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, May 10, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
The Taliban warn journalists, experts against cooperating with Afghanistan International TV (AP)
AP [5/9/2024 8:46 PM, Staff, 22K, Neutral]
The Taliban on Thursday warned journalists and experts against working with Afghanistan International TV, saying they would be committing a crime if they cooperated with the station. It’s the first time they have told people not to cooperate with a specific outlet.

Afghanistan International TV, which is headquartered in London, is accessible through satellite, cable and social media.

A spokesman for the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Information and Culture alleged the station was committing professional violations and violating moral and legal boundaries.

The Media Violations Commission wanted all journalists and experts in Afghanistan to cease their collaboration with the station, said ministry spokesman Habib Ghofran.

“At the commission’s meeting held yesterday (Wednesday), it was decided that participating in discussions and facilitating the broadcast of this media outlet in public places is prohibited,” added Ghofran.

The deputy minister for broadcasting Zia ul Haq Haqmal said people would be committing a crime if they cooperated with the station.

He cited 10 reasons to avoid working with Afghanistan International TV, including its alleged distortion or falsification of information and campaigning against the ruling system.

“If someone does not cooperate on the basis of all these 10 reasons, then it’s the court’s job to give a punishment,” said Haqmal.

The director of Afghanistan International TV, Harun Najafizada, said the commission’s decision would not affect the channel because it had no employees or freelancers in the country.

“We don’t have anyone on the ground and rely on the reporting of Afghan citizens,” said Najafizada. “That’s more challenging, but we have tough verification. It’s a threat to free media, to other media, and to put pressure on us to forgo our professional standards. It’s not going to work.”

Afghanistan fares abysmally in terms of press freedom. The latest index from Reporters without Borders ranked the country 178 out of 180. It ranked 152 last year.

The organization said three radio reporters were arrested in April for broadcasting music and receiving calls from female listeners during shows. Local authorities weren’t available to confirm the arrests.

Also last month, the Taliban suspended two TV stations for failing to “consider national and Islamic values.”

The director for one of the suspended stations, Barya TV, rejected the Taliban’s allegations. The station is still off air.

Latif Sadiq said the station wasn’t informed about the suspension. “The reports that they repeatedly warned (Barya) are absolute lies,” Sadiq said Thursday. “They have decided on their own that (Barya) television is off, broadcasting is off, and they said the case will go to court.”

Many journalists lost their jobs after the Taliban takeover in 2021, with media outlets closing over a lack of funds or because their staff left the country. Women journalists face additional hardships because of work bans and travel restrictions.

During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban barred most television, radio and newspapers.
Taliban ban cooperation with diaspora broadcaster (VOA)
VOA [5/9/2024 7:40 PM, Staff, 761K, Neutral]
The Afghan Taliban on Thursday warned reporters and experts against working with the London-based broadcaster Afghanistan International TV, saying they would be committing a crime if they worked with the station.

A spokesperson for the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Information and Culture alleged that the station, which is accessible through satellite, cable and social media, was committing violations and crossing moral and legal boundaries.

“At the commission’s meeting held [Wednesday], it was decided that participating in discussions and facilitating the broadcast of this media outlet in public places is prohibited,” said Habib Ghofran, the spokesperson.

Zia ul Haq Haqmal, deputy minister for broadcasting, said people would be committing a crime if they collaborated with the station. He listed 10 reasons people should not work with the broadcaster, including its alleged distortion of information.

“If someone does not cooperate on the basis of all these 10 reasons, then it’s the court’s job to give a punishment,” Haqmal said.

Harun Najafizada, the broadcaster’s director, said the development would not impact the channel because it has no employees or freelancers in Afghanistan.

“We don’t have anyone on the ground and rely on the reporting of Afghan citizens,” Najafizada said, according to The Associated Press. “That’s more challenging, but we have tough verification. It’s a threat to free media, to other media. And to put pressure on us to forgo our professional standards, it’s not going to work.”

Press freedom groups have called on the Taliban to revoke the restrictions targeting Afghanistan International TV, which is the country’s most popular international television channel, according to a December survey by the charity BBC Media Action.

“The Taliban must immediately lift their ban on journalists working with broadcaster Afghanistan International and allow Afghan citizens unrestricted access to news produced by the popular London-based outlet without fear of reprisal,” Beh Lih Yi, Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.

“The Taliban must stop using the Media Complaints Commission as a tool to impose even harsher censorship on Afghan news outlets and diaspora media,” she added.

The prohibition underscores the atrocious state of press freedom in Afghanistan, which Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, ranked 178th out of 180 countries in terms of media freedom.

Since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover, more than two-thirds of the 12,000 reporters in the country have stopped working as journalists, according to RSF. The crackdown has had a particularly harmful effect on female journalists: Eight out of 10 of them have had to stop working, according to RSF.

Afghanistan International TV began broadcasting on August 14, 2021, just one day before the Afghan capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban.

The Taliban have shuttered several local broadcasters and have banned international broadcasters, including Voice of America and its sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Several killed after residents of Afghan province protest orders from Taliban (VOA)
VOA [5/9/2024 7:36 PM, Ayaz Gul, 761K, Negative]
At least four people were reported killed on Thursday during clashes between protesters and Taliban security forces in eastern Afghanistan.

Residents in Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan, held a demonstration after being told by Taliban authorities to vacate their homes for the construction of a customs clearing facility, according to witnesses and officials.

Protesters blocked a busy highway linking Afghanistan to Pakistan and refused to allow the destruction of their properties. Taliban security forces fired gunshots to disperse the crowd and clear the highway to allow trade convoys to resume their journey in both directions, eyewitnesses reported.

An area information and culture department spokesperson confirmed the clashes, saying residents "created chaos in response" to the official order. Arafat Mohajer said that the violence resulted in the death of a Taliban officer and "a number of people who were occupying the [state[ land [illegally]." He did not share further details.

Protesters refuted the official claims, saying they had the deeds and owned the land.

A resident in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, confirmed to VOA by phone that firing by Taliban security forces killed three protesters.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan three years ago and faced no public opposition to their hard-line policies until this month.

Last week, farmers and residents took to the streets in northeastern Badakhshan province to protest the eradication of poppy fields by the Taliban counternarcotics units.

Security forces opened fire to disperse the demonstrators, killing two people.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, has imposed a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation and production, usage, transportation and trade of all illicit drugs in Afghanistan.
Afghan women struggle under male guardian rules (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/9/2024 10:15 PM, Pascale Trouillaud and Qubad Wali, 11975K, Neutral]
Since the Taliban returned to power, Afghan women have been barred from going on long trips, travelling by plane or entering government buildings unless they are accompanied by a man.

Under the Taliban government’s austere interpretation of Islamic law, the "mahram" practice long rooted in Afghan society has become compulsory.

On a recent visit to their former university in Kabul, Mariam and a female friend were stopped from entering the building to collect a transcript.

"At the entrance, the Taliban told us that we needed a mahram," said Mariam, whose name has been changed to protect her identity like other women AFP interviewed.

"But my brother was at work, my friend’s brother wasn’t old enough and her father had died," she said.

"I saw a guy on the street and he agreed to help us," she said. "We had the courage to pass him off as our brother" to get in.

Under Islam, a mahram is a close male relative -- typically a husband, brother, father, son, grandfather or uncle -- with whom a woman is not obliged to wear hijab, and who acts as her guardian and protector.

In Afghanistan, strict rules define what women are allowed to do, with their proponents claiming they guarantee both the women’s, and their whole family’s, honour.

The Taliban authorities, in power since 2021, have responded to international criticism by saying that Afghanistan’s laws follow Islam and guarantee all citizens’ rights under sharia.

"Unfortunately, outside circles have their own sensitivities and present incorrect interpretations based on envy and prejudice," Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

"They should respect and value Islamic laws."

In a country where more than 40 years of conflict have left millions of widows, it can be a challenge for many women to actually find a mahram.

"A lot of women don’t have a man at home," said Shirin, 25, who is studying for a master’s degree online after being banned by the authorities from university.

"Their husband has died, or their son is too young and they find themselves head of the family. How can they have a mahram?"

Travelling without a mahram can result in arrest, with rigorous inspections, particularly at checkpoints in towns and rural areas, several Afghan women told AFP.

Last year, Shirin said Taliban authorities broke up a picnic outing because she and other women members of her family were in a minibus driven by their cousin -- the only man, and not a mahram.

One of the men grabbed Shirin’s cousin by the collar and told the women, who were in tears, to "go home".

In December 2021, the Taliban government made it compulsory for any woman travelling on any journey longer than 72 kilometres (45 miles) to be accompanied by a mahram.

Then in March 2022, it banned them from flying alone on both domestic and international flights, complicating departures for some women offered scholarships to study at universities abroad.

Mahram customs have fallen out of practice in much of the Muslim world and are enforced by few governments.

But as Afghanistan is "governed by an ideological regime, the Koran and sharia are the backbone of its power", said Islam specialist and author Slimane Zeghidour, and it "applies all prescriptions, even the most rigorous and anachronistic ones".

Saudi Arabia, until recently one of world’s most repressive countries on women’s rights, now allows women to make the pilgrimage to Mecca without a guardian.

But Afghan women are still barred from doing so.

UN agency worker Spojmay told AFP her 80-year-old widowed mother dreams of fulfilling the Hajj, one of the pillars of Islam, before she dies.

"The travel agency has just confirmed that she can’t go abroad without a mahram," Spojmay said, also using a pseudonym for fear of retribution.

Despite earning a decent wage, the 37-year-old herself has had trouble renting an apartment without a mahram, as her father has died and her brothers live abroad.

On the lease, "I put my father’s photo, and for his fingerprint, I used my sister’s", she said.

The Taliban authorities would "beat me up and throw me in prison if they found out", she added.

While women are already excluded from secondary schools, universities, certain jobs, parks and gyms, the mahram policy "is really limiting women to home and indoors" and is "incredibly humiliating", said Sahar Fetrat, of Human Rights Watch.

Khadija, 25, a consultant for women entrepreneurs, noted that in Kabul "the situation is different from the provinces: you can go shopping" without a mahram in the capital.

The practice is, however, strictly enforced in more conservative rural areas.

For 18 months, Khadija made house calls in Kabul with her sister for a vaccination programme, and "had to take a mahram".

Because of the rules, charities and UN agencies pay their female employees an extra salary for the mahram, sometimes up to $40 a day.

Khadija’s 32-year-old brother, Ahmad, is the sole mahram for his mother and four sisters -- bringing many complications.

"I am the only man of the house," he said. "But I have my own job too, I also have places to be."
Pakistan
Militants bomb a girls school in northwestern Pakistan, once a Taliban stronghold. No one was harmed (AP)
AP [5/9/2024 2:24 PM, Ishtiaq Mahsud, 22K, Negative]
Militants detonated a bomb at a girls school in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s volatile northwest, badly damaging the structure, police said Thursday. No one was harmed in the overnight attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack late Wednesday that targeted the only girls school in Shawa, a town in the North Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police chief Amjad Wazir said.

UNICEF condemned the bombing as “despicable and cowardly act that could jeopardize the future of many young and talented girls.”

According to the police chief, the attackers first beat up the school guard before setting off the explosives at the private Aafia Islamic Girls Model School, which has 150 students.

Suspicion is likely to fall on Islamic militants and specifically the Pakistani Taliban, who have targeted girls schools in the province in the past, saying that women should not be educated.

In a statement, Abdullah Fadil, the UNICEF representative in Pakistan, said the “destruction of a girls’ school in a remote and underserved area is a heinous crime detrimental to national progress.” He cited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif statement on Wednesday declaring an education emergency and pledging to work towards enrolling 26 million out-of-school children.

Pakistan witnessed multiple attacks on girls schools until 2019, especially in the Swat Valley and elsewhere in the northwest where the Pakistani Taliban long controlled the former tribal regions. In 2012, the insurgents attacked Malala Yousafzai, a teenage student and advocate for the education of girls who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, were evicted from Swat and other regions in recent years. The TTP are a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

The Taliban takeover in neighboring Afghanistan has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.

In a separate development, the U.S. Central Command chief, Gen. Erik Kurilla, visited Pakistan for talks with the country’s army chief Gen. Asim Munir on Thursday.

A statement from the Pakistani military said they discussed “matters of shared interests, particularly cooperation in regional security matters” and that Kurilla praised Pakistan army’s efforts to bring peace and stability to the region and cooperation between Pakistani and U.S. forces.

According to a CENTCOM statement, Kurilla also visited several locations in the northwest bordering Afghanistan, meeting with Pakistani regional commanders to discuss counterterrorism operations along the border.

“The capability, competence, and professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces are extraordinary,” the statement quoted Kurilla as saying.
Over 400 killed in Pakistan as military intensifies operations in KP and Baluchistan (VOA)
VOA [5/10/2024 5:34 AM, Iftikhar Hussain, 761K, Negative]
Tufail Dawar, a resident of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, recounted a harrowing day on April 30 when he and his fellow villagers were trapped in their homes by gunfire outside.

"We couldn’t go out for the entire day as security forces and militants engaged in a fierce shootout during a military operation in our village," Dawar explained. During the crossfire, one of his cousins was injured and is currently receiving treatment in a local hospital.

Resident of the restive tribal districts of Pakistan along the Afghan border and adjacent areas tell VOA Deewa that due to increasing military operations many areas have been declared no-go zones, restricting their daily mobility.

"Our village has been declared a no-go zone by security forces and no development work is happening. There are no sources of livelihoods and many families have left the area due to military operations," Maulana Naqibullah Khan told VOA Deewa over the phone.

Khan said that in the past three months locals had negotiated with the security forces to secure the release of nearly 60 residents who had been arrested after being accused of providing food and medical treatment to the militants.

"The situation has deteriorated; we have seen helicopter shellings in December 2023, and the security forces operation continues. Locals have suffered property and human losses and we have held meetings, but it persists," said Muhammad Amin, a village council member in Kadera, a community of 900 homes in northwestern Pakistan.

The Pakistani military says that army, police, intelligence and other law enforcement agencies are carrying out more than 100 operations daily against terrorism in the country.

Major-General Ahmed Sharif, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s military, said during a live broadcast news conference Tuesday that security forces have conducted 13,135 small and major intelligence-based operations so far this year against terrorists and their facilitators, "during which 249 terrorists were sent to hell while 396 were arrested."

VOA reached out to Pakistan military media wing Inter Services Public Relations official Brigadier Ghazanfar via WhatsApp seeking further details on the military operations in the region, but he has not responded.

Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, told a gathering organized by the Institute of Regional Studies on Tuesday that there has been a 60% increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Haq Nawaz, a Peshawar-based analyst, said Pakistan lacks a clear strategy to combat terrorism.

"Pakistan has adopted both the dialogue and military operations strategy in the past, but terrorism is on the rise in Pakistan and Pakistan’s military and political forces should work together to devise a new strategy," he said.

The Center for Research and Securities Studies (CRSS), an Islamabad-based think tank tracking terrorism in Pakistan, has said that terror-related fatalities surged 17% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the corresponding period in 2023.

The report says 432 people were killed and 370 others were injured in the first three months in 245 attacks and military operations. The provincewise breakdown is not yet available, but CRSS says that 92% of the violence occurred in KP and Baluchistan.
Gunmen kill 7 barbers in southwestern Pakistan (VOA)
VOA [5/9/2024 6:47 AM, Ayaz Gul, 761K, Negative]
Authorities in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province are blaming the predawn killing Thursday of at least seven barbers from Punjab province on suspected Baluch insurgents.

The incident occurred in the coastal city of Gwadar, where a Chinese company has built and operates a deep-water port on the Arabian Sea. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack.

Outlawed Baluch insurgent groups, including the Baluch Liberation Army, or BLA, have claimed responsibility for targeting Punjabi and settlers from other parts of Pakistan in Baluchistan in the past, claiming they were affiliated with Pakistani security forces.

Gwadar police told reporters the victims, who also included one who was injured, were sleeping when assailants stormed their residential compound and sprayed them with bullets before escaping.

The BLA, along with attacking security forces and demanding the withdrawal of Chinese investments from the region, has also targeted Chinese nationals working on China-funded projects in the province.

Sarfaraz Bugti, the provincial chief minister, condemned the killing of the barbers and vowed to bring perpetrators to justice.

He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the “so-called Baluch terrorists have started targeting innocent workers after suffering sustained losses” inflicted on them by Pakistani security forces.

Pakistan’s military has regularly conducted counterinsurgency operations in Baluchistan and claims to have largely suppressed the insurgency. Critics question those claims, citing a recent surge in attacks.

Last month, insurgents in Baluchistan’s Noshki district blocked the highway linking Pakistan to Iran and kidnapped about a dozen bus passengers from Punjab before killing them. The BLA claimed responsibility for that attack.

In March, heavily armed BLA fighters stormed a key government complex in Gwadar, leaving several Pakistani security personnel and eight assailants dead.
Two mango seasons: A long wait for Pakistan families hit by May 9 violence (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/10/2024 12:00 AM, Abid Hussain, 2.1M, Neutral]
It’s summertime, and mango season in Pakistan. But 25-year-old Amber* can’t stand the sight of the fruit, one of the country’s most famous exports.

Mangoes remind her of her jailed husband, Mohammad Zameer*. “My husband loves mangoes,” says the mother of three children from her home in Faisalabad, Pakistan’s third-largest city in the province of Punjab.

On May 9, 2023, Zameer was on his way home after lunch with his brother late in the afternoon when he became one among thousands of people who were caught up in a maelstrom of protests that exploded on Pakistan’s streets after former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest. Khan’s supporters attacked government buildings and even military installations, after the former prime minister accused the country’s army of orchestrating his removal from power a year earlier.

The military cracked down on protesters, who were accused of what Pakistan’s government later described as an “attempted coup.” But rights groups say that many of the more than 9,000 people arrested across the country in the wake of the May 9 riots were not political activists, and some were bystanders picked up because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Zameer, 33, was among those arrested in Faisalabad. His family was confident he would be released soon. So Amber bought her husband’s favourite fruit to greet him with a mango shake when he returned home.

A year later, Amber — who was pregnant at the time — is effectively a single parent to their five-year-old son, three-year-old daughter and their youngest daughter, who was born after her husband’s arrest. And she’s still waiting to make a mango shake for Zameer.

“That summer ended, then the winters came and went, and now a new mango season is here, but my husband is yet to return home,” she says.

‘Dark chapter’

On May 9, nationwide protests erupted after Khan, the cricketer-turned-founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was arrested during a court appearance in capital Islamabad over corruption charges.

His supporters stormed the house of a military commander in Lahore, partially burning it. That night, a mob tried to enter the heavily secured military headquarters in Rawalpindi town.

Faced with a scenario that Pakistan’s security establishment had never faced its history, law enforcement officials fired on attackers. At least 10 people were killed in the protests. And a country already reeling under a severe economic crisis found itself grappling with deepening political instability.

The PTI supporters’ anger stemmed from Khan’s allegation that the “establishment” – a euphemism for the army – was behind his sacking in April 2022 when he lost a no-confidence vote in parliament and had to cede power to a coalition headed by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Pakistan’s powerful military, which has directly ruled over the country for three decades and has enjoyed significant influence even under civilian governments, has consistently denied Khan’s allegations.

The military called the May 9 protests a “dark chapter” in Pakistan’s history and pledged to take strict action against the protesters.

Meanwhile, Khan — who was released on bail on May 11 — was eventually arrested in August, and has since been convicted in a spate of cases linked to corruption, state secrets and even the religious validity of his marriage. Those convictions in turn led to his disqualification from electoral politics. Khan could not contest in the national elections held in February this year, and remains in custody. The former prime minister has denied the charges against him, and has said they are politically motivated.

In the aftermath of the May 9 riots, 105 out of those who were arrested were charged under a section of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), which the government amended to broaden its scope. The amended law punishes anyone who “approaches, inspects, passes over or is in the vicinity of, or enters, attacks, destroys or otherwise undermines any prohibited place”.

These cases were heard in military courts, where the accused do not have the right to appeal verdicts in civilian courts. Access to lawyers in such cases is often at the discretion of the military, which otherwise provides a “friend of the accused” — a military official from the army’s legal department tasked to assist an accused person.

All 105 of them were convicted. In April, under instructions by Supreme Court of Pakistan, 20 of them were pardoned since their convictions were of less than a year.

The remaining 85 convictions — including Zameer’s — are currently on hold, due to a restraining order from the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing a case regarding the constitutionality of the military courts. But these 85 are still behind bars.

‘It’s my birthday next month’

It all began on the afternoon of May 9, Amber says. Zameer was almost home when he saw a large gathering of people outside a building near their house, which he realised was the local office of the Inter-Services Intelligence (Pakistan’s military intelligence agency). They were Khan’s supporters, protesting his arrest.

Amber says Zameer took a video of the protest on his phone, then came back home. Later that day, Zameer, a real estate dealer who also owns a mobile phone shop, shared the video he had shot with some of his friends on WhatsApp.

A week later, Zameer was at his shop when four officials, two of them in police uniform, arrested him. His family was still grieving the loss of Zameer’s father in March 2023. Now they had a new shock to deal with.

“Zameer used to do a lot of social work and people in the area knew him,” Amber says. “He had never thought he could be arrested.” She said the officers were courteous during the arrest and the family believed Zameer would likely be released soon.

Zameer was kept in a Faisalabad jail where his brothers would visit him, while Amber stayed at home. “He [Zameer] would send messages for me, asking me to stay strong and look after myself since I was pregnant at the time,” she said.

Soon, however, Zameer was moved out of Faisalabad and for more than a month, the family had no idea where he had been taken. “Those days were the worst and the most difficult time of my life. We had no clue about his whereabouts or safety,” says Amber. Eventually, authorities told the family in July, Amber says, that Zameer had been taken to Sialkot, a major industrial hub in Punjab, about 250km (155 miles) from Faisalabad.

Amber, who gave birth to their daughter in July, says her life has been “a living hell” since her husband was taken away.

“Next month is my birthday,” she says. “But it will be the second consecutive year when he won’t be here with us.”

‘Don’t expect me to come save you’

Some 180 kilometers (111 miles) east of Faisalabad in Lahore, 26-year-old Asif Ali* remembers the firm warning he gave his brother Faran*, who is two years younger, on May 9.

Originally from Shangla district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a PTI stronghold, Ali had moved to Lahore in 2019 while Faran joined him two years later for an undergraduate degree in zoology from Punjab University.

Though avowed Khan supporters, Ali said the brothers were not politically active. However, as soon as Khan was arrested, Faran told his brother he wanted to join a PTI protest in Lahore.

“I repeatedly told him not to do that, but my brother is very stubborn. I warned him of the consequences, told him if you ever get arrested, don’t expect me to come save you,” Ali recalled.

When Faran did not return home by midnight, Ali started calling him on his mobile phone but was unable to connect. Faran, Ali learned later, had been among the protesters who had entered the Lahore residence of a military commander, known locally as Jinnah House, a building named after Muhammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founder, who used to lived there. Protesters set fire to the building.

Faran was arrested with hundreds of others on the night of May 9.

They were taken to a local jail. Faran asked Ali to bring his textbooks — he had his annual college exams in less than a week. But the next day, Ali learned that Faran had been taken into the military’s direct custody. Ali did not hear from Faran for weeks.

“For the first few days, I kept lying to my parents about his disappearance. Then, I stopped taking their calls to avoid talking to them about Faran,” says Ali, who works as a marketing agent for a small business.

Faran never managed to appear for his exams and remains in military custody.

‘Where are the judgements?’

From mid-December through January, lawyer Khadija Siddiqui would visit, daily, the Lahore military court where the trials were being held for those accused of May 9 violence. She was representing three of those on trial.

But, she says, the process in the court left her with more questions than answers. In each case, she was given access to details of the accusations against her clients only 30 minutes before the hearing, giving her little time to prepare.

All of her clients were convicted under the colonial-era OSA. “The trial under military court basically targeted people for merely approaching the premises of what they called a prohibited area,” she says. And in none of cases was she given copies of the final conviction judgments, she says. That means lawyers like her do not know the duration of the prison sentences handed out to their clients.

Siddiqui says Pakistan’s criminal procedure allows for the punishment of crimes, such as vandalism and rioting. “So why this segregation of trying them under a military court, and not a civilian one?”

Al Jazeera sent a detailed questionnaire to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, on Monday, May 6, seeking responses to the questions and allegations raised by family members of people still under arrest, and by lawyers like Siddiqui who are representing them. The questionnaire was also shared with Pakistan’s Ministry of Information. Al Jazeera also followed up on its request on Tuesday. Neither the ISPR nor the Ministry of Information has responded yet.

However, an army official pointed Al Jazeera to a news conference on May 7 by Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the chief of the ISPR, where he spoke — among other things — on the military’s response to May 9.

Chaudhry said that those involved in the acts of violence on May 9 needed to be punished — and their convictions were critical for the credibility of Pakistan’s legal system. “We believe that to keep trust in the judicial system of the country, both perpetrators and those physically involved in all such acts would have to be taken to task,” he said.

“In which country it happens that house of founder of the nation [Jinnah] is attacked and sensitive installations of armed forces are attacked?” Chaudhry asked “If one believes in Pakistan’s justice system and its framework of accountability, then according to the Constitution, those responsible for the events of May 9, including both perpetrators and masterminds, must face legal repercussions.”

‘There is nothing we can do’

But those “repercussions” also affect the families of those behind bars. Ali in Lahore says his mother became “mentally unstable” and has only seen Faran, in jail, twice in the last year.

“It is so difficult for them [his parents] to see him like that,” he says.

Ali visits his brother in Lahore’s cantonment once every week, where he is allowed to spend 30 to 60 minutes with him.

“I try to bring whatever I think he likes, but there are so many restrictions. We are told by the military to only bring boneless curries. We are not allowed to bring anything liquid either,” he says.

In Faisalabad, Amber says she has not met her husband since March. They spoke on the phone in April.

“My son misses his father so much,” she says. When the family visited Zameer in March, the father played with his children for a few minutes. But as they were leaving, “my son could not stop crying”.

“I never thought something like this would happen to us. To spend your life without your husband, and your children keep asking you questions you don’t have answers [to].”
India
India says Canada has shared no evidence of its involvement in killing of a Sikh separatist leader (AP)
AP [5/9/2024 8:58 PM, Ashok Sharma, 5543K, Negative]
India said Thursday that Canada has shared no evidence to back its allegation that the Indian government was involved in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada last year, despite the recent arrests of three Indian men in the crime.

India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal also reiterated India’s longstanding allegation that Canada harbors Indian extremists.

Three Indian nationals who had been living in Canada temporarily were arrested on Tuesday in the slaying last June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had set off a diplomatic spat with India last September when he cited “credible allegations” of India’s involvement in the slaying of the Sikh separatist. India rejected the accusations.

Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said after the men’s arrests that the investigation into whether they had ties to India’s government was ongoing.

Jaiswal said the two governments are discussing the case but that Canada has forwarded no specific evidence of the Indian government’s involvement.

Meanwhile, Jaiswal said New Delhi has complained to Canadian authorities that separatists, extremists and those advocating violence against India have been allowed entry and residency in Canada. “Many of our extradition requests are pending,” he said.

“Our diplomats have been threatened with impunity and obstructed in their performance of duties,” Jaiswal added. “We are having discussions at the diplomatic level on all these matters,” he said.

The three Indian men arrested in Canada haven’t yet sought any access to the Indian diplomats there, Jaiswal said.

The three — Kamalpreet Singh, 22, Karan Brar, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28 — appeared in court Tuesday via a video link and agreed to a trial in English. They were ordered to appear in British Columbia Provincial Court again on May 21.

They were arrested last week in Edmonton, Alberta. They have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
US satisfied so far with India Sikh plot probe, but stresses ‘red line’ (Reuters)
Reuters [5/9/2024 12:42 PM, David Brunnstrom, 5239K, Negative]
The U.S. is satisfied so far with India’s moves to ensure accountability in alleged assassination plots against Sikh activists, but many steps are still needed, the U.S. ambassador to India said on Thursday, calling it a "red line for America" for which there must be consequences.

Eric Garcetti was asked at a U.S. think tank event what effect the recent discovery of assassination plots against Sikh nationalists in Canada and the United States could have on Washington’s relations with New Delhi.

"When I was referring to a relationship that might have bumps along the road, this would be potentially the first big fight in a relationship," he told the Council on Foreign Relations.

"So far, knock on wood, I would say the administration is satisfied with the accountability that we’ve demanded on this, because this is a red line for America, for our citizens, and a core part of what we need to do," he added.

Garcetti said a criminal case and indictment had been brought "and if there is any connection to state actors in that, there has to be accountability."

"We expect that not only from our side, but we expect India to have that accountability."

Garcetti noted that India had set up a commission of inquiry "and ... we expect while we do the criminal case that is about American justice, that there need to be consequences and shared information.

"And so far ... I have been satisfied with what they have done. I think the administration is, but we have many steps still to go."

In November, U.S. authorities said an Indian government official had directed the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the United States and Canada.

The White House said last month it viewed the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in the assassination plots as a very serious matter.

It made the comment after the Washington Post reported that an officer in India’s intelligence service was directly involved in the foiled plan in the U.S. and also involved in the separate shooting death of a Sikh activist last June in Canada.

Canadian police on Friday arrested and charged three Indian men with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year and said they were probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government.

India has expressed concern about the linkage to officials and dissociated itself from the plot, saying it would formally investigate the U.S. concerns, and take necessary follow-up action on the findings of a panel set up on Nov. 18.

The issue is a highly delicate one for both India and the U.S administration as they try to build closer ties in the face of shared concerns about China’s growing power.
Eric Garcetti, US ambassador to India, emphasises American trust in New Delhi amid China threats (South China Morning Post)
South China Morning Post [5/9/2024 3:41 PM, Khushboo Razdan, 951K, Neutral]
Addressing a critical concern in India-US bilateral ties on Thursday, Washington’s leading diplomat in New Delhi unequivocally affirmed trust in India, particularly regarding the complex dynamics with China and Russia.

Eric Garcetti, who assumed the role of US ambassador to India in May last year, also urged liberating the American foreign policy from “unconscious paternalism” in speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington.

He advocated for fostering an “equal relationship”, underscoring the valuable lessons and collaborative opportunities that can be gleaned from India in addressing the threats posed by China.

“When I go [to the US Congress] and they’re like, ‘India needs to be with us on China’, I am like, they are the ones who banned TikTok, whether you agree or not, like four years ago. They’re the ones who just lost soldiers on the front lines in 2020. They’re the ones who every single day are blocking and tackling and trying to engage with China,” Garcetti said, emphasising the importance of the US learning from and cooperating with New Delhi.

With over 200 million users, India stood as TikTok’s largest market until June 2020, when the government banned the video-sharing platform, alongside 58 other Chinese apps. This decision followed a border clash in the disputed Himalayan region that claimed the lives of approximately 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

Meanwhile, the US has talked about banning TikTok since 2020 because of data security and disinformation concerns. US President Joe Biden recently signed legislation giving the Chinese-owned platform a year to secure an American buyer, failing which it faces a nationwide ban. TikTok sued the US government this week, claiming First Amendment free-speech violations.

Garcetti described China threat as “a piece of glue” in the India-US relationship, emphasising Washington’s role in bolstering New Delhi’s strategic capabilities in areas such as intelligence sharing, “to look at military solutions, to keep the peace and countering disinformation”.

During an India-China border clash in December 2022, the US provided real-time information, including satellite imagery, about Chinese positions, enraging Beijing. India and the US are also partners in the Washington-led Quad security grouping, which also includes Japan and Australia.

Garcetti disagreed that US ties with India were a “romance of convenience”, but noted “we all are suspicious of each other. Like, are you cheating us with China? Are you cheating on me with China?”

Discussing India’s continuing purchase of Russian oil despite American objections, Garcetti emphasised historical context, pointing out that in the 1970s, the US shifted its focus towards China and Pakistan, inadvertently nudging India closer to the Soviet Union.

He added that India’s purchase of Russian oil “was not a violation” and that it had helped the price of oil remain stable in the global market. He also mentioned Washington and New Delhi’s collaborative efforts in diplomatically engaging with China and Russia regarding Ukraine at the G20 summit last September.

“And we were able to deliver Europe, they were able to deliver Russia. That boxed in China and it showed, again, this multiplicative relationship when we get together,” Garcetti said, revealing that India pressured Russia on the joint statement critical of Russia’s invasion.

The G20 summit in New Delhi resulted in a joint statement that refrained from directly condemning Russia for its war in Ukraine. Instead, it emphasised the collective commitment of all member states to refrain from using force to seize territory.

Garcetti noted that New Delhi still favoured the ideology of non-alignment, while Washington was comfortable with the “romantic ambiguity” inherent in this stance.

“They don’t need an ally. So in romantic terms they don’t ever want to get married. But I always say like, let’s keep some romantic ambiguity, at least about where this is headed,” he said, saying the differences between democracies are much less even in their worst moments than with dictatorships.

When asked about the Indian elections and reports of erosion of human rights under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who is running for a third term, Garcetti said the US was taking up the issue “strongly” but “respectfully”.

“I just disagree that we don’t speak out about them, we put them out. I mean, some people want us to only say that, but this is too important a relationship to spend all day long only saying that over and over. You’re not going to get anything else done,” he said.
India top court grants temporary bail to opposition leader Kejriwal to campaign in elections (Reuters)
Reuters [5/10/2024 4:44 AM, Sakshi Dayal, 5239K, Negative]
India’s top court gave temporary bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case on Friday, allowing him to campaign in the ongoing general elections, boosting the opposition alliance of which he is a key leader.

The seven-phase vote has been marred by charges that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is using investigating agencies to hurt rivals, accusations the government denies.

The Enforcement Directorate, India’s financial crime-fighting agency, arrested Kejriwal - a staunch critic of Modi and a key opposition leader - on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations related to the capital territory’s liquor policy.

Kejriwal’s government and his Aam Aadmi Party have denied the corruption allegations. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party say that the investigating agencies are only doing their job and the government is not influencing them.

Kejriwal has been in pre-trial detention since April 1, and his wife Sunita has stepped in to campaign for his decade-old party in his absence.

India began voting on April 19 and elections to more than half the total 543 seats were completed with the third phase on May 7. The national capital territory will vote on May 25.

Voting concludes on June 1 and counting is set for June 4.
India’s Lower Voter Turnout Raises Questions About BJP Fatigue (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/9/2024 8:00 PM, Dan Strumpf and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 5543K, Negative]
As India’s general election nears the halfway mark, falling voter turnout is prompting concerns about voter disengagement in the world’s largest poll.

Analysts and political party figures say there are good reasons for the decline and the lower participation doesn’t necessarily suggest advantage for either side. Even so, the drop has raised questions about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s support, with uncertainty spreading to financial markets.

This week saw as many as 172 million eligible Indians going to the polls in phase three of the country’s marathon seven-phase election, which runs through June 1. Turnout was 65.7%, lower than in phases one and two and down from 67.4% in the last general election in 2019, according to the Election Commission of India.

While it’s too early to offer a definitive explanation for the decline there are a handful of likely factors. Foremost among them: Voters are having a hard time getting excited about a contest that looks far from in doubt. Pre-election polls pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi cruising to a third five-year term in his contest against a diminished opposition.

Another possible factor: Modi’s BJP accomplished a number of its key second-term objectives, including the removal of autonomy for the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and the controversial construction of a Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya. That’s left the party short on big new campaign promises to animate turnout this year.

“This time there is no big emotive issue on which the election is being contested, no new leadership on the campaign trail,” said Rahul Verma, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi think tank.

Investors said low turnout was weighing down Indian markets, with the country’s main stock index suffering its biggest one-day drop in four months on Thursday over concerns that low participation could hurt Modi’s re-election prospects.

There are other possible factors. A scorching heat wave has smothered much of the country in recent weeks, with temperatures as much as 5C above normal on polling day in many places, including the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sikkim.

Hanan Mollah, an eight-time lawmaker from one of India’s communist parties, points to lower voting in rural areas as well, which he says is due to migration from rural to urban areas in recent years. Migrant workers, fearing they’ll lose their jobs, are unwilling to return to their home villages to vote, he said.

The hangover from India’s Covid-19 fight may also be at work. Some analysts said Indians who died during the coronavirus pandemic may not have been removed from voter rolls. If true, that could be inflating the electoral body’s count of eligible voters and depressing turnout. A 2022 study by the World Health Organization estimated 4.7 million Covid-19 deaths in India, nearly 10 times the official government figure.

“Covid deaths in India are significantly underreported,” said Manoh Jha, a member of parliament from Bihar state.

Anti-Incumbency Risks

Yet the drop in turnout remains a modest one for now, and doesn’t appear likely to benefit one side or the other, according to analysts and research on prior elections. A 2018 study on Indian state elections found that rising turnout had no meaningful relationship to election outcomes.

“We have no historical or statistical evidence to suggest that turnout increase or decline is related to anti-incumbency,” Verma said.

To be sure, voter turnout isn’t down across the board. In the northeastern state of Assam and West Bengal, turnout was 85.5% and 77.5%, respectively, in phase three.

A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu-nationalist group with close ties to the BJP, puts the lower turnout down to the fact that the ruling party has achieved many of its promises in its decade in power and voters aren’t motivated to come out in large numbers like before. Opposition voters also aren’t turning up because they see defeating the ruling party as unlikely, the person said, asking not to be identified in order to speak freely about internal discussions.

Favorable Turnout

The State Bank of India said a better measure of India’s voting patterns than participation rates is the outright number of voters. By that measure, the first two phases of India’s election saw 870,000 more voters casting their ballots compared with the first two phases of 2019, wrote Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic adviser at the bank.

“We believe this provides a truer picture of democracy through free exercise of franchise,” Ghosh wrote.

Still, experts often point to turnout as a barometer for the health of a democracy. India’s turnout tends to compare favorably with that of developed countries, with the 2019 figure in the mid-range of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to data from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

The recent drop has spurred a renewed get-out-the-vote effort by Indian election officials. The Election Commission last week said it gave orders to state officials to come up with plans to boost turnout, saying it was “disappointed” with participation in places including “India’s high-tech city” — an apparent reference to slumping turnout in Bengaluru.
India Vote A Chance For Kashmiris To Signal Opposition To Modi (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/9/2024 4:14 PM, Parvaiz Bukhari, 304K, Neutral]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign speeches claim his quelling of an insurgency in Kashmir as one of his greatest achievements, but many in the disputed region see India’s election as a chance to signal their disagreement.

Widely expected to win the biggest poll in history, Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not field any candidates in Kashmir for the first time in nearly three decades. Experts say they would have been roundly defeated if they had.

Modi’s government cancelled the limited autonomy Kashmir had under India’s constitution in 2019, a move accompanied by a huge security clampdown, mass arrests of local political leaders and a months-long telecommunications blackout.

Violence in the Muslim-majority region has since dwindled, and the BJP has consistently claimed that its residents supported the changes.

But some Kashmiri voters in this year’s national elections will be eager to express their frustrations with the end of their territory’s special status.

"I have never voted in the past. But this time, I will... to show that I am not happy with what India is doing with us," a middle-aged man told AFP in the main city of Srinagar, declining to be identified for fear of retribution.

"How can India say that Kashmiris are happy when we are actually suffocating in a state of fear and misery?"

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim it in full and have fought two wars over control of the Himalayan region.

Rebel groups opposed to Indian rule have waged an insurgency since 1989 on the side of the frontier controlled by New Delhi, demanding either independence or a merger with Pakistan.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of soldiers, rebels and civilians in the decades since, including a spate of firefights between suspected rebels and security forces in the past month.

India is in the middle of a six-week election, with voting staggered across phases to ease the logistical burden of staging a vote in the world’s most populous country.

Modi and his ministers have championed the end of Kashmir’s special status, saying at campaign rallies it has brought "peace and development", and the policy is popular among voters elsewhere in India.

But many in the valley have chafed at increasing curbs on civil liberties that have curtailed media freedoms and brought an effective end to once-common public protests.

Many are also upset with the 2019 decision to end constitutional guarantees that reserved local jobs and land for Kashmiris.

Open campaigning for separatism is illegal in India, and established democratic parties in Kashmir have historically differed on whether to collaborate with the government of the day in New Delhi or to pursue greater autonomy.

But antipathy towards Modi’s Hindu nationalist government had helped paper over differences between rival parties by forging a common sense of opposition, parliamentary candidate Waheed Ur Rehman Para told AFP.

"There’s a huge solidarity silently in Kashmir today for each other, irrespective of party lines," he said.

Para is standing for a seat that takes in Srinagar, the territory’s biggest city, on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was a BJP ally before 2019 but is now campaigning for the reinstatement of Kashmir’s autonomy.

Voters were preparing to "convey to Delhi that the consent of decisions about Kashmir is most important and it should lie with the locals", he said.

Political analyst and historian Sidiq Wahid told AFP the election was being seen by Kashmiris as a "referendum" on the Modi government’s policies in the territory.

"The BJP is not fielding any candidates for a very simple reason," he said. "Because they would lose, simple as that."

Modi’s party retains a presence in Kashmir in the form of a heavily bunkered and almost vacant office in Srinagar.

The complex is under constant paramilitary guard by some of the more than 500,000 troops India has permanently stationed in the region.

The BJP has appealed to voters to instead support smaller and newly created parties that have publicly aligned with Modi’s policies.

India’s powerful home minister Amit Shah, a close acolyte of Modi, said at a campaign rally last month the party had made a tactical decision not to field candidates.

He said he and his allies were in no rush to "see the lotus bloom" in Kashmir, a reference to the BJP’s floral campaign emblem, but would instead wait for the people of the valley to understand its good work.

"We are not going to conquer Kashmir," he told the crowd. "We want to win every heart in Kashmir."
‘I want to decide my vote for myself’: how women are shaping India’s political landscape (The Guardian)
The Guardian [5/10/2024 1:00 AM, Aishwarya Mohanty, 12.5M, Neutral]
Basanti Sabar, 30, is a third-time voter. But this time round, as the eastern Indian state of Odisha goes to the polls in simultaneous general and assembly elections, the former migrant worker will make a crucial shift in the way she votes.

In patriarchal rural India, who the family vote for is usually decided by the men. On 13 May, however, Sabar and other women in Padampur village will for the first time vote for a candidate of their choice – a shift that is influencing the way state and national politicians speak to women in their manifestos.

Padampur, in the drought-stricken Kalahandi district of western Odisha, is one of India’s most impoverished villages, whose people have for decades been compelled to migrate to make a living. Today, the men still leave, but the women, who have discovered financial independence in Odisha’s successful self-help group (SHG) movement, which offers them loans and benefits from state schemes, now stay put.

This newfound independence is changing what men and women want from politicians. Padampur’s men have their hopes pinned on broad-based changes such as more jobs and better incomes, which they believe only a national party can deliver. However the women, bolstered by the income available to them through loans and self-help schemes, support the state government, run by a regional party.

The government’s Economic Survey 2022-23 mentions that India’s female-led SHGs were emerging as the world’s biggest microfinance project. According to the survey, the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, which helps poorer Indians access microfinance through self-help groups and banks, covers 142 million families with saving deposits of Rs 470bn (£4.5bn).

SHGs were introduced nationally in 1984, but the establishment of a department for the scheme in Odisha in 2020 has resulted in more womenaccessing benefits.

The money has emboldened women. “Earlier, voting was a family decision but now I want to decide for myself. I am not just tending to my family but also contributing financially,” says Sabar, as she moulds bricks in the small kiln in her back yard.

The bricks will go into building the family a new home to replace their present thatch-and-bamboo one. “For how long are we expected to wait for a pucca (‘solid’) house?” demands Sabar, referring to a project of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) to build brick-and-concrete houses for poor rural households.

“We waited for a long time but no more. Now we will start constructing our own homes with the interest-free loan of Rs 10,000 that I took through the state government’s SHG scheme.”

Padampur has a long history of migration, with whole families leaving to work at brick kilns and becoming entrapped as bonded labourers. Sabar and her husband were rescued from bondage in 2017 from a brick kiln in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Back home, the couple were unsure of their future. “We have a small plot of land where we grow paddy [rice],” says Sabar. “Most of it is consumed at home, with little left to sell.”

While her husband continued to travel in search of work, Sabar joined a women’s SHG in 2020, a turning point in her life. “Through the group, I could take small loans for emergencies,” she says.

“During my pregnancy, I availed of benefits under the state government’s Mamata scheme. I had no such security while working elsewhere.” Sabar says she will vote for a party that has already delivered such benefits, not one that merely promises them.

Hemandri Gahir, who lives with her four children and parents-in-law in Kalahandi’s Funda village, echoes Sabar’s sentiments. While her husband’s job at a solar plant in Gujarat is their main income, Gahir, a farm worker, secured a loan last year through an SHG and has invested in goats and ducks.

“In the face of our hardship, I will only vote for a party that ensures something for me,” she says. “The state party has made sure that I can do something on my own, independently.”

Experts say this gender split in voting is becoming apparent across the state’s remote villages and is shaping political agendas.

Tara Krishnaswamy, coordinator of the non-partisan collective Political Shakti, says: “Many regional parties, including those in Odisha, have progressed from thinking about women’s needs only in terms of cooking gas and maternity to focusing on their higher education, entrepreneurship and microloans through SHGs.

“Women tend to vote based on what is already delivered, not just the promises in the manifesto.”

Migrant workers are a large part of the electoral base in the state; Odisha has at least 850,000 workers who leave for jobs from 10 districts. Traditional migration from Ganjam and other southern Odisha districts is considered aspirational, but in western Odisha, including Kalahandi, people migrate because of poverty or a degraded environment.

Most of these migrants work at brick kilns for 10 months of the year. Despite government initiatives to regulate migration and ensure workers’ welfare, there continues to be a big discrepancy between registered and non registered migrants.

But while the manifestos of the three parties in Odisha – the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the BJP and the Congress – address female voters, promising to strengthen SHGs, boost social security for widows and destitute women, and create female squads to improve rural women’s safety, they are silent on the subject of migration.

Migrant workers also say that politicians have made little effort to encourage them to vote. Across the villages in the migration-prone areas of Kalahandi and Balangir, people who were back for the annual Chaitra Parva, or harvest festival in April asserted that no political party had asked them to remain or return to vote. Many are unlikely to stay home to cast their vote.

“I am a second-generation migrant from my family,” says Sashi Gamang from Kalahandi’s Sindhipadar village. “Will whichever party I vote for ensure that I get a job here? I cannot put a month’s pay at stake. I haven’t decided yet, but I will most probably return to work.”

Dilip Das, chairman of Antodaya, a Kalahandi organisation working on labour issues, says it is unlikely that workers from western Odisha, often in debt bondage, would come back to vote. “Although migration has only increased over the years, politically, it is not an issue,” he says. “Had it been one, there would have been policies in place to help these families.”

Meanwhile, Parakhit Sabar, Basanti’s husband, says he will continue to travel to find work. “No one likes leaving their family behind and travelling to distant places for work but what option do I have?” he asks.

“This is the second election since we were rescued [from debt bondage]. Repeated promises have been made but nothing happens. I want to vote for a bigger national party in the hope that it will do something for us.”

His wife is voting for a regional party, he says: “I would never want to influence her. It is entirely her choice.”
‘We have no option’: An election protest brews in Indian coffee capital (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/10/2024 12:00 AM, Gurvinder Singh, 2.1M, Neutral]
Gemmala Sita is proud of the coffee beans she grows on what is among the world’s largest organic, fair-trade plantations. Her Arabica beans end up as steaming cups of coffee in the chic cafes of Paris and Dubai, Stockholm and Rome.

But the 29-year-old’s own life is a struggle for the basics. She must bathe in a makeshift washroom made of bamboo and covered with used household cloths.

Sita and her 45-year-old husband G Raja Rao are among 450 members of a tribal community that lives in Gondivalasa village in Araku Valley, on India’s eastern highlands facing the Bay of Bengal. The region in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is dotted with coffee fields renowned for its Arabica beans that are grown as an intercrop along with black pepper. When leaders from G20 nations visited New Delhi for the grouping’s annual summit last September, the Indian government gifted them this coffee.

Yet in Araku Valley, it is a protest that is brewing.

In India’s 2019 national election, the coffee hub grabbed headlines after more voters picked ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) from a long list of candidate options than the combined votes secured by the nation’s two biggest parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party, in the constituency.

Only one other constituency in all of India registered more NOTA votes than Araku’s 47,977 votes – a direct message from voters that they did not find any candidate worth supporting. In 2014, too, Araku notched up the highest NOTA tally of 16,352 votes for any constituency in Andhra Pradesh.

And since then, the disillusionment among voters like Sita has only grown – as India’s ongoing national election rolls around to Araku Valley, which is scheduled to vote on May 13. In October 2019, Modi declared India open defecation-free. Sita knows that’s not true.

“It would have been better had there been toilets in the houses, but we have to go out in the open every morning to defecate,” she said. “We have no other option.”

Sip of desperation

A British civil servant, NS Brodie, introduced coffee to Andhra Pradesh in 1898. Two decades later, in 1920, British revenue officers along with Maharaja of Jeypore – a now-abolished kingdom in present-day Odisha state – introduced coffee to Araku with seeds brought from the Nilgiris, a hill range in southern India.

Since then, the region’s coffee has emerged as a brand in its own right. Samala Ramesh, a deputy director at the local office of India’s coffee board, says the valley’s altitude – 3,000 feet above sea level – in a tropical region gives it a rare combination of hot days and cool nights. That, along with the medium levels of acidity in the region’s iron-rich soil, serve as ingredients that give Araku coffee a unique taste, he said.

The valley itself has 156 villages with a total population of 56,674 people, of which an estimated 20,000 people work in the coffee industry. The district it belongs to has a total of 230,000 coffee farmers. Most people involved in coffee farming come from tribal communities.

The annual unroasted coffee bean production of the entire district was around 15,000 metric tonnes in 2023-24. About 90 percent of Araku’s coffee is exported to Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Switzerland and other nations, according to the Trade Promotion Council of India. It is sold as gourmet coffee in Paris.

The government buys about 10 percent of the coffee from Araku farmers, while private firms buy the rest of it and process it, mostly for exports. The district’s coffee exports bring in 4 billion rupees ($48m) in annual revenue, said Ramesh. Overall, India is Asia’s third-largest coffee producer.

But while global audiences sip on Araku coffee, 33-year-old coffee farmer Buridi Samba said the region’s villagers don’t even have access to clean drinking water. They rely on natural springs.

The men in Gondivalasa bathe in a manhole they’ve built. There’s no drainage system. While the administration has built some public toilets, it has not provided water connections or septic tanks for human waste. The result: The toilets lie unused.

About 96 villages in the valley depend on one primary health centre (PHC) that is desperately short of medical staff. “We have just one general physician here and no specialist,” said Majji Bhadrayya, who heads the PHC.

While the health centre can do normal deliveries, it does not have the resources to carry out caesarean procedures. Patients often need to walk up to 10km (6 miles) to get to the clinic. Villagers carry those who can’t walk on makeshift stretchers made of clothes and tied to sticks. The health centre refers more serious cases to a larger hospital 7km (4.3 miles) away, said Bhadrayya. But that hospital too, a doctor there said on condition of anonymity, is missing specialists in key fields, as well as MRI and CT scan facilities.

Some villages have no proper roads connecting them to the clinic and hospital. In other cases, the roads are littered with potholes. Many parts of the region have no streetlights – so travelling after dusk is even more dangerous. And there’s only one college in the valley that offers degrees.

Tummidi Abhishek, an assistant executive engineer in the state government’s Tribal Welfare Department acknowledged that these shortages are “severe” in parts of the valley. But he insisted that the state government, under the regional YSR Congress Party, was “taking steps to improve the conditions in the valley and also in interior areas that had no accessibility before”.

These steps include the construction of so-called “multiple purpose centres” that would serve both as venues for community events and basic medical facilities – with labs for medical tests, midwives to help with deliveries and a room for doctors to examine patients. Abhishek said the government was also committed to building roads connecting remote villages to these facilities.

But the farmers of Araku have heard similar promises before. And it is not just the government that they feel bitter towards.

Earning a pittance

Since 1999, the Small and Marginal Tribal Farmers Mutually Aided Cooperative Society (SAMTFMACS), a cooperative of 100,000 coffee farmers families across 2,000 villages in the region, has tried to help the community produce better – and more sustainable – coffee. It is backed by the nonprofit Naandi Foundation. The cooperative supplies farmers with bio-inoculants to regenerate the soil, new varieties of seedlings and trains farmers in what is known as “terroir classification” – in essence, GPS mapping of each plot to help understand how the soil type, shade, elevation and other factors add to the unique taste of the coffee produced.

The cooperative also runs a modern processing unit in Araku, said Tamarba Chittibabu, the president of the cooperative society. Chittibabu said the cooperative usually sells the coffee to Araku Originals Private Limited (AOPL), a private firm that exports roasted beans to Belgium, France and China, among other countries.

But there’s a wide chasm between what the exporters make and what farmers earn.

Chittibabu said the cooperative buys coffee berries at 50 rupees ($0.60) per kilogramme – which he said was fair and based on the global price of coffee at the moment.

Ram Kumar Varma, the founder of Native Araku Coffee, a firm based in Visakhapatnam city in Andhra Pradesh, said his company tries to pay farmers a little more – 70 rupees ($0.80) per kilogramme. Many other coffee exporters buy berries from middlemen, who pay farmers even less than $0.60 per kilogramme for their produce. Varma and Chittibabu blamed middlemen for suppressing the earnings of farmers. “The middlemen have to be eliminated,” Varma said.

But Nava Roja, a 24-year-old coffee farmer, told Al Jazeera that even what SAMTFMACS or Native Araku pay producers is a pittance. She has around one acre of land that produces around 300kg (660 pounds) of berries. That gets her 15,000 rupees ($180) in a year, she said, at $0.60 per kilogramme.

“It is very difficult to survive with such a meagre amount in the face of growing inflation. We want at least 150 rupees [a little less than $2] per kilogramme as the roasted beans are sold at a very high price in the international market.”

Indeed, Varma confirmed that Araku’s coffee fetches between 2,500 and 6,000 rupees ($30-$72) per kilogramme in the international market.

Ballot or bullet

That sense of neglect from the government and the feeling of exploitation by the coffee industry have all made Araku fertile terrain for India’s Maoist rebels – who lead a far-left, armed movement spanning several states aimed at overthrowing the Indian state.

In 2018, Maoists shot dead two politicians hailing from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a regional political party in the state. In the past, Maoist fighters have also called on the valley’s people to boycott elections, said Vundrakonda Haribabu, a political scientist at Andhra University.

Yet, Araku’s coffee farmers have defied the Maoists to vote – tens of thousands of them instead choosing NOTA in 2019 as a way of registering their protest.

And five years later, many are convinced that remains their best bet at being heard.

“We are completely justified in pressing NOTA because it gives a clear message to the political parties that they have failed,” said 30-year-old Gemmela Vasu, a villager in Gondivalasa. “It is better to go for NOTA rather than boycotting the elections.”

The farmers insist that they are not asking for much – better prices for their coffee berries, roads and medical facilities – and toilets. On May 13, said Sita, the farmer who must defecate in the open, she will again queue up at a polling booth to vote. She still hopes democratic India will wake up and smell the coffee.
India projects biggest power shortfall in 14 years in June (Reuters)
Reuters [5/9/2024 9:14 AM, Sarita Chaganti Singh, 5239K, Neutral]
India is projecting its biggest power shortfall in 14 years in June after a slump in hydropower generation, its government told Reuters, and is racing to avoid outages by deferring planned plant maintenance and re-opening idled units.

The deficit also follows delays, a government source said, in the commissioning of 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired plants which had been targeted to be operational before March.

A peak shortage of 14 GW is forecast in June during nighttime hours, when solar capacity is offline, the Central Electricity Authority, the country’s planning body for the power sector, told Reuters in a statement.

"The planning process relies on worst-case scenarios," it said.

The gap is the widest since 2009-10, according to publicly available government data. India’s hydroelectricity output fell at the steepest pace in four decades in the year ended March 31, while renewable energy generation was flat.

Power Minister R K Singh held an emergency meeting last week to take stock of the situation, and decided to defer shutting down power plants for planned maintenance during June and revive 5 GW of idled coal plant capacity, two separate government sources present in the meeting said.

"All efforts have been made to maximise generation, and with the measures in place it is expected that the power demand would be adequately met during the day and the non-solar hours in the coming months including June 2024," the statement said.

Grid administrator Grid-India projects maximum night-time demand of 235 GW in June, the statement said. On the supply side, nearly 187 GW of thermal capacity is available, and about 34 GW from renewable sources, according to government sources.

The figures on power demand and capacity projections have not been previously reported.

The power ministry last month invoked emergency rights for the first time to direct gas-based and imported coal-based power plants to operate at full capacity.

India has long defended use of coal, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration had slowed capacity growth based on the heavily polluting fuel to focus on the green energy transition, with an eye to meeting 2070 net zero emission goals.

Plans to set up new coal power plants in the country, which is under pressure from rich economies to stop coal use, gathered momentum last year, but they will take a minimum of four years to start generation.

Existing coal-fired power plants and solar plants will help the nation meet its electricity demand during daytime hours, one of the government sources said.
India’s solar power subsidies for homes face scepticism (Reuters)
Reuters [5/9/2024 10:03 PM, Bhasker Tripathi, 11975K, Neutral]
Lakshmi Narayan was one of the first to see the light: in 2020 the engineer put solar panels on his roof in India’s Bhopal city, becoming a clean energy pioneer because of his desire to help his country move away from planet-heating fossil fuels.

"I understand the importance of renewable energy and thought that everyone should adopt it," said Narayan, 60, whose action inspired many others to do the same in the capital of Madhya Pradesh state in central India.

Now, a new government scheme - unveiled before voting began in nationwide elections in April - aims to encourage more people to install solar panels on their roofs as part of India’s commitment to triple renewable capacity by 2030.

The new programme, launched in February, provides 75 billion rupees ($9 billion) in subsidies to install grid-connected rooftop solar systems on around 10 million homes, allowing consumers to reduce their electricity bills when the sun shines and sell extra units to the grid to earn some money.

It is expected to create 30 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in homes, leading to a reduction of 720 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent planet-heating emissions over the 25-year lifespan of the rooftop systems.

"I want three things. Every household’s power bill should be zero; we should sell surplus electricity and earn money; and I want to make India self-reliant in the energy sector as we transition to the era of electric vehicles," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised interview in late April.

The process, which was previously complicated and fragmented, has been simplified with the creation of a one-stop online portal to smooth applications and facilitate installations. Subsidies are deposited directly into people’s bank accounts.

India overtook Japan to become the third-largest solar power generator in 2023, providing 5.9% of global growth in solar, a report by think tank Ember said on May 8.

But Ember noted that wind, solar and other low-carbon sources are not yet growing fast enough to meet India’s rising electricity demand.

The new rooftop solar programme is meant to boost that growth but Narayan’s experience offers a cautionary tale.

He says the new online portal will provide answers to a lot of the bureaucratic headaches that used to bedevil the process but, in his experience, the bigger challenge is getting the electricity distribution companies, or DISCOMs, on board.

A December 2023 study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think tank, said DISCOMs were supposed to provide seamless access and connectivity for rooftop solar systems to the national grid but that this was sometimes "in direct conflict with business interests of the companies".

Narayan said that although he saved up to 250,000 rupees ($2,996) in electricity bills over three years thanks to his 6 kilowatt (KW) solar system, selling excess electricity to the grid proved to be problematic with debt-ridden DISCOMs proving ineffective partners.

"The electricity distribution company charges me 8 rupees for each unit that I consume from the grid, but for the surplus solar electricity that I sell back to the grid, they pay me 1.5 rupees per unit. How is that fair?"

And he said that the distribution company added a fixed charge of 500 rupees to his monthly bill after he installed the panels.

"They said that this is the minimum amount we will charge you even if your bill is zero," he said, adding that he got no answer when he enquired about the reason for the new tariff.

DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGES, LACK OF SKILLS

The pledge to cut electricity bills by boosting the solar power sector was a key election promise from Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and reflects India’s long-term commitment to boost renewables.

In 2015, India promised to install 40 GW of rooftop solar capacity by 2022 but progress has been slow. By the end of 2023, it had only installed 11 GW, including 3 GW in homes with the rest in commercial or industrial properties.

That original commitment has now been revised to 100 GW of rooftop solar installations by 2026, 40 GW of which would come from the residential sector alone.

Energy experts say India’s solar drive is hampered by fears of DISCOMs losing income, a shortage of skilled workers to make, install and service solar panels, and the proliferation of substandard products.

Danish Ali, who has installed a 4 KW solar system on his roof in Lucknow in northern India, said another problem arose from the fact that the grid-connected solar systems cannot deliver power during outages unless they have a separate battery to operate them.

"In areas where there are long power cuts, grid-connected systems will not work because they do not provide any power back-up," the 50-year-old said.

Ali has to endure up to two hours of power outages a few times a week during peak summer months when temperatures regularly rise above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

He said that adding a battery to the grid-connected system could solve the problem, but the government subsidy does not cover the installation of such hybrid systems.

Shreya Mishra, CEO of Mumbai-based SolarSquare Energy, which installs solar panels and is one of India´s largest rooftop solar companies, said the industry could be on the brink of a boom; in 2023, 150,000 rooftop systems were installed and there are plans to target 2.5 million houses this year, she said.

"The programme has turned rooftop solar into a dinner table conversation that has turbocharged the consumer interest," she said.

But more training is needed for workers in these new green jobs and domestic manufacture of solar panels must also be ramped up, she added.

The government says the new solar programme will create around 1.7 million direct jobs across various sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, sales, installation, operation, maintenance, and other services.

An expert with a solar consultancy, who did not wish to be named, said that the relatively limited growth of home solar systems had already caused friction with DISCOMs.

"Imagine millions of homes being hooked up to the grid and injecting their excess electricity in a system that is already facing so many technical losses," the expert said, referring to losses caused by, for example, damage to transmission lines or electricity theft.

For Narayan, solving distribution issues will be central to encouraging more people to switch to solar and install panels on their rooftops.

"If the government can enable people to truly earn some money, not for show but justified money, with these rooftop systems, it will be a hit among customers. Who would not want it?" he said.
NSB
Why Is Bangladesh Seeking a $5 Billion Soft Loan From China? (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [5/9/2024 4:28 AM, Ali Riaz, 201K, Neutral]
The Bangladesh government’s decision to request a $5 billion soft loan from China for budget support to replenish foreign currency reserves and pay import bills is both puzzling and not surprising, at once.

Puzzling, because Bangladesh has not previously sought soft loans from China, especially such a large amount. In past years, Bangladesh borrowed from China for various projects; these are largely “supplier credit” and the highest amount China released was $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023.

However, Bangladesh’s decision to seek soft loans should not come as a surprise considering the country’s ongoing economic crisis. The government seems to be on a loan-seeking spree in the wake of dwindling foreign reserves, downward spiraling of GDP growth and high inflation. The country needs money to meet its debt obligations and, according to a Bangladeshi think tank, is resorting to more borrowing to meet these obligations. Perhaps a vicious cycle is being created, mortgaging the future of the country.

The news of Bangladesh’s request to China became known at a time when Bangladesh and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held staff-level discussions and the third tranche of Bangladesh’s $4.7 billion loan, amounting to $1.4 billion, was approved. The IMF loans are being released as Bangladesh is meeting certain conditions, some of which are highly detrimental to the common people – for example, rising fuel prices. Energy costs have already increased three times last year, and four more price hikes are expected to come by the end of the year.

The government’s moves to borrow are consistent with their efforts since the summer of 2022 to avert an economic meltdown and fit the pattern of borrowing since 2011. Between FY2011 and FY2023, total external outstanding public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt tripled, and debt servicing increased by 2.6 times. Domestic borrowing has also leaped.

However, the request to China for soft loans has economic and political implications.

The growing footprint of China in Bangladesh and the demonstration of its economic prowess over the past year have been discussed widely in the media and public discourse. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington-based think tank, estimated last year that the total Chinese investment in Bangladesh is about $7.07 billion. Additionally, Chinese companies have received construction contracts worth $22.94 billion in different sectors. Bangladesh-China trade is highly lopsided, with China exporting goods to Bangladesh worth $22.90 billion against its imports of $677 million in FY2023.

Borrowing from China, as well as its investments in infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) around the world, has been criticized as a “debt trap.” These loans have become a source of economic hardship for many countries, forcing them to compromise policy sovereignty. According to an analysis by the Associated Press, published in 2023, countries borrowing from China tended to spend that money to pay off foreign debt.

In some instances, borrowing from China has impacted a country’s relationship with multilateral institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank. The lack of transparency in Chinese loans and their use in projects with high ESG (Environmental, Social, or Governance) risks have prompted serious questions. Chinese-funded projects in Bangladesh are not free from such risks; instead, according to AidData, a U.S.-based research lab, 59 percent of BRI projects in the country are facing ESG risks. The proportion of this portfolio facing significant ESG risks has increased dramatically, from $1 billion in 2015 to over $12 billion by 2021. In addition, Chinese loans’ repayment schedules tend to be of shorter periods compared to loans from multilateral agencies.

There are also allegations that the absence of strict scrutiny of the use of Chinese loans encourages corruption. Studies have shown that Chinese loans are prone to be misused for political purposes and diminish accountability. In an illuminating study based on statistics from AidData, Andreas Kern, Bernhard Reinsberg, and Patrick E. Shea showed in 2022 that the co-occurrence of Chinese loans and IMF programs is highly problematic for governance and encourages corrupt leaders.

Loans and investments from China, particularly the former, come with a political agenda of increasing its sphere of influence. China’s assertive policy toward South Asia, using soft power in the past decade, is easily discernable. Bangladesh’s decision to lean on China shows that Beijing is making further inroads in the country and the region.

It is worth noting that the decision came within months of the 2024 election. In the run-up to the election, there were discussions about a geopolitical tug-of-war between China and the United States. China extended unwavering support to the Sheikh Hasina government, while the U.S. insisted on a free, fair, and inclusive election. Some analysts argued that the U.S. policy supporting democracy in Bangladesh would backfire as it would prompt Hasina to move closer to China.

India, which has provided unqualified support to Prime Minister Hasina since 2009, insisted that the U.S. should back off to prevent Hasina’s potential slide to China. The United States, in the wake of the engineered election of January 7, 2024, apparently stepped back. Ostensibly, the Indian argument was that it would be able to contain the Chinese influence on the Hasina regime although the record of the past decade was not indicating any success.

China’s influence on Bangladesh increased remarkably after 2009 when the relationship between India and Bangladesh has been described as a “golden era.” This development juxtaposed with the upcoming joint military exercise of Bangladesh and China, and the possibility of Chinese involvement in the Teesta project, indicates that the geopolitical great game in Bangladesh will be more intense.

Whether China would respond to Bangladesh’s request for the loan is yet to be seen, but given the record of lack of transparency of both the Bangladeshi and Chinese governments, Bangladeshis may not know what transpired. What, however, is well-known is that no forum in Bangladesh requires the government to explain why it must seek loans from China in addition to the loans it has secured from multilateral bodies. It is unlikely that the citizens would know what terms and conditions are being attached to the loans Bangladesh is seeking. Neither will it be discussed as to why the loans are being added to the earlier secured loans, which are reported to be creating pressure on Bangladesh’s loan repayment.

The absence of an accountable system of governance is making it possible for the government to unilaterally make decisions without any input from those who will have to bear the burden, financially and politically.
India urges pro-China Maldives to ease tensions and improve their strained relationship (AP)
AP [5/9/2024 10:46 AM, Ashok Sharma, 22K, Neutral]
India urged pro-China Maldives on Thursday to ease tensions and improve their strained relationship.

The foreign ministers of India and Maldives met in New Delhi a day ahead of a deadline set by the Maldives’ new president, Mohamed Muizzu, for India to withdraw dozens of its soldiers from the archipelago nation.

Tensions between India and Maldives have grown since pro-China Muizzu came to power last year.

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told his Maldives counterpart, Moosa Zameer, that India has been a key provider of development assistance, including infrastructure projects, medical care and health facilities.

“It is in our common interest that we reach an understanding on how best we can take our relationship forward,” a statement by India’s External Affairs Ministry quoted Jaishankar as saying.

Zameer’s response was not immediately known.

Regional powers India and China are competing for influence in Maldives, which has a strategic location in the Indian Ocean.

Muizzu’s election sharpened their rivalry as he took a pro-China stand and acted to remove Indian troops stationed on one of Maldives’ islets.

The Press Trust of India news agency said earlier this week that India has withdrawn 51 of its soldiers in two batches from Maldives so far.

At least 75 Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives. They operated two aircraft donated by India and assisted in the rescue of people stranded or faced with calamities at sea. Muizzu has taken steps to have civilians take over those activities.

On Thursday, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said both sides have been working together to ensure the continued operation of Indian aviation platforms. “Accordingly, the deputation of competent Indian technical personnel (civilians) has taken place,” he said.

Muizzu ran for president on a campaign theme of “India out,” accusing his predecessor of compromising national sovereignty by giving India too much influence.

After taking office, Muizzu visited China ahead of India and said Maldives’ small size is not a license for anyone to bully it.

On his return, he spelled out plans to rid his nation of dependence on India for health facilities, education and medicines.

Last year, New Delhi started construction of the Indian-funded Greater Male connectivity project, billed as the largest infrastructure initiative in the island nation, a 6.7-kilometer (4.2-mile) -long bridge and causeway connecting the capital city, Male, with the islands of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi.

India also is helping Maldives to build 4,000 homes and has extended a $100 million line of credit to finance other infrastructure projects. The two countries have signed agreements for cooperation in cybersecurity, disaster management and fishing zone forecast capacity.

In 2013, Maldives joined China’s “Belt and Road” initiative to build ports and highways to expand trade — and China’s influence — across Asia, Africa and Europe.
India completes troop exit from Maldives at pro-China leader’s request (Reuters)
Reuters [5/9/2024 10:48 AM, Krishn Kaushik, 5239K, Positive]
India has replaced some 80 soldiers on the Maldives with civilians after a demand by President Mohamed Muizzu who has pivoted the archipelago’s ties towards China, New Delhi officials said on Thursday.

The Indian troops supported two helicopters and an aircraft that were given by New Delhi and mainly used for marine surveillance, search-and-rescue and medical evacuation operations on the islands of about half a million people.

"Both sides have been working together to ensure continued operation of Indian aviation platforms," India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

"Accordingly, deputation of competent Indian technical personnel has taken place."

The announcement coincided with a visit by Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer to India, the first visit by a senior official since Muizzu took office in November last year.

Maldivian leaders traditionally made New Delhi their first port of call after coming to office but Muizzu has courted China instead and deepened defence ties as global powers jostle for influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

At a meeting with Zameer, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that it was in both nations’ common interest to understand how best to take ties forward.

Zameer said afterwards on X that talks centred on cooperation in fields from infrastructure to capacity building.
Apart from the troops issue, the Maldives’ permission to a Chinese research vessel to dock at its port, in India’s backyard, has also caused concern in New Delhi.

India opened a new naval base near the Maldives in March to enhance surveillance in the Indian Ocean. But despite the strains, its development projects in the Maldives have in fact gained pace.
Maldives FM meets Indian counterpart at frosty time in relations (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia [5/9/2024 8:37 AM, Kiran Sharma, 293K, Positive]
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday told his visiting Maldivian counterpart, Moosa Zameer, that ties between the "close and proximate" neighbors depend on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity after bilateral relations were strained by the election last year of a pro-China president in the Maldives.

India has been a key provider of development assistance to the Maldives, often extending financial support on favorable terms in the past.

"Our cooperation has also enhanced the security and well-being of your country through shared activities, equipment provisioning, capacity building and training," Jaishankar said during talks with Zameer, who arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday evening on his first official visit.

"The world is today passing through a volatile and uncertain period," Jaishankar said. "In such times, as we saw during COVID, during natural disasters and economic difficulties, close partnerships with neighbors are of great value."

Zameer posted on X after meeting: "We reflected on our long history of bilateral partnership shared by mutual respect and understanding.

"We exchanged perspectives on increasing engagement and exchanges between Maldives and India, both bilaterally and in the international arena."

Ahead of their meeting, India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement describing the Maldives as India’s key maritime neighbor in the Indian Ocean region, and said Zameer’s visit was expected to add momentum to bilateral cooperation.

The visit comes after bilateral relations hit turbulence with the election last year of President Mohamed Muizzu, who is considered pro-China. One of his campaign promises was to remove Indian troops stationed in his country for humanitarian and medical evacuation services.

Indian personnel numbering fewer than 100 have been leaving in a phased manner, with Muizzu setting May 10 as the deadline for their complete withdrawal.

After he assumed office, Muizzu chose to go to Turkey on his first official visit, breaking with the tradition of all previous democratically elected Maldivian presidents traveling to India first. He went on to visit China in January, a move that was a clear sign of Male’s tilt toward Beijing away from New Delhi. Both countries seek influence in the strategically situated Indian Ocean archipelago.

Muizzu’s China tour came just as a major diplomatic row with India erupted over some Maldivian ministers making disparaging remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Those were met with angry Indian calls for a boycott of the islands, known for their idyllic resorts.

The spat kicked off after Modi made a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, promoting tourism in India’s Lakshadweep archipelago off the coast of its southern state of Kerala. Even though Modi did not refer to the Maldives in any of his posts, some Maldivian ministers interpreted them as intended to lure tourists away.

In response to questions about reports that a Chinese survey vessel had returned to Maldivian waters, making its second visit to the tiny nation this year, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, told the press on May 2 that India keeps a close eye on such developments and takes measures accordingly.

All regional developments that have an impact on national and economic security are watched closely, and "appropriate measures ... are taken to safeguard them," Jaiswal said.
Sri Lanka Plans to Hold Presidential Election From September (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/9/2024 5:38 AM, Anusha Ondaatjie, 5543K, Neutral]
Sri Lanka announced plans to vote for a president from September as the South Asian country looks to get back on track after the worst economic crisis in its independent history.

The Election Commission will carry out the presidential poll on a day between Sept. 17 and Oct. 16 after calling for nominations for candidates, according to a statement on Thursday.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose term ends in November, is likely to seek a mandate for the economic reforms he is carrying out in exchange for a $3 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund. Wickremesinghe was elected by lawmakers in July 2022 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned following weeks of street protests.

The election announcement comes as Sri Lanka holds talks with global investors to restructure some $12 billion in defaulted global bonds. Wickremesinghe said earlier on Thursday that his aim is to complete the debt restructuring by June.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan cracking down on illegal migration in aftermath of Moscow terror attack (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/9/2024 4:14 PM, Almaz Kumenov, 57.6K, Negative]
Kazakhstan is intensifying scrutiny of labor migrants from neighboring Central Asian states, Tajiks in particular, in the aftermath of the late-March Moscow terrorist tragedy. Tajik guest workers are complaining that they are being subjected to mass detention and deportations.

The crackdown on Tajik labor migrants in Kazakhstan in some respects mimics the treatment that guest workers have experienced in Russia since Tajik nationals were implicated as the perpetrators of the CrocusCity Hall attack, which left over 140 individuals dead.

Radio Ozodi, the Tajik service of RFE/RL, reported May 7 that Kazakh police were carrying out a security sweep across the country, featuring document checks designed to identify violators of Kazakhstan’s immigration regime.

“The situation for natives of Tajikistan has worsened. Raids are carried out and many are deported. There were cases when even those who had a temporary residence permit were detained and deported,” Radio Ozodi quoted a Tajik citizen who has been working in Kazakhstan for six years, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Kazakh police earlier in May released data from a security operation carried out in the central region of Ulytau, during which 16 Tajik and Uzbek nationals were taken into custody for not having required work authorization. “To ensure law and order, all foreign citizens were forcibly evicted from the country,” according to a police statement. Police were also targeting migrants who were suspected of ignoring previous court-ordered deportation notices.

The police response to the Moscow terrorist incident extends beyond the labor migrant crackdown. For example, law enforcement personnel have conducted security inspections in shopping malls, markets, educational institutions and other venues where large crowds congregate to ensure they have plans to contend with possible terror attacks. By the end of April, 1,800 establishments had been inspected for security procedures, resulting in 180 administrative cases filed for regulatory violations.

“Inspections are not limited to just identifying deficiencies. Police officers determine the level of knowledge and skills of personnel, as well as security of objects, on actions in various emergency situations and conduct training,” according to a Ministry of Internal Affairs statement.

As Central Asia’s most prosperous state, Kazakhstan has traditionally attracted substantial numbers of guest workers from neighboring states, especially Uzbekistan. According to International Organization for Migration statistics, almost 725,000 foreign nationals migrated to Kazakhstan between 2020-23, mainly for work purposes, although some fled potential repression in Russia or evaded the military draft there. Uzbeks comprised the majority of migrants during the four-year period. Russians and Tajiks comprised the next two largest national groups of migrants. Almaty, Astana, Mangystau and Karaganda were the top migrant destinations in Kazakhstan.

Tajik official data indicates that in July 2022, more than 10,000 of Tajik citizens were working in Kazakhstan, although Tajik diaspora members contend that the figure undercounted the actual number of labor migrants in the country. Most are engaged in menial labor, such as construction. At that time, many Tajiks said they preferred working in Kazakhstan than in Russia because of a more welcoming atmosphere in Central Asia. But that may no longer be the case for many.

According to a 2023 academic study, titled Perspectives on Labor Migration: Insights from Kazakhstan, authorities have struggled to keep up regulatory pace with the influx of guest workers.

“Kazakhstan’s labor migration management is currently faced with pressing challenges,” the study asserts. “These include a disparity between attracting labor migrants and effectively regulating their flow, a lack of tools to assess regional demand for skilled foreign workers, and inadequate systems to monitor migrant movement and placement.”

A separate 2023 academic study, Labor Migration: A view from Kazakhstan, highlighted other gaps in the country’s labor migration framework, including “violations of labor laws by migrants and employers, including the employment or hiring of low-skilled foreign citizens without an employment contract.” The study also noted that some guest workers endured “restriction of personal freedom” and “wage discrimination.”

The CrocusCity Hall attack in Russia appears to have spurred Kazakh authorities to play “catch up” in addressing illegal migration.

On May 7, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan cautioned citizens going to Kazakhstan to be prepared for heightened security measures.

“In case of checks during border and customs control upon arrival in Kazakhstan, citizens of Tajikistan need to be prepared to answer questions related to the purpose and timing of the trip, place of residence, presence of friends or relatives in Kazakhstan, providing, if necessary, their residential address and contact information telephones,” the Tajik Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Kazakhstan: Misinformation and punishment (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/9/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
Authorities in Kazakhstan are channeling Don Quixote. But whereas Cervantes’ epic hero was inclined to tilt at windmills, Kazakh officials are trying to address a serious yet intractable problem – stemming the swirl of misinformation on social media.

During the second half of April, Kazakhstan experienced several episodes in which false rumors circulating on social media caused varying degrees of public panic. In one of the more serious cases, a rumor of a school-shooting plot in Astana circulated on Telegram on April 19 sparked widespread concern among parents. Police quickly debunked the information and announced an investigation into the incident.

Those identified as purveyors of misinformation causing public unrest are being detained and fined. In one case, a 27-year-old man in the northern city of Pavlodar was fined for spreading a false assertion that aid workers were stealing humanitarian assistance meant for those displaced by flooding in the region.

A similar episode occurred in Petropavlovsk, where a 47-year-old woman witnessed volunteers loading food into a car at an administrative building, assuming the contents were being misappropriated. She filmed the action with her phone and posted it on social media, portraying it as evidence of theft. The video went viral on TikTok and other social media channels before being debunked. Police later determined that the film showed legitimate activities. The female social media poster received an administrative fine.

Thus far, those found guilty of circulating demonstrably false content on social media have faced only administrative penalties. But Kazakhstan’s criminal code does provide for punishment of such offenses, including large fines and imprisonment for up to seven years.
Kyrgyz President Raises Labor Mobility Issues in Moscow (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [5/9/2024 10:53 AM, Catherine Putz, 201K, Neutral]
For the second year in a row all five Central Asian presidents joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for the annual Victory Day parade on May 9. Their appearance in Red Square flanking Putin as the rain came down, tanks rolled by, and thousands of soldiers marched through underscores their ongoing linkages, both economic and political, to Russia.

But the trip to Moscow also presented an opportunity for Central Asian leaders to bring matters of concern directly to Putin. It attests to the dual nature of the relationship: Russia needs Central Asia as well.

Kyrgyzstan is a case in point. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov raised the issue of labor migration in his remarks in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) meeting that took place on May 8.

The EAEU’s Supreme Eurasian Economic Council met to mark the grouping’s 10th anniversary on May 8. The EAEU’s leaders met first, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as well as Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

An expanded meeting included EAEU observers Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez. Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States Sergei Lebedev was also in attendance.

Elvira Aidarkhanova described the EAEU in an article for The Diplomat last year as “a relatively successful geopolitical project for Russia” but also “an ineffective instrument in terms of economic cooperation and integration, paradoxically its very reasons for being.”

The EAEU’s treaty was signed in late May 2014 by Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The initiative, which grew from various economic projects in the former Soviet space, was inspired by then-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. As far back as 1994, Nazarbayev had suggested forming a “Eurasian Union” to bridge regional trade between Asia and Europe. The EAEU’s treaty came into force on January 1, 2015; Kyrgyzstan and Armenia joined that year.

The organization’s expansion halted there. In recent years, both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan flirted with membership, but neither has pursued it fully quite yet – the latter is an observer, however.

The EAEU’s economic benefits (or lack thereof) have been exhaustively discussed elsewhere. There is, however, indisputable political value in membership – both for Russia and the Central Asian members. For Russia, the EAEU provides a ready roster of leaders to meet with and extends Russia’s economic interests and norms into a wider political space. It’s no accident that while Armenia is the EAEU’s chair this year, the group often meets in Moscow in May – this time on the day between Putin’s fifth inauguration on May 7 and the nationalistic fanfare of May 9. While technically, Pashinyan was the meeting’s chair, and speakers addressed their remarks to him, the the gravity invariably pulled toward Putin.

In his remarks at the meeting, Kyrgyz President Japarov raised the issue of “mobility of labor resources.”

“For the Kyrgyz Republic, issues of worker mobility are of fundamental importance, and therefore we call on you to prevent violations or deterioration of the provisions of the Treaty on the EAEU. We must not allow serious damage to the image of our association. It is necessary to strengthen the trust of our citizens and continue to work on the formation of a single labor market,” Japarov said.

His remarks were addressed to the chair, but it was Putin’s ears the statement was for.

Since the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack, several Central Asian states – Kyrgyzstan first and most recently Tajikistan – have warned their citizens against migration to Russia. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are among the world’s most remittance dependent countries, and Russia is a major destination. Indeed, labor mobility to Russia was a major motivational factor in Kyrgyzstan’s decision to join the EAEU.

While the remarks shared are just one small instance, they hint at a larger reality: EAEU membership provides a venue for Kyrgyzstan to bring up its concerns, much the way attending the May 9 parade provides Central Asian leaders with facetime with Putin. It’s possible (and likely) that the issue of labor migration was also raised by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. That Kyrgyzstan published Japarov’s speech and Tajikistan has said very little about what, if anything, was discussed in Moscow illustrates, in part, differences between the two when it comes to communications policies and the relative degrees of openness. But in these moments, all the opacity aside, we can see the ways in which it is Russia that is reliant on Central Asia – flipping the traditional script in which the Central Asian states are merely subservient to Moscow.

Nothing particularly significant was agreed upon at the EAEU meeting. The documents signed included one authorizing the start of negotiations with Mongolia on a “temporary trade agreement” and an electronic information agreement with Vietnam.

Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan did not stick around for the Victory Day parade, illustrating Armenia’s own divergent, often difficult, and evolving relationship with Moscow.
Twitter
Afghanistan
WHO Afghanistan
@WHOAfghanistan
[5/9/2024 2:47 AM, 92.8K followers, 1 retweet, 4 likes]
We were delighted and deeply honored to welcome the first-ever female Regional Director of @WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region to our #Afghanistan Country Office.

WHO Afghanistan
@WHOAfghanistan
[5/9/2024 2:47 AM, 92.8K followers]
Her visit during the first 100 days of her tenure filled us with immense joy and gratitude. Dr @HananBalkhy met with everyone and took pictures with all, leaving no one behind!
Pakistan
Imran Khan
@ImranKhanPTI
[5/9/2024 11:02 AM, 20.6M followers, 5.6K retweets, 11K likes]
LIVE | Imran Khan & Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Grand Virtual Jalsa https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1LyGBnLMymMGN

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[5/9/2024 9:41 AM, 209.9K followers, 26 retweets, 122 likes]
One year after violent political protests in Pakistan-on a rare if not unprecedented scale-targeted military installations and facilities and monuments, the Army is back on the front foot. Imran Khan is in jail, a new government coalition is led by the parties it backs, and it’s stepped up its influence across the wider policy space, especially the economy. But it still confronts an institutional crisis, rooted in the high levels of public sentiment against it (much of it quietly harbored rather than openly expressed) and divisions within it fueled by some enduring support for Khan within the ranks. This is on top of a perfect storm of serious policy challenges: surges in terrorist attacks (many of which target soldiers), volatility along three of Pakistan’s borders, and a stressed economy that the military appears willing to be burdened with the responsibility of taking a lead role in fixing.

Hamid Mir
@HamidMirPAK
[5/9/2024 11:28 PM, 8.5M followers, 107 retweets, 307 likes]
Shutter-down and wheel jam strike today in Azad Jammu & Kashmir today after the arrest of 70 people https://www.dawn.com/news/1832587

Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office
@amnestysasia
[5/9/2024 3:29 AM, 80.4K followers, 6.2K retweets, 9.3K likes]
On 9 May 2023, Pakistan experienced countrywide protests in wake of the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The military and police used unlawful force against protestors, arbitrarily detained thousands, over a hundred of whom were detained in military custody, and imposed blanket suspension of mobile internet and social media platforms lasting several days. 1/4

Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office
@amnestysasia
[5/9/2024 3:29 AM, 80.4K followers, 1.2K retweets, 2.2K likes]
.@amnesty has observed over the last year that scores of protestors remain in custody, implicated in multiple cases, and have repeatedly been denied bail. 85 protestors are currently under military custody and being tried in military courts in a blatant violation of international human rights principles. 2/4

Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office
@amnestysasia
[5/9/2024 3:29 AM, 80.4K followers, 1.3K retweets, 2.3K likes]
Amnesty International is concerned about the prolonged detention of women protestors, including Sanam Javed, Yasmin Rashid and Alia Hamza, and the violation of their pre-trial rights through persistent denial of bail. There has been a pattern of filing new cases and arrests after bail is granted in existing cases to keep protestors under custody. Families of those under civilian and military custody have been severely impacted, many losing their sole breadwinners and bearing the emotional brunt of their absence. 3/4

Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office
@amnestysasia
[5/9/2024 3:29 AM, 80.4K followers, 1.4K retweets, 2.4K likes]
Amnesty International calls on the Government of Pakistan to:
- Unconditionally release all peaceful protestors under detention and ensure the right to fair trial for all those implicated in the 9 May protest as per its obligations under international human rights law.
- Immediately suspend trials of civilians through military courts.
- End practices impeding the right to protest, including laws that penalize protestors and blanket bans on protests through imposition of section 144 (Code of Criminal Procedure). 4/4
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[5/9/2024 12:42 PM, 976.M followers, 6.3K retweets, 39K likes]
Took part in the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II this evening. It is gladdening to see people from different walks of life, who have made grassroots level contributions, being conferred with the Padma Awards.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[5/10/2024 12:21 AM, 97.6M followers, 4.1K retweets, 13.8K likes]
Covered multitude of subjects in an extensive interview to @republic. Do watch! https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1kvKpvRDjMXJE

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[5/9/2024 11:33 PM, 97.6M followers, 3.7K retweets, 19K likes]
I pay homage to Jagadguru Basaveshwara on the special occasion of Basava Jayanthi. His ideals illuminate millions of lives. We are working towards fulfilling his dreams of a just and prosperous society.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[5/9/2024 12:42 PM, 97.6M followers, 6.4K retweets, 40K likes]
Took part in the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II this evening. It is gladdening to see people from different walks of life, who have made grassroots level contributions, being conferred with the Padma Awards.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[5/9/2024 12:40 PM, 97.6M followers, 3.8K retweets, 25K likes]
Anguished by the loss of lives due to a mishap at a factory in Sivakasi. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray that those who have been injured recover at the earliest.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[5/9/2024 12:07 PM, 3.1M followers, 86 retweets, 609 likes]
Privileged to participate in the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II this evening. Congratulate all those who were conferred the highest civilian honours of the nation, the Padma Awards. Applaud PM @narendramodi ‘s leadership for making these awards, truly #PeoplesPadma.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[5/9/2024 4:21 AM, 3.1M followers, 699 retweets, 5K likes]
Welcomed FM @MoosaZameer of Maldives this afternoon. My remarks at our talks: https://twitter.com/i/status/1788484430539174215

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[5/9/2024 8:54 AM, 209.9K followers, 7 retweets, 20 likes]
The southern Indian state of Karnataka, a longtime BJP-Congress battleground, underscores the challenges the BJP alliance faces to achieving its electoral goal of winning 400 seats in India’s lower parliament. My analysis for @ForeignPolicy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/05/08/india-election-battleground-karnataka-modi-bjp-congress/

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[5/9/2024 11:01 PM, 209.9K followers, 8 retweets, 15 likes]
Earlier this week I spoke to @abcnews about the recent arrest of three men tied to the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada last year, Canada’s allegations against India, and the impact of all this on Canada’s relations with New Delhi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXEKRzFQIOs
NSB
Awami League
@albd1971
[5/9/2024 8:44 AM, 637.6K followers, 44 retweets, 125 likes]
HPM Sheikh Hasina said that no one can take away #Palestinians’ right to land in #Gaza. During the inauguration of the #Hajj program 2024, she highlighted the miseries of #Muslims in Palestine. She said ‘#Genocide is being carried out there where no children, women or men are being spared.’ #SaveGaza #FreePalestine https://albd.org/articles/news/41408

Awami League
@albd1971
[5/9/2024 7:12 AM, 637.6K followers, 31 retweets, 111 likes]
Indian Foreign Secretary @AmbVMKwatra has called on Prime Minister #SheikhHasina. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s official residence Ganabhaban today. @BDMOFA @ihcdhaka @MEAIndia @DrHasanMahmud62

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[5/9/2024 10:43 PM, 209.9K followers, 10 likes]
The Biden administration has announced David Meale as its nominee to be the next US ambassador to Bangladesh. He’s currently the DCM in Beijing. He also previously served in Dhaka, as DCM. Additionally, he has worked on sanctions policy at State. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/09/president-biden-announces-key-nominees-73/

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[5/9/2024 10:44 AM, 108.1K followers, 127 retweets, 138 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officiates the Oath Taking and Arms Presentation ceremony for the graduates of MNDF’s 70th Basic Training Course.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives
@MoFAmv
[5/9/2024 12:07 PM, 53.8K followers, 20 retweets, 28 likes]
Foreign Minister @Moosazameer and delegation visits the High Commission of Maldives in New Delhi. Minister met with High Commissioner @Ambshaheeb and staff working at @MDVinIdia.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives
@MoFAmv
[5/9/2024 9:18 AM, 53.8K followers, 28 retweets, 43 likes]
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Moosa Zameer and Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar hold official talks Press Release | https://t.ly/ME83v

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives
@MoFAmv
[5/9/2024 6:38 AM, 53.8K followers, 26 retweets, 36 likes]
Foreign Minister H.E. @MoosaZameer and External Affairs Minister of #India H.E. @DrSJaishankar hold official talks. Discussions centered on expanding and deepening cooperation in a range of fields such as infrastructure development and capacity building.

Derek J. Grossman
@DerekJGrossman
[5/9/2024 9:58 PM, 88.4K followers, 17 retweets, 86 likes]
Maldives-India reboot is beginning. It’ll be tough, particularly after China-friendly president Muizzu’s big election victory. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/first-maldives-india-meet-amid-muizzu-chill-flags-reciprocity-9319229/

Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office
@amnestysasia
[5/10/2024 12:09 AM, 80.4K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Amnesty International, Nepal launches a report: ‘No One Cares’: Descent-Based Discrimination Against Dalits in Nepal. Watch the event live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amnestynepal/videos/no-one-cares-descent-based-discrimination-against-dalits/1903662740077241/?rdid=QBbuSAaUWZGsI4T3
Central Asia
UNODC Central Asia
@UNODC_ROCA
[5/10/2024 2:00 AM, 2.4K followers]
UNODC welcomes the adoption of the National Strategy of Uzbekistan on Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse for 2024-2028 and stands ready to support its implementation. Through collective action, we can make significant strides in addressing the world drug problem.

UNODC Central Asia
@UNODC_ROCA
[5/10/2024 12:09 AM, 2.4K followers, 1 retweet, 3 likes]
On 8 May 2024, UNODC ROCA and the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan signed an Action Plan for 2024-2025 to continue fruitful cooperation, combat corruption, and enhance forensics and criminal justice. The plan supports SDGs 5 & 16, promoting the rule of law and gender equality.

Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis
[5/10/2024 2:23 AM, 28.9K followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes]
Jury deliberations start in Bishimbayev murder trial, with verdict imminent - not clear whether it will come today or early next week #Kazakhstan https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/pochemu-translyatsiyu-suda-bishimbaevyim-snova-priostanovili-534668/

Peter Leonard
@Peter__Leonard
[5/9/2024 2:25 PM, 22.6K followers, 11 retweets, 30 likes]
In Turkmenistan’s spin on the Victory Day cult, citizens are made to deliver floral tributes and bow to golden statues of the president’s late great-grandfather, Berdymukhamed Annayev, a rank-and-file soldier in WWII, but of no particular distinction

Bakhtiyor Saidov
@FM_Saidov
[5/9/2024 9:20 AM, 3.4K followers, 11 retweets, 41 likes]
It was a great pleasure to be received by H.E. @AAliZardari, the President of #Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan). Extended heartfelt greetings from @president_uz H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev. We stand committed to enhancing UZ-PK ties, aimed at harnessing the significant untapped potential within our bilateral relationships. The agenda of our meeting covered extensive topics, highlighting significant opportunities in economic diplomacy. We encourage stronger collaboration between our agencies and private sectors.

{End of Report}
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