epubdos : Afghanistan
SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO:
SCA & Staff
DATE:
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
Afghan women have less freedom than cats, Meryl Streep says at U.N. (Washington Post)
Washington Post [9/24/2024 6:50 AM, Andrew Jeong, 6.9M, Neutral]
A cat, or a squirrel for that matter, has more freedom than women in Afghanistan, Hollywood actress Meryl Streep said in a speech on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, imploring the international community to intervene.

The remarks come after the Taliban unfurled in late August a new set of draconian laws that include bans on women reciting the Quran in public, looking at men who are not members of their family or going out in public without a face covering.

“Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedoms than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park,” Streep said at the event focused on women’s rights in Afghanistan. “A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because the public parks have been closed to women and girls.”

The Taliban, which took over the country after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, had previously introduced rules restricting women’s rights, such as a ban on women and girls attending school above the sixth grade. But the regime had not fully enforced them in urban areas and had portrayed the new regulations as temporary, The Washington Post previously reported.

The morality police, which is operated by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, however, appears to have become more active, roaming bus stops and shopping centers, on the hunt for dress-code violations or women who might raise their voices in public.

“The international community, as a whole, if it came together, could effect change in Afghanistan and stop the slow suffocation of … half the population,” Streep said.

Taliban officials have tried to partly justify their new rules, saying they are designed to protect women. The regime has also been cracking down on men more recently, as morality police go knocking on the doors of men who have not showed up at mosques recently or checking for those who may have failed to grow a beard.

Long before the Taliban came to power, Afghanistan granted women the right to vote in 1919, a year before the United States. It opened its first schools for girls in 1921. In 1950, the country abolished a system that had enforced strict gender segregation and veiling practices, according to Amnesty International.
Actor Meryl Streep shows solidarity at UN with Afghan women, girls (Reuters)
Reuters [9/23/2024 4:16 PM, Michelle Nichols, 37270K, Neutral]
A female cat has more freedom in Afghanistan than a woman does, Hollywood actor Meryl Streep said at the United Nations on Monday in a bid to get world leaders to focus on the plight of Afghan women and girls.

"The way that ... this society has been upended is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world," Streep told an event on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to encourage the inclusion of women in the future of Afghanistan.

The Taliban seized power in August 2021 when U.S.-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war. The U.N. has sought a unified global approach to dealing with the Taliban, who have cracked down on women’s rights.

Most girls have been barred from high school and women from universities by the Taliban. The group has closed beauty salons and curtailed travel for women without a male guardian.

"Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedoms than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because the public parks have been closed to women and girls," Streep said.

"A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not and a woman may not in public. This is extraordinary," she said.

The Taliban say they respect rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law. The group formally codified a long set of rules governing morality last month that were based on a decree by the Taliban’s supreme spiritual leader in 2022 and will be enforced by the morality ministry.

"Without educated women, without women in employment, including in leadership roles, and without recognizing the rights and freedoms of one-half of its population, Afghanistan will never take its rightful place on the global stage," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the event.
Afghan cousins who escaped the Taliban ID’d as Salt River drowning victims (Arizona Republic)
Arizona Republic [9/23/2024 9:25 PM, Skylar Heisey, 5146K, Neutral]
Two men who drowned in the Salt River on Sept.18 were cousins from Afghanistan who came to the United States to escape the Taliban after assisting the U.S. military with intelligence efforts.

Abdul Mosawar Khaliqi, 25, and Mohammad Selaman Nasri, 27, were part of the Operation Allies Welcome, and evacuated Afghanistan in December 2021, seeking a new life in America, according to the Arizona Refugee Center.

The cousins settled in Phoenix and were working on their immigration paperwork, with green card applications set for approval next month, said Julianna Larsen, founder of the center.

Nasri was a security officer and worked alongside U.S. forces in Kabul, while Khaliqi was a university student.

On the day of the drownings, the cousins were enjoying a day off at Sheeps Crossing Recreation Site, a place that evokes memories of home for many Afghans, Larsen said. They were strong swimmers who had visited the river before, she said.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of distress in the water around 5:30 p.m. that day. When they arrived, bystanders were performing CPR on Nasri, who was pronounced dead shortly after. Khaliqi’s body was found three days later, after a search involving airboats and divers.

Larsen said the Afghan community in Phoenix has rallied around the grieving families.

"They came to America to escape the Taliban, and then this tragedy happened," she said. She expressed gratitude toward community members who prayed and offered support.

The refugee center is sponsoring a GoFundMe page for the families of Khaliqi and Nasri, at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-families-of-abdul-mosawar-and-mohammad-selaman.
New GOP-backed bill would ban aid to Afghanistan to avoid giving US dollars to the Taliban (FOX News)
FOX News [9/23/2024 11:23 AM, Morgan Phillips, Neutral]
A group of Republican lawmakers is introducing a new bill that would cease all aid dollars to Afghanistan over concerns of interception by the Taliban.

"The Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous withdrawal has plunged the country back under Taliban rule, and now it turns out that our taxpayer dollars are being used to the benefit of the Taliban," Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., sponsor of the legislation, told Fox News Digital.

"This legislation is needed so we can ensure that no more of our tax dollars are being irresponsibly used in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan."

The House bill is co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Nick Langworthy of New York, Barry Moore of Alabama, Erlic Burlison of Missouri, Matt Rosendale of Montana and Randy Feenstra of Iowa.

The U.S. is the largest donor to Afghanistan. It spent a total of $21 billion on the nation and Afghan refugees who have been evacuated since the withdrawal. However, critics say much of that aid ends up in lining the pockets of the Taliban, who they say have taken control of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the country.

The United Nations (U.N.), meanwhile, has flown in some $2.9 billion in U.S. currency cash to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control, the bulk of that being from funds allocated by the U.S., and at least some of which ends up in the Taliban-controlled central bank, according to the SIGAR report from July.

The Taliban "taxes" this cash at multiple points of distribution.

The bill would prohibit federal agencies from giving any direct cash assistance to Afghanistan and prohibit any taxpayer dollars from going to the U.N. for the purpose of assisting Afghanistan. It also prohibits Federal Reserve Banks from selling U.S. currency to the U.N. for the purpose of direct cash assistance to Afghanistan.

In a briefing to the U.N. Security Council on March 6, Roza Otunbayeva, the U.N.’s special representative for Afghanistan, did not mention the money going to Da Afghanistan central bank but said it was necessary to get medical care and food for Afghans.

The shipments have "injected liquidity to the local economy that has in large part allowed the private sector to continue to function and averted a fiscal crisis," Otunbayeva told the council.

In a letter provided in response to the SIGAR report, the State Department said the U.N. was in charge of managing the cash transfer program.

"We remain committed to providing critical, life-saving humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. We will continue to monitor assistance programs and seek to mitigate the risk that U.S. assistance could indirectly benefit the Taliban or could be diverted to unintended recipients," the letter said.

For 20 years prior to the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan received some $8 billion in foreign assistance per year, representing 40% of its gross domestic product and financing three quarters of the government’s public expenditures. When the U.S. and other foreign entities stopped supplying aid, the country fell into an economic crisis – and aid dollars began flowing once again.

In June, the House passed a bill that would force the State Department to investigate which countries give aid to the Taliban – and also get U.S. assistance themselves.

It would also force the secretary of state to weigh if those countries should keep getting U.S. dollars and develop a strategy to discourage them from continuing aid to the Taliban. However, that bill did not cease all aid to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s neighbors don’t want another civil war (The Hill – opinion)
The Hill [9/23/2024 1:00 PM, James Durso, 19591K, Neutral]
Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, recently declared he will defeat the Taliban “no matter the odds.”

For Massoud to mount a military threat to the Taliban, he would need the cooperation of the Central Asian republics, Iran or Pakistan (among others) to do the job. However, Afghanistan’s neighbors have no interest in another civil war in Afghanistan, as the violence and refugees would spill over their borders and cause economic dislocation and unrest all the way to Europe.

After two decades of U.S.-sponsored mayhem in the Hindu Kush, all the region wants is to recoup the missed opportunities of the “lost decades” of 2001-2021.

None of Afghanistan’s neighbors prefer the Taliban to any other group, and they object to the regime’s unrepresentative government and policies toward women. That said, their leaders must solve today’s problems despite their distaste for the Taliban’s retrograde ways.

The republics’ approach to Kabul has long been “neighbors forever” — or, for the pessimists, “captives of geography.” Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its terrorist list in December 2023; Uzbekistan never declared the Taliban an extremist group, and in 2018 it publicly encouraged the Taliban to start negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Turkmenistan was mum on the topic of the Taliban in line with its policy of permanent neutrality. In September 2024, the chief of Tajikistan’s security service visited Kabul for talks that were described as “productive,” and the same month the Kyrgyz Republic removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations.

Afghanistan and its Central Asian neighbors are collaborating to ease trade and transport; renovate Afghanistan’s roads and railroads; help Afghanistan improve irrigation projects; ship natural gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India; build a railroad from Uzbekistan to Pakistan’s seaports; and build a multi-modal transport corridor from Kazakhstan to Pakistan, terminating in the United Arab Emirates.

Economic growth depends on an adequate supply of water; Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains form the headwaters of the region’s basins.

In March 2022, the Taliban launched construction of the 285-km Qosh Tepa canal, which will divert 10 billion cubic meters of water annually from the Amu Darya River, relied on by water-starved Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. They will suffer a 15 percent cut in the current supply. The project will cost $684 million, but it will irrigate 2100 square miles and create 250,000 jobs. Kabul feels it is critical to ensure food security for the emirate.

Tashkent and Ashgabat are unhappy with the project, but the Uzbeks offered technical assistance to Afghanistan to ensure the construction is “in accordance with international norms.” Now is a good time to consider inviting Afghanistan to join Central Asia’s regional water management organization, the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia.

Afghanistan also has unresolved water issues with Iran and Pakistan; those projects would be endangered, or further delayed, by a civil war.

According to the United Nations, there are now 7.6 million Afghans in Iran and Pakistan, most of them refugees. In 2023, Pakistan expelled over 540,000 Afghan refugees, and the next phase of the plan may see 800,000 more Afghans deported. Increased violence will likely reverse these flows and burden Iran and Pakistan, who cannot afford to support the refugees they have now.

China recently warned Pakistan it must get control of the violence that is endangering the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor . More violence north of the Durand Line will further delay the corridor, which may be seen as a strategic “win” in Washington but will hurt Central and South Asia.

In April 2022, the Taliban banned poppy cultivation and methamphetamine production. This benefits Iran, which has the highest rate of opium abusers in the world, according to the World Health Organization. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “More than 3,700 national law enforcement officials have been killed and over 12,000 have been maimed in counter-narcotics operations over the last three decades.”

That’s good news, but if Afghanistan must fund a war against groups like the National Resistance Front (and its foreign confederates), the ban on drugs may go by the wayside.

In fact, if the Taliban suspect a foreign hand in an attack, will it encourage al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to strike foreign targets? Sure, that will violate the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban agreed “Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies,” but the Taliban will note the Americans pledged, “The United States and its allies will refrain from the threat or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan or intervening in its domestic affairs.”

Is the Taliban isolated? No, Seventeen countries, including every country that borders Afghanistan plus the European Union, maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul. Aaron Zelin reports “between August 2021 and February 22, 2024 the Taliban has publicly announced 1,382 diplomatic meetings with at least eighty countries.” China and the United Arab Emirates have accepted the credentials from Taliban ambassador to their capitals.

Pragmatism may be winning, regardless what governments or their citizens think of Taliban policies.

After Shohna ba Shohna (Shoulder to Shoulder) proved weak, it is time for the locals to lead, though Washington and Brussels can help by facilitating diplomatic and economic support of beneficial projects. The Americans, in particular, will need a broad aperture to understand the needs and opportunities of the region instead of obsessing about what might have been.

The defeat of the U.S. and NATO may have seen the end of the era of empires in Central Asia and Afghanistan, after the Russian Empire (1713-1917), the British interventions (1839-1919), the Soviet empire (1917-1991), and the American empire (2001-2021).

Some questionable characters will make a few bucks along the way, but that’s the price of repairing the damage caused by the crusade to reform Afghan culture as part of Washington’s post 9/11 war on terror, the “first grand global experiment of the twenty first century.”
The Global Community Must Stop Enabling the Taliban’s Abuse (The Diplomat – opinion)
The Diplomat [9/23/2024 11:15 AM, Natalie Gonnella-Platts, 1198K, Neutral]
When the Taliban criminalized the voices and faces of Afghan women in public in August, the global community once again offered nothing more than platitudes in response to the Taliban’s enforcement of gender apartheid.

Adding insult to injury, the United Nations Security Council voted to approve three new travel ban exemptions for sanctioned Taliban leaders shortly after the regime’s most recent assault on women. This included travel to Russia, Uzbekistan, Cameroon, and Turkey. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan recently recognized Taliban diplomats as the country’s representatives - a particularly concerning trend that started with China’s recognition of the Taliban ambassador earlier this year.

The United Nations and other international players regularly undermine their own posture against the Taliban through leniency, loopholes, and lack of sanctions enforcement, as the George W. Bush Institute demonstrated in its recent Captured State series of reports. Not surprisingly, the status quo has invigorated Taliban propaganda, abuse of power, and pursuit of personal gain. No one has paid a greater price than Afghanistan’s women and children. This must change now.

It’s been three years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. and international withdrawal. They promised a lot of things - reforms, amnesty, inclusion. None has materialized. The misogynistic and kleptocratic regime has done everything it can to instill fear and obedience among the Afghan population in the past 1,100 days and counting, and its brutality continues to grow. Pressures on the Taliban need to increase, not ease up.

Kowtowing to the regime’s demands and excluding Afghan women and other persecuted members of Afghan civil society from formal dialogues has further undermined vulnerable populations by emboldening the Taliban’s misogynistic cruelty.

Most female Afghans are currently prohibited from working, studying, and moving about freely. Forced and early marriage rates are skyrocketing. Child labor - from which the Taliban profit - is widespread. Most households are food insecure. Children and their mothers lack access to even basic medical care and die needlessly from preventable and treatable ailments. In Jalalabad alone, only one in five children who need hospital level care can access it, according to the BBC.

Protesters, advocates, former military and government officials as well as ethnic and religious minorities are being hunted, not just persecuted. Harassment, detention, torture, sexual assault, femicide, and haunting executions are everyday realities, with new accounts coming to light regularly thanks to courageous truth tellers.

While terrorists, tyrants, and other illiberal actors eagerly enjoy refuge and budding partnerships in the Taliban’s version of Afghanistan, freedom of expression - including music, dancing, and other traditional elements of Afghan culture - has been outlawed. Independent journalism has been suffocated.

The international community has done little to hold the Taliban accountable and protect the rights and well-being of female Afghans from the Taliban’s vicious assault.

Too many Taliban officials freely travel abroad. Of those actually subject to targeted U.N. sanctions and other restrictions, a number - including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s acting interior minister who is also listed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List - have secured travel ban exemptions from the United Nations Security Council for both personal needs (like medical care) and official meetings abroad. This includes travel to Russia, China, Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, Cameroon, and Switzerland, among others.

Six sanctioned Taliban officials received exemptions in a one-month period alone. Requests for travel ban exemptions are reviewed for approval by all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council including the United States. The United States has traditionally not used its veto power when reviewing.

Statements assuring global unity against the Taliban are regularly undermined by individual actions. Examples abound of countries, organizations, sporting bodies, and companies permitting or pursuing engagement directly at odds with supposed solidarity against recognizing the regime. High level leaders - at both U.N. and national levels - have posed for photos with Taliban officials.

The Organization for Islamic Cooperation increasingly includes Taliban officials in annual gatherings. Global sporting bodies like the International Cricket Council and FIFA have permitted Afghanistan’s men’s team to continue competing in international competitions, while female athletes in Afghanistan and exiled outside of it are prohibited from participating. And a number of nations - including European Union countries- are exploring reopening their embassies in Kabul.

These brazen actions should be called out for what they are: normalization of and complicity in the Taliban’s dehumanization of the Afghan people.

Afghanistan under the Taliban is nothing short of horrific - institutionalized brutality that threatens not just the Afghan people, but peace and prosperity around the world. While the global community’s leverage has changed, it can still do a lot to hold the Taliban accountable.

It starts with expanding targeted sanctions at both U.N. and national levels to include Taliban officials most closely associated with corruption, kleptocracy, and the daily widespread abuses and atrocities occurring in Afghanistan.

Gender apartheid should be codified as a crime against humanity under international law and national legal frameworks. Afghan women both inside and outside of the country are not only pleading for this to happen, they’re leading the charge in solidarity and partnership with their Iranian sisters.

Enablers should be made to answer for actions that reinforce human suffering and defy the global position on nonrecognition. Additionally, the United States should designate entities in Afghanistan that the Taliban use for corruption and illicit activities as a Primary Money Laundering Concern under the USA Patriot Act, a move which would increase the risk to companies that pursue business ties with the Taliban.

National governments, international organizations, and corporate and philanthropic entities should do everything they can to support the bravery and tenacity of women-led organizations in Afghanistan working tirelessly to counter Taliban efforts to erase Afghan women’s existence.

Lastly, global leaders must remember that the Taliban don’t want Afghanistan to succeed. As they have demonstrated time and again over the last 36 months, they instead want to promote their ideology, pursue power, and enhance their personal wealth.

The global community’s failure to enforce and expand existing pressures on the Taliban and those who enable their cruelty has in many ways made the situation markedly worse.

If the world truly aims to support the Afghan people, it’s time to stop enabling their abusers.
Pakistan
Pakistan picks new chief of powerful spy agency ISI, say security source, TV channel (Reuters)
Reuters [9/23/2024 8:50 PM, Gibran Peshimam, 37270K, Neutral]
Pakistan has picked Lieutenant-General Muhammad Asim Malik as the new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), its top spy agency, according to a security source and a local TV channel, the first change in the key post since 2021.

The Pakistani military’s public relations department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The reported move comes as the political role of the agency faces intense scrutiny. One former ISI chief has been arrested for supporting the political cause of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who, in turn, alleges that the agency, under current chief Naveed Anjum, is being used against him.

Several senior judges have also alleged, in a letter to the chief justice that was published in local media, that ISI agents were applying pressure on them to decide cases against Khan.

The source with knowledge of the move told Reuters that Malik, currently serving as the army’s Adjudicate General and a graduate of Fort Leavenworth in the United States, would take over on Sept. 30 as the chief of the ISI.

Local television channel Geo News also reported the same.

The post of ISI director general, usually a serving military officer, is one of the most powerful positions in Pakistan, at the intersection of domestic politics, the military and foreign relations.

While the ISI chief technically reports to the prime minister, he is controlled by Pakistan’s army chief.

A standoff between Khan and the army over the appointment of the ISI chief in 2021 is believed to have led to a falling out with top generals, which was followed by his ouster from the premiership months later.

Pakistan’s army, which denies pressurising judges or any role in politics, ruled Pakistan for more than three decades from 1958 and continues to exercise control over key areas of governance in the country.
Pakistan names new chief for powerful ISI spy agency (VOA)
VOA [9/23/2024 4:54 PM, Ayaz Gul, 4566K, Negative]
Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant-General Muhammad Asim Malik as the new head of the country’s top spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.

The move comes amid persistent criticism of the powerful military-run agency for its alleged role in making or breaking elected governments in the South Asian nation.

A senior Pakistani security source confirmed to VOA on Monday that Malik will assume office as the agency’s next director general on September 30, replacing the current ISI chief, Nadeem Anjum.

The military’s media wing did not immediately comment on the high-profile appointment, but Pakistan’s state broadcaster reported it with a brief profile of the new ISI chief.

Malik graduated from Fort Leavenworth in the United States and the Royal College of Defence Studies in London and currently serves as an adjutant general at the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, adjacent to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The ISI’s meddling in national politics has lately been the subject of intense debate in Pakistan’s national media and political circles.

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan accuses current ISI chief Anjum of playing a role at the behest of the military in ousting him from power in 2022 through an opposition parliamentary no-confidence vote, instituting frivolous lawsuits subsequently, and unleashing a crackdown on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party to keep him from returning to power.

Several federal and provincial court judges, in a recent letter to the Supreme Court chief justice, have also alleged that the ISI was pressuring them to decide cases against Khan to ensure he remains in jail. The incarcerated former prime minister remains Pakistan’s most popular politician.

The military, in turn, has recently arrested Anjum’s predecessor, Faiz Hameed, and initiated his court marshal on various charges, including the use of his position as the ISI chief to enable Khan to suppress political opponents while in office.

It is widely believed that Khan’s decision not to let Anjum replace Hameed in October 2021 angered the military and eventually led to the prime minister’s removal from power several months later.

Subsequent governments and the military deny having any political role or pressuring judges, a claim critics dispute.

The army has ruled Pakistan for more than three decades since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947. Former Pakistani prime ministers, including Khan, and political parties say generals maintain control over foreign policy and national security issues.

Khan has persistently alleged in statements from his prison cell that the current coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “is merely a tout” of the military. He alleges that the army leadership used the ISI to massively rig the February 8 parliamentary elections this year to prevent his party from winning.

The allegations were supported by a detailed Supreme Court majority decision released on Monday, resolving a petition concerning pre- and post-election controversies. The judgment declared several actions of Pakistan’s election commission in the lead-up to the polls “unlawful,” saying they were meant to keep PTI-nominated candidates from winning.

The judgment stated that the commission “has failed to fulfill this role in the general elections of 2024.” It noted that election authorities’ actions “significantly infringe upon the rights of the electorate and corrode their own institutional legitimacy.”

The vote outcome has worsened the political turmoil triggered by Khan’s ouster, undermining Pakistan’s efforts to stabilize an already troubled economy. A spike in militant violence, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces, which border Afghanistan, has added to the challenges facing the military-backed Sharif administration.

"All this has familiar echoes of the past — a government unwilling to engage with the opposition, jailing opposition leaders, trying to steamroll legislation, and a desperate opposition in constant protest mode against a backdrop of economic gloom, weak governance, and ubiquitous establishment pulling the strings from behind the scenes,” Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, wrote in an article published by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper Monday.

The term establishment in Pakistan is a reference to the military and its intelligence services.
‘Drug-resistant typhoid is the final warning sign’: disease spreads in Pakistan as antibiotics fail (The Guardian)
The Guardian [9/24/2024 12:00 AM, Misbah Khan, 92.4M, Neutral]
From his sickbed, eight-year-old Ukasha could see his siblings play with a ball in the courtyard. His head hurt and his body felt too heavy to move. Ukasha had typhoid fever – an illness he should have recovered from in days. It had been a month.

At its worst, typhoid can kill. Ukasha’s family were anxious, even moving his bed outside to give him fresh air and sunlight. Now he could sit up, smile at the view in front of him and even finally eat his favourite food, eggs.

His classmate, 12-year-old AbuZar, had also been in bed for months with typhoid. At the height of the infection, he woke up in the middle of the night, burning hot and drenched in sweat.

Children across the village – on the outskirts of Peshawar, northern Pakistan – had been falling ill.

Typhoid, also known as enteric fever, is an infection caused by contaminated food or water. If left untreated, it kills one in five. But the cure is a simple course of antibiotics. Most people, if they get the drugs promptly, should start recovering within a few days.

But the antibiotics used to cure typhoid are now failing. The bacteria, Salmonella typhi, have developed resistance to the antibiotics meant to kill them. It’s a pattern repeated across the world; the problem of resistant infections is global and borderless.

When he fell sick, Ukasha’s father took him to Hayatabad Medical Complex, a hospital in Peshawar. Typhoid, which is contagious, was soon diagnosed.

The hospital was rammed. On the children’s ward, each single bed held four or five patients, so Ukasha’s father took him home for the rest of his treatment.

“Typhoid was once treatable with a set of pills and now ends up with patients in hospital,” says Jehan Zeb Khan, the clinical pharmacist at the hospital.

Ukasha’s infection was caused by extensively drug resistant (XDR) typhoid – a strain of “superbug” that emerged in Pakistan in 2016. XDR-typhoid is resistant to almost all of the antibiotics that are supposed to treat the disease, so options are limited and death rates are higher.

Of the roughly 9 million people who get sick from typhoid each year globally, the vast majority are infected by a drug-resistant strain. Pakistan has the worst rates in south Asia: more than 15,000 cases of XDR-typhoid have been officially reported in the country – and some outbreaks, like the one in Ukasha’s village, go unrecorded.

The risk of typhoid is higher where a community lacks safe water and sanitation. A neglected sewage system, for instance, can contaminate water and compound the problem.

Pakistan has one of the lowest rankings in the world for access to clean water near homes, and contaminated water is thought to be the cause of about 80% of diseases in the country.

“There is no reason we should have typhoid fever today if we have proper access to safe water and sanitation,” says Dr Maria Neira, a health director at the World Health Organization.

Ukasha’s father was convinced that a contaminated water tank in the boys’ school had led to the outbreak in their village. When the Bureau for Investigative Journalism contacted the school, it said that nothing had been reported.

“Access to safe water is one of the public health fundamentals that should not be denied to anyone,” Neira says. “Wherever you have a lack of hand hygiene and the [lack of] possibility in the healthcare facilities to wash your hands, you will see an overlap with cases of drug-resistant typhoid.

“Drug-resistant typhoid is unique in the challenge that it represents,” she adds. “It is preventable and it is very much related to poverty – the vulnerability of people, and lack of access to water and sanitation.”

Pakistan has vaccinated more than 30 million children against typhoid since 2019, but these efforts have been mostly concentrated in the south of the country, where XDR-typhoid first emerged. There are more than 100 million children in Pakistan, and the infection has spread north.

Laboratory testing was crucial to Ukasha’s recovery. The doctors were able to identify the strain causing the infection, which can be treated with only three antibiotics. The variant was resistant to all other antibiotics usually recommended for typhoid.

Ukasha needed meropenem – a “last-resort” drug reserved for the most serious illnesses. He was given 22 injections, two a day. Each jab took a significant financial toll on the family.

How did such an extensively drug-resistant typhoid strain emerge? Over time, bacteria are able to develop the ability to defend themselves against the antibiotics that are meant to kill them. The more the bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, the more this ability can spread.

Overuse of antibiotics is one of the biggest contributors to drug-resistant bacteria. Global consumption of antibiotics has increased by almost half between 2000 and 2018, with the greatest rises in countries in south Asia, such as Pakistan.

This overuse is in part down to typhoid having similar symptoms to malaria, dengue and Covid-19, all caused by viruses and microbes that cannot be fought with antibiotics. But if proper testing is not available, doctors may prescribe antibiotics “just in case”, particularly in places where access to healthcare is limited.

Rapid tests for typhoid can also throw up false positives. Without follow-up lab tests, the rapid tests can lead to overdiagnosis, and more patients being given pointless antibiotics.

Experts in Pakistan have gone so far as to blame these tests for driving cases of drug-resistant typhoid. Health authorities have banned the Typhidot and Widal rapid tests but they remain widely available.

When AbuZar was admitted to hospital, he was treated with azithromycin, one of the few antibiotics that still work against XDR-typhoid. However, doctors are now seeing strains of typhoid that no longer respond to it.

Superbugs are not confined within borders. Cases have been identified in 16 other countries, including in India, China, Qatar, the UK and US. The US Centers for Disease Control has warned all travellers to Pakistan to take precautions against the superbug.

This week, world leaders will meet at the UN in New York to address drug-resistant infections and to negotiate a political declaration for member states.

“XDR-typhoid is the final warning sign. After this we will enter a stage where the superbug won’t respond to any drugs at all. That means we will go back to when typhoid was a more deadly disease. And that really worries us,” Khan says.

In Pakistan, after their treatment, Ukasha and AbuZar both felt well enough to return to school. Within a few days, both had fevers again.
India
US to return a trove of nearly 300 history-spanning antiquities to India (CNN)
CNN [9/23/2024 9:05 AM, Chris Lau, 24052K, Neutral]
The US is returning 297 history-spanning antiquities stolen or smuggled from India, many dating back centuries.

Marking the handover, President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posed for a photo in front of several of the artifacts, during a recent meeting between the two leaders.

In July, the US and India signed an agreementto protect cultural property by preventing illegal trades and streamline the process to return stolen antiquities back to India.

The relics - most of which are terracotta artifacts from Eastern India - are expected to be repatriated "shortly," according to the Indian government in a statement on Saturday.

The timing coincided with Modi’s visit to Biden’s hometown in Wilmington, Delaware, where the president held a Quad summit over the weekend, aimed at strengthening the close alliance between the US and India, Japan and Australia.

"Prime Minister (Modi) thanked President Biden for his support in the return of these artifacts," the India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.

Modi also noted the relics "were not just part of India’s historical material culture but formed the inner core of its civilization and consciousness," according to the statement.

The artifacts, ranging from sculptures to vases, belong to a period spanning from 2000 BCE to 1900 CE. Some are made of stone, metal, wood and ivory.

Among the exhibited objects was a sculpture of Apsara, a celestial performer in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies, made of sandstone from 10th to 11th century CE in Central India. Wearing ornamental headgear and a girdle with tassels, she strikes a posture found commonly in Indian classical dance.

A fragment of a stone sculpture carved with a turbaned man alongside two women and an elephant rider was also showcased.

India has faced an uphill battle in protecting its valuable cultural treasures from looters, though it has been making headway in recent years.

In 2022, the US returned 307 stolen treasures to India as part of a 15-year investigation into international trafficking networks. More than three-quarters of those repatriated items, which have an estimated value of over $4 million, were linked to the disgraced New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Indian court over smuggling offenses.

The US has returned 578 pieces of cultural artifacts to India since 2016, repatriations which in recent years have "become an important aspect of India-US cultural understanding and exchange," according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has not immediately responded to CNN’s request for comment.
India Reports Its First Case of Virulent Mpox Virus Strain (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [9/23/2024 11:21 AM, Satviki Sanjay and Swati Gupta, 27782K, Negative]
India has detected its first case of the virulent mpox virus strain, according to a government official, as the latest global health emergency reaches the world’s most-populous nation.

The patient, who is from Kerala, has tested positive for the clade Ib strain, the official said who asked not to be identified as the information has not been released formally by the health ministry.

The mutated strain was detected in a 38-year-old man from Kerala’s Malappuram district who had recently traveled from the United Arab Emirates, local news wire PTI reported

on Monday. Thailand was the first in Asia to detect the new fast-spreading strain last month after a European male arrived in Bangkok from Africa.

Asian countries from China to Pakistan have been beefing up surveillance for weeks while Singapore has set up airport temperature and visual screenings as well as mandated a three-week quarantine at a designated facility.

Densely-Packed

Indian public health authorities have also been on alert and gearing to tackle the pathogen in the densely-packed country where commuters in public transport often travel cheek by jowl. International airports such as Bengaluru have boosted vigilance by sending passengers through thermal scanners.

The current variant produces fluid-containing lesions and is spreading through close physical contact as well as all kinds of sexual activity. The earlier milder strain that erupted in 2022, by contrast, was spread primarily through men who have sex with men.

India, which has more than two dozen labs equipped for testing mpox, is working on sensitizing health teams at international airports as well as updating its mpox alerts, the health ministry said in August. The risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is low as per India’s current assessment, it added.

Serum Institute of India Pvt., the world’s largest vaccine maker, is “working on developing”

a vaccine for mpox and is expecting “positive news” within a year, it said on Aug. 21.

The newer strain has been spreading across several African countries and is reported to have killed more than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Children and adolescents have been most affected in the outbreak in Africa, with majority of the known fatal cases under the age of 5.
India reports first case of mpox from clade 1 strain, ANI says (Reuters)
Reuters [9/23/2024 9:51 AM, Ainnie Arif, 37270K, Negative]
India said on Monday that an mpox case involving a man in the southern state of Kerala was from the fast-spreading clade 1b variety, marking South Asia’s first recorded case from the new strain.

Health Ministry spokesperson Manisha Verma confirmed the strain after news agency ANI cited official sources as saying that the mpox case reported in the Malappuram district of Kerala last week belonged to clade 1.

The patient is a 38-year-old man who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates and had been admitted to the government medical college hospital in the district, Kerala authorities said last week.

About 29 friends and family members of the patient along with 37 passengers on his flight are being monitored at home but none of them have shown any mpox symptoms so far, Malappuram district’s nodal officer, Dr. Shubin C, told Reuters on Monday.

The office of the Kerala state health minister did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for details of the case.

India, the world’s most populous nation, had so far not reported an mpox case from the new strain but federal authorities had issued an advisory this month to all states to remain vigilant and be prepared to address potential cases.

The caution followed the rapid spread that prompted the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a global health emergency after the new offshoot, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, began spreading to neighbouring countries.

India had reported about 30 cases and one death from the older strain, known as clade 2, between 2022 and March this year, and one more clade 2 case earlier this month.

Two strains of mpox are now spreading in Congo - the endemic form of the virus, clade 1, and the new clade 1b strain, with the term ‘clade’ referring to a form of the virus.

Mpox transmits through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but unlike previous global pandemics such as COVID-19 there is no evidence it spreads easily through the air.

It typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and is usually mild but can kill.
India extends unprecedented invite to Myanmar’s anti-junta forces, sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [9/23/2024 10:20 AM, Wa Lone and Devjyot Ghoshal, 37270K, Neutral]
India has invited political and military opponents of Myanmar’s ruling junta to attend a seminar in New Delhi, sources said, a significant move by the South Asian power that has maintained ties with the top generals shunned by Western nations.

A civil war in Myanmar since its military unseated an elected civilian government in a February 2021 coup now risks destabilising India’s 1,650-km (1,025-mile) border with Myanmar, and some of its key infrastructure projects there.

A leader of an armed group and two sources with direct knowledge of the issue said the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and ethnic minority rebels from the states of Chin, Rakhine and Kachin bordering India had been invited to a seminar in mid-November.

The event would be hosted by the government-funded Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), whose council includes India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, said two other sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter was confidential.

It was not immediately clear if Myanmar’s military government would also be invited to the event, which the sources said would be on the topic of "Constitutionalism and Federalism". They gave no further details.

Widespread protest in Myanmar over the 2021 coup turned into a nationwide rebellion, with an armed resistance movement combining with some established ethnic armies to seize control of wide swathes of territory from the military.

The junta has refused to enter into dialogue with the rebels, whom it describes as "terrorists".

Speaking of the seminar, Sui Khar, vice chairman of one the ethnic rebel groups, the Chin National Front, said, "We are going to send representatives."

"This will be the first time, I think, formally, that India will engage with the non-state actors. This is a good, positive approach."

A spokesperson for Myanmar’s military did not answer telephone calls to seek comment. The Indian government and the ICWA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The other armed groups invited include the Arakan Army, which controls significant reaches of territory in Rakhine bordering Bangladesh, and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of Myanmar’s most powerful rebel forces, the sources added.

A spokesperson for the president of the shadow NUG government declined to comment on the seminar. The Arakan Army and KIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

MOTIVE UNCLEAR

Although the junta has been condemned by Western powers, with most of them having imposed sanctions, India has kept up engagement with the generals through visits to the capital, Naypyitaw, by its government and defence officials.

India has been reluctant to openly criticise the junta, which could push the generals closer to rival China. New Delhi has had no formal engagement with the junta’s opponents.

It was not immediately clear what the seminar would seek to achieve or why India has made the move.

In June, Foreign Minister Jaishankar voiced concern about border instability and the security risks to India’s projects in Myanmar. India was "open to engaging all stakeholders in addressing this situation," he told his Myanmar counterpart.

India is involved in developing the $400-million Kaladan port and highway project in Myanmar’s west, as well as providing about $250 million for another road project to link its landlocked northeastern states with Thailand, via Myanmar.

The seminar plan comes amid a peace effort by the ASEAN grouping of Southeast Asian nations that has made scant progress since its unveiling in April 2021, as some ASEAN nations have been vexed by the junta’s refusal of talks.

Last year, former ASEAN chair Indonesia said it had received positive signals about preliminary dialogue from major parties in the conflict, but there have been no signs advancement yet.

The November meeting would represent New Delhi’s most serious effort to approach Myanmar’s "pro-democracy side" since the 2021 coup, said Angshuman Choudhury, a Singapore-based researcher who closely tracks India-Myanmar affairs.

"We also need to see ... whether it is meant to achieve specific foreign policy outcomes or simply relay a signal to the Myanmar military to step back," he said.

"India remains concerned about the security and stability of its borders."
Thousands protest across India seeking repeal of labour codes (Reuters)
Reuters [9/23/2024 12:14 PM, Manoj Kumar, 37270K, Negative]
Thousands of Indian workers marched through several towns and cities including New Delhi, Lucknow and Kolkata on Monday to protest and demand the repeal of four labour codes which they say favour multinational corporations.

The protesters waved banners and placards, chanting slogans against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they marched through industrial towns.

"The labour laws were introduced by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019, despite union and opposition objections," Vidya Sagar Giri, national vice president of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), one of 10 unions which organised the protests, told demonstrators in the capital.

The rising labour discontent poses a challenge to Modi’s efforts to attract foreign investors by easing labour laws to streamline business operations and boost productivity.

One of the union leaders said the government aims to allow large companies to reduce wages by outsourcing substantial work, thereby infringing workers’ rights to form unions.

"This is a violation of human rights and global practices," said Amarjeet Kaur, general secretary of the AITUC, the country’s third biggest union with over 14 million members.

The protests coincide with an ongoing labour strike at the Samsung plant in South India over low wages, which has disrupted production.

Five years ago, Modi received parliamentary approval to overhaul outdated labour laws, some dating back to British colonial rule.

He replaced 44 laws with four labour codes to establish minimum wages, working conditions, and factory safety standards but they have yet to be implemented following resistance from worker unions.

Some states have, however, relaxed working hour regulations at companies’ requests.

Farmers’ unions have also expressed support for the protesting workers, who have threatened a strike in November if the government attempts to implement the laws.

"We are observing a Black Day today, demanding that government should hold consultations with worker representatives for any proposed reforms," said Bijay Kumar Jena, a senior trade union leader, at a workers’ meeting in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the eastern state of Odisha.
NSB
Bangladesh army chief pledges support for Yunus’ interim government ‘come what may’ (Reuters)
Reuters [9/24/2024 4:39 AM, Devjyot Ghoshal and Ruma Paul, 37270K, Neutral]
Bangladesh’s army chief vowed to back the country’s interim government "come what may" to help it complete key reforms after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, so that elections could be held within the next 18 months.

General Waker-uz-Zaman and his troops stood aside in early August amid raging student-led protests against Hasina, sealing the fate of the veteran politician who resigned after 15 years in power and fled to neighbouring India.

In a rare media interview, Zaman told Reuters at his office in the capital Dhaka on Monday that the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus had his full support and outlined a pathway to rid the military of political influence.

"I will stand beside him. Come what may. So that he can accomplish his mission," Zaman, bespectacled and dressed in military fatigues, said of Yunus.

The pioneer of the global microcredit movement, Yunus has promised to carry out essential reforms to the judiciary, police and financial institutions, paving the way to hold a free and fair election in the country of 170 million people.

Following the reforms, Zaman - who took over as the army chief only weeks before Hasina’s ouster - said a transition to democracy should be made between a year and a year-and-a-half, but underlined the need for patience.

"If you ask me, then I will say that should be the time frame by which we should enter into a democratic process," he said.

Bangladesh’s main two political parties, Hasina’s Awami League and its bitter rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, had both previously called for elections to be held within three months of the interim government taking office in August.

Yunus, the interim administration’s chief adviser, and the army chief meet every week and have "very good relations", with the military supporting the government’s efforts to stabilise the country after a period of turmoil, said Zaman.

"I’m sure that if we work together, there is no reason why we should fail," he said.

More than 1,000 people were killed in violent clashes that began as a movement against public sector job quotas in July but escalated into a wider anti-government uprising - the bloodiest period in the country’s independent history.

Calm has returned to the teeming streets of Dhaka, a densely packed metropolis that was at the heart of the rebellion, but some parts of the civil service are not yet properly functional after the dramatic fall of Hasina’s administration.

With much of Bangladesh’s police, numbering around 190,000 personnel, still in disarray, the army has stepped up to carry out law and order duties nationwide.

PUNISHMENTS AND REFORMS

Born out of erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971 after a bloody independence war, Bangladesh came under military rule in 1975, following the assassination of its first prime minister, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father.

In 1990, the country’s military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad was toppled in a popular uprising, leading to the restoration of democracy.

The military again staged a coup in 2007, backing a caretaker government that ruled until Hasina took power two years later.

A career infantry officer who served through these periods of turmoil, Zaman said that the Bangladesh Army that he leads would not intervene politically.

"I will not do anything which is detrimental to my organisation," he said, "I am a professional soldier. I would like to keep my army professional."

In line with sweeping government reforms proposed since Hasina was shunted from power, the army, too, is looking into allegations of wrongdoing by its personnel and has already punished some soldiers, Zaman said, without providing further details.

"If there is any serving member who is found guilty, of course I will take action," he said, adding that some military officials may have acted out of line while working at agencies directly controlled by the former prime minister or interior minister.

The interim government has formed a five-member commission, headed by a former high court judge, to investigate reports of up to 600 people who may have been forcibly "disappeared" by Bangladesh’s security forces since 2009.

In the longer-term, however, Zaman wanted to distance the political establishment from the army, which has more than 130,000 personnel and is a major contributor to United Nations peacekeeping missions.

"It can only happen if there is some balance of power between president and prime minister, where the armed forces can be placed directly under president," he said.

Bangladesh’s armed forces currently come under the defence ministry, which is typically controlled by the prime minister, an arrangement that Zaman said a constitutional reform process under the interim government could potentially look to amend.

"The military as a whole must not be used for political purpose ever," he said. "A soldier must not indulge in politics."
Bangladesh Picks Up the Pieces After the Revolution (Foreign Policy – opinion)
Foreign Policy [9/23/2024 12:44 PM, Ahmede Hussain, 1851K, Positive]
Bangladeshis made history in July when a mass uprising, led by student protesters, toppled Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League’s government, which had become increasingly dictatorial over the course of 15 years in power. Before she fled to India on Aug. 5, Hasina oversaw the killing of thousands-at least 90 people were killed by the police on the day before her departure alone. Children were not spared.

The end of Hasina’s dictatorship has turned a new chapter in Bangladesh’s history. The country’s lone Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, now heading an interim government, called it Bangladesh’s second liberation. But Bangladesh has to step carefully over the mess Hasina has left behind-both in domestic and foreign affairs.

And the mess is huge. Historically, Bangladesh’s politics has been a game of pass the parcel played between Hasina’s center-left Awami League and Khaleda Zia’s center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), with the two regularly exchanging power for years-until Hasina broke the norms of democracy in 2011. That was the year she abolished the caretaker government system, where neutral civil society leaders headed an interim government to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner. Since then, the country has witnessed one rigged election after another. The BNP said about half of its 5 million members faced legal charges.

The democratic institutions that have been destroyed over the years can’t be rebuilt overnight. In his first speech to the nation, Yunus talked about bringing back the "lost glory of these [government] institutions." The country effectively has no police force left. Hasina used members of the Border Guard Bangladesh, who were supposed to be posted at the border, against the protesters. Now they are facing widespread public anger too.

The damage is everywhere from administration to law enforcement to the military. Nothing has been spared. Hasina destroyed the country’s judiciary by handpicking judges. In 2017, the chief justice of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court, Surendra Kumar Sinha-a Hindu in a Muslim-majority country-was forced to resign and seek asylum in Canada after being threatened by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the country’s military intelligence service.

The economy is in tatters, and corruption is rampant. Hasina herself has said that her manservant is worth $34 million and commutes via helicopter. According to Transparency International, around $3.1 billion is laundered from Bangladesh every year, which is more than 10 percent of the country’s total national reserves.

With the Awami League now hated by most of the public, the only political force left this political vacuum is the BNP. Zia, the party chairperson, is 79-and she is now gravely ill and was hospitalized multiple times since this summer. Tarique Rahman, her firstborn child and deputy, is 56. Rahman, often seen as his mother’s successor and the future head of state, has been living in a self-imposed exile in the U.K. for the last 16 years and the extent he is in touch with the country’s new reality is a question up for debate. He faces a slew of corruption charges-although these may not stand up in a fair trial as they were trumped up by Hasina.

After 15 years of autocracy, most of the remaining politicians are greying, while the median age in Bangladesh is a little over 25. The uprising that saw Hasina’s rule crumble was spearheaded by mostly by members of Generation Z. Their leadership of these supposedly apolitical groups in the July revolution has caught the politicians off guard, proof that Bangladeshi politicians are not capable of reading the pulse of the young.

Amid this chaos, the West needs to start playing a far more positive role. One of the reasons Hasina’s rule lasted so long was because the U.S. turned a blind eye to her misrule. Months before the one-sided elections in January, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken threatened to "restrict the issuance of visas for any Bangladeshi individual, believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh." But after the polls, no punitive measures materialized. On the contrary, U.S. President Joe Biden wrote a letter to Hasina, expressing his government’s wish to "work together on regional and global security" and "commitment to supporting Bangladesh’s ambitious economic goals."

U.S. complicity depends in part on its desire for India, a close ally to Bangladesh, to contain China in the Indo-Pacific. According to the Washington Post, last month Indian officials told their U.S. counterparts, "This is a core concern for us, and you can’t take us as a strategic partner unless we have the same kind of strategic consensus."

India supported successive Awami League regimes due to its own security and strategic concerns. India’s landlocked northeastern states, also known as the Seven Sisters, are linked to the rest of the country through the narrow 60-kilometre-long Siliguri Corridor. This tiny passage, known as the Chicken Neck, separates Bangladesh from Nepal and Bhutan. The strategically important Tibetan Chumba Valley controlled by China is only 130 kilometers away.

The Seven Sisters are inhibited by 220 ethnic minorities and are home to active insurgent groups, especially in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. India also has the world’s fifth-longest land border with Bangladesh. All this gives India a potent stake in Bangladesh-but instead of making new friends or giving Bangladesh’s democracy a chance, India placed its chips entirely on Hasina and the Awami League. Anti-Indian sentiment now runs high in Bangladesh-the Indian Cultural Center in the capital was torched within three hours of Hasina’s fall.

India has a long way to go to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Bangladeshis, and blaming Pakistan and its intelligence agency, the ISI, for every problem won’t help. India’s old narrative is dead, and New Delhi must realize this.

The U.S. must stop seeing Bangladesh through India’s eyes. Time and again U.S. policymakers have misread Bangladesh’s importance, looking at it as an extension of India instead of a state in itself. Bangladesh is potentially crucial to containing China in the Indo-Pacific. It has a young population who hold their ethno-religious identities close to their hearts but are pro-Western, too, with more than 13 million Bangladeshis living abroad.

Hasina herself was playing both sides, turning herself into China’s closest ally in South Asia. In July, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning described the relationship between Bangladesh and China as "good neighbors, good friends, and good partners."

China dislodged India as Bangladesh’s top trading partner nine years ago. Bangladesh imports more goods from China than from any other country, and is in debt to China to the tune of $17.5 billion, which was mainly invested in white elephant infrastructure projects. After Hasina’s fall, China’s reaction, however, has been muted-hoping to build a relationship with whoever emerges afterwards.

The U.S. and the European Union have welcomed Yunus and his interim government. Mathew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said last month the U.S. wants the interim government to "chart a democratic future for the people of Bangladesh." The best way to do this is for the U.S. to offer support to U.N.-led efforts to support order and democracy in the country.

The interim government immediately needs to establish law and order. It can start by bringing the perpetrators of the July carnage to the book. A national office of missing persons should be established to look into all the incidents of enforced disappearances. It can seek technical support from the United Nations, which should lead an independent U.N.-led fact-finding program into the revolution and fall of the Hasina regime. Western nations should support the establishment of a new, fairer constitution that takes the range of Bangladeshi identities into account.

The presence of torture cells inside Dhaka cantonment and the alleged involvement of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence tells us that a section of the armed forces were involved in crimes against humanity. Bangladesh has been a major contributor to U.N. peacekeeping-but that needs to stop until responsibility for these crimes has been established.

The ongoing civil war in Myanmar is also an existential threat to Bangladesh’s national security. With Bangladesh’s security forces in disarray, the U.S. should support Bangladesh by setting up a temporary base that will provide the Bangladesh Armed Forces and intelligence agencies with arms, training and other logistical support, while maintaining a firm emphasis on the political neutrality of the army and its support of human rights.

Bangladesh has survived a dire time to potentially chart a brighter future. Washington should see it not as an extension of Indian interests, but as an independent country that is capable of making its own decisions, an important ally, and a partner in the Indo-Pacific.
Sri Lanka’s new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake promises change (Reuters)
Reuters [9/23/2024 10:24 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly, 46778K, Neutral]
Sri Lanka’s leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office as president on Monday, promising change in the island nation long led by powerful political families which is emerging from its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades.

Millions of Sri Lankans had voted for the opposition parliamentarian, putting faith in his graft-fighting pledge and vow to bolster a fragile economic recovery.

"I pledge ... to demonstrate dedication to protecting and upholding democracy," Dissanayake, 55, said in inauguration remarks at the president’s office, saying he was taking office at a challenging time in the Indian Ocean nation.

"Our politics needs to be cleaner, and the people have called for a different political culture," he added. "I am ready to commit to that change."

Dissanayake ran as the candidate for the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his Janatha Vimukhti Peremuna (JVP) party that traditionally championed Marxist economic policies centred on protectionism and state intervention.

In recent years the party has taken more centrist positions.

Outside, dozens of supporters held up posters carrying his image, with some waving the Sri Lankan flag and chanting "AKD", the initials of the new president, who displaces the incumbent, veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"I’m very happy," said one of them, beautician Iroma Nilanthi Liyanage, adding that Dissanayake inspired supporters with hope. "We worked very hard for this victory. For the first time the poor people have someone who stands for them."

Tasks he now faces include setting up a new cabinet and wooing parliament, where his party has just three of 225 seats, to pass a budget under the terms of a $2.9-billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

DEBT DEAL FINALISED LAST WEEK

This was Sri Lanka’s first election since its economy buckled in 2022 under a severe foreign exchange shortage, leaving it unable to pay for imports of essentials including fuel, medicine and cooking gas. Protests forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign.

Before Monday’s swearing-in, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned to make way for a new prime minister and cabinet.

Gunawardena, 75, took over as prime minister in July 2022 after Rajapaksa fled and resigned amid protests unleashed by the crisis, which also triggered a debt default.

Dissanayake was declared the new president late on Sunday, displacing Wickremesinghe, who had been appointed by parliament to serve out Rajapaksa’s remaining term.

Popularly known as AKD, Dissanayake polled 1.27 million votes more than nearest rival and main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Wickremesinghe finished third.

Sri Lanka’s sovereign dollar bonds shed 2.88 to 3.28 cents on the dollar in early trade on Monday to bid between 49.14 and 49.77 cents.

Investors worry that Marxist-leaning Dissanayake’s desire to revisit the terms of the country’s IMF bailout could delay future disbursements, and that he could seek to renegotiate a debt deal with bondholders finalised last week.

Sri Lanka’s close neighbours India, Pakistan, and the Maldives also congratulated Dissanayake on his win, along with China, the largest bilateral creditor.

"China hopes that Sri Lanka will maintain its national stability and development, and is willing to play a constructive role in the smooth economic and social development," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

The spokesperson declined to give details of the prospect of Sri Lanka wanting to revisit debt agreements it struck with Beijing, but said China hoped to deepen high-quality development in the construction of the Belt and Road together.
Dissanayake’s push for Sri Lanka economic change leaves IMF deal, debt rework in limbo (Reuters)
Reuters [9/24/2024 2:20 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe, Sudipto Ganguly and Libby George, 5.2M, Neutral]
Sri Lanka’s new president won the election decisively, but his toughest task still lies ahead as he seeks to balance promises to aid the nation’s poor against the need to keep crucial supplies of cash flowing from the International Monetary Fund.

Marxist-leaning firebrand Anura Kumara Dissanayake, whose tax cut pledges won over many of the two-thirds of his people mired in poverty, takes power as Sri Lanka emerges from its most punishing economic crisis in 70 years and its first international debt default.

But jumpstarting the economy while making good on promises to expand welfare, rework the $2.9-billion IMF bailout and negotiate better deals with debtors, presents a difficult conundrum for the Indian Ocean nation and its investors.

Adding to the challenge, the prime minister’s resignation on Monday meant the cabinet has been dissolved.

"We’ve never had such a situation," said Bhavani Fonseka, senior researcher at the Colombo-based think tank Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Dissanayake’s pledge to take a tough approach to corruption appealed to millions desperate for a fairer future.

But his promises to change the parameters of the IMF bailout and, crucially, the way it determines how much debt is sustainable, could delay new money from the Fund and also force lenders to renegotiate debt deals.

"There’s no doubt that the election outcome creates uncertainty, given Dissanayake’s willingness to renegotiate the IMF terms," said Emre Akcakmak, head of frontier markets with East Capital.

The Fund was set to review progress on reforms by Oct. 1, usually done with a staff visit to the country, before its board paves the way for payout of the next tranche, which had been expected in November. Few now expect this timeline to hold.

Sri Lanka and its bondholders had inked a preliminary deal to restructure $12.5 billion in debt on Thursday, after months of delay and objections from the IMF and official lenders to a previous deal. It is now unclear if the deal will be executed.

Bond prices staged their steepest slide in five months in early trading on Monday, but rebounded later in the day.

How much support Dissanayake can command to support any controversial move is also unclear.

His National People’s Power (NPP) coalition holds only three seats in the 225-member parliament and can barely muster the numbers for a fully-fledged cabinet.

During his campaign Dissanayake promised to dissolve parliament within 45 days of taking office and call for a snap general election.

While a general election could, of course, help bolster his support it also inevitably means more delays in tackling key questions around the economy and debt.

"Now we’ll have to wait for the parliamentary elections, while the restructuring will be pushed out into early next year," said Viktor Szabo, portfolio manager at abrdn, who does not expect big changes to the IMF parameters.

Sources said Dissanayake’s team had not reached out to bondholders.

The IMF said it would work with Dissanayake and discuss the timing of its third review of the current programme with Sri Lanka "as soon as practicable".

"We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake and his team towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery," a Fund spokesperson said via email.

COMMITTED TO CHANGE

Also still unclear is the likely shape of the relationship with Sri Lanka’s bilateral lenders grouped in the official creditor committee (OCC).

A source close to the creditor group said it was still assessing the preliminary deal the previous government struck with bondholders last week and would respond within days.

"The OCC is of course available and would be interested in a call with the new finance minister and his team," added the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Legislation guided by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe to enshrine IMF targets in law, such as cutting debt to 95% of GDP by 2032 and achieving a primary account surplus of 2.3% by 2025, is seen as barrier to drastic change.

"It is unlikely that Dissanayake will meddle too deeply with the IMF programme and certainly not the Debt Sustainability Analysis because it will be digging a hole," said Udeeshan Jonas, strategy head at Colombo-based equity research firm CAL.

Dissanayake’s comments during Monday’s inauguration offered few clues as to how hardline his economic approach will be.

"Our politics needs to be cleaner, and the people have called for a different political culture," the 55-year-old said. "I am ready to commit to that change."
Sri Lanka’s New Leader To Call Snap Parliamentary Polls (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [9/23/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 1.4M, Neutral]
Sri Lanka’s new leftist president is expected to call a snap parliamentary election ahead of his plans to renegotiate the bankrupt island nation’s unpopular International Monetary Fund bailout programme.

Self-avowed Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) was sworn into office on Monday after a landslide win in weekend presidential polls.

His once-marginal party currently has just three lawmakers in Sri Lanka’s 225-member parliament.

But support for Dissanayake surged after a 2022 economic meltdown that immiserated millions of ordinary Sri Lankans and a contentious International Monetary Fund rescue package.

Asked by reporters late Monday in the central city of Kandy if he would keep a campaign pledge to dissolve parliament as soon as he took charge, he replied: "Wait for two days."

Lawmaker Harini Amarasuriya, an ally of Dissanayake’s in parliament, told reporters in Colombo the same night that parliament would be dissolved "within a day".

Sri Lanka’s crisis proved an opportunity for Dissanayake, who saw his popularity rise after pledging to change the island’s "corrupt" political culture.

He beat 38 other candidates to win Saturday’s presidential vote, taking more than 1.2 million more votes than his nearest rival.

His predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had imposed steep tax hikes and other unpopular austerity measures under the terms of the $2.9 billion IMF bailout secured last year, came a distant third.

The IMF offered its congratulations to Dissanayake on Monday, saying it was ready to discuss the future of the rescue plan.

"We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake... towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery," a spokesman from the lender of last resort said.

A senior aide of the new president told AFP on the weekend that Dissayanake’s party would not repudiate the IMF deal.

"Our plan is to engage with the IMF and introduce certain amendments," Bimal Ratnayake said.

"We will not tear up the IMF programme. It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate."

In his first address after his inauguration, Dissayanake sought to lower expectations of a quick fix for the country’s economic woes.

"I am not a conjuror, I am not a magician, I am a common citizen," he said.

"I have strengths and limitations, things I know and things I don’t... my responsibility is to be part of a collective effort to end this crisis."
Anura Kumara Dissanayake: who is Sri Lanka’s new leftist president? (The Guardian)
The Guardian [9/23/2024 11:21 AM, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, 92374K, Negative]
As he was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president on Monday morning, Anura Kumara Dissanayake heralded a "new era of renaissance" for the country. Many believe Dissanayake’s election marks a significant political pivot for Sri Lanka, which has been ruled by a rotation of the same few parties and families for decades, leading to a continuing economic recession and deep-rooted mistrust of traditional political leaders.

Swathes of the population said it was the promise of change that brought them to vote for the leftist leader for the first time last weekend.

As the head of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), traditionally a staunchly Marxist party, Dissanayake had remained out in the political cold for years, winning just 3.8% of the vote in the previous election.

The JVP had been dogged by its past involvement in some of the worst violence in Sri Lanka’s history, after it launched a bloody insurrection in the 1970s and 80s against those it deemed to be capitalists and imperialists. Thousands were killed and in the decades since the JVP had struggled to shake off this reputation.

But since he took over as leader of the party a decade ago, Dissanayake had sought to build a new chapter for the JVP and break away from its characterisation as a grouping of radical Marxist militants.

He won the presidential election on Sunday as part of the National People’s Power (NPP), a broader leftist coalition that has toned down some of the more extreme Marxist ideologies of the JVP and worked to make itself more palatable to the Sri Lankan electorate through its anti-corruption and pro-poor messaging.

Unlike most of Sri Lanka’s past presidents, Dissanayake was not born into a political background. Instead, his family were largely in agriculture, while his father was a low-level office worker. Dissanayake was the first student in his school to go to university.

It was while studying for his science degree that he first threw himself into the leftist politics of the JVP, joining the student wing in the late 1980s when the violent insurrection and assassinations were continuing. With government death squads targeting known JVP members, Dissanayake was forced underground for a period and his parents’ house was burned down in retaliation.

The party was banned for several years but, driven by an anger at "state-led terror", Dissanayake remained within its ranks. He first entered mainstream politics in 2000 when he joined parliament as an MP for the JVP. He was made a cabinet minister in 2004 after his party joined the ruling alliance, but the coalition did not last and he resigned from the post a year later.

Dissanayake became leader of the party in early 2014, and not long after made a first apology for the past violence committed by JVP. In 2019, the party led the formation of a larger socialist political coalition, the NPP, along with dozens of other smaller parties, activists and trade unions, in the hope of gaining power.

It was not until economic and political disaster hit Sri Lanka in 2022 that Dissanayake’s political star began to rise. As Sri Lanka found itself almost bankrupt, without foreign reserves to import basic food, fuel and medicines, and populations began to go hungry, people began to turn against traditional parties and political leaders. A mass protest movement led to the toppling of the president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his powerful family dynasty, who were accused of rampant corruption and misappropriation of state assets.

While the JVP denied playing a big role in the movement, known as the aragalaya (struggle), in the aftermath of Rajapaksa’s resignation, many of its leaders joined the NPP. Over the past two years the party mobilised a highly effective grassroots campaign to capitalise on the frustrations voiced by the aragalaya, and Dissanayake positioned himself as the opposite to the much-loathed political elites.

His promises of transparency, to hold previous political leaders accountable for corruption and end the culture of privilege for MPs proved popular. So too was his promise to renegotiate the terms of a $3bn International Monetary Fund loan, which is seen as coming with punishing conditions of austerity. Nonetheless, his victory was not a resounding one and he won on Sunday with just 43% of the vote, one of the lowest victory margins ever in a presidential race.

Not all, particularly among Sri Lanka’s much-maligned Tamil community, have greeted Dissanayake’s election with optimism. Historically the JVP has been a staunchly Sinhala Buddhist party, seen to work against the rights of Tamils who live in the north and east of the island, where they face economic and military repression. The JVP was supportive of the brutal actions taken against Tamil separatists during the 26-year civil war and has resisted calls for investigations into the human rights abuses that took place in the conflict.

Speaking briefly after his inauguration, Dissanayake acknowledged that he was taking on a country submerged in catastrophe on multiple fronts. "We don’t believe that a government, a single party or an individual would be able to resolve this deep crisis," he said.
IMF to Work With New Leftist Sri Lanka Leader on $3 Billion Loan (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [9/23/2024 8:57 PM, Katia Dmitrieva and Eric Martin, 27782K, Negative]
The International Monetary Fund said it’s looking forward to working with Sri Lanka’s newly elected leftist president, including on the latest review of the country’s $3 billion bailout package.

“We will discuss the timing of the third review of the IMF-supported program with the new administration as soon as practicable,” the organization said in a statement after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn into office on Monday.

“We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake and his team towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery since entering one of its worst economic crises in 2022,” the IMF added.

Dissanayake had campaigned on a promise to reopen negotiations with the IMF on the country’s big loan program. It came with deeply unpopular tax hikes and spending cuts that made the cost-of-living crisis a top issue for voters.

Reviewing the debt plan, though, risks delaying additional loans from the international organization. Sri Lanka needs to meet certain fiscal criteria before the next round of funding is released.

The country’s former president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, brokered the deal with the IMF and said upending it would be a costly mistake for the economy. Prior to the cash injection, the country faced an unprecedented economic crisis where spiraling inflation wiped out household savings and ignited protests.

Investors hope that Dissanayake will stick with the loan plan. Rizvie Salih, an executive committee member of the president’s coalition party, said Saturday that the country will remain with the program but seek modifications.

In its statement, the IMF said the recent agreement with bondholders “represents significant progress in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process,” adding that it’s still “subject to confirmation on comparability of treatment by Sri Lanka’s Official Creditors Committee.”
IMF says ready for talks with Sri Lanka’s new leftist government (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [9/24/2024 5:47 AM, Staff, 1.4M, Neutral]
The International Monetary Fund is ready to discuss its controversial $2.9 billion bailout programme for Sri Lanka with the country’s new government, a spokesman said.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, sworn in Monday as the country’s first leftist president, has said he wants to renegotiate the deal, which has brought unpopular austerity measures.

"We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake... towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery," an IMF spokesperson in Washington said Monday.

The lender of last resort noted that the South Asian nation, which defaulted on its debt in April 2022, had stabilised since the bailout.

"We will discuss the timing of the third review of the IMF-supported programme with the new administration as soon as practicable," the spokesperson said referring to the periodic review of the bailout.

A senior aide of the new president told AFP a day after the election that his People’s Liberation Front party will "not tear up" the IMF deal.

"Our plan is to engage with the IMF and introduce certain amendments," Bimal Ratnayake said.

"We will not tear up the IMF programme. It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate."

Sri Lanka’s tiny stock market fell sharply within the first few minutes of trading on Monday, when Dissanayake took office, but recovered quickly and ended the day with the main All Share Price index 1.19 percent higher.

Dissanayake has pledged to reduce income taxes that were doubled by his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, and also slash sales taxes on food and medicines.

"We think we can get those reductions into the programme and continue with the four-year bailout programme," Ratnayake said.

Dissanayake’s rivals had raised fears that his Marxist party would scrap the IMF programme and push the country back into an economic crisis similar to the chaos of 2022.

A foreign exchange crisis led to shortages of essentials sparking street protests which eventually forced then leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan Says Second-Largest Lender Is Compliant With Sanctions Despite Critical Report (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [9/23/2024 4:14 PM, Chris Rickleton, 235K, Neutral]
Kazakhstan has defended the country’s second-largest lender as being "fully" compliant with sanctions against Russia after a scathing report saw around 20 percent wiped off the Nasdaq-listed Kaspi.kz’s stock price.

A September 19 report published by Culper Research poured doubt on the claim by fintech giant Kaspi that it lacks exposure to sanctions-struck Russia and raised concerns about the group’s past affiliations to a relative of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev who was convicted by a Kazakh court of major embezzlement in 2022.

In a September 19 statement, Kaspi.kz called Culper’s report "misleading" and "inaccurate."

The report, Kaspi.kz (KSPI): The NASDAQ-Listed Fintech Moving Money For Criminals And Kleptocrats, focused on Kaspi.kz’s issuance of bank cards to Russians, tens of thousands of whom arrived in Kazakhstan in the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"As the U.S. and other nations continue to broaden sanctions against those found to be aiding Russia’s wartime economy, we believe Kaspi now risks secondary sanctions," the report warned, justifying its "short" position on the company.

Kaspi.kz is widely viewed as a success story in Kazakhstan, going from a relatively obscure bank to the country’s leader in mobile payments and online marketplace services in some 20 years.

In a September 23 statement, Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of Financial Markets called Kaspi "one of the country’s systemically important and steadily developing banks, demonstrating sustainable growth and a high level of transparency."

"The bank fully complies with the sanctions regime of the U.S., the European Union, and other foreign countries," the agency said, referring to the sanctions imposed on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The main shareholders in Kaspi.kz are Kazakh billionaire Vyacheslav Kim, Georgia-born Mikhail Lomtadze, and Baring Funds, part of a Commonwealth of Independent States-focused private equity investor.

Kaspi.kz listed in 2020 on the London Stock Exchange to become the its largest international tech public offering that year.

In January it joined the Nasdaq in an initial public offering that saw the business valued at $17.5 billion.

"Being the first company from Kazakhstan to successfully list on Nasdaq has obviously raised our profile amongst short sellers," Kaspi.kz said in its statement.

Nazarbaev’s nephew, Kairat Satybaldy, who once held a stake of around 30 percent in Kaspi, exited the company prior to the successful listings.

In August, Lomtadze, who is CEO of Kaspi.kz, declared the company’s intention to compete in the forthcoming privatization of Humo, neighboring Uzbekistan’s state-backed payment system.

In May, Lomtadze was revealed as the new owner of Wycombe Wanderers, a third-tier English soccer club.
New Kazakhstan, old methods: Civil society laments stalled political reforms (VOA)
VOA [9/23/2024 2:56 PM, Staff, 4566K, Neutral]
Widespread hopes for a more pluralistic and democratic Kazakhstan are fading some 30 months after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev unveiled his program for dismantling the authoritarian system associated with his predecessor and mentor, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The “New Kazakhstan” program was greeted enthusiastically by political analysts and civil society members when it was announced in March 2022 to a country still reeling from violent nationwide protests two months earlier.

However, some of those same analysts and experts are now expressing disillusionment, saying New Kazakhstan has largely remained on paper while Nazarbayev and his relatives continue to wield influence.

Nazarbayev ruled over Kazakhstan for three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, turning the country into a vibrant regional economy while skillfully balancing relations with Russia, China and the West.

As his relatives and close business associates prospered, Nazarbayev crushed political opposition and promoted a cult of personality.

In 2010, the Kazakh Parliament declared him “Leader of the Nation,” a title that came with immunity from prosecution and a right to stay in power indefinitely. In 2019, Kazakh authorities changed the name of the capital city from Astana to Nur-Sultan in his honor.

In March 2019, Nazarbayev stepped down from the presidency and transferred power to his hand-picked successor, Tokayev, then serving as speaker of the Parliament. But he ensured that he would continue to hold real power as the head of the Security Council, a governmental body that oversaw Tokayev’s Cabinet.

Nazarbayev’s political fortunes changed abruptly in January 2022 when, amid violent street protests caused by a fuel price increase, Tokayev stripped him of his role as head of the Security Council and arrested his loyalists, including Karim Massimov, the head of the National Security Committee, on treason charges.

Nazarbayev’s relatives, meanwhile, were forced to relinquish high-ranking government positions.

The January 2022 protests “untied Tokayev’s hands,” said a Kazakhstani researcher who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity for fear of official retribution.

“Previously, he had to obtain Nazarbayev’s approval for all major political decisions, which created a dual power situation in the country. This [arrangement] proved useful in the beginning but led to bloodshed in the end.”

In subsequent weeks and months, Tokayev presided over further efforts to weaken Nazarbayev, including a restoration of the capital’s name as Astana and a ruling by the Constitutional Court that annulled the law protecting Nazarbayev and his family from prosecution.

Kairat Satybaldy, Nazarbayev’s nephew, who had a reputation as an oligarch, was sentenced to six years in prison on embezzlement charges in September 2022. In January of this year, prosecutors charged another nephew, former deputy head of the National Security Committee Samat Abish, with abuse of office.

According to media reports, between 2022 and 2024, Kazakh investigators recouped $1.7 billion in what prosecutors said were “illegally appropriated assets” from Nazarbayev’s relatives and business associates.

Supporters of Tokayev remain enthusiastic about the reforms.

Mikhail Kazantsev, a member of the Parliament’s lower chamber, the Mazhilis, proclaimed in March of 2024 that "a new model has begun.”

“We had constitutional reform, the Parliament changed, the government became more dynamic, the president’s rhetoric has changed, and changes deepened,” he told Kazakh media.

Kazantsev added that Kazakh citizens had more freedom and the government had become more accountable.

But other experts and analysts now say that the political reforms and the dismantling of Nazarbayev’s legacy have stalled. In a March interview with Kazakh media, Dosym Satpayev, an Almaty-based political analyst, described Tokayev as “a mini-Nazarbayev.”

“Behind the facade of political advertisements, the essence of the system has not changed,” Satpayev said.

“Tokayev has not abolished the oligarchic system. People who surround him are not reformers, but those who made their careers under Nazarbayev. We are seeing the reincarnation of the Nazarbayev system under new slogans.”

In a September analysis published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Kazakhstani analysts Aliya Tlegenova and Serik Beissembayev wrote that New Kazakhstan “increasingly looks like [the] old one."

“Tokayev has successfully consolidated power while the society fell into apathy caused by fear and disappointment,” they said.

In March, Abish was released from prison after receiving an eight-year suspended sentence. Then, in August, Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court refused to consider a corruption case against Nazarbayev, declaring that he still has immunity under Kazakh law.

Some experts see political expediency behind Tokayev’s lack of enthusiasm for a continued crackdown on Nazarbayev and his family.

The Kazakhstani researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity said Nazarbayev “has fostered an image of himself as the founding father of the nation. How can they [the ruling establishment] go after the founding father?”

The researcher added that Tokayev “does not want to be seen as an ungrateful person who turned against his mentor.”

In a July 2023 interview with Kazakh media, Joanna Lillis, a journalist based in Kazakhstan, said Tokayev “is still constrained in his actions. There is a likelihood of reaction from Nazarbayev and his people, even if they have been weakened.”

“Moreover, the Kazakh public has been told for three decades that Nazarbayev is a great leader who built a great country,” she said. “If this myth is busted, what will be left from three decades of independence? The problem is that this may create an ideological vacuum.”
Tajikistan To Start Winter Energy Rationing Earlier (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [9/23/2024 6:28 AM, Staff, 1251K, Negative]
Tajik officials have backed off comments that the energy situation in the country is improving, admitting that electricity rationing is being introduced a month earlier than usual this year.

Electricity rationing has turned into an annual routine in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic over the past three decades. It is usually introduced in late October or early November.

But the Barqi Tojik state energy holding announced over the weekend that rationing will be introduced as of September 22 due to "the upcoming longer and more severe winter period."

The company also explained the move by saying a water shortage at hydroelectric power plants and "the rise of the country’s population" have exacerbated the situation.

Earlier in June, Energy Minister Daler Juma warned people to start thinking early about coal supplies to get ready for winter.

Immediately after the announcement by Barqi Tojik on September 21, some residents of Dushanbe, the capital, and several other towns and cities complained online about blackouts and criticized the government for failing to keep its decades-long promise to solve electricity shortages during the autumn and winter.

In August, Barqi Tojik said annual electricity rationing, which usually lasts for six to seven months from autumn to spring, will be scrapped only after the construction of the Roghun hydroelectric plant is completed.

The construction at Roghun was launched in October 2016, less than two months after the death of Islam Karimov, the first president of neighboring Uzbekistan, who had vehemently opposed the construction of the station for years, saying the dam would reduce water flows to his country’s cotton fields.

In November 2018, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon officially unveiled the first of the plant’s six planned turbines, announcing that "very soon we all will forget about energy rationing."

Tajik authorities said at the time that the $3.9 billion project on the Vakhsh River would not only make the country self-sufficient in electricity, but would allow the export of some of its output to neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.

Tajiks have complained that despite the energy shortages, the country has been selling energy to Afghanistan and other countries anyway. Officials said earlier that Tajikistan exported 715 million kilowatt-hours for more than $27 million in the first six months of 2024.

Last winter, electricity rationing was introduced for the first time in Dushanbe.
Turkmenistan suffers energy-export setback as Turkey opts for new LNG deal (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [9/23/2024 4:14 PM, David O’Byrne, 57.6K, Neutral]
Turkmenistan’s hopes of arranging a swap deal to carry the first small volumes of its gas to Turkey, and possibly on to Europe, have been dealt a blow, as Ankara has inked its third long-term LNG purchase agreement in five months.

September 18 saw Turkey’s state gas importer Botas agree with France’s TotalEnergies to import 1.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year of LNG from the United States, starting in 2027. The new deal follows a similar Botas agreement with Shell signed earlier in September covering 4 bcm per year also beginning in 2027. A third deal was inked last May with ExxonMobil; details of that agreement have yet to be released.

Neither Ankara nor Ashgabat have commented on whether Turkey’s new LNG supply contracts will have an impact on long-standing plans for Turkey to import gas from Turkmenistan. However, basic market realities indicate that the more gas Ankara imports from other sources, the less it will need Turkmen gas to meet domestic demand and export commitments.

At the same time, Ankara potentially could still be ready to take Turkmen gas. Such imports would be sold at a gas trading hub Turkish officials are seeking to establish in northwestern Turkey. However, in a television interview September 20, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkey has the capacity to receive up to 80 million bcm a year of gas, but only needs around 50 bcm/yr to meet its own demand.

“If there is an export opportunity and we can reach an agreement with customers in Europe, we can import LNG from many different sources,” he said. He specifically cited the United States, Qatar, Oman, and Trinidad and Tobago as possible suppliers, but made no mention of Turkmenistan.

Only a few months ago, the picture seemed very different. Back in March, Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signed a preliminary agreement covering a “swap deal” involving Turkmenistan, Turkey and Iran. The early hopes that a final deal could be reached were never fulfilled, however. According to unverified reports, negotiations stalled when Turkmen officials proved hard to pin down on a purchase price.

Turkmenistan’s loss could be Azerbaijan’s gain. Whatever the reason for the failure of Turkey and Turkmenistan to conclude a gas swap deal, Ankara’s new long-term LNG supply agreements could work in Azerbaijan’s favor. Baku’s gas production has been increasing to a level where it doesn’t need gas from Turkmenistan to meet its short-term domestic needs and export commitments.

However, there is still a question mark over whether Azerbaijan will be able to fulfill its July 2022 promise to the European Union to double exports to Europe to 20 bcm per year by 2027. Now, with Ankara turning to LNG to meet an increasing portion of its own gas demand, there is the possibility that Botas won’t need to import so much gas from Azerbaijan, thus giving Baku more gas that it can ship to EU states. Last year, Turkey imported 10.3 bcm of gas from Azerbaijan, 20 percent of Turkey’s total imports, up from 8.7 bcm in 2022.
Twitter
Afghanistan
Suhail Shaheen
@suhailshaheen1
[9/23/2024 7:38 AM, 734.8K followers, 56 retweets, 483 likes]
Previously, officials of the past regime in Afghanstan couldn’t travel from one province to another except in helicopters but now IEA officials travel in vehicles without security concerns. It speaks volumes for the support of the people and the satisfactory security situation.

Bilal Sarwary
@bsarwary
[9/23/2024 9:42 AM, 254.4K followers, 13 retweets, 36 likes]
Viral Voice Clip Reveals Taliban Frustration Over Recruitment Issues A leaked voice clip, widely shared in Taliban WhatsApp groups, has exposed growing internal tensions within the group. In the recording, a Taliban member angrily criticizes the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), the group’s intelligence wing, accusing it of blocking candidates for recruitment into the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense (MOD).

The speaker claims that while GDI’s provincial offices initially verify candidates’ confirmation letters, they later reject the same candidates when the MOD begins the recruitment process. He refers to these rejections as based on "nonsense" excuses. Although the speaker criticizes GDI offices across the country, he focuses particularly on GDI Helmand, drawing attention to this issue among his WhatsApp audience. He explains that he spends months preparing lists of candidates, securing approval from Taliban group leaders, and instructing the candidates to have their confirmation letters verified by GDI at the provincial level. Despite these efforts, most of the candidates are reportedly rejected with a single letter, deemed unfit for recruitment.

In his message, the speaker accuses GDI officers of corruption and illiteracy, calling on Taliban group leaders to hold the GDI accountable for what he describes as "injustice." He further pledges that he and his colleagues in the MOD will support efforts to challenge GDI’s decisions. Towards the end of the clip, the speaker accuses the GDI of being an “anti-Jihadi” force, actively suppressing local Taliban fighters. The voice clip has gained significant traction among Taliban fighters on WhatsApp, reflecting widespread frustration with GDI activities. At the same time, there has been a noticeable increase in the arrests of Taliban fighters from the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and MOD, accused of providing support to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).

Nilofar Ayoubi
@NilofarAyoubi
[9/23/2024 6:52 PM, 68K followers, 111 retweets, 363 likes]
Afghan Women are conquering all fronts Much love to #MerylStreep for Showing up for Women of Afghanistan, and kudus to @AsilaA @SarabiHabiba and @Fawziakoofi77 for Over taking #UNGA79
Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[9/24/2024 12:24 AM, 3.1M followers, 20 retweets, 126 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif arrives in New York on his five-day official visit of United States of America to attend 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. #PMShehbazAtUNGA #UNGA79

Shehbaz Sharif
@CMShehbaz
[9/23/2024 7:38 AM, 6.7M followers, 532 retweets, 2.2K likes]
Thank you President Xi Jinping, for your warm wishes on my birthday. I am grateful for this gracious gesture that reflects the iron brotherhood and All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China. Together, we will continue to work assiduously to build a prosperous Pakistan-China community with a Shared Future.
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/23/2024 6:00 PM, 102.2M followers, 3.1K retweets, 25K likes]
Met President @ZelenskyyUa in New York. We are committed to implementing the outcomes of my visit to Ukraine last month to strengthen bilateral relations. Reiterated India’s support for early resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and restoration of peace and stability.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/23/2024 11:31 AM, 102.2M followers, 5.3K retweets, 19K likes]
Speaking at Summit of the Future at the @UN. https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1zqJVYpBdmmGB

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/23/2024 9:54 AM, 102.2M followers, 6.2K retweets, 30K likes]
An unforgettable community programme in New York, deepening the bond with our diaspora! https://x.com/i/status/1838215445410627705

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[9/23/2024 11:21 PM, 3.2M followers, 150 retweets, 1.1K likes]
Had a meeting with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain of Bangladesh in New York this evening. The conversation focussed on our bilateral ties.

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[9/23/2024 6:21 PM, 3.2M followers, 228 retweets, 1.5K likes]
Glad to join the traditional #G4 Foreign Ministers Meeting along with colleagues @ABaerbock, @Kamikawa_Yoko and Mauro Vieira in New York today. G4 reaffirmed its commitment for an urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council through Text Based Negotiations. #UNGA79

Brahma Chellaney
@Chellaney
[9/23/2024 2:21 PM, 266.1K followers, 174 retweets, 594 likes]
The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty remains the world’s most generous water-sharing pact, under which India left over 80% of the waters of the six-river system for Pakistan’s use. But now, in response to Pakistan’s sustained cross-border terrorism, India wants the treaty to be reviewed.

Brahma Chellaney
@Chellaney
[9/23/2024 9:56 AM, 266.1K followers, 146 retweets, 527 likes]
Four days after the White House hosted separatist Sikh activists, assuring them on the eve of the Biden-Modi meeting that their concerns were U.S. concerns, New Delhi has yet to react to this open play of the Khalistan card against India. When did fecklessness become a virtue?
NSB
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
@BDMOFA
[9/23/2024 8:18 PM, 47.9K followers, 32 retweets, 388 likes]
Foreign Affairs Adviser, HE Md. Touhid Hossain and External Affairs Minister, HE @DrSJaishankar, met at #UNGA79 sidelines and discussed issues of mutual interest between #Bangladesh|#India. @IndianDiplomacy @Yunus_Centre @ChiefAdviserGoB

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
@BDMOFA
[9/23/2024 5:31 PM, 47.9K followers, 18 retweets, 164 likes]
At @commonwealthsec Ministerial meet, on #UNGA79 sidelines, 🇧🇩Foreign Affairs Adviser, HE Md. Touhid Hossain, said, "#Rohingya crisis just doesn’t concern #Bangladesh.. the crisis faced by #Myanmar people risks spilling over to region around.. Int’l community need to act."

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
@BDMOFA
[9/23/2024 4:34 PM, 47.9K followers, 7 retweets, 78 likes]
At #UNGA79 #SummitoftheFuture2024 Interactive Dialogue IV, #Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser HE Md. Touhid Hossain called for multilateral system to "...focus more on outcome than output, driven more by impact than outreach". #OurCommonFuture #SDGs #GlobalGoals

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
@BDMOFA
[9/23/2024 4:15 PM, 47.9K followers, 9 retweets, 99 likes]
Foreign Affairs Adviser HE Touhid Hossain and 🇺🇸@DepSecStateMR (Amb @RichardRVerma), meeting on #UNGA2024 sidelines, discussed ways to advance #Bangladesh | #USA engagements towards peaceful n democratic transition and greater #economic prosperity in Bangladesh. @StateDept

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
@BDMOFA
[9/23/2024 3:35 PM, 47.9K followers, 27 retweets, 242 likes]
Foreign Affairs Adviser, HE Md. Touhid Hossain, at #UNGA79 #SummitforFuture called for PACT FOR FUTURE principles, elements & suggestive actions "to sow seeds for post #Agenda2030"; and #Bangladesh’s readiness to contribute towards setting new agenda. #development #Equality #UN

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[9/23/2024 1:16 PM, 110K followers, 182 retweets, 184 likes]
During his opening remarks as co-chair at the ‘Summit of the Future: Interactive Dialogue 3: Towards a Common Digital Future,’ President Dr Muizzu made three key suggestions for an Inclusive Digital Future. #MaldivesAtUNGA79 #UNGA79 #OurCommonFuture https://x.com/i/status/1838266152092385461

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[9/23/2024 1:25 AM, 110K followers, 202 retweets, 193 likes]
President H.E. Dr @MMuizzu co-chairs Interactive Dialogue of the Summit of the Future: "Towards a Common Digital Future" at the @UN Headquarters. The event, co-chaired by the Maldives and Estonia, focuses on strengthening inclusive innovation and cooperation to bridge digital divides. President Dr Muizzu will make opening and closing remarks at the Dialogue. #MaldivesAtUNGA79 #UNGA79 #OurCommonFuture

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[9/23/2024 10:50 PM, 110K followers, 246 retweets, 233likes]
President Dr Muizzu meets with the Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs of China https://presidency.gov.mv/Press/Article/31679

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[9/23/2024 10:46 AM, 110K followers, 251 retweets, 242 likes]
President H.E. Dr @MMuizzu meets with H.E. Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs on the side-lines of the #UNGA79. #MaldivesAtUNGA79 #UNGA79

K P Sharma Oli
@kpsharmaoli
[9/23/2024 8:05 PM, 858.3K followers, 37 retweets, 226 likes]
Honored to deliver the keynote "Nepal’s Journey to Democracy & Economic Prosperity" at Columbia University @Columbia

K P Sharma Oli
@kpsharmaoli
[9/23/2024 8:05 PM, 858.3K followers, 2 retweets, 32 likes]
Shared Nepal’s rich history, the struggle for democracy, & our vision for economic development “Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali” Truly enjoyed interacting with the students.

K P Sharma Oli
@kpsharmaoli
[9/23/2024 3:29 PM, 858.3K followers, 34 retweets, 190 likes]
Delivered a keynote address at the Partnership Launch for a Lead-Free Future by @USAID #UNGA79. Lead poisoning harms millions of children globally. Nepal is committed to eliminating lead exposure through strong regulations and global cooperation. #LeadFreeFuture #Nepal

K P Sharma Oli
@kpsharmaoli
[9/23/2024 3:17 PM, 858.3K followers, 25 retweets, 170 likes]
Had a productive meeting with Ms. Nisha Biswal, Deputy CEO of US International Development Finance Corporation #UNGA79. We discussed various scopes of development finance in #Nepal, focusing on energy, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, & technology. #Investment

Anura Kumara Dissanayake
@anuradisanayake
[9/23/2024 2:41 PM, 115.2K followers, 85 retweets, 890 likes]
On Sunday (22), I met the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China at the JVP Headquarters. The Ambassador conveyed the good wishes of the Chinese Government on my being elected as the new President and handed me a special congratulatory message from the Chinese President.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake
@anuradisanayake
[9/23/2024 11:15 AM, 115.2K followers, 72 retweets, 1K likes]
After assuming the responsibilities of the presidency, I visited the Maha Nayaka of Malwatta Chapter of the Siam Sect Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala at Malwathu Maha Viharaya and Mahanayake of Asgiriya Chapter Ven. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero, at Asgiriya Maha Viharaya in Kandy today (23) afternoon.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake
@anuradisanayake
[9/23/2024 8:30 AM, 115.2K followers, 127 retweets, 1.8K likes]
After assuming the responsibilities of the presidency, I worshipped the Tooth relic of Lord Buddha at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy this (23) evening.

M U M Ali Sabry
@alisabrypc
[9/23/2024 9:21 AM, 7.2K followers, 91 retweets, 580 likes]
We may not be a perfect nation—no nation truly is. Yet, despite our challenges, Sri Lanka remains a vibrant democracy, upholding constitutional governance, the rule of law, and an independent judiciary. Proud to call Sri Lanka home
Central Asia
MFA Kazakhstan
@MFA_KZ
[9/24/2024 2:47 AM, 52.9K followers, 3 retweets, 3 likes]
Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu, at #SummitoftheFuture #UNGA, highlighted the importance of addressing global challenges such as multilateral cooperation, UN reform, climate change, nuclear security, and digital transformation. https://gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/851367?lang=en

Bakhtiyor Saidov
@FM_Saidov
[9/23/2024 7:46 PM, 9.6K followers, 3 retweets, 6 likes]
Congratulate @UN Secretary General @AntonioGuterres and the UN family with successful Summit of the Future. Now is a unique opportunity and time for all of us to come together, join efforts, address the global challenges, and pave the way for better future, better future for everyone in every part of our planet. Indeed, the adoption of the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations unlocks the door to #OurCommonFuture.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[9/23/2024 2:13 PM, 201.4K followers, 3 retweets, 12 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting focused on the development of the construction industry and the production of building materials. Key measures to stimulate the sector, such as expanding production capacities and creating new jobs, were thoroughly discussed. Particular emphasis was placed on the importance of introducing modern technologies and implementing initiatives to enhance construction quality and ensure effective oversight throughout the entire project process.

Javlon Vakhabov
@JavlonVakhabov
[9/23/2024 1:15 PM, 6K followers, 1 retweet]
Had a very engaging conversation with the Chinese delegation led by Wang Gang, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. We reaffirmed the Uzbekistan-China all-weather strategic partnership and our commitment to deepening cooperation through the C5 + China format. A key focus of our discussions was expanding academic and research collaboration, especially in the exchange of expertise and knowledge for territorial development. Additionally, we highlighted the importance of increasing awareness of Central Asian culture and history within China, reinforcing the cultural and academic ties between our nations.

{End of Report}
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