SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Thursday, February 13, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Suicide blast near Kabul government offices kills attacker, one other (Reuters)
Reuters [2/13/2025 3:37 AM, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, 5.2M]
A suicide bomber killed one person and wounded three in an attack near government offices in Kabul on Thursday, an official spokesman said, the second explosion in Afghanistan this week.
The attacker was also killed.
Security guards had identified him and shot him as he approached the intended target, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, detonating the explosives, the Interior Ministry said.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack, which took place in a busy part of the capital housing administrative and government offices, and foreign embassies including the U.S. Embassy. That site has been vacant since American and other foreign forces withdrew from the country in 2021.
The Taliban took over the country in 2021 and said it would restore security to the war-torn nation. But attacks have continued, many of them claimed by the local arm of the militant Islamic State (IS) group.
This attack is the second this week after a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body outside a bank in northeastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least five people.
Militants from the Afghan branches of Islamic State have waged an insurgency against the Taliban since they returned to power. Suicide bombing at Afghan ministry kills 1, injures several (VOA)
VOA [2/13/2025 4:48 AM, Ayaz Gul, 13.4M]Taliban officials said Thursday a suicide bomb explosion outside a ministry building in the Afghan capital of Kabul killed at least one person and injured several others.The blast occurred when security guards at the entrance to the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing intercepted and killed a suicide bomber, an Interior Ministry spokesperson told VOA.Abdul Mateen Qani confirmed the casualties, saying a member of Taliban security was killed, and three others were wounded in the ensuing explosion.No immediate claims of responsibility were made, but suspicions fell on a regional Islamic State group affiliate, Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K.The attack came two days after IS-K took credit for a suicide bombing outside a bank in the northeastern Afghan city of Kunduz that killed at least five people and wounded several others. Multiple sources reported that the victims of the Tuesday blast were predominantly Taliban security personnel who had assembled to collect their salaries.IS-K has plotted repeated high-profile attacks since the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021. The violence has killed hundreds of people, including senior Taliban leaders, religious figures and members of the Afghan Shiite community.The back-to-back bombings this week followed the Taliban’s renewed claims that their security forces nearly eliminated IS-K presence in the country, rendering the group incapable of posing a threat within or beyond Afghan borders.The United Nations and independent critics remain skeptical about the Taliban’s assertions. U.N. counterterrorism officials warned during a Security Council meeting on Monday that IS-K is one of the "most dangerous" Islamic State branches and "continued to pose a significant threat in Afghanistan, the region and beyond." Pakistan
US warns citizens of potential terror threats at key mosque in Pakistan’s capital (VOA)
VOA [2/12/2025 3:40 PM, Ayaz Gul, 2.7M]
The United States advised its citizens Wednesday to steer clear of a popular mosque in Pakistan’s capital due to potential terrorist threats.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad issued the threat alert following the emergence of a social media video earlier this week featuring a purported militant operative at the city’s Faisal Mosque, a major tourist destination.
The brief video showed the individual displaying a hand-drawn pamphlet featuring the flag of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which the United Nations has listed as a global terrorist organization. The video was shared on Monday via social media affiliated with TTP.
The U.S. diplomatic mission has prohibited employees from traveling to the mosque area until further notice. The advisory also urged American citizens to avoid the area, stating that “TTP militants have issued threats against Faisal Mosque in Islamabad."
The terror threat alert was issued on the day Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Islamabad for a bilateral visit, amid heightened security measures.
TTP routinely stages suicide bombings and gun attacks against Pakistani security forces and other official targets, mainly in districts near and on the country’s border with Afghanistan. The violence has killed hundreds of people in recent years.
Islamabad has maintained that the group orchestrates terrorist attacks from sanctuaries in Afghanistan and has persistently called on the neighboring country’s Taliban leaders to rein in TTP militants.
The Taliban government in Kabul, not recognized by any country, denies the presence of TTP or any other foreign militant organizations on Afghan soil. It claims that no one is allowed to threaten neighboring countries and beyond from Afghanistan.
Critics have questioned the Taliban’s denial, pointing to the frequent high-profile attacks claimed or attributed to the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), an Afghan affiliate of the transnational Islamic State terrorist network. The violence has killed hundreds of people, including senior Taliban leaders, religious figures and members of the Afghan Shiite community, since the Taliban reclaimed control of the country in 2021.
On Monday, U.N. counterterrorism officials warned during a Security Council meeting that IS-K is one of the “most dangerous” Islamic State branches.“ISIL-Khorasan has continued to pose a significant threat in Afghanistan, the region and beyond,” Vladimir Voronkov, U.N. undersecretary-general for counterterrorism, told the meeting, using another acronym for IS-K.
The latest IS-K-claimed attack occurred on Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated himself outside a bank in the northeastern Afghan city of Kunduz. Taliban officials said the blast killed five people and injured seven others. Multiple sources reported that the victims were primarily members of the Taliban security forces. What the US Aid Suspension Means for Pakistan (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [2/12/2025 10:53 AM, Fizza Abbas, 857K]
Keeping in line with the campaign promise of "America First," the Trump administration has prioritized domestic interests while slashing the United States’ global financial commitments. Pakistan, like many other countries, has also had its foreign aid axed; however, Islamabad is not a stranger to these fluctuations, having seen U.S. financial aid ebb and flow significantly over the last 60 years.
New U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest cuts have suspended $845 million in funding for projects in Pakistan. As a result the country faces yet another phase of uncertainty. This raises questions about its economic stability, security, and diplomatic ties, potentially straining future Pakistan-U.S. relations.U.S. aid to Pakistan has always been more than just financial assistance – it’s been a tool of influence, a strategic handshake, and at times, a bargaining chip. From Cold War alliances to post-9/11 counterterrorism funding, the aid relationship has followed a pattern: When Washington and Islamabad’s interests align, the money flows; when they don’t, the tap is turned off.
Back in the 1950s and ‘60s, the United States saw Pakistan as a crucial ally against Soviet influence in South Asia. The two became close under military pacts like the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), and in return, Pakistan received military and economic aid to modernize its forces and economy.
According to data compiled by The Guardian, between 1954 and 1965, U.S. economic assistance to Pakistan totaled in the billions (with $2.3 billion in 1962), with significant drops in military aid after India-Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971. This aid was instrumental in modernizing Pakistan’s military capabilities and supporting its economic development during that period.
The relationship deepened in the 1980s during the Soviet-Afghan War. Washington poured $32.5 billion into Pakistan’s military and civil services to support the Afghan mujahideen fighting Soviet troops. This was Pakistan’s golden era of U.S. aid – money, weapons, and political backing flowed in freely.
But the Pakistan-U.S. relationship soured in the 1990s. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, Washington lost interest in Afghanistan, and suddenly, Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions became a problem.
In 1990, under the 1985 Pressler Amendment, the United States cut off $564 million in military aid to Pakistan for the fiscal year 1991, citing concerns that it was developing nuclear weapons. The message was clear: Aid was conditional, and if Pakistan didn’t fall in line with U.S. interests, the dollars would stop coming.
Then came 9/11, and the dynamic flipped again. The U.S. needed Pakistan as a frontline ally in its War on Terror, so the aid floodgates reopened. Billions were funneled in – both military and economic aid – to help Pakistan fight extremist groups along its border with Afghanistan.
Washington relied heavily on Pakistan for intelligence, drone operations, and counterterrorism efforts. But over time, the U.S. government grew skeptical of Pakistan’s commitment, especially as reports surfaced about militants allegedly finding refuge on Pakistani soil. This led to $300 million cuts in aid, with tensions growing over security concerns.
As this brief history shows, U.S. aid has never been free money; it has always come with strings attached. Whether it was pressuring Islamabad to curb its nuclear program, or tying aid to counterterrorism efforts, Washington has used financial assistance as a means to shape Pakistan’s policies.
Even in 2024, shortly before Trump took office, the pattern continued. On December 19, U.S. Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer raised alarms about Pakistan developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities, suggesting these missiles could potentially reach targets far beyond South Asia – even the United States. In response, Washington imposed sanctions on four Pakistani entities – including the National Development Complex (NDC) – involved in the missile program, once again using financial and diplomatic pressure to influence Islamabad’s defense policies.
Now, with Trump’s decision to cut aid once again, history seems to be repeating itself.
From the moment Trump stepped into the Oval Office, his message was loud and clear: America First. That meant cutting back on what he saw as unnecessary spending abroad – including foreign aid to countries previously benefitting from the assistance of the United States. To Trump, U.S. tax dollars should not be used funding development projects in other countries when the United States has its own problems to fix. His administration thus slashed foreign aid across the board, except for military aid to a few select allies like Israel and Egypt, who remained in Washington’s good graces.
Just days after Trump ordered a 90-day funding freeze and review to ensure U.S. aid aligns with his foreign policy goals, Pakistan was already feeling the impact. Funding for 11 governance programs, as well as projects under the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), has been put on hold.
The decision came on the heels of a "stop-work" order issued by the U.S. State Department on January 26, effectively freezing all existing foreign assistance and putting a pause on new aid. According to a cable seen by Reuters, this directive was drafted by the State Department’s foreign assistance office and signed off by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. While the cable confirmed that military financing for Israel and Egypt would continue, it made no mention of aid exemptions for any other nations.
Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce released a statement addressing the decision but avoided naming any specific countries. "Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for review," the statement said.
"Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?" Rubio was quoted as saying in the statement.
Trump’s latest move to suspend U.S. aid isn’t just a political statement – it’s already having a tangible impact in Pakistan, shutting down critical projects across multiple sectors. From cultural preservation to energy, agriculture, education, and healthcare, the cuts are hitting hard.
One of the first casualties is the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) – a program that, ironically, symbolized U.S. respect for Pakistan’s heritage. Since 2001, this grant has supported the restoration of historic sites, the preservation of Indigenous languages, and the protection of traditional crafts, funding over 1,000 projects in 133 countries. As per the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Pakistan, the fund has supported over 30 projects in Pakistan, totaling to over $8 million. Now with the suspension of aid, vital conservation efforts seem to be left in limbo.The freeze has also halted five key energy projects, including initiatives such as Pakistan Private Sector Energy Activity, Power Sector Improvement Activity, Economic Recovery and Development Activity, and Pakistan Climate Financing Activity meant to improve power distribution and promote clean energy investments. Pakistan’s energy sector is already struggling, plagued by corruption, political instability, circular debt, excessive dependence on non-renewable and imported fossil fuels (59 percent of the total energy mix) and obsolete power distribution mechanisms. Now it will have to navigate these challenges without U.S. support.
Economic growth programs have also taken a hit, affecting investment promotion and economic recovery initiatives. The Social Protection Activity, which was supposed to continue until 2025, has been abruptly cut short, potentially leaving vulnerable communities without financial assistance.
Pakistan’s agriculture sector, which relies on external funding for development and climate adaptation, is feeling the pinch too. Several programs, aimed at enhancing water management (Water Management for Enhanced Productivity), improving food security in flood-affected regions (Flood Affected Districts of Pakistan), and boosting climate-smart farming (Climate Smart Agriculture and Recharge Pakistan) have been paused. With climate change already worsening agricultural productivity, Pakistan’s wheat harvest could drop by 50 percent by 2050, making this aid cut even more damaging.
Efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, electoral processes, and governance structures in Pakistan have also been sidelined. Programs focused on land registration, local governance, community resilience, and peacebuilding have either been halted or are now in jeopardy. For a country where political stability remains fragile, losing this support could slow down much-needed reforms.
Education programs – particularly those aimed at improving girls’ education and strengthening higher education systems in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – are now on hold. Among them, the Improving Girls’ Education Activity was expected to be completed in 2025. It has now been halted, along with the Higher Education System Strengthening Activity and Education Resilience Activity.
The suspension of education programs in Pakistan threatens to exacerbate existing challenges. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the net literacy rate for girls is 15.37 percent to 35 percent, significantly lower than the 71 percent for boys. Sindh faces similar issues, with approximately 52 percent of boys and 58 percent of girls aged 5-9 out of school.
Similarly, in the health sector, crucial projects targeting tuberculosis prevention, maternal and child healthcare, and global health security have been paused. Pakistan is among the eight countries that account for two-thirds of all new tuberculosis cases globally, with with over 510,000 incidents annually, around 5.7 percent of global cases. As per the National TB Control Program’s 2019 report, the country also faces challenges with drug-resistant tuberculosis, with an estimated 4.2 percent of new cases and 16 percent of previously treated cases being drug-resistant.
The halting of critical aid programs could further hinder progress in education and health, disproportionately affecting Pakistan’s most vulnerable populations.
When governments play political chess, it’s often the most vulnerable who take the hardest hit. Take healthcare, for instance. Some 60 health facilities are likely to be hit due to the U.S. aid suspension. The Integrated Health Systems Strengthening and Service Delivery program – which worked on improving public health infrastructure – is now on hold. That means fewer resources for clinics, fewer trained healthcare workers, and ultimately, fewer people getting the care they need.
In education, programs aimed at improving girls’ schooling in underserved areas have been halted. In a country where access to quality education is already a challenge, this setback could have long-term consequences for future generations.
And let’s talk about civil society. Many nonprofits and grassroots organizations that worked on democracy, governance, and human rights depended on U.S. funding, which has now been halted. Two examples are Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which between fiscal years 2013 and 2022 received approximately $4.6 billion from USAID and International Relief and Development Inc. (now Blumont), which implemented the Sindh Community Mobilization Program, .
Then there’s the economic impact. Programs that supported small businesses, agriculture, and infrastructure – many of which created jobs and helped struggling communities – are now frozen. That will lead to slower economic growth, fewer job opportunities, and even greater financial strain on families already struggling to make ends meet.
When the United States stops the cash flow, Pakistan doesn’t just sit around waiting – it pivots. And right now, that pivot means leaning even more toward China. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), already a massive part of Pakistan’s development strategy, just became even more crucial. As of November 2023, Pakistan owed China $68.91 billion, which was 22 percent of its total external debt. With public debt at 74.3 percent of GDP, Pakistan is becoming more financially dependent on China, relying heavily on its investments and loans. But with the United States stepping back, Pakistan has little choice but to seek assistance from China.
This isn’t just about Pakistan – it’s part of the bigger picture of the China-U.S. competition in South Asia. China has been expanding its influence across the region, bringing not only Pakistan but also Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka into the Belt Road Initiative (BRI). Beyond Pakistan, China emerged as a donor during the civil war in Sri Lanka and helped build ports on the island. It has also invested $7 billion in Bangladesh.
As U.S. soft power shrinks in the wake of these aid cuts, countries in the Global South might increasingly look to China for financial backing and strategic partnerships. While U.S. policymakers might argue that foreign aid isn’t a priority, the reality is that power vacuums don’t last long. Pakistan to Seek IMF’s Nod as it Prepares Economic Growth Plan (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/12/2025 8:01 AM, Kamran Haider, 21617K]
Pakistan will seek the International Monetary Fund’s approval as it readies a plan to boost economic growth after achieving economic stability.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he told the global lender’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva that businesses are suffering because of high taxes and energy costs and therefore need relief. The IMF chief’s response was very “positive” and she asked for a proposed plan, Sharif told his cabinet on Wednesday.Pakistan’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to the lowest in almost three years last month as inflation continued to slow from a record in 2023. The South Asian nation is trying to reviveits economy after narrowly escaping a default in 2023 with the help of funds from the IMF and friendly countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.Businesses need space to grow and generate jobs, Sharif, who returned to the country after meeting the IMF chief on the sidelines of World Governance Summit in the UAE, said in a televised speech.The IMF is encouraged by Pakistan’s strong commitment and reforms, the lender’s chief said in an X post earlier.“I am encouraged by their strong commitment to Pakistan’s IMF-supported reforms and support their decisive actions to pave the way to higher growth and more jobs for Pakistan’s youthful population,” Georgieva said. Turkey’s president arrives in Pakistan’s capital on a 2-day visit to boost trade, economic ties (AP)
AP [2/12/2025 2:47 PM, Staff, 33392K]
Turkey’s president, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in Pakistan’s capital late Wednesday night on a two-day visit to discuss how to boost trade and economic ties between the nations, officials said.
When his plane landed at an airport near Islamabad, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan was received by his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and other senior government officials.
Erdogan is visiting Pakistan at the invitation of Sharif, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It said the Turkish president will jointly chair "the 7th Session of the Pakistan-Turkiye High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC)" and the sides are expected to sign a number of agreements.
Erdogan will have bilateral meetings with Zardari and Sharif on Thursday.
According to the ministry statement, HLSCC will provide "strategic direction to further strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries.".
The statement said "Pakistan and Turkiye are bound by historic fraternal ties" and the visit by Erdogan "would serve to further deepen the brotherly relations and enhance multifaceted cooperation between the two countries".Pakistan, which has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent months, has deployed additional police officers and paramilitary forces to ensure the security of the Turkish leader and his delegation.
The visit comes hours after the U.S. Embassy issued a travel advisory, citing a threat by Pakistani Taliban against the Faisal mosque in Islamabad and asked its citizens to avoid visits to the mosque and nearby areas until further notice. Turkish president holds talks with Pakistani premier to discuss Gaza and bilateral issues (AP)
AP [2/13/2025 3:32 AM, Staff, 456K]
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday at his office in Islamabad to discuss the situation in Gaza and a range of bilateral issues.
They will sign several agreements for boosting trade and economic ties between the nations, officials said.
Erdogan left his hotel amid tight security, and was welcomed by people in traditional Turkish and Pakistani dresses who lined a key city road that had been decorated with Turkish and Pakistani flags. The crowds danced to the beat of drums as the Turkish leader’s convoy passed through the streets.
Erdogan and his wife, Emine Erdogan, were welcomed by Sharif on their arrival at his office. A band played the national anthems of both countries before a ceremony that saw the leaders inspecting a guard of honor.
Erdogan will jointly chair bilateral strategic cooperation talks and the two sides are expected to sign a number of agreements, according to a government announcement. How Pakistan’s Imran Khan is losing a remittance war against the government (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [2/12/2025 4:14 PM, Abid Hussain, 19.6M]
In December last year, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan issued an unlikely threat to the country’s government: After spending more than 15 months behind bars on what he called “politically motivated charges” and following multiple failed protests, he warned that he would launch a civil disobedience movement.“As part of the movement, we will urge overseas Pakistanis to limit remittances and start a boycott campaign,” read a message posted on his account on X.
With a precariously balanced economy, with the country seeking new loans and debt rollovers from key allies such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and China, turning off the valve of remittances from overseas Pakistanis could, in theory, bring the government to its knees.
Heeding that call, 28-year-old Muhammad Waseem, a devoted supporter of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party who works in Doha, Qatar, telephoned his family in Punjab, Pakistan, to tell them he would be temporarily halting the monthly instalments of cash he was sending them since moving to the Middle East last August.“I was sending close to 4,000 Qatari riyals [300,000 Pakistani rupees or $1,096] every month to support my family, but as soon as I heard what Imran Khan said, I informed them that I wouldn’t be sending money,” Waseem told Al Jazeera.
Waseem, a barber by profession, said he planned to save the money and rely on his elder brothers, who run a dairy business in Rahim Yar Khan, a city in southern Punjab, to support the family for some time.“But I think I’ll have to resume sending them some money next month because my brothers have asked me to help out,” he added, though he said he planned to send less money than he used to.
Waseem is far from alone in his unwillingness to stop sending money back home, despite his initial enthusiasm.
Khan, who was Pakistan’s prime minister from August 2018 until April 2022, when he was deposed through a parliamentary vote of no confidence, is known to enjoy wide support among the country’s diaspora, from the Middle East to North America.
But despite Khan’s demand to stop remittances, recent figures from Pakistan’s central bank suggest that the country’s remittances, a key pillar of its economy, increased by 25 percent in January compared with the same month in 2024.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), overseas Pakistanis sent more than $3bn in remittances in January. This marked the second consecutive month that remittances exceeded the $3bn mark.
Khan, the numbers suggest, may be losing the battle to use remittances as a weapon against the government.
In fact, 2024 saw Pakistan receive the highest annual remittance total in its history, reaching $34.1bn, a 32 percent increase from 2023, when overseas Pakistanis sent home $25.7bn.
Ahmed Kabeer, originally from Lower Dir in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and now working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, explained that, for him, sending money back to Pakistan was not a matter of political preference but a necessity.
Kabeer moved recently to Saudi Arabia to join his two brothers, who have been living there for the past seven years.“The sole reason we leave our families is to earn money for them and send it back. We don’t have land, businesses, or any other means of income. That’s why my brothers moved here, and now, I have followed in their footsteps,” Kabeer told Al Jazeera.
A recent graduate of the University of Swat, Kabeer is seeking job opportunities in both Riyadh and Jeddah to avoid being a burden on his brothers, who work as labourers.“They work 12-hour shifts and collectively send back between 2,000 to 3,000 Saudi riyals [150,000-225,000 Pakistani rupees or $533-$800] every month. It was only because of their money that I was able to study at a university,” he added.
The fifth of 12 siblings, Kabeer is also a PTI supporter and sympathises with Khan’s call to limit remittances. However, he says that when faced with the choice between supporting Khan or his family, “it is no choice at all.”“It’s easy to demand that we stop sending money. We are here for our families, and if we don’t support them, why are we here at all? It’s about our siblings, our parents, our children; we have to send the money back home,” he said. “If I tell my mother I can’t send her money because Khan asked me not to, she’ll probably tell me to go sit in jail with him,” he added, laughing.
Raja Babar Sarwar, a restaurant owner in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, echoed similar sentiments. He has been living in Jeddah since 2011, along with his brother-in-law.
A father of three, Sarwar, who hails from Peshawar, said that his sole reason for working abroad was to provide for his family and ensure their wellbeing.“I really don’t care about politics or what any leader is saying. We are not here to do politics, we are here to earn,” Sarwar told Al Jazeera.
Running a restaurant serving Pakistani cuisine to a diverse clientele, Sarwar employs a staff of eight to 10 people, all from different parts of Pakistan.“I know for a fact that each of my workers sends anywhere between 1,500 to 2,000 SAR [110,000-150,000 Pakistani rupees or $400-$533] back home. My brother-in-law and I send around 4,000 SAR [300,000 Pakistani rupees or $1,066] to our families every month,” he said.
Sajid Amin Javed, a senior economist at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad, suggested that none of this was surprising.
Most remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis, particularly those in Gulf countries, are meant to support vulnerable families back home, he said.“The money sent by Pakistani nationals back home is essentially involuntary. They have to send it to cover their household expenses. Barring a few exceptions, they don’t have a choice in the matter,” Javed told Al Jazeera.
However, Javed pointed to additional factors behind the recent surge in remittances.“After the rupee appreciated against the US dollar last year and with a now-stable currency rate, overseas Pakistanis have to send more money to meet their families’ expenses,” he explained.
The Pakistani rupee, which was Asia’s worst-performing currency against the US dollar, depreciating by more than 60 percent between 2022 and 2024, has now stabilised between 278 and 280 rupees per US dollar for the past 12 months.With the government enforcing strict controls and cracking down on illegal money transfer channels, increased confidence in official banking systems has also led to higher remittance flows, the economist highlighted.“The nature of Pakistani remittances is inelastic to political narratives, as they are driven by household consumption needs. While some individuals, particularly strong supporters, may follow their leader’s advice, the vast majority of Pakistani senders have no choice but to continue supporting their families,” Javed said. India
Controversial deportation flight to India hangs over Modi-Trump meeting (Washington Post)
Washington Post [2/13/2025 1:00 AM, Karishma Mehrotra, 6.9M]
Jaskaran Singh was wading through rivers in the Panamanian jungle when he learned that Donald Trump had been elected president.“But I couldn’t turn back,” said Singh, 34. “I had come too far.”
Arrested Jan. 25 by border agents as he tried to cross from Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego, he was among 104 Indian migrants placed aboard a U.S. military plane last week and deported to Punjab. Scenes of the shackled detainees shuffling onto the aircraft triggered outrage in India, just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepared for a high-profile visit to Washington.
Modi formed a close bond with Trump during his first term, and senior Indian officials have made multiple trips to Washington recently to signal they are ready to cooperate on the president’s second-term priorities, including trade and immigration. But the controversy over the military deportation flight — mirroring earlier U.S. disputes with Brazil and Colombia — has underscored the political challenges facing Modi, as he tries to endear himself to Trump while projecting strength at home.“I’m quite surprised that my government has taken a weak-kneed approach,” said Sanjaya Baru, a political analyst and former Indian government spokesman. “For a prime minister who thinks of himself as a tough political leader, he has caved in far too quickly.”
The political firestorm erupted on Feb. 4 when U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael W. Banks posted a video on X of the Indian deportees, chained by the hands and feet, set to dramatic music. “The farthest deportation flight yet using military transport,” Banks wrote. “If you cross illegally, you will be removed.”
The footage spread quickly in India, airing on television and social media and fueling opposition protests in Parliament. Lawmakers posed with mock handcuffs, holding signs that read: “Humans, NOT prisoners.”
The treatment of the deportees was “inhuman and unacceptable from a friendly country,” opposition member Jairam Ramesh told the Indian news agency ANI. “Will Prime Minister Modi stand up to his friend Donald Trump instead of hugging him?”
Modi has not addressed the controversy, but Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in Parliament on Feb. 6 that the handcuffs were in keeping with U.S. procedure on military flights. The United States has issued final removal orders for another 487 Indian nationals, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later told reporters, raising the prospect of more deportations to come.
Many of those on the first flight have said they didn’t know where they were going. “I thought they were sending us to another camp,” said Singh, who began to suspect the truth as the journey stretched across three stops and 40 hours.
The two sides had discussed the deportation flight before Trump was inaugurated, according to Mukesh Aghi, president of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum. “India voluntarily saying we are going to work with you sent a very positive message” to the new administration, he said, but New Delhi was “caught off guard” by the handcuffs.
Indians were the third largest group of undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2022, the Pew Research Center estimated, trailing only Mexicans and Salvadorans. After speaking by phone with Modi last month, Trump said the prime minister “will do what’s right” when it comes to repatriating Indian citizens.
New Delhi hopes cooperating on illegal migration will help ensure the coveted H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers, the vast majority of whom are Indian, will be spared from Trump’s immigration crackdown. Trump has said he supports the program, which is opposed by many of his far-right supporters.“India does a great job on the legal immigration side,” said Aghi. “We don’t want the illegal ones messing it up.”
Modi will look to shift the focus to other issues on Thursday, as he receives a red-carpet welcome to the White House — the latest sign of India’s growing global clout.
President Joe Biden lavished praise on Modi during a state visit in 2023, even as U.S. intelligence agents were uncovering an alleged Indian plot to assassinate a Sikh activist on American soil.
In 2019, Trump and Modi showcased their rapport with a choreographed rally in Houston that drew 50,000 people.
Beneath the personal warmth between the two leaders — each animated by their own nationalist agendas — economic tensions persist. The United States runs a $45 billion trade deficit with India, and Trump has repeatedly criticized India’s high tariffs, fixating on those applied to Harley Davidsons.
New Delhi recently lowered import duties on certain motorcycles, which some local outlets have referred to as “Harley diplomacy.” But India will probably need to go further to appease Trump, who has threatened retaliatory tariffs on allies and adversaries alike.The president’s economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, told CNBC on Monday that Indian tariffs remain “enormously high.”“If they go down, we’ll go down,” Hassett said.
Modi will be angling for more U.S. investment in India, analysts say, hoping to boost a slowing economy. Though India has positioned itself as a political and economic bulwark against Beijing, it has not been able to fully take advantage of a U.S. push to shift supply chains away from China.
Aghi said Modi is also likely to raise delays in deliveries of American-made military equipment, including fighter-jet engines and Predator drones. New Delhi has also been advocating to jointly manufacture key items as part of future defense deals, said Basant Sanghera, a former South Asia policy expert at the State Department.
Tensions remain between “‘America First’ deals and India’s desires for co-production,” Sanghera said. India is also still waiting to purchase its first U.S. nuclear reactors, nearly two decades after the countries signed a landmark civil nuclear agreement, which “feeds the narrative that the relationship is one-sided,” he added.
After the deportation controversy, Modi’s critics are calling for him to show greater assertiveness on this visit to Washington.“Why are we afraid of Trump?” said Baru, the former government spokesman. “He is a lot of bluff and bluster. We should not be seen as crawling up to the White House.”
Singh, the deportee, said he resents being treated like “some sort of criminal.” He spent five months and $50,000 traveling across three continents, he said, hoping to find stable work in America.
When he landed back in India, “my heart broke,” he said. Trump Calls India a Tariff King, a Title Modi Wants to Shed (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal [2/12/2025 11:31 AM, Tripti Lahiri, 129344K]
Of all the countries that put tariffs on U.S. products, President Trump says India is king. Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Washington this week, New Delhi has been trying to lose that crown.
India’s tariffs on imports average 14%, compared with 6.5% in China and 1.8% on products that enter Canada.
Economists say India, the fifth-largest economy, is especially vulnerable to the reciprocal tariffs Trump says he will impose on countries with the heaviest levies on U.S. goods. Days ahead of Modi’s visit, Trump’s chief economist Kevin Hassett referred to India’s tariffs as "enormously high" in a television interview.
India isn’t waiting to be called out for tariff punishment. In advance of Modi’s trip, it has taken action to show India is cooperating as it seeks to strengthen its relationship with the U.S. in the face of neighboring China’s economic ascendance.
This month, India introduced a series of tariff cuts, including for smartphone components, which will benefit manufacturers such as makers of Apple’s iPhones, and for materials used in electric-vehicle batteries. India also cut duties on foreign motorcycles, such as Harley-Davidson bikes, which sell in limited numbers compared with homegrown brands. Finance officials have said they are reviewing tariffs on other product lines.
Beyond trade, India accepted a military flight of 104 U.S. deportees last week, without any of the pushback shown by Colombia. When Indian lawmakers and journalists pressed foreign officials on why the deportees were sent back shackled, Indian officials said the country was committed to working with the U.S. to stem illegal immigration.
"The thing that could really send [the economy] into a tailspin is tariffs," said Irfan Nooruddin, professor of Indian politics at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. He described Modi’s visit to Washington as a defensive trip to talk Trump out of "doing anything rash.".
India’s economy is slowing and Modi, ruling India for a third term, lost his outright majority in elections last year amid concerns over jobs and inflation.
Trump kicked off his presidency by announcing 25% tariffs on neighbors Canada and Mexico, though he later hit pause on those. He also placed 10% tariffs on China, and on Monday, announced hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. He has said reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners worldwide are to come.
India, Vietnam and Thailand are among the countries most vulnerable under a narrow definition of reciprocal tariffs that excludes other kinds of taxes or non-tariff barriers, according to an analysis by Deutsche Bank. If the U.S. matched their average tariff rates, these three countries would be the most affected given the importance of U.S. trade to their economies.
India exported about $87 billion worth of goods to the U.S. in 2024—or about $45 billion more than it bought from the U.S., its largest trading partner.
Trump on the campaign trail called India the "tariff king." He complained in his first term repeatedly about Indian duties on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and decried Indian duties on American whiskey, which stood at 150%.
While those products are outliers, India’s average effective tariff rate for all products it imports was a little over 14% as of 2022, according to the latest World Bank data. The U.S. figure for the same year was under 3%.
Still, the tariff cuts announced this week aren’t everything they seem. In many cases, India has cut customs duty—which will bring down its average tariff rate—but added back a similar amount of taxes under a different name, for instance as an agriculture infrastructure development tax.
Further, most of the things that India actually buys from the U.S.—such as crude oil, coking coal, diamonds and airplanes—face tariffs of around 5% or less, according to an analysis by Ajay Srivastava, a former Indian trade official and the founder of GTRI, an Indian research firm focusing on trade and manufacturing. Pushing India to reduce tariffs more broadly would be unlikely to benefit the U.S., said Srivastava.
"Our fear is that if we cut tariffs on many of these items, the imports from China will increase, not from the U.S.," he said.
Mukesh Aghi, president of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, which links business and government in both countries, says India can reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. through increased energy purchases, such as switching to more U.S. natural gas.
"That can be addressed very, very easily," said Aghi.
Trump is also eager to see India, which has long been reliant on Russia for its arms purchases, buy more defense equipment from America. Washington and New Delhi last year concluded an agreement for India to buy 31 armed drones for more than $3 billion from the U.S.
With the latest U.S. sanctions on tankers transporting Russian oil expected to affect India’s supply, India could also consider buying more U.S. crude, though price would be the key factor. India was the biggest export market for U.S. crude oil in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. After the Russia-Ukraine war started, it shifted to buying large quantities of discounted Russian oil.
India has other cards to play, notably Modi and Trump’s strong personal chemistry. Political analysts note the two have a lot in common as strongman populists who run top-down personality-driven administrations.
The two often refer to one another as friends, and, in an unusual move for a sitting U.S. president, Trump appeared on stage with Modi at a "Howdy Modi," an event for thousands of members of the Indian diaspora in Texas in 2019.
"It was me and him, we filled up the stadium," recalled Trump on a podcast late last year. "It was beautiful.". Modi Seeks to Dodge Trump’s Trade Wrath in White House Summit (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/13/2025 1:48 PM, Dan Strumpf and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 21617K]
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi last met President Donald Trump five years ago, the US leader stood before a crowd of 100,000 cheering Indians in Modi’s home state of Gujarat and declared: “America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people.”Modi is likely to find the US president in a decidedly less celebratory mood when the two leaders meet in Washington this week. The head of the world’s most populous nation faces a minefield in negotiations with Trump, who has signaled that India remains a potential tariff target despite a deepening partnership between the two countries.Modi has rolled out a series of concessions to Trump in an effort to mollify the US leader and preserve his nation’s access to its largest trading partner. In the last few weeks, India has slashed tariffs on items from motorcycles to luxury cars, agreed to take planeloads of undocumented migrants and pushed to ramp up purchases of US energy.
“Prime Minister Modi knows that Trump’s priorities are deportations of illegal Indians and India’s high tariffs, so Modi has prepared for this, and he is seeking to preempt Trump’s anger over these issues,” said Lisa Curtis, a former Trump aide who directs the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.That may not be enough. Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs on India in return for its high levies on US goods and he’s vowed to soon enact “reciprocity” on all nations when it comes to import duties — a move that would hit India harder than most major trade partners. Underscoring that view, top Trump economic aide Kevin Hassett told CNBC this week that India’s tariffs on US imports were “enormously high” and said Modi “has got a lot to talk about with the president.”And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday she expected the tariffs to be announced before Modi visited the White House.“It’s very simple logic as to why the President wants to impose reciprocal tariffs,” Leavitt said. “It’s the golden rule, which we all learned when we were growing up in school, treat others the way you want to be treated.”India’s stock market slumped on Wednesday ahead of Modi’s meeting with Trump, with the MSCI India Index touching its lowest level since early June, taking its losses for the week to as much as 4.6%.Some in Modi’s administration are concerned that his early overtures may not yield much from the new president, and say it’s not clear what, if anything, Trump is seeking from New Delhi, people familiar with the matter said. They also worry that India has few backers among immigration and foreign policy hardliners in Trump’s government, in particular on the issue of H-1B visas for skilled workers, they said. The unease underscores the stakes for India going into Thursday’s meeting. Modi is among the earliest batch of foreign leaders to meet with Trump since he returned to office, and their summit follows a series of personal phone calls and lower-level meetings between their governments.“President Trump and Prime Minister Modi are focused on deepening the US-India strategic partnership across defense, energy, technology and fair trade,” said Brian Hughes, a US National Security Council spokesman, in a statement, adding that the leaders share “warm ties.”India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking further information.Another issue hanging over the gathering that might not be formally discussed is the US allegations of bribery leveled during the Biden administration against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, a close associate of Modi. Adani has denied the charges, and it now rests with Trump’s Justice Department to determine how aggressively to pursue the case.For all their differences, there’s little doubt that India has become an increasingly important partner for the US, especially when it comes to pushing back on China. American companies including Apple Inc. and Starbucks Corp. have turned to India as an engine of growth or as an alternative to having supply chains moored to China. India is also an active partner with the US, Australia and Japan in the “Quad,” an informal bloc with shared economic and security interests that often draws Beijing’s criticism.At the same time, India is a leader of the so-called Global South, particularly through the BRICS grouping with Brazil, Russia and South Africa that is frequently at odds with US priorities. And India continues to be a major buyer of Russian oil and weaponry. Despite all that, ties with India have generally received bipartisan support in Washington and the US president has been seen positively in India. Trump’s 2020 visit — billed “Namaste, Trump” — received blanket coverage in the Indian media, and was preceded a year earlier by a trip Modi took to Houston dubbed “Howdy, Modi.”But Trump has long used trade balances as a lens for rendering judgment on other nations, and that tendency isn’t likely to change. The $41 billion US trade deficit with India in 2023 put it 10th overall, just behind South Korea. On the campaign trail, Trump said India was a “very big abuser” of its trade ties with the US.Modi is going into this week’s meeting prepared to discuss further reducing India’s import duties, as well as purchasing more energy and defense equipment from the US, Bloomberg News has reported.Harsh Shringla, a former Indian ambassador to the US and former Indian foreign secretary, signaled that’s the approach most likely to resonate with Trump.“The way out of this is to provide the United States a window that would enable it to get a better access to the Indian market, and vice versa,” he said. Modi is meeting with Trump in a visit meant to boost the US-India relationship and avoid tariffs (AP)
AP [2/13/2025 12:02 AM, Will Weissert, 456K]
President Donald Trump is meeting Thursday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has heaped praise on him and is hoping to avoid tariffs that the new administration has slapped on other countries in its opening weeks.
Modi is a nationalist and has talked up his warm relationship with Trump during his first term while cheering his winning back the White House. The Indian leader is looking to improve relations with Washington and the West overall, which have been frosty lately after Modi refused to condemn Russia for its war on Ukraine.
The trip comes after Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party’s victory during a high-stakes state legislature election last weekend in India’s federal territory, including New Delhi. The prime minister said before leaving for Washington that the visit was a chance to “deepen our partnership” in key areas such as technology, trade, defense and energy.
The White House visit isn’t likely to be all smiles, though.
Trump has already imposed tariffs on China and says more are coming against the European Union, while threatening similar against Canada and Mexico and expanding tariffs on steel and aluminum he initially imposed during his first term.
Trump has repeatedly dubbed India a “tariff king.” In response, New Delhi has shown a willingness to buy more American oil while lowering its own tariffs on U.S. goods, including on some Harley-Davidson motorcycles, from 50% to 40%.
Also, India in 2023 dropped retaliatory tariffs on U.S. almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts.
Then there’s a recent deal allowing U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India, and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones.
Still, Trump has decried U.S. trade deficits around the world and said he’ll work to shrink them, including during his meetings at the White House last week with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The U.S. is India’s largest trade partner, but the two countries have a trade deficit of $50 billion in India’s favor.
The Indo-U.S. goods and services trade totaled around $190.1 billion in 2023. According to India’s External Affairs Ministry, the U.S. exports to India were worth nearly $70 billion and imports $120 billion.
Another topic likely to be discussed is immigration. Modi can point to India’s having accepted the return of 104 migrants brought back on a U.S. military plane — the first such flight to the country as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border.
For the Trump administration, meanwhile, India is seen as integral to the U.S. strategy of containing China in the Indo-Pacific. Modi’s country is hosting a summit of a group of countries known as the Quad — made up of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia — later this year. Trump, Modi plan joint press conference on Thursday (Reuters)
Reuters [2/12/2025 10:59 PM, Kanishka Singh, 27233K]
U.S. President Donald Trump and visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a press conference on Thursday when they meet in Washington, the White House said, a rare press briefing by the Indian leader.
Modi held a press conference with former President Joe Biden during a 2023 visit, but it is unusual for him to take questions from the media beyond occasional interviews, mostly around the time of elections.
He has not held a single press conference in India since becoming prime minister in 2014. In May 2019 he attended a press conference but took no questions.
Modi’s discussions with Trump are expected to focus on areas such as two-way trade, energy, technology and immigration.
Their joint press conference with Trump is set for 1710 ET (2200 GMT), the White House said on Wednesday.
During the 2023 event with Biden, Modi denied there was religious discrimination in India in reply to a question. His claim was disputed and dismissed by rights advocates who have documented abuse of minorities in the South Asian nation.
The journalist who asked the question was later attacked online by Modi’s supporters, with the Biden administration condemning the attacks. Modi set to meet Musk for possible Starlink talks during US trip, sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [2/12/2025 11:34 AM, Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah, 48128K]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Elon Musk during his trip this week to the United States, and Starlink’s entry in the South Asian market could come up for discussion, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters on Wednesday.
Modi will meet U.S. President Donald Trump during a two-day U.S. visit which starts Wednesday, with discussions on trade and tariffs concessions expected to be high on agenda.
Musk is likely to hold one-on-one talks with Modi, and India’s government expects that these could include Starlink’s long-delayed plans to launch satellite broadband services in India, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the plans are private.
Starlink has long wanted to launch in India and has in recent months clashed with billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s company over how the country should grant spectrum for satellite services. India’s government has sided with Musk that spectrum should be assigned and not auctioned, but Starlink’s licence application is still under review.
Ambani had lobbied New Delhi that he wanted a level playing field and his executives have been worried that his telecom company, which spent $19 billion in airwave auctions, risks losing broadband customers to Starlink and potentially data and voice clients as technology advances.
"Musk is agreeable to give assurances on India security concerns, which includes storing data locally," said one of the sources.
Starlink and Modi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk in December said Starlink satellite internet was inactive in India after authorities seized two of the company’s devices, one in an armed conflict zone and another in a drug smuggling bust.
The sources said it was not clear if Tesla’s planned entry into India would come up during the meeting, though increased sourcing of electric vehicle components from India is likely to be among the talking points.
Musk has long criticized India’s high import taxes on electric cars and his team has over the years held repeated discussions on setting up a local manufacturing base there, but no such plans have yet materialized.
Other than Musk, Modi is unlikely to meet other business CEOs during his U.S. trip, both the sources said. As Modi meets Trump, can he get India tariff waivers, Iran respite? (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [2/12/2025 10:48 PM, Yashraj Sharma, 129344K]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Washington late on Wednesday night and is scheduled to meet United States President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House.
While the two leaders have often described each other as friends in the past, and have even held joint political rallies together, Modi’s visit comes at a time when the relationship is being tested by Trump’s tariff threats and deportation realities.
"I look forward to meeting my friend, President Trump," Modi said in a departing message, adding that he has a "very warm recollection of working together in [Trump’s] first term".
Trump had announced Modi’s visit to the US after their telephone conversation on January 27, a week after he was sworn into office for his second term. After their call, Trump also said that he believed Modi would do "what is right" on undocumented Indian migrants in the US.
But pleasing both Trump and the Indian public won’t be easy for Modi.
Here’s what’s at stake for India, and what Modi might bring with him to the meeting with Trump to try to placate the US president.
What’s at stake for India?
The US is India’s largest export destination and ranks among its top two trade partners in several sectors, including technology, trade, defence and energy. The two-way trade between the US and India touched an all-time high of $118bn in 2023-24.
Bilateral ties have also strengthened in the last three decades as the US has increasingly focused on countering the rise of a shared rival – China.
But despite that convergence, Trump has made clear – as he had with several US allies – that he has deep differences too with India.
During his campaign for the 2024 election, Trump labelled India a "very big abuser" of trade and threatened tariffs. Since being elected, he pushed New Delhi to buy more US-made security equipment as a way to reduce the imbalance in their trade. In 2024, the trade surplus stood at $45.6bn, in favour of India, according to US government data.
Trump’s re-election campaign also highlighted undocumented immigration and illegal settlement in the US. As of 2022, India ranked third, after Mexico and El Salvador, among countries with the largest number of undocumented immigrants – 725,000 – living in the country.
And on Wednesday last week, a US military plane touched down in Amritsar, a city in northern India, carrying 104 Indian deportees, their hands and legs cuffed. In the farthest such journey undertaken by a US military aircraft, the "mistreatment" of deportees prompted a major outrage, including protests by the opposition, in India.
"India has always celebrated the success of Indians in the US, which means Indian Americans have been a very visible community in India’s consciousness," said Swaran Singh, professor at the centre of international politics at Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University. Indian foreign policy too, under Modi, has especially celebrated nonresident Indians, he said. "These dynamics make the mistreatment of Indian deportees a volatile and inflammable issue in bilateral ties," Singh said.
Jon Danilowicz, a retired diplomat who served at the US Department of State, said that Modi’s meeting with Trump "is mainly an opportunity for the Indian PM to present his side of the story to make New Delhi’s case".
But what could Modi offer to manage the Trump threat on tariffs and deportation?
What’s Modi’s likely game plan on deportation?
Singh noted the Indian government’s muted official reaction to the outrage over images of citizens returning from the US in cuffs.
That, he suggested, was a deliberate decision.
"Trump has some method in his madness. He uses whimsical statements to create maximum pressure," said Singh. "It is not a good sense to then publicly confront him [on contentious issues].".
Instead, after an uproar in the parliament, India’s foreign minister, S Jaishankar, said that the use of restraints was part of the US’s deportation policy, adding that "it is the obligation of all countries to take back their nationals if they are found to be living illegally abroad".
"Our focus should be on a strong crackdown on the illegal migration industry while taking steps to ease visas for legitimate travellers," said Jaishankar.
How might Modi counter Trump on tariffs?
Trump has promised to announce further tariffs later this week, and though he hasn’t specified which countries or sectors might be targeted, India is expected to be affected.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said that she expected these reciprocal tariffs – against countries that Trump believes impose unfair restrictions on US imports – to be announced before the US president meets Modi.
Trump has already imposed a 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports on top of existing tariffs and has introduced a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminium imports.
But when Modi meets Trump, the Indian PM could point to recent unilateral steps that India has taken to lower the barriers to entry for US goods, say analysts.
Traditionally, India, an emerging economy, has had high tariffs in place for several imported products that it feared could hurt its domestic industry and farm sector. However, in its latest budget, announced on February 1, the Modi government slashed tariffs and avoided any protectionist announcements.
Such steps might "preempt some action of the US administration", said Danilowicz.
India, after all, is familiar with the risks of a tariff war with the US. In 2018, Trump had imposed tariffs of 25 percent on $761m of steel and 10 percent on $382m of aluminium imported from India, which retaliated by adding customs duties to at least 28 US products. After years of trade tensions, in 2023, a resolution was announced during a Modi visit to Washington.
Modi will want to avoid a repeat.
"India has so far escaped the direct tariff heat by the new Trump administration and that is a positive sign," said Biswajit Dhar, a distinguished professor at the Council for Social Development in New Delhi.
Dhar, an international trade expert, told Al Jazeera that Modi needs to use this meeting "to convince Trump that India plays a fair game vis-a-vis trade and, therefore, India should be treated differently.".
"If China is slapped with these kinds of tariffs, then the same thing should not happen to India," Dhar said, adding that the "personalised background" to the duo’s relationship should allow space to accommodate these discussions. "At the least, India would not like itself to be clubbed along with China.".
After all, China – or rather the shared suspicion of Beijing’s plans for the Asia Pacific region – is the biggest glue that holds the India-US relationship together.‘Commitment to QUAD’
Modi is only the fourth world leader to meet Trump since his re-election, after conflict-engaged Israel, Jordan and Japan, its ally in the Asia Pacific. Foreign policy experts told Al Jazeera that being invited this early in Trump’s term shows how important the US president considers ties with India.
China is a big part of that.A day after Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president, his newly appointed secretary of state, Marco Rubio, held a meeting with fellow foreign ministers of India, Australia and Japan. The four nations – with a collective population of nearly two billion people and representing more than a third of global gross domestic produce (GDP) – form the Quad, a strategic forum focused on the Asia Pacific region.
The Modi-Trump phone call on January 27 also "emphasized their commitment to advance the US-India strategic partnership and the Indo-Pacific Quad partnership", a US government statement after their conversation said.
"The Trump administration has clearly signalled that the Indo-Pacific region is a priority. And that’s clearly driven by the competition with China," said Danilowicz, the former US diplomat.
But there’s another country that Trump and the US want to target – and there, New Delhi and Washington differ.
The Iran equation
A major storm is brewing between India and the US over Iran, said Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, a Washington, DC-based think tank.
At the centre of tensions is the port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, where India has made a multimillion-dollar investment in the hopes of developing a strategically located maritime facility. The port allows India to send food, aid and other commodities to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia via Iran, bypassing Pakistan, New Delhi’s archrival.
India had secured a sanctions waiver from the US during the first Trump administration for work related to Chabahar.
But in a national security presidential memorandum that Trump signed on February 4, he asked US Secretary of State Rubio to "modify or rescind sanctions waivers, particularly those that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief, including those related to Iran’s Chabahar port project".
"Trump’s Iran policy could well become a flashpoint in the US-India relationship and can have a deleterious impact," Kugelman told Al Jazeera, adding that Trump’s "maximalist position towards Iran" presents a delicate diplomatic situation for India.‘Bonhomie’ and friction
Other niggles in ties – like allegations by US prosecutors that India’s spy agency attempted to assassinate an American citizen, Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun; or the US indictment of billionaire Gautam Adani over bribery charges – will continue to shadow bilateral ties, noted Kugelman.
"These issues will not necessarily come up in the immediate future, or at this meeting, but they are not going away anytime soon," said Kugelman. "Given Trump’s maximalist position on tariffs, he’s going to try to do everything to incentivise countries to bring down and reduce tariffs.".
Indian diplomats and international foreign policy experts have said Modi’s celebrated ‘bromance’ equation with Trump provides India an edge on the table with other countries.
However, it does not necessarily translate into "a better deal", said Danilowicz, the former US diplomat.
"A good equation can get India a quicker meeting or face time with Trump, not a deal," he said, adding that New Delhi needs to prepare to deal with frictions. "It would be a mistake for India, or any country, to put too much emphasis on a personal relationship with Trump and neglect that there are many other inputs into the US foreign policy-making process, including the Congress.". India expects $200 million missile deal with Philippines this year, sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [2/13/2025 3:00 AM, Shivam Patel, 5.2M]
India expects to sell short-range missiles to the Philippines this year in a deal worth more than $200 million, Indian sources told Reuters, for New Delhi’s second major defence export contract with Manila as tension grows with China.
The Akash missile system developed by India’s defence research body has drawn interest from the Philippines, which has told New Delhi it would make an order in the fiscal year that begins in April, said three sources.
All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is a sensitive one.
The surface-to-air missile system with a range of up to 25 km (16 miles) was exported to Armenia last year in a $230-million deal, the sources said, adding that the Philippine sale is expected to be bigger than the Armenian deal.
However, they did not reveal the number of missiles and accompanying systems, including radars, involved.
India’s Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BARA.NS) the manufacturer of the missiles, was one of the exhibitors at last year’s Asian Defense and Security Exhibition in Manila.
The company and India’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A Philippine defence spokesperson, Arsenio Andolong, declined to comment on the specifics of any deal or on plans for procurement, but said the country’s armed forces had "manifested it requires these capabilities".
The expected deal would follow India’s $375-million sale of the mid-range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to the Philippines in 2022.
The purchase comes at a time when Manila is building its military strength as tension escalates with Beijing on overlapping claims in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, where the two have clashed in recent years.
India is the world’s biggest arms importer but is stepping up domestic production and boosting defence exports to counter China’s military strength and influence in its neighbourhood after their troops clashed on the Himalayan border in 2020.
India’s exports of defence equipment, including arms and ammunition, have jumped nearly 150% since 2020 to cross $2.40 billion in the fiscal year that ended in March 2024.
However, its arms exports are lower than those of nations like Australia and South Korea, and far below those of China, the world’s fourth largest arms exporter.
The Philippines’ armed forces chief said on Wednesday the country was looking to buy more military hardware to modernise its arsenal, including additional BrahMos missiles from India and at least two submarines.
"We are getting more of this (BrahMos system) this year, and in the coming years," General Romeo Brawner said in a speech to business figures in the Philippines, but did not mention the Akash missile system. India and France plan small modular nuclear reactors (BBC)
BBC [2/13/2025 2:12 AM, Nikita Yadav, 76.2M]
India and France plan to work together on developing small modular nuclear reactors, India’s foreign ministry said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country.
Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised the importance of nuclear energy for "strengthening energy security" and transitioning towards a "low-carbon economy".
It comes days after Delhi announced plans to change its strict nuclear liability law, which holds operators accountable for accidents or incidents and has been blamed for delays to previous nuclear projects.
Modi is also expected to discuss potential nuclear investments by US firms during his visit to Washington on Thursday.
India’s foreign ministry said the Delhi and Paris would develop small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors for civil use.
Such reactors can be built in factories and transported to locations where they can be assembled and installed.
They do not require large tracts of land or extensive infrastructure and are significantly smaller than traditional nuclear reactors.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the aim was to initiate "cooperation" as modular reactor technology was "still in its initial stages".
"We intend to be able to cooperate in co-designing the reactors, co-developing them and co-producing them, we feel this will allow us to tackle complications faced in other conventional projects," he said.
The proposed partnership signals a shift in India’s nuclear energy policy.
Modi’s government, previously known for strict regulation of nuclear power, appears to be opening up to greater international cooperation and private sector participation.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled ambitious nuclear energy targets earlier this month, setting a goal of generating 100GW of nuclear energy by 2047.
The government has promised more than $2bn (£1.6bn) for nuclear research and development, most of which will be used with the aim of developing five indigenous reactors by 2033.
The focus on small modular reactors also represents a shift in India’s collaboration with France on nuclear power.
The countries had previously planned to build the world’s biggest nuclear plant in India’s western Maharashtra state.
The project has, however, been held up for more than a decade, mainly because of clauses introduced to India’s nuclear liability law following accusations that India had previously let Western companies off the hook over the devastating 1984 gas leak from a pesticide factory in the city of Bhopal as well as concerns over nuclear safety in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
Modi is currently in the US for a two-day visit where he will hold meetings with President Donald Trump and business leaders.
Earlier in the week, India’s federal Oil Minister Hardeep Puri hinted that nuclear energy would be on the agenda for the two leaders.
On Tuesday, US Vice-President JD Vance met Modi on the sidelines of the AI Summit in Paris and discussed ways in which Washington could help Delhi diversify its energy sources by investing in American nuclear technology, news agencies reported quoting a White House statement. India’s Modi Renews Pledge Of 500 GW Green Energy Capacity By 2030 (Forbes)
Forbes [2/12/2025 2:34 PM, Gaurav Sharma, 102611K]
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has reiterated a pledge to more than double his country’s current renewable energy capacity to 500 gigawatts.
Speaking at the ongoing India Energy Week 2025 international conference in New Delhi, India on Tuesday, Modi said the success of the drive, and indeed his country’s wider ambitions would depend, or rather be rooted, on what he described as "key five pillars.".
The prime minister said these would include "resource availability, a skilled workforce, economic strength, political stability, and strategic geography.".Modi described these as imperatives because not only were reliable sources of energy a necessity for India’s burgeoning economy but that the energy sector itself was part of Indian economic progress.
This journey included having moved from the world’s tenth-largest to being its fifth-largest in the space of a decade, and being tipped by many forecasters to be its third-largest by 2030.
Accompanying this economic growth was also India’s ascent to being the world’s third-largest solar power generator, its position as a nation accounting for over 25% of the world’s oil demand growth in 2025, and its fourth-largest refining hub.
Noting that traditional and renewable energy go hand in hand, Modi said India would not water down its sustainability agenda, and went to add that the country is also more than "well positioned" to achieve net zero emissions for its railways and produce 5 million metric tons of green hydrogen per year by 2030, alongside his longstanding pledge of 500 GW of green energy capacity.
He also noted that India remains on track to achieve its target of a 20% ethanol blend in its fuel mix by October 2025, contributing to a "significant" reduction in emissions and foreign exchange savings on traditional fuel imports.
All of these positive developments matter with the sum of them being quite profound both for India and the world, Modi noted further.
"Every expert of the world is saying that the 21st Century belongs to India. India is not only driving its own growth but also driving the world’s growth, and our energy sector plays a very big role in this.".
Modi further said that during India’s G20 presidency, the Global Biofuel Alliance was established and is continuously expanding. It currently involves 28 nations and 12 international organizations.
The prime minister said that the alliance is transforming waste into wealth and setting up centers of excellence in India and around the world.
However, Modi added that India is continuously working towards to fully exploring the potential of its hydrocarbon resources, with major discoveries and extensive expansion of natural gas infrastructure contributing to the growth of the gas sector, as well as increasing the share of natural gas in India’s energy mix.
Such pro-hydrocarbon exploration overtures are designed to reduce India’s reliance on the global crude market. Delhi currently services nearly 90% of its liquids demand via imports. It is also looking to improve its competitiveness as a regional refining hub carrying an ambition of raising its capacity by a further 20%, despite already being the world’s fourth-largest. Why India fails to protect its domestic workers despite decades of abuse (BBC)
BBC [2/12/2025 5:18 PM, Cherylann Mollan, 76163K]
Smitha (not her real name), a domestic helper in Delhi for 28 years, can’t forget the day she was beaten in public by one of her employers.
The woman had accused Smitha - a Dalit woman from the most discriminated against caste in Hinduism’s entrenched social hierarchy - of stealing her daughter’s earrings and then refused to pay her.
"After many requests, I confronted her in public. That’s when she started abusing and hitting me. I held her hands to stop the abuse but the guards came and dragged me out of the housing society and locked the gate," Smitha says.
She was eventually paid – a measly 1,000 rupees [$11; £9] for a month of sweeping, mopping and washing dishes – after a more sympathetic family intervened on her behalf. But she was banned from entering the housing community and did not bother going to the police as she believed they would not take action.
Smitha’s story is one among hundreds of thousands of accounts of mistreatment, abuse and sexual assault reported by India’s domestic workers. Most are women and many are migrants within the country, belonging to castes that are looked down upon.
Last month, India’s Supreme Court raised concerns over their exploitation and asked the federal government to look into creating a law to protect them from abuse.
But this isn’t the first time that an attempt has been made to create such a legal framework. Despite years of advocacy by various groups and federal ministries, no such law has ever been passed.
Separate bills proposed in 2008 and 2016, aimed at registering domestic workers and improving their working conditions, have not yet been passed. A national policy drafted in 2019 aimed at including domestic workers under existing labour laws has not been implemented.
Sonia George of the Self Employed Women’s Association (Sewa), who was part of the task force that formulated the draft policy, calls it one of the "most comprehensive policies for domestic workers" yet, but says that successive governments have failed to implement it.
As a result, India’s vast army of domestic helpers must rely on employer goodwill for basics such as wages or leave or even a baseline of respect. According to official statistics, India has 4.75 million domestic workers, including three million women. But the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates the true numbers to be between 20 and 80 million.
"We have a patronising relationship with the help and not a labour employment relationship," says Professor Neetha N from the Centre for Women’s Development Studies.
"This maintains the status quo and is one of the biggest hurdles to regulating and legalising domestic work.".
As things stand, private homes are not considered to be an establishment or workplace, so domestic work falls outside the purview of social protections such as minimum wages, the right to safe working conditions, the right to unionise and access to social security schemes.
At least 14 Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, have mandated minimum wages for domestic workers and some federal laws, like India’s anti-sexual harassment and child labour laws, include domestic workers in their scope.
But there is very little awareness among domestic workers that they can take advantage of these provisions, Ms George says, adding that the nature of the profession also poses challenges.
Workers are scattered and there is no mechanism to register or even identify them as they generally don’t sign any kind of contract with their employers.
"We will need to set up systems to register domestic workers - getting over their ‘invisibility’ is a big step towards regularising the profession," she says.
That applies to employers too. "They are completely invisible in the system and hence escape accountability and responsibility," Ms George says.
The caste system also poses further complexities - workers from some castes may agree to clean toilets in a home while others from slightly different castes may not.
Ultimately the whole concept of domestic work should be redefined, Ms George says. "Domestic work is considered to be unskilled work but that is not the case in reality. You cannot care for a sick person or cook a meal without being skilled," she adds.
In addition to failing to pass its own laws or implement its own policy, India has also not yet ratified ILO’s Convention 189 – a landmark international agreement that aims to ensure that domestic workers have the same rights and protections as other workers. Despite voting in favour of the convention in 2011, India does not yet conform to all its provisions.
India has a "moral obligation" to conform to the ILO convention, Ms George says. She adds that having a law will also help regulate private recruitment agencies and prevent the exploitation of domestic workers who go abroad to work.
Last year, the wealthy Hinduja family made headlines after a Swiss court found them guilty of exploiting their domestic workers. The family was accused of trafficking, external vulnerable Indians to Switzerland and forcing them, external to work in their mansion for excruciatingly long hours without proper pay. The family’s lawyers said they would appeal against the verdict.
Perhaps the simplest explanation for decades of inaction in the face of a tide of abuses lies in the conflict of interest such regulation poses for India’s decision makers, Ms George suggests.
"At the end of the day, the people at the table who have the power to sign off on a bill or a law are also employers of domestic workers and the ones who benefit from the status quo," she says. "So, for any real change in the system, we first need a change in our mindset.". NSB
U.N. Calls Bangladesh Protest Crackdown a Possible Crime Against Humanity (New York Times)
New York Times [2/12/2025 4:14 PM, Nick Cummings-Bruce, 831K]
The brutal crackdown on student protesters last year by Bangladesh’s former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, killed as many as 1,400 people, a toll much higher than previously estimated, according to a U.N. report issued on Wednesday.
Ms. Hasina’s violent response to the student-led revolt, which ultimately ended her 15-year rule, involved extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and torture, according to a U.N. fact-finding mission. The actions by Ms. Hasina and senior Bangladeshi officials possibly amounted to crimes against humanity, the U.N. report said.“The testimonies and evidence we gathered paint a disturbing picture of rampant state violence and targeted killings that are amongst the most serious violations of human rights, and which may also constitute international crimes,” Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, said in a statement.
It is clear that “the top echelons of the former government were aware and in fact involved in the commission of very serious violations,” Mr. Türk told reporters. Abuses included torture and ill-treatment of children and sexual violence against women, he said.
Ms. Hasina fled to India in August as the student protesters descended on her home. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to harbor her as she uses her perch in India to intervene in Bangladesh’s politics, complicating the interim government’s efforts to rebuild the country’s democracy.
The caretaker administration, led by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has applied for Ms. Hasina’s extradition on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The Indian government, long an ally of Ms. Hasina, has shown no sign of complying with the request.
The U.N. report examined clashes involving Ms. Hasina’s security forces, supporters of her political party and antigovernment protesters during a three-week period from July 15 to Aug. 5.
The great majority of those killed — 12 or 13 percent of whom were children, the United Nations estimated — were shot by security forces. Thousands of people suffered life-changing injuries from high-caliber rifles and shotguns often fired at close range, it said.
The U.N. fact-finding team’s 103-page report relied mainly on more than 230 interviews, including with protest leaders as well as current and former police and security officials. It also drew on video and geolocation technology to reconstruct and corroborate accounts of the protests.
According to graphic witness testimony, the police used an anti-riot vehicle to run over protesters while firing at them. In another case, a protester described how a police officer had shot and killed a wounded demonstrator she was holding in her arms, and then had shot at her.
In addition to the hundreds of young protesters killed, the police said that 44 of their officers had died during the demonstrations. Mr. Türk said that investigators had documented acts of revenge against supporters of Ms. Hasina’s political party after the protests, as well as against the police and some religious and Indigenous minorities.
The United Nations called for an investigation to determine criminal responsibility for the violations.
Mr. Türk said that many cases had already been filed with Bangladesh’s domestic tribunal handling international crimes. But he noted “challenges and deficiencies” in the Bangladeshi legal system and flagged the possibility of pursuing cases through countries with universal jurisdiction or through the International Criminal Court.
Mr. Türk emphasized the importance of legal accountability in helping Bangladesh transition out of its descent into authoritarianism and break the cycles of violence that have long shadowed Bangladeshi politics.
The release of the U.N. report came after a flare-up of political violence this month ignited by a speech that Ms. Hasina broadcast from India. Angry students bulldozed and set fire to a museum that had once been the residence of Ms. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a founder of Bangladesh.
The students then clashed with supporters of Ms. Hasina’s party, which the interim government has barred from participating in the effort to remake the country’s political system.
The violence prompted the government to launch what it called Operation Devil Hunt, in which police and paramilitary units arrested more than 1,300 people, officials said. UN rights office estimates up to 1,400 killed in crackdown on protests in Bangladesh (AP)
AP [2/12/2025 7:25 AM, Jamey Keaten, 456K]
The U.N. human rights office on Wednesday estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks last summer in a crackdown on student-led protests against the now-ousted former prime minister.
In a new report, the Geneva-based office says security and intelligence services “systematically engaged” in rights violations that could amount to crimes against humanity and require further investigation.
Citing “various credible sources,” the rights office said it estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed in the protests between July 15 and Aug. 5 — the day longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India amid the uprising.
Thousands more were injured in the weeks leading up to and after the protests, and the vast majority of those killed and injured “were shot by Bangladesh’s security forces,” the report said.
Over 11,700 people were detained, the report said, citing information from security services. It said that about 12 to 13% of people estimated to have be killed —- or as many as about 180 people — were children.
In some cases, “security forces engaged in summary executions by deliberately shooting unarmed protesters at point blank range,” it said.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk cited signs that “extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture” were conducted with the knowledge and coordination of the political leadership and top security officials as a way to suppress the protests.
The U.N. fact-finding team was deployed to Bangladesh at the invitation of the country’s interim leader, the Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, to look into the uprising and violent crackdown.
The team of investigators said the interim government has reportedly made 100 arrests in connection with attacks on religious and indigenous groups. The report said “many perpetrators of acts of revenge, violence and attacks on distinct groups apparently continue to enjoy impunity.”
The human rights situation in Bangladesh continues to raise concerns, the U.N. office said.
While the government has changed, “the system has not necessarily changed,” Rory Mungoven, head of the rights office’s Asia-Pacific region, told reporters. “Many officials and people who had served or been appointed under the previous regime continue to function,” he said.
Such a situation creates “a potential conflict of interest” and could impede reforms and accountability, Mungoven added.
The investigators issued dozens of recommendations to the government, such as steps to improve the justice system and setting up a witness protection program. It also recommended banning the use of lethal firearms by security forces to disperse crowds unless they are faced with “imminent threat of death or serious injury.”
In a statement after the report was published, Yunus reiterated his government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and said it was crucial to reform the country’s law enforcement and justice sectors.“I call on everyone working inside these institutions to side with justice, the law, and the people of Bangladesh in holding to account their own peers and others who have broken the law and violated the human and civil rights of their fellow citizens,” he said.
What began as peaceful demonstrations by students frustrated with a quota system for government jobs unexpectedly grew into a major uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.
A High Court decision in early June that reinstated the quota system was the “immediate trigger” to the protests, which were also fueled by long standing grievances about economic inequality and a lack of rights, the report said. UN reports grave rights violations in Bangladesh protest response (Reuters)
Reuters [2/12/2025 8:23 PM, Olivia Le Poidevin and Sudipto Ganguly, 5.2M]
Officials from Bangladesh’s former government and security apparatus systematically committed serious human rights violations against protesters staging mass demonstrations last summer, the U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday.
Presenting the report of a fact-finding mission, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told reporters in Geneva that crimes against humanity may have been carried out amid a climate of fear and mass arrests.
Testimony from senior Bangladesh officials and other evidence showed an official policy to attack and violently repress anti-government protesters and sympathisers, the report said.
The U.N. called for urgent further criminal investigation into the violations.
The protests began as a student-led movement against public sector job quotas but quickly morphed into a broader, nationwide uprising that forced then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India as the unrest peaked in early August.
Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, corruption and money laundering and Dhaka has asked New Delhi to extradite her.
Hasina and her party deny wrongdoing, while New Delhi has not responded to the extradition request. Neither Hasina nor officials of her Awami League party could be reached for comment on the U.N. Human Rights report.
The U.N. fact-finding mission visited Bangladesh at the invitation of the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. In a statement, the interim government expressed "deep regret" at the U.N. report, reiterating a commitment "to prosecute all perpetrators of violence."
When asked for examples of the worse violations found in the report, Turk told Reuters: "It’s a very brutal read; 78% of the over 1,000 people killed was by firing - military rifles, shotguns with pellets." Others suffered "horrific", life-changing injuries, he added.
He told reporters: "Top echelons of the previous government were aware and were involved in the commission of very serious violations, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and suppression of the protests through violence." UN: Up to 1,400 killed in Bangladesh protests crackdown (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [2/12/2025 12:11 PM, Mark Hallam, 13448K]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Wednesday that officials from Bangladesh’s former government systematically committed serious human rights violations as they tried to suppress protests that ultimately toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government last year.
Presenting results from a fact-finding mission, Turk also told reporters in Geneva that crimes against humanity may have been carried out.The report included testimony from senior Bangladesh officials and other evidence showing an official policy to attack and violently repress anti-government protesters and sympathizers.
What did the UN’s Volker Turk say?
"It’s a very brutal read; 78% of the over 1,000 people killed was by firing — military rifles, shotguns with pellets," Turk told Reuters news agency when asked for some of the worst examples from the report. Others suffered "horrific," life-changing injuries, he said.
"Top echelons of the previous government were aware and were involved in the commission of very serious violations, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and suppression of the protests through violence," he told reporters in Switzerland.
Citing "various credible sources," the report estimated that up to 1,400 people might have been killed in the crackdown.
Who was Sheikh Hasina, when did her government fall?
Hasina was in power from 1996 to 2001 and from 2009 to August 5, 2024. Her father, the country’s founding president after independence from Pakistan, was assassinated in 1975.
The protests began as a student-led movement against public sector job quotas but quickly morphed into a broader, nationwide uprising that forced her to resign and flee to India as the unrest peaked in early August.
The new government in Dhaka, led by Muhammad Yunus, has asked Delhi to extradite her. She is being investigated on suspicion of crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, corruption, and money laundering.
Hasina and her Awami League party deny any wrongdoing. New Delhi, with close and longstanding ties to the Hasina family deemed friendly to Bangladesh’s minority Hindu population, is yet to respond the extradition request. Hasina has shown little sign of remorse and little intent to take a back seat in exile.
Bangladesh’s new government has been struggling to contain protests by Hasina supporters recently, making many arrests itself.
Yunus’ interim government aims ‘to prosecute all perpetrators’.
The interim government in Dhaka expressed "deep regret" at the findings of the UN report on Wednesday, and said it planned "to prosecute all perpetrators of violence.".
"I call on everyone working inside these institutions to side with justice, the law, and the people of Bangladesh in holding to account their own peers and others who have broken the law and violated the human and civil rights of their fellow citizens," Nobel laureate Yunus said in a statement issued after the report’s release.
The UN fact-finding mission visited Bangladesh at the behest of Yunus’ administration.
The report also said more than 11,700 people were detained during the crackdown.
It estimated that between 12-13% of those killed were minors.
In some cases, "security forces engaged in summary executions by deliberately shooting unarmed protesters at point blank range," it said. Bangladesh: Uphold Impartiality in Law Enforcement (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [2/12/2025 9:00 PM, Staff, 1.7M]
The interim government in Bangladesh should ensure that security forces act with neutrality and respect the rule of law to prosecute political violence, Human Rights Watch said today. A United Nations report has found that law enforcement agencies, including the police, border guards, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and intelligence agencies, had engaged in serious human rights violations to contain the protests that in August 2024 led to the ouster of the former repressive government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
An interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has pledged security sector reform. However, it has deployed security forces, including the military, for “Operation Devil Hunt,” arresting nearly 2,000 people, mostly supporters of Hasina’s deposed Awami League government.“Bangladesh is politically polarised after decades of repression by the Awami League government, but the authorities should not repeat mistakes of the past and should instead ensure impartial rule of law,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “As the United Nations has said, the interim government should focus on urgent reforms to the political system and economic governance.”
The UN report found that the violations included extrajudicial killings, indiscriminate firing, and mass arrests and torture, and it estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed between July 1 and August 15, the vast majority shot by Bangladesh’s security forces. The report described “a disturbing picture” in which “accountability and justice are essential for national healing.”
The recent violence began as Sheikh Hasina announced that she would address her supporters online on February 7, while in exile in India. This announcement led to a furious protest by students and others that had forced her to step down, including by attacking properties belonging to her family or party leaders. They also demolished the home of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the independence war against Pakistan. The home had been turned into a memorial museum.
Operation Devil Hunt was launched after a clash between Awami League members and student protesters on February 8. Awami League supporters, in an attempt to block a group of students from attacking the home of a former minister, caused serious injuries. The interim government said that the security operation would target groups “linked to the fallen autocratic regime,” describing them as “devils.”
The interim government has criticized Hasina for inciting violence and has asked India to extradite her to face trial. Yunus has also called for calm, saying: “Respecting the rule of law is what differentiates the new Bangladesh we are working together to build from the old Bangladesh under the fascist regime.”
However, the government should also recognize that the right to peaceful assembly and protest, even by supporters of the former authoritarian government, is a fundamental right protected under international law, Human Rights Watch said. International human rights standards provide that law enforcement agencies should protect and facilitate that right and should apply nonviolent means as much as possible before resorting to the use of force.
The Yunus government has an important task of ensuring order. It should consider bringing a consensus resolution at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session in March to request technical assistance, further investigations, and monitoring and reporting by UN-backed human rights experts. The resolution should also acknowledge the tyranny of the previous administration and recognize positive human rights steps taken by the interim government.“Bangladeshis are angry over the repression by the Hasina administration and they deserve justice and accountability, but it has to be a rights-respecting manner,” Ganguly said. “All crimes, including mob violence, should be punished, but when authority figures characterize opponents as the ‘devil,’ it can fuel abuses by security forces that have never faced accountability.” Adani Green Exits Wind Projects in Sri Lanka Due to Tariffs (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/13/2025 2:40 AM, Sanjai P R, 5.5M]
Adani Green Energy Ltd. won’t build two wind power projects in Sri Lanka after the new government sought lower tariffs, the latest setback to the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate’s overseas ambitions.
The projects and associated transmission lines would have seen an investment of about $1 billion in Sri Lanka, according to a letter from Adani Group dated Feb. 12 and seen by Bloomberg News that conveyed the decision to withdraw. A company spokesperson confirmed the content of the letter.
Sri Lanka, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, was looking to reduce power prices for the proposed wind projects in Mannar and Pooneryn to less than 6 US cents, cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said last month. The previous administration agreed to buy electricity at 8.26 US cents.
The tussle over tariffs is the latest blow to the port-to-power conglomerate’s global ambitions after facing setbacks in Bangladesh over unpaid dues and in Kenya, where its proposed infrastructure projects were scrapped in the wake of a US bribery probe against billionaire Adani.
The group is looking to expand its energy portfolio outside India, a likely hedge against the challenges within the country, including getting transmission connectivity and finding ready buyers of electricity.
Sri Lanka offered Adani great scope to expand its wind portfolio, currently a small portion of its generation mix. The group had plans to ship renewable power to India, following plans for the two nations to link their grids.
Adani Green’s shares were trading 1.4% higher at 1:03 p.m in Mumbai. Central Asia
Washington forum takes on Central Asia water insecurity (VOA)
VOA [2/12/2025 9:05 PM, Navbahor Imamova, 2.7M]
Central Asia has a growing population, rising economic demand and severe water shortages that require greater coordination among governments and international aid groups to build out crucially needed water infrastructure, experts on the region say.“There is no solution to these water problems without political solutions to regional problems involving regional integration to a unique degree,” Wesley Alexander Hill, lead analyst at the International Tax and Investment Center, said last week at an Atlantic Council forum in Washington.
Hill explained that the origins of major rivers in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan largely depend on sources in Russia, China and Afghanistan.
He also highlighted China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has pledged water investments in Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan’s construction of the Qosh Tepa Canal, which threatens to reduce water flow from the Hindu Kush into downstream countries such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Central Asian governments over the years have sought water-related agreements with Moscow, Beijing and Kabul.
Hill said that modernizing water infrastructure in these countries presents economic opportunities.“Investing in Central Asian water infrastructure and resources isn’t a charity project,” he said. “It can actually be quite profitable. There’s plenty of money to be made not just by Chinese and Russian companies, but, hopefully, by American and European companies as well, in areas like relining canals.”
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez, president of Second Floor Strategies, underscored the need for “realistic and rational policy recommendations” to achieve water security in Central Asia.“We encourage local governments to implement technologies like water-measuring systems, drip irrigation and graywater recycling,” Sanchez told attendees at the forum.
He also called for policymakers to ensure accountability and transparency, given Central Asia’s well-documented record of corruption and embezzlement. He suggested that water security projects be monitored by international auditing agencies to build public trust.
The Atlantic Council panelists also proposed restructuring the region’s Interstate Commission for Water Coordination, created in 1992, into a more effective Central Asia Water Council or permanent administrative office.
The Central Asian governments already have their own initiatives. Tajikistan, for example, leads the Dushanbe Water Process, while Kazakhstan plans to host the Central Asian Water Environmental Summit next year.
Sanchez and his colleagues encouraged the Central Asian republics, whose representatives were at the forum, to work not only with the United States but also with European and Asian partners, including the Netherlands, France, South Korea and Japan.
Sanchez acknowledged that achieving unity and cooperation remains a challenge, given regional geopolitics and domestic priorities.“Ultimately, no individual Central Asian state can achieve total water security and water independence without cooperating with its neighbors and significantly improving water management,” he said.
For decades, international organizations and researchers have warned about the ecological disaster unfolding in Central Asia, particularly the shrinking of the Aral Sea, which has lost most of its volume since the 1960s. The Caspian Sea, the region’s only remaining major body of water, is also drying up.
Ariel Cohen, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who was also on the panel, pointed to deteriorating infrastructure as a key issue.“A lot of water is lost because modern irrigation technologies are not used. You still have Soviet-era canals, or even pre-Soviet traditional canals, that are just dug into the ground without any protection from evaporation or dissipation,” Cohen said. “Moving to pipe distribution of water, drip irrigation and sprinklers will probably save 50% of water consumption and move the region toward much more balanced water management.”
The experts estimate that modernization will cost billions of dollars, and the question of where that funding will come from remains open.“If it’s not going to be the U.S., it’s going to be somebody else. The best-case scenario? If it’s not us [the U.S.], it’s the Europeans. Worst-case scenario? It’s the Chinese,” said Cohen.
It remains to be seen, other analysts listening to the panel said, whether the Trump administration’s "America First" policy would support such involvement.“Often, when we talk about U.S.-Central Asia relations, we focus on the big picture,” said Sanchez. “We need to diversify engagement between the U.S. and Central Asia.”
Water security and environmental protection are high-impact initiatives, he argued, that will not only strengthen ties but also improve the image of the U.S. in Central Asia.“We also want the people of Central Asia to see the United States as a friend,” Sanchez said. Twitter
Afghanistan
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[2/12/2025 11:30 AM, 30.6K followers, 46 retweets, 175 likes]
ICYMI: I joined @mattgaetz on @OANN for a big chunk of the show. We talked about how our #wartimeallies, both #SIVs & #refugees, are fully vetted & make our country great. Matt pointed out the great danger of abandoning our allies & putting future American warriors at risk.
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[2/12/2025 8:35 AM, 30.6K followers, 67 retweets, 277 likes]
Matt is right, abandoning our allies will impact us in future wars. We absolutely mustn’t leave our #wartimeallies behind and that’s why we need @POTUS to fix these unintended consequences by exempting #EnduringWelcome travelers from the executive orders targeting immigration.
Bilal Sarwary@bsarwary
[2/11/2025 4:21 AM, 254.9K followers, 40 retweets, 114 likes]
At least 30 members of Taliban security forces among those killed, and at least 40 members of Taliban wounded, when they were targeted in an explosion at a local bank in Kundoz city in northern Afghanistan. The attack comes in light of these two letters warning Taliban security forces about attacks during times of receiving salaries at local banks. This attack has the hallmark of ISKP, although only yesterday Taliban spokesperson played down the presence of the group, but it is clearly posing a potent threat to Taliban.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[2/12/2025 12:53 PM, 247.5K followers, 134 retweets, 185 likes]
The Taliban’s Minister of Education says that the ban on female education aligns with Islam and that their supreme leader is merely a servant of God, enforcing divine orders. He admits he cannot guarantee when, if ever, girls will be allowed to return to school. Pakistan
Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan@PakPMO
[2/12/2025 2:56 PM, 3.7M followers, 23 retweets, 110 likes]
Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency Mr. Rafael Mariano Grossi called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad. February 12, 2025
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan
@ForeignOfficePk
[2/12/2025 9:52 AM, 480.9K followers, 16 retweets, 30 likes]
Foreign Secretary, Amna Baloch @amnabaloch4 spoke today at the International Conference organized by the Pakistan chapter of @WiN_IAEA. She emphasized the significant role of women of Pakistan in key fields such as; nuclear safety & security, nuclear medicine, radiation oncology, radiology, agriculture, biotechnology, medical physics, radiopharmaceutical production, and nuclear energy development. To further advance women’s contributions in nuclear and emerging fields, she proposed to:- Empower young women to pursue careers in nuclear science & emerging technologies.- Recognize & amplify the contributions of women in policy/decision-making.- Expand international collaborations, exchange programs & research partnerships.- Strengthen international collaboration, exchange programs & research partnerships.- Build stronger connections among academia-industry-government.- Expand mentorship, networking & capacity-building of @WIN_PAKISTAN.
@Mofa will continue to support initiatives and programs of WIN_PAKISTAN India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/12/2025 10:46 PM, 105.2M followers, 1.7K retweets, 10K likes]
Happy World Radio Day! Radio has been a timeless lifeline for several people—informing, inspiring and connecting people. From news and culture to music and storytelling, it is a powerful medium that celebrates creativity. I compliment all those associated with the world of radio. I also invite you all to share your ideas and inputs for this month’s #MannKiBaat, which will take place on the 23rd. https://mygov.in/group-issue/in
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/12/2025 8:18 PM, 105.2M followers, 12K retweets, 94K likes]
Met USA’s Director of National Intelligence, @TulsiGabbard in Washington DC. Congratulated her on her confirmation. Discussed various aspects of the India-USA friendship, of which she’s always been a strong votary.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/12/2025 7:34 PM, 105.2M followers, 4.2K retweets, 31K likes]
A warm reception in the winter chill! Despite the cold weather, the Indian diaspora in Washington DC has welcomed me with a very special welcome. My gratitude to them.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/12/2025 7:02 PM, 105.2M followers, 7.7K retweets, 54K likes]
Landed in Washington DC a short while ago. Looking forward to meeting @POTUS Donald Trump and building upon the India-USA Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Our nations will keep working closely for the benefit of our people and for a better future for our planet. @realDonaldTrump
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/12/2025 8:45 AM, 105.2M followers, 9.3K retweets, 71K likes]
Thank you France! A productive visit concludes, where I attended programmes ranging from AI, commerce, energy and cultural linkages. Gratitude to President @EmmanuelMacron and the people of France.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/12/2025 5:31 AM, 105.2M followers, 4.9K retweets, 32K likes]
A historic moment in Marseille! President @EmmanuelMacron and I inaugurated the Indian Consulate in this vibrant city, marking a new chapter in India-France ties. This consulate will serve as an important bridge, strengthening our cultural, economic and people-to-people connections. Marseille’s links with India are well known. During the First World War, it was an important base for Indian troops. This city has a close link with Veer Savarkar as well. On this special opening, I thank the French Government and congratulate the Indian diaspora.
Vice-President of India@VPIndia
[2/12/2025 4:09 AM, 1.6M followers, 61 retweets, 255 likes]
A Parliamentary delegation from Maldives, led by the Speaker of People’s Majlis, Republic of Madives, H.E. Mr. Abdul Raheem Abdulla, called on the Hon’ble Vice-President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar at Vice-President’s Enclave today. Discussions touched upon various aspects of the bilateral relationship between India and Maldives, including parliamentary exchanges and people-to-people contacts between the two nations. @Banafsaa @mvpeoplesmajlis @MEAIndia @Medha_kulkarni @sharmarekha @MukulWasnik @rgirirajanmp @sasmitpatra
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/12/2025 10:56 PM, 218.4K followers, 6 retweets, 59 likes]
Everyone’s talking about Russia/Ukraine and China, but two other countries are likely to figure in the Trump-Modi summit: Bangladesh: Important, worrisome issue for New Delhi. Biden’s support for Yunus was a US-India tension point. Modi’ll want Trump to see things differently.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/12/2025 10:56 PM, 218.4K followers, 2 retweets, 13 likes]
Iran: Modi may seek clarity on how Trump’s "maximum pressure" policy on Iran could impact India’s development of Chabahar port--a key part of India’s efforts to increase trade/connectivity with Central Asia (via Iran/Afghanistan). A risk the policy could scuttle India’s plans.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/12/2025 7:35 PM, 218.4K followers, 4 retweets, 13 likes]
With Modi now in DC, worth flagging two new developments that may give a lift to U.S.-India ties: Trump’s call w/Putin, which can bring attention to the convergent views of Trump & Modi on Ukraine, and Trump’s pause on the FCPS, which might help Gautam Adani, a close Modi friend.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/12/2025 2:15 PM, 218.4K followers, 235 retweets, 811 likes] Paul Kapur, a scholar of South Asian security, has been nominated by President Trump to succeed Donald Lu at State. Like others already in the administration, Kapur is a strong backer of US-India partnership and a harsh critic of Pakistan. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/paul-kapur-is-trump-s-nominee-for-top-state-south-asia-job-101739378918970.html
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[2/12/2025 3:59 PM, 621.5K followers, 476 retweets, 1.1K likes]
Indian media need to show this to Indian people and tell them how Modi has been an enabler of Hasina’s mass killings and massive human rights violations in Bangladesh. https://x.com/i/status/1889781457490493864
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[2/12/2025 8:53 AM, 621.5K followers, 315 retweets, 990 likes]
Modi claims to have a BA degree from Delhi University. However, Delhi University refuses to provide information to Delhi High Court. Have you ever seen an institution refuse to take credit for one of its alumni, especially when that guy is country’s PM? https://scroll.in/latest/1079059/modi-degree-case-is-there-any-public-interest-delhi-high-court-asks-rti-applicant
Richard Rossow@RichardRossow
[2/12/2025 1:30 PM, 29.8K followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes]
My short & sharp "asked & answered" video for @CSIS on expectations for Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with President Trump this week. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ijT5VPvZz9c NSB
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[2/12/2025 2:15 PM, 81.2K followers, 10 retweets, 108 likes]
OHCHR’s report, at the invitation of Bangladesh’s Interim Government, reveals grave human rights violations by the Sheikh Hasina-led government, Awami League allies, and security agencies, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and disproportionate force. #Bangladesh
David Bergman@TheDavidBergman
[2/12/2025 6:26 AM, 83.3K followers, 52 retweets, 280 likes]
I must say, reading through the UN Bangladesh report, not only is it a detailed indictment of senior echelons of the Awami League government itself, it also presents a devastating picture of the Awami League as a party, many of whose student and youth activists collaborated with the police in the violent suppression of the protests.
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[2/12/2025 3:07 PM, 621.5K followers, 136 retweets, 449 likes]
The UN human rights office estimates that up to 1,400 protesters may have been killed in Bangladesh between July 15 and August 5, the day Hasina fled to India. This is no less a genocide, Modi should hand over Hasina to ICC.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/13/2025 1:52 AM, 145.5K followers, 5 retweets, 66 likes]
I returned to Sri Lanka after a successful three-day official visit to the UAE, where I attended the World Governments Summit 2025. Productive discussions with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and global industry leaders have paved the way for stronger bilateral ties and investment opportunities.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/12/2025 12:39 PM, 145.5K followers, 12 retweets, 119 likes]
Today (12) at the @WorldGovSummit 2025, I emphasized that global climate issues affect us all, regardless of wealth or status. We must unite as global citizens to tackle these transnational challenges. Together, let’s rebuild a sustainable future that prioritizes social justice and empowers every community!
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/12/2025 12:30 PM, 145.5K followers, 28 retweets, 240 likes]
I met with @Oracle Corporation’s Executive Vice President Mike Sicilia at the World Governments Summit! Excited about the potential for Sri Lanka’s digital transformation through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Together, we can pave the way for a cashless economy and position Sri Lanka as a leader in AI-driven solutions!
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/12/2025 8:34 AM, 145.5K followers, 24 retweets, 172 likes]
Addressing the @WorldGovSummit 2025 https://x.com/i/status/1889669432135323850M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[2/12/2025 10:08 AM, 7.8K followers, 1 retweet, 7 likes]
Taking decisions to forward indictments and discharge suspects, based on the material available, with dispassionate disregard to the political repercussions or public approval or disapproval of such decisions, is the hallmark of an independent Attorney General’s Department. Legal Officers Association!
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[2/12/2025 8:11 AM, 7.8K followers, 24 retweets, 159 likes]
The President is the head of state, the face of the nation, and the constitutional choice of the majority. Regardless of one’s political views, respecting the office is essential for the dignity of our country. Insulting the President is akin to disrespecting the nation itself. While such behavior may have been normalized in the past, two wrongs do not make a right. As a society, we must rise above personal animosities and uphold the values of civility and respect in public discourse. Central Asia
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[2/12/2025 10:44 AM, 2.7K followers, 8 likes]
Was delighted to meet with @RepShreve and brief him on Kazakhstan’s priorities and the strong ties between Kazakhs and Hoosiers. Wishing you a productive and impactful tenure in Congress.
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[2/12/2025 10:16 PM, 2.7K followers, 1 retweet, 8 likes]
Honored to discuss new horizons for KZ-US cooperation with Senator @SteveDaines. Appreciate his leadership in strengthening ties and elevating Kazakhstan’s and Central Asia’s visibility in the U.S. Congress. Ready to work together in a new environment to advance our partnership.
Saida Mirziyoyeva@SMirziyoyeva
[2/12/2025 12:17 PM, 21.5K followers, 1 retweet, 19 likes]
Met with U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Henick to discuss strengthening bilateral ties under the new U.S. administration. We also exchanged views on expanding opportunities for women, enhancing the education sector, and deepening trade and economic cooperation.
Peter Leonard@Peter__Leonard
[2/12/2025 11:54 AM, 21.6K followers, 12 likes]
Powerful daughter of Uzbekistan’s president enjoys cheerful meeting with U.S. ambassador to discuss "mutually beneficial cooperation with new U.S. administration" in scenes that will make tinfoil hat-wearing Kremlobots break into hives https://t.me/SShMirziyoyeva Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[2/12/2025 12:34 AM, 28.7K followers, 3 retweets, 10 likes]
Timely piece on risks of over-tourism in #Uzbekistan - these days visiting jewels in the crown on the tourist trail can be unpleasant because of the crowds and the Disneyfication. Important to balance drawing tourists with preserving what draws them! https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250207-the-dark-side-of-uzbekistans-tourism-boom
Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[2/12/2025 9:41 AM, 28.7K followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
Terse Supreme Court statement fails to shed light on closed trial over Allamjonov shooting https://t.me/AzizAbidov/5857 Senior security officials involved in assassination attempt against ex-senior official - don’t the public deserve answers? Even motive is undisclosed #Uzbekistan{End of Report} To subscribe to the SCA Morning Press Clips, please email SCA-PressOfficers@state.gov. Please do not reply directly to this email.