SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS

epubdos : Afghanistan

Prepared for the U.S. Department of State

Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

By TechMIS
www.TechMIS.com

Mobile User Copy

TO:	SCA & Staff
DATE:	Tuesday, April 22, 2025 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan

Taliban Change Tune Towards Afghan Heritage Sites (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [4/22/2025 1:15 AM, Claire Gounon and Aysha Safi, 931K]
In March 2001, the Taliban shocked the world by dynamiting the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan. Two decades later, they are back in power and claim to be making strides to preserve Afghanistan’s millennia-old heritage, including pre-Islamic relics.

Even months before their takeover in 2021 the Taliban called for the protection of ancient artefacts in the country, sparking scepticism among observers.

"All have an obligation to robustly protect, monitor and preserve these artefacts" and sites in Afghanistan, the Taliban authorities declared in February that year.

They are "part of our country’s history, identity and rich culture".

Since their return to power and decades of war ended, archaeological finds -- particularly related to Buddhism -- have proliferated, with discoveries publicised by the authorities.

In eastern Laghman province, niches carved into rocks in Gowarjan village are believed to have been storerooms dating back to the Kushan empire, which 2,000 years ago stretched from the Gobi desert to the river Ganges.

Also in Laghman, carved Brahmi inscriptions have been found, along with a hollowed out stone slab used for pounding grapes for wine.

"It is said that Afghan history goes back 5,000 years -- these ancient sites prove it; people lived here," said Mohammed Yaqoub Ayoubi, head of the provincial culture and tourism department.

"Whether they were Muslim or not, they had a kingdom here," he told AFP, adding that the Taliban authorities afford "a great deal of attention" to the preservation of these sites.

In nearby Ghazni province, the information and culture head Hamidullah Nisar echoed the sentiment.

Recently uncovered Buddhist statuettes must be "protected and passed down to future generations because they are part of our history", he said.

These relics would have likely met a different fate during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001.

Days after Taliban founder Mullah Omar ordered the destruction of all Buddhist statues to prevent idol worship, the gigantic 1,500-year-old Buddhas of central Bamiyan province were pulverised -- the Taliban having been unmoved by international outcry.

"When they returned, people thought they would have no regard for historical sites," said Mohammed Nadir Makhawar, director of heritage preservation in Laghman, a position he held under the ousted Republic.

"But we see that they value them."

In December 2021, the Taliban reopened the Afghan National Museum, where they had once destroyed pre-Islamic artefacts.

The following year, they reached out to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to help preserve the historic Buddhist site of Mes Aynak, where there is also a copper mine under a development contract with a Chinese consortium.

"The request was unexpected," said Ajmal Maiwandi, the head of AKTC in Afghanistan, who even noted an "enthusiasm" from the authorities to support the conservation work.

"I think the Taliban have understood how much the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas damaged their reputation," said Valery Freland, director of the ALIPH foundation, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage.

"They seem concerned today with preserving material heritage in all its diversity," he added.

However, experts have highlighted that the Taliban authorities do not extend the same concern to intangible heritage: music, dance, folklore and anything involving women remain a red line in their severe interpretation of Islam.

And while a historic synagogue in Herat city was preserved after the Taliban takeover, local authorities have recently resisted media attention on the site and the city’s former Jewish community.

Afghanistan has signed several conventions on heritage since the Taliban’s first reign, with its destruction deemed a war crime in 2016.

Beyond the risk of angering the international community -- whose recognition the Taliban seek -- Afghanistan’s heritage represents "a potential lever for the country’s tourism and economic development", said an industry expert speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, the authorities face two major challenges, the source said, pointing to a lack of financial resources and the departure -- following their takeover -- of "the archaeological and heritage elite".

Security could hamper tourism ambitions as well; a group visiting Bamiyan was targeted in a deadly militant attack last year.

In the tiny Laghman museum, a plastic bag and newspaper serve as protection for the statuettes, one of which depicts the face of a Buddhist goddess.

It was discovered last year in the courtyard of a farm, among milling cows and goats.

Ayoubi says he needs help to properly conserve and study them to determine their precise age, a process hampered by four decades of war in Afghanistan.

Looting has also proved an ongoing challenge, with no fewer than 30 sites still being "actively pillaged", according to a 2023 study by University of Chicago researchers.

Even if preservation projects have not been disrupted, Maiwandi remains "cautiously optimistic".

"The situation in Afghanistan can change quickly," he said.

Pakistan

Pakistan to Boost US Imports and Investments, Finance Chief Says (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg [4/22/2025 1:51 AM, Ramsey Al-Rikabi and Kamran Haider, 5.5M]
Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the South Asian nation is looking to buy more goods from the US and remove non-tariffs barriers to escape President Donald Trump’s high tariffs.

“It’s a bigger canvas that we are looking at in terms of engaging the US,” Aurangzeb said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday. “We will constructively engage, and we will have a formal delegation coming in,” he said.

Pakistan is looking to buy more cotton and soybean from the US, the finance chief said, adding that it is also in talks to tear down non-trade barriers to open its markets to more US products.

“We can also look at if there are any issues with respect to non-tariff discussion, whether there any onerous inspections at our end for US products, we can obviously view that,” he said.

Islamabad is trying to appease the US to seek reprieve from the 29% reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. While those levies are on hold until July, Pakistan has said it will send a trade delegation to Washington in the coming months to bridge the trade gap. The US is Pakistan’s largest export market with over $5 billion in annual exports as of 2024, while Pakistan’s imports from the US are about $2.1 billion.

The minister said the country is also open to foreign direct investments from US firms in its recently opened minerals and mining sectors.

Aurangzeb, a close aide of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is in the US for a nearly week-long trip to participate in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker said that the crisis-ridden nation will tap the international capital markets to secure more funds for a sustainable growth.

“What we are looking for is how we get away from a boom and bust cycle which Pakistan has gone through and get on to a sustainable growth path,” he said.

Pakistan is preparing to debut its first-ever Panda bond in the range of $200 million to $250 million that will likely take place in the fourth quarter of this year, the minister added.

Authorities are trying the rebuild the Pakistan’s tattered economy after it came close to a default in 2023. Last month, the South Asian nation won an initial nod for a $2.3 billion IMF loan that will give it funding visibility until 2027. Last week, Fitch upgraded Pakistan’s credit rating, citing confidence that the South Asian country will be able to sustain reforms under the IMF loan program.

Islamabad Says More Than 100,000 Afghans Left Pakistan In April (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [4/22/2025 3:57 AM, Staff, 931K]
More than 100,000 Afghans have left Pakistan in the past three weeks, the interior ministry said on Tuesday, after Islamabad announced a widespread cancellation of residence permits that stoked fear and confusion.

The interior ministry said "100,529 Afghans have left in April", a figure that comes after Islamabad ramped up pressure on Afghans to return to their country of origin.

Fleeing Pakistan, Afghans Rebuild From Nothing (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [4/22/2025 1:50 AM, Claire Gounon and Qubad Wali, 931K]
Pushed out of Pakistan where she was born, Nazmine Khan’s first experience of her country, Afghanistan, was in a sweltering tent at a border camp.

"We never thought we would return to Afghanistan," said the 15-year-old girl, who has little idea of what will become of her or her family, only that she is likely to have fewer freedoms.

"When our parents told us we had to leave, we cried," added Khan.

Islamabad, accusing Afghans of links to narcotics and "supporting terrorism", announced a new campaign in March to expel hundreds of thousands of Afghans, with or without documents.

Many had lived in Pakistan for decades after fleeing successive wars and crises but did not wait to be arrested by Pakistani forces before leaving, seeing their removal as inevitable.

Since April 1, more than 92,000 Afghans have been sent back to their country of origin, according to Islamabad, out of the some three million the United Nations says are living in Pakistan.

Khan’s family fled Afghanistan in the 1960s. Her four brothers and sister were also born in Pakistan.

"In a few days we’ll look for a place to rent" in the border province of Nangarhar where the family has roots, she told AFP, speaking in Pakistan’s commonly spoken tongue of Urdu, not knowing any Afghan languages.

In the family’s tent there is little more than a cloth to lie on and a few cushions, but no mattress or blanket. Flies buzz under the tarpaulin as countless children in ragged clothes come and go.

When it comes to her own future, Khan feels "completely lost", she said.

Having dropped out of school in Pakistan, the Taliban authorities’ ban on girls studying beyond primary school will hardly change the course of her life.

But from what little she heard about her country while living in eastern Pakistan’s Punjab, she knows that "here there are not the same freedoms".

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have imposed restrictions on women characterised by the UN as "gender apartheid".

Women have been banned from universities, parks, gyms and beauty salons and squeezed from many jobs.

"It is now a new life... for them, and they are starting this with very little utilities, belongings, cash, support," said Ibrahim Humadi, programme lead for non-governmental group Islamic Relief, which has set up about 200 tents for returnees in the Omari camp.

Some stay longer than the three days offered on arrival, not knowing where to go with their meager savings, he said.

"They also know that even in their area of return, the community will be welcoming them, will be supporting them... but they know also the community are already suffering from the situation in Afghanistan," he added.

Around 85 percent of the Afghan population lives on less than one dollar a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

"We had never seen (Afghanistan) in our lives. We do not know if we can find work, so we are worried," said Jalil Khan Mohamedin, 28, as he piled belongings -- quilts, bed frames and fans -- into a truck that will take the 16 members of his family to the capital Kabul, though nothing awaits them there.

The Taliban authorities have said they are preparing towns specifically for returnees.

But at one site near Torkham, there is nothing more than cleared roads on a rocky plain.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) believes "greater clarity" is needed to ensure that the sites intended for returnees are "viable" in terms of basic infrastructure and services such as health and education.

It’s important that "returnees are making informed decisions and that their relocation to the townships is voluntary", communications officer Avand Azeez Agha told AFP.

Looking dazed, Khan’s brother Dilawar still struggles to accept leaving Pakistan, where he was born 25 years ago.

His Pakistani wife did not want to follow him and asked for a divorce.

"When we crossed the border, we felt like going back, then after a day it felt fine," said the former truck driver.

"We still don’t understand. We were only working."

Pakistan Extends Detention For Ethnic Baloch Activist: Lawyer (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [4/21/2025 9:07 AM, Staff, 931K]
Pakistan extended the detention of the most prominent rights activist of the Baloch minority for 30 days on Monday after she was charged with "terrorism", "sedition" and "murder", her lawyer told AFP.

Mahrang Baloch, 32, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it is targeted with harassment and extrajudicial killings.

She was detained on March 22 for 30 days but "the government has issued another notification ordering to detain her for 30 days more", her lawyer Imran Baloch said.

A dozen UN experts called on Pakistan in March to immediately release Baloch rights defenders, including Mahrang, and to end the repression of their peaceful protests.

The judiciary declined to rule on her detention a week ago, effectively halting any further judicial appeal and placing the matter solely in the hands of the provincial government of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

Mahrang took part in a sit-in protest in the provincial capital Quetta in March demanding the release of members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, a group she founded to organise protests.

Since 2009, Baloch protesters have gathered in the vast and mineral-rich province -- where 70 percent of the population lives in poverty -- demanding justice for what they claim are extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions.

Pakistani authorities reject these as "baseless allegations".

Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals.

Separatists accusing outsiders of plundering the province’s natural resources launched a dramatic train siege in March in which officials said about 60 people were killed, half of whom were assailants.

Mahrang was barred from travelling to the United States last year to attend a TIME magazine "rising leaders" awards gala.

Passenger truck falls into a ravine in southern Pakistan, killing at least 13 (AP)

AP [4/22/2025 12:59 AM, Staff, 456K]
A speeding truck carrying laborers, women and children fell into a ravine in southern Pakistan, killing at least 13 people and injuring 20 others, police said Tuesday.

The road accident occurred overnight in Jamshoro district in southern Sindh province, city police chief Saddique Changra told reporters.

Hospital officials said some of the injured were in critical condition.

According to local media, the accident happened as dozens of laborers were returning to their homes in Sindh’s Badin district after harvesting wheat in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan, where highways and roads are poorly maintained and traffic laws are widely ignored.

Christian is sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan after ‘desecrating the Koran’ (Daily Mail)

Daily Mail [4/21/2025 12:17 PM, Kumail Jaffer, 62527K]
A Christian man in the the eastern Pakistani town of Jaranwala has been sentenced to death after being accused of desecrating the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

The 36-year-old will appeal his sentence after an anti-terrorism court convicted him of blasphemy on Friday, while acquitting two others accused of the same breach of the law.

The 2023 incident led to a series of mob attacks on a Christian neighbourhood in which hundreds of houses and churches were torched and thousands of people forced to flee their homes.

In addition to the death penalty, he was also sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 3.5 million - equivalent to £9,400.

The court reportedly ruled that the man attempted to frame a father and son by placing their photographs alongside torn pages from the Quran, creating the false impression that they had desecrated the holy book.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan. No one has been executed by the state for it, but numerous accused have been lynched by outraged mobs.

On 16 August, following reports that the Koran had been desecrated by two local men, riots broke out and hundreds of men armed with sticks and rocks attacked the Christian community in the city.

Churches were also attacked, with rioters either vandalising them or setting the buildings on fire.

It is thought that around 380 were arrested following the riots, while the government promised to help rebuild both trust and the damaged buildings.

At the time, Pakistan’s Interim Prime Minister, Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, criticized the rioters and called on them to stop the violence, saying: ‘Stern action would be taken against those who violate the law and target minorities.’.

US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel called for a full investigation into the events, stating that ‘we support peaceful freedom of expression and the right to freedom of religion and belief for everybody’.

Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch reacted: ‘The Faisalabad attack underscores the failings of Pakistan’s police to adequately protect religious minority communities and respond promptly to violence targeting them.

‘The lack of prosecutions of those responsible for such crimes in the past emboldens those who commit violence in the name of religion.’.

Pakistan’s Blasphemy law stems from section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

It states that whoever ‘defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to a fine.’.

Human rights groups have raised the plight of religious minorities continuing to suffer in Pakistan.

As well as Christians, the minority Shia Muslim population has been subject to sectarian attacks, especially in areas such as Parachinar.

Last week a mob beat a member of Pakistan’s persecuted Ahmadiyya minority to death after hundreds of radical Islamists surrounded their place of worship in the port city of Karachi.

India

It’s All Sunshine as the Vance Family Arrives in India (New York Times)

New York Times [4/21/2025 8:34 PM, Anupreeta Das and Pragati K.B., 1191K]
India is searching for any sign that it will be able to dodge the steep tariffs threatened by the Trump administration as it rushes to reorder global trade.

So on Monday, as Vice President JD Vance began a four-day visit, Indians closely examined the images that emerged for any clues — and many liked what they saw.

First there were Mr. Vance’s three young children, dressed in Indian attire as they stepped one by one from the airplane. Then there was the family photo outside a marble-and-sandstone temple, with Mr. Vance, his Indian American wife, Usha Vance, and their children draped in garlands. Capping it all was Mr. Vance’s warm embrace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who presented the Vance children with peacock feathers.

Given the fickleness of Mr. Vance’s boss, President Trump, it is impossible to know whether these gauzy images indicate that the Trump administration is ready to strike a deal.

But senior Indian officials and some analysts took Mr. Vance’s presence in India as a sign that the United States intended to continue working toward the bilateral trade agreement outlined by Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi when the Indian leader visited Washington in February.

“This visit is very significant, coming at a time when there is unease internationally about what the Trump administration has been doing to friendly countries, including India,” said Happymon Jacob, an associate professor of diplomacy and disarmament at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. “This is a visit to reassure India that the relationship is not going to completely go astray.”

In recent years, India has sought to make its ties with the United States a pillar of its foreign policy strategy, as the American government looked to India to help counter a rising China.

But India has found itself on uncertain ground with Mr. Trump back in office. The president has both praised Mr. Modi’s leadership and harangued the Indian government for high tariffs that make it tough for U.S. companies to enter the market.

Mr. Trump has called India an “abuser” of tariffs and a “tariff king.” Before he put a 90-day pause on his so-called reciprocal tariffs this month, Indian exports to the United States were facing levies of 27 percent — a number calculated on the basis of the size of America’s trade deficit with India.

Mr. Vance, too, has been known to direct harsh words at American allies, as he did on his visit to Europe in February, his first foreign trip as vice president.

But when he arrived in New Delhi on Monday morning — after visiting Pope Francis at the Vatican in the final hours before the pontiff’s death — it was all smiles on both sides.

On Monday evening, Mr. Vance held talks with Mr. Modi at the prime minister’s residence, followed by a dinner for the Vance family and senior officials.

The leaders “welcomed the significant progress” in the negotiations toward a “mutually beneficial” trade deal, according to a statement from Mr. Modi’s office. Mr. Vance’s office released a similar statement.

He and his family are taking time between official engagements to go sightseeing. Not long after reaching Delhi, they visited the Akshardham temple and posed outside in the 100-degree weather. The family will visit the Amer Fort in Jaipur and the Taj Mahal in Agra later this week.

On Tuesday, while in Jaipur, Mr. Vance is expected to make a speech about Indian-U.S. business ties.

As it has pursued negotiations with the United States, its largest trading partner and biggest export market, India has taken an accommodating stance, slashing duties on some imports of American goods.

In February, when Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump met in Washington, they sketched out a trade agreement that would aim for $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 — more than double the current amount.

The outline contained various give-and-takes. The United States would sell and co-produce more defense equipment that India needs to patrol its borders. India would buy more U.S. crude oil and liquefied natural gas and tackle illegal immigration more forcefully. And America would continue its support for maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific region.

A cooperation agreement involving Japan, Australia, India and the United States, known as the Quad, is especially important to India, which has long worried about China’s influence in the region, including over vital waterways. Mr. Trump is expected to visit India in the fall to attend a Quad summit.

With Mr. Vance’s visit expected to largely focus on bilateral trade, it was unclear whether some of the other troubles between India and the United States — on foreign student visas, illegal immigration and the deportation of Indian nationals — would come up.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association said last week that Indian students in the United States, more than any other foreign student group, had been targeted for visa revocations by the Trump administration. The administration has voided hundreds of student visas across the United States as it restricts immigration and some speech on campuses.

US Says Major Trade Progress Made With India During Vance Visit (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg [4/22/2025 1:45 AM, Dan Strumpf and Akayla Gardner, 5.5M]
The US said it’s made “significant progress” toward a bilateral trade deal following talks between Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, laying down a roadmap for further discussions that New Delhi hopes may shield it from additional tariff hikes.

The two sides have finalized the terms of reference for negotiations on “a new and modern trade agreement,” the White House said in a statement during Vance’s four-day visit to India.

The vice president and his family are on a high-profile trip that underscores India’s importance among countries seeking trade talks with the US. For Modi, the pressure is on to shield Asia’s third-largest economy from disruptions in global trade by striking an early deal with the Trump administration.

“The progress shows that India is better placed than its regional rivals” on trade talks with the US, said Amitendu Palit, an economist specializing in international trade and investment at the National University of Singapore. “Given the pace of negotiations, India has a solid chance of getting a reprieve,” from US’s reciprocal tariffs, he added.

Barring a trade deal, India faces tariffs of up to 26% on its exports to the US under President Donald Trump’s April 2 levies, currently on a 90-day pause. Trump has repeatedly criticized India for its high tariffs.

In trade discussions with the South Asian nation, the goals for Washington include increasing market access for US goods, reducing India’s tariff and non-tariff barriers and securing other commitments, the US Trade Representative said Monday in a separate fact sheet.

Vance arrived in New Delhi on Monday with his family after spending three days in Italy. After meeting with Modi on Monday, the vice president will spend Tuesday in Jaipur, where he is due to give a speech focused on the US and India’s shared economic priorities.

Monday’s meeting between Vance and Modi at the prime minister’s residence also included a larger meeting with staff and a dinner with the vice president’s wife, Usha Vance, and their three children.

During a visit by Modi to the White House in February, the two sides said they planned to conclude the first tranche of a bilateral trade deal by the fall. In a statement Monday after his meeting with Vance, Modi said he looks forward to a visit by Trump to India later this year.

“An early start on the bilateral trade pact and being a strategic ally to the US are both a positive for India,” said Sonal Varma, an economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. “The pace of the talks show that for the initial tranche, the fall deadline is achievable, even though the whole deal will take much longer. “

Separately, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said India was one of the first countries to approach the Trump administration and start trade negotiations. “India’s biggest and top-most trading partner is the United States of America and that importance is not lost in today’s government in India,” she said during a speech at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Vance and Modi meet in New Delhi to discuss trade deal and avoid US tariffs (AP)

AP [4/21/2025 6:29 PM, Sheikh Saaliq, 10355K]
U.S. Vice President JD Vance held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday as New Delhi looks to avoid American tariffs, negotiate a bilateral trade deal with Washington and strengthen ties with the Trump administration.

Vance, who is on a largely personal four-day visit to India, met with Modi at his residence in New Delhi and the two leaders "reviewed and positively assessed the progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation," Modi’s office said in a statement. They also "welcomed the significant progress" in the negotiations of an expected trade deal between the two countries, the statement said.

The White House in a statement said that Vance and Modi set the terms for ongoing talks, "laying down a roadmap for further discussions." It’s a sign that talks are moving forward but remain far from finalized, though Trump administration officials also spoke with their counterparts from India in a sign of the high level of engagement. The Trump administration has portrayed its strategy of tariffs as forcing negotiations that could limit the reach and influence of China, the world’s dominant manufacturer.

The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner and the two countries are now holding negotiations aiming to seal a bilateral trade agreement this year. They have set an ambitious target of more than doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. If achieved, the trade deal could significantly enhance economic ties between the two countries and potentially strengthen diplomatic ties as well.

Vance’s first visit to New Delhi came amid the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s partially-paused tariff program against most countries, including India. Earlier in April, Trump announced a 90-day pause in which imports from most countries would face a baseline 10% tax so that there was time to hold talks and possible structure broader deals. Trump has been personally involved in talks with Japan, but India’s size and potential enable it to possible be a counterbalance to China, which is New Delhi’s main rival in the region.

Vance is set to deliver a speech on Tuesday from Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, India, where he may provide more details on the trade talks.

Modi’s office said that the two leaders "noted continued efforts towards enhancing cooperation in energy, defense, strategic technologies and other areas" and "exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest, and called for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward.".

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Monday that Vance’s visit will "further deepen the India–U.S. comprehensive global strategic partnership.".

Vance combines business with pleasure

Vance was greeted with an Indian classical dance performance after he arrived at New Delhi’s Palam airport on Monday, following his visit to Rome, where he met with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, a day before the pontiff’s death.

Vance was accompanied by his wife, Usha Vance, a practicing Hindu whose parents are from India, along with their three children and officials from the U.S. administration.

The family visited the Akshardham Hindu temple in New Delhi after their arrival and are expected to tour the iconic Taj Mahal monument and the 12th-century Amer Fort — a UNESCO world heritage site — during their trip.

India’s importance in counterbalancing China’s influence

India is a close partner of the U.S. and an important strategic ally in combating the rising influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region. It was also part of the Quad, which is made up of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia and is seen as a counterbalance to China’s expansion in the region. Trump is expected to attend a summit of Quad leaders in India later this year.

Washington has long sought to develop a deeper partnership with New Delhi, which is seen as a bulwark against China. Modi particularly established a good working relationship with Trump during his first term in office, and the two leaders are likely to further boost cooperation between their countries.

Modi was among the first leaders to visit the U.S. and hold talks with Trump after he returned to the White House. During his visit, he hailed a "mega partnership" with the U.S., and kickstarted a negotiation process to minimize the possible fallout of Trump’s tariffs.

The two leaders also said they planned to grow their defense partnership, with India signaling compliance with the Trump administration’s demands, saying it will purchase more oil, energy and defense equipment from the U.S. Modi also has cooperated with Trump’s moves to deport migrants as India has accepted many of its citizens from the U.S. in the past few months.

Regardless, Trump targeted India with a 26 percent levy, part of which has since been paused. However, he has continued to call India a "tariff abuser" and "tariff king.".

Trade talks are pressing for India

The trade negotiations are especially urgent for India, which could be hit hard by Trump’s tariffs, particularly in the agriculture, processed food, auto components, high-end machinery, medical equipment and jewelry sectors.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India’s former foreign secretary and ambassador to the U.S., said that Vance’s visit comes at a time of global upheaval in world trade. He said ties between New Delhi and Washington could see an upsurge under Trump’s presidency, mainly in technology-sharing and defense.

"U.S. trade policy under Trump offers an opportunity for India to embed itself in a bigger way in the U.S. markets and global supply chains," Shringla said.

Modi’s government is also hoping to attract investment from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Last month, Musk’s Starlink entered into agreements with two of India’s top telecom operators to provide satellite-based internet services. Musk also indicated that he would visit India later this year after speaking last week with Modi, signaling that there could be progress in the electric carmaker’s push to enter the Indian market.

India is also a major defense partner of the U.S. It has in recent years embedded advanced American jets, helicopters, missiles and military gear into its armed forces. The two countries have announced plans to sign a 10-year framework later this year for strengthening their defense partnership.

Modi, Vance tout progress on India-US trade deal (Reuters)

Reuters [4/21/2025 7:06 PM, YP Rajesh, Tanvi Mehta, and Shivam Patel, 1191K]
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted progress in talks for a trade deal between the two countries, their offices said on Monday, as New Delhi rushes to avoid U.S. tariffs and court Trump’s administration.

Vance arrived in India earlier on Monday for a largely personal four-day visit to the country with his family, which includes visiting the Taj Mahal and making a speech in the city of Jaipur, U.S. officials said.

The two leaders also noted continued efforts towards enhancing cooperation in energy, defence and strategic technologies, among others, a statement from Modi’s office said after talks between them.

They discussed regional and global issues and called for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward, it said, reiterating a standard Indian line about global conflicts without naming any. New Delhi has in the past used this formulation for the war in Ukraine.

"(The) prime minister conveyed his warm greetings to President Trump and said that he looked forward to his visit to India later this year," it added.

Statements from the Trump administration said the two countries agreed on a roadmap for further discussions on trade.

Vance’s office said talks present "an opportunity to negotiate a new and modern trade agreement focused on promoting job creation and citizen well-being in both countries."

In a statement on Monday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer pointed to an "serious lack of reciprocity in the trade relationship with India" that needed to be resolved.

Vance landed in New Delhi following a visit to Rome, where he held a private meeting with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday.

Vance’s wife, Usha, is the daughter of Indian immigrants.

Modi and Vance reviewed progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation outlined in February when the Indian leader met President Donald Trump in Washington, their offices said. It includes "fairness" in their two-way trade and growing their defence partnership.

‘NEED PACT WITH LARGEST TRADE PARTNER’

The Indian prime minister was one of the first world leaders to meet Trump after he took office, and Reuters has reported that his government is open to cutting tariffs on more than half of its imports from the U.S., which were worth a total $41.8 billion in 2024, as part of a trade deal.

However, the U.S. president has continued to call India a "tariff abuser" and "tariff king".

The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner and their bilateral trade reached $129 billion in 2024, with a $45.7 billion surplus in favour of India, U.S. government trade data show.

Officials in New Delhi are expecting to clinch a trade deal with the U.S. within the 90-day pause on tariff hikes announced by Trump on April 9 for major trading partners. A wide swathe of Delhi’s goods exports face a levy of over a quarter of their value under the new measures. A 10% blanket duty on many U.S. imports remains in effect.

India hopes to "positively conclude" the first part of the trade pact by this autumn, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in San Francisco on Monday as she started on a trip packed with engagements between the two nations.

"The long and short of engaging with the U.S. is not just for this reciprocal tariff-related matter, but in the interest of ... our largest trading partner with whom we need to have an agreement," Sitharaman said in an address to the Indian diaspora.

Vance’s tour in India is also seen as laying the ground for Trump’s visit to the country later in the year for the summit of leaders of the Quad grouping that includes India, Australia, Japan and the United States.

Harsh Pant, foreign policy head at the Observer Research Foundation think tank in Delhi, said the timing of Vance’s visit was critical against the backdrop of trade talks.

"The fact that the U.S.-China tensions are ramping up, and Vance in particular seems to have taken a very high-profile role in American diplomacy, also means that the visit assumes an added layer of significance," he said.

India’s Modi and U.S. Vice President Vance optimistic on New Delhi-Washington trade deal (CNBC)

CNBC [4/21/2025 10:23 PM, Lim Hui Jie, 889K]
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Monday hailed the “significant” progress made in trade talks between the two sides during Vance’s visit to India.

Vance, who was in India on a mostly personal trip with second lady Usha Vance and his family, met Modi in New Delhi.

A statement from Modi’s office said the two leaders “welcomed the significant progress in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement.”

Vance and Modi also reviewed and positively assessed the progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation, and noted “continued efforts” in enhancing cooperation in areas like energy, defense and strategic technologies.

The two leaders also exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest, and called for dialogue and diplomacy.

India was hit with a 26% “reciprocal” tariff on April 2, before the levies were suspended for 90 days by U.S. President Donald Trump on April 9, leaving a 10% baseline tariff.

On Monday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the USTR and India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry have “finalized the terms of reference to lay down a roadmap for the negotiations on reciprocal trade.”

He added, “there is a serious lack of reciprocity in the trade relationship with India,” but said “India’s constructive engagement so far has been welcomed and I look forward to creating new opportunities for workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs in both countries.”

Back in February, Modi and Trump had agreed to more than double bilateral trade between New Delhi and Washington to $500 billion by 2030.

U.S. total goods trade with India is estimated at $129 billion in 2024, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. India’s surplus with the United States, reached $45.7 billion last year.

Vance in India for talks with Modi, visit to Akshardham Temple (The Hill)

The Hill [4/21/2025 4:17 PM, Alex Gangitano, 12829K]
Vice President Vance and second lady Usha Vance arrived in India on Monday, meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while the Trump administration is negotiating deals with trading partners on tariffs.

The vice president went to Modi’s residence for a bilateral meeting, followed by an expanded meeting with members from the United States and India delegations. The Vances and their three children all joined Modi for a family dinner at the residence.

The talks come as India was hit with a 26 percent tariff briefly before President Trump paused the reciprocal tariff program for most countries for 90 days, keeping 10 percent tariffs in place.

The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner, and the country is aiming to avoid being hit hard from tariffs that could impact its agriculture, processed food and medical equipment industries, among others.

JD Vance is expected to deliver remarks Tuesday focused on "the U.S. and India’s shared economic priorities" at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, according to his office.

When Vance and his family first landed in New Delhi, they visited the Akshardham Temple and met with temple officials. The vice president walked the grounds of the Hindi cultural site holding hands with his two sons while the second lady, who is of Indian heritage, walked with their daughter.

Vance greeted U.S. Embassy staff at a hotel before the Modi meeting, and shortly after leaving the prime minister’s residence, the vice president and his family left New Delhi to travel to Jaipur.

The Vances were in Rome on Sunday, where they attended a private Easter Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls. Earlier that morning, he met with Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 early Monday morning.

JD Vance Will Have to Mind His Manners in India (Bloomberg – opinion)

Bloomberg [4/21/2025 3:00 PM, Karishma Vaswani, 5.5M]
When JD Vance touched down in India on Monday, many were wondering what kind of controversy the US vice president might stir during his short visit.

A meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on the agenda, as the two nations work toward a bilateral trade deal. Like every other country besides China, New Delhi has been spared the full force of President Donald Trump’s tariffs for 90 days. But the clock is ticking: Washington is pressing ahead with its trade war and ramping up efforts to isolate Beijing. If an agreement isn’t reached by the end of that timeframe, the US is threatening to increase the 10% tariffs on Indian exports to 26%.

Economic coercion is rarely the best way to make friends. The duties could deal a $33 billion blow to the South Asian nation’s export market to the US, translating into an almost 1% loss in gross domestic product. This would aggravate an already slowing economy, just as Modi faces scrutiny over job creation, a vulnerability opposition parties would be happy to highlight.

For Vance, this is an opportunity to soften a global image as Trump’s attack dog. It is his first visit to India since taking office. He made his debut on the world stage in France and Germany in February when he shocked allies by saying that the biggest threat to their security was “from within,” rather than China and Russia.

He’s also triggered outrage in Asia, calling Chinese people “peasants” in criticisms about economic engagement with Beijing. In response, officials in the world’s second-largest economy branded him as “impolite.”

That reputation may not go down well in India, a country that views itself as a rising power in its own right, and doesn’t want to be viewed as a junior partner or lapdog of the West. One area of common ground, superficial as it may be, is immediately visible. Vance’s wife Usha — the daughter of Indian immigrants from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh — is accompanying him. Local media described Vance as “India’s son-in-law” and his visit “a homecoming of sorts.” But what role, if any, Usha Vance will play to smooth ties between the two nations is unclear.

Right now, Modi has little choice but to comply with Trump’s demands. The president has in the past labelled India a “tariff king,” a moniker that isn’t entirely undeserved. The country has some of the highest trade barriers in Asia, although the Indian leader attempted to address those during a recent trip to Washington. He has lowered tariffs on some American goods, promised to crack down on illegal immigration and proposed plans to buy more energy and equipment. Currently, Russia is the main supplier of both to India, and the US has long been eager to edge out Moscow.

For his part, Trump wants to take advantage of his strong working relationship with Modi to reach a deal that will advance his America First agenda, while New Delhi will hope to be an equal partner, not simply a convenient one.

Still, India may also be negotiating from a potential position of strength. It’s increasingly being viewed as an alternative to Chinese manufacturing, despite legitimate concerns over bureaucracy, corruption, and creaking infrastructure. The country is also a vital player in the geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing.

Trump appears to be trying to box Beijing in, but the best way would be to get allies on board. Consistent foreign and economic policy would help: Trade between the two nations surpassed $190 billion in 2023, making the US India’s largest trading partner, overtaking China. They have also set an ambitious target of more than doubling their trade to $500 billion by 2030.

Vance’s visit opens up a host of new ways to bring more predictability to a relationship that has often been volatile. A formal trade deal will help, but India would also like to see some willingness to give more access to citizens and companies to the US market. Historically, this has been a key priority, but it’s also politically sensitive for Trump.

On defense, there are a number of good options. The White House could accelerate approvals and licensing to trusted allies and partners like New Delhi. India could reprioritize the focus of its $78 billion defense budget and buy more American weapons and technology. This would help cement the argument that like-minded countries are working together to act as a buffer in the competition against China in the Indo-Pacific.

India is open to cooperation, but not always on someone else’s terms. Vance would be wise to mind his manners while he’s there.

India’s Modi to Meet Saudi Crown Prince to Talk Trade, Oil (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg [4/22/2025 12:29 AM, Christine Burke and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 16228K]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to kick off a two-day trip to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as he seeks to deepen ties with the major oil exporter and OPEC+ leader at a time of mounting global trade uncertainty.

Modi is traveling to Jeddah on the kingdom’s Red Sea coast, where he will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, hold bilateral talks and visit Indian factory workers.

Both countries may benefit from deeper ties, as sweeping US tariffs that have rattled global markets encourage countries to strengthen trade relations with allies and neighbors. India and Saudi Arabia already count one another as top-five trading partners, with about $43 billion in flows in 2023-2024.

The two leaders are expected to discuss defense, trade and energy, with the latter taking on increasing importance as India pushes to become a top refining hub. Modi may be looking to secure investments after the crown prince, known as MBS, vowed in 2019 to put $100 billion to work in the Asian nation.

Developments on deeper energy ties are expected from Modi’s visit, as are several memoranda of understanding, India’s foreign secretary said before the trip, without giving details.

“We are looking at infusing an even more strategic outlook in the energy partnership between the two countries,” Shri Vikram Misri said in a briefing on April 19.

India is already a leading recipient of Saudi crude, and state-backed energy giant Saudi Aramco has long voiced interest in investing in the country. The company came close to an investment in 2019 through a partnership with Reliance Industries Ltd. but the deal ultimately fell apart two years later.

Since then, there have been reports that Aramco is considering buying stakes in planned Indian refineries but little indication of other major oil investments. Any firm commitments would likely signal a win for both as Saudi Arabia looks to lock in long-term buyers of its oil while India seeks to build and feed large refineries that process crude into fuels like gasoline.

Joint Projects

Ahead of the visit, Modi said energy cooperation isn’t limited to a mere buyer-seller relationship and that the two sides are exploring joint projects in refineries and petrochemicals, according to comments he made to Arab News.

The countries are also working on a bilateral investment treaty and promoting more interconnectivity under the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, he added.

“India values our historic relations with Saudi Arabia,” the prime minister said in a post on X on Tuesday. “Bilateral ties have gained significant momentum in the last decide.”

Saudi Arabia’s investments in India total about $10 billion, according to India’s embassy in Riyadh. That includes stakes the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, known as the PIF, has taken in Reliance subsidiaries.

Modi’s trip to Saudi Arabia will be his first in six years, and follows a visit by MBS to India in September 2023. The two leaders are set to co-chair a meeting to help steer bilateral relations, in addition to holding a one-on-one session.

Discussions around investment in renewable energy, healthcare services, tourism and entertainment — described by the foreign ministry as relatively new areas for collaboration — may also be on the table during the summit, along with talks on how Indian firms can support the development of mega-infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom awarded about $148 billion in contracts in 2024, pressing ahead with massive projects designed to help diversify the economy away from oil, according to the Middle East business intelligence media known as MEED. That’s the highest total ever recorded by a single country in the Gulf region, it said.

India, Saudi Arabia exploring joint refinery, petrochemical projects, Modi says (Reuters)

Reuters [4/22/2025 4:56 AM, Nidhi Verma, 44838K]
India and Saudi Arabia are exploring joint projects in refineries and petrochemicals, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Arab News in an interview, as he began a two-day visit to the country on Tuesday.

"We are now working on feasibility studies for electricity grid interconnectivity between India and Saudi Arabia and the wider region," he added.

India imposes temporary tariff on some steel to stem cheap imports from China (Reuters)

Reuters [4/21/2025 11:19 PM, Neha Arora and Surbhi Misra, 126906K]
India, the world’s second-biggest producer of crude steel, on Monday imposed a 12% temporary tariff on some steel imports, locally known as a safeguard duty, to curb a surge in cheap shipments primarily from China.

A flood of Chinese steel in recent years has pushed some Indian mills to scale down operations and mull job cuts, and India is one of a number of countries to have contemplated action to stem imports to protect local industry.

The Ministry of Finance said in an official order that the duty would be effective for 200 days from Monday, "unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier".

The move is New Delhi’s first big trade policy shift since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a wide range of tariffs on countries in April, kicking off a bitter trade war with China.

Tensions over cheap steel imports into India predate that, with the investigation behind the latest move beginning in December.

India’s Steel Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy said in a statement the measure is aimed at protecting domestic steel manufacturers from the adverse impact of a surge in imports, and will ensure fair competition in the market.

"This move will provide critical relief to domestic producers, especially small and medium-scale enterprises, who have faced immense pressure from rising imports," Kumaraswamy said.

New Delhi’s tariffs are primarily aimed at China, which was the second-biggest exporter of steel to India behind South Korea in 2024/25.

"The decision is along expected lines and we will now wait and see how this measure supports (the) industry and margins and restricts cheap imports into the country," said a senior executive at a leading Indian steel mill.

"The world is impacted by Chinese imports whether directly or indirectly," said the executive.

India was a net importer of finished steel for a second straight year in 2024/25, with shipments reaching a nine-year high of 9.5 million metric tons, according to provisional government data.

New Delhi’s leading steelmakers’ body - which counts JSW Steel (JSTL.NS) and Tata Steel (TISC.NS) among members, alongside the Steel Authority of India (SAIL.NS) and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India - has raised concerns over imports and called for curbs.

India under tariff pressure to give Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart full market access (Financial Times)

Financial Times [4/22/2025 11:47 AM, Krishn Kaushik, John Reed, and Rafe Uddin, 14.6M]
The Trump administration intends to press India to give online retailers such as Amazon and Walmart full access to its $125bn ecommerce market, as part of a trade deal being negotiated under the threat of increased tariffs.

According to industry executives, lobbyists and US government officials, the US plans to push Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for a level playing field on ecommerce in wide-ranging talks on a US-India trade agreement set to also cover sectors from food to cars.

US vice-president JD Vance met Modi in New Delhi on Monday, where both “welcomed the significant progress in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial” trade agreement, according to an Indian government statement. They also noted the “continued efforts towards enhancing co-operation in energy, defence, strategic technologies and other areas”.

India faces a 26 per cent tariff on its exports to the US barring an agreement, with President Donald Trump having paused the measure for 90 days so negotiations could take place.

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos attended and contributed to Trump’s inauguration in January, and Walmart chief Doug McMillon was one of the industry leaders Trump met one-on-one at his Mar-a-Lago estate in the run-up to it. McMillon was also at the White House on Monday with executives from other major US retailers to discuss tariffs with the president.

One of the industry executives aware of the details, who asked not to be named, said McMillon had brought up the issue of India’s barriers against foreign ecommerce companies at Mar-a-Lago. Walmart owns Indian online retailer Flipkart.

The US push to prise open retail in the world’s most populous country pits Bezos and McMillon against Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance group is India’s largest retailer and owns several ecommerce platforms.

India allows US ecommerce companies to operate only as online marketplaces for others to sell their products. Their Indian competitors can produce, own and sell goods through their platforms. Washington calls this a “non-tariff barrier”, alongside limits on foreign direct investment in retail.

“Since 2006, the US has been trying to open up India’s domestic market, and has been stymied successfully ever since,” said Arvind Singhal, chair of retail consulting firm Technopak Advisors.

In addition to Indian curbs on inventory, US retailers have faced repeated product inspections by the Bureau of Indian Standards, according to industry executives, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the trade talks.

Two industry executives told the Financial Times that the Trump administration was coordinating closely with US ecommerce platforms as part of the negotiations.

The White House, Amazon, Walmart, and Reliance did not respond to requests for comment.

“The attempt to pressure India into opening its ecommerce sector wider for American giants like Amazon and Walmart reflects a broader pattern of economic diplomacy aimed at securing market dominance for its corporations,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders and an MP with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party.

“While foreign investment is welcome, it must not come at the cost of distorting India’s retail ecosystem or undermining the interests of its [90mn] small traders,” he added.

Trump has said India’s protectionist policies had made it the “tariff king”. The US is its largest trading partner, and the two countries have said they want to boost bilateral trade of goods and services to $500bn, more than double the current amount.

Amazon has gradually built its presence in India since it launched services in 2013, but has lagged behind Flipkart. Amazon had fewer than 40mn daily active users in India towards the end of last year, compared with Flipkart’s 50mn, according to Bank of America analysts.

ICE arrests illegal immigrant with alleged terror ties in California, one of the most wanted men in India (FOX News)

FOX News [4/21/2025 4:20 PM, Louis Casiano and Brooke Taylor, 430301K]
An Indian citizen who is one of the most wanted fugitives in his home country for his alleged connections with terrorist activities, including planning more than a dozen grenade attacks on police officials, has been arrested by immigration officials for being in the United States illegally.

Harpreet Singh was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last week, Fox News has learned.

Singh entered the U.S. illegally on Jan. 27, 2022, in Arizona. He was arrested by a U.S. Border Patrol agent from Tucson’s sector, placed in removal proceedings, and then released into the interior of the country.

He was arrested by ICE on April 16 in Sacramento, Calif., and will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

"The Biden Administration not only let a wanted terrorist into our country, but after he was arrested by Border Patrol agents, they released him into the interior of our country," said Tricia McLaughlin, the Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs.

"While shocking, it’s not surprising given the Biden administration routinely released unvetted terrorists and criminals into American communities," she added. "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, ICE is unleashed to remove these violent criminals from America’s streets and put an end to catch and release. We will hunt down, arrest, and lock up foreign terrorists and criminals who have operated with impunity on American soil.".

Singh is wanted in India over his alleged links to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a foreign terrorist organization that was created in the 1970s. The group has been involved in political assassinations and armed attacks and terrorist bombings to further its terrorist goals, authorities said.

Singh allegedly provided terrorist funds, recruitment, and planning of a grenade attack on an Indian Police Station and on a retired Punjab police officer’s house with the intent to kill and instill fear among law enforcement officers.

He is also wanted by the Indian government for multiple violent extortion and threatening operations in India.

He is one of the most wanted men by the Indian agencies, according to the Indian Intelligence Bureau. Indian officials believe Singh to be a senior transnational terror network operative directly linked to Harwinder Singh Rinda, an infamous figure in the Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

BKI is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

NSB

Bangladesh’s Yunus Mourns ‘Kindred Spirit’ Pope Francis (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [4/21/2025 6:48 AM, Staff, 931K]
Bangladesh’s interim government paid its respects to Pope Francis on Monday, with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus praising the late pontiff as a "true friend and kindred spirit".

Yunus, 84, shared a "profound connection" with Francis, his office said in a statement. The micro-finance pioneer took over as interim leader of Muslim-majority Bangladesh after a mass uprising ousted the government in August 2024.

"Pope Francis was a towering figure of moral clarity, humility, and compassion in our time," the statement said, detailing how the men had worked together on shared efforts for social justice and care for the natural world.

"His lifelong dedication to justice, peace, and the dignity of every human being resonated far beyond the Catholic world," it said.

"His leadership, rooted in the values of fraternity and service, inspired global efforts to uplift the poor, protect the vulnerable, and build a more humane and peaceful world."

Sri Lanka Praises Pope Francis’s ‘Commitment To Peace’ (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [4/21/2025 5:32 AM, Staff, 931K]
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake paid tribute to Pope Francis on Monday, saying the late pontiff left a legacy of "compassion, justice and interfaith harmony".

Dissanayake, who leads the Buddhist-majority South Asian nation of 22 million people, said that the pope’s "unwavering commitment to peace, compassion and humanity has left an indelible mark on the world".

Earlier in the day, at a ceremony to mark the sixth anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombings, the Vatican formally declared 167 Catholics who died in the attacks to be "Witnesses of the Faith", clearing a possible path to sainthood.

A total of 279 people were killed in the bombings targeting three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019. A homegrown jihadist group claimed responsibility.

Central Asia

US investor Cameron offers $5 billion for Kazakh mining giant, ERG says no sale talks (Reuters)

Reuters [4/21/2025 1:45 PM, Gleb Bryanski, 62527K]
U.S. businessman James Cameron has offered to buy mining giant Eurasian Resources Group for $5 billion, a letter he sent to its board showed, as the company prepares to participate in a major expansion of Kazakhstan’s rare earths output.

However, ERG said in a statement on Monday that there were no negotiations on the company’s sale.

ERG, a Luxembourg-based producer of copper, cobalt, aluminium, and iron ore that is 40%-owned by the Kazakh government, said last year it had formed a task force to explore deposits of rare earth and rare metals in Kazakhstan.

Those minerals have gained particular attention in recent months as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration seeks alternatives to China to supply its domestic industry as a trade war between the countries escalates.

According to a source close to the company, talks between ERG and Cameron have been going on since the end of last year. Cameron shares a name with the Academy Award-winning film director, but the two are not related.

But ERG’s statement said, "In response to a number of media speculations in the course of the last few weeks, including publications about a Mr James Cameron’s proposal to buy Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), Mr Shukhrat Ibragimov, Chairman of the ERG Board of Directors and its Chief Executive Officer, stated there are no negotiations on the sale of ERG. He said the company’s management is fully committed to further consistent, sustainable development of the Group.".

The Kazakh government, and Cameron, once a board chairman of former FTSE 250 mining firm Petropavlovsk, did not comment.

According to Cameron’s letter to the ERG board, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, Goldman Sachs is in preliminary talks to advise on the deal.

"The financing will come from a combination of my own funds, as well as equity contributions from other investors in the United States, and possibly Australia and the Middle East," the letter said.

Another source close to the transaction told Reuters the investor’s interest in ERG is partly linked to Kazakhstan’s potential in critical minerals exploration and mining. Kazakhstan aims to lift rare and rare earth metals output by 40% by 2028, with ERG seen taking a major role in the initiative.

This month, Kazakhstan’s government announced that its geologists had discovered a large rare earth deposit with estimated resources exceeding 20 million metric tons.

Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said last year that data concerning the country’s deposits of rare and rare earth metals, a state secret since Soviet times, is being gradually declassified.

If confirmed, this discovery could position Kazakhstan among the top three holders of rare earth reserves globally, following China and Brazil.

ERG once produced one-fifth of the world’s gallium, a rare metal used in microchips and included on the U.S. list of critical materials. However, it ceased production after China increased its output of the metal in 2012.

Beijing in December banned gallium exports to the U.S. after a crackdown by Washington on China’s chip sector.

In 2013, ERG was taken private in a $4.5 billion buyout by its three founders, who each owned approximately 20% of the company, along with the government.

Last month, one of ERG’s founders and its board chairman, Kazakh-Israeli businessman Alexander Mashkevich, passed away, leaving only one of the original founders, Patokh Chodiev, among the current shareholders.

How Turkmenistan’s Government Neglects Its People (And Why the World Should Care) (The Diplomat)

The Diplomat [4/21/2025 9:01 PM, Catherine Putz, 2K]
Turkmenistan is one of the world’s most isolated – and little understood – countries. The picture its government presents to the world, and in propaganda to its own people, is of a neutral nation, rich in resources, embarking on a golden age of prosperity.

But there is a vast gap between that narrative and the reality of life for the people of Turkmenistan.

In a report published earlier this year by the Central Asia Program at George Washington University, researchers at the Progres Foundation take a critical look at human development and inequality in Turkmenistan.

The Progres Foundation is a non-profit organization based in the United States that supports progressive initiatives contributing to understanding of social realities and to shaping a new vision and approaches to sustainable human development in Turkmenistan. It publishes an online analytical journal at Progres.online and promotes public health literacy at Saglyk.org. The latter proved to be a critical resource in 2020 when the Turkmen government maintained that it had not detected a single case of COVID-19 in the country, contrary to reality.

In the following interview, researcher and author of the abovementioned report, Ogulgerek Palwanova, dives into the neglect of the Turkmen people by the government in Ashgabat, the importance of adding nuance to our understanding of human development, and how both outsiders and Turkmen can navigate the disparate and often distorted information in and about Turkmenistan.

The report states, in its introduction, that "Turkmenistan’s greatest yet most neglected asset is its people." In what ways has Ashgabat neglected the Turkmen people?

The leadership in Ashgabat has neglected the Turkmen people in several crucial ways. Most notably, it has enabled and sustained widespread corruption, which has become an entrenched part of daily life – from obtaining a driver’s license or enrolling in university to accessing employment or adequate healthcare. Corruption dictates who gets access to essential services and opportunities. For instance, only 3 out of 10 secondary school graduates continue to tertiary education, largely due to limited university quotas that foster bribery, where admission often depends on money or connections rather than merit. Healthcare is similarly affected. Turkmenistan has the lowest life expectancy in Central Asia at 69.3 years. Despite having a GNI per capita 186.3 percent higher than Tajikistan’s, Turkmen citizens live on average 2.3 years less, and lose 7.6 years to illness and poor health.

Most troubling is the government’s refusal to acknowledge these systemic issues. Instead, it hides them from the international community and misleads its own citizens through propaganda, claiming free higher education and showcasing modern hospitals. By prioritizing the sale of natural resources over investing in its people and building a knowledge driven economy, the Turkmen government is robbing its citizens of the opportunity for a better future.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) bases its Human Development Index (HDI) broadly on three indicators – longevity, education, and income. How useful is the HDI in measuring the reality of life in Turkmenistan? What does the index obscure or fail to illuminate?

While the Human Development Index (HDI) offers a simplified snapshot of development, it fails to capture the true reality of life in Turkmenistan for several reasons:

First, the HDI overlooks critical dimensions of well-being such as inequality, poverty, personal security, gender equity, and ethnic disparities. The Gender Development Index and Gender Inequality Index do not include Turkmenistan. In a context like Turkmenistan – where there is no official poverty line and reliable data is limited – these omissions are significant. The index gives the impression of steady progress, while many of the underlying challenges remain hidden.

Second, the income data distorts reality. The HDI relies on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, but this average conceals deep income inequality. Meanwhile, the Inequality Adjusted HDI does not include Turkmenistan. In Turkmenistan, most national wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small elite, while a large portion of the population lives in poverty or just above it. For example, the top 1 percent is estimated to control around 20 percent of the wealth – not counting illicit wealth from corruption and bribery, which is widespread in the public sector. Hence, the income component of the HDI presents a misleading picture of prosperity.

Third, the GNI is artificially inflated due to the dual exchange rate system in Turkmenistan where the official exchange rate is fixed at 3.5 manat per U.S. dollar (USD) while the the black-market rate hovers around 19.5 manat per USD. The HDI calculation uses the official rate, which significantly overstates GNI per capita. When adjusted for a more realistic average exchange rate, the GNI per capita (2019) drops from $7,130 to about $2,655 – which would reclassify Turkmenistan from an upper-middle-income country to a lower-middle-income one.

Why is it important to bring discussion of various inequalities into our understanding of the reality of life in Turkmenistan? How does inequality impact the lives of Turkmen?

Inequality is central to understanding life in Turkmenistan because it shapes who has access to basic services and opportunities – and who is left behind. For example, only 2 percent of poorer women complete tertiary education, compared to 23 percent of wealthier men in urban areas. This stark gap reveals how income, gender, and geography limit life chances for many Turkmens.

Inequality affects more than just access to education – it impacts health, employment, and representation. Women lack decision-making power not only in public life – where women account for 21.7 percent of posts in local governments and 22.4 percent of managerial positions – but also in their private lives. Nearly 60 percent of women in Turkmenistan lack the autonomy to make decisions about their own health, contraception, or consent to sex, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

These disparities are not just unfair – they limit the country’s potential by keeping large parts of the population from contributing fully to society and the economy. Addressing inequality is not only a moral imperative – it is essential for inclusive and sustainable development of Turkmenistan. Without it, progress will remain uneven and many will continue to be excluded from the benefits of growth.

The Turkmen government is not particularly transparent, and what statistics Ashgabat does provide are not necessarily reliable. For example, the report notes the difference between the official unemployment rate (typically reported at 4-5 percent) and what the actual unemployment rate is believed to be (60 percent). How can outsiders navigate this information vacuum? How can Turkmen do the same?

Navigating the information vacuum in Turkmenistan requires a critical and multi-sourced approach. Given the lack of transparency and the unreliability of official statistics both international observers and Turkmen citizens must be cautious and discerning consumers of information.

For outsiders, it is essential to triangulate data by comparing information from multiple sources: international institutions, independent think tanks, academic research, investigative journalism, and reports from exile-based Turkmen organizations. These alternative sources often offer insights that are unavailable or suppressed within the country. Outsiders should also treat official data with healthy skepticism, always asking who benefits from the narrative being promoted and how the numbers might be manipulated.

For Turkmen citizens, accessing alternative viewpoints can be more difficult due to censorship and fear of reprisals, but it is equally crucial. When possible, they should seek out independent media and diaspora-led reporting. Communities can also share observations and lived experiences, which may reveal trends and challenges that official statistics ignore. Personal networks and informal information-sharing – when done safely – can help bridge the gap between reality and propaganda.

In both cases, readers should be aware that no single source has a monopoly on truth. Accepting uncertainty, questioning narratives, and resisting the urge to take any data at face value are essential strategies in understanding Turkmenistan, where facts are often deliberately obscured.

In making recommendations, the report urges international organizations to "be careful not to become complicit in masking the serious problems that exist in Turkmenistan nor aid in perpetuating these problems by giving a veneer of legitimacy to the government’s policies." How can international organizations, and foreign governments, balance seemingly conflicting impulses: the perceived need to maintain a relationship, any relationship, with the Turkmen government vs. being open and honest about conditions in the country?

Maintaining a relationship with the Turkmen government and being honest about the country’s conditions are not mutually exclusive. International organizations and foreign governments can – and should – pursue both. Choosing silence for the sake of diplomacy risks becoming complicit in the very problems they might later seek to address. Engagement should not come at the cost of integrity or truth and facts.

Importantly, the Turkmen government places significant value on its international image and its relationships with foreign governments and international organizations. It wants to be seen as open, cooperative, and a respected peer on the global stage. International actors should use this willingness to engage – and their privileged position – to initiate open conversations and promote real progress on pressing challenges affecting human development in the country.

Strong, long-term relationships are built on mutual respect and the courage to speak the truth. Moreover, because many people in Turkmenistan are unable to speak freely due to fear of reprisals, international actors also carry a moral responsibility to raise concerns and advocate for sustainable solutions and reforms. Constructive and respectful criticism can help build trust, encourage reform, and ultimately benefit both sides.

Finally, Turkmenistan is not often discussed in global media, at least not with any degree of seriousness. Why is it important for the global community to understand Turkmenistan and pay attention to developments in the country?

Turkmenistan may not dominate global headlines, but it’s a country that matters – both for regional stability and for broader global concerns like energy security, human rights, and climate change. As one of the most closed and authoritarian states in the world, the lack of attention allows serious human development challenges, repression, and misinformation to persist unchecked. This silence enables the government to avoid accountability while its citizens suffer in isolation.

From a geopolitical standpoint, Turkmenistan holds one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, and its strategic location bordering countries like Iran, Afghanistan, and China means developments there can have wider regional ripple effects. In addition, issues like environmental degradation, forced labor in state-run sectors, or migration due to poverty and repression are not contained within national borders – they eventually affect neighboring countries and international partners.

Paying attention to Turkmenistan also signals to its people that the world sees them, cares about their rights, and hasn’t forgotten them. When the international community ignores a country like Turkmenistan, it sends a message that some lives – and some struggles – matter less. By shining a light on what’s happening, the global community can help foster transparency, promote human dignity, and support long-term change, even in the most challenging contexts.

Internet life in Turkmenistan detected! (EurasiaNet)

EurasiaNet [4/21/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Turkmenistan is known to have one of the most tightly controlled internet environments in the world. But even in such an inhospitable atmosphere, there appears to be enough web energy to give life to a few TikTok influencers in the country.

A Central Asian lifestyle website, WeProject.Media, recently published a list of 10 Turkmen creators on TikTok worth following, saying they post “interesting, entertaining and informative content.” The top content creator listed, who goes by the name Gulchynar Tach, has an astounding 2 million followers. The videos posted on Gulchynar Tach’s channel could perhaps best be described as saccharine. But the mere ability of a Turkmen citizen to attract such a large number of followers seems to defy the laws of authoritarian physics governing the flow of information.

Other TikTok creators listed by WeProject had much smaller followings. The second highest follower total, 150,000, belongs to a pair of posters, likely sisters, going by the moniker Double Mood. They must belong to the very small circle of Turkmen citizens who can travel abroad frequently as their TikTok channel features lots of snippets of them glamming in foreign locales, including New York’s Times Square and Barcelona. Many others on the Top 10 list also enjoy the luxury of foreign travel, an indication that they likely have connections to the country’s business and political elites.

Turkmen leaders keep a close eye on social networks, having long viewed the Internet as a dangerous source of foreign influence capable of undermining their totalitarian grip on society. A 2021 study found that Turkmenistan had one of the slowest Internet speeds of any nation in the world. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of foreign websites are blocked, and “restrictions on social media sites, cloud storage services, and VPNs have intensified,” according to the watchdog group Freedom House.

“Private discussion and the expression of personal views are highly restricted due to intrusive supervision by state security services, including physical surveillance, monitoring of telephone and electronic communications, and the use of informers,” according to Freedom House’s country report on Turkmenistan for 2024. “Users often face disruption to the internet. According to Turkmen.news, in April 2023, over 3 billion internet protocol (IP) addresses – about 75 percent of all IP addresses in the world – were blocked in the country.”

Cup of coffee stirs Russian-language debate in Uzbekistan (EurasiaNet)

EurasiaNet [4/21/2025 4:14 PM, Alexander Thompson, 57.6K]
Uzbekistan’s continuing reluctance to join the Eurasian Economic Union highlights the Central Asian nation’s preference to keep Russia at arm’s length. At the same time, deep economic ties – including a growing Uzbek dependency on Russian natural gas, and Russia’s status as Uzbekistan’s largest export market – mean that Tashkent cannot afford to alienate the Kremlin.

A similar dynamic is evident in debates over language. Last fall, Uzbek officials brushed off Russian complaints about an incident in which a teacher physically abused a student who asked the instructor to switch speaking from Uzbek to Russian. Now, another Uzbek-Russian language incident in Tashkent has local social media buzzing. But this episode is prompting a much different response from Uzbek officials, who seem intent on dodging a fresh tangle with Russia.

Baristas at a hip Tashkent coffee shop were brewing controversy when they repeatedly addressed an Uzbek food vlogger in Russian, reigniting a fight over the language’s use in Uzbekistan. When Khojiakbar Nosirov walked into a Bon! café, an employee asked him in Russian what he wanted to order, he recounted in an Instagram video, posted on April 2.

“A small cappuccino,” he responded in Russian. The employee then asked if he wanted to order anything else.

At that point, Nosirov, who goes by the moniker “Activist” online, switched to Uzbek to ask, “Ma’am, you’re Uzbek?” She indicated she was. “I’m also Uzbek. You see that, right? Why are you talking with me in Russian?”

Though the first worker did switch to Uzbek, later, other employees again addressed him in Russian, and Nosirov again requested they speak to him in Uzbek, he said in the video, reported by the Uzbek Gazeta newspaper.

“We’re in Uzbekistan, aren’t we? You see that you and I are Uzbeks, right? Speak with me in Uzbek. I’m not saying don’t speak in Russian at all,” he said he told the employees. A particularly prickly point raised by the video is Russian’s continued strong presence in the commercial sphere. Nosirov questioned why businesses should require their workers to speak Russian when most Uzbeks speak Uzbek.

The video quickly went viral and, in a few days, amassed 2.8 million views, 226,000 likes and 24,000 comments, the overwhelming majority supportive of Nosirov and critical of the use of Russian, Gazeta reported. Nosirov promoted the hashtag #özbekchagapir, or "#speakinuzbek," in a subsequent video, which also took off online.

“If you take out the emotion and aggression, the basic idea is that businesses need to make the official language a priority. And that’s correct,” linguist and government advisor Shahnoza Soatova wrote on Telegram.

The Bon! café chain, in a comment on Nosirov’s video, promised to look into the incident and take measures to ensure it does not happen again.

The controversy prompted a response from the Ministry of Justice, which, in a Russian-language Telegram post, noted that while advertising and consumer information must be in Uzbek, the law does not govern which language is used in personal conversations. The statement went on to indicate officials are in no mood for another language tiff over Russian, pointedly cautioning Nosirov, and, by extension, other language nationalists, not to stir up trouble.

“Ensuring inter-national harmony and tolerance, respect for the identity of each nation and people are among the most important directions of state policy in Uzbekistan,” the statement stressed. “Violation of the rights of citizens of Uzbekistan in the use of the language, or inciting conflicts on this basis, may entail responsibility [i.e. prosecution].”

Debates over the role of Russian flare over and over in Uzbek society between those who see it as a vestige of the colonial past, and those who believe it remains useful for business, education and inter-ethnic communication.

Russian lost official language status in Uzbekistan in 1995, and authorities have introduced extensive measures to promote the use of Uzbek. As a result, Russian’s use is much less widespread in Uzbekistan than in neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Yet, Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s state-run cultural and humanitarian cooperation agency, estimates that about a third of the Uzbek population speaks Russian, Eurasianet reported in 2019. Russian remains the primary language for the ethnic Russian minority, which comprises about 2 percent of the Uzbek population, and some well-off Uzbeks in major cities.

The vlogger is no stranger to controversy. He gained fame in 2023 when he started his Activist videos looking into food safety around the capital and then spent 15 days in prison for a video in which he warned that some yogurts may not be halal, which a court considered extremist content.

Twitter

Afghanistan

Lina Rozbih
@LinaRozbih
[4/21/2025 4:22 PM, 428.3K followers, 3 likes]
Hearty congratulations to Mary Bischoping on her appointment as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, focusing on Afghanistan. @State_SCA #afghaistan

Tanya Goudsouzian
@tgoudsouzian
[4/21/2025 12:32 AM, 13.1K followers, 23 retweets, 38 likes]
While much of the world’s attention has focused on the political and security dimensions of this conflict, another crisis has unfolded — one that will haunt #Afghanistan for generations. My latest with @BarakzaiZ https://responsiblestatecraft.org/afghanistan-war-2671801858/

Tanya Goudsouzian
@tgoudsouzian
[4/21/2025 3:04 AM, 13.1K followers, 3 retweets, 5 likes]
“The water, soil and air of #Afghanistan are polluted due to decades of explosive substances that have not been cleaned up, affecting public health, particularly child health. All parties to the conflict are responsible,” @SR_Afghanistan Richard Bennett tells us for @RStatecraft

Tanya Goudsouzian
@tgoudsouzian
[4/21/2025 4:09 AM, 13.1K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
“Intl law offers limited avenues for holding powerful states accountable... States credibly accused of serious violations frequently deflect accountability by offering humanitarian assistance as a symbolic substitute, thus avoiding genuine responsibility,” says @harounrahimi

Pakistan

Shehbaz Sharif
@CMShehbaz
[4/21/2025 7:34 AM, 6.7M followers, 166 retweets, 605 likes]
Deeply saddened by the passing of Pope Francis - a beacon of peace, love and interfaith harmony. His leadership inspired billions of people, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his compassion and love for the less fortunate.On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I offer my sincerest condolences to the Catholic Church as well as to all those who feel this profound loss. May his soul rest in peace

Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[4/22/2025 1:05 AM, 3.1M followers, 7 retweets, 25 likes]
A delegation of Galaxy Space called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad today.

Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[4/21/2025 12:51 PM, 3.1M followers, 21 retweets, 97 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting in Islamabad earlier today on matters related to Overseas Pakistanis.

Raza Ahmad Rumi
@Razarumi
[4/21/2025 1:53 PM, 571.2K followers, 8 retweets, 19 likes]
Pakistan’s glaciers are rapidly melting, impacting water security and climate; a recent cryosphere training under CPEC highlighted the urgent need to integrate frozen science into national planning https://thefridaytimes.com/18-Apr-2025/pakistan-s-cryosphere-unlocking-climate-secrets-and-safeguarding-our-future

Raza Ahmad Rumi
@Razarumi
[4/21/2025 1:33 PM, 571.2K followers, 2 retweets, 7 likes]
A violent mob killing in Karachi highlights how global perceptions of Pakistan are shaped by such headlines, not scenic landscapes—raising urgent questions about accountability and lessons not learnt — @omar_quraishi https://thefridaytimes.com/21-Apr-2025/a-question-of-image

Mohamed Nasheed
@MohamedNasheed
[4/21/2025 6:45 PM, 274.4K followers, 23 retweets, 49 likes]
Good to meet Pakistan’s Finance Minister Aurangzeb today. @TheCVF is creating a Climate Prosperity Plan with Pakistan. We are confident this will deliver financially viable and bankable projects for resilience, adaptation and mitigation, creating prosperity. @Financegovpk

India

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/21/2025 12:34 PM, 107.6M followers, 14K retweets, 102K likes]
Pleased to welcome US @VP @JDVance and his family in New Delhi. We reviewed the fast-paced progress following my visit to the US and meeting with President Trump. We are committed to mutually beneficial cooperation, including in trade, technology, defence, energy and people-to-people exchanges. India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership will be a defining partnership of the 21st Century for a better future of our people and the world.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[4/21/2025 4:47 AM, 107.6M followers, 21K retweets, 220K likes]
Deeply pained by the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. In this hour of grief and remembrance, my heartfelt condolences to the global Catholic community. Pope Francis will always be remembered as a beacon of compassion, humility and spiritual courage by millions across the world. From a young age, he devoted himself towards realising the ideals of Lord Christ. He diligently served the poor and downtrodden. For those who were suffering, he ignited a spirit of hope. I fondly recall my meetings with him and was greatly inspired by his commitment to inclusive and all-round development. His affection for the people of India will always be cherished. May his soul find eternal peace in God’s embrace.

Vice-President of India
@VPIndia
[4/22/2025 2:42 AM, 1.6M followers, 7 retweets, 45 likes]
Hon’ble Vice-President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, ex-officio Chancellor of the University of Delhi, presided as Chief Guest over ‘Kartavyam’, marking the celebration of 75 years of the Indian Constitution, organised at University of Delhi today. @UnivofDelhi #DelhiUniversity #Kartavyam

Vice-President of India
@VPIndia
[4/21/2025 10:52 AM, 1.6M followers, 63 retweets, 351 likes]
Hon’ble Vice-President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar interacted with the members of the Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry (FORTI) in Jaipur, Rajasthan today. #FORTI

Randhir Jaiswal
@MEAIndia
[4/21/2025 12:57 PM, 2.3M followers, 118 retweets, 926 likes]
PM @narendramodi met Vice President JD Vance @VP in New Delhi. Both sides noted the remarkable progress on the IN-US COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) and reaffirmed commitment to strengthen it further. They discussed wide-ranging bilateral & regional issues. India-U.S. partnership continues to deepen across strategic, economic & technological domains.

Ashok Swain
@ashoswai
[4/21/2025 1:09 PM, 621.6K followers, 106 retweets, 731 likes]
After Musk, Vance brings his toddlers to their official meetings with Modi. Is that to bring an IQ parity?

Brahma Chellaney
@Chellaney
[4/21/2025 3:49 AM, 271.8K followers, 29 retweets, 189 likes]
.@VP Vance’s India visit, following a similar trip by @DNIGabbard, shows that the U.S.-India relationship is bouncing back from the Biden-era setbacks. As the first millennial VP, Vance is already the presumptive heir to the MAGA movement and the Republican front-runner for 2028.

Tanvi Madan
@tanvi_madan
[4/21/2025 10:20 PM, 91K followers, 3 retweets, 27 likes]
I’ve been asked several times if I’m surprised about India’s approach to the Trump admin. I am not. Wrote in Dec. Delhi would try to:
- invest: in deeper ties with the US
- adapt: to Trump 2.0
- insulate: via diversification, stabilization, indigenization
(link in next post)

NSB

Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh
@ChiefAdviserGoB
[4/21/2025 6:18 AM, 146.1K followers, 25 retweets, 264 likes]
BIDA, police assure top foreign investors of full safety, security; police offer dedicated contact lines to investors. DHAKA, April 21: Bangladesh police on Monday announced that it would offer foreign investors direct access to its dedicated emergency contact line, enabling companies to report any incidents and receive immediate support. The announcement came from the office of the Inspector General of Police, the national police chief, when the IGP, Baharul Alam, and the executive chairman of BIDA, Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, held a meeting with officials of six foreign companies whose establishments were vandalised during recent protests over Gaza attacks.

The meeting, which was co-chaired by BIDA Executive Chairman and the Inspector General of Police, brought together executives from major companies, including Nestle Bangladesh, Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages, Unilever Bangladesh, Bata Shoe Co. Bangladesh, Reckitt Benckiser Bangladesh, Pepsico, and Jubilant Food Works Bangladesh, among others. The vandalism occurred on April 7-8 in several cities in the country. Police said officers have arrested at least 140 people over the attacks. Nearly a dozen cases were also filed over the incidents.

“The presence of the IGP, senior police officials, and our BIDA team under one roof with business leaders was not only timely but unprecedented,” said Ashik Chowdhury, Executive Chairman of BIDA. “This wasn’t just a gesture—it was a statement. It shows that Bangladesh is serious about standing by its investors, especially when challenges arise,” he said. “The companies we sat with directly support the livelihood of thousands of employees and their families. We respect the right to protest, but destroying the institutions that provide jobs, stability, and growth is not the answer," he added.

The BIDA chief also commended the police for "their swift support and their commitment to decisive action against those responsible for the violence.” Participating companies shared first-hand accounts of vandalism, losses, and operational breakdowns. In response, the IGP’s office has announced that it would offer dedicated emergency contact line access to affected businesses. Senior police officers said the emergency contact line would enable the companies "to report incidents and receive immediate support."

IGP Baharul Alam assured business leaders of full cooperation from the country’s law enforcement agencies. “We are not here just to respond. We are here to build confidence and ensure that these disruptions do not repeat,” he said. The engagement resulted in a set of jointly developed preventive action plans, including new security protocols, rapid response units, and enhanced crisis communication channels. These measures, co-created by the BIDA, the police, and business associations, aim to foster long-term trust and resilience in Bangladesh’s investment ecosystem.

“This dialogue isn’t about reaction—it’s about prevention,” added BIDA Executive Chairman. “And more importantly, it reflects the government’s promise: to walk with our investors, not just during booms, but also during turbulence,” said Ashik Chowdhury. Corporate representatives thanked both the BIDA and the Bangladesh Police for their responsiveness and expressed renewed confidence in continuing their operations and future expansion plans in Bangladesh. This initiative is part of BIDA’s broader mission to ensure Bangladesh remains a safe, sustainable, and investor-friendly destination aligned with the priorities of the Interim Government.

Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh
@ChiefAdviserGoB
[4/21/2025 3:15 AM, 146.1K followers, 58 retweets, 764 likes]
Chief Adviser calls for stronger Bangladesh-China ties during meeting with Yunnan Governor DHAKA, April 21: Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday reaffirmed Bangladesh’s commitment to deepening bilateral relations with China during a high-level meeting with Governor Wang Yubo of Yunnan Province at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka. “This is just the beginning. We are so close, yet so far. Let’s change that,” said Professor Yunus, welcoming the Governor on his first visit to Bangladesh. “We hope you will visit us again soon — we want to be good neighbours, but more importantly, very close neighbours.”

The Chief Adviser recalled his recent visit to China, describing it as a turning point in the relationship between the two countries. He praised China for its warm hospitality and expressed gratitude to President Xi Jinping for his encouraging words on strengthening ties between the two countries. Governor Yubo responded warmly, saying, “My visit is aimed at further strengthening our bilateral relationship. Yunnan is ready to serve as China’s open hub for South Asia.”

The Chief Adviser and the Governor discussed a range of collaborative initiatives, including youth exchange, healthcare cooperation, education, and trade. Governor Yubo noted that a Chinese bank in Yunnan had already adopted the microcredit system pioneered by Professor Yunus. “Many people in China are benefiting from this approach,” he said, highlighting shared social goals between the two nations. Governor Yubo proposed expanding cooperation in vocational training and digital and language education, as well as promoting trade in sectors like seafood, mango and agricultural products. “We should focus on people-to-people ties and bring our regions even closer,” Wang Yubo said.

The Chief Adviser endorsed Governor’s suggestions. “We agree on everything you said – from health and education to trade and training. We want to implement these things faster than ever. We want to become closer partners and true friends.” Healthcare emerged as a key focus during the meeting. The Chief Adviser expressed appreciation for China’s support in launching medical tourism, including the designation of four hospitals in Kunming for Bangladeshi patients. “This cooperation is a new chapter in our partnership,” he said.

Both sides also agreed on the importance of enhancing educational exchanges. Currently, around 400 Bangladeshi students are studying in China, and Professor Yunus pledged to increase that number significantly. “We will encourage more of our youth to study in China and learn the language,” he emphasised. On the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties, the Chief Adviser reaffirmed Bangladesh’s desire to working with China even more closely to address shared challenges and unlock new opportunities for prosperity. The meeting was also attended by Senior Secretary and SDG Coordinator Lamiya Morshed.

Tshering Tobgay
@tsheringtobgay
[4/20/2025 10:25 AM, 102.6K followers, 6 likes]
Pleased to meet Mr. Thomas Rothes (CEO) and Dr. Mark Harold Moore from @interplastanz, who have been providing life-changing reconstructive surgeries in Bhutan since 2014 - treating cleft lips, burn victims, knife injuries, and diabetic wounds.

Tshering Tobgay
@tsheringtobgay
[4/20/2025 10:25 AM, 102.6K followers, 2 likes]
Over 1,000 Bhutanese have benefitted from their expertise, and I also deeply appreciate their efforts in building local capacity by training our doctors in this critical field.

Tshering Tobgay
@tsheringtobgay
[4/21/2025 10:00 AM, 102.6K followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes]
Had a warm and engaging meeting with @PAMPALONIPAOLA of @eu_eeas, @EUAmbIndia, and their delegation.

Tshering Tobgay
@tsheringtobgay
[4/21/2025 10:00 AM, 102.6K followers, 8 likes]
I expressed my heartfelt appreciation for EU’s steadfast support to Bhutan over the years. We also explored ways to deepen our partnership and collaborate more closely on areas of mutual interest and shared values.

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[4/21/2025 12:18 PM, 112.7K followers, 128 retweets, 131 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu and First Lady Madam @sajidhaamohamed attend the ceremony to commemorate 133rd anniversary of the @MNDF_Official. The Maldivian military was officially established on April 21, 1892.

MOFA of Nepal
@MofaNepal
[4/21/2025 6:13 AM, 263K followers, 8 retweets, 36 likes]
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of UN ESCAP Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana called on Hon. Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba today on the margins of the 81st session of ESCAP. During the call on, matters related to enhancing cooperation between Nepal and ESCAP were discussed. @Arzuranadeuba @amritrai555@krishnadhakal07

Namal Rajapaksa
@RajapaksaNamal
[4/21/2025 2:17 PM, 436.3K followers, 4 likes]
Public meetings were held today by #SLPP candidates contesting the 2025 provincial council elections from the local council electoral areas of Negombo Municipal Council, Gampaha, and Attanagalla in the Gampaha District. #PCE2025 #Gampaha #NRWayForward #NRGaminGamata

Namal Rajapaksa
@RajapaksaNamal
[4/21/2025 1:51 PM, 436.3K followers, 7 likes]
After paying homage at the Sri Vivekarama Temple in Haveniwala today, I met with the Chief Incumbent and Deputy Chief Judicial Prelate of Siyane Korala, Most Venerable Pallethuthiripitiye Piyadassi Thero, and received his blessings.

Central Asia

Javlon Vakhabov
@JavlonVakhabov
[4/22/2025 3:16 AM, 6.3K followers]
Today, on the sidelines of the first GCC-C5 Think Tank Forum at The International Institute for Central Asia, I met with Ahmed Sager (@AhmedASager), Vice President of the Gulf Research Center (@Gulf_Research), to sign a Cooperation Agreement. This agreement lays the groundwork for long-term collaboration between our institutions, aimed at enhancing joint research, expert dialogue, and academic exchange on a broad range of regional and global issues — including sustainable development, energy security, climate policy, and Central Asia–Gulf relations. The Gulf Research Center plays a key role in shaping scholarly and policy debates across the Gulf region and beyond. I am confident that this partnership will strengthen our shared efforts to build bridges of understanding and promote informed dialogue at the intersection of Central Asian and Gulf regional dynamics. I look forward to seeing this cooperation grow into a vibrant platform for knowledge-sharing and forward-thinking initiatives between our expert communities.

Qasym-Jomart Toqayev
@TokayevKZ
[4/21/2025 12:27 PM, 384.8K followers, 45 retweets, 105 likes]
I express my deepest condolences on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. @pontifex The Pontiff was an extraordinary spiritual leader who spared no effort to promoting the noble ideals of humanism, justice and compassion.

Qasym-Jomart Toqayev
@TokayevKZ
[4/21/2025 12:28 PM, 384.8K followers, 7 retweets, 29 likes]
I warmly recall my meetings with Pope and his historic apostolic visit to #Kazakhstan in 2022, which stood as a powerful symbol of tolerance and mutual understanding.

Qasym-Jomart Toqayev
@TokayevKZ
[4/21/2025 12:29 PM, 384.8K followers, 12 retweets, 37 likes] Pope Francis will always be remembered as a great pastor of peace and tireless advocate for interfaith dialogue and harmony.

Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis
[4/21/2025 3:11 PM, 28.7K followers, 2 retweets, 3 likes]
Shooting targets deputy mayor of Shymkent, who survived. No arrests yet. There’s some speculation that attempts to regulate the construction sector may be at the root of the crime #Kazakhstan https://www.nur.kz/incident/crime/2237931-stali-izvestny-vozmozhnye-prichiny-napadeniya-na-ruslana-berdenova/

Yerzhan Ashikbayev
@KZAmbUS
[4/21/2025 5:39 PM, 2.8K followers, 4 retweets, 14 likes]
Soyuz capsule carrying 2 Russians & 1 American cosmonauts landed safely in Kazakhstan after 220 days in space. NASA’s Don Pettit, who turned 70 today, returned alongside Alexey Ovchinin&Ivan Vagner - a reminder that everyone is welcome to Kazakh soil. Credits to:@NASA, Info Room

Yerzhan Ashikbayev
@KZAmbUS
[4/21/2025 5:29 PM, 2.8K followers, 2 retweets, 1 likes]
Wonderful work by @Diplo_Watch in capturing the spirit and beauty of our Nowruz celebration. Special thanks to Ambassador Sedat Önal and @TC_VasingtonBE for bringing us all together under their warm and welcoming “shanyrak.”

{End of Report}

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