies are at various stages of constructing, or negotiating with the Nepalese government to construct, power plants that could produce a total of 8,250 MW, attracting billions of dollars, officials said.

Nepal hopes to export excess energy to India and narrow its huge trade deficit with its southern neighbour, they said.
India Wanted a Manufacturing Boom. Its Workers Are Back on the Farm Instead. (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal [1/5/2024 12:08 AM, Shan Li and Vibhuti Agarwal, 810K, Neutral]
The sudden lockdown in 2020 sent workers streaming from cities back to villages in rural India, an exodus that many thought would be an easy-to-reverse blip on India’s journey to becoming an industrialized nation.

Instead, the ranks of India’s farmworkers have swelled by some 60 million over the past four years, a shift fueled in part by a food-welfare program that feeds hundreds of millions of people. Even last year, when much of the country had put the pandemic behind them, India’s farms added 13 million workers, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the food program would remain for another five years.

Meanwhile, jobs in manufacturing nationwide haven’t budged, and factories say they are struggling to hire.

“This is catastrophic: You see millions going back to agriculture,” said Santosh Mehrotra, a development economist and visiting professor at the University of Bath whose analysis of government employment data shows the farm workforce growing since 2019. “This is the reversal of the structural change happening in our economy.”

It is the opposite of the path many economists would have expected India to be on, with gross domestic product growth outpacing that of other major economies. The country of 1.4 billion, which is estimated to have surpassed China last year as the world’s most populous, has average per capita income of roughly $2,400—less than that of Bangladesh.

Instead of seeing the masses move onto factory floors—a shift that helped raise the standard of living for millions of Chinese—India appears to be deindustrializing prematurely.

That puts India at risk of missing out on the benefits of a huge labor force, while much of its population struggles with chronic unemployment or underemployment. It also means that the world—which benefited when China’s economy grew, fueling demand for commodities and providing consumers with cheap goods—might not be able to count on India to be as powerful an engine of global economic growth.

Modi has long promised to create tens of millions of jobs. But some blame his signature economic policies, including measures enacted in his first term aimed at combating tax evasion, for instead creating headwinds to job growth.

Economists and factory owners also say that for some workers, the food program, which the government has billed as among the world’s largest welfare programs, is helping to tilt the scales in favor of staying on the farm.

The prime minister’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

During the pandemic, India started offering 5 kilos of rice or wheat each month to help those who had been affected by the lockdowns, a benefit that covers 800 million people. With national elections looming in early 2024, the government said in November that it would extend the program for an additional five years at a cost of $145 billion.

In an industrial hub home to some 1,000 factories in the central Indian city of Indore, the managing director of Porwal Auto Components, a foundry and machine shop, said he used to count on about 1,000 welders, spray painters and other skilled workers before the pandemic. Now Devendra Jain said he is operating with about 700, and struggling to complete orders for components for the truck industry and railways. His suppliers are facing similar issues.

“There are hardly any workers,” he said, attributing the shortages to benefits that workers receive in their home villages. “Getting to full production is going to be a challenge.”

Mahesh Khatri, a businessman in the northern state of Haryana, near India’s capital, is struggling to fulfill orders to supply 10,000 cardboard boxes and adhesive tape every month with 38 workers, from an earlier workforce of 55.

Khatri offers free accommodation, but it hasn’t helped.

“They prefer being poor in their villages to being poor in cities,” Khatri said.

The number of people working in farming in India started declining around 2005, hitting a low of just under 200 million by early 2019, the economist Mehrotra’s calculations show. Since then, their numbers have soared to over 260 million—not far from the number of farmworkers India had two decades ago, at the peak of agricultural employment. Many of them aren’t working for pay, but on their family farms.

Employment in cities has declined by nearly nine million over roughly the same period.

India’s decadal census provides the absolute number of people working in different parts of the economy, but the country hasn’t carried out a census since 2011, in part owing to the pandemic. Mehrotra’s calculations involve applying the labor data that New Delhi periodically publishes to government population projections.

The rise in rural employment comes despite Modi’s move to offer tens of billions of dollars in incentives to companies to set up shop in India, as companies seek to move some of their manufacturing from China because of growing U.S.-China tensions. Economists said that companies have used the incentives to set up more manufacturing in sectors such as electronics and pharmaceuticals, but those factories haven’t translated into a significant boost in jobs nationwide.

Manufacturing’s contribution to India’s GDP has fallen from around 17% two decades ago to 13% in 2022, according to the World Bank. India has added only five million manufacturing jobs since shortly before Modi was first elected, for a total of 65 million such jobs now. Employment in cities has declined by nearly nine million over roughly the same period.

Because manufacturing has been so lackluster, India’s economy—which will grow at around 7% in its current fiscal year that ends in March, according to its central bank—is instead being fueled by sectors including information technology and financial services, which don’t need to employ lots of people.

“The growth has come from sectors that aren’t job-intensive,” said Amit Basole, a professor of economics at Azim Premji University in Bengaluru. “So for a fixed amount of output growth, you don’t get as much employment growth.”

Economists say that a government infrastructure push is, however, boosting construction jobs, which were a major source of employment growth in the early 2000s. These jobs could grow further if the government continues to spend tens of billions of dollars on adding new essential infrastructure.

Discontent among migrant workers in big cities had been building up over the years, factory owners and workers say, as slow job growth kept a lid on wages, while housing and food costs rose.

Workers at small-scale factories in poorer states report taking home around 10,000 to 12,000 rupees a month, or about $150. In villages, some are reporting similar earnings with a combination of farming, some private work, and income from a state-run employment program begun under the previous Congress government.

Deepak Porwal, who returned to his village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh during the lockdown in 2020, said he tried many times to find work in a city but didn’t find anything that made financial sense. Now he focuses on farming a 2-acre plot growing soybeans, and works on the side as a local insurance policy agent, earning all together about 12,000 rupees a month.

“A lot of factories and companies are still closed. Those that reopened offered less than half what they paid three years back,” said Porwal, a 35-year-old from Khejdiya village. “We are hardly able to send anything back. Is there any point in staying away from your family and village to earn a tiny amount?”

The food program helps families save on their food bill, but it also bolsters rural incomes in another way.

“You’re assured of the government buying some for the free food program,” said Himanshu, an associate professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, who goes by one name. By law, the government is required to pay a price that covers expenses, which means it sometimes pays above market prices. “It provides price stability and keeps prices from collapsing.”

Still, he cautioned, the subsidies provided aren’t high for any one family. If “jobs were created, people would still move to urban areas.”

Despite the angst among millions of Indians over employment, Modi remains extremely popular, with a public approval rating of 77%, according to the research firm Morning Consult. Political analysts credit his ability to connect with everyday Indians, many of whom support his vision for a strong, Hindu-majority state. Modi and his ruling party recently performed strongly in a series of regional elections and are widely expected to return for a third term in the coming elections.

But continued weakness in India’s job market—especially in the midst of other signs that the economy is doing well—could undermine Modi’s support over time and lead to rising discontent, said Suyash Rai, a fellow and deputy director of Carnegie India, a New Delhi think tank.

In recent years, India has seen major protests over government jobs, which have become even more sought after amid slow private job growth. Violent protests erupted in two states in 2022 after more than 10 million people applied for 35,000 jobs with the national railroad system, which one Indian newspaper suggested could be the country’s “first large-scale unemployment riots.”

In December, a surprise protest in India’s parliament appeared to stem, in part, from frustrations from inadequate employment. In the incident, at least one person jumped into the lawmakers chamber and set off a canister of colored smoke while chanting slogans against the government. The group of young people who planned the protest, and who are now under investigation on terror charges, were educated but largely unemployed—or had returned to their hometowns to work in farming. At least one had organized previous protests over jobs.

“When you have tasted progress, you want more,” said Rai. “If there is no growth on that or not adequate improvement, that is something that can create political upheaval.”
Indian Navy deploys ship and patrol aircraft following bid to hijack a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier (AP)
AP [1/5/2024 2:42 AM, Staff, 456K, Neutral]
The Indian navy has deployed a ship and a patrol aircraft in the Arabian Sea following a hijacking attempt onboard a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, it said Friday.

The vessel sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations portal indicating that it was boarded by five to six unknown armed people on Thursday evening, the navy said in a statement.

The navy diverted a ship deployed for maritime security operations to assist the vessel, the statement said. It did not identify the vessel, but media reports said it was the MV Lila Norfolk.

A patrol aircraft overflew the vessel early Friday and established contact with the crew and ascertained that they were safe, the navy said. The aircraft is continuing to monitor the carrier’s movements and the naval ship is traveling to the vessel to assist.

Commander Mehul Karnik, a navy spokesperson, said the crew members said they were in their strong room and were operating the vessel from there.

The situation is being closely monitored in coordination with other agencies in the area, the navy added.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault. There have been growing concerns about shipping in the region following attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels.
India’s Gujarat holding talks with Japan, US firms as Modi eyes chipmaking hub (Reuters)
Reuters [1/4/2024 6:48 AM, Rupam Jain and Sumit Khanna, 5239K, Neutral]
India’s Gujarat state is in talks with chipmakers in Japan, South Korea and the United States for investments in the state, its top minister said on Thursday, in pursuit of India’s ambitions of becoming a chipmaker for the world.

Semiconductor manufacturing is one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s key business agendas but initial bids to offer $10 billion in incentives to the chipmaking industry have floundered, with some proposals stalled or cancelled.

Gujarat, which is Modi’s home state and one of India’s major industrial hubs, has recently held investment talks with some chipmakers, and officials have visited Japan to meet some executives from the chips industry there, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel told Reuters in an interview.

"We continue to hold investment talks with semiconductor companies in Japan, South Korea and the U.S.," he said, without disclosing names of the companies citing "non disclosure agreements".

India’s chipmaking ambitions, first laid out in 2021, have suffered setbacks and the country does not yet have any semiconductor manufacturing plants.

Taiwan’s Foxconn (2317.TW) backed out of a $19.5 billion chips joint venture with India’s Vedanta, saying "the project was not moving fast enough". Foxconn and Vedanta (VDAN.NS) have since decided to go solo, and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) is also exploring opportunities.

Gujarat has also held talks with Foxconn over a semiconductor plant, and U.S. memory chip firm Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) is also building a chip assembly and testing facility in the state.

Patel’s comments come ahead of the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit next week in which the state expects to secure investments in sectors including renewable energy, electric vehicles and electronics manufacturing.

The summit is expected to draw a record number of foreign and domestic investors to the western state in what is seen as Modi’s big push to promote investment in the country just months ahead of national elections, in which he will seek a third term.

India is increasingly becoming a sought after investment destination, especially as companies look to diversify their supply chain beyond China.

Tom Bailey, head of ETF Research at HANetf, said India was at an advantage due to its large size and an increasingly educated population.

"The moves are emblematic of the rise of the so-called ‘China plus one’ supply chain diversification strategies of multinationals," he said.
Qatar: Indian ex-naval officers get ‘varying’ jail terms (BBC)
BBC [1/5/2024 12:10 AM, Meryl Sebastian, 14.2M, Neutral]
Eight former Indian naval officers who were earlier sentenced to death in Qatar now face prison sentences of "varying" lengths, India has said.

The men have 60 days to appeal the jail terms. Last month, a court in Qatar had commuted their death penalties.

Neither Qatar nor India have revealed the specific charges against the men.

But Financial Times and Reuters have reported, citing anonymous sources, that the men were charged with spying for Israel.

India, Qatar and Israel have not commented on this. The court orders in the matter have also not been made public. India has been issuing statements about the major developments in the case, which was seen as a diplomatic test for the government.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the legal team of the men now have access to the court order commuting their death sentences, adding that it was a "confidential document".

"What we can tell you, confirm to you is, that the death penalty has now been converted into varying prison sentences for the eight Indian nationals," he said, adding that they have 60 days to appeal the judgement in the Court of Cassation, Qatar’s highest court. He did not disclose the quantum of the jail terms.

"It is for the legal team now to decide the next course of action," he said.

In October 2023, India had said it was "deeply shocked" after the Court of First Instance in Qatar sentenced the men to death.

The foreign ministry said it would explore all legal options and later filed an appeal against the sentence.

The arrest of the men had made front-page headlines in India in 2022.

The Indian government has described the eight men in a statement as employees of a private company called Al Dahra, but they have been widely reported to be former personnel of the Indian Navy.

In parliament, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar described them as "ex-servicemen" of the country. The families of some of the men have also confirmed their identities and background in the Navy to local media.
India’s stateless babies: How lawless asylum rules leave refugees in limbo (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [1/5/2024 2:49 AM, Priyanka Shankar, 2.1M, Neutral]
“Why are you screaming? You are a refugee,” a nurse told 26-year-old Jamie* as she struggled with an exceptionally painful childbirth at a hospital in India’s northeastern state of Mizoram.

A few hours later, amid her agony, Jamie’s baby Sophia was born – joining a growing group of other stateless babies born to Myanmar parents seeking refuge in Mizoram.

It has been two years since Jamie and her husband fled Myanmar after the 2021 military coup and arrived in Champhai, a bustling town in Mizoram, 320km (199 miles) from the Myanmar border.

Myanmar was no longer safe for the young couple, but life across the border has not been what they had hoped for.

“Sophia was not given a birth certificate. They say we need an Indian voter’s ID, something we cannot get since the country has also not given us a refugee ID,” Jamie says.

“So now Sophia is stateless. She was given vaccines and we can take her to the doctor but she doesn’t have a citizenship status. We have to go back to Myanmar and try to get it for her.”

Placing a gentle kiss on her daughter’s forehead, Jamie says all she hopes is for her two-month-old daughter to become a citizen of a country.

Historically, India has been a welcoming home to people across faiths fleeing persecution, from Parsis centuries ago, to Tibetans (from 1959), Bengalis from Bangladesh (in 1971), Afghans across three wars, Sri Lankan Tamils, people from Myanmar and also Africa. During the Holocaust, an estimated 5,000 persecuted Jews from Europe came to India and made it their home, at a time when the United States turned many from the community away.

But the country lacks a national refugee law and is also not a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention – a protocol outlining the international standards of treating and protecting people seeking refuge.

This has left many people seeking asylum in India, in limbo.

Different rules

An hour’s drive away from Champhai, at a refugee camp in the picturesque Indian border village of Zokhawthar, which is separated from Myanmar by the Tiau river, 30-year-old Ruati also awaits a refugee card – an identity document that would give her access to food, education, healthcare and other facilities that either the host country or the United Nations provides.

She fled Myanmar in 2021 on a scooter with her family. After living in the refugee camp for more than two years, she yearns to work and earn a living. But there’s a problem.

“We want to work but cannot since India is not giving us a refugee card,” she says. “We’re surviving on food and other donations given to us by the state government and NGOs and groups in Mizoram like the Young Mizo Association.

“I used to live and work in China before 2021 and worked there cleaning houses. So for now, I have savings but it won’t last long. But using my savings, I have bought some snacks and drinks in the Myanmar market, and sell them in the camp to make more money.”

Hui Yin Chuah, research officer at the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) in Asia and the Pacific, says that refugee-related policies in India lack a comprehensive domestic legal framework, leading to an ad hoc approach to addressing these issues.

“Currently, a two-track mechanism is in place for asylum seekers: Sri Lankan and Tibetan refugees are registered under the Ministry of Home Affairs, while displaced individuals from other countries, including Afghanistan and Myanmar, must register with the UN’s refugee agency (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees),” Hui Yin Chuah says.

However, the UNHCR is not operational in Mizoram. Instead, the state government is issuing identity cards. That, however, does not let people use government services and requires refugees to give up their Myanmar citizenship, Ruati says, making it hard for her to return to her home country – something she yearns to do if the military government’s rule ends.

“The ambiguity (or lack thereof) of a refugee legislation also allows for manoeuvring, as seen in the case of states like Mizoram,” Hui Yin Chuah says.

Why hasn’t India signed the UN refugee convention?

In 1951, when the UN agreed on a refugee convention after the second world war, India was only newly independent and the trauma of the partition was still recent. The country’s prime minister at the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, refused to sign the convention, citing security concerns – a sentiment which continues.

The 1951 Refugee Convention was bolstered by a protocol in 1967 to ensure protection for refugees globally. Together, the two documents set the foundation for the UNHCR’s work by defining who a refugee is, what their rights are and how their rights should be protected from persecution.

Currently, 146 countries are party to the 1951 convention and 147 to the 1967 protocol.

Colin Gonsalves, human rights lawyer at the Supreme Court of India and the founder of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) says that there have been regular discussions for years within India’s legal and human rights communities regarding India’s need to join the UN’s refugee convention. But the current BJP government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no intention of joining it at all, he says.

“This is for the simple reason that they [the government] are anti-Muslim, racist and anti-minority. So these overtones make it impossible for any convention to be filed. The Congress government who were in power earlier were equally shortsighted,” Gonsalves says. “So no UN convention coupled with the lack of a national refugee law, has led to increased discrimination against refugees.”

Tibetans, starting with the Dalai Lama, who entered India in 1959, have received formal refugee status. Since 2014, the Modi government has given them voting rights. Tibetans have their own schooling system recognised by the government of India.

“On the other hand, the government has not agreed to protect the rights of the Rohingya from Myanmar, who are also fleeing religious persecution and continues to discriminate against them,” Gonsalves says. “Muslim Afghans also have a tough time in India compared to Hindu Afghans because of their religion.”

Prosperity with a caveat

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Modi insisted that there is no religious discrimination towards any individual seeking refuge in India.

Highlighting how Parsis in India have been treated, Modi said: “Despite facing persecution elsewhere in the world, they have found a safe haven in India, living happily and prospering … That shows that the Indian society itself has no feeling of discrimination towards any religious minority.” India’s dwindling Parsi community – there are only about 50,000 left today – is among its most economically successful. The Tata, Wadia and the Mistry families are among India’s wealthiest.

Yet none of that helps more recent asylum seekers like Ruati. Legally, India is not bound to accept and recognise UNHCR-issued refugee IDs since it is not a signatory to the 1951 convention or the 1967 protocol, though “in general it respects the principle for holders of UNHCR documentation,” according to the UN agency.

“We continue to collaborate closely with the Government of India to address the essential needs of the most vulnerable refugees registered with UNHCR,” says Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesperson for Asia.

But he adds that refugees and asylum seekers in India are unable to use social protection schemes due to the requirement of having an Aadhar card – a social and public welfare identity document in India. To get an Aadhar card, applicants need other government-issued identification documents.

“Without government-issued documentation, refugees and asylum seekers are unable to benefit from the government’s social protection programmes,” Baloch said.

Currently, the UNHCR operates in 11 locations across India including the capital, New Delhi, in the north, and Chennai in South India. However, in northeast India, where the UNHCR currently does not have access, state governments have shown a degree of support.

“In Zokhawthar and Champhai the state government gives us donation-based food and shelter because they say we come from the same tribe as the locals and share strong cultural ties. So they don’t consider us foreigners,” Ruati says. “But a refugee card will make us happier.”

Gonsalves notes that it is clear the Indian government has put restrictions in the UN’s way but adds that the UNHCR in India should “be a little bit more combative and assertive”.

“Once you get the refugee card, it opens doors for people seeking asylum. So the UN should put their foot down and tell the government that it is their mandate to function across the country and give refugee cards to everyone. It is a matter of brinkmanship for the UN agency.”

According to Baloch, “any asylum seeker, irrespective of their background, who wishes to register with UNHCR” can approach the agency for registration.

Because ‘we are Muslims’

Sabber Kyaw Min, founder and director of the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, who also came to India seeking refuge from Rakhine state in Myanmar, has been issued a UNHCR refugee card in New Delhi. But he says it gives him no rights and discrimination continues.

“The conditions of our settlements are sordid. Women have no access to healthcare, our children are not allowed to go to schools in India, and even locals in the country keep attacking our homes,” he says.

He highlighted that the Indian government also threatens NGOs who try to support the Rohingya people.

“I think it has to do with the fact that we are Muslims. And because there is no refugee law, we cannot even fight for our rights and contest our cases against the government,” Sabber Kyaw Min adds.

Some 22,000 Rohingya are currently registered with the UNHCR, according to the UN’s Baloch.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has often taken a harsh stance towards them, with the home ministry also announcing last year that the Rohingya with UNHCR refugee cards in Delhi would be kept in detention centres and then deported since they are “illegal foreigners”, under the country’s Foreigner’s Act.

The country has already deported some Rohingya refugees to Myanmar according to rights groups. But currently plans for more deportations have been held up by the Supreme Court.

Is the Indian Constitution protecting refugees?

Gonsalves argues that the Indian Constitution does not allow the deportation of refugees.

“No refugee can be deported because our constitution protects not only citizens, but all those within the territory of India through Article 21, which obliges the state to protect the life and liberty of anyone within the territory. So the government is obliged to protect the lives of Rohingya,” Gonsalves says.

In 2019, the Modi government also passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which it said would fast-track citizenship to undocumented Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christian immigrants from countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. But Muslim refugees and asylum seekers were kept out, sparking protests across the country amid fears that India had adopted a religious criterion for citizenship.

“CAA provides a potential pathway to citizenship for refugees based on their religion and nationality, excluding Muslims and minorities from Myanmar,” the MMC’s Hui Yin Chuah says.

Yet even refugees eligible for fast-tracked citizenship have not benefitted so far. Now, recent reports suggest that the Indian government might start implementing the law before the parliamentary elections between March and May this year.

Will India get a refugee law ahead of its elections?

India heads to the polls this year, but Sabber Kyaw Min does not think campaigning leaders will address migration issues – a topic which is often contentious in the West and is in turn widely discussed by leaders, including in their election campaigns.

“What’s happening now in Myanmar is horrible. Until there is peace there, we can’t go back. India is a neighbouring country, and has a responsibility to give our community political support, and discuss migration issues with the UN and globally,” Sabber Kyaw Min said.

Gonsalves does not expect India to expel large numbers of refugees or leave them out at sea, as has happened in the West.

“In practice, the country’s treatment towards people seeking refuge is only harsh and not extreme since migrants are not being pushed back at sea like in the West,” he says.

But he also has few hopes that India will make lives easier for asylum seekers like Ruati.

“I also don’t expect the present or a new government to sign the UN refugee convention any time soon and introduce a refugee law,” he says.

“So our constitution and our courts will continue to step in, giving the kind of protection that the refugee convention gives.”
India-U.S. ties are now strong enough to bear strains (Nikkei Asia – opinion)
Nikkei Asia [1/5/2024 2:00 AM, Arun K. Singh, 293K, Neutral]
Relations between India and the U.S. have consolidated at an accelerating pace over the two decades since then-President Bill Clinton’s 2000 landmark visit to India, with bipartisan support on both sides.

Clinton’s trip marked the beginning of the end of U.S.-led sanctions regarding the sharing of civil nuclear, space and dual-use technologies with India and the beginnings of U.S. recognition of India’s due role in the global order as well as of the potential for strategic convergence between the two governments.

Bilateral relations have since come a long way.

Last January, the two countries’ national security advisers launched the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, covering areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, space, semiconductors, defense, biotechnology, and 5G and 6G networking. The pact signaled that under national security imperatives, the two governments will encourage cooperation and also seek to involve the private sector and academia.

The agreement built upon significant progress in trade and investment between the two countries, which has seen the U.S. emerge as India’s largest trading partner.

Defense cooperation has shifted from a unidirectional buyer-seller relationship in which India contracted to buy more than $20 billion of U.S. defense supplies to a real technology partnership.

Last year, Washington authorized the transfer to India of production technology for General Electric’s F414 fighter jet engine at a level much higher than has been approved for any other partner. The India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem initiative was also launched to bring together defense technology startups from the two countries.

India and the U.S. now conduct more military exercises with each other than with any other partner. These joint maneuvers have been marked by increasing complexity and are building toward interoperability between the two militaries.

Against this backdrop, some observers are questioning whether the progress will stall due to claims in North America that unnamed Indian officials may have been involved in plots to kill two exiles who had acquired U.S. or Canadian citizenship.

Here it must be noted that both the U.S. and India have shown they have developed an ability to manage differences between them effectively while sustaining the continued consolidation of their relationship.

Washington and New Delhi have staked out quite different positions on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, for example.

On the one hand, India has reiterated support for the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022 that "today’s era is not an era of war." But on the other, New Delhi has not supported sanctions against Moscow and did not vote against it at the U.N.

U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, have expressed understanding for India’s position, noting that New Delhi has a historical relationship with Russia that developed at a time when Washington was keeping its distance. They insist that India and the U.S. are "playing a long game."

In regard to the Israel-Hamas conflict, India’s position has been closer to that of the U.S. than those of many of its NATO partners as New Delhi has uncompromisingly criticized terrorist actions while calling for observance of international humanitarian norms in Israel’s response.

On Nov. 10, following a meeting of the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers, a joint statement declared "India and the U.S. stand with Israel against terrorism."

There are significant differences in how India has handled the accusations emerging from the U.S. and Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the unusual step in September of raising India’s alleged involvement in a murder plot in Vancouver in a statement to parliament without having previously shared any evidence with New Delhi.

In India, Trudeau’s move was interpreted as playing to a domestic constituency, namely a certain segment of the Indian diaspora, rather than as seeking to seriously address concerns bilaterally.

India reacted strongly, asserting that any plotting would not have been government policy while also noting that no evidence had been shared. New Delhi directed Ottawa to remove around 40 of its diplomats from India to bring Canada’s official presence into line with India’s in Canada.

By contrast, the U.S. shared information on the alleged plot on its soil through designated official channels before the matter was leaked to the media or a formal indictment filed in court.

As the issue played out in the background, the U.S. and India continued to engage at a high level. Modi made a state visit to Washington in June while U.S. President Joe Biden repaid the visit with a trip to New Delhi in September for the Group of 20 summit. As mentioned, a joint meeting of foreign and defense ministers went ahead on Nov. 10, two weeks before news of the U.S. murder plot emerged.

After the case became public, India responded by setting up a high-level committee to look into allegations of a possible nexus "between organized crime, trafficking, gun running."

Subsequently, Blinken described the Indian response as "good and appropriate," and U.S. and Indian officials proceeded to meet in New Delhi on Dec. 4 to discuss progress on the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, highlighting biotech, critical minerals and rare earth processing technologies, digital connectivity, digital public infrastructure and advanced materials as areas for future cooperation.

The U.S. is facing numerous global security challenges. In Europe, Ukraine’s counteroffensive seems to have stalled while provisioning and funding support from the U.S. and Europe are slowing. In the Middle East, the Israel-Hamas conflict is dragging on while Washington faces criticism over its seeming inability to influence Israel’s strategies or to resolve the challenge posed by Yemen’s Houthi movement to international shipping through the Red Sea. China meanwhile continues its unilateral nibbling actions in the South and East China seas.

In this context, India has taken the news that Biden will not take up Modi’s invitation to be the chief guest at Republic Day celebrations later this month in New Delhi in stride. U.S. officials have taken care to explain the move in terms of domestic considerations given the presidential reelection campaign and Biden’s upcoming State of the Union address.

Based on strategic convergence, the U.S.-India relationship is proving useful to both sides. As their ties mature and deepen, the pair will undoubtedly have to navigate other strains and crises, but the foundation of their bonds is getting stronger.
NSB
US Puts Pressure on Bangladesh as Opposition Boycotts Election (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [1/4/2024 9:49 PM, Arun Devnath and Eltaf Najafizada, 5543K, Negative]
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to extend her 15-year rule in a boycotted election on Sunday. The question now is whether Western governments led by the US will punish the country for its democratic backsliding and push it closer to China.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the country’s largest opposition group, and its allies said they will boycott the polls, which they say are a sham. They’re concerned about vote-rigging and have been calling on Hasina to resign to make way for a caretaker administration that can oversee the election.

The US, the biggest buyer of Bangladesh’s exports, has become more vocal in its calls for a free and fair election, imposing visa curbs on members of Hasina’s ruling party and law enforcement officials in September. Hasina, 76, will need to prevent the US from taking harsher steps that could hurt the economy more directly and complicate the International Monetary Fund’s lending program.

“The US applied so much pressure on Bangladesh for free and fair elections, through both carrots and sticks, and for so long, yet to no avail,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center. “Consequently, there is a possibility that the administration could respond post-election with harsher steps.”

Those measures could be “punitive actions in the space that would hurt Bangladesh the most,” which is trade, Kugelman added.

About $9 billion, or roughly one-fifth, of Bangladesh’s clothing exports went to the US in 2022, with Walmart Inc. and Gap Inc. being the top buyers. The garment industry employs around 4 million workers and contributes about 10% to the $460 billion economy.

The political environment in Bangladesh has been tense for months. Opposition supporters have clashed with police in mass protests calling for Hasina to step down. Human Rights Watch said in a November report that almost 10,000 opposition activists were arrested since a planned rally by the BNP on Oct. 28. Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who Hasina views as an opponent, was this week given a six-month jail sentence by a Dhaka court in a case his supporters say was politically motivated.

Hasina said in a televised speech Thursday that her Awami League-led government has created stability over three terms, improving the quality of lives of people. The government believes in the principle of “friendship with all” at the international level, she said, and has improved institutions in the country to protect freedom and sovereignty.

The US has stepped up its calls for free and fair elections. In May last year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new visa restrictions on any Bangladeshi citizens believed to be interfering in the elections, such as rigging votes or using intimidation or violence. In September, the US imposed visa curbs on unidentified officials of the ruling party, law enforcement and political opposition.

India has maintained strong ties with Hasina and is concerned that more assertive steps by the US will push Bangladesh closer to China, both of which already enjoy strong commercial and defense ties.

When India and US defense and foreign ministers met in November in New Delhi, Bangladesh’s elections and the US visa curbs figured prominently in the talks, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified since the discussions were private. India raised concerns with US officials that the sanctions could antagonize Hasina’s government, the people said.

Peter Haas, the US ambassador to Bangladesh, also made a quiet six-day visit to India in the last week of December, meeting senior officials in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, the people said.

The US State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In a regular press briefing on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US is watching the outcome of the Bangladesh elections “very closely” but wouldn’t speculate in advance on “what actions we may or may not take in response to any development.”

India and Bangladesh share a historic, cultural and linguistic ties, and New Delhi played a key role in the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971 by deploying troops in support of the Bengali resistance force.

“As a close friend and partner of Bangladesh we would like to see peaceful elections there and we will continue to support Bangladesh’s vision for stable, peaceful and progressive nation,” Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said in his weekly press briefing on Dec. 29.

Economic Strains

Although still an impoverished country with 172 million people, Bangladesh has made economic progress under Hasina. The country is one of fastest-growing economies in Asia, poverty rates have steadily declined, and it has a higher per-capita income than India.

The pandemic and soaring commodity prices put the economy under strain in recent years, depleting its foreign exchange reserves and forcing Hasina to turn to the IMF for $4.7 billion in emergency loans. The economy is still facing dollar shortages, prompting Moody’s Investors Service and others to downgrade the nation’s credit ratings.

The currency fell almost 6% last year, among the worst performers in Asia. Stocks declined 5%. The country’s currency dealers currently set limits on the exchange rate.

“From the investor perspective, on top of the election outcome and post-election stability, eyes will be on the central bank’s action on stabilizing foreign exchange reserves and how the market responds,” said Salim Afzal Shawon, head of research at Dhaka-based BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage Ltd. “Investors will also assess how the US reacts after the election in terms of sanction possibilities.”

To keep the IMF funds coming, Hasina’s government has promised to raise taxes and interest rates. In December, the cash-strapped nation won approval from the IMF for the disbursement of $690 million in loans.

In its next review, “the IMF will likely be a bit more stringent with ensuring that the authorities meet the requirements,” Marcus Yiu, a Moody’s analyst, said in an interview. That would include fiscal reforms and freeing up the currency, he said.

The main opposition BNP said it will press on with its demands and urged supporters to avoid paying taxes in order to halt what they dub “farcical” elections.

With the opposition set to boycott the elections, Hasina’s win now looks inevitable and her ruling Awami League party will likely face off against independent candidates and parties such as the Jatiyo Party, which was founded by the late military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who took power in a coup in 1982.

Voters will elect 300 of the 350 seats in parliament in Sunday’s election. The remaining 50 seats are reserved exclusively for women and filled by a vote of 300 members, based on proportional representation.

If Hasina returns, as is likely, the risk is that she may “feel that she can conduct her governance in any way that she chooses, which leads to an abusive situation,” Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, said in an interview. “It leads to circumstances where there is no accountability whatsoever.”
Bangladesh opposition calls for strike on election weekend as premier Hasina seeks forgiveness (AP)
AP [1/5/2024 4:49 AM, Julhas Alam, 456K, Neutral]
Bangladesh’s main opposition party called for general strikes on the weekend of the country’s parliamentary election, urging voters to join its boycott.

This year, ballot stations are opening amid an increasingly polarized political culture led by two powerful women; current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader and former premier Khaleda Zia.

Campaigning stopped at 8:00 a.m. on Friday. The Election Commission announced polling would be held in 299 constituencies out of 300 across the country on Sunday. As per the law, election in one constituency was postponed after an independent candidate died of natural causes.

The Nationalist Party, headed by Zia, and other opposition parties are boycotting the election, saying there is no guarantee it will be free, fair and inclusive under Hasina’s administration.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior joint secretary general in Zia’s party, urged people not to vote on Sunday while calling for strikes.

“The 48-hour hartal (general strike) will begin at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday and end at 6:00 a.m. on Monday,” he said Thursday night during his daily online press briefing.

On Friday morning, Rizvi led more than 100 opposition leaders and activists, holding sticks, marched in the capital’s Karwan Bazar area while chanting anti-government slogans.

“People will not accept this illegal election. People will not accept this election of looters,” Rizvi said during the march.

Also on Friday, a group of about 100 left-leaning political activists strode near Dhaka’s National Press Club, demanding the governmnet halt a “farcical election.”

The opposition had repeatedly demanded Hasina’s resignation and for a non-party caretaker government to oversee the election. The current administration said the country’s constitution didn’t allow that.

Hasina addressed the nation in a last televised campaign speech Thursday night, urging people to head to the ballot stations.

“If I have made any mistakes along the way, I ask your forgiveness. If I can form the government again, I will get a chance to correct the mistakes. Give me an opportunity to serve you by voting for boat in the Jan. 7 election,” she said.

The boat is the election symbol of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party.

Earlier on Thursday, Hasina, addressing a huge campaign rally at Fatullah near Dhaka, urged all to maintain peace across the country. Violence marred the campaigns that started on Dec.18, leaving at least three people dead and others injured.

Bangladesh has a history of violence during elections and this year the country’s election is drawing international attention.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal in a closed-door meeting briefed Thursday foreign envoys and chiefs of development agencies, including the United Nations, based in Dhaka about electoral preparations. Local media reported that some diplomats asked about how potential violence will be dealt with.

The U.N. Secretary-General’s Associate Spokeswoman Florencia Soto Nino in New York said Wednesday: “We’re watching the process closely, and we hope that all elections happen in a transparent and organized manner. That’s all we have for now,” she said during a daily news briefing.

Critics have accused Hasina of systemically suffocating the opposition by implementing repressive security measures. Zia’s party claimed that more than 20,000 opposition supporters have been arrested. The government said those figures were inflated and denied arrests were made due to political leanings, but rather for criminal charges such as arson and vandalism.

Nearly 1.6 million people — half of them security personnel — will oversee the election where 119.1 million registered voters are eligible to vote in more than 42,000 polling stations, the commission said. Troops have also been deployed across the country to assist when needed under the supervision of magistrates, a common practice in Bangladesh during general elections.

The Election Commission said Thursday that about 300 foreign observers, more than 70 of them are foreign journalists have been authorized to monitor and cover the election.
Little election fizz in Bangladesh as prime minister set for another term (Reuters)
Reuters [1/4/2024 8:00 PM, Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly, 5.2M, Neutral]
Utility poles across Bangladesh are festooned with campaign flyers carrying pictures of general election candidates, most of them from the ruling party, as an opposition boycott looks set to usher Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to a fourth straight term.

Rights groups warn the country of 170 million is heading for virtual one-party rule, after the boycott by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), though Western nations, key clients of its garments industry, have urged free elections.

On walls in Dhaka, the capital, slogans painted in red and blue exhorted voters to pick "Once again, Sheikh Hasina" and "Vote for the boat", the symbol of her Awami League party, before campaigning wraps up on Friday.

With the ballot outcome all but assured, however, some voters see little reason to turn out.

"My whole family are hardcore Awami League supporters," said school teacher Shayed Uz Zaman, adding that they planned to make use of Sunday’s voting day holiday to visit their village in Kushtia, a district about 200 km (125 miles) from Dhaka.

"But there’s no charm in voting this time. I know she is staying in power."

Sunday is usually a working day in mainly Muslim Bangladesh.

Another Awami League supporter, Minoti Rosario, who runs a grocery shop, said she felt her vote barely mattered as the "ruling party is winning anyway".

Votes in the South Asian nation’s 12th general election since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971 are expected to be counted on Sunday evening, with results due early on Monday.

About 120 million registered voters will choose 300 members of parliament in the vote, one of the world’s largest such exercises this year. Women make up almost half of voters, while those casting a ballot for the first time number 15 million.

The BNP is not contesting because Hasina refused to accept its demand to cede power to a caretaker government to run the poll.

Troops have fanned out across Bangladesh to guard the polls, in addition to nearly 750,000 police officers, paramilitary and police auxiliaries. Police stepped up arrests of BNP leaders and workers after deadly protests in late October.

The risk of political violence was high, despite low expectations for voter turnout, said the International Crisis Group, an independent think tank.

"The election will not resolve Bangladesh’s political crisis," said Pierre Prakash, its Asia director. "Since the 2008 election that brought the Awami League to power, the country has not held a credible national election."

In her last 15 years in power, Hasina, 76, has been credited with turning around the economy and the garments industry.

But critics have also accused her of authoritarianism, human rights violations, crackdowns on free speech and suppression of dissent, with some of them being jailed.

Her main rival and two-time premier, BNP leader Khaleda Zia, is effectively under house arrest on graft charges the opposition says have been trumped up.

Khaleda’s son, Tarique Rahman, is the acting chairman of the party, but he is in exile after several charges brought against him that he denies.

The economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war boosted prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout of $4.7 billion last year.
Bangladesh election: Lopsided polls leave disillusioned voters asking ‘what’s the point’ (BBC)
BBC [1/4/2024 6:25 PM, Kelly Ng and Akbar Hossain, 14192K, Negative]
Noor Bashar makes just 500 Bangladeshi taka ($4.50; £3.55) daily - half of what he needs to feed his family of nine.

That sum could shrink further as inflation in Bangladesh soars.

"People are really suffering," says the 43-year-old day labourer who lives in Cox’s Bazaar, 400km (250 miles) south of the capital Dhaka.

"If I buy fish, I cannot buy spices. If I buy spices, I can’t buy rice."

Bangladesh, a country of 170 million, is struggling in a cost-of-living crisis. The country’s once-promising growth curve has dipped and graver challenges loom in the low-lying delta that is vulnerable to climate change.

But disillusioned voters have no hope that Sunday’s election, which they say is a foregone conclusion, will improve their lives.

"My main aim is to feed my family. I don’t care about politics as it will not feed my family. I’m always thinking about how I will would repay the loans which I borrowed from people," said Mr Bashar.

The ruling Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina seems set to tighten its authoritarian grip with this election, which has been boycotted by the main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

This comes after Ms Hasina’s government arrested tens of thousands of rival politicians and supporters, a move which rights groups have condemned as an attempt to paralyse the opposition ahead of the poll.

In the eyes of many voters, the Awami League has already won as there is no credible opposition candidate. Many fear that a fourth straight term for Ms Hasina would worsen the economic situation, deepening their despair.

"I don’t have any interest in the elections. Why should I care? The outcome, whatever it is, will not change my fate," said Gias Uddin, a security guard in the port city of Chittagong.

The 57-year-old says his household’s finances are so tight that his family can afford only two meals a day. He no longer buys fish or meat because they are too expensive and regularly collects others’ leftovers to whip up meals for his nine children.

The family survives on charity and loans from friends.

"I have borrowed 200,000 taka so far. I don’t know how I would repay the amount. Only God knows," Mr Uddin said.

"This is such a difficult situation. Sometimes I feel I should die."

Rags to riches - to rags again?

Some experts say the slide towards autocracy was one of the biggest threats to Bangladesh, which was grabbing headlines as an "economic miracle" just a few years ago.

Restoring confidence in the economy will be a challenge for the next government, says Debapriya Bhattacharya, an economist at the Centre for Policy Dialogue think tank in Dhaka.

"But it would be very difficult, because the government does not have the political strength to implement the policies required to bring stability."

In recent years, Bangladesh had seen strong economic growth.

Its garment industry, despite its dismal working conditions, has helped pull millions out of poverty and now account for some 80% of the country’s exports - making it the world’s second largest garment producer after China.

But the economy went into turmoil in mid-2022 following a global economic slowdown. People began to take to the streets as the foreign reserves were depleted because of an energy crisis and high inflation, triggering a balance of payments crisis. Inflation was around 9.5% in November, but some believe the figure is underreported.

In 2023, the International Monetary Fund - which once forecast that Bangladesh’s gross domestic product could surpass that of advanced economies like Singapore and Hong Kong - approved a $4.7bn loan to boost its shaky economy.

But experts have warned that Bangladesh’s problems cannot be resolved so easily. While external factors contributed, many feel policymakers failed to address them or implement essential reforms.

The scourge of corruption, too, has been left unchecked. Transparency International ranked Bangladesh the 12th most corrupt among 180 countries in the world.

"The ruling party has no incentive to come down hard on corruption. And after this election, individuals and groups associated with them will remain influential," said Dr Bhattacharya.

As the country’s debt grows heavier, the people at the bottom of the social ladder will continue to bear the brunt of the troubled economy, said Ali Riaz, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center.

"There are no checks and balances in any one-party state. Nobody holds the government to account as to how it spends money," said Prof Riaz.

There have been allegations of widespread vote-rigging in past elections, which the Awami League denied.

There is also concern that the state of human rights and democracy in Bangladesh could spur economic sanctions from key trading partners like the US and the European Union. Last September, Washington began imposing visa restrictions on Bangladeshi officials found culpable of undermining the country’s democratic election process.

The brunt of climate change

Climate change is another major and equally urgent concern. Approximately two-thirds of Bangladesh is less than 5m above sea level. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a 30- to 45-cm rise in sea level could displace more than 35 million people from coastal districts - about a quarter of the country’s total population.

Tidal surges and cyclones are an increasing threat in the south-western district of Satkhira, where vegetables only grow in certain seasons or in rice sacks stuffed with compost because of the increasing salinity of the soil.

"Scarcity of pure drinking water is the biggest problem in our area. Salty water is all around us," said Shampa Goswami, a local resident.

But climate has not been a priority in the election campaign, she said, adding that many people who live in rural areas are not well-educated about climate issues.

For Prof Riaz, this points back to the lack of a democratic process. "Unless you have a system that is accountable, you will not be able to address a crisis like this that calls for engagement with the common people," he said.

The country’s governance has alternated between the Awami League and the BNP since military rule ended in 1991, and some citizens say both parties have made a mockery of democracy.

"Whoever is in power will basically do the same things. It is very difficult to decide who is the lesser of two evils. ‘Democracy’ in Bangladesh is defined in the country’s leaders’ terms," said AKM Mohsin, managing director of the Bangladesh Centre in Singapore.

"When they have the power, they cling on to it. But what Bangladesh really needs are leaders who help create opportunities for the people rather than take them away through mismanagement of the country."
India, China eye strategic areas bordering ‘last barrier’ Bhutan (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [1/4/2024 11:12 PM, Staff, 11975K, Neutral]
Squeezed between giant arch-rivals India and China, the landlocked mountain kingdom of Bhutan was long isolated by icy Himalayan peaks.

But as Bhutan readies to elect a new parliament in Thimphu on January 9, China and India are watching the contest with keen interest as they eye strategic contested border zones, analysts warn.

A "cooperation agreement" inked between Bhutan and China in October after talks over their disputed northern frontier sparked concern in India, which has long regarded Bhutan as a buffer state firmly under its orbit.

Bhutan is "one of the last barriers" in China’s bid to exert influence in South Asia, said Harsh V. Pant, an international relations professor at King’s College London told AFP.

India is determined not to let China extend its influence further across what New Delhi sees as its natural sphere of influence, wary after a swathe of muscular trade deals and loans by Beijing, including with Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Thimphu and Beijing do not have formal diplomatic relations.

India, however, effectively oversaw Bhutan’s foreign policy until 2007.

The relationship was "in exchange for free-trade and security arrangements", Britain’s Chatham House think tank wrote in a December report.

The report included satellite photographs it said showed an "unsanctioned programme of settlement construction" by China in Bhutan’s northern frontier region, which could "become permanent Chinese territory" pending the outcome of a border deal.

China’s foreign ministry told AFP in a statement of its "determination to strive for an early resolution of the boundary issue and the establishment of diplomatic relations".

‘Far-reaching implications’

"Beijing will anticipate that a deal consolidating its gains in northern Bhutan may lead to formal diplomatic relations and the opportunity to draw Thimphu into its orbit", Chatham House said.

"Any such deal would have far-reaching implications for India."

If China succeeds in that, Beijing "can push a view that India is now marginal in its immediate neighbourhood", Pant added.

New Delhi has been wary of Beijing’s growing military assertiveness and their 3,500-kilometre (2,175-mile) shared frontier has been a perennial source of tension.

In 2017, there was a 72-day military standoff after Chinese forces moved into the disputed Doklam plateau, on the China-India-Bhutan border.

The plateau pushes south towards India’s critical Siliguri Corridor, dubbed the "Chicken’s Neck".

The perilously narrow strip of land lies between Nepal and Bangladesh, and connects India’s northeastern states with the rest of the country.

China and India fought a month-long war in the region in 1962.

"New Delhi would be concerned that, in the event of a deal demarcating Bhutan’s northern border, attention may turn to territory in Bhutan’s west which China disputes, including the Doklam plateau," Chatham House added.

For Bhutan, dwarfed by China, striking a deal makes sense, said Pant.

"If they don’t resolve their border now, tomorrow they will be in an even more unfavourable position," he said.

‘Quiet concern’

Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor of The Hindu newspaper, said India was worried that a Bhutan-China border deal "seems imminent".

She said that Bhutan’s "fast-tracking" of boundary talks with China after the 2017 Doklam standoff was a decision that "India has viewed with quiet concern".

Analysts say foreign policy plays little role in the domestic concerns of voters in Bhutan -- about the size of Switzerland with around 800,000 people -- who are more worried about high unemployment and young people migrating abroad seeking jobs.

However, India is the biggest source of investment and infrastructure in Bhutan -- Thimphu’s ngultrum currency is pegged to New Delhi’s rupee -- and boosting bilateral relations is key.

"Any government coming to power will seek to shore up ties," Haidar said.

Bhutan has strong economic and strategic relations with India, "particularly as its major trading partner, source of foreign aid and as a financier and buyer of surplus hydropower", according to the World Bank. About 70 percent of Bhutan’s imports come from India.

In December, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced a special economic zone along its border with India.

Both hopefuls to become Bhutan’s new prime minister speak enthusiastically about boosting links with New Delhi to lift Bhutan’s $3 billion economy.

India has already announced a slew of connectivity projects including a railway line to Bhutan, but much would depend on Indian investors.

"Bhutan will be seeking investments from other countries," said Haidar, adding it will be "significant" if Thimphu welcomes funds from China.
Nepal bars citizens from going to Russia or Ukraine for work, saying they are recruited as fighters (AP)
AP [1/5/2024 4:10 AM, Staff, 456K, Neutral]
Nepal’s government has banned its citizens from going to Russia or Ukraine for employment, saying many have been recruited by the Russian army to fight in the conflict there.

The country’s Department of Employment issued a notice saying it had reports of Nepalese nationals in the Russian army being killed and was further investigating the matter.

It is believed that at least 10 Nepalis have been killed in the fighting and four more have been captured by the Ukraine side.

Tens of thousands of Nepalis go abroad in search of work every year and are required to get a permit from the government before leaving the country for employment.

It is also believed that there are some Nepalis fighting as hired soldiers on the Ukrainian side, but that has not been confirmed by the government.
Nepal halts work permits for Russia, Ukraine after soldiers killed (Reuters)
Reuters [1/5/2024 4:54 AM, Gopal Sharma, 5.2M, Neutral]
Nepal has stopped issuing permits to its citizens to work in Russia and Ukraine until further notice, an official said on Friday, after at least 10 Nepali soldiers were killed while serving in the Russian army.

Nepal has asked Russia not to recruit its citizens in the Russian army and to immediately send all Nepali soldiers back to the Himalayan nation and compensate the families of those killed.

The government has said that up to 200 Nepali citizens were estimated to be working in the Russian army, and foreign minister N.P. Saud told state-run RSS news agency that about 100 Nepalis are reported to be missing.

Nepali soldiers, called Gurkhas, are known for their bravery and fighting skills, and have been serving the British and Indian armies following the independence of India in 1947 under an agreement between the three countries. There is no such agreement with Russia.

The decision to temporarily stop issuing labour permits for Russia and Ukraine was aimed at minimizing the loss of life and will be in effect until further orders, said Kabiraj Upreti, a director at the department of foreign employment.

"This is for the safety of our citizens," he said.

Nepali migrant workers must receive work permits from the government to take civilian jobs abroad, which entitle them to state support in case of emergencies or compensation for their families in case of death.

Millions of Nepali nationals are employed in civilian work mainly as labourers in industries and construction sites in South Korea, Malaysia and the Middle East.

Police in Nepal detained 10 people last month over allegations that they sent unemployed youths for illegal recruitment into the Russian army after charging them huge amounts of money for travel visas.

Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022 and the two countries have since been engaged in a war, with Moscow calling its actions a "special military operation".

More than 800 Nepalis were issued labour permits for non-military work in Russia in the past two years, official data showed. No figures for Ukraine were immediately available.

The Russian embassy in Kathmandu did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan: President gingerly addresses lingering Bloody January questions (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [1/4/2024 4:14 PM, Almaz Kumenov, 57.6K, Neutral]
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev opened the year with a sweeping interview in which he addressed many lingering questions around the deadly political unrest that almost cut short his time in power in January 2022.

In the interview, published in state-run Kazakh-language publication Egemen Kazakstan on January 3, Tokayev came the closest as he has ever come to pinning the blame for that bloodshed on figures close to his predecessor and one-time mentor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down in 2019.

Much of the 7,000-word exchange was devoted, however, to Tokayev extolling his own would-be credentials as a reformer.

Among his achievements, he listed the establishment of a Constitutional Court and the newly created right for independent candidates to stand in parliamentary elections.

Quizzed on whether Kazakhstan imprisons people on political grounds, the president rejected the thesis out of hand.

“The main indicators of political persecution are censorship, tailor-made laws and punitive authorities. Nothing like this exists in modern Kazakhstan. Our legislation does not contain a single decree, not a single law, no regulatory document that could be used to prosecute citizens for their political views,” Tokayev said.

Rights activist Bakhytzhan Toregozhina responded to this point with a sarcastic Facebook post alluding to the case of Marat Zhylanbayev, a prominent opposition figure who was sentenced to a lengthy prison term in November on charges of allegedly conspiring with Europe-based government foe Mukhtar Ablyazov’s Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, or DVK.

“Zhylanbayev got seven years in a prison colony because there is no political repression in Kazakhstan,” Toregozhina wrote in her post. She added below that note that 27 deemed by activists to be victims of political motivated prosecutions are currently behind bars in Kazakhstan.

DVK has since 2018 officially been deemed an extremist organization, meaning that anybody believed to be associating with it can face charges akin to those reserved for suspected terrorists. Zhylanbayev is accused of participating in and financing the activities of DVK. He has steadfastly denied this accusation.

Turning to his social and economic policies, Tokayev talked up the construction of schools and medical facilities, and efforts to increase benefit payments to the needy. The broad thrust was to convey that his rule should be characterized as one prioritizing welfare.

“Special payments have been approved for people employed in hazardous working conditions. Additional payments have been envisioned for workers of environmental services who risk their life and health. The salaries of medical workers, and teachers at schools, colleges, and kindergartens have been increased,” the president said.

From the outset of his time in office, Tokayev has struggled with a legitimacy deficit. He was handpicked to take over as head of state by his predecessor, Nazarbayev, and was consequently seen after that as little more than a catspaw.

In a striking admission, Tokayev allowed for the fact that his first years in the job he was serving as a de facto co-president.

“There were indeed attempts to impose a model of dual power,” he said, while refraining from specifically naming Nazarbayev as the engineer of that set-up. “In the political situation of the ‘transit of power,’ political manipulators formed a parallel center of power of sorts.”

Ultimately, lack of clarity about which man ran what part of the state apparatus “could not but lead to a collision of authority,” Tokayev said.

In the days after the unrest of early January 2022 — the Bloody January events, as they are known — Tokayev sought to lay the blame for what had happened at the feet of thousands of marauding “bandits and terrorists.”

His narrative has since shifted. Parts of the picture he now lays out do not differ strongly with what has been described by independent observers.

“In my opinion, many years of unresolved social and economic problems and an overall stagnation, which fed into the degradation of the government and society, led to the tragic January events,” Tokayev told Egemen Kazakhstan.

Developing on that theme, he argued that violent elements then exploited the turbulence to further their own ends. Tokayev stops short of explicitly accusing Nazarbayev associates of direct involvement in that aspect of the events, which claimed at least 238 lives, but he allows that those individuals had grown increasingly discomfited by his increasing independence.

That turmoil reached such intensity that Tokayev was one stage compelled to appeal for help from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization military bloc. By the time Russian troops, among others, were patrolling the streets of Almaty, where the worst violence unfolded, the trouble had all but ended.

This turn of events has been seized upon by strongly divergent camps of Tokayev critics. One contends that the president compromised Kazakh sovereignty by inviting foreign troops to deal with a domestic crisis. The other, namely the one made up of Russian ultra-patriots, bristles at its sense of Tokayev as an insufficiently slavish and grateful recipient of Moscow’s security guarantees.

In his interview to Egemen Kazakstan, Tokayev makes it clear that he is weary of the brickbats of Russian propagandists.

“I emphasize, the appeal was made not to Russia, but to the CSTO, of which Kazakhstan is a member,” he said, noting that Armenian, Belarusian, Kyrgyz and Tajik troops were also involved in efforts to preserve order.

Addressing speculation about future plans, Tokayev dismissed recently circulating rumors that he intends to hold snap presidential elections in 2026 and thereby extend his time in office. Under the current rules, he is required to step aside at the end of his current seven-year term, which runs until 2029.

As the Egemen Kazakstan interview was still hot off the presses, the president’s most senior advisor, Yerlan Karin, took to Telegram to cast it as a declaration of intent to reject the past and instead focus on the future.

Also writing on Telegram, Shalkar Nurseitov, the executive director of the Center for Political Solutions, saw the interview in more pragmatic terms.

“First of all, he is now the main figure in top-tier politics in Kazakhstan. Secondly, [the January events should be seen as] the work of so-called ‘old Kazakhstan,’” Nurseitov wrote. “Third, he has good relations with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping and Western leaders, and he is the main architect of today’s multi-vector policy of Kazakhstan.”
The Tokayev Interview and Nazarbayev’s Long Shadow (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [1/4/2024 9:55 AM, Catherine Putz, 201K, Negative]
Of all the many bits and pieces to parse from Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s recent interview with the state-run Egemen Qazaqstan newspaper, his comment in response to a question regarding a system of “dual power” stands out as an almost Freudian slip. Tokayev said that at some point after the January 2022 unrest he “openly told Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev that the political arrogance of his close associates almost destroyed the country.”

Tokayev did not name names, naturally, and he most certainly is not referring to himself. But “close associate” would be an apt description of Tokayev, at least before January 2022. Tokayev’s entire political history was intertwined with Nazarbayev. His rise to power was specifically engineered by the former president, though not necessarily a shock to close observers.

For example, writing in The Diplomat in October 2018 one astute observer noted that “Near the top of many analysts’ lists of possible Nazarbayev successors is Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the current chairman of the Senate, second only in power to Nazarbayev himself.” She went on to write however, that “where Tokayev may fall short is domestic policymaking. He lacks experience in implementing Kazakh domestic policy initiatives and that may call his long-term leadership potential into question.”

And indeed, it was the domestic sphere that presented Tokayev his greatest challenge. In his recent interview, Tokayev persists in the narrative that the January 2022 events were plotted and orchestrated, saying that “preparations” had begun six months earlier when the government made an “an ill-conceived, illegal decision to sharply increase the price of liquefied gas.”

That’s another slip of sorts. Tokayev became acting president in March 2019 when Nazarbayev stepped down, and was formally elected president in a snap vote that June. The government that made that “ill-conceived, illegal decision” was his.

He also blamed “extremists, criminal groups, and religious extremists” for the violence, seeking once again to externalize a problem of innately domestic character. On the religious extremist angle, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service noted in its reporting that no charges of religious extremism have been brought against anyone in the very many trials that have occurred relation to the January events. RFE/RL’s English-language reporting noted that “[a]side from about 10 members of the fundamentalist Islamic group Yakyn Inkar – which is considered a banned extremist group in Kazakhstan – who were arrested in connection with the protests, no religious groups have been singled out for alleged involvement in the protests.”

The goal of the plot was to establish the very “dual power” system that many analysts have argued existed since March 2019. Here we return to the top, and Tokayev’s remark regarding what he told Nazarbayev.

“In any case,” he continued immediately after criticizing the political machinations of Nazarbayev’s associates, “I believe that there should be no senior or junior president in the country.”

“Go away – don’t beg!”

We can guess who that exclamation is aimed at, from the context both on the digital page and the political milieu of the moment. Nazarbayev has been back in the news in recent months, from salacious reporting on his autobiography, in which he admits openly to being a polygamist, to a December 30 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which stirred up discussion of whether the former president was plotting a comeback. In his recent interview, Tokayev said the time was not right for his own memoir.

The January 3 interview conveniently presents Tokayev’s preferred narratives regarding the January 2022 unrest – as well as other matters, such as the erroneous assertion that there are no political prisoners in Kazakhstan (a comment and topic deserving of its own separate analysis) – but the timing also works to counter the resurgence of chatter about Nazarbayev.

As much as Tokayev tries, he may never come out from his predecessor’s long shadow.
Tajikistan’s Media Landscape In Its ‘Worse State’ Since Independence, Watchdog Says (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [1/5/2024 5:40 AM, Staff, 223K, Negative]
The media landscape in Tajikistan is in its "worst state” since the Central Asian nation’s civil war in the 1990s as the country’s authoritarian president, Emomali Rahmon, establishes himself as an “absolute power with no tolerance for dissent,” a media watchdog said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on its annual report released on January 4 that seven journalists in Tajikistan were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on dubious charges in 2022 and 2023 as the government’s crackdown on the media intensified.

Four journalists – Abdullo Ghurbati, Zavqibek Saidamini, Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda, and Khurshed Fozilov – received sentences of seven to 7 1/2 years; while Khushom Ghulom received eight years; Daler Imomali 10 years; and Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva 20 years in prison – developments seen by many as a deeply chilling escalation in the years-long constriction of Tajikistan’s independent media, the report said.

The cases against the journalists have been widely seen as government retaliation for their work, according to the report, titled In Tajikistan, Independent Media Throttled By State Repression.

The CPJ said that Tajikistan’s media environment was relatively diverse more than a decade ago, when authorities allowed some criticism and debate, as long as local media avoided reporting on the president and his family.

Now, only two significant independent media voices remain in Tajikistan: the privately owned news agency Asia-Plus and Radio Ozodi, as the Tajik Service of the congressionally funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is known, the report said.

Both Asia-Plus and Radio Ozodi face harassment and threats, and their websites have long been subjected to partial shutdowns, it added. Asia-Plus has been forced to reduce its political coverage following a threat from authorities to close down its operation.

Four RFE/RL journalists were attacked in Dushanbe after interviewing Mamadshoeva immediately before her arrest, and the authorities’ threat of closure against Asia-Plus was issued over its coverage of anti-government protests in the restive Gorno-Badakhshan region in the country’s east.

Other media outlets either avoid political topics entirely in fear of the government or barely function due to a lack of funding, the report stated.

The government uses various levers – such as the tax authorities or law enforcement agencies -- to put pressure on the media, the CPJ said, citing local sources.

One journalist who wished to remain anonymous was quoted by the CPJ as saying that the authorities “can make it known to a [financially] struggling outlet that it will be hit with huge tax fines, or its management will face criminal charges, and it’s advisable just to lay things down.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, several local journalists also told the CPJ that they often opt for self-censorship to avoid possible retaliation from the authorities.

They also noted that Tajik journalists have become “demoralized” following the government’s intensified attacks on the media in 2022. There’s been an uptick in Tajik journalists fleeing their country or leaving the profession, while young people are reluctant to choose journalism as a career, they added.
Kyrgyzstan’s bizarre, unjustified crackdown on a news website (Washington Post – opinion)
Washington Post [1/4/2024 7:15 AM, Editorial Board, 6902K, Negative]
Central Asia has hardly been fertile ground for democracy in the three decades since the Soviet Union collapsed. For the most part, potentates and despots have ruled the region. The small, landlocked nation of Kyrgyzstan was an exception. Though it suffered endemic corruption and experienced waves of popular unrest, its citizens enjoyed an unusual degree of freedom to express themselves. Now Kyrgyzstan is spiraling downward in a suppression of journalists and civil society under President Sadyr Japarov, who rose to power in 2021 and is trying to consolidate his control.

Kyrgyzstan, west of China and south of Kazakhstan, is about the size of South Dakota and has a population of only 6.1 million. But what is unfolding there offers a worrisome example of democracy’s global retreat and the smothering of press freedom.

The latest victim is an online news and investigative outlet, Kloop, founded in 2007 by two friends, Rinat Tuhvatshin and Bektur Iskender. In contrast to the ideological journalism of the Soviet era, they set out to create a balanced and independent publication. They trained young people ages 14 and older in journalism basics, hoping to spawn a new generation of reporters. “People started seeing that we were doing something very, very different from what was actually available at the time,” Mr. Tuhvatshin told us. Kloop became one of the most daring and penetrating news organizations in the region.

Last August, Kloop revealed that a plan by Barcelona’s soccer club to open a training academy in southern Kyrgyzstan was backed by powerful Kyrgyz families, including sons of the head of the country’s state committee for national security. One month earlier, Kloop questioned the sale of “huge volumes of scarce electricity” to bitcoin mining firms that have sprung up in the country. “While Kyrgyzstan makes up for its electricity shortage with expensive supplies from abroad, its own electricity goes into private hands for pennies,” Kloop reported.

The stories hit a nerve. After the soccer exposé, the president complained, “The work of publications such as Kloop brings only harm, not benefit, to the Kyrgyz people.” He added, “It won’t go on like this. I have a request for you: If you cannot work for the benefit of Kyrgyzstan, then at least do not harm.”

On Aug. 22, the Bishkek City Prosecutor’s Office filed suit against Kloop, seeking to permanently close one of its three legal entities in Kyrgyzstan. The suit claimed that disseminating information was “beyond the scope” of Kloop’s nonprofit license; Kloop says there is no prohibition against doing so. The complaint also declared that Kloop’s news reporting “has a negative emotional and psychological impact on society, thereby generating emotions of fear, anxiety, despair, panic in a huge mass of people, constantly feeling the instability and uncertainty of the social situation, losing confidence in their strength and hopes for the future. Gradually their fate becomes spiritual depression, hopelessness, dreary expectation of life’s collapse, leading to the development of socially stressful mental disorders with aggressive-criminal behavior, sexual anomalies, chemical and nonchemical forms of addiction, suicidal mood and other disorders of social adaptation.” The case is still pending.

Next, in September, the Culture Ministry demanded that Kloop retract a story in which an opposition politician was quoted as saying he was tortured while in pretrial detention. The government denied it. The editors said the article contained nothing false, and they refused to delete it from their website. The ministry ordered the website blocked inside Kyrgyzstan for two months. Kloop had already prepared unblockable mirror sites, which give users an exact reproduction of an original site, so the website remained online. (Some internet providers also refused to block it.) But the pressure is growing, not only on Kloop but also on other news media and civil society groups in Kyrgyzstan. In the 2023 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders, Kyrgyzstan tumbled to a ranking of 122 out of 180 countries, compared with a ranking of 72 for 2022.

Human rights groups said in a statement defending Kloop, “The accusations made against Kloop to justify the request to close it down are absurd, partly even ridiculous, and it is apparent that they stem from officials’ dislike of being publicly scrutinized, criticized and held to account.” Kloop has worked jointly with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an international network of investigative journalists, and it has been supported by the National Endowment for Democracy since 2014, including a grant in 2021 to support “daily, live, investigative, and data journalism” and to promote civic engagement.

Journalism is not a threat to Kyrgyzstan or any other country. Kloop and others like it must thrive if freedom, democracy and government accountability are to survive.
Uzbek Man Jailed for Social Media Posts Criticizing Mirziyoyev for Supporting Russia’s Putin (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [1/4/2024 3:06 PM, Catherine Putz, 201K, Neutral]
Another Uzbek has been sentenced to jail time – five years and one month – for violating Articles 158 of the country’s criminal code, namely provisions pertaining to insulting the president. He was also charged with threatening the constitutional order for an alleged association with the banned Erk (Freedom) party.

Bunyodjon Boboniyozov, a 38-year-old described by RFE/RL as a “social media user,” was sentenced by the Kattakurgan District Court in Samarkand region almost three months after his conviction. Boboniyozov – allegedly posting on Facebook under the name “Boboniyaz Ahmad” – lambasted Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as being a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an October 29, 2022 post cited in court documents, he allegedly accused Mirziyoyev of “selling out to Putin” and in another post on January 13, 2023 wrote “[Mirziyoyev] and his clan are supporting Putin’s war against Ukraine.” The posts make mention of energy shortages in Uzbekistan and generally convey deep discontent with the Mirziyoyev government.

Uzbekistan’s criminal code has long been criticized by human rights groups. As in this case, Articles 158 and 159, among others, are often weaponized against regime opponents but in an arbitrary fashion, which makes it difficult to determine what counts as an insult or a call to overthrow the constitutional order, and what counts as legitimate political speech. It’s unclear from the available reporting whether Boboniyozov had any kind of significant following, but it is clear that Tashkent is sensitive about commentaries on the country’s relations with Russia, energy matters, and the president’s family.

RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, known as Ozodlik, highlighted a few other cases from the past year in which individuals have been jailed for social media posts touching on these sensitive topics, including 19-year-old Dilshod Iskandarov (sentenced to two and a half years), 27-year-old O’tkirbek Sobirov (sentenced to three years), and 30-year-old Ahrorbek Kochkarov (sentenced to four years of house arrest).

Ozodlik also noted that while court documents state that Boboniyozov was arrested in April 2023, they don’t specify how or when he arrived in Uzbekistan from Russia, where he had reportedly lived for some time.

Uzbekistan has, in recent years, undergone a tremendous transformation with million of citizens coming online. As Niginakhon Saida noted in a 2022 article focused on the Islamic revival online in Uzbekistan:

The number of individual internet users increased from just 7,500 in 2000 to 27.2 million in 2022 (Uzbekistan’s total population is estimated to be around 35.6 million). Although most users, especially in rural areas, rely on mobile internet (over 22 million users), reportedly 54 percent of the households are connected to high-speed internet.

Mirziyoyev’s coming to power in 2016 coincided with this digital boom, and in the early years of his regime bloggers were encouraged to engage both government and citizens in open discussion. As Umida Niyazova of the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights wrote in an op-ed last year:

Undoubtedly, with Mirziyoyev’s coming to power in 2016, the scope of permitted criticism of the government was expanded, perhaps one of most positive changes in the “New Uzbekistan.” Simultaneously, with the development of social media, hundreds of popular bloggers and citizen reporters emerged, who became important critical voices in their communities.

In her article Niyazova sketched out a variety of legal troubles experienced by Uzbek bloggers, many focused on thorny issues related to corruption. “Today, although there is much more freedom of speech compared to the Karimov era, these ongoing attacks on bloggers and civil society activists show an alarming deteriorating dynamic.”

With Boboniyozov, the list of Uzbek citizens punished for the things they’ve written online continues to grow.
Twitter
Afghanistan
UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett
@SR_Afghanistan
[1/5/2024 2:05 AM, 36.6K followers, 48 retweets, 77 likes]
Recent arrests of women in Kabul #Afghanistan for "bad hijab", confirmed by #Taliban, regrettably signifies further restrictions on women’s freedom of expression and undermines other rights. They should all be released immediately and without conditions.

Nilofar Ayoubi
@NilofarAyoubi
[1/4/2024 8:44 AM, 62.6K followers, 30 retweets, 71 likes]
Despite being fully covered, the detention of girls in Kabul is increasing, and the Taliban has three objectives for these arrests. Firstly, they aim to extort money from families in exchange for the girls’ release. Secondly, they want the girls to make a commitment to communicate with the media and publicly express their satisfaction with the Islamic Emirate. Lastly, the Taliban intends to perpetuate a climate of fear and terror among Afghan women.

Amrullah Saleh
@AmrullahSaleh2
[1/4/2024 12:01 PM, 1.1M followers, 81 retweets, 376 likes]
The Taliban’s intelligence department has started to re-profile & re-screen former detainees who shared space & spent time with IS-KP inmates in Bagram prison of the Republic government.T he GDI believes that significant number of the Taliban prisoners were converted & lured into ISKP during that time & are now believed to be potential & active collaborators of the ISKP. We have obtained documents related to this so called ongoing investigation.

Amrullah Saleh
@AmrullahSaleh2
[1/4/2024 12:11 PM, 1.1M followers, 26 retweets, 104 likes]
Sometimes back the so called leader of the ISKP had claimed "possessing thousands" of sleepers & collaborators within the Taliban system. Comparing the Taliban’s investigation of the matter & Sanaullah aka Shahab-Al-Muhajir’s claim, one gets the impression that something in between might be true. This isn’t a good news for the paid lobbyists & apologists of the Doha deal conspiracy.
Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[1/4/2024 11:34 AM, 3.1M followers, 5 retweets, 38 likes]
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar addressed the Envoys’ Conference today in Islamabad.

Shehbaz Sharif
@CMShehbaz
[1/4/2024 11:36 PM, 6.7M followers, 1.3K retweets, 1.9K likes]
The world is observing the Right to Self-Determination Day at a time when the oppressed people in Palestine and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir are facing renewed persecution aimed at erasing their existence and denying them their socio-cultural, political and legal rights. The world order will be better served if it stands on the edifice of the right to self-determination, which is a legitimate and inalienable right, pivotal to the establishment of durable peace in the world. The current global chaos owes itself to the suppression of the fundamental rights & insistence on the status quo marked by "Might is Right". History is replete with examples whereby the peoples that do not hesitate from offering any sacrifice have thrown away the yoke of slavery, no matter how powerful the occupation forces were. Today we pay tribute to all such peoples braving the illegal and immoral occupation and suppression of their rights, particularly those in IIOJK and Palestine, and assure them of our steadfast support.
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/4/2024 9:34 AM, 94.2M followers, 5.4K retweets, 28K likes]
Since the last 9 years we have worked to enhance Lakshadweep’s progress and our resolve only got stronger!

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/4/2024 9:34 AM, 94.2M followers, 3.8K retweets, 15K likes]
What can be more satisfying than the fruits of development reaching people of all sections of society. Have a look at this interaction from Lakshadweep yesterday… https://twitter.com/i/status/1742917367808897524

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/4/2024 3:53 AM, 94.2M followers, 10K retweets, 56K likes]
Recently, I had the opportunity to be among the people of Lakshadweep. I am still in awe of the stunning beauty of its islands and the incredible warmth of its people. I had the opportunity to interact with people in Agatti, Bangaram and Kavaratti. I thank the people of the islands for their hospitality. Here are some glimpses, including aerial glimpses from Lakshadweep...

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/4/2024 3:53 AM, 94.2M followers, 1.1K retweets, 5.1K likes]
Our focus in Lakshadweep is to uplift lives through enhanced development. In addition to creating futuristic infrastructure, it is also about creating opportunities for better healthcare, faster internet and drinking water, while protecting as well celebrating the vibrant local culture. The projects that were inaugurated reflect this spirit.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/4/2024 3:53 AM, 94.2M followers, 936 retweets, 3.9K likes]
Had excellent interactions with the beneficiaries of various government schemes. It’s inspiring to see firsthand how these initiatives are fostering better health, self-reliance, women empowerment, improved agricultural practices and more. The life journeys I heard were truly moving.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/4/2024 3:53 AM, 94.2M followers, 2.4K retweets, 10K likes]
In addition to the scenic beauty, Lakshadweep’s tranquility is also mesmerising. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on how to work even harder for the welfare of 140 crore Indians.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[1/4/2024 3:53 AM, 94.2M followers, 2.4K retweets, 8.4K likes]
Lakshadweep is not just a group of islands; it’s a timeless legacy of traditions and a testament to the spirit of its people. My visit has been an enriching journey of learning and growing.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[1/5/2024 1:28 AM, 3M followers, 82 retweets, 549 likes]
Joined my colleague FM @NPSaudnc at the inauguration of Tribhuvan University Central Library, 25 schools, 32 health facilities and culture sector project. Concrete delivery of the commitments made by PM @narendramodi on Nepal’s post-earthquake reconstruction.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[1/4/2024 10:44 PM, 3M followers, 685 retweets, 7.5K likes]
Blessed to visit the Pashupatinath Temple today morning. Prayed for the well being of our two peoples and India-Nepal ties.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[1/4/2024 11:00 AM, 3M followers, 210 retweets, 1.6K likes]
Glad to meet former PM @ncp_madhavnepal today. Appreciated our conversation on deepening India-Nepal partnership.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[1/4/2024 6:28 AM, 3M followers, 472 retweets, 3.5K likes]
Co-chaired with my counterpart FM @NPSaudnc a comprehensive and productive meeting of the 7th India-Nepal Joint Commission. Discussions focused on our overall bilateral ties, trade & economic relations, land, rail & air connectivity projects, cooperation in defense & security, agriculture, energy, power, water resources, disaster management, tourism, civil aviation, people-to-people & cultural exchanges and development partnership.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[1/4/2024 6:28 AM, 3M followers, 95 retweets, 362 likes]
Witnessed exchange of agreements on
- Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects
- Long Term Power Trade
- Cooperation in Renewable Energy Development
- Munal Satellite
- Handover of 5th tranche of post-Jajarkot earthquake relief supply.
Also jointly inaugurated three cross-border transmission lines.
NSB
Awami League
@albd1971
[1/4/2024 10:27 AM, 634.4K followers, 25 retweets, 64 likes]
The year 2023 ended with a positive trend in #Bangladesh’s #remittance inflow, which surged by 17.06% to $1.99 billion in December 2023 compared to $1.7 billion in the same month of 2022, according to Bangladesh Bank. This surge is part of a larger upward trend in remittances, with the cumulative inflow reaching $10.79 billion from July to December in the current 2023-24 fiscal year (FY). https://tbsnews.net/economy/bangladeshi-expats-send-home-199-billion-december-768178 #Economy #ForexReserve

Awami League
@albd1971
[1/4/2024 7:00 AM, 634.4K followers, 41 retweets, 87 likes]
The engine of a Dhaka-bound train got derailed after a stretch of a rail track in Sitakundu was removed, another scheme for mass murder. The removal of the track came days after @bdbnp78 leaders asked activists to wage an all-out movement to thwart the upcoming #election in their bid to grab power. Earlier, another similar uprooting of tracks led to the derailment of seven coaches leading to one dead while CCTV footage and media reports exposed the involvement of BNP men behind the carnage. #BNPJamaatViolence #Bangladesh #BoycottBNP #SaveBangladesh

Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP
@bdbnp78
[1/5/2024 2:35 AM, 45.9K followers, 6 retweets, 17 likes]
Reports of electoral camps being set on fire, the hurling of crude bombs, and violent confrontations between supporters of the ruling party Awami League (AL), and independent candidates have surfaced from various parts of the country.

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[1/4/2024 11:56 PM, 4.8K followers, 2 retweets, 4 likes]
The democratic world has reasons to be concerned about this farcical election. They saw enough in 2014 and 2018. If the BAL regime succeeds and survives this time around, the world will see a new and camouflaged face of so-called democracy. #Bangladesh might become a “role model” for other aspirant dictators, particularly in developing countries. There will be “multi-party” elections but no opposition. Pakistan has already started copying the Bangladeshi election model. https://aequitasreview.org/january-7-2024-sham-election-in-bangladesh-by-anisur-rahman/

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[1/4/2024 4:33 AM, 4.8K followers, 3 retweets, 12 likes]
The US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller has said that the United States has been following the case against Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and will watch #Bangladesh’s January 7 general election very closely.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/4/2024 9:01 AM, 203.5K followers, 25 retweets, 132 likes]
PM Sheikh Hasina & her party are nearly guaranteed to win Bangladesh’s election on Sunday. While many in Bangladesh and the West will be concerned about Hasina’s return, the rest of the region will likely welcome the result. My latest @ForeignPolicy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/03/bangladesh-election-opposition-boycott-awami-league-sheikh-hasina/

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/4/2024 11:36 PM, 203.5K followers, 9 retweets, 46 likes]
"Hasina’s push for connectivity resonates with Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, all of whom are pursuing new initiatives with Bangladesh. The strong economic growth under Hasina offers new opportunities for trade within a region where it lags...." -> https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/03/bangladesh-election-opposition-boycott-awami-league-sheikh-hasina/

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/4/2024 11:36 PM, 203.5K followers, 2 retweets, 8 likes]
"Finally, her policy of balancing relations with both Beijing and New Delhi converges with that of the region’s other nonaligned states."

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/4/2024 11:23 PM, 203.5K followers, 37 retweets, 128 likes]
I’m quoted here: "The US applied so much pressure on Bangladesh for free and fair elections, through both carrots and sticks, and for so long, yet to no avail." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-05/upcoming-bangladesh-election-puts-democracy-and-us-ties-at-risk

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[1/4/2024 11:23 PM, 203.5K followers, 6 likes]
"Consequently, there’s a possibility that the administration could respond post-election w/harsher steps...punitive actions in the space that would hurt Bangladesh the most," which is trade. Or it may not-the US also values its trade ties w/Dhaka & BD’s strategic importance.

Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office
@amnestysasia
[1/4/2024 9:35 PM, 74.6K followers, 31 retweets, 72 likes]
Bangladesh: On January 7, Bangladesh will hold its next general election. With this human rights charter, @amnesty urges all political parties to ensure that the protection and promotion of human rights is a core part of their plans for the country. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa13/7559/2024/en/

Moosa Zameer
@MoosaZameer
[1/4/2024 12:15 PM, 11.8K followers, 32 retweets, 41 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu’s upcoming State Visit to China from January 7-12, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping underscores the strong ties between #Maldives and China, and the Government’s commitment to work with all of our partners to deliver for our people. I look forward to productive discussions and further strengthening the Maldives-China partnership based on mutual respect and trust.

Moosa Zameer
@MoosaZameer
[1/4/2024 11:38 AM, 11.8K followers, 61 retweets, 107 likes]
It was good to speak with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken today and reflect on the strong Maldives-US partnership. We had constructive discussions on the wide range of areas the Maldives and the United States closely collaborate on, including defence and security, economic development and climate action. We also spoke on issues of global concern. I am reassured by the US Government’s commitment to continue to build on the Maldives-US partnership.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/5/2024 2:07 AM, 256K followers, 1 retweet, 4 likes]
Upon completion of his official visit to Nepal in connection with the 7th Meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission, Minister of External Affairs of India, Hon. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar left Kathmandu for Delhi today.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/5/2024 2:07 AM, 256K followers, 3 retweets, 3 likes]
He was seen off by Minister for Foreign Foreign http://Hon.Mr. N. P Saud and Foreign Secretary Ms. Sewa Lamsal at the TIA. @NPSaudnc @sewa_lamsal @amritrai555

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/5/2024 12:52 AM, 256K followers, 5 retweets, 18 likes]
Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. N.P. Saud and Minister for External Affairs of India Dr. S. Jaishankar jointly inaugurated this morning Tribhuvan University Central Library building, constructed with Government of India’s grant assistance.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/5/2024 12:53 AM, 256K followers, 4 retweets, 6 likes]
The two Ministers also inaugurated virtually 58 post earthquake reconstruction projects completed under Indian assistance. The projects comprise of educational institutions, health facilities and cultural heritage. @NPSaudnc @sewa_lamsal @amritrai555

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:53 PM, 256K followers, 12 retweets, 53 likes]
Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Mr. Narayan Prakash Saud and Minister for External Affairs of India Dr. S. Jaishankar witnessed the exchange of the following agreements:

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:53 PM, 256K followers, 2 retweets, 13 likes]
1. Agreement Between the Government of Nepal and the Government of the Republic of India on Long Term Power Trade.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:53 PM, 256K followers, 3 retweets, 12 likes]
2. Agreement by and Between Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and New Space India Limited (NSIL) for the Launch Services for Munal Satellite on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:53 PM, 256K followers, 2 retweets, 11 likes]
3. Memorandum of Understanding for Co-operation in the Renewable Energy Development Between Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and NTPC Limited.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:54 PM, 256K followers, 2 retweets, 11 likes]
4. Agreement Between Government of Nepal and Government of India regarding Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs).

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:54 PM, 256K followers, 2 retweets, 10 likes]
The two Ministers also jointly inaugurated, in virtual mode, three 132 kV cross-border transmission lines between India and Nepal, namely, the second circuit of Raxaul-Parwanipur line, the second circuit of Kataiya-Kusaha line, and the New Nautanwa-Mainhiya line.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:54 PM, 256K followers, 2 retweets, 10 likes]
The Ministers witnessed the handover of fifth tranche of the post Jajarkot-earthquake relief supply provided by the Government of India. In addition, the Government of India will provide financial assistance package for post Jajarkot-earthquake reconstruction.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:54 PM, 256K followers, 3 retweets, 13 likes]
The Ministers witnessed the handover of fifth tranche of the post Jajarkot-earthquake relief supply provided by the Government of India.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[1/4/2024 12:54 PM, 256K followers, 3 retweets, 15 likes]
In addition, the Government of India will provide financial assistance package for post Jajarkot-earthquake reconstruction. @NPSaudnc @sewa_lamsal @amritrai555
Central Asia
Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[1/5/2024 12:14 AM, 22.2K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
Discussion with the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Daniel Rosenblum @caspiancenter January 4, 2024.
- Uranium: Kazakhstan-Russia-US
- Iran-Kazakhstan
- China-Kazakhstan/Central Asia Economy
- Central Asia Future
- Middle Corridor – US
@USembassyKAZ @State_SCA https://youtu.be/uA49YK_4hVc?si=rlxnK-Qhghqz04zJ

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[1/5/2024 12:14 AM, 22.2K followers, 2 likes]
Discussion with the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Daniel Rosenblum @caspiancenter January 4, 2024.
- Washington - Astana priorities
- Tokayev’s reform agenda
- Political changes in Kazakhstan vs Uzbekistan: similarities and differences @USembassyKAZ @State_SCA https://youtu.be/GEtkh84oGIU

{End of Report}
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