SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Monday, April 28, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Taliban Leader Pleads Guilty to Taking American Journalist Hostage (New York Times)
New York Times [4/25/2025 4:14 PM, Colin Moynihan, 831K]
Haji Najibullah once commanded more than a thousand Taliban militants who waged a ruthless insurgency against U.S. and Afghan enemies.
In summer 2008, federal prosecutors say, some of those fighters attacked a U.S. military convoy, killing three American soldiers and their Afghan interpreter. Three months later, Mr. Najibullah’s men destroyed an Afghan border patrol outpost, an indictment said.
A month after that, Mr. Najibullah’s forces shot down a U.S. military helicopter, the indictment said. And then Mr. Najibullah took part in the kidnapping of an American journalist and two Afghan men and demanded millions of dollars and the freeing of Taliban prisoners as their ransom.
On Friday, Mr. Najibullah entered a courtroom in Manhattan wearing tan prison garb and a dark-colored skullcap, with his wrists and ankles shackled. He then pleaded guilty to hostage-taking and providing material support for terrorism.
Mr. Najibullah, who told the judge he was “about 49,” could finish his life in prison. He is to be sentenced in October.
His appearance, before Judge Katherine Polk Failla, of Federal District Court, came nearly 20 years after the actions described in an indictment. It came nearly five years after Mr. Najibullah was brought to the United States from Ukraine and arrested in the kidnapping of the American reporter, David Rohde, then of The New York Times, and nearly four years after he was charged with four counts of murder and other crimes for the 2008 attack.
Addressing Judge Failla, Mr. Najibullah acknowledged that U.S. soldiers were killed as a result of his actions as a Taliban leader between 2007 and 2009, and that those soldiers and their allies had been targeted by suicide attackers and improvised explosive devices.“I also participated in the hostage-taking of David Rohde and his companions,” Mr. Najibullah said, adding that those hostages were then “forced to convey the Taliban’s demands.”
The case, stemming from America’s yearslong war in Afghanistan, was heard in a civilian court thousands of miles away. Mr. Najibullah’s lawyers had filed a motion arguing that he should not be prosecuted in such a setting for the 2008 killings and related acts under the Geneva Conventions, a set of rules that outlines treatment of combatants and prisoners. Judge Failla denied the motion.
In a letter to the court last year, prosecutors described an interview that Mr. Najibullah had given to the television channel France 24 in the fall of 2008. In the interview, Mr. Najibullah spoke about how to use a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, prosecutors wrote, stated that his men were prepared to fight the “holy war,” and added that they were ready to “put on a belt and blow themselves up.”
The bloodiest incident described in the charges occurred in 2008, when a U.S. convoy was hit during a combat patrol about 50 miles south of Kabul. That Taliban assault killed three U.S. soldiers: Sgt. First Class Matthew L. Hilton, 37, of Livonia, Mich.; Sgt. First Class Joseph A. McKay, 51, of Cambria Heights, Queens; and Specialist Mark C. Palmateer, 38, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Their Afghan interpreter, Muhammad Fahim, 21, was also killed.
Weeks later, an article in The Times described that attack, saying the soldiers died as mines and rocket-propelled grenades hit their vehicles. At least one soldier was dragged off and chopped into pieces, according to Afghan and Western officials.
Mr. Najibullah’s fighters soon struck again in the same area, within Wardak Province. They used rocket-propelled grenades to knock a U.S. helicopter out of the sky and were quick to claim responsibility, according to the indictment, saying that the craft had been shot down by the “mujahedeen of the Islamic Emirate.”
The kidnapping of Mr. Rohde, along with an Afghan journalist named Tahir Ludin and their driver, Asadullah Mangal, then followed. Mr. Rohde, who was researching a book, had been on his way to interview a Taliban commander in Logar Province, outside Kabul.
According to prosecutors, that commander was Mr. Najibullah.
He was among several men armed with machine guns who kidnapped the journalists and the driver, prosecutors said, and held them hostage in Pakistan. There, according to court papers, the captors forced the abductees to make calls and videos begging for help, including one in which Mr. Rohde asked for his life to be spared while a machine gun was pointed at his face.
After more than seven months in captivity, Mr. Rohde and Mr. Ludin escaped from a Taliban compound in North Waziristan. They tired guards with a late-night board game session, waited for them to fall asleep and then used a scavenged piece of rope to drop down a 20-foot wall at night, the sound of their landing masked by a noisy air-conditioner.
The two journalists then walked to a Pakistani militia post. Mr. Mangal did not participate in their escape, but five weeks later he, too, managed to flee.
In an email, Mr. Rohde said, “I am pleased that he admitted his guilt today and grateful to The New York Times for its support and to all the U.S. officials who brought him to justice.”“Most of all,” Mr. Rohde, now the senior executive editor for national security at NBC News, added, “my heart goes out to the families of the three U.S. soldiers and the Afghan translator who were killed.” Ex-Taliban leader pleads guilty in kidnapping of American journalist (Washington Post)
Washington Post [4/25/2025 4:14 PM, Mark Berman, 6.9M]
A former Taliban leader charged with kidnapping an American journalist and orchestrating the killings of three U.S. soldiers pleaded guilty Friday to hostage taking and providing material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death, authorities said.
Haji Najibullah, 49, faces potential sentences of life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23.
Najibullah was extradited to New York in 2020 to face charges of kidnapping journalist David Rohde and a pair of Afghan men in 2008. He also faced charges in a 2008 attack on a military convoy that killed three soldiers and their Afghan interpreter.
While Najibullah had previously pleaded not guilty, a change of plea hearing was added to the court docket Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to the plea agreement signed by Najibullah, he acknowledged working as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Wardak province. Najibullah also admitted to providing material support for acts of terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, support that led to American service members being killed, the agreement said.“His vicious acts of terrorism included taking hostage multiple civilians and providing material support for attacks that resulted in the deaths of brave Americans,” Jay Clayton, the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement after the hearing. “Najibullah committed his crimes in Afghanistan over 15 years ago, and now faces justice in an American courtroom.”
Andrew Dalack, Najibullah’s attorney, said in a statement that his client had spent nearly five years “fighting a case that threatened a mandatory life sentence.“We are relieved to have achieved a resolution that does not carry any mandatory term of imprisonment and look forward to continuing our zealous representation of Mr. Najibullah at his sentencing hearing.”
Rohde was kidnapped in November 2008 while in Afghanistan while conducting research for a book. He was held for seven months. Rohde later recounted his captivity and escape in vivid, harrowing detail, writing about how his “daily focus simply became survival” and his “memories of the world I had known began to fade.”
Rohde said he attended Friday’s hearing with his wife.“I am pleased that he admitted his guilt today and grateful to all the U.S. officials who brought him to justice,” Rohde said in a statement afterward. “Most of all, my heart goes out to the families of the three U.S. soldiers and the Afghan translator who were killed.”
Court filings and federal officials described Najibullah as a Taliban leader who oversaw more than 1,000 fighters and reported to the group’s senior leadership.
His 2021 indictment in New York said Taliban fighters under his command attacked a convoy in June 2008, killing Sgts. 1st Class Matthew L. Hilton and Joseph A. McKay as well as Sgt. Mark Palmateer.
In October of the same year, the indictment continued, fighters overseen by Najibullah shot down an American helicopter. While the Taliban said everyone on board was killed, no troops died in that attack, the indictment said. The indictment said that only days later, Najibullah caused the capture of Rohde and two Afghan men working with him.
Najibullah was arrested in Ukraine in 2020 and extradited to New York to face charges related to Rohde’s kidnapping. He had been indicted in 2014, but it was unsealed after his arrest. Ex-Taliban commander pleads guilty in killings of US soldiers and kidnapping of journalists (AP)
AP [4/26/2025 12:46 PM, Larry Neumeister, 456K]
A former Taliban commander pleaded guilty Friday to providing weapons and other support for attacks that killed American soldiers and for key roles in the 2008 gunpoint kidnapping of a reporter for The New York Times and another journalist.
Speaking through an interpreter, Haji Najibullah entered the plea in Manhattan federal court to providing material support for acts of terrorism and conspiring to take hostages.
The bearded Najibullah, wearing a black skull cap over his shaved head, told Judge Katherine Polk Failla that he provided material support including weapons and himself to the Taliban from 2007 to 2009, knowing that his support “would be used to attack and kill United States soldiers occupying Afghanistan.”“As a result of material support I provided to the Taliban, U.S. soldiers were killed,” Najibullah said.
He said his material support also included his role as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province, “where the fighters under me were prepared to, and sometimes did, conduct attacks against U.S. soldiers and their allies using suicide bombers, automatic weapons, improvised explosive devices and rocket propelled grenades.”
Najibullah, 49, said he also participated in the hostage taking of David Rohde “and his companions” so demands could be made for ransom and for the release of Taliban prisoners held by the U.S. government.“I created proof-of-life videos of David Rohde and his companions in which they were forced to convey the Taliban’s demands,” he said.
The former Times reporter and Afghan journalist Tahir Ludin were abducted when they were on their way to interview a Taliban leader.
Both men made a dramatic escape from a Taliban-controlled compound in Pakistan’s tribal areas more than seven months after their Nov. 10, 2008, kidnapping. Their driver, Asadullah Mangal, was a third kidnapping victim. He escaped a few weeks after Ludin and Rohde.
Rohde, a Pulitzer Prize winner who now works as senior executive editor for national security at NBC News, attended the plea proceeding.“I am pleased that he admitted his guilt today and grateful to all the U.S. officials who brought him to justice,” he said in an email to The Associated Press after his sentencing. “Most of all, my heart goes out to the families of the three U.S. soldiers and the Afghan translator who were killed.”
After the plea, Najibullah was led from the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs by U.S. marshals to face an Oct. 23 sentencing. Federal sentencing guidelines, as acknowledged by a plea agreement signed by Najibullah and prosecutors, recommend a life prison sentence.
New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha expressed gratitude to U.S. authorities for pursuing Najibullah, and she noted the dangers journalists face worldwide.“More than 120 journalists were killed in 2024, the most on record,” she said. “Journalists go to dangerous places to uncover the facts that citizens need. Governments can and should protect journalists by investigating all attacks against reporters and publicly condemning threats.” Pakistan
Pakistan Says It Killed 54 Militants Trying to Enter From Afghanistan (New York Times)
New York Times [4/27/2025 1:24 PM, Salman Masood, 33298K]
Pakistan’s military said on Sunday that it had killed 54 militants trying to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan, highlighting the challenges its forces face on multiple fronts as tensions with India also rise rapidly.The operation against the fighters from Afghanistan took place on Friday and Saturday nights in North Waziristan, a remote district along Pakistan’s northwestern border, its military said.Pakistani troops detected the movement of the large group of militants and killed all of them, the military said, adding that it had seized a cache of weapons and explosives.The 54 deaths reported were an usually high number in Pakistan’s battle against instability along its border with Afghanistan during the nearly four years since the United States withdrew its military support from the country and the Taliban took power.The banned group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or T.T.P., has intensified attacks on Pakistani security forces, straining ties between Pakistan’s leaders and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of harboring and supporting T.T.P. fighters, an allegation that the Taliban deny.The Pakistani government is also contending with an increasingly lethal insurgency among Baluch separatists in the country’s southwest. And on the eastern front, Pakistani forces have been placed on alert as India appears to be moving toward military strikes inside the country after a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir last week.Unlike in past crises, Pakistan no longer enjoys the robust U.S. military support it relied on during the 20-year American presence in Afghanistan. That loss has left the military facing one of its most challenging periods in years.Security officials say they are bracing for a sustained stretch of confronting battle-hardened militants in the west and southwest and the possibility of conventional skirmishes with nuclear-armed India to the east.Abdul Basit, a senior research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that the killing of the 54 militants from Afghanistan “paradoxically underscores both a success and a challenge for the Pakistani military,” which he described as “increasingly sandwiched between its eastern and western borders.” “India will keep the threat of potential military action alive,” Mr. Basit said, “and stretch it as far as it can to keep the Pakistan military overstretched.” Pakistani troops kill 54 militants attempting to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan (AP)
AP [4/27/2025 11:23 AM, Munir Ahmed, 1177K]
Pakistani security forces overnight killed 54 militants who attempted to cross into the country from Afghanistan, the military said Sunday, marking one of the deadliest such killings in recent years.
The military said in a statement that intelligence reports indicated that the killed militants were "Khwarij" — a phrase the government uses for the Pakistani Taliban.
Without directly blaming anyone, the military said that the slain insurgents had been sent by their "foreign masters" to carry out high-profile attacks inside Pakistan.
The insurgents were spotted and killed near the former stronghold of Pakistan Taliban near North Waziristan, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border.
"This is the first time during the ongoing operations against terrorists that Pakistani forces killed terrorists in such a high number in a single day," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters. He praised security forces for carrying out a successful operation against militants and foiling possible attacks by them in the country.
"We had this information that the foreign masters of these terrorists are asking them to enter Pakistan as soon as possible" to carry out attacks. He stopped short of saying that India had urged the militants to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have congratulated security forces for eliminating the insurgents.
The military also said in the statement that the infiltration attempt came "at a time when India is leveling baseless accusations against Pakistan" following a recent deadly assault on tourists in India-controlled Kashmir.
In recent months, Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence, mostly blamed on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. It’s a separate group, but allied with the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since then.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tatar on Sunday told foreign media that New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the tourist attack to distract Pakistan’s security forces from their focus on the war on its western borders.
He said that New Delhi, without presenting any evidence, blamed Pakistan for the assault on tourists in Kashmir "to divert Pakistan’s attention from the western region." He said that Pakistan had "undeniable evidence" about India’s backing for the Pakistan Taliban and Baloch Liberation Army, which is behind multiple attacks in Balochistan, including one on a train in which more than 30 hostages were killed in March.
Balochistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency with the separatists seeking independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence has persisted. Pakistan Official Calls for International Inquiry Into Kashmir Terror Attack (New York Times)
New York Times [4/25/2025 4:14 PM, Julian E. Barnes, 33298K]
Pakistan’s defense minister on Friday declared his country’s innocence in a terror attack that killed 26 people this week in disputed Kashmir territory controlled by India, and said that an international investigation into the attack was needed.In an interview, the minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, said that the country was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors.”The minister’s remarks appeared to be aimed at defusing tensions with India, after armed militants attacked a tourist group on Tuesday near Pahalgam, a town in the southern part of Kashmir. It was the deadliest terror attack on Indian-administered land in years.In the days since, India has moved quickly to take steps against Pakistan, which also controls part of Kashmir, including by closing border crossings and suspending a crucial water pact. Officials in India have said they suspect the involvement of at least two Pakistani nationals in the attack.Mr. Asif said that India had used the aftermath of the terror attack as a pretext to suspend the water treaty, and for domestic political purposes. India, he said, was taking steps to punish Pakistan “without any proof, without any investigation.”Pakistani officials have asked the Trump administration to mediate the dispute.“We do not want this war to flare up, because flaring up of this war can cause disaster for this region,” Mr. Asif said.The last major militant assault in the Indian part of Kashmir took place in 2019, when dozens of Indian security personnel were killed. After that attack, India launched airstrikes on Pakistan.Officials in Washington have not yet attributed the attack in Kashmir this week to any group. A little-known group called the Resistance Front has reportedly claimed responsibility.But the United States and other nations are wary about the aftermath of the attack. The loss of life has prompted sharp actions from India, and Western officials have worried that the tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbors could spiral out of control.Still, Trump administration officials have expressed support for India. Vice President JD Vance was in India this week, a trip that came after Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, delivered a speech last month in New Delhi on the importance of international peace.Both Pakistan and India have closed border crossings and taken actions against diplomats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India said this week that his country would punish “every terrorist and their backers.”
“India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism,” he said.Indian officials say the group that claimed responsibility for the attack is a proxy for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group behind the Mumbai attacks in 2008.Mr. Asif disputed that allegation. He said Lashkar-e-Taiba was “defunct” and had no ability to plan or conduct attacks from Pakistan-controlled territory.“They are finished; they don’t have any setup in Pakistan,” he said. “Those people, whatever is left of them, they are contained. Some of them are under house arrest, some of them are in custody. They are not at all active.”U.S. officials have said that Lashkar-e-Taiba showed signs of activity in recent years, and its leader has lived in the open in Pakistan.Mr. Asif suggested that the attack might have been carried out by local separatist groups in Kashmir pushing for more local control.He added that Pakistan does not support separatist groups in India. But other Pakistani officials have said that does not apply to Kashmir. Pakistan’s army chief last week called Kashmir his country’s “jugular vein” and said “we will not leave our Kashmiri brethren in their heroic struggle that they are waging against Indian occupation.”Mr. Asif also suggested, without evidence, that the attack could have been a “false flag” carried out by the Indian government to provoke a crisis.Pakistan, he said, had nothing to gain from a terror attack on civilians. The Indian government, he added, was using it to marshal support and to get out of the water treaty.The World Bank negotiated the Indus Waters Treaty, which India and Pakistan signed in 1960. By suspending the treaty, India could at some point restrict the flow of rivers into Pakistan, cutting off the country’s source of water for irrigation and human consumption.Mr. Asif, who previously served as Pakistan’s minister in charge of water supplies, said that for the last decade, India had been trying to get out of the treaty, which has been a source of stability in the region.“They were creating excuses. They were creating problems that were not there,” he said. “They have now found an excuse to get out of this arrangement.” Pakistan calls for neutral probe into Kashmir attack India blames it for (Reuters)
Reuters [4/26/2025 10:00 AM, Shivam Patel, Fayaz Bukhari, and Asif Shahzad, 62527K]
Pakistan called on Saturday for a "neutral" investigation into the killings of mostly Indian tourists in Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on Islamabad, saying it was willing to cooperate and favoured peace.
India has identified two of the three suspected militants as Pakistani, though Islamabad has denied any role in the attack on Tuesday that killed 25 Indian and one Nepali tourists.
"Pakistan is fully prepared to cooperate with any neutral investigators to ensure that the truth is uncovered and justice is served," said Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi.
"Pakistan remains committed to peace, stability and the following of international norms but will not compromise on its sovereignty," he told a press conference.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the attackers to "the ends of the earth" and said that those who planned and carried it out "will be punished beyond their imagination". Calls have also grown from Indian politicians and others for military retaliation against Pakistan.
After the attack, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines, and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.
The two sides, who both fully claim Kashmir while partly ruling it, have also exchanged fire across their de facto border after four years of relative calm.
The Indian Army said it had responded to "unprovoked" small arms fire from multiple Pakistan Army posts that started around midnight on Friday along the 740-km (460-mile) de facto border separating the Indian and Pakistani areas of Kashmir. It reported no casualties.
The Pakistani military did not respond to a request for comment.
DEMOLISHING HOUSES
Indian security forces have continued their hunt for the suspects and have demolished the Kashmir houses of at least five suspected militants, including one they believe took part in the latest attack.
Pieces of broken glass littered the site of one such house in Murram village in Pulwama district on Saturday. Locals said they had not seen Ehsan Ahmed Sheikh, a suspected militant whose house got destroyed, in the past three years.
His family declined to speak with reporters.
"Nobody knows where he is," said neighbour Sameer Ahmed. "Ehsan´s family have lost their home. They will suffer for this, not him.".The rising tensions have had business implications too.Indian airlines such as Air India and IndiGo are bracing for higher fuel costs and longer journey times as they reroute international flights.The Indian government has asked airlines to actively communicate to passengers about re-routing and delays, while ensuring enough stocks of food, water and medical kits for extended journeys. Panic in Pakistan as India vows to cut off water supply over Kashmir (Reuters)
Reuters [4/27/2025 5:10 AM, Ariba Shahid and Krishna N. Das, 41523K]
Spraying pesticides on his parched vegetables one street away from the Indus River, Pakistani farmer Homla Thakhur is worried about his future. The sun is at its peak, the river is running very low, and India has vowed to cut supplies upstream after a deadly militant attack in Kashmir.
"If they stop water, all of this will turn into the Thar desert, the whole country," said Thakhur, 40, before heading back to the river to refill the tank for the spray gun.
"We’ll die of hunger."
His nearly 5-acre (2 hectare) farm is located in the Latifabad area of the southeastern province of Sindh, from where the Indus flows into the Arabian Sea after originating in Tibet and snaking through India.
Thakhur’s fears were echoed by more than 15 Pakistani farmers and several other experts, especially as rain has been scanty in recent years.
For the first time, India on Wednesday suspended the World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 that ensures water for 80% of Pakistani farms, saying it would last until "Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism".
India says two of the three militants who attacked tourists and killed 26 men in Kashmir were from Pakistan. Islamabad has denied any role and said "any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan ... will be considered as an Act of War".
The treaty split the Indus and its tributaries between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Government officials and experts on both sides say India cannot stop water flows immediately, because the treaty has allowed it to only build hydropower plants without significant storage or dams on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan. But things could start changing in a few months.
"We will ensure no drop of the Indus River’s water reaches Pakistan," India’s water resources minister, Chandrakant Raghunath Paatil, said on X.
He did not respond to questions about the fears in Pakistan.
Two Indian government officials, who declined to be identified discussing a sensitive subject, said the country could within months start diverting the water for its own farms using canals while planning hydroelectric dams that could take four to seven years to finish.
Immediately, India will stop sharing data like hydrological flows at various sites of the rivers flowing through India, withhold flood warnings and skip annual meetings under the Permanent Indus Commission headed by one official each from the two countries, said Kushvinder Vohra, a recently retired head of India’s Central Water Commission.
"They will not have much information with them when the water is coming, how much is coming," said Vohra, who was also India’s Indus Commissioner and now advises the government occasionally.
"Without the information, they cannot plan.".
And it is not just agriculture, a shortage of water will also hit electricity generation and potentially cripple the economy, economists say.
Vaqar Ahmed, economist and team lead with UK consulting firm Oxford Policy Management, said that Pakistan had underestimated the threat of India walking away from the treaty.
"India hasn’t got the kind of immediate infrastructure to halt the waterflows, especially during flood times, so this period creates a crucial window for Pakistan to address the inefficiencies in its water sector," he said.
"There are a lot of inefficiencies, leakages.".
RUNNING DISPUTES
In recent years, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been seeking to renegotiate the treaty and the two countries have been trying to settle some of their differences in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague over the size of the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric plants’ water storage area.
"We can now pursue our projects in free will," said Vohra.
In a letter on Thursday, India told Pakistan that circumstances had changed since the treaty was signed, including population increases and the need for more cleaner energy sources, referring to hydropower.
A World Bank spokesperson said it was a "signatory to the treaty for a limited set of defined tasks" and that it does "not opine on treaty-related sovereign decisions taken by its member countries".
Nadeem Shah, who has a 150-acre farm in Sindh where he grows cotton, sugar cane, wheat and vegetables, said he was also worried about drinking water.
"We have trust in God, but there are concerns over India’s actions," he said.
The three rivers meant for Pakistan, a country of 240 million people, irrigate more than 16 million hectares of farmland, or up to 80% of the total.
Ghasharib Shaokat of Pakistan Agriculture Research, a Karachi research firm, said India’s actions inject uncertainty "into a system that was never designed for unpredictability".
"At this moment, we don’t have a substitute," he said. "The rivers governed by the treaty support not just crops, but cities, power generation, and millions of livelihoods.".
The treaty remained largely unscathed even when India and Pakistan fought four wars since separating in 1947, but the suspension sets a dangerous precedent, Pakistani politicians said.
"We’re already locked into generations of conflict, and by exiting the Indus Water Treaty, I believe we’re locking future generations into a brand new context of conflict," said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan’s former foreign minister.
"That must not happen." Pakistan requests extra 10 billion yuan on China swap line, says finance minister (Reuters)
Reuters [4/26/2025 12:22 PM, Karin Strohecker, 5.2M]
Pakistan has put in a request to China to augment its existing swap line by 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, adding he expected the country would launch a Panda bond before year-end.
Pakistan has an existing 30 billion yuan swap line already, Aurangzeb told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group spring meetings in Washington.
"From our perspective, getting to 40 billion renminbi would be a good place to move towards ... we just put in that request," Aurangzeb said.
China’s central bank has been promoting currency swap lines with a raft of emerging economies, including the likes of Argentina and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan has also made progress on issuing its first panda bond - debt issued on China’s domestic bond market, denominated in yuan. Talks with the presidents of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) - the two lenders who are in line to provide credit enhancements for the issue - had been constructive, he said.
"We want to diversify our lending base and we have made some good progress around that - we are hoping that during this calendar year we can do an initial print," he said.
Meanwhile, Aurangzeb expected the IMF executive board to sign off in early May on the Staff Level Agreement on its new $1.3 billion arrangement under a climate resilience loan program as well as the first review of the ongoing $7 billion bailout program.
Getting the green light from the IMF board would trigger a $1 billion payout under the programme, which the country secured in 2024 and has played a key role in stabilizing Pakistan’s economy.
Asked about the economic fallout from the tensions with India following the killing of 26 men at a tourist site earlier this month, Aurangzeb said it was "not going to be helpful."
The attack triggered outrage and grief in India, along with calls for action against neighbour Pakistan, whom New Delhi accuses of funding and encouraging terrorism in Kashmir, a region both nations claim and have fought two wars over.
After the attack, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines and suspending trade ties, and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.
Trade flows between the two countries had already fallen off sharply following past frictions and totalled just $1.2 billion last year.
Aurangzeb estimated growth around 3% in the current financial year which ends in June 2025, and in the 4-5% range next year, with a view to hitting 6% thereafter. Pakistani who wounded ex-Prime Minister Khan in 2022 attack is sentenced to life (AP)
AP [4/26/2025 11:38 AM, Staff, 2296K]
A Pakistani man who shot and wounded former Prime Minister Imran Khan and killed one of his supporters in 2022 was convicted and sentenced Saturday to life in prison, his lawyer said.
The attacker, Naveed Ahmad, was arrested shortly after he opened fire on Khan in Wazirabad, a city in Punjab province, wounding him in the leg.
Khan was traveling in a convoy of vehicles on his way to a rally in Islamabad in November 2022, after he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April that year.
He is currently serving prison sentences for corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws. Detained Pakistan Rights Activist Launches Hunger Strike (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [4/25/2025 7:25 AM, Staff, 931K]
Detained activist Mahrang Baloch, one of the leading campaigners for Pakistan’s Baloch minority, has launched a hunger strike along with other detainees, her sister told AFP on Friday.
Mahrang Baloch, 32, was arrested last month on charges of terrorism, sedition and murder.
In her native Balochistan, an impoverished province that borders Afghanistan and Iran, security forces are battling a growing insurgency.
Rights groups say the violence has been countered with a severe crackdown that has swept up innocent people.
Mahrang’s hunger strike "is aimed at denouncing the misconduct of the police and the failure of the justice system to protect... prisoners," her younger sister, Nadia Baloch, said.
Nadia said the hunger strike was launched on Thursday after the attempted "abduction" of one of the Baloch detainees.
Mahrang’s organisation, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), said the inmate was beaten by security officials and taken from the prison to an unknown location.
A security official said the detainee was moved to another prison and denied any mistreatment.
BYC said four other detained Baloch activists have joined the hunger strike.
"All of them are peaceful political workers, imprisoned for raising their voices... Their only ‘crime’ is organising peacefully in an environment saturated with state terror and violence," the group said.
Activists say in the crackdown against militancy in the region authorities have harassed and carried out extrajudicial killings of Baloch civilians.
Pakistani authorities reject the "baseless allegations".
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.
UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders Mary Lawlor said she was "disturbed by reports of further mistreatment in prison".
The judiciary has declined to rule on Mahrang’s detention, effectively halting any appeal and placing the matter solely in the hands of the provincial government.Insurgents in Balochistan accuse outsiders of plundering the province’s rich natural resources and launched a dramatic train siege in March, during which officials said about 60 people were killed. India
India Seems to Be Building Its Case for Striking Pakistan (New York Times)
New York Times [4/27/2025 7:02 AM, Mujib Mashal, 33298K]
Since the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir last week, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has spoken on the phone with more than a dozen world leaders. Diplomats from 100 missions in India’s capital have filed into the foreign ministry for briefings, officials said.But the effort is largely not about rallying help to de-escalate India’s dangerous face-off with Pakistan, which it accuses of having “linkages” to the attack. Instead, according to four diplomatic officials aware of the discussions, New Delhi appears to be building a case for military action against its neighbor and archenemy. Without naming Pakistan, Mr. Modi in a speech on Thursday promised severe punishment and the razing of terror safe havens.In an indication of how volatile the situation remains, the security forces of the two sides have exchanged intermittent small-arms fire across the border, Indian officials said on Sunday. One official said the exchange of fire had happened two of the past three nights, while a second official said it was three consecutive nights.In Kashmir, Indian forces have also begun a sweeping clampdown, arresting hundreds, as they continue their hunt for the perpetrators.Earlier, India declared its intention to disrupt the flow of water to Pakistan, whose irrigation system depends largely on upstream rivers. It also ordered the immediate departure of some staff members at Pakistan’s diplomatic mission as well as of Pakistani citizens visiting India.Pakistan, for its part, has said it will suspend participation in bilateral treaties, including one that affects the “line of control” demarcating the frontier between the two countries in the disputed areas where a cease-fire had held for several years.Anti-Muslim sentiment in India is also intensifying, with Kashmiri students studying in other Indian cities in particular facing widespread harassment and many of them feeling compelled to return home.Five days after the terrorist assault, in which gunmen killed 26 civilians, India has not officially identified any group as having carried out the massacre, and it has publicly presented little evidence to support its claim that Pakistan was behind it. The Pakistani government has denied involvement.In the briefings to diplomats at the foreign ministry, Indian officials have described Pakistan’s past patterns of support for terrorist groups targeting India, diplomatic officials said. The Indian officials have said their investigation is continuing, and made brief references to technical intelligence tying the perpetrators of last week’s attack to Pakistan, including facial recognition data.The lack of strong evidence offered so far, analysts and diplomats said, pointed to one of two possibilities: that India needs more time to gather information about the terrorist attack before striking Pakistan, or that — in a time of particular chaos on the world stage — it feels little need to justify to anyone the actions it plans to take.A military confrontation between India and Pakistan, both armed with nuclear weapons, runs the risk of rapid escalation that could be difficult to contain. But India is largely unrestrained by any global pressure to limit its response, and it has become quicker to flex its muscles in recent years as its diplomatic and economic power has grown.The governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia have spoken to the two sides, and Iran’s foreign minister has publicly offered to mediate. The United Nations and the European Union have called for restraint and dialogue. But major powers, including the United States, are distracted by other crises, and analysts say India is interpreting the expressions of support by many countries for its pursuit of justice as a green light for any measures it takes.Trump administration officials have voiced strong backing of India’s fight against terrorism. President Trump has said he is friendly with both India and Pakistan, while noting that they have long been at odds.But it is unclear how involved Washington will get in the current clash. Three months into his term, Mr. Trump has still not named an ambassador to India, a sign of where South Asia ranks in his list of priorities.Even if the United States or other powers did try to insert themselves into the conflict, they may have limited influence. India and Pakistan have fought several wars over Kashmir, a region that they share but both claim in whole, and New Delhi views the dispute solely as a bilateral issue with Pakistan.The initial response from Washington has been similar to how the first Trump administration dealt with the last major flare-up over Kashmir, in 2019, said Daniel Markey, a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.That confrontation was spurred by an attack that killed dozens of Indian security forces. The affiliation of the attackers — a militant group called Jaish-e-Muhammad — was more clear.At that time, the Trump White House signaled support for India. The administration increased its diplomatic pressure for restraint only after India had gotten a punch in on Pakistan, with a cross-border airstrike.The strike’s damage was disputed. Afterward, as Pakistan moved to retaliate, it got into a dogfight and shot down an Indian jet. The pilot was taken prisoner.To make up for that fumbled response, all signs this time indicate a desire by India to do “something spectacular,” Mr. Markey said. Pakistan has vowed to match and exceed any strike by India.“The tit-for-tat cycle could move rapidly, and the Indians and Pakistanis have inflated assessments of their own ability to manage escalation,” Mr. Markey said.Unlike with the 2019 terrorist attack, the claims of responsibility for last week’s slaughter have been murky, with information even on the exact number of attackers less than concrete. A little-known group calling itself the Resistance Front emerged on social media to say it was behind the massacre, according to Indian news outlets. Indian officials, in private, say the group is a proxy for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist organization based in Pakistan.The lack of clarity may help explain why India has pointed largely to Pakistan’s past support of terrorism in Kashmir to make its case for a military reprisal now. But that approach, before India has laid out its evidence even in private diplomatic discussions, has raised some eyebrows considering the gravity of the escalation. One diplomat privately wondered: Do you want to go to war with a nuclear-armed neighbor based just on past patterns?Shiv Shankar Menon, a former national security adviser in India, said Mr. Modi had little choice but to take military action after responding with strikes against Pakistan both in 2019 and in 2016, after another terrorist attack in Kashmir. The Indian government is under pressure to respond to a major security lapse in a troubled area that it was projecting as transformed in recent years and where it has been encouraging tourism.But Mr. Menon said the tit-for-tat between the two adversaries was unlikely to get out of hand.“I’m not hugely worried,” he said, “because they’re both quite happy in a state of managed hostility.” As Tensions Rise With Pakistan, a Moment of Truth for India’s Military (New York Times)
New York Times [4/26/2025 4:14 PM, Mujib Mashal and Suhasini Raj, 33298K]
The last time the perpetual tensions between India and Pakistan escalated into a face-off, Indian officials were forced to confront an uncomfortable reality: The country’s huge military was bloated, antiquated and underprepared for imminent threats at its borders.The humiliating downing of an Indian jet by Pakistan in 2019 injected new urgency into India’s modernization efforts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi poured billions of dollars into the military, sought new international partners for arms purchases and pushed to expand defense manufacturing capacity at home.Just how much of a difference those efforts have made may soon be tested.India and Pakistan appear on the verge of another military conflict, as India promises retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir that it says was linked to Pakistan. Tensions have risen so sharply that India has vowed to disrupt the flow of a major river system into Pakistan, a step it has never taken before, even during the wars the two countries have fought over the decades.Pakistan, which denies involvement in the Kashmir attack, has called the water decision an “act of war.”The slaughter on Tuesday of more than two dozen tourists in a scenic valley shocked Indians and put Mr. Modi under tremendous domestic pressure to strike Pakistan. Analysts warn of the prospect of a protracted and dangerous standoff, with diplomatic channels between the two nuclear-armed countries having withered years ago and global powers now distracted by other crises.But India, the analysts say, may be restrained by the risk of exposing a military that is still under transformation.In 2018, a parliamentary report categorized 68 percent of the country’s military equipment as “vintage,” 24 percent as current and only 8 percent as state of the art. Five years later, in an update, military officials admitted that there had been insufficient change because of the size of their challenge.While the share of state-of-the-art equipment had nearly doubled, according to parliamentary testimony in 2023, it still remained far less than what is called for in a modern army. More than half of the equipment remained old.These constraints, experts say, could lead Mr. Modi to choose a more surgical option — such as limited airstrikes or special forces raids close to the border with Pakistan — that calms public anger, reduces the risk of embarrassing mishaps and avoids escalatory retaliation. The Pakistani government has vowed to respond in kind to any Indian attack.While public sentiment may help drive Mr. Modi to strike Pakistan, India’s democracy could also put pressure on him to ensure that the situation does not spin out of control.In Pakistan, where the military establishment has long steered the country from behind the scenes, the leadership has a freer hand and may find more domestic benefits from letting the confrontation grow.India projects confidence that it can easily thwart Pakistan’s military. If that assertion is put to that test, another of India’s neighbors will be watching closely: China.In recent years, India has considered China a more urgent border challenge than Pakistan, especially after a deadly brawl between their troops high in the Himalayas in 2020 and repeated Chinese incursions into Indian territory. The country’s military leaders have had to prepare for the prospect of a two-front war, a juggling act that stretches resources.The 2020 confrontation came a little over a year after Pakistan downed the Indian jet and took its pilot into custody. Dushyant Singh, a retired Indian general who leads the Center for Land Warfare Studies, a New Delhi-based think tank, said that the plane episode had been a wake-up call for the Indian military.Since then, he said, India has explored “multiple routes” to patch its military holes. It has deployed new missile defense systems acquired from Russia despite American objections, as well as dozens of fighter jets from France and drones, helicopters and missiles from the United States.With global supply lines increasingly untrustworthy, India has also invested heavily in local production of military equipment, setting up defense industries that, while slow now, will make the military better positioned in the long run.“Our war stamina has to be of a nature which has to go beyond our existing capabilities,” Mr. Singh said.“These will not give you results just overnight. They will take some time,” he added about the modernization efforts.The challenges in modernizing India’s military, analysts said, are manifold: bureaucratic and financial, but also geopolitical.Mr. Modi has been trying to streamline the defense procurement process, as well as improve coordination among the different forces, which has proved difficult as turf battles continue. It did not help that one of the key generals Mr. Modi had tasked with streamlining the military died in a helicopter crash in 2021.India’s economy is now the world’s fifth largest, about 10 times the size of Pakistan’s, bringing more resources for the military. But India’s spending on defense still amounts to less than 2 percent of its gross domestic product, which military experts call insufficient, as the government focuses on the immense needs of its huge population.The modernization efforts were set back by a costly four-year deployment of tens of thousands of troops to India’s border with China after the skirmish in 2020. Another major hurdle has been the Ukraine war, which has affected the delivery of weapons from India’s biggest source: Russia.Official testimony to Parliament showed that even when money was ready, the military struggled to spend it because orders were tied up by supply chain disruptions caused by the “global geopolitical situation.”In the face of such constraints, analysts said, India has tried to prioritize filling the biggest gaps. It also ramped up a campaign of covert operations, conducting targeted assassinations in recent years of a large number of anti-India militants operating from Pakistan, analysts saidIndia kept its place as the world’s second-largest importer of military equipment over the past five years, just after Ukraine. Pakistan was the world’s fifth largest.Even as Russia remains India’s biggest source of weapons, purchases have fallen nearly 20 percent in the past five years. India has increasingly turned to France and the United States, as well as Israel.Indian officials have said that three of the five S-400 missile defense systems that the country bought from Russia, despite strong pushback by the United States, have been deployed. All of the 36 Rafale fighter jets purchased from France have become part of the force, and India plans to order 26 more. India has also been commissioning a large number of warships built at home.“The biggest difference is the induction of Rafale, which is a boost for Indian Air Force capability,” said Ajai Shukla, a defense analyst in New Delhi.The challenge, Mr. Shukla said, is deploying the various new systems with an expertise that demonstrates “functional deterrence” to adversaries.“I would want to ensure that we were not just kidding ourselves,” he said. A concern would be if “we have the weapons systems, and then finally, when it’s time to use them, it turns out that we don’t really have them.” India test-fires missiles as tensions rise with Pakistan after Kashmir attack (The Guardian)
The Guardian [4/27/2025 1:58 PM, Penelope MacRae, 78938K]
India’s navy test-fired missiles on Sunday, showcasing its ability to carry out "long-range, precision offensive" strikes, as tensions with Pakistan rise after last week’s terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 civilians.
"Indian Navy ships undertook successful multiple anti-ship firings to re-validate and demonstrate readiness of platforms, systems, and crew for long-range precision offensive strike," the navy posted on X, as the prime minister, Narendra Modi, promised a "harsh response" to the attack at a tourist site, the deadliest against civilians in Kashmir in 25 years.
Modi, who has been briefing world leaders to build support for India’s position, told listeners in his monthly radio address that every Indian’s blood was "on the boil". His words echoed previous statements where he vowed to hunt down the attackers "to the ends of the Earth" and turn terrorist hideouts "into dust".
The missiles launched are designed for powerful, long-range, high-precision strikes. The navy stressed the importance of the drills in maintaining "operational" readiness as military rhetoric intensified on both sides.
Pakistan’s railway minister, Hanif Abbasi, warned over the weekend that the country’s nuclear arsenal of more than 130 missiles was "not kept as models" and was aimed "only for India … these ballistic missiles, all of them are targeted at you".
Abbasi’s comments fuelled concerns the nuclear-armed neighbours were headed for a wider confrontation. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two over Kashmir, which each holds in part but claims in full. They have come to the brink many other times, leading the former US president Bill Clinton to call the Himalayan region the world’s "most dangerous place".
Pakistan’s military doctrine of Full Spectrum Deterrence focuses on using tactical nuclear weapons to deter conventional threats, while India’s Cold Start doctrine is designed to deliver swift conventional strikes before escalation. These contrasting strategies have raised fears any confrontation could quickly spin out of control.
"From Delhi’s perspective, given public pressure, the egregiousness of last week’s attack, and a desire to restore deterrence, some type of military response is quite likely. And if it happens, Pakistan, not wishing to look weak, would most certainly retaliate," said the foreign policy author and analyst Michael Kugelman.
"An all-out war is unlikely, as India, despite its relentless tough talk, is most focused on limited options like degrading anti-Indian terrorists and restoring deterrence," he said.
"That said, one can’t completely rule out worst-case scenarios, depending on the nature of a potential Indian strike, how Pakistan might respond to any initial Indian military action, and the ever-present miscalculation risk," Kugelman added. "And given that these are nuclear-armed rivals, the stakes are quite high.".
New Delhi has accused Islamabad of links to the attack, in which terrorists singled out Hindu men and killed them. While presenting no public proof, it has pointed to Islamabad’s past support for terrorists targeting India.
In tit-for-tat moves, India suspended the Indus waters treaty, expelled Pakistani diplomats, and cancelled Pakistani visas. Islamabad retaliated by expelling Indian diplomats, cancelling Indians’ visas, closing its airspace, and suspending the 1972 Shimla agreement, a key dialogue framework.
While Modi’s speech marked a continued commitment to retaliation, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, sounded more conciliatory, saying Pakistan was "fully prepared to cooperate with any neutral investigators" and reaffirmed "Pakistan’s strong desire for peace". At the same time, he reiterated Kashmir remained Pakistan’s "jugular vein", a position enunciated by the late founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
As tensions escalated, Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire on Sunday for a third day along the line of control dividing Kashmir, a frequent flashpoint.
Fuelling speculation about possible Indian military action, India’s information ministry issued a media advisory warning against live broadcasting of military operations. Echoing concerns from past crises such as the 1999 Kargil war and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the advisory reflected fears about real-time broadcasts compromising sensitive strategies.
In Kashmir, Indian forces have launched an extensive crackdown. Security forces have targeted suspected terrorists, demolishing at least 10 homes linked to militants as part of a wider effort to dismantle what India calls the "terrorism ecosystem". Rights groups have raised concerns, and reports have estimated up to 1,500 young men have been detained or questioned.
Tensions have flared over water usage. India’s release of water from the Uri Dam caused the Jhelum River to surge, flooding parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It followed India’s suspension of the treaty governing the region’s rivers. Pakistan has warned any water interference would be an "act of war". Homes destroyed and 1,500 detained in Kashmir as India cracks down following attacks (NPR)
NPR [4/27/2025 6:23 PM, Bilal Kuchay and Omkar Khandekar, 19K]
Indian authorities have detained at least 1,500 people in India-administered Kashmir after a militant attack killed 26 people last week, a top police officer told NPR. Several homes linked to alleged militants were also destroyed.
India accused Pakistan of having a connection to the attack — the worst aimed at Indian civilians in more than a decade — claiming that the group that claimed responsibility was backed by the Pakistani military. That ratcheted up tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries, who both control parts of Kashmir, but claim ownership over the whole region.
A statement from the Pakistani prime minister expressed concern over the loss of lives of tourists, and denied any responsibility for the deadly rampage in an alpine meadow on Tuesday — in which gunmen appeared to target Hindu men, before fleeing into the forested mountains before security forces could arrive. Days after the attack, Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said they were open to a "neutral, transparent probe" into what happened.
Over the past week, India has suspended visas for Pakistani visitors, expelled some of its diplomats, and halted a decades-old treaty that divides six rivers between the two countries. Pakistan announced tit-for-tat measures. It also suspended cross-border trade and closed off Pakistani airspace for Indian aircraft.
But some Kashmiri residents visited by NPR say Indian officials have taken other measures within the part of the territory that it controls. Homes belonging to five suspected perpetrators were destroyed, said VK Birdi, a senior Indian police official in the region. He did not say who carried out the demolitions, and other Indian authorities did not respond to NPR requests for comment.
Ruhallah Mehdi, a member of Parliament from Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party, said he had received several messages from residents in the villages where the houses were blown up. "They are sure that these acts were carried out by security forces. It’s easy to understand too — who else would be able to go and blow up houses like that?".
Family members of one suspected militant told NPR that security forces rigged their house with explosives that they detonated, bringing down their home early Saturday.
The police crackdown started on Thursday night, two days after the attack, when NPR confirmed that the homes of three suspected militants were destroyed — along with the home of the only man that Indian authorities have named as being suspected in involvement in the attack, Adil Thokar.
When NPR visited Thokar’s house in Anantnag district on Saturday, the two-story home house was mostly reduced to rubble. Only the kitchen remained standing, only accessible through a broken window.
Thokar’s mother Shahzada told NPR that security forces moved her and her neighbors around a hundred meters from their house on Friday, before it was brought down in a blast.
Standing next to a pile of rubble, Thokar’s mother said she would support punishment for her son if he’s found guilty. "But I have not seen him since he joined the militant ranks in 2018," she said.
She said police had also detained her husband, brother and two cousins.
Some 20 miles away in the neighboring Pulwama district, Yasmeena, the sister of another suspected militant Asif Sheikh, told NPR that her family home was destroyed by explosives early Friday the doors and windows of the two-level home were blown apart.
"They planned this," said Yasmeena — who uses only one name — referring to the security forces. "Hours before, they locked all the cattle — not just ours — into the sheds, and asked us to put fingers into our ears. When we asked why, they said a blast will happen in your house.".
In yet another village, neighbors said the home of another suspected militant, Ahsan Ul Haq Sheikh was blown up on Friday night.
A neighbor, who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said that his son called him to rush home because security forces had surrounded the area. My husband, son and daughter-in-law were kept in a room and asked to stay indoors. I was in a neighbor’s house. There were two blasts — we felt everything was over.".
The blast shattered windows of neighboring homes, broke doors and cracked apart walls. "If it’s one person’s mistake, why should everyone else be punished for it?" the neighbor said.
In recent years, the Indian government has often ordered demolition of houses of those accused of criminal activity, often using bulldozers. Thanks to these incidents, India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has been charged with deploying "bulldozer justice" — destroying homes and livelihoods of the minority Muslim community.
"Such acts serve the agenda of the right-wing on both sides," said Mehdi, the Kashmiri legislator. "The terrorists that killed these innocents in Pahalgam, and the other right-wing, that wants to communalize this country.". India Detains Over 1,000 Bangladeshi Migrants (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [4/26/2025 6:58 AM, Staff, 931K]
Indian police have detained 1,024 Bangladeshi migrants in a sweeping crackdown in the western state of Gujarat aimed at deporting people living there illegally, the state government said Saturday.
The Indian government, led by Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, often describes undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants as "Muslim infiltrators", accusing them of posing a threat to the country’s security.
Rights groups say the anti-immigrant rhetoric is aimed at boosting the ruling party’s vote bank by appealing to the majority Hindu population.
"Police forces collectively detained 1,024 illegal Bangladeshi nationals during an overnight operation," the Gujarat government said in a statement.
Gujarat’s Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi had given a two-day ultimatum for remaining Bangladeshis in the state illegally to surrender voluntarily, it added.Police are also investigating a network based in West Bengal state for producing counterfeit identity documents.
Following legal procedures, the detained individuals will be deported to Bangladesh, the statement said.
Initial investigations have revealed that the detainees were involved in narcotics, human trafficking, and other illegal activities, police said.
Lax border controls have ensured the entry of millions of Bangladeshi nationals into India over the years.
Relations between India and Bangladesh have nosedived since a revolution in Dhaka last August ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, who was a long-term New Delhi ally.
Hasina, who fled to India, has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh to face charges including mass murder. NSB
Nepal marks 10-year anniversary of earthquake that killed thousands (AP)
AP [4/25/2025 5:54PA, Binaj Gurubacharya, 456K]
Nepal marked the 10th anniversary of the devastating 2015 earthquake with a memorial service on Friday that was attended by top officials who pledged to be better prepared to face future disasters.
At exactly 11:56 a.m., which was the time of the earthquake on April 25, 2015, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, top ministers, officials and diplomats stood up and held a minute of silence in memory of those killed at the site of a tower that collapsed and crushed 180 people.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed early 9,000 people, wounded more than 22,000 and damaged some 1 million houses and buildings.“There was a huge loss of both lives and property then but were able to successfully recover and reconstruct.” Oli said. “Nepal has shown resilience.”
Oli was joined by ministers and diplomats from countries helped Nepal with rescue, recovery and later reconstruction efforts to light candles in memory of the lives that were lost in the disaster.“We could not have done all that just by ourselves,” Oli said. “We want to thank all our partner nations and agencies for their support.”
Some 80% of structures that were damaged by the earthquake have been rebuilt, with almost all schools and public buildings upgraded to new safety standards, according to Anil Pokhrel, who headed the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority for years until he retired last month.
As many as 95% of houses damaged in the rural areas have been rebuilt, while there is less in urban areas mainly due to issues like disputes over ownership or rebuilding plans.
Families were given $3,000 to reconstruct their homes and offices were set up by the government in all the districts that were staffed with engineers and experts to help them rebuild.“Nepal’s reconstruction, given the time, given the scale, given the process it went through and working with development partners, it is really considered as one of the exemplary reconstruction and recovery experiences,” Pokhrel said. IMF Reaches Agreement With Sri Lanka On $344 Mn Loan Payout (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [4/25/2025 8:39 AM, Staff, 931K]
The International Monetary Fund announced Friday it had reached agreement on a loan program review with Sri Lanka which will make around $344 million available to support the country’s economic reforms.
Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt of $46 billion in April 2022 after running out of foreign exchange to finance imports such as food, fuel and medicines.
The last government reached a roughly $3 billion, four-year bailout loan from the IMF, and embarked on a reform process which involved cutting subsidies, and raising taxes to stabilize the economy.
That painful reform program has continued under the new leftist administration of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
"Sri Lanka’s ambitious reform agenda continues to deliver commendable outcomes," IMF Sri Lanka mission chief Evan Papageorgiou said in a statement following discussions in Washington, confirming the fourth review of the program.
"The post-crisis growth rebound of five percent in 2024 is remarkable," he continued, commending the country’s "substantial" fiscal reforms and adding that revenues had improved, official reserves had reached $6.5 billion, and the country’s debt restructuring process was "nearly complete."
Once approved by the IMF’s executive board, the agreement announced Friday will make around $344 million in much-needed funds to support the Sri Lankan economy.
That would bring the total disbursed under the current program to around $1.7 billion, the IMF said. Central Asia
Kyrgyz PM gets polite brush off by US business executives (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [4/25/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Kyrgyzstan’s prime minister, Adylbek Kasymaliev, made the rounds in Washington this week, but corporate executives were not ready to buy his claims that the Central Asian state has “new opportunities” and “an open policy.”
A statement released by the prime minister’s office listed a series of meetings with executives and venture capitalists, including representatives from Boeing, IBM, VISA and Starlink. The prime minister “emphasized the government’s strong commitment to creating the most favorable investment climate, guaranteeing the protection of investors’ rights and providing comprehensive support for projects.”
Executives seemed dubious about Kasymaliev’s investment pitch: none of the discussions produced even a hint of a pending deal.
The government statement did not refer to any discussions with US diplomats or other Trump administration officials. But a report circulated by Economist.kg news outlet indicated that Kasymaliev spread a message sure to catch the administration’s ear – that Bishkek is looking to make deals concerning prospecting for and the export of rare earths.“Kyrgyzstan is ready to offer a reliable and environmentally responsible partnership in the exploration and processing of critical resources,” Kasymaliev said during a roundtable gathering sponsored by the Kyrgyz-American Business Council.
Since taking power in January, the Trump administration’s foreign policy toward Central Asia has been fixated on developing mineral resources and trade, along with cooperation in the civilian nuclear energy sector. To date, administration attention has been mainly focused on Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan ranked 146th out of 180 nations surveyed in the watchdog group Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index. The country’s transparency rating, as tabulated by TI, has gone down each of the past five years.
Kasymaliev did not leave Washington empty-handed. During his multi-day stay, he signed infrastructure investment deals worth $389 million with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The funding will be used for “projects aimed at developing regions, modernizing healthcare, providing access to clean water, supporting small and medium businesses, improving the education system and updating the energy infrastructure,” according to a government statement. China, Central Asian nations agree to forge broader trade ties (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia [4/27/2025 10:46 AM, Yukio Tajima, 1191K]
Foreign ministers from China and five Central Asian countries met in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Saturday, agreeing to expand trade and expressing "opposition to unilateral protectionist practices," according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a Politburo member, was in attendance with counterparts from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, China has been placing more importance on strengthening relations with neighbors, including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Wang criticized the U.S., saying it has "undermined the rules-based multilateral trading system and destabilized the global economy." China will increase imports of agricultural products from Central Asia and expand infrastructure investment there based on the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.The Central Asian side expressed enthusiasm for facilitating trade with China and linking supply chains. China is promoting the construction of a "Middle Corridor" railway network to link Asia to Europe via Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.Saturday’s gathering of foreign ministers also paved the way for the China-Central Asia Summit, to be held in the Kazakh capital of Astana this June. Chinese President Xi Jinping may attend the summit. World Bank predicting economic slowdown for Caucasus & Central Asia (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [4/25/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Economic activity across the South Caucasus and Central Asia is projected to stagnate over the next two years, as uncertainty envelops global markets, according to World Bank experts.
The bank’s latest Europe and Central Asia Economic Update identifies the most serious challenges facing policymakers in the regions as weaker-than-expected trade, unpredictable policy shifts and decreasing prices for commodities. The report also cautions that inflationary pressure may continue to arise from rising food costs, tight labor markets and “potential supply-side shocks.”“Risks are heavily tilted to the downside,” according to the report. “Heightened global policy uncertainty, trade fragmentation, increased trade barriers, geopolitical tensions, and financial market volatility dominate.”
Growth rates for both the South Caucasus and Central Asia are expected to dip slightly over the next two years. In the Caucasus, Georgia is projected to experience the biggest dip in economic performance, although its predicted 5 percent growth rate in 2026 would still be higher than other regional states. The bank believes Armenia will experience slight growth with the predicted 4 percent growth rate in 2025 rising to 4.2 percent the following year. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, will experience a decline, going from a 2.6 growth rate this year to 2.4 percent in 2026.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will experience Central Asia’s most significant declines in economic growth over the next two years, while Kazakhstan’s slowdown will be less pronounced, according to World Bank estimates. Uzbekistan’s growth rate is expected to remain level during 2025-26 at 5.9 percent.
The onset of policy uncertainty, underscored by the brewing tariff-driven trade war among global economic powers, is undermining efforts by Central Asian states to promote trade via the lowering of inter-state trade barriers. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan over the past year have taken steps to settle border disputes and simplify customs procedures, but the payoff from such moves in terms of increased trade flows may be deferred by the imposition of tariffs.
The World Bank recommends the best way for middle income countries, including those in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, to manage existing economic risks is to accelerate structural reforms that stimulate private enterprise and entrepreneurship.“Countries would benefit from boosting structural reforms at home, especially reforms to … foster buoyant private sector development, innovation, and competition,” the report states. “Across the region, successful economic transitions have been driven by private sector transformation, with policy makers shifting from protecting incumbents to promoting business dynamism and rewarding merit.”
The report highlights a “surge” in household borrowing in the Caucasus and Central Asia as a trend with potentially disconcerting ramifications for growth. The bank singles out Kyrgyzstan, where in early 2025, the “annual expansion of consumer loans exceeded 85 percent in nominal terms, making them the largest component of banks’ credit portfolios.”
The bank report does not go into detail about what all that borrowing is being used for, or what the terms of the household loans are. Other economic data suggests that household incomes in Central Asia are having trouble keeping pace with inflation, raising the possibility that citizens are borrowing to meet monthly living expenses. If that is the case, the spike in Kyrgyz household borrowing could be a potential red flag of a default crisis down the road.
The report additionally highlights that despite tightening restrictions and increasing harassment of Central Asian migrants in Russia, remittances from guest workers to family members back in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan experienced a spike in 2024 compared with figures for the previous year. Uzbek labor migrants sent almost $15 billion back home in 2024, most of the money coming from Russia. Meanwhile, Georgia, a country that grew geopolitically closer to the Kremlin over the past two years, has seen a significant decline in remittance totals over the same period. Indo-Pacific
US in touch with India and Pakistan; urges work toward ‘responsible solution’ (Reuters)
Reuters [4/28/2025 2:28 AM, Kanishka Singh, 41523K]
The U.S. State Department said on Sunday Washington was in touch with both India and Pakistan while urging them to work towards what it called a "responsible solution" as tensions have risen between the two Asian nations following a recent Islamist militant attack in Kashmir.
In public, the U.S. government has expressed support for India after the attack but has not criticized Pakistan. India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed over two dozen people. Pakistan denies responsibility and called for a neutral probe.
"This is an evolving situation and we are monitoring developments closely. We have been in touch with the governments of India and Pakistan at multiple levels," a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement."The United States encourages all parties to work together towards a responsible resolution," the spokesperson added.
The State Department spokesperson also said Washington "stands with India and strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Pahalgam," reiterating comments similar to recent ones made by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
India is an increasingly important U.S. partner as Washington aims to counter China’s rising influence in Asia while Pakistan remains a U.S. ally even as its importance for Washington has diminished after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.
Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst and writer for the Foreign Policy magazine, said India is now a much closer U.S. partner than Pakistan.
"This may worry Islamabad that if India retaliates militarily, the U.S. may sympathize with its counter-terrorism imperatives and not try to stand in the way," Kugelman told Reuters.
Kugelman also said that given Washington’s involvement and ongoing diplomatic efforts in Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, the Trump administration is "dealing with a lot on its global plate" and may leave India and Pakistan on their own, at least in the early days of the tensions.
Hussain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the U.S. and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank, also said that there seemed to be no U.S. appetite to calm the situation at this moment.
"India has a longstanding grievance about terrorism emanating or supported from across border. Pakistan has a longstanding belief that India wants to dismember it. Both work themselves into a frenzy every few years. This time there is no U.S. interest in calming things down," Haqqani said.
ESCALATING TENSIONS
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan who each rule over only parts of it and have previously fought wars over the Himalayan region.
Hindu nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the attackers to "the ends of the earth" and said that those who planned and carried out the Kashmir attack "will be punished beyond their imagination". Calls have also grown from Indian politicians and others for military action against Pakistan.
After the attack, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.
The two sides have also exchanged fire across their de facto border after four years of relative calm.A little-known militant group, Kashmir Resistance, claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. Indian security agencies say Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, is a front for Pakistan-based militant organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Ned Price, a former U.S. State Department official under the administration of former President Joe Biden, said that while the Trump administration was giving this issue the sensitivity it deserves, a perception that it would back India at any cost may escalate tensions further.
"The Trump Administration has made clear it wishes to deepen the U.S.-India partnership — a laudable goal — but that it is willing to do so at almost any cost. If India feels that the Trump Administration will back it to the hilt no matter what, we could be in store for more escalation and more violence between these nuclear-armed neighbors," Price said. Trump says India, Pakistan will sort out tensions (Reuters)
Reuters [4/25/2025 2:41 PM, Steve Holland, 5.2M]
India and Pakistan will figure out relations between themselves, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday as tensions soared between the two neighboring countries after an attack in India’s Kashmir region that was the worst in nearly two decades.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, cited historical conflict in the disputed border region and said he knew both countries’ leaders, but did not answer when asked whether he would contact them.
"They’ll get it figured out one way or the other," he said as he traveled aboard his plane. "There’s great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been."
On Tuesday, 26 men were killed at a tourist site in Kashmir, shot dead in a meadow. India has said there were Pakistani elements to the attack, a claim Islamabad denies.
Both India and Pakistan have claimed the region of Kashmir, and have fought two wars over the area.
Relations between the two South Asian nations have deteriorated in the days following the attack, with India setting aside a critical water sharing pact and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines. Their trade is also at risk.
On Friday, Indian stock markets fell on fears of fresh tensions as Indian authorities searched for militants in the region, before markets recovered some losses. Indian and Pakistani Soldiers Briefly Exchange Fire Along Kashmir Border (New York Times)
New York Times [4/25/2025 4:14 PM, Anupreeta Das, 33298K]
India and Pakistan have exchanged fire along their heavily patrolled and contested border in the Kashmir region, escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors just days after a terror attack killed 26 people on the Indian side of the disputed region.Pakistani solders fired at an Indian position first and India responded in kind, according to local news reports, which said that the exchange was brief and that there were no casualties. Indian and Pakistani officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Tensions between the two countries, archrivals for decades, shot up swiftly this week after militants gunned down 26 people, mostly tourists, in a picturesque meadow near Pahalgam, a popular destination in Kashmir, on Tuesday.India has called the shooting a terror attack without blaming a specific group, but it has taken a series of punitive measures against Pakistan, with India’s foreign secretary saying there were “cross-border linkages.” India announced on Wednesday that it would downgrade diplomatic ties and pull out of a decades-old water-sharing treaty that is especially critical to Pakistan, among other measures.Pakistan has denied any links to the attack, and its defense minister said this week that the country does not “support any form of terrorism.” On Thursday, the Pakistani government announced retaliatory measures against India, including the closing of its airspace to Indian carriers.Its Senate on Friday unanimously passed a resolution condemning what it called India’s “frivolous and baseless” attempts to link the country to the militant attack in Kashmir, rejecting the allegation and accusing New Delhi of using “terrorism” as a political tool.“The country’s sovereignty, security, and interests demand that India should be held accountable for its involvement in different acts of terrorism and targeted assassinations on the soil of other countries, including Pakistan,” Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar, told lawmakers on Friday, reading out the resolution.Speaking about the massacre this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India vowed that the country would “identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers.”But the terror attack by militants in Kashmir, one of India’s most strictly controlled borders, caught its government off guard, leading to a rare instance where senior members of Mr. Modi’s cabinet admitted to political rivals that there had been a major security lapse.During a two-hour meeting arranged by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, opposition leaders declared their support for the government’s fight against terrorism. But many also asked sharp questions about security failures, as well as about how a lapse in intelligence may have led to one of the worst attacks on Indian civilians in decades.Kiren Rijiju, the minister of parliamentary affairs in India, was among the officials who conceded there had been a lapse. He told reporters that such an incident “must not happen in the future.”In their search for the assailants, Indian authorities on Friday demolished the homes of two people they said were suspected of being militants in the Pahalgam area.The rising tensions between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars over Kashmir, have been a cause for alarm among many diplomats. Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for the U.N. Secretary General, told reporters on Thursday that “we very much appeal to both the government of Pakistan and the government of India to exercise maximum restraint.” Indian military says Pakistani troops fired at border positions in disputed Kashmir region (AP)
AP [4/26/2025 8:54 AM, Aijaz Hussain, Rajesh Roy, and Munir Ahmed, 10355K]
Pakistani soldiers fired at Indian posts along the highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir for a second consecutive night, the Indian military said Saturday, as tensions flared between the nuclear-armed rivals following a deadly attack on tourists last week.
India described the massacre, in which gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian tourists, as a "terror attack" and accused Pakistan of backing it.
Pakistan denies the charge. The assault, near the resort town of Pahalgam in India-controlled Kashmir, was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.
It was the restive region’s worst assault targeting civilians in years. In the days since, tensions have risen dangerously between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. The region is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.
The Indian army said Saturday that soldiers from multiple Pakistani army posts overnight opened fire at Indian troops "all across the Line of Control" in Kashmir. "Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms," the statement said. There were no casualties reported, the statement added.
There was no comment from Pakistan, and the incidents could not be independently verified. In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes in the Himalayan region.
Markets and bazaars were open in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Saturday, and there was no sign of evacuations from villages near the Line of Control.
Tit-for-tat measures and a spike in tensions
After the tourist attack, India suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty and closed the only functional land border crossing. It revoked visas issued to Pakistanis with effect from Sunday.
Pakistan retaliated by canceling visas issued to Indians, closing its airspace to Indian airlines, and suspending trade with its neighbor. Nationals from both sides began heading to their home countries through the Wagah border near Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Friday.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday vowed the government would respond "with full force and might" to Indian attempts to stop or divert the flow of water.
He also said Pakistan was open to participating in any "neutral, transparent and credible investigation" into the tourist attack.
On Saturday, a Pakistani official from the disaster management agency, Saeed Qureshi, accused India of suddenly releasing large amounts of water into the Jhelum River, raising fears of flooding in parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Authorities told residents living along the riverbank to evacuate, Qureshi said. A spokesman for India’s External Affairs Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
New Delhi describes all militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism, a charge Pakistan rejects. Many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle.
Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989 for uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
Iran offers to mediate, while Trump declines to engage.
With tensions high, Iran offered mediation, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected them to work out their differences.
"Tehran stands ready to use its good offices in Islamabad and New Delhi to forge greater understanding at this difficult time," Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.
"India and Pakistan are brotherly neighbors of Iran. Like other neighbors, we consider them our foremost priority," Araghchi wrote in a social media post.
Trump on Friday said "there’s great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been.".
Trump, who spoke on board Air Force One, did not answer when asked by reporters whether he would contact leaders of the two countries, but said "they’ll get it figured out one way or the other.".
The U.S. has long called for calm between India and Pakistan, and mediated during a major border skirmish in 1999.
U.S. intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard expressed solidarity with India in its hunt for the perpetrators of the recent attack.
India intensifies its crackdown in Kashmir
After Tuesday’s assault, Indian forces intensified a crackdown in the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion. They detained and questioned at least 1,500 people, three police officials said.
Troops detonated explosives in the family homes of at least three suspected militants in southern Kashmir Friday night, residents said. In one such incident, dozens of other houses also suffered damage, with their windowpanes shattering and walls cracking due to the impact of the blast.The police officials insisted on anonymity, in keeping with their departmental policy, while the villagers feared reprisals from authorities.
Early Friday, troops also destroyed the family homes of two suspected militants they accused of being involved in Tuesday’s attack.
Indian troops demolish homes as a common anti-militancy tactic in Kashmir. India, Pakistan exchange small arms fire, China urges restraint (Reuters)
Reuters [4/28/2025 3:58 AM, Fayaz Bukhari and Shivam Patel, 5.2M]
India said on Monday it had responded to ‘unprovoked’ small arms firing from Pakistan along the de facto border for the fourth consecutive night, as it deepens its search for militants in the region following last week’s deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir.
After the April 22 attack that killed 26 people, India has identified two of the three suspected militants as Pakistani, although Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral probe.
Security officials and survivors have said the militants segregated the men at the site, a meadow in the Pahalgam area, asked their names and targeted Hindus before shooting them at close range.
The attack triggered outrage and grief in Hindu-majority India, along with calls for action against Islamic Pakistan, whom New Delhi accuses of funding and encouraging terrorism in Kashmir, a region both nations claim and have fought two wars over.
The nuclear-armed nations have unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with India putting the critical Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines.
China, a key player in the region, said on Monday it hoped India and Pakistan will exercise restraint and welcomed all measures that will help cool down the situation.
The Indian Army said it had responded to "unprovoked" small arms fire from multiple Pakistan Army posts around midnight on Sunday along the 740-km (460-mile) de facto border separating the Indian and Pakistani areas of Kashmir. It gave no further details and reported no casualties.
The Pakistani military did not respond to a request for comment.
In a separate statement, the Pakistan army said it has killed 54 Islamist militants who were trying to enter the country from the Afghanistan border to the west in the last two days.
India’s defence forces have conducted several military exercises across the country since the attack. Some of these are routine preparedness drills, a defence official said.
Security forces have detained around 500 people for questioning after they searched nearly 1,000 houses and forests hunting for militants in Indian Kashmir, a local police official told Reuters on Monday.At least nine houses have been demolished so far, the official added.
Political leaders in the state have called for caution to ensure the innocent are not harmed in the government’s actions against terrorism after the deadliest incident of its kind in India in nearly two decades.
"This is the first time in 26 years that I have seen people coming out in this way...to say we are not with this attack," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told the legislature.
"It (militancy) will finish when people are with us, and today it seems like people are getting there," he said.
Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, said in a post on X that it "unequivocally" denied involvement in last week’s attack, after an initial message that claimed responsibility.
The group, considered an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba by a Delhi-based think tank, blamed a ‘cyber intrusion’ for the previous social media post that claimed responsibility. As India and Pakistan Cancel Visas, Parents and Children Are Separated (New York Times)
New York Times [4/28/2025 3:33 AM, Suhasini Raj, Mujib Mashal, and Pragati K.B., 831K]
One family had come to India for a daughter’s marriage. Another came so their young children could meet their grandparents for the first time. A woman traveling alone had arrived for the funeral of her mother, whom she had not seen in years.
At the border where Pakistan was cleaved from India decades ago, they pleaded with anyone and everyone for a little more time: to complete the marriage that was just two days away, or to mourn at a grave that was still fresh.
It was not allowed.
India has ordered almost all Pakistani citizens to leave the country, part of the government’s response to a terrorist attack in Kashmir that it has linked to Pakistan. The Pakistani government, which denies any involvement in the attack last week, has retaliated with measures of its own, including the cancellation of most Indian citizens’ visas.
Over the weekend, as people scrambled to comply with the orders, heartbreaking scenes played out at the main land crossing between the two countries.
Families like Takhat Singh’s, with members on both sides of the border, faced painful separation. Mr. Singh, his younger daughter and his son have Pakistani passports. His wife and his older daughter have Indian ones.
They had all been in the Indian state of Rajasthan for the wedding of Pintu, the older daughter. When India announced the visa cancellations, the family left her behind in her future husband’s village and rushed to the border crossing, hoping to make it home before it closed.But Mr. Singh’s wife, Sindhu Kanwar, was not allowed to proceed because of her Indian passport.“They are saying your mother cannot go with you to Pakistan,” said the couple’s younger daughter, Sarita, 15. “How would you feel if you had to live without your mother?”
More than anything else, it is the border that symbolizes the history of these two nations, which, despite a vast shared heritage, are estranged and have frequently come to blows.
British colonial rule ended in 1947 with the partitioning of India along largely arbitrary lines, creating Pakistan as a separate country for Muslims. Mass migration into the two new nations set off ghastly religious bloodletting, leaving up to two million people dead.
The decades since have seen repeated wars, and the divisions have become rigid. Kashmir, the beautiful Himalayan region, has borne the brunt of the continued trouble between the two countries.
At the time of India’s partition, the Hindu ruler of Kashmir, a Muslim-majority princely state, wanted to maintain its independence. It became part of India soon afterward, in exchange for a security guarantee, as Pakistan sent militias and took over parts of the region.
Kashmir has been disputed ever since. Each nation now controls a part of the region while claiming it in whole. Those living there have little say.
People on both sides of the India-Pakistan divide are haunted by the ghosts of the bloodletting, by memories of loved ones left behind. Some have tried to hold on to cross-border ties, particularly through marriage.
That has become increasingly difficult over the years. Even before the latest flare-up, diplomatic relations between the countries had been largely severed, and visas were only rarely issued.
For those forced to leave in recent days, the departure stings all the more because of how difficult it was to get a visa and cross the border in the first place.
Even Hindus who had taken refuge in India from Pakistan’s rising intolerance and persecution of religious minorities have been thrown into uncertainty.
In recent years, India has billed itself as a haven for persecuted Hindus in the region. Many living in refugee camps have acquired Indian citizenship. But others are worried that they might now be forced to leave.
Hanuman Prasad, a resident of a camp in Rohini in northwestern Delhi, came to India more than a decade ago from Sindh Province in Pakistan. He said his brother and sister were stuck at the border trying to enter India. He has Indian citizenship, but his wife and six children are in the country on a variety of different visas.“What will they do to us? Put us in jail?” he asked. “We will fight and protest if they try to send us back.”
He said that governments uprooting families with the stroke of a pen did not understand the pain of migration.“Even a bird hesitates before leaving its nest behind,” Mr. Prasad said. “We sold off our farmland, our house, belongings, everything, to shift to India. What will we go back to and do there?”
As India’s deadline for Pakistani citizens, with a couple of narrow exceptions, to leave the country expired on Saturday, chaos ensued on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah land crossing in the state of Punjab.
Families with suitcases tied to the roofs of their vehicles arrived hoping to cross into Pakistan, but only those holding the country’s green passports were allowed to proceed.
Rabika Begum, who said she was in her 40s, had tried for five years to get an Indian visa. She was finally given one to attend her mother’s funeral, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.“My husband is on dialysis in Pakistan, and my mother died on this side,” Ms. Begum said as she prepared to return. “I could not even get a fair chance to cry at her grave or be able to hug it long enough before the government asked us to leave.”“What have I done?” she said. “What is my fault in what happened in Kashmir?”
Famida Sheikh, who has been living in Pakistan since 1987 and obtained a Pakistani passport through marriage, said she had received a visa to visit her siblings in India after a decade of trying. She had been there for only two weeks.“We hadn’t even unpacked properly,” she said.
Vajida Khan, 24, had been visiting her parents in India. She has an Indian passport, but her two children, 7 and 3, have Pakistani ones. Her Pakistani husband was waiting for them on the other side.
She had spent three days in the Indian town near the border crossing, trying fruitlessly to negotiate a way to reunite the family.“The government wouldn’t let me go,” she said, “and wouldn’t allow my kids to stay on here.”
For Mr. Singh’s family, this was supposed to be a week of hard-earned joy: the first marriage of one of the children.
They live in the Pakistani city of Amarkot, in Sindh Province, where Mr. Singh recently retired as an officer in the government’s agriculture department.
He and his wife had worked hard to find a suitable groom for their daughter across the border in Rajasthan. The marriage agreement was reached four years ago, but it took two years to get Indian visas for the family, Mr. Singh said.
They did all the shopping, including the purchase of 40 grams of gold jewelry, in Rajasthan. The guests were arriving from all over India when the government issued its order to leave.“We have blood relatives in India, and we marry our daughters off in India. So our lives are so inextricably linked,” Mr. Singh said. “How can you separate us like this? Who should we talk to about our misery?”
With his wife’s Pakistani visa suddenly canceled, Mr. Singh worked his phone, pleading with officers to let her return with the rest of the family. They refused.
But they allowed one concession: She could walk with them to the final checkpoint and wave goodbye. Twitter
Afghanistan
Zalmay Khalilzad@realZalmayMK
[4/27/2025 8:49 AM, 261.7K followers, 502 retweets, 2.2K likes]
In an encouraging development, the Taliban have sided with the tourist victims in Kashmir and have denounced this terror attack. #Pakistan #India #USA #Afghanistan https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/taliban-condemns-pahalgam-massacre-calls-attack-a-blow-to-regional-security/articleshow/120563204.cms
Heather Barr@heatherbarr1
[4/27/2025 7:58 AM, 62.1K followers, 7 likes]
Karokhail said the UN had failed to meaningfully consult with Afghan civil society. “There should have been engagement w/political groups, women’s movements, & civil society actors. Instead, it seems UN has focused primarily on the Taliban’s priorities.” https://amu.tv/170353/
Heather Barr@heatherbarr1
[4/27/2025 8:05 AM, 62.1K followers, 2 likes]
Well here it is, public finally—perhaps leaked—UNAMA’s “mosaic” plan for Afghanistan, so Afghans human rights defenders can see what they think. https://amu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Roadmap-presentation_final-002-1.pdf
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[4/25/2025 10:07 AM, 8.3K followers, 18 retweets, 51 likes]
Washington’s broken promises leave Afghans in limbo - my latest @reason is an encompassing look at Afghan allies left behind, Afghan allies in the states, and U.S. supporters and veterans impacted by 3.5 years of Biden administration dawdling followed by new Trump administration executive orders, parole revocation, and TPS termination https://reason.com/2025/04/24/washingtons-broken-promises-leave-afghan-allies-in-limbo/ Pakistan
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[4/27/2025 1:03 PM, 3.1M followers, 37 retweets, 313 likes]
A delegation of the American financing company World Liberty Financial called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad today.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[4/27/2025 1:23 PM, 3.1M followers, 54 retweets, 288 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif transferring the flag to the junior company and giving awards to the high achievers of 151st Long Course at the passing out Ceremony held at PMA Kakul, Abbottabad.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[4/26/2025 1:04 PM, 6.7M followers, 547 retweets, 3.3K likes]
I spoke to my brother, Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian @drpezeshkian , President of Iran this evening, to express my deep shock at the tragic explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port, Bandar Abbas. Expressed solidarity with Iran on the loss of precious lives and prayed for early recovery of the injured. We also exchanged views on the regional situation. Reaffirmed Pakistan strong desire for peace in the region and reiterated our condemnation of terrorism in all forms and manifestations. Recalled that Pakistan was itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism. Denounced India’s use of water as a weapon, which was unacceptable to Pakistan. Reiterated Pakistan’s resolute and unwavering support for the people of IIOJK and their right to self-determination.
Zalmay Khalilzad@realZalmayMK
[4/26/2025 12:07 PM, 261.7K followers, 1.8K retweets, 5.5K likes]
Pakistan’s Defense Minister has characterized his country’s past support for terrorist and extremist groups as having been a mistake. So, is #Pakistan no longer harboring terrorist and extremist groups? Sadly, there are credible reports pointing to the existence of significant and dangerous terror groups in Pakistan. For example, ISIS (Islamic State of Khorasan Province ISKP) maintains terrorist camps in the country. There are reports that in mid-March, Baluch nationalist fighters attacked an ISIS training camp in the mountains of the Mastung district close to Bolan River in Baluchistan. Allegedly, some 30 ISIS fighters, including citizens of Turkiye, India, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, were killed, and the camp was destroyed. If these reports are correct, their existence could not have been unknown to the Pakistani military intelligence, not if Pakistan is serious about stamping out terrorism on their soil. Islamabad must address the ISIS and other terrorist groups’ presence as it poses a serious risk not only to itself but to the region and to the broader international community. By now, everyone should have learned that playing with terrorism for tactical purposes is a disastrous ploy that inevitably backfires very, very badly. #Afghanistan #India #USA @realDonaldTrump
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[4/27/2025 4:42 AM, 77.4K followers, 69 retweets, 341 likes]
Pakistan military’s timely action neutralises around 50 TTP Terrorists, mostly Afghan nationals, those who were trying to infiltrate from Afghanistan into Pakistan near Bibak in KPK -- Terrorists were effectively engaged including through the use of Drones, per sources.
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[4/26/2025 4:37 AM, 77.4K followers, 26 retweets, 118 likes]
Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi in India has issued close to 12,000 visas to Indian nationals in the 4months of 2025 let alone -- Number of Indians traveling to Pakistan are 3 time higher - On Friday 25thApril, 191 Pakistani’s returned while 287 Indian nationals headed back to India
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[4/26/2025 2:59 AM, 77.4K followers, 53 retweets, 199 likes]
Indian Govt has sent a formal note to Pakistan’s MoFA seeking travel permission to Lahore and cross over from the Wagha border for its PNG’d officials. The permission has been granted and the officials are crossing and heading back to India today after being PNGd from Pakistan.
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[4/27/2025 5:28 PM, 621.7K followers, 94 retweets, 681 likes]
While India-Pakistan dispute is escalating, Pakistani and Chinese foreign ministers held talks. Pakistan is hoping, if a war breaks out, it would be a 2-front for India.
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[4/27/2025 2:26 PM, 621.7K followers, 353 retweets, 1.1K likes]
Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir calls Kashmir is Pakistan’s jugular vein, and wants to fight the war to get 2/3rd of Kashmir from India. While the people of 1/3rd of Kashmir, that is with Pakistan, revolting against Pakistani army backed government.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[4/26/2025 3:54 PM, 247.9K followers, 163 retweets, 850 likes]
The problem in Pakistan isn’t Asim Munir, Sharifs, Bajwa, or Khan, it’s the state itself, built on religious extremism, hatred and terror. Regardless of who leads, the establishment continues sponsoring terrorism and proxy wars.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[4/25/2025 11:01 AM, 247.9K followers, 123 retweets, 627 likes]
Pakistan is a mercenary state and even its own defense minister admits it. Built on hatred and religious fundamentalism, it is a colonial leftover destabilizing the subcontinent.
Hamid Mir@HamidMirPAK
[4/27/2025 7:05 AM, 8.6M followers, 163 retweets, 680 likes]
The so-called "water strike" from India may not leave Pakistan high and dry,but India will emerge as the bigger loser after a "Shimla strike" by Pakistan. My column on the suspension of water treaty and the scenario after the suspension of Shimla agreement https://www.geo.tv/latest/601742-can-india-leave-pakistan-high-and-dry-by-suspending-indus-waters-treaty
Hamid Mir@HamidMirPAK
[4/27/2025 6:58 AM, 8.6M followers, 607 retweets, 2.4K likes]
If Pakistan suspends Shimla agreement the Line of Control would automatically be redesignated as the Cease Fire Line, which would bolster the freedom struggle within Jammu and Kashmir. There is no international law that prohibits crossing a ceasefire line. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[4/27/2025 4:32 AM, 107.9M followers, 5.3K retweets, 27K likes]
The horrendous terror attack in Pahalgam has angered people in India and across the world. India is united in uprooting the menace of terrorism. #MannKiBaat
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[4/26/2025 1:42 AM, 107.9M followers, 8.8K retweets, 43K likes]
Addressing the Rozgar Mela. Best wishes to the newly inducted appointees. https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqGooXQndlGv
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[4/25/2025 4:43 AM, 107.9M followers, 12K retweets, 91K likes]
I am deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. K. Kasturirangan, a towering figure in India’s scientific and educational journey. His visionary leadership and selfless contribution to the nation will always be remembered. He served ISRO with great diligence, steering India’s space programme to new heights, for which we also received global recognition. His leadership also witnessed ambitious satellite launches and focussed on innovation.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[4/25/2025 4:43 AM, 107.9M followers, 981 retweets, 3.8K likes]
India will always be grateful to Dr. Kasturirangan for his efforts during the drafting of the National Education Policy (NEP) and in ensuring that learning in India became more holistic and forward-looking. He was also an outstanding mentor to many young scientists and researchers. My thoughts are with his family, students, scientists and countless admirers. Om Shanti.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[4/27/2025 10:40 PM, 3.4M followers, 663 retweets, 5.1K likes]
A message of unity and firm resolve against terrorism by PM @narendramodi in #MannKiBaat. He highlighted India’s quick response to Myanmar earthquake under #OperationBrahma, and our humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and Nepal. He also spoke about commendable efforts by the Indian community in Ethiopia to help children with heart diseases. https://youtube.com/live/hS7gTBmxMS8?si=XYdGBr4Dw496QdZW
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[4/27/2025 7:45 AM, 3.4M followers, 861 retweets, 7.5K likes]
Conveyed condolences to Ambassador @DrShankarSharma of Nepal on the death of a Nepali national during the Pahalgam terror attack. Also discussed developments in our bilateral ties.
Zalmay Khalilzad@realZalmayMK
[4/27/2025 12:27 PM, 261.7K followers, 634 retweets, 2.9K likes]
#India believes that #Pakistan is behind the Kashmir terror attack. Thus, the probability of significant Indian military action is very high. If Pakistan is indeed responsible for the attack, it is inhumane and reckless. #USA
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[4/27/2025 1:00 PM, 621.7K followers, 70 retweets, 167 likes]
By weaponizing river water sharing, Modi opens a Pandora’s box. China, the upper riparian of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra), can do the same in any future confrontation with India, potentially cutting or redirecting water flows to northeast India. https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/why-suspending-the-indus-waters-treaty-is-a-bad-idea
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[4/27/2025 1:04 PM, 621.7K followers, 9 retweets, 59 likes]
Bangladesh, Nepal & Bhutan, with whom India shares important rivers, may see this as a sign of India acting unilaterally. Future negotiations — particularly with Nepal over the Koshi & Gandak & Bangladesh over the Ganga & Teesta — will now be burdened with trust deficit. NSB
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[4/26/2025 11:42 AM, 113K followers, 134 retweets, 143 likes]
First Lady and Chief Guide, Madam @sajidhaamohamed attends the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Maldives Girl Guides Association.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[4/25/2025 10:28 AM, 113K followers, 153 retweets, 150 likes]
First Lady Madam @sajidhaamohamed graces the opening ceremony of the “Fahi Sihhath Health Fair”. Organised by @MNUedu in collaboration with @UNICEFMaldives and @WHOMaldives, the fair celebrates World Health Day 2025.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_[4/27/2025 9:32 AM, 721.2K followers, 2 retweets, 7 likes]
The 61st meeting of the IBN, chaired by Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli, endorsed a new organizational framework to execute its five-year strategy, aiming for 42 project agreements, 14 constructions, 11 operations, and 92 private investment approvals.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[4/27/2025 9:09 AM, 721.2K followers, 6 retweets, 38 likes]
Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli bid farewell to APF Assistant Sub-Inspector Danta Bahadur Chhantyal, who is preparing to summit Mt. Everest to promote the Sagarmatha Dialogue and conduct climate change studies. PM Oli also handed over a banner for this historic mission. Central Asia
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