SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Thursday, October 10, 2024 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Afghan accused of plotting terror attack worked as CIA guard, officials say (NBC News)
NBC News [10/9/2024 7:53 PM, Dan De Luce, Ken Dilanian, and Courtney Kube 46778K, Negative]
An Afghan man arrested on charges of planning a terrorist attack on Election Day worked as a security guard in Afghanistan for the CIA, two sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested on Monday in Oklahoma and accused of plotting to kill Americans with an assault rifle on behalf of ISIS. Court documents said he had contributed to an ISIS charity in March and accessed online ISIS propaganda, but they did not say whether he was radicalized before or after he came to the U.S. in 2021. A senior law enforcement official said the FBI is still investigating that question.
The CIA declined to comment.
A U.S. official said that Tawhedi, like other Afghans who resettled in the U.S., would have gone through robust security screening in other countries before arriving in the U.S. Court documents say Tawhedi entered the country in September 2021, about a month after the U.S. military completed its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
"Every Afghan resettled in the U.S. undergoes a rigorous screening and vetting process no matter which agency they worked with," the official said. "That process includes checking against a full range of U.S. records and holdings," the official said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which plays a lead role in the vetting, declined to discuss the case, saying in a statement that "Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multi layered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism information. If new information emerges after arrival, appropriate action is taken."
But members of Congress and other U.S. officials have said that as the U.S. evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans in the waning days of the war, concerns emerged that not all of them were properly scrutinized. A report by the DHS inspector general said the agency "lacked critical data" as it sought to screen the refugees.
The CIA undertook its own large-scale evacuation operation of Afghans who had worked for or helped the agency.
The question of how and why Tawhedi was in the country had become politically charged even before the revelation that he had worked for the CIA. Donald Trump Jr. wrote on the X platform Wednesday: "Border Czar Kamala Harris literally imported a terrorist from Afghanistan into our country. Enough is enough!"
He was re-tweeting a post by Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney general, who said: "The American people need to know that this radical Islamic terrorist was imported directly to the United States by the Biden-Harris Administration as part of their controversial refugee resettlement program."
It’s not clear whether Tawhedi was a radical Islamist when he came to the U.S. and American officials declined to answer questions about how he was vetted.
The Justice Department charging document says he entered on a Special Immigrant Visa "and is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigrant proceedings." Special Immigrant Visas are given to Afghans who worked with the U.S. in Afghanistan after they pass DHS screening.
However, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told NBC News the charging document is incorrect, and that Tawhedi entered the U.S. on what’s known as humanitarian parole.
Officials say humanitarian parole generally entails far less screening than a Special Immigrant Visa.
The sources familiar with his work in Afghanistan say he would have had minimal interaction with Americans and he was not a CIA informant or a member of the U.S.-trained and armed paramilitary force known as the "Zero Units." Many of those fighters were evacuated to the U.S. after rigorous screening and vetting.
According to court documents, Tawhedi indicated in seized communications that he planned his attack for Election Day, Nov. 5. Authorities said that in an interview after his arrest, he confirmed that the attack was intended to target large gatherings and that he expected to die a martyr. Authorities say he planned the operation along with a juvenile co-conspirator, described as an Afghan citizen with legal permanent resident status.
The pair were arrested after they met two confidential human sources and an undercover FBI agent, who posed as business partners, at a rural location in the Western District of Oklahoma, to buy the rifles, 10 magazines and ammunition for the planned attack. Islamic State terror suspect arrested over Nov 5 massacre plot ‘helped US troops in Afghanistan’ (The Telegraph)
The Telegraph [10/9/2024 3:37 PM, Robert Mendick and Benedict Smith, 31540K, Negative]
A suspected Islamic State terrorist accused of plotting an election day massacre worked for the US military in Afghanistan before being given a visa to resettle in Oklahoma, The Telegraph understands.
Security sources said it was "their understanding" that Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi had received a special immigrant visa as a consequence of work carried out for US authorities in Afghanistan.
Tawhedi entered the US on Sept 9 2021, three weeks after the Biden administration’s botched emergency withdrawal from Kabul before it was overrun by the Taliban.
The Special Immigrant Visa programme was introduced in 2006 to enable Iraqis and Afghans working with the US armed forces to resettle in the US for their own safety. It is unclear in what capacity Tawhedi was involved with US authorities in Afghanistan and the indictment gives no details.
According to the Justice Department, Tawhedi and an unnamed juvenile, who is his brother-in-law, had planned a mass shooting targeted at large crowds gathering on election day on Nov 5.Tawhedi, 27, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was arrested after the FBI discovered that he had been stockpiling automatic weapons and had taken steps to liquidate his family’s assets. He had sold his house, two cars, furniture, a computer and television to fund the purchase of weapons and to pay for his family to return to Afghanistan and resettle there prior to any attack.Tawhedi had purchased one-way air fares to Kabul, departing from Dallas, for Oct 17 for his wife and child as well as his co-conspirator’s mother and siblings. They also found new homes for their pets, according to the indictment.Tawhedi, who used the pseudonym Abu Omir, is accused of accessing IS propaganda and contributing to a charity which funnels money to the terror group. He is also alleged to have checked surveillance cameras in Washington DC and viewed webcams showing streams of the White House and Washington Monument.The FBI also believes Tawhedi searched for locations with lax gun laws.A video recorded on July 20 allegedly shows him reading a text to two children about the rewards that a martyr receives in the afterlife.The FBI obtained communications between Tawhedi and a person he believed was involved in IS who facilitated recruitment, training, and indoctrination of potential terrorists.According to the indictment, on Oct 7, Tawhedi and the juvenile met with “FBI assets at a rural location in the Western District of Oklahoma and purchased, received, and took possession of two AK-47 assault rifles, ten magazines, and 500 rounds of ammunition”. Tawhedi and his accomplice, who had entered the US legally in 2018, were then immediately arrested.Tawhedi has been charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to IS, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.He was also charged with receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.“The Justice Department foiled the defendant’s plot to acquire semi-automatic weapons and commit a violent attack in the name of Isis on US soil on election day,” said Merrick Garland, the attorney general.“We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that Isis and its supporters pose to America’s national security, and we will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorise the American people.”Christopher Wray, the FBI director, said: “This defendant, motivated by ISIS, allegedly conspired to commit a violent attack, on election day, here on our homeland. I am proud of the men and women of the FBI who uncovered and stopped the plot before anyone was harmed.” FBI’s Arrest Of Afghan Underscores Growing Threat Of Islamic State-Khorasan (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [10/9/2024 4:14 PM, Frud Bezhan and Zhakfar Ahmadi, 235K, Neutral]
The FBI’s arrest of an Afghan man who allegedly planned a U.S. Election Day attack has underscored the growing threat posed by the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist group to the West.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan citizen living in the United States, plotted an attack on November 5 in the name of IS-K, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Based in Afghanistan, IS-K has carried out a series of devastating, high-profile attacks in Russia, Iran, and Tajikistan in recent years.
"IS-K poses a dangerous threat to both the region and the West," said Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based researcher who tracks militancy in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
"IS-K is not confined to Afghanistan alone,” Sayed added. “It operates with a global agenda and has a network functioning both regionally and internationally."
Resilient Force
IS-K is considered the most active and potent of all the regional affiliates of Islamic State (IS), the extremist group that overran large swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014. IS was largely defeated by a U.S.-led coalition.
IS-K was founded in Afghanistan in late 2014 and captured small pockets of territory in the country as part of IS’s broader aim of expansion throughout South and Central Asia.
But it soon came under fire from Afghan and international forces as well as the Taliban, a rival militant group.
The threat posed by IS-K has increased since the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government in 2021, analysts say.
The Taliban, which then seized power, has waged a brutal war against IS-K, killing or capturing its key commanders and hundreds of its fighters. But IS-K has embarked on a strategy of urban warfare and remains a resilient force.
The group’s ranks have been boosted by foreign fighters, particularly those from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
That has allowed IS-K -- which seeks to establish a caliphate, or Islamic state, in Khorasan, a historical region that includes parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asia -- to continue its attacks in Afghanistan and conduct complex assaults in the region.
In March, IS-K militants stormed the Crocus City Hall outside Moscow, killing around 140 people, underlining the threat it poses in the region.
Exploiting Grievances
Experts say extremist groups like IS-K have tried to exploit the grievances among Muslims since Israel launched its devastating war in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave.
That came after Hamas, a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group, carried out an attack on Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people.
Israel has recently expanded its war by launching a deadly aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, the armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.
Lucas Webber, co-founder of Militant Wire and research fellow at the Soufan Center, says IS-K has been vocal in calling for attacks against the West in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East.
"[IS-K] has a robust, multilingual propaganda apparatus," Webber told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. "They can reach a diverse range of diaspora communities to build support and mobilize supporters to violence."
Webber says IS-K and its recruiters have targeted Europe. Now, he said, "we’re starting to see an increase of activity in North America and the United States, specifically." U.S. Marine Who Adopted Afghan Orphan Wins Battle to Stay on Active Duty (Newsweek)
Newsweek [10/9/2024 6:11 PM, Shannon McDonagh, 49093K, Negative]
A Marine who adopted an Afghan war orphan amid a lengthy legal clash will remain on active duty, a panel of officers ruled Tuesday.
The baby girl was found abandoned on an Afghan battlefield in 2019 and Major Joshua Mast, 41, faced accusations of conduct unbecoming of an officer during his plans to bring her to the U.S.
Although still in Afghanistan, the girl was adopted by Mast and his wife through a Virginia court as Afghan officials were trying to reunite her with extended family, who later cared for her for 18 months while the adoption was processed.
The panel of three Marines determined that while some of his actions warranted misconduct findings, they did not justify separation from the military.
When the Taliban regained control in 2021, Mast helped the girl’s aunt and cousin flee Afghanistan to the U.S., promising a better education for the girl. Once the family reached the States, Mast used the adoption papers to gain custody of the girl, who has since lived with his family-now in Hampstead, North Carolina.
During the five-day board of inquiry at Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps attorneys argued that Mast disregarded orders, misused a government computer and mishandled classified information in his efforts to secure custody.
While the board found some evidence of misconduct, it dismissed allegations that Mast made false official statements or disobeyed direct orders. The board’s report will be sent up the ladder to the Secretary of the Navy, who will close the case against Mast.
A report documenting the substantiated misconduct will be added to Mast’s personnel file, potentially affecting future promotions and assignments, and the legal battle over the child’s custody is not all said and done.
The Afghan couple who cared for the girl in their country is challenging the Virginia adoption, arguing that it should be overturned. Earlier this year, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled the adoption had been improperly granted. The case is now before the state Supreme Court.
Prior to this, interventions arose from the Department of Justice, alleging that Mast misled federal authorities and the Virginia court, arguing that his actions threaten America’s international standing.
The State Department also weighed in, defending its efforts to reunite the girl with her Afghan family. It stated that its actions were "consistent with international law and U.S. policy to take appropriate steps to facilitate the reunion of families separated during armed conflict."
The department has since urged the Virginia courts to return the child to her Afghan relatives.
Much of the panel inquiry hearing took place behind closed doors, as attorneys presented classified evidence. Mast delivered an unsworn statement during a closed session, avoiding cross-examination.
His wife, Stephanie Mast, testified publicly. She portrayed her husband’s actions as an extension of Marine Corps values, emphasizing his dedication to safeguarding the child. "It was very much an American response," she said. "We value human life. As Marines, you serve and protect."
The board questioned why the couple continued pursuing adoption after the girl was reunited with her family in Afghanistan. She explained that their priority was always bringing the child to the U.S.
"We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And we wanted her to have that," she said, leaving a sour taste in some mouths by contrasting that with her description of Afghans’ "survival mentality." Western nations should evacuate Afghan policewomen who faced sexual abuse, HRW says (The Independent)
The Independent [10/10/2024 4:02 AM, Arpan Rai, 53.8M, Neutral]
Nato member nations should evacuate Afghan policewomen who were sexually abused and harassed while they served under the previous Western-backed administration and now face a growing threat from the Taliban, Human Rights Watch has urged.
The US, Canada, Britain, Germany and other countries that contributed military forces to the 20-year war in Afghanistan must support the former policewomen with asylum and prioritise them for refugee resettlement, the human rights watchdog has said.
Some 3,800 women who served in the Afghan police after 2013, aiding Nato in carrying out law and order functions, feel betrayed not only because they were not evacuated but their grievances about sexual harassment claims went unheard, researchers at Human Rights Watch told The Independent.
In a report titled “Double Betrayal: Abuses against Afghan Policewomen Past and Present”, the group notes that threats from the Taliban have forced many of these former policewomen to go into hiding. While some have escaped to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, thousands remain inside the country, the group’s Afghanistan researcher Fereshta Abbasi told The Independent.
The report urges the US, UK, EU, Canada, and Japan to settle these vulnerable women as refugees on a priority basis.
One former policewoman recounted her sexual abuse to Ms Abbasi. “The district police chief came to her house at night and raped her. Her husband was away that day. She cried in front of me. She said she couldn’t file a complaint because she feared her husband would divorce her and she would lose custody of her children.”
Another former policewoman, in southeastern Khost province, told the watchdog she witnessed male guards harassing women, stopping them and even touching them. “The head of intelligence for my station really harassed me. He told me that he could do whatever he wanted to me,” she said.
Fear of getting disowned by their families for working in police was already rampant before the Taliban took over and made the situation worse for these women.“Almost all of them have received threatening calls from the Taliban, their houses have been raided. They are being threatened by the Taliban but also by their families because being a policewoman was never accepted in the Afghan society,” Ms Abbasi told The Independent.A former policewoman said the Taliban called and asked her to return to her old job but didn’t specify what they wanted her to do. The Taliban have been found to harass and punish Afghans they consider to have collaborated with Western forces and the administration backed by them.“I got scared and cut the phone call,” she said. “Again I received a phone call and this time I was asked, ‘Will you come by yourself or shall we come and drag you by the hair?”
The woman said she wears a mask and glasses when she steps out to avoid being recognised. “If people find out, they might rat me out to the Taliban that I used to work for police,” she told the watchdog.
Ms Abbasi said Afghan women serving in police until the Taliban took back the county were subjected to frequent sexual assault and harassment.
Many were propositioned by superiors for sex in exchange for promotions or to avoid dismissal. “I spoke to one of the former policewomen who said she served the government in the same job role for 20 years because she rejected demands of sexual favours,” she said.“Now, they are asked to come back by the Taliban to do menial jobs as sweepers, prison guards or clerks, but nobody can ensure their safety.”
Many of the women interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported suffering from psychological distress and trauma, anxiety, depression and panic attacks from the abuse they experienced. They are unable to find or even afford psychosocial support as medical help is scarce under the Taliban, the group said.“The conditions under the Taliban are abysmal and horrifying but that doesn’t mean these policewomen who served alongside the UK and the US among other nations don’t get to hold those who harassed them accountable,” Ms Abbasi said.
The Nato states that funded and trained Afghan policewomen should also press the Taliban to end abuses against women, she said. More airlines fly over Afghanistan in last week as Middle East tensions rise (Reuters)
Reuters [10/9/2024 8:15 AM, Joanna Plucinska and Mohammad Yunus Yawar, 37270K, Negative]
Airlines have diverted more flights over Afghanistan over the past week to avoid Iranian airspace, data shows, adding to journey times and fuel costs in the latest disruption for routes between Asia and Europe as tensions in the Middle East escalate.Flights over Afghanistan were already growing in recent months, but expectations of an Israeli response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel last week have furthered that trend, data from flight tracker FlightRadar24 shows.EASA last week issued a warning for airlines to avoid Iranian airspace.FlightRadar24 showed 132 overflights of Afghanistan on Sept. 29. On Oct. 2, the day after Iran attacked Israel, the number of Afghan overflights rose to 176.On Oct. 6, the daily number had steadily risen to 222.Taliban officials said the number of overflights were even higher in recent days than the FlightRadar24 data showed."Specifically, over the past five or six days, there have been about 350 transit flights in 24 hours, compared to around 100 transit flights (a year ago) previously," said Imamudden Ahmadi, the spokesperson for the Taliban-run Ministry of Transportation and Aviation.FlightRadar24 on Tuesday showed British Airways (ICAG.L), and Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) flights using Afghanistan’s airspace.The data did not show a breakdown of which airlines were using Afghan airspace more in the last week. British Airways and Singapore Airlines did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.Many airlines had started routing through Iran and the Middle East after Russian and Ukrainian skies were closed to most Western carriers when the Ukraine war began in 2022.The new rerouting shows the difficult calculus airlines are forced to make as the safety of the airspace across the Middle East becomes more precarious and fears of a regional war rise a year after the start of the Israel-Hamas war."What was already a very limited set of route options is now down to the last few choices that there are - hence Afghanistan seeing more traffic," said Mark Zee, the founder of flight-risk information sharing organization OPSGROUP.Air traffic control for carriers flying over Afghanistan has not been available since the Taliban took over three years ago - leaving airlines to rely on guidelines from regulators."I expect that this avoidance of Iran, and possibly Iraq, will continue for several weeks at least, until either Israel makes a move, or the situation calms," Zee said. Afghanistan’s First Female Mayor Speaks Out as Others Can’t (Newsweek – opinion)
Newsweek [10/9/2024 11:09 AM, Azra Jafari, 49093K, Negative]
In 2008, when I was appointed mayor of the Daykundi province in Afghanistan, the national and international media rushed to interview me. I was not only the first female mayor in the history of the country, but I belonged to the Afghanistan’s most persecuted ethnic group, the Hazara.The headlines were loud and heavy on hype: women were being given the chance to take leadership responsibility, and more would have the chance to play important roles in society. And it did happen. During six years in office, I saw women’s presence becoming more visible in both private and public sectors, especially in education and politics.The tragedy is that the women who spearheaded these changes in an extreme patriarchal society and rose to the positions of mayor, governor, and even government ministers are now all exiled. There is a genocidal campaign against the Hazara under the Taliban’s authority.In recent years, just prior to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, more than half of the children enrolled in school were girls. Today, those schools are empty of girls. They are barred from attending beyond 6th grade. Streets and alleys that were once filled with jubilant schoolgirls are deserted. It is as if they have vanished.Government offices that tolerated the presence of female civil servants are now completely empty of women. During the past 20 years, women and girls who played a significant role in the security apparatus, including in Afghanistan’s National Army and police, are now either dead or in the Taliban’s prisons being gang-raped. Many others are in hiding inside the country. Only a few could flee it.I have participated in numerous conferences, gatherings and meetings where Afghan women in the nation’s diaspora are trying to find a safe space to share their stories of displacement and a find a sense of belonging. We share our stories and grief. We weep together for the lives that were lost, the country that we lost, and the hope that vanished into thin air.We mourn our inability to help our fellow women and girls who are suffering under the Taliban, but most of all we feel anger at the United States and the international community for their betrayal of Afghan women.Half of the population of a country is barred from public life and the world doesn’t do anything about it. How could this be possible in the 21st century?In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, when the war on terror was waged, the liberation of women in Afghanistan was part of the pretext. Almost 20 years later, on Aug. 15, 2021, that pretext proved false. In order to find a quick exit, Western forces dealt with the same people they had overthrown 20 years before, completely forgetting Afghan women.The betrayal was unforgiveable. The women of Afghanistan will never forget.It is more than three years since the Taliban’s takeover of my country and they have brought unspeakable suffering through their draconian laws. While previously women had been barred from leaving their homes unaccompanied by a male relative, now their very voices have been banned from public spaces.How could this happen to women in the 21st century? And how has the international community responded to the Taliban’s harsh treatment of women?All of these blows to human rights have been met by the international community with muted displeasure. Even the United Nations has seemingly stopped supporting Afghan women. In June, in a third meeting between the Taliban and envoys from 22 countries, the UN failed to include Afghan women.This is unacceptable. It is obvious that women must regain their rightful place in Afghan society, alongside men, not subject to them. Will the international community help them to do it? Pakistan
Rights groups slam Pakistan for blocking activist’s US travel (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [10/9/2024 6:11 AM, Staff, 88008K, Neutral]
Human rights advocates including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai criticised Pakistan on Wednesday for stopping a leading ethnic minority activist from travelling to accept a US award.
Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s most prominent rights voices, said officials blocked her from leaving Karachi for New York on Monday night to attend a TIME magazine awards gala.
The 31-year-old had been due to accept an award for campaigning on behalf of the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it has been targeted by Islamabad with extrajudicial harassment, arrests and killings.
"Mahrang Baloch’s activism for Baloch people should be recognised, not denied a platform," Pakistan’s Yousafzai wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday.
"I know this will not deter her from continuing to speak up and protest peacefully for human rights," she said.
The Pakistan government says its forces are fighting separatist militants, who target state forces and foreign nationals, in southwestern Balochistan province.
Authorities in Islamabad have blocked foreign travel for many Pakistani activists, critical journalists and dissenting politicians in recent years.
Baloch said she held a valid US visa but immigration officials in Karachi prevented her from boarding her flight.
She said she was detained for five hours and that her passport and phone were seized, blaming police and the Federal Investigation Agency, a Pakistani intelligence service.
Neither organisation responded immediately to a request for comment.
"This action reflects the growing fear and insecurity of the state toward Baloch voices," Baloch said in a video statement late on Monday.
"There was no legitimate purpose for preventing my travel, except to silence Baloch voices from being heard internationally," she said.
Baloch, a doctor, was named on the 2024 TIME100 Next list of "rising leaders" who the magazine believes "will play an important role in leading the future".
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said blocking Baloch’s travel was "a flagrant violation of her right to freedom of movement and expression".
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor said on X she was "very concerned".
Pakistan also banned another ethnic activist organisation, the Pashtun Protection Movement, at the weekend.
Amnesty International said it was "part of a systematic and relentless clampdown by the Pakistani authorities on peaceful protests and assemblies by dissenting groups".
Baloch began her activist career at the age of 16 in 2009, when her father went missing in an alleged "enforced disappearance". His body was found two years later.
Protests and advocacy among the Baloch are generally led by women, who say their male counterparts have suffered the worst in a decades-long state crackdown. Pakistan to curb movement of Chinese nationals during SCO conference, say sources (Reuters)
Reuters [10/9/2024 10:23 AM, Asif Shahzad, 37270K, Negative]
Pakistani authorities are seeking to curb movements of Chinese citizens during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting next week because of a security risk from militant groups targeting them, according to three security officials and an internal security note.The decision has come after the killing of two Chinese engineers in a bombing near Pakistan’s Karachi international airport on Sunday claimed by separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).The meeting of the SCO, which comprises nine full members, including China, India, Iran and Russia, is scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16 in Islamabad. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to arrive in the city prior to the meeting."Orders have been received from concerned authority that Chinese move of all types including intra-city/ inter-city/ airport etc to be ceased from 14 to 17 Oct 24 in connection with SCO summit and various delegations visit," the alert, shared with several Pakistani security agencies and seen by Reuters, said.Three top security officials who received the alert said it had also been conveyed to Chinese authorities."All concerned to make sure that Chinese are conveyed it in advance so that important moves are adjusted before that. No violations will be accepted during this period," the alert said.The Chinese embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan’s interior ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.The bombing was the latest in a string of attacks against Chinese nationals in Pakistan over the last four years, including a March suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project.Beijing called on Islamabad to implement more stringent security measures.BLA, the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that has fought the federal government for decades, targets Chinese interests - including the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea - as it accuses Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit local resources. It has previously killed Chinese citizens and attacked China’s consulate in Karachi.The port development is part of Beijing’s $65 billion investment in road, rail and infrastructure building under President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).The security officials said senior staff responsible for Chinese security in Karachi had been removed from service following the latest attack, which took place in a highly secure area.Pakistan’s interior ministry is primarily responsible for the security of Chinese nationals and their interests."Let’s wait two, three days, things will be clear," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told a press conference in Islamabad when asked about the security lapse. Pakistan to Host SCO Summit Amid Political Turmoil (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [10/9/2024 3:10 AM, Umair Jamal, 1198K, Neutral]
Islamabad will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting on October 15 and 16, marking an important milestone in Pakistan’s foreign policy. This event will gather top leaders from over ten regional countries, including notable figures such as the Russian and Chinese prime ministers. The presence of these leaders underscores the importance of this summit within the broader context of regional cooperation.
One particularly noteworthy aspect of this gathering is that India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is set to attend, making it the first visit by any Indian external affairs minister to Pakistan in nine years. The last visit was made by Sushma Swaraj in December 2015, just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unexpected stopover in Lahore.
Jaishankar’s participation is significant given the historically strained relations between India and Pakistan, characterized by vocal criticism of each other and a persistent blame game over bilateral issues.
The decision for India to send its foreign minister reflects a nuanced approach, showing that despite ongoing tensions, New Delhi recognizes the importance of engaging with Pakistan at forums of regional significance. This could serve as an opportunity for both nations to break the ice and potentially recalibrate their diplomatic relations. Reports suggest that there may be ongoing discussions for a track-two initiative aimed at rekindling dialogue later this year.
Additionally, China’s involvement adds another layer of significance to this summit. The Chinese prime minister’s likely attendance will lend credibility to the event while also facilitating discussions around critical agreements related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). These agreements are expected to formally initiate the second phase of CPEC during bilateral meetings at the SCO summit.
The upcoming SCO summit in Pakistan is poised to be a pivotal event for Islamabad, particularly with the anticipated visit of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. This visit comes on the heels of recent discussions between Russia and Pakistan aimed at strengthening trade relations. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk’s talks with Pakistani officials last month served as a preparatory step for this significant engagement.
Moreover, this summit will mark the first appearance of Iran’s newly elected government’s delegation. This presents an important opportunity for Pakistan to engage with Iran’s leadership and potentially address regional issues that have long been contentious. The dynamics at play during this summit could foster better relationships and cooperation among neighboring countries.
However, despite these promising prospects, there are substantial concerns regarding the potential outcomes of the SCO summit for Pakistan due to ongoing political instability and security challenges.
The relationship between the Pakistani government and opposition parties has become increasingly fraught, with both sides publicly exchanging accusations that threaten to overshadow the summit’s significance.
Last week, thousands of supporters of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party converged on Islamabad, demanding the former prime minister’s release from imprisonment and calling for stays on controversial constitutional amendments related to limiting the judiciary’s powers.
The timing of these protests appears deliberately aligned with the impending SCO summit, suggesting that PTI may leverage this high-profile event to amplify its political agenda to exert pressure on the Shehbaz Sharif government.
The situation is further complicated by actions taken by PTI supporters, which saw them clashing with law enforcement personnel and disrupting key areas intended for major diplomatic activities.
As tensions escalate domestically, government officials are accusing PTI of attempting to undermine not only the SCO summit but also Pakistan’s standing in broader geopolitical discussions.
This internal discord in Pakistan has not gone unnoticed regionally. Notably, Afghanistan’s Taliban regime issued an unusual statement expressing concern over rising tensions within Pakistan. They emphasized that such unrest could adversely affect regional stability while advocating for dialogue as a means to resolve disputes.
"We are closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan and hope that the Pakistani government and influential entities will deal reasonably and realistically with the growing discontent," the statement issued by Kabul mentioned.
The recent suicide bombing in Karachi, which tragically claimed the lives of two Chinese nationals, has cast a shadow over Pakistan’s preparations for the upcoming SCO summit. The bombing occurred near the airport, targeting a convoy carrying foreign delegates. It has raised alarm about the safety protocols in place for high-profile visitors. The implications of this attack are profound, as they not only threaten diplomatic relations but also challenge Pakistan’s image on an international stage.
It is important to note that Pakistan recently initiated a new counterterrorism strategy that includes efforts to build a regional coalition aimed at supporting its domestic counter-terrorism initiatives.
However, with incidents of militancy occurring just ahead of such a crucial summit, Pakistan finds itself grappling with frustration at a time when it seeks to reassure the international community of its commitment to curtailing domestic terrorism and fostering regional cooperation in this regard. The upcoming SCO summit now stands as both an opportunity and a challenge for Pakistan as it navigates these turbulent waters.
With various leaders from across Eurasia confirming their participation, Islamabad stands at a pivotal moment in shaping its regional standing and fostering meaningful dialogue among key players on pressing issues affecting their shared future.
However, it remains essential for all parties involved - both governmental and opposition - to prioritize national interests over partisan politics. The implications of their actions extend beyond domestic borders; they resonate throughout South Asia and could significantly influence Pakistan’s foreign policy trajectory in a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape. Head of Pakistan’s Punjab calls for diplomacy with India to tackle smog (Reuters)
Reuters [10/9/2024 9:49 AM, Charlotte Greenfield and Ariba Shahid, 37270K, Negative]
The chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous province called for "climate diplomacy" with neighbour and arch-rival India to combat smog ahead of the winter months, which are accompanied by dangerous levels of pollution in both nations."We should talk to them, this is called climate diplomacy. We should do it with India," said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, adding the two nations needed to coordinate actions to temper toxic smog, which winds carry across the border.Relations between India and Pakistan have gone through periods of thaw but have been largely frozen since they downgraded diplomatic ties in tit-for-tat moves in 2019.When cooler temperatures take hold, pollution spirals. The Pakistani city of Lahore and India’s capital Delhi are among the most polluted cities in the world.Air quality deteriorates in cooler months, as temperature inversion traps pollution closer to the ground, packing hospital wards with patients with respiratory problems.Rising air pollution can cut life expectancy by more than five years per person in South Asia, one of the world’s most polluted regions, according to a report published last year which flagged the growing burden of hazardous air on health.India’s foreign minister will visit Pakistan next week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, the first such visit in nearly a decade. However India’s government has ruled out discussions of bilateral relations during the visit. Pakistan counters criticism of crackdown on ethnic rights group (VOA)
VOA [10/9/2024 4:02 PM, Ayaz Gul, 4566K, Negative]
Pakistan has justified its decision to outlaw a regional ethnic rights movement, citing alleged incitement of violence against the state and attempts to establish a "parallel judicial system" under the guise of peaceful public gatherings.
The group, known as the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), has openly criticized the powerful Pakistani military and mainly gets support from residents of the militancy-hit northwestern tribal districts bordering Afghanistan.
On Sunday, the government listed the PTM as a proscribed organization, saying it was engaged in activities "prejudicial to the peace and security of the country." The ban drew backlash from local and international human rights groups.
Wednesday, Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told a televised news conference in Islamabad that PTM leaders were using "abusive language" against security institutions at their rallies and promoting "racial discrimination" in Pakistan.
The ban under the country’s anti-terrorism law allowed authorities to seal PTM offices, assets and bank accounts; seize literature; and prohibit public advocacy such as media statements or speeches.
Naqvi spoke hours after hundreds of enraged PTM supporters clashed with police near Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border province, resulting in the deaths of at least three activists.
The violence took place in an area where the PTM had planned to hold a three-day public gathering Friday, called a "Pashtun National Jirga [assembly] Court." It was intended to protest the civilian casualties and regional losses of property and commerce due to the increased Islamist militancy and army operations to counter the threat.
"We cannot allow anyone to set up a parallel judicial system in the country," the minister said. "You are allowed to engage in discussions about politics and rights, but you are not allowed to encourage people to revolt against national institutions or to provoke them to take up arms against these institutions," Naqvi stated.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, or HRCP, denounced the ban on the PTM as "neither transparent nor warranted" and criticized the subsequent use of force by police against the group’s members.
"We oppose any use of unwarranted and unlawful force against those protesters who are unarmed. The state has already taken disproportionate measures by proscribing the PTM and attempting to prevent it from holding this assembly," the watchdog said.
The HRCP noted that a provincial high court ruling had protected PTM supporters’ "right to assemble peacefully."
Amnesty International has also demanded Pakistan immediately revoke the ban on the PTM.
"The listing of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement as a proscribed organization, days ahead of their gathering scheduled on 11 October, is part of a systematic and relentless clampdown by the Pakistani authorities on peaceful protests and assemblies by dissenting groups," the global rights defender said in a Tuesday statement.
"This latest arbitrary ban under overbroad powers of the terror law is only the tip of the iceberg - for years, the Pakistani authorities have suppressed such movements from marginalized regions by resorting to unlawful use of force, enforced disappearances, and media bans on the coverage of protests or rallies," said Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for South Asia.
Pakistan has experienced a surge in terrorist attacks claimed by or blamed on Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations.
An alliance of banned Pakistani groups, TTP is commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, and its fighters are mainly active in border districts, allegedly conducting cross-border attacks from sanctuaries in Afghanistan with the support of the Taliban government there. Pakistan Government Intensifies Crackdown on Political Dissent (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [10/9/2024 10:33 AM, Patricia Gossman, 2M, Negative]
Pakistani government actions against the Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI), the political party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, signal an intensifying crackdown on dissent.
Last Saturday, hundreds of PTI supporters, many of whom had traveled from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the party controls the provincial government, violently clashed with police during a march outside Islamabad to protest Khan’s imprisonment. Dozens of protesters and police were reportedly injured, with one officer dying due to the injuries, and over 500 people arrested, including many opposition political party supporters and people protesting peacefully. Many have been charged under vague and overbroad laws prohibiting rioting and creating threats to public order.
Police reportedly used tear gas and blocked roads to prevent the march. Officials have alleged that protesters fired on police. Days earlier the authorities had cut off mobile internet to disrupt the march.
A journalist in Islamabad who witnessed the protests told Human Rights Watch, “The entire city was shut down with [shipping] containers, internet and mobile phone signals turned off and both the police and protesters pelting each other with stones—the entire Islamabad looked like a war zone.”
In the weeks before the march, police had arrested a number of PTI legislators and party leaders in night raids.
Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, was arrested in May 2023. PTI supporters then responded with violent protests—hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails, burning buildings and ambulances, and in a few cases, shooting on police. Khan was convicted and imprisoned on charges of corruption and disclosing state secrets in August 2023 and barred from contesting the February 2024 general elections. In those elections, candidates backed by Imran Khan won the most seats but not enough to form a government on their own.
Pakistani authorities should release those held for peaceful protest or for supporting the political opposition, respect the due process rights of all those detained, and respond to violence during protests in accordance with international human rights standards. Fundamental guarantees of the right to dissent and peaceful protest should not become casualties in this standoff. Pakistan records spike in new polio cases, hampering efforts to make the country polio-free (AP)
AP [10/9/2024 8:09 AM, Staff, 31638K, Negative]
Pakistan has witnessed a spike in new polio cases since March, officials said Wednesday, in a troubling sign as the government seeks to eradicate the disease in the country.
The nation has recorded 32 new cases since March, said Anwarul Haq of the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication.
Haq expressed optimism that the situation will improve in the coming months after Pakistan launches a new nationwide anti-polio campaign starting Oct. 28 that aims to vaccinate 32 million children.
"We are conducting joint case investigations, preparing to implement high-quality vaccination rounds and providing high-risk communities with integrated health services to build children’s immunity," he said.
Pakistan regularly launches polio campaigns despite attacks on workers and police assigned to inoculation drives. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Most of the new polio cases were reported in the northwest and in southwestern Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan where the Taliban government last month suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are two countries where the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped.
Pakistani officials say the Afghan decision will have major repercussions for other countries.
Pakistan’s anti-polio campaigns are supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has pledged $1.2 billion to the effort to end polio worldwide.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s focal person for polio eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, urged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated.
She said the spike in new cases "should be a wake-up call for all parents and communities" and that children were being put at risk because of "misperceptions about the vaccine."
The latest spike in cases came weeks after a polio worker was raped during an anti-polio campaign in the southern Sindh province. Police say the men behind the assault have been arrested. Suspected militants shoot police in vehicle in northwest Pakistan, killing 2 officers (AP)
AP [10/10/2024 1:56 AM, Staff, 456K, Negative]
Suspected militants riding on a motorcycle opened fire on a vehicle carrying police officers Thursday in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, killing two of them and wounding two others, police said.
The attack happened in Tank, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police official Sher Afzal said.
No group has claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, who often target security forces.
The TTP are outlawed in Pakistan. They are separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban who control neighboring Afghanistan.
The latest violence came a day after at least three people were killed in clashes in the northwestern town of Jamrud between police and supporters of a banned right group Pashtun Protection Movement or PTM, which authorities say supports TTP.
The government has also barred PTM from holding rallies in the northwest, allegedly because the demonstrations are against the interests of Pakistan. PTM denies backing the Pakistani Taliban, and tension was growing Thursday after the group vowed to resist the ban on their rallies. India
Faced With Regional Setbacks, India Flexes Its New Economic Muscle (New York Times)
New York Times [10/10/2024 2:29 AM, Mujib Mashal, 831K, Neutral]
As political turmoil churns India’s immediate neighborhood, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been using a relatively new asset to compete with China for influence: the financial wherewithal that comes with a fast-growing economy.
When Sri Lanka suffered economic catastrophe in 2022, India stepped in with over $4 billion in aid. In tiny neighboring Bhutan, which has boundary disputes with China, Mr. Modi this year doubled India’s assistance, to $1 billion over five years. In Bangladesh, he provided billions for infrastructure projects to back that country’s autocratic leader, who promoted India’s interests until she was ousted in August.
The latest beneficiary is the Maldives. Its new president, Mohamed Muizzu, campaigned last year on an “India Out” platform, demanding that Mr. Modi withdraw a small military contingent from the archipelago nation. But that seemed forgotten on Monday, when Mr. Muizzu arrived in New Delhi for a state dinner, a photo opportunity at the Taj Mahal with his wife, and over $750 million in Indian aid to bail his government out of extreme fiscal stress.“India is a key partner in the socioeconomic and infrastructure development of the Maldives and has stood by the Maldives during our times of need,” said Mr. Muizzu, standing next to Mr. Modi.
India’s economy is growing at about 7 percent while China and its other neighbors struggle to return to prepandemic growth levels, according to the World Bank. Political and business leaders increasingly see India, despite frustrations with its bureaucracy, as an exciting partner for deals and trade agreements, with an economy that has yet to reach its full potential.
Many poorer Indians have seen little benefit from that growth, as the country still struggles to generate enough employment. But it has provided the government with much-needed cash to grease diplomatic wheels, while China’s economic struggles have forced it to somewhat reduce its regional largess.
The newfound leverage is coming in handy for India. It has faced repeated diplomatic setbacks in the region, where its traditional influence had been waning in the face of China’s aggressive push. Over the past year, India-friendly leaders in at least three countries were either voted out or toppled in protests.“India is able to deploy much more power now in the neighborhood, and the economic clout is far stronger than it was — there’s no doubt about it,” said Nirupama Menon Rao, who was once India’s foreign secretary. “But the political interests that bind us to the neighborhood, I think they are constant.”
Even leaders in the region who are “traditionally labeled or stereotyped as anti-India” have little choice but to work with New Delhi, Ms. Rao said. That is not just for immediate financial help, but to align themselves with India in the longer term, in the hope that its economic potential can bring them future windfalls.
Regional leaders are showing a “high seriousness in understanding the growing economic clout and the place that India is taking on the global stage,” Ms. Rao said. India, in turn, is taking a more pragmatic approach to some of its neighbors than it once did, avoiding “histrionics” and “diplomatic theater,” she said.
A hard lesson came this year from Bangladesh, the country of 170 million people that shares a 2,000-mile border with India.
India was seen as a staunch protector, financially and diplomatically, of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s increasingly autocratic prime minister. As Ms. Hasina persecuted critics and opponents, India used its diplomatic leverage to urge her Western critics to back off. In Bangladesh, anger against her began to translate into anger against India.
When she was driven out of office in August — toppled by huge protests, which surged drastically after her security forces killed hundreds of demonstrators — Ms. Hasina fled to India. Her continuing presence there has created a dilemma: On the one hand, India wants to signal that it will stand by its friends. But sheltering Ms. Hasina will cause problems as India tries to regain ground with Bangladesh’s new political powers.
But Paul Staniland, a political scientist at the University of Chicago and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace whose research focuses on South Asia, called that a more “mundane” challenge than it might once have been, and said India’s growing economic might was an important reason for that.“India’s neighbors are certainly interested in autonomy from India and having the option to engage with China and other outside states. But India is a massive economic and political presence that all governments have to at least do business with,” Mr. Staniland said.
He added that some of India’s regional relationships were now characterized by “a restrained and respectful posture from Delhi combined with tangible efforts to cooperate,” echoing a point made by Ms. Rao. That approach, he said, “limits nationalist backlash in these neighboring states while creating incentives to work together.”
India’s current relationship with Sri Lanka is one example.
After the island nation’s civil war ended in 2009, China established a huge presence there, bankrolling the lavish development projects of a populist president. Officials in Colombo, even ones sympathetic to India, complained that New Delhi’s outreach was slow and bureaucratic by comparison.
Sri Lanka’s economic collapse two years ago, largely caused by mismanagement and reckless spending, changed that perspective. China was seen as conspicuously absent, and it was hesitant about renegotiating the terms of Sri Lanka’s debt. India seized the opportunity, stepping in with $4 billion in various forms of support.
Its change of approach was even more visible on the political front. Once it became clear that Sri Lanka’s old guard, including politicians close to India, had been discredited by the economic collapse, Mr. Modi’s government began warming up to other players.
Months before the September presidential election, it hosted Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of a small leftist party with an anti-India past. He seemed best positioned to ride the public’s anger into office, and both sides clearly wanted to overcome that history. When Mr. Dissanayke won a comfortable victory last month, India’s top diplomat in Colombo was there within hours to congratulate him.
Ms. Rao said India’s traditional ties with its neighbors, combined with its growing financial resources, would serve it well in its competition with China.“China continues to flex a lot of economic muscle, there’s no doubt,” Ms. Rao said. “But China, I think, has not really demonstrated its capacity to be the kind of first responder that India is when it comes to crisis situations that face our neighbors. And that, I think, is a very critical factor.” India to Build Nuclear Submarines, Buy Drones to Counter China (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [10/10/2024 2:38 AM, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 5.5M, Neutral]
India will build two nuclear-powered submarines and buy 31 US-made long-range drones at an estimated cost of 350 billion rupees ($4.2 billion), senior officials familiar with the matter said, helping to counter China’s military dominance in the region.
India’s Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took the decisions on Wednesday, the people said, asking not be identified because of the sensitive nature of the matter.
The two nuclear-powered boats carrying conventional weapons will be built in local shipyards for the first time. Nuclear-powered vessels are vastly superior to their diesel-electric counterparts: they’re faster, can stay submerged almost indefinitely, and are bigger, allowing them to carry more weapons, equipment and supplies.
Australia is teaming up with the UK and US to build similar boats through a tripartite security partnership called AUKUS. Until now, only a few nations — the US, UK, France, China and Russia — have had the technology to deploy and operate nuclear-powered submarines.
The acquisition of these sophisticated platforms will add to India’s ability to monitor and police the vast waters of the Indian Ocean region. The South Asian country is a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad — a grouping of democracies comprising the US, Australia and Japan — aimed an containing China’s dominance in the region.
India’s Ministry of Defense didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Separately, India also cleared the purchase of 31 long-range drones made by US defense giant General Atomics. The MQ-9B drone can fly for about 48 hours and carry a payload of about 1,700 kilograms (3,700 pounds). That would add to the Indian Navy’s ability to monitor Chinese warships in the southern Indian Ocean, and equip the army to engage targets along the disputed India-Pakistan border in the Himalayas.
India Today earlier reported on the submarine and drone deals. India prepares to build two nuclear-powered attack submarines (Reuters)
Reuters [10/10/2024 3:35 AM, Krishn Kaushik, 5.2M, Neutral]
India approved on Wednesday plans to construct two of a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarines, two defence officials said, in a project estimated to cost about 450 billion rupees ($5.4 billion).
As India scrambles to modernise its military in the face of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean region, it is focusing on boosting naval capabilities, and improving domestic weapons-making capacity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet gave the go-ahead for the first two submarines of a new class of six the Indian Navy plans to make, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity, but stopped short of providing delivery dates.
China, the world’s largest naval force, with more than 370 ships, has been a security concern for India since ties nosedived in 2020 after 24 troops died in clashes along their Himalayan frontier.
Faster, quieter and capable of longer underwater stays than conventional diesel-powered craft, which makes them more difficult to detect, nuclear-powered attack submarines rank among the most potent naval weapons in the world.
Only a handful of nations make them now, such as China, France, Russia and the United States.
India, which leased two nuclear-powered attack submarines from Russia in the past but since returned them, has been in talks with it to lease another.
The new submarines will be built at the government’s shipbuilding centre in India’s southern port of Visakhapatnam.
Construction major Larsen and Toubro (LART.NS) is also expected to join the project, one of the sources added.
They will be different from the Arihant-class nuclear-powered submarines India is now building, capable of launching nuclear weapons, the second of which was commissioned in August. India’s Congress party complains to poll body over Haryana election results (Reuters)
Reuters [10/10/2024 1:39 AM, Sakshi Dayal and Pushkala Aripaka, 5.2M, Neutral]
India’s main opposition Congress party has complained to the election panel about concerns regarding the counting of votes in state elections in Haryana won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it said.
The partial rejection of the outcome, which gave the BJP 48 state constituencies against 37 for the Congress, was unusual in the world’s most populous democracy, where the credibility of elections has rarely been questioned in recent decades.
The Congress, projected by exit polls to win the election in the northern breadbasket state, had said earlier it would not accept the "totally unexpected, completely surprising and counter-intuitive" result.
Senior Congress leaders who met the Election Commission of India (ECI) said they told it of complaints from 20 of the state’s 90 constituencies, and had been assured their concerns would be looked into.
"The Election Commission was handed over written complaints from seven constituencies while the remaining complaints will be submitted in another two days," the party said in a statement on Wednesday.
In a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge that day, the election panel said the Congress’s rejection infringed the norms of free speech.
"Such an unprecedented statement ... unheard in the rich democratic heritage of the country, is far from a legitimate part of free speech and moves towards an undemocratic rejection of the will of the people," it said.
The BJP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Media reported BJP spokesperson Anil Baluni as saying the Congress was defeated because it lost its connection with people in the state, rather than because of any discrepancies in vote counting.
Indian law allows candidates to complain to the ECI about counting issues and seek redress. If unsatisfied by its response, they may appeal to the courts.
The Haryana elections were Modi’s first test of popularity since his return in June as prime minister for a record third straight term, albeit with the help of allies, after having fallen short of an absolute majority.
Last month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose family has given India three prime ministers, said he did not view this year’s general elections as a free exercise, but as one structured to favor Modi, without citing evidence.
Its Haryana win would be a shot in the arm for the BJP prior to regional polls in the more politically significant states of western Maharashtra and mineral-rich Jharkhand.
Those elections have yet to be announced, but are expected to be held in November. Ratan Tata, Whose Indian Business Empire Went Global, Dies at 86 (New York Times)
New York Times [10/10/2024 1:20 AM, Jonathan Kandell, 831K, Neutral]
Ratan Tata, one of India’s most powerful and admired magnates, who transformed his family’s business conglomerate, the Tata Group, into a multinational corporation with globally recognizable brands, died on Wednesday in Mumbai. He was 86.
The Tata Group announced his death in a statement, which did not specify a cause. He had been treated in a critical care unit of a hospital, Reuters reported.
During his 21 years as chairman and chief executive, from 1991 to 2012, the Tata Group’s profits multiplied 50 times, with most revenues coming from sales abroad of such recognizable Tata products as Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles and Tetley teas.
Despite the conglomerate’s international outreach, its impact at home remained greater than ever under Mr. Tata’s leadership. For middle-class Indians, it was almost impossible to get through the day without buying Tata goods and services. They awoke to Tata tea, surfed the internet with Tata Photon, watched Tata Sky programs on television, rode in Tata taxis or drove their own Tata cars, and used uncounted products made with Tata steel.
Beginning in the 2010s, other family-led business groups rivaled or overtook the Tata Group in revenues and valuation. But none of the new magnates enjoyed the public esteem of Mr. Tata, who was renowned for disbursing a majority of his wealth to philanthropy and for his investments in startup businesses by young, underfinanced entrepreneurs.
The unusual ownership structure of the Tata Group added to Mr. Tata’s allure. The parent company, Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., held the majority shares and was itself two-thirds-owned by philanthropic trusts endowed by Tata family members.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, called Mr. Tata “a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being” on Wednesday night, saying he had “an unwavering commitment to making our society better.”
Mr. Tata preferred to stay out of the limelight and projected a public image of a shy loner, a man who never married or had children. But he became ensnared in a major controversy late in his career when he convinced Tata’s board to oust his handpicked successor. The ensuing legal controversy took years to resolve and was a subject of constant media attention.
Ratan Naval Tata was born on Dec. 28, 1937, in Bombay, now Mumbai, during the British Raj. His family belonged to the Parsi ethnic community, whose Zoroastrian ancestors fled persecution in Persia centuries ago and found refuge in India.
The Tatas made their fortune in the 19th-century opium trade with China and in textile mills. By the time Ratan’s father, Naval Tata, rose to become deputy chairman of the family business, the Tata Group was entrenched in scores of manufacturing and commercial enterprises.
Naval Tata married a cousin, Sooni Tata, but they separated when Ratan and his younger brother, Jimmy, were still children. Both boys were raised and adopted by their wealthy paternal grandmother.“I had a happy childhood, but as my brother and I got older, we faced a fair bit of ragging and personal discomfort because of our parents’ divorce, which in those days wasn’t as common as it is today,” Mr. Tata recalled in a three-part Facebook interview posted in 2020.
He grew up in a white Baroque revival-style building in Mumbai known as Tata Palace, with a staff of 50 servants, and was driven to school in a Rolls-Royce. He was sent to the United States for high school at the Riverdale Country School in New York City. He graduated from Cornell University with an architecture degree and later took management courses at Harvard University Business School.
Mr. Tata maintained a subdued social life. He devoted much of his leisure time to driving sports cars, piloting planes and racing his speedboat out of the harbor near an apartment he kept in Mumbai.
His survivors include his stepmother, Simone; his younger brother, Jimmy; a half brother, Noel; and two half sisters, Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy.
Mr. Tata joined the family business in 1962, initially working on the shop floor of Tata Steel. He then rose steadily through management positions. His single setback was at the conglomerate’s troubled electronics subsidiary, which he initially succeeded in turning around only to have it collapse during an economic slowdown. Years later, the subsidiary, Nelco, again became profitable, especially in satellite communication.
In 1991, J.R.D. Tata stepped down after a half-century as chairman of Tata Sons and the Tata Group, and turned over leadership of the conglomerate to Ratan Tata, who belonged to a different branch of the Tata family.
The succession was bitterly opposed by other Tata family members and business managers. “J.R.D. got clubbed with nepotism and I was branded as the wrong choice,” Mr. Tata said in his Facebook interview.
Mr. Tata quelled resistance and consolidated his leadership by forcibly retiring older Tata executives (softening the blow with generous pensions), making subsidiaries report to the group office, and embarking on a globalization of the family businesses.
He tapped into a nationalistic groundswell by pursuing a so-called “reverse colonialism” — the acquisition of British-based brand-name companies like Jaguar, Tetley and Corus Steel.“Britain has become an ‘insourcing’ hub for Ratan Tata: a base for foreign operations of an Indian multinational,” The Guardian wrote in a 2008 article.
In another popular move, Mr. Tata spearheaded the production in 2008 of the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, with a $2,200 price within reach of the average middle-class Indian consumer.
On turning 75 in 2012, Mr. Tata surrendered his executive functions in the Tata Group. In what was supposed to be a smooth transition, he appointed as his successor Cyrus Mistry, 44, whose family was the largest individual shareholder in the conglomerate.
Instead, the succession turned into the most high-profile corporate controversy in India’s recent history. As they had two decades before when Ratan Tata was named the group’s successor, other Tata family and board members opposed the choice of Mr. Mistry. But with Ratan Tata’s support, Mr. Mistry won out.
Over the next few years, however, tensions mounted between Mr. Mistry and Mr. Tata, who still exercised strong influence as chairman of the Tata Trusts, which controlled most of the conglomerate’s shares. Mr. Mistry divested several businesses that Mr. Tata had supported, and Mr. Tata disapproved of Mr. Mistry’s handling of the group’s international steel business and telecommunications ventures.
In October 2016, less than four years after being appointed to head the Tata conglomerate, Mr. Mistry was ousted by Tata’s board with the full backing of Ratan Tata. Mr. Tata retook his position as chairman of the conglomerate until a successor was named by the board in February 2017.
But Mr. Mistry did not go quietly. He sued the Tata group on the grounds that his removal was illegal. His allegations that the board fostered nepotism, ignored minority shareholders and tolerated misdeeds were given often sensational media coverage over the next five years.
Initially, the courts ruled in Mr. Mistry’s favor. But in 2021, the Supreme Court of India finally affirmed the legality of Mr. Mistry’s dismissal, ending the saga.The controversy detracted attention from Mr. Tata’s far-reaching philanthropies. In India, he disbursed much of his personal fortune on education, health and agricultural projects for poorer Indians. In the United States, he and Tata Trusts contributed millions of dollars to several universities — including his alma maters Cornell and the Harvard Business School — for research facilities and scholarship programs that carry the Tata name.
Enterprise and philanthropy had been at the heart of the Tata empire since its inception in 1868 by its founder, Jamsetji Tata. Jamsetji’s factories were among the first in the world to invest substantially in employee welfare, and he and his two sons left most of their estate and shares in the company to charitable trusts.
Mr. Tata backed more than 50 startup companies in India, including e-commerce and digital payment platforms and an online lingerie retailer. But his favorite was a startup called Goodfellows, which encouraged friendships between older and younger Indians in business and other professions.
At the launch of Goodfellows in Mumbai in 2022, he told an intergenerational audience, “You don’t mind getting old until you get old, and you find it’s a difficult world.” Ratan Tata, who put India’s Tata Group on the global map, dies at 86 (Reuters)
Reuters [10/9/2024 5:12 PM, Abhirup Roy, 37270K, Neutral]
Ratan Tata, the former Tata Group chairman who put a staid and sprawling Indian conglomerate on the global stage with a string of high-profile acquisitions, has died, the Tata Group said in a statement late on Wednesday. He was 86.Tata, who ran the conglomerate for more than 20 years as chairman, had been undergoing intensive care in a Mumbai hospital, two sources with direct knowledge of his medical situation told Reuters earlier on Wednesday."It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr. Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation," the company said.Ratan Tata "was a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on social media platform X. "Extremely pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family, friends and admirers in this sad hour."After graduating with a degree in architecture at Cornell University, he returned to India and in 1962 began working for the group his great-grandfather had founded nearly a century earlier.He worked in several Tata companies, including Telco, now Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.NS), as well as Tata Steel Ltd (TISC.NS), later making his mark by erasing losses and increasing market share at group unit National Radio & Electronics Company.In 1991, he took the helm of the conglomerate when his uncle J.R.D. Tata stepped down - the passing of the baton coming just as India embarked on radical reforms that opened up its economy to the world and ushered in an era of high growth.In one of his first steps, Ratan Tata sought to rein in the power of some heads of Tata Group’s companies, enforcing retirement ages, promoting younger people to senior positions and ramping up control over companies.He founded telecommunications firm Tata Teleservices (TTML.NS) in 1996 and took IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS), the group’s cash cow, public in 2004.But to grow properly, the group determined it needed to look beyond Indian shores.It "was the quest for growth and changing the ground rules to say that we could grow by acquisitions which earlier we had never done," he said in an interview with the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2013.The group purchased British tea firm Tetley in 2000 for $432 million and Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2007 for $13 billion, at the time the biggest takeover of a foreign firm by an Indian company. Tata Motors then acquired British luxury auto brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co (F.N) in 2008 for $2.3 billion.His pet projects at Tata Motors included the Indica - the first car model designed and built in India - as well as the Nano, touted as the world’s cheapest car. He contributed initial sketches for both models.The Indica was a commercial success. The Nano, however, priced at just 100,000 rupees (about $1,200) and the culmination of Ratan Tata’s dream to produce an affordable car for India’s masses, was hurt by initial safety issues and bungled marketing. It was discontinued a decade after its launch.A licensed pilot who would occasionally fly the company plane, Ratan Tata never married and was known for his quiet demeanour, relatively modest lifestyle and philanthropic work.About two-thirds of share capital of Tata Sons, the group’s holding company, is held by philanthropic trusts.His leadership at Tata was not without controversy - most notably a bitter public feud after the company ousted Cyrus Mistry, a scion of the billionaire Shapoorji Pallonji clan, as chairman of Tata Sons in 2016.The Tata Group said Mistry had failed to turnaround poorly performing businesses while Mistry accused Ratan Tata, who was chairman emeritus of the conglomerate, of interfering and creating an alternate power centre at the group.After he stepped back from the Tata Group, Ratan Tata became known as a prominent investor in Indian startups, backing a plethora of companies including digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS), Ola Electric, a unit of ride hailing firm Ola, and home and beauty services provider Urban Company.Among his many awards, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour, in 2008 for exceptional and distinguished service in trade and industry. Why Is India Soft on Hamas and Hezbollah? (Wall Street Journal – opinion)
Wall Street Journal [10/9/2024 5:10 PM, Sadanand Dhume, 810K, Neutral]
Ivy League campuses aren’t the only places in the democratic world where people openly cheer for terrorist groups. In India, noisy mobs have taken to the streets to protest Israel’s killing late last month of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Open support for a notorious global terrorist by Islamists and their fellow travelers—both on the streets and on social media—reveals a major weakness in the Indian government’s selective approach to Islamist terrorism. By failing to designate Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist entities, India impairs the global war against terrorism and undermines its own effort to combat Islamist radicalism at home.
Listing Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist groups should be a no-brainer for New Delhi. Both groups espouse hard-line Islamism and have a long history of targeting civilians. India for decades has worked to quell Islamist terrorism fueled by neighboring Pakistan, especially in the Muslim-majority territory of Jammu and Kashmir. As Georgetown University terrorism expert Daniel Byman pointed out in a phone interview, “it’s not in India’s interest to encourage violent resistance when people say Muslim land is being occupied by non-Muslims.”
Why, then, aren’t Hamas and Hezbollah among the dozens of groups India lists as terrorist organizations? For starters, neither group targets India; they’re focused on destroying Israel. And unlike al Qaeda and Islamic State, both of which are deemed terrorist groups by the United Nations—and therefore automatically by India too—Hamas and Hezbollah have thus far avoided a U.N. designation. Mr. Byman says this may be because some governments view them as having a hybrid status: “part terrorist group, part government, part social movement.” But the omission of groups that target the Jewish state from the list of terrorist entities also reveals an obvious U.N. bias.
Some of India’s reluctance may also be a holdover from the Cold War, when New Delhi, dependent on Arab oil and eager to champion Third World causes, bent over backward to broadcast its pro-Palestinian credentials. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi flaunted her closeness to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Yasser Arafat. In 1988 India became the first non-Arab country to recognize a state of Palestine officially, and it wasn’t until 1992 that India established full diplomatic relations with Israel. Until then, successive Indian governments lived in permanent fear of riling the so-called Arab street.
Then there’s Iran. “If you condemn Hezbollah, Iran would treat it as an unfriendly act,” Krishan Chander Singh, a former Indian ambassador to Iran, said in a phone interview. India traditionally has sought friendly relations with Tehran to maintain access to Central Asia and to balance Pakistani influence in Afghanistan. Islamist terrorists who attack India almost always belong to Sunni Muslim groups trained and funded by Inter-Services Intelligence, the Pakistani army’s spy agency. For New Delhi, militant Shiite groups such as Hezbollah are typically out of sight and out of mind.
Domestic politics is also at play. Between 10% to 15% of India’s 200 million Muslims are Shiite. The Iranian government maintains close relations with its coreligionists, who form important voting blocs in areas with large Shiite populations including the Kashmir region, the capital city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh state, and the capital city of Hyderabad in the state of Telangana. “There’s a very strong Shia bond,” Mr. Singh says. Unsurprisingly, some of the recent pro-Nasrallah marches in India took place in Kashmir and Lucknow.
Yet the benefits of India’s taking a firm stand against Hamas and Hezbollah would far outweigh any downsides. If India seeks to become a global leader, it needs to start thinking about terrorism in global terms. Hamas and Hezbollah may not target India specifically, but their defeat would undoubtedly set back radical Islam worldwide. India would be among the biggest beneficiaries.
And why should India tiptoe around Iran when the mullahs who run it care little about Indian sensitivities? In a tweet last month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei described India, along with Gaza and Myanmar, as a place where Muslims are “suffering.” That Mr. Khamenei castigated India while ignoring China’s far worse treatment of its Muslim minority underscores the brittleness of India-Iran ties.
India’s posture in the Middle East has changed dramatically over the past decade under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India stopped importing Iranian oil in 2019. Its most important partners in the region are now Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
On the domestic political front, India needs to insulate its large Muslim minority from radical currents. Shehla Rashid, the author of a new book about role models for Indian Muslims, said in a phone interview that Indian Shiites “ought to be encouraged to look up to successful members of their community rather than the likes of Nasrallah.” Calling out Hamas and Hezbollah may not guarantee this outcome, but it would be a step in the right direction. Modi Wants ‘One India.’ It Needs Many Elections (Bloomberg – opinion)
Bloomberg [10/9/2024 6:00 PM, Mihir Sharma, 27782K, Positive]
A surprise election victory in the north Indian state of Haryana comes as a welcome boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, after it lost its parliamentary majority in general elections earlier this year. If Modi has his way, though, the sort of shot in the arm he just received may be denied to future Indian politicians.Haryana, which borders the capital New Delhi, has 30 million people and is diverse even by Indian standards. It contains vast tracts of farmland, but also world-class universities, Japanese-run factories, and the outsourcing capital of Gurugram.The state’s electorate includes well-heeled residents of India’s most expensive apartment complexes, unemployed young men angry that army recruitment is being curtailed, and village strongmen who promise to deliver the votes of their clans the way they have for decades. A state so complicated deserves to make its own decisions about its own government.Modi, on the other hand, has recently returned to an old theme: “one nation, one election.” His cabinet has recommended that all state elections, which currently run on their own timetables, be conducted at the same time as the national vote, which is usually held every five years. Modi has a penchant for such slogans; he described reform of India’s indirect tax system as “one nation, one tax.”The change seems clearly intended to entrench Modi’s own position atop India. In a nationwide vote, his popularity has thus far reliably boosted his party. That’s proven less true in regional polls where local issues and powerbrokers hold more sway.A unified election calendar, in which voters might be persuaded to stick with the BJP up and down the ballot in order to register support for Modi, could change that. One nation, one election, one leader, as it were.Modi offers other rationales for the switch, of course. He has complained that election rules, which prohibit significant administrative shifts in the weeks before voting, have needlessly delayed potential reforms.Cynics might cite other reasons for Modi’s relatively weak legislative record. In any case, the biggest changes his governments have introduced would have benefited from more political consultation, not less. Agricultural reforms, for example, failed because Modi didn’t check the political temperature first.State elections can provide valuable feedback, once or twice a year, on a federal government’s performance and ambitions. They are also an irreplaceable part of India’s democratic machinery.Staggered regional votes allow for India’s states, many of which have populations larger than any European nation, to have their own political debates with real stakes. They offer a chance for local parties and leaders to speak directly to the issues that matter to a specific electorate, instead of to the half billion citizens who vote in federal elections.They also create an incentive for policy experiments that help India figure out what works and what doesn’t. And they open up avenues for fresh political stars to leap onto the national stage — much as Modi himself did more than two decades ago.Like all charismatic leaders, Modi is uncomfortable with the diffusion of power embedded in such a system. He would prefer to shift to something a bit more presidential, as have strongmen from Charles de Gaulle to Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The last time India had an all-powerful prime minister, Indira Gandhi, she pushed for an executive presidency; fortunately she was voted out in 1977 before she could do permanent damage.Modi is aiming for something a bit less sweeping — a quasi-presidential plebiscite on his personality and performance. Still, while that may serve his purposes, it won’t serve India’s.The prime minister may disapprove of state parties and leaders — especially now that the Indian electorate has forced him into a coalition government where he must share power with a pair of notably mercurial regional politicians.But their electoral independence deepens Indian democracy. It allows for a constructive opposition even when there is a dominant force in federal politics. It gives states a voice. This keeps India united, not divided, and it shouldn’t be risked. NSB
The ‘god makers’: Bangladesh’s devoted idol creators (BBC)
BBC [10/9/2024 8:01 AM, Sahar Zand, 67197K, Positive]
Durga Puja, one of the biggest annual Hindu festivals, starts on 9 October and idol-makers across Bangladesh are working round the clock. This year, amidst a backdrop of recent political upheaval and reported attacks on Hindu minorities, this celebration of good over evil feels particularly poignant.As the festival of Durga Puja approaches, villages and towns across Bangladesh fill with anticipation. While the event is celebrated by millions across India and Nepal, in Bangladesh, where Hindus make up about 8% of the 170 million population, Durga Puja carries a special significance. It has become a cultural phenomenon, with people from various backgrounds, including the Muslim majority, enjoying the dazzling spectacles, colourful processions and festivities. Yet, for Bangladesh’s Hindu community, Durga Puja is much more than just a celebration – it’s a deeply spiritual occasion that brings them together; a chance to strengthen communal bonds.This year, however, the festival unfolds against a more politically charged backdrop. The recent ousting of Sheikh Hasina’s government, fuelled by student-led protests and reported attacks on Hindu minorities, have heightened tensions. Yet, Durga Puja stands as a symbol of resilience and unity in an increasingly polarised society. Amid this political upheaval, the festival offers a moment of collective hope and reflection. For the last few weeks, idol-makers in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, have been working tirelessly to create the divine figures that will soon be the heart of this celebration and worshipped by millions, affirming their cultural and religious heritage in challenging times.Dhaka’s Hindu heartTucked away in one of the countless narrow alleys of Old Dhaka’s historic Shakhari Bazar is the workshop of Balai Pal, the city’s most sought-after idol sculptor. The bazaar’s labyrinthine paths and unmarked doors can bewilder even the most determined explorer; finding this place, surrounded by the honking of rickshaws and the tantalising scent of biryani, is nearly impossible without guidance. Embedded in brick buildings – some dating back 400 years – are small temples adorned with intricate deity idols. These temples remind us that this is the heart of the city’s 1.5 million Hindu population. Shakhari Bazaar is considered Dhaka’s epicentre for vibrant Hindu festivals, with Durga Puja being the largest and most important religious event for Bangladesh’s Hindu minority.Dhaka’s top god-makerAfter passing through a narrow passage and a small metal gate into a courtyard, I arrive at the Sri Sri Pran Ballabh Jeu Mandir workshop, which has remained relatively unchanged for nearly 130 years. In these modest confines, beneath a makeshift tin roof, extraordinary artistry unfolds. A team of 16 men, led by Pal, tirelessly work around the clock in shifts to transform humble materials into divine figures. These idols will soon be worshipped by hundreds of thousands of the city’s Hindus during the five-day festival, which culminates on 13 October.Crafting divinityStepping inside the workshop instantly transports you to another realm. The air pollution and honking horns vanish, replaced by cool shade, the rhythmic strokes of brushes and the earthy scent of hay and damp soil. Apart from the occasional quiet exchange between artisans, the atmosphere is so hushed you can almost hear their breathing. Each craftsman is deeply absorbed, meticulously shaping divine figures with unwavering focus, their dedication evident in every sculpted detail. The workshop operates year-round, crafting idols of several gods for various Hindu festivals, including Kali Puja, Maha Shivaratri and Diwali. However, Durga Puja is by far their busiest time of year, as the demand for idols of Goddess Durga and her children peaks during this celebration.Durga MaaI am captivated by the statues of Goddess Durga, lovingly called "Durga Maa". The Durga Puja honours her descent to Earth and victory over the demon Mahishasura, symbolising the triumph of good over evil. It tells the story of how the goddess leaves her spiritual realm for five days every autumn to visit her mortal devotees, allowing them to be seen by her. During this time, her spirit is believed to inhabit the idols made in her image, serving as a bridge between the divine and her earthly worshipers, who seek her blessings for strength and protection. These intricately designed idols, crafted over several months, depict Durga wielding weapons and riding a lion or tiger. Devotees worship these idols in colourful pandals, temples and homes, offering prayers and gifts to the goddess’s spirit within them.Devotion in every detailFor these artisans, creating idols is a form of puja (worship), an act of devotion to the deities that they hope will win them favour. "It’s the power of Durga that enables me to work so many hours and so hard," says Neelandri, one of the longest-serving artisans here. "Durga Maa guides us and moves our limbs to create her image from earthly materials." The artisans believe their work is sacred and refrain from eating meat or drinking alcohol while making the Durga idols.Chosen by the divinePal, one of the most esteemed idol artisans in the country, is the owner of this workshop. He proudly tells me it is the biggest of its kind in Dhaka – a claim confirmed by the locals I ask – and that his family have been making idols in this workshop for three generations. Now 55, Pal started making idols alongside his father when he was just 10. “It was the lord that chose me for this role,” Pal tells me, as he masterfully draws an eye. “It’s a blessing for us to have been chosen to serve our [gods].”A race against timeArtisans typically work around eight to nine hours a day, taking Fridays off, to perfect their creations. However, during Durga Puja, the busiest time of the year, they often extend their hours to more than 12 or 13 hours every day. They even eat and sleep in the workshop during the weeks leading up to the festival. Despite the physical exhaustion, the artisans tell me that the spirit of Durga fuels their dedication, motivating them to continue. They understand that the timely completion of the idols brings joy and devotion to worshippers. As the deadline approaches, the air buzzes with a mix of excitement and pressure, encapsulating the emotional weight of their craft.Earthly materials, heavenly creationsArtisans employ centuries-old techniques to craft the idols, with the process beginning four to five weeks before Durga Puja. No moulds are used; instead, they construct frames from bamboo, wood, yarn and straw before applying thick layers of soil and clay by hand. After a white base is painted onto the idols, Pal meticulously paints intricate details, especially the eyes and face, while supervising other craftsmen. The entire process, taking hours of delicate brushwork. ensures each piece epitomises the beauty of Goddess Durga.Tradition meets trendPal says that long before his grandfather started working in this profession, the idols were a lot more minimalistic. However, over time, they have become increasingly complex and colourful. With the advent of social media, worshippers and idol-makers alike now take inspiration from contemporary styles and designs – particularly the latest trends sported by Bollywood actresses, which have made their way onto Durga’s outfits and jewellery.For example, the cotton-and-silk Bangladeshi saris that traditionally adorned the idols were earthy in tone with minimal embellishments. In recent years, however, these have been largely replaced by synthetic fabrics that are vibrant in colour, use modern draping techniques and are heavily embellished for glamour.Priests and profitPal’s clients are mainly Puja committees – groups of about 50 community elders who manage temples and oversee religious events like Durga Puja and ensure that idol procurement reflects the community’s artistic, religious and cultural values. Pal earns 800,000-900,000 Bangladeshi taka (£5,000-£5,800) during Durga Puja, making it his most profitable time of year. This is significantly higher than the average Bangladeshi salary of around £2,500 per year. Despite this, Pal insists that his motivation is devotion, not money.The river takes her homeThe final day of Durga Puja, Bijoya Dashami, signifies Goddess Durga’s return to her celestial abode. Devotees form lively processions around Shakhari Bazaar, chanting, singing and dancing as they carry the idols to Dhaka’s Buriganga River. There, they gently immerse the idols in the water, bidding farewell as the holy figures slowly dissolve – a symbol of the goddess’s departure to her husband, Lord Shiva. The atmosphere is a poignant mix of joy and sorrow, celebrating the goddess’s presence while feeling the emotional weight of her parting. With this ritual, the autumn Durga Puja concludes, and, as generations before them, Pal and his team can rest, knowing their devotion and craft have been enough for another year. Colorado climber, skier Michael Gardner dies while climbing Nepal mountain: Reports (USA Today)
USA Today [10/10/2024 12:54 AM, Anthony Robledo, 79.1M, Negative]
An American skier has reportedly died in a mountain climbing accident in Nepal.
Colorado native Michael Gardner, 32, died Monday while climbing Nepal’s Jannu East mountain, according to Gardner’s sponsor Arc’teryx. In an Instagram post, the outdoor apparel company confirmed that his longtime climbing partner who accompanied him, Sam Hennessey, is safe after the incident.
Gardner fell to his death in Nepal’s Kangchenjunga region after attempting a new route with Hennessey up the North Face, Climbing Magazine reported.
Hennessey, who successfully descended the route, encountered a French team who he safely completed the route with, according to the outlet. The group searched for Gardner’s body, but only found some clothing and personal equipment belonging to him. A drone search was also unsuccessful.
It was Hennessey’s third attempt climbing north face of Jannu East and his second attempt with Gardner, according to French French mountain outlet Alpine Mag.
Gardner’s father died in 2008 climbing accident
Born in 1991 in Ridgway, Colorado, Gardner is a second generation mountain guide having learned from his father, according to Arc’teryx.
However, Gardner lost his father, George Gardner, at age 16 in a 2008 climbing accident in "a moment that reset the way he viewed the mountains and guided his trajectory ever since."
George fell to his death during a solo venture up the Grand Teton, according to Climbing Magazine.
Mike was a ‘true climber’s climber’
Gardner is survived by his mother Colleen and his sister Megan, Climbing Magazine reported.
"We knew Mike as everyone’s favourite person. He was curious and loving. He had a smile and way about him that drew you in. He loved sharing knowledge and truly engaging in human interaction," Arc’teryx wrote in a tribute post. "A skateboarder, skier, climber, enthusiastic skijorer, writer and mountain guide, he refused to be boxed in by any label and pursued anything that intrigued him."
Among his massive list of accomplishments, Gardner showed aptitude at climbing rock walls and mountain peaks at blistering speed.
"He wasn’t one to boast, had no ego to mention, and was a true climber’s climber," the company wrote. "The pursuit was never ‘about him’ - his passion was to share his missions and objectives as if to say, ‘see what a good time we had?’ and invite you to step into the dream with him. His motivations were pure; to push the boundaries of sport, and do it with ethics, style and homage to those who came before." Sri Lanka Recovering Faster Than Expected: World Bank (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [10/10/2024 5:11 AM, Staff, 88008K, Neutral]
Cash-strapped Sri Lanka’s economy was recovering faster than expected, the World Bank said Thursday, doubling the island’s growth forecast to 4.4 percent for 2024.Tourism and financial services had bounced back, along with improvements in construction, leading to the Bank’s upward revision of the forecast of 2.2 percent made in April.Sri Lanka’s growth is expected to moderate next year to 3.5 percent and a slower 3.1 percent in 2026, the Bank said.The island’s 4.4 percent growth forecast for 2024 was, however, lower than the South Asia region’s 6.4 percent, revised data of the World Bank showed.The Bank "cautions" that Sri Lanka’s recovery remained fragile and hinged on maintaining stability.It also called for completing a restructure of Sri Lanka’s external debt and continuing reforms to increase medium-term growth and reduce poverty.The international lender on Monday granted a new $200 million loan to bolster economic recovery, the first foreign funding since leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won elections.Dissanayake, a self-avowed Marxist, took power last month on the back of public anger over the island’s 2022 economic meltdown and promising to reverse steep tax hikes.The new administration is maintaining a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, but has said it will renegotiate some of the harsh austerity measures.Sri Lanka defaulted on its external debt in 2022 after running out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports such as food, fuel and medicines.Months of street protests against acute shortages led to the toppling of then leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa.The World Bank has previously said the island’s economic crisis had almost doubled the number of people pushed into poverty, or living on less than $3.60 a day.About 13 percent of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population lived in poverty just before the 2022 crisis. The poverty figure almost doubled to 25.9 percent in 2023.The World Bank expects poverty levels to remain high for the next two years. Central Asia
Top Kazakh oil field hits record output amid tensions with OPEC+, sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [10/9/2024 9:34 AM, Staff, 37270K, Neutral]
Kazakhstan’s biggest oil field Tengiz, operated by U.S. major Chevron (CVX.N), boosted output to a record high in October, sources told Reuters, potentially complicating the country’s future efforts to comply with its OPEC+ quota.OPEC+ has named top 10 global oil producer Kazakhstan along with Iraq and Russia as countries that have repeatedly failed to comply with its pledges to curb oil production this year.Tengiz boosted daily production to 699,000 bpd in early October from 687,000 bpd in September, when output increased by 30% from August after the completion of maintenance, said two industry sources familiar with the data.The field’s operator Tengizchevroil, which has invested more than $70 billion since the project’s inception in 1993, said its operations were continuing as usual and declined further comment.Chevron (CVX.N) owns a 50% stake in the venture. Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) controls 25%, KazMunayGaz (KMGZ.KZ) has a 20% stake, and Russia’s Lukoil (LKOH.MM) owns 5%.The Kazakh energy ministry did not reply to a request on comment about oil production plans for 2024 and 2025.Kazakhstan - which relies on Tengiz and two other major fields, Karachaganak and Kashagan, for most of its production - is subject to output targets as a member of OPEC+, an alliance of OPEC and other top producers led by RussiaThe country’s oil production quota under the OPEC+ deal stands at 1.468 million bpd, a target it exceeded in September by around 170,000 bpd, according to Reuters calculations.It is likely to remain within its targets this month because it will shut down the Kashagan field for maintenance, sources said.Overall October production data from Kazakhstan is not yet available, but sources said Karachaganak will produce its regular volumes of 228,000 bpd, while maintenance at Kashagan will entail a complete stoppage of its 400,000 bpd facility.While that means Kazakhstan will be able to achieve its October quota, the sources said, complying with OPEC+ quotas might become problematic again when the field returns from maintenance in November."Taking into account the expansion of Tengiz, compliance with the quota could become impossible," one of the sources said.Chevron and its partners plan to expand output at the Tengiz project to 850,000 bpd in the first half of 2025. Expansion costs at the project stand at around $49 billion.OPEC will release estimates of its members’ September oil output next week.The group’s leader Saudi Arabia has repeatedly called on rival producers to improve compliance, saying it was the most paramount immediate task before OPEC+ embarks on releasing more barrels from December. Kyrgyz Investigative Journalists Sent To Prison (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [10/9/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 235K, Negative]
A court in Bishkek has ruled in the case of the Kyrgyz anti-corruption investigative group Temirov Live, sentencing two journalists to prison terms after finding them guilty of charges that their supporters and media watchdogs say are politically motivated. Makhabat Tajibek-kyzy was sentenced to six years in prison and Azamat Ishenbekov was handed a five-year sentence after both were found guilty of "creating an organized criminal group" and "calling for mass riots." Aktilek Kaparov and Aike Beishekeeva were given three years of probation on the same charges. Seven others were acquitted. The 11 journalists went on trial on June 7. Kyrgyzstan has lately heightened a crackdown against the free press and civil society. Twitter
Afghanistan
Zhao Xing@ChinaEmbKabul
[10/10/2024 12:16 AM, 28.7K followers, 2 retweets, 30 likes]
Yesterday I met with Mr. Mohammad Younass Momand, Acting Chairman of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Investment and exchanged views on strengthening China-Afghanistan economic and trade cooperation.
Zhao Xing@ChinaEmbKabul
[10/9/2024 9:36 AM, 28.7K followers, 16 retweets, 99 likes]
Today, I’m happy to meet with H.E.Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, Acting Minister of Disaster Management of the Afghanistan, and exchanged views on strengthening cooperation on disaster prevention and mitigation. Pakistan
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[10/10/2024 1:03 AM, 3.1M followers, 1 retweet, 2 likes]
The dengue virus outbreak has caused numerous deaths and affected thousands in Pakistan and globally. Taking timely preventive steps is essential to fight against this hazardous virus.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[10/9/2024 4:53 AM, 3.1M followers, 11 retweets, 18 likes]
Pakistan’s worker remittances have increased by $2.85 Billion, up 29% YoY in September 2024. These robust inflows will support Pakistan in stabilizing the PKR and managing the current account deficit.
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[10/10/2024 2:21 AM, 73.9K followers, 11 retweets, 75 likes]
Pakistan’s Foreign Office in a letter to diplomatic missions inside the country have advised them to consider limiting their movements during the SCO Period from 15th till 16th October, for Islamabad and outside. #Pakistan
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[10/9/2024 11:07 PM, 73.9K followers, 1 retweet, 7 likes]
Pres @AAliZardari , will undertake a visit to Turkmenistan to attend the International Forum on “Interrelation of Times and Civilizations – Basis of Peace and Development” which to be held in Ashgabat on 10-11 October 2024, announces @ForeignOfficePk. #Pakistan #Turkemanistan India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/9/2024 10:14 PM, 102.6M followers, 2.4K retweets, 23K likes]
Leaving for Lao PDR to take part in the 21st ASEAN-India and 19th East Asia Summit. This is a special year as we mark a decade of our Act East Policy, which has led to substantial benefits for our nation. There will also be various bilateral meetings and interactions with various world leaders during this visit. https://nm-4.com/5VpOad
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/9/2024 2:28 PM, 102.6M followers, 40K retweets, 267K likes]
Shri Ratan Tata Ji was a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being. He provided stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious business houses. At the same time, his contribution went far beyond the boardroom. He endeared himself to several people thanks to his humility, kindness and an unwavering commitment to making our society better.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/9/2024 2:28 PM, 102.6M followers, 6.8K retweets, 49K likes]
One of the most unique aspects of Shri Ratan Tata Ji was his passion towards dreaming big and giving back. He was at the forefront of championing causes like education, healthcare, sanitation, animal welfare to name a few.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/9/2024 2:28 PM, 102.6M followers, 8.5K retweets, 57K likes]
My mind is filled with countless interactions with Shri Ratan Tata Ji. I would meet him frequently in Gujarat when I was the CM. We would exchange views on diverse issues. I found his perspectives very enriching. These interactions continued when I came to Delhi. Extremely pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family, friends and admirers in this sad hour. Om Shanti.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/9/2024 10:27 AM, 102.6M followers, 4K retweets, 33K likes]
The Cabinet’s approval for a National Maritime Heritage Complex in Lothal, Gujarat will significantly boost tourism and will also deepen interest in our rich history. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2063453
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/9/2024 3:55 AM, 102.6M followers, 3.3K retweets, 17K likes]
Speaking at the launch of projects in Maharashtra, which will enhance infrastructure, boost connectivity and empower the youth. https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1DXxydobBXPJM
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[10/9/2024 9:31 PM, 3.2M followers, 2.1K retweets, 23K likes]
The passing away of Ratan Tata is the end of an era. He was deeply associated with the modernisation of Indian industry. And even more so with its globalisation. Was my privilege to have interacted with him on numerous occasions. And benefitted from his vision and insights. Join the nation in mourning his demise. Om shanti. NSB
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh@BDMOFA
[10/9/2024 12:18 PM, 52.8K followers, 2 retweets, 47 likes]
Foreign Secretary highlighted investment on women education and skills development, underscoring the need to mobilise financial resources, in his statement made today at #ThirdCommittee of #UNGA79.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh@BDMOFA
[10/9/2024 11:31 AM, 52.8K followers, 1 retweet, 30 likes]
Foreign Secretary Md. Jashim Uddin and UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari at UNHQ, highlighting BD-UN partnership, BD’s contributions to peacekeeping, regional peace and stability, emphasising on appointment of BD nationals at the policy levels at UN.
Tshering Tobgay@tsheringtobgay
[10/9/2024 8:29 AM, 99.6K followers, 24 retweets, 289 likes]
Delighted to interact with His Excellency D.Y. Chandrachud, Hon’ble Chief Justice of India. We discussed the special, deep-rooted, and enduring ties of friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and India.
Tshering Tobgay@tsheringtobgay
[10/9/2024 6:28 AM, 99.6K followers, 2 retweets, 14 likes]
Met with Mr. Michael Philipp, Vice-Chair of @bhutanforlife and @niksekhran of @WWF. We discussed ecotourism and environmental conservation efforts to support Bhutan’s sustainable development goals and strengthen our commitment to protecting our natural resources.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[10/9/2024 2:59 PM, 110.3K followers, 185 retweets, 193 likes]
President His Excellency Dr @MMuizzu and First Lady Madam Sajidha Mohamed engaged with the Maldivian community in Bangalore. The President attentively listened to their concerns, pledging support and solutions for citizens abroad.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[10/9/2024 7:41 AM, 110.3K followers, 207 retweets, 216 likes]
Governor of Karnataka, His Excellency @TCGEHLOT pays a courtesy call on President His Excellency Dr @MMuizzu. Discussions centred on sourcing assistance from Bangalore as the Silicon Valley of India to help develop the IT sector in the Maldives. The President and Governor spoke about strengthening the necessary support for the large number of Maldivians who visit Bangalore for education, medicine and tourism.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[10/9/2024 9:26 AM, 110.3K followers, 87 retweets, 85 likes]
.@CMofKarnataka His Excellency Siddaramaiah, who was also present at the meeting emphasised the developing bilateral relationship between the Maldives and Karnataka and expressed a readiness to share expertise through educational and cultural exchange programs.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[10/9/2024 9:06 AM, 110.3K followers, 203 retweets, 202 likes]
President His Excellency Dr @MMuizzu attends the India-Maldives Business Forum this evening in Bangalore. His remarks at the event underscored the importance of collaborating with India, in particular with Bangalore, to find digital solutions for development priorities spanning finance, e-commerce, healthcare and renewable energy.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/10/2024 2:04 AM, 131.2K followers, 3 retweets, 97 likes]
Honourable Justice of Supreme Court Murdu Nirupa Bidushinie Fernando was sworn in as the Acting Chief Justice of Sri Lanka this morning (October 10) at the Presidential Secretariat, in my presence.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/9/2024 9:51 AM, 131.2K followers, 45 retweets, 434 likes]
Today (09), I had a productive meeting with officials from Sri Lanka Customs and the Inland Revenue Department. We discussed strategies to enhance revenue generation and improve operational efficiency. Stronger coordination is key to combating tax evasion and boosting our revenue collection!
Eran Wickramaratne@EranWick
[10/9/2024 10:06 AM, 69.8K followers, 17 retweets, 134 likes]
Signed nomination papers for GE today. People are demanding an end to the culture of corruption in Sri Lanka. That can only be achieved by electing politicians with clean records to Parliament, be it from the govt or the opposition. I am confident people will vote wisely.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[10/10/2024 12:57 AM, 7.4K followers, 3 retweets, 8 likes]
Sri Lanka at a Crossroads:
The Need for Continued Pragmatic Economic Decisions
The past decade of Sri Lanka’s economic journey has been defined by stagnation, policy inconsistency, and political instability. From an economic perspective, this period can only be described as a missed opportunity. In 2015, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was approximately $80.69 billion, with a per capita income of $3,843. By 2023, the GDP had declined to around $74 billion, and per capita income had slipped to $3,527. These figures paint a clear picture of economic decline, despite numerous efforts to reignite growth. They tell the story of a nation trapped by indecision and policy failure. In 2015, Sri Lankans elected President Maithripala Sirisena, hopeful that his leadership would bring much-needed reforms and stability. However, political infighting and stalled reforms stifled any real progress, leaving the economy in a similar state by the end of his tenure. When Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in 2019, it was amidst renewed optimism for meaningful change. Many of us were part of his administration, believing significant transformation was within reach. However, despite sincere intentions, the government failed to deliver the promised economic turnaround. Economic mismanagement, compounded by the global COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent downturn, led to the administration’s downfall.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[10/10/2024 12:57 AM, 7.4K followers, 3 likes]
Today, a new administration has taken office, driven by public hope for change and recovery. Yet, regardless of political preferences, most Sri Lankans now agree on one crucial point: it no longer matters who governs, as long as they govern effectively with a clear, inclusive vision for the country’s future. Effective governance must rise above party loyalties and narrow interests, prioritizing economic well-being for all. Leadership should be driven by principles of equity, inclusiveness, and long-term planning to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are distributed fairly across society.
Encouragingly, the current administration has resisted the lure of populist decision making. In times of crisis, there is always a temptation to opt for quick fixes and short term gains, but such measures often cause more harm than good in the long run. Rather than yielding to populist demands, the administration has focused on stabilizing the economy and maintaining policy consistency, particularly with regard to economic reforms. This emphasis on long-term stability over short term political expediency is both commendable and necessary for sustainable recovery.M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[10/10/2024 12:57 AM, 7.4K followers, 2 likes]
The Path Forward, Economic Stabilization and Pragmatic Leadership
For Sri Lanka to move forward, the government must continue to prioritize economic stabilization while ensuring inclusive growth. Recovery will require not only strong leadership but also a flexible, adaptive approach to policymaking that aligns with both local realities and global economic trends. Decisions should not be based on rigid ideologies or outdated paradigms but should reflect the current context and challenges. Striking the right balance between fiscal discipline, social protection, and economic growth will be difficult but essential.
Equally important is transparency and open communication with the public. Sri Lankans have endured years of economic hardship, and while patience is required for recovery, there must be a sense of shared responsibility and trust between the government and its citizens. Policies need to be clearly communicated, and the government must be upfront about the sacrifices required to stabilize the economy, while also demonstrating the tangible benefits that will come over time.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[10/10/2024 12:57 AM, 7.4K followers, 2 likes]
Policy Consistency, The Key to Attracting Investment
Consistency in policymaking is crucial. In recent years, Sri Lanka’s economic struggles have been exacerbated by frequent policy reversals and inconsistencies. This lack of continuity has discouraged both local and international investors, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty that further stifles growth. Moving forward, decisions must be pragmatic and based on what will genuinely improve the lives of Sri Lankans, not merely what looks good on paper.
Looking back at the last decade, including our involvement in the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, it is clear that Sri Lanka cannot afford to waste another decade. The economic potential lost during these years is staggering, and the stakes are now higher than ever. Another failure could plunge the country into deeper economic turmoil, with lasting consequences for its citizens. There is no more room for error. The decisions made today will shape Sri Lanka’s trajectory for generations to come.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[10/10/2024 12:57 AM, 7.4K followers, 1 retweet, 3 likes]
The Role of the Current Administration
The new NPP administration, despite various slogans and rhetoric during their opposition days and the election campaign, has not deviated from the economic reforms introduced by the previous government. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) program continues, and key technocrats such as the Central Bank Governor and the Secretary to the Treasury remain in place. The Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) framework is intact, and debt restructuring parameters have been maintained. While it is still early days, and difficult to predict the future, the administration’s commitment to these reforms is encouraging.
Despite political differences, it is imperative that Sri Lanka cannot afford another failure. Now, more than ever, it is time to put the country’s interests at the forefront, transcending party politics. The people of Sri Lanka have suffered enough; they deserve leadership that can not only manage crises but also cultivate sustainable growth, stability, and prosperity.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[10/10/2024 12:57 AM, 7.4K followers, 1 retweet, 2 likes]
A Call for Long-Term Vision
The road to recovery will be long, and patience will be required. However, we remain hopeful that today’s leadership will learn from past failures and take bold, effective steps to guide the country toward a brighter future. With careful decision-making, a continued resistance to populism, and a focus on adaptability, Sri Lanka can overcome the challenges that have plagued the nation for too long. The country stands at a crossroads once again, and this time, the right path must be chosen a path that leads to lasting progress. Ultimately, what matters most is the collective will of the nation. It is not about who governs but how they govern. Sri Lanka’s future must be secured, and its people must be given the opportunity to thrive.
Meenakshi Ganguly@meeganguly
[10/10/2024 12:05 AM, 19.4K followers, 4 retweets, 3 likes]
UN Human Rights Council adopts #SriLanka resolution on rights violations & crimes under international law, including during the 1983-2009 civil war. New Dissanayake administration should undo actions of previous govts to block credible investigations into these crimes @hrw Central Asia
Uzbekistan MFA@uzbekmfa
[10/9/2024 1:34 PM, 8K followers, 5 retweets, 18 likes]
On October 9, 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of #Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov received the new head of the diplomatic mission of #Afghanistan in our country Abdul Ghafar Terawi. https://mfa.uz/36452
Bakhtiyor Saidov@FM_Saidov
[10/9/2024 12:53 PM, 14K followers, 90 retweets, 745 likes]
Met with H.E. Abdul Ghafar Terawi, who is starting his tenure as the Head of the Diplomatic Mission of #Afghanistan in #Uzbekistan. Our countries share a common history and interests of prosperity that serve as an impetus for the development of cooperation ties in all areas. We also discussed the acute topics on bilateral, regional, and global agendas.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[10/10/2024 12:01 AM, 201.3K followers, 6 likes]
Another item on the President’s agenda was a presentation on the progress of the #Bukhara International Airport construction project. This initiative serves as a great example of wide implementation of public-private partnership mechanisms in grand transport infrastructure projects.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[10/9/2024 11:12 AM, 201.3K followers, 2 retweets, 16 likes]
Today, President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the project of #Tashkent’s master-plan based on modern urban development practices. According to the proposal, the city’s territory will be divided in 3 zones, including conservation of cultural and historical buildings, as well as green areas; reconstruction for implementing additional construction plans and renovation for developing new construction and reconstruction plans. Upon project’s finalization, the plan will be available for public online.{End of Report} To subscribe to the SCA Morning Press Clips, please email SCA-PressOfficers@state.gov. Please do not reply directly to this email.