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 6, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
What does the suspension of US aid mean for Afghanistan? (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [2/5/2025 9:11 AM, Masood Saifullah, 13448K, Neutral]
Moves by US President Donald Trump suspending US foreign development assistance while curtailing the operations of USAID threaten to have a major impact on Afghanistan, which is dependent on outside help for essential services.
Despite withdrawing from Afghanistan in August 2021, the US has remained the country’s largest donor.
According to a report by the Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Washington has "appropriated or otherwise made available more than $21 billion in assistance to Afghanistan and to Afghan refugees" since the Taliban seized full control of the country.
The US maintains that aid funds are directed toward the Afghan people, with safeguards in place to prevent the Taliban from accessing them.
Taliban facing ‘chaos’
However, the Taliban have indirectly benefited from the flow of US dollars, which has helped stabilize the Afghan currency and mitigate the risk of rapid inflation. The suspension of US aid threatens to upend this fragile balance.
"Stopping US foreign aid, including USAID funding, has caused chaos among the Taliban," Ghaus Janbaz, a former Afghan diplomat, told DW.
Many experts argue that foreign aid to Afghanistan, including the hundreds of millions provided annually by the US, has inadvertently helped the Taliban maintain control over the country.With the flow of funds drying up, they believe the Taliban could either succumb to international demands or face stronger opposition from within Afghanistan.
"In the past three years, the Taliban have failed to establish a self-sustaining economy, making them heavily dependent on such aid," Janbaz added.‘Afghan people will pay the price’.
Since regaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have systematically denied women basic rights, including education and work outside the home.
Under Taliban rule, Afghan women are prohibited from showing their faces in public. The issue of women’s rights has remained a major barrier to any country establishing official relations with the Taliban.
As a result, no country in the world has formally recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
The Taliban have also failed to establish an inclusive government or introduce a process for Afghan citizens to participate in public life.
While calls to increase pressure on the Taliban have grown, some caution that cutting vital aid will only lead to greater suffering for the Afghan people.
"According to UN reports, 26 million people in Afghanistan depend on foreign aid for survival," said Wazhma Frogh, an Afghan women’s rights activist based outside the country who works with aid organizations still operating in Afghanistan.
"If humanitarian organizations lose access to funds, they will be unable to provide even the most basic assistance," she told DW.
"The Taliban do not have any agenda for support or development of the Afghan people. The only assistance comes from the UN, international agencies, and Afghan aid organizations," she added, warning that Trump’s decision to cut aid will significantly worsen conditions for ordinary Afghans.
No Trump plan for Afghanistan?
The reduction in aid to Afghanistan is a result of President Trump’s sweeping executive orders, which were not specifically targeted at Afghanistan, but on development aid as a whole.
Afghanistan appears to be on the sidelines right now of Trump’s foreign policy agenda, with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine taking focus.
During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 4, Trump was asked about his plans for Afghanistan by an Afghan journalist.
He responded that he could not understand "her beautiful accent," leaving it unclear whether he genuinely failed to comprehend the question or was avoiding it altogether.
"I don’t think the Trump administration has a plan for Afghanistan yet," said Frogh.
However, Trump has been vocal about his demands from the Taliban — namely the return of military equipment left behind by the US and control over Bagram Airbase, which he claims is now under Chinese influence, a claim the Taliban deny.
According to Janbaz, these remarks do not reflect a concrete US strategy toward Afghanistan but rather serve as part of Trump’s campaign rhetoric.
"Time will reveal how Trump handles Afghanistan, but what is clear is that his approach will not mirror that of the previous administration," Janbaz concluded. We cannot cheer on Afghanistan’s cricket team when Afghan women are being silenced (The Guardian – opinion)
The Guardian [2/6/2025 12:00 AM, Zahra Joya, 83M, Neutral]
Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, Afghan women have been experiencing a situation that is unparalleled in other parts of the world.
Thanks to the Taliban and their obsessive campaign of misogyny, Afghan girls cannot go to secondary school. Women cannot go to public parks, beauty parlours or public buildings.
Women have been banned from almost all forms of paid employment, and have even been stopped from training to be midwives. Girls are being forced into marriage, women are being raped in detention. Women’s voices can’t be heard in public in case they drive men to lustful thoughts.
Thousands of others, like me, have been forced to flee our homeland, living as refugees and exiles across the world, not knowing whether we will ever be able to go home again.
The UN has repeatedly stated that what the Taliban are doing to Afghan women constitutes “crimes against humanity” under international human rights laws. Now, the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) has taken the significant step of requesting arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders to answer to charges of gender persecution.
Yet stories of Afghan women and the oppression they are living under have fallen out of the headlines and, with a few notable exceptions, are rarely covered by the international media. The voices of Afghan women are being silenced at home and ignored by the rest of the world.
On 26 February, Afghanistan will be in the headlines, this time for a different reason, as the Afghan national cricket team walk on to the pitch to play England in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Over the past few months, I and many other Afghan women have been advocating for a boycott of the Afghan cricket team from international events.
We have been told many times – mostly by men – that sport is not political and that such actions will not solve the problems faced by Afghan women.
Our response has been that it is political and that Afghanistan’s cricket team is doing a great job at sportswashing the Taliban’s dark record, especially when you consider that they are representing a country where women are denied access to not just cricket but any kind of sport, at home or internationally.
One of the few remaining sports institutions from the era of the republic, the Afghan cricket team continues to operate within the country and has played in international matches over the past three years, representing the Taliban-controlled state.
The argument that sport is not politics also falls apart when you examine the evidence relating to the Afghan Cricket Board (ACB) and its ties with the regime. Just a few examples: Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network, as well as Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, posed for celebratory photographs with the national team. Since coming to power, the Taliban have appointed Mirwais Ashraf as chair of the national team’s cricket board.
As the oppression of Afghan women has become more extreme and medieval, the contrast between the Taliban’s actions at home and the embracing of their national sports team on the international stage is jarring. What we’re seeing here is a slow creep towards normalisation.
Although nearly four years have passed since the Taliban came to power, and no country has yet formally recognised the group as the de facto government, advocacy efforts on the outside against their overt aggression towards women have shown little strength.
In fact, in recent months, some nations have moved closer to recognising and accepting the regime. For example, a few weeks ago, India’s top diplomat Vikram Misri met Muttaqi in Dubai, a sign that they are seeking engagement.
Afghan women and human rights defenders, including Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel peace prize laureate, have consistently urged the international community to officially recognise the Taliban regime as guilty of operating a system of gender apartheid.
They have pointed to the example of South Africa, where the recognition that the government was committing a crime against humanity by imposing a system of racial apartheid on its population, as the UN did in 1973, was a crucial step in dismantling that system and the regime that was perpetrating it.
Given this precedent, the prospect of the international codification of gender apartheid in Afghanistan could become the achilles heel of the Taliban’s religious despotism.
I, like many other Afghan women, believe that targeting this weakness and investing efforts in its recognition could eventually bring down this oppressive and misogynistic regime.
We feel like we are running out of time. Because what they are doing to women is not normal. Or at least it’s not normal yet. Don’t let sport be used to make us feel like it is. As they say in England, my adopted home, it’s just not cricket. Pakistan
Pakistan issues deadline for Afghan refugees after Trump blocks US resettlement pathway (CNN)
CNN [2/6/2025 4:04 AM, Sophia Saifi and Azaz Syed, 22.4M, Negative]
Shakoofa Khalili was waiting for her husband to return home with bread from the market when she heard their eight-year-old daughter scream from the balcony.
The girl had seen police approach her father in the street outside their safe house in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and ran to confront them.“(She) cried and grabbed the policeman’s hand begging him to let her father go,” Khalili told CNN, as she recounted what she thought was her worst fears coming true.
The family fled Afghanistan in 2022 to escape the Taliban – militant fighters who filled a leadership vacuum left by the withdrawal of the US and its allies after a 20-year war.
Now the family fears they’ll be deported to Afghanistan, following US President Donald Trump’s order to suspend the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), effectively locking out refugees worldwide who had been on a pathway to US resettlement.
Soon after the executive order was signed, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office drafted a three-stage repatriation plan for “Afghan nationals bound for 3rd country resettlement.”
The document, seen by CNN, calls for foreign missions to coordinate the relocation of Afghan nationals out of the capital Islamabad and its twin garrison city of Rawalpindi by March 31, 2025.
If they’re not removed by that date, they will be “repatriated to Afghanistan.”
The plan will impact Afghan nationals who fled to Pakistan fearing possible reprisals from the Taliban for their affiliations with the United States and NATO forces.
Khalili is one of them.
For some Afghans, deportation is ‘a death sentence’
While living in Afghanistan, Khalili worked on a child abuse protection program funded by the US Embassy. She hoped to gain a US visa but ended up trapped in Pakistan, with few options to leave.“For us, who worked alongside the United States, returning to Afghanistan is not just a risk – it is a death sentence,” Khalili told CNN.
This time, her daughter’s pleas to police worked, but although the father and child made it back to the safehouse they call home, Khalili’s daughter has not spoken a word since.“For two days, because of this terrible incident … my daughter fell into a deep silence. She didn’t eat for two days. She talks and screams in her sleep at night,” said Khalili.
Many Afghans who worked for the US but were unable to escape Afghanistan now live in hiding, in fear of their lives. Those in Pakistan are terrified of being killed on their return.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and IOM, the International Organization for Migration, said in a statement Wednesday those forced to return face retribution from the Taliban – especially ethnic and religious minorities, women and girls, journalists, human rights activists, and members of artistic professions.
Shawn VanDiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac, a leading coalition of resettlement and veteran groups, says 10,000 to 15,000 Afghans are in Pakistan waiting for visas or resettlement in the US.
In a post on X, VanDiver said the pause in the USRAP disproportionately affects Afghan women in Pakistan, leaving them without work, legal protections and without hope.“Since the fall of Kabul, Afghan women have been systematically erased from public life —banned from education, work, and even basic freedoms for many, USRAP was the only viable path to safety. With the pause, that door has slammed shut,” he said.
According to the document seen by CNN, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies are expected to coordinate with the Prime Minister’s Office to monitor and implement the relocation plan.
Pakistan’s Interior Ministry released a statement to CNN confirming that “all illegal foreigners including Afghans are to be deported back to their countries of origin under the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP).”
It urged countries sponsoring Afghan nationals for resettlement to complete the process quickly, or “the sponsored Afghans will be deported.”
The document also threatens to deport Afghans holding an Afghan Citizen Card, another form of registration for Afghan refugees in Pakistan issued almost a decade ago.
The US embassy and Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to CNN’s question about the coordination between authorities to date.
Pakistan wants Afghan refugees to leave
Pakistan is home to one of the world’s largest refugee populations – most of them from Afghanistan. But the country has not always welcomed Afghan refugees, subjecting them to hostile living conditions and threatening deportation over the years.
According to the UNHCR, more than 3 million Afghan refugees, including registered refugees and more than 800,000 undocumented people are living in Pakistan.
Many fled the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. A new generation went to Pakistan in the aftermath of September 11 attacks, ebbing and flowing during the near two decades of conflict that followed.
The Taliban’s return to power in 2021 following the United States’ chaotic withdrawal sparked another wave of some 600,000 refugees.
Pakistan began a fresh crackdown on Afghan refugees in November 2023 to pressure the Taliban to do more to curb militant attacks launched from Afghanistan.
According to the UNHCR, 800,000 Afghan nationals have since left Pakistan.
The crackdown on those who are neither registered with the UNHCR nor awaiting resettlement to a third country is continuing in phases, with thousands of Afghans sheltering in safehouses and slums hoping to resist repatriation to their home country.
Khalili continues to hide with her husband and child in Islamabad, and her despair continues to mount. She told CNN of the risks she and others have taken “to support the United States’ mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders and allies.”
According to Khalili “the Taliban views us as enemies, and we face the grim reality of arrest, torture, or death if we are forced back.”“This suspension (of the visa program) denies us the shelter and protection we were promised, leaving us vulnerable to unimaginable consequences and at the mercy of the Taliban.” UN agencies raise alarm over Pakistan’s move to deport thousands of Afghans waiting to go to the US (AP)
AP [2/5/2025 11:04 AM, Munir Ahmed, 33392K, Neutral]
The U.N. refugees and migration agencies on Wednesday expressed their concern over Pakistan’s decision to deport thousands of Afghan refugees awaiting relocation to the United States and elsewhere.
The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration in a statement said they were seeking clarification from Pakistan, which said last week it would deport the refugees back to Afghanistan unless their cases were processed quickly by the countries that had agreed to take them in.
About 20,000 Afghans were approved for resettlement in the U.S. under a program that helps people at risk because of their work with the American government, media, aid agencies and rights groups. They were among tens of thousands of Afghans who fled to neighboring Pakistan after their country fell to the Taliban in 2021.
However, they were left in limbo after President Donald Trump paused U.S. refugee programs last month.
"A UNHCR-issued non-return advisory has been in place since 2021, calling for a suspension of forced returns of Afghan nationals from any country regardless of their status," the joint UNHCR-IOM statement said.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week gave the green light to evict Afghans without papers from the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi before March 31, in preparation for deportation if they were not relocated to their host countries.
UNHCR and IOM said they are especially concerned for Afghan nationals who face a risk of harm upon return, such as ethnic and religious minorities, women and girls, journalists, human rights activists, and members of artistic professions like musicians and others.
It said since Jan. 1, 2025, an uptick in arrests of Afghan nationals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi has caused significant distress, with reports of Afghan nationals of various documentation statuses being rounded up.
The Trump administration also announced the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program would be suspended from Jan. 27 for at least three months. It has shocked Afghans who were hoping to travel to the United States soon.
Afghans in Pakistan have been virtually living in hiding since 2023 when a crackdown began on foreigners who are in the country without proper documentation. An estimated 800,000 Afghans have either gone back voluntarily or been deported since despite criticism from U.N. agencies, rights groups and the Taliban.
Besides thousands of Afghans who are living in Pakistan and awaiting travel to host countries, there are around 1.45 million Afghan nationals registered with UNHCR as refugees in Pakistan as well but their stay has been extended until June.
In the statement, UNHCR and IOM urged "Pakistan to implement any relocation measures with due consideration for human rights standards, including due process, and the legal status of Proof of Registration (POR) and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, who have resided in Pakistan for an extended period of time".
"Pakistan has a proud tradition of hosting refugees, saving millions of lives. This generosity is greatly appreciated," UNHCR representative in Pakistan Philippa Candler said.
"IOM is committed to work with the Government of Pakistan and UNHCR to develop a mechanism to register, manage and screen Afghan nationals in Pakistan," said IOM Chief of Mission, Mio Sato.
She said "This will open the door to tailored solutions including international protection to those in need and pathways for Afghan nationals, with long-standing socioeconomic and family ties in the country.". UN sounds alarm over Pakistan’s new Afghan deportation plans (VOA)
VOA [2/5/2025 5:11 PM, Ayaz Gul, 2717K, Neutral]
The United Nations agencies focused on refugees and migration jointly voiced their concerns Wednesday over Pakistan’s plans to begin a new round of mass deportations of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers.
The reaction came a week after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a multistage plan targeting nearly 3 million Afghan citizens residing in Pakistan. They include legally declared refugees, documented as well as undocumented migrants, and those who are awaiting promised relocation to the United States and other Western countries.
The official plan seen by VOA mandates the immediate relocation of all Afghans from the national capital, Islamabad, and the adjacent city of Rawalpindi to designated camps before their repatriation to Afghanistan. The document emphasized without mentioning a timeline that no public announcement should be made regarding the deportations.
In a joint statement Wednesday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration, IOM, said they "are seeking clarity over the modality and timeframe of this relocation.".
Both agencies urged Pakistan to consider human rights standards when implementing relocation measures. This includes ensuring due process for legal refugees and economic migrants who have been granted Afghan Citizen Cards or ACC, by Pakistan in collaboration with IOM, the statement explained. Official estimates put the ACC population at more than 800,000.
"Forced return to Afghanistan could place some people at increased risk. We urge Pakistan to continue to provide safety to Afghans at risk, irrespective of their documentation status," said Philippa Candler, the UNHCR country representative.
Mio Sato, the IOM chief of mission in Islamabad, said her organization is committed to working with the Pakistani government and UNHCR to develop a mechanism to register, manage and screen Afghan nationals in Pakistan.
"This will open the door to tailored solutions, including international protection to those in need and pathways for Afghan nationals with long-standing socioeconomic and family ties in the country," she said.
In the first phase, the deportation plan requires authorities to relocate people possessing an ACC, along with undocumented Afghan migrants, from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and send them back to Afghanistan.
Pakistan has allowed more than 1.4 million legal Afghan refugees to remain in the country until June 30, 2025. The new plan requires their relocation from the two cities in the second phase without stating whether they will also be deported to Afghanistan.
Sharif has also ordered authorities to deport around 40,000 Afghans from Islamabad and Rawalpindi by March 31 in the third phase of the deportation plan and subsequently arrange for their repatriation if their relocation and resettlement cases to third countries are not processed expeditiously.
These individuals fled Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control of the country in 2021, primarily seeking shelter from potential retribution due to their affiliations with the U.S. and NATO forces.
Last month, President Donald Trump halted the U.S. Refugee Admission Program to assess whether reinstating it serves the interests of Washington, leaving at least 15,000 Afghan allies in Pakistan approved or being assessed for relocation to the U.S. in a state of uncertainty.
Since 2023, Pakistani authorities have forcibly repatriated more than 800,000 undocumented Afghans from its territory. The deportations resulted from a government crackdown on foreigners living in the country without legal permission or whose visas had expired. Islamabad has attributed a recent rise in crimes and militancy in Pakistan to Afghan nationals.
UNHCR and IOM said that they recognize the challenges Islamabad faces, especially in security, and that refugees, like all, must abide by Pakistan’s laws. "The overwhelming majority of Afghan nationals in Pakistan are law-abiding individuals whose situation needs to be seen through a humanitarian lens," they said in their joint statement.
The two U.N. agencies expressed their particular concern for Afghan nationals who may face harm upon their return, including ethnic and religious minorities, women and girls, journalists, human rights activists and members of artistic professions such as musicians.
The Islamist Taliban leaders have placed sweeping restrictions on women’s access to education, employment and public life and have banned music in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s president says terrorist attacks won’t end friendship with China (AP)
AP [2/5/2025 10:13 AM, Staff, 33392K, Positive]
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said Wednesday that his country’s friendship with China has "gone through ups and downs" but it won’t be broken down by extremist attacks that have killed Chinese nationals that have killed Chinese nationals.
"Pakistan and China will always be friends, all-weather friends," he said at the opening of talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. "No matter how many terrors, how many issues crop up in the world, I will stand, Pakistan people will stand with the people of China.".
Thousands of Chinese workers work in Pakistan on road and other infrastructure projects under China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to improve trade routes and deepen China’s ties with the rest of the world. Chinese workers have been among those targeted in attacks in recent years, including seven who died last year in two separate attacks that raised renewed alarm in China.
Zardari arrived in China Tuesday on a four-day visit that will also take him to the wintry northeastern city of Harbin for the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games.
He said that many forces are trying to disturb the relationship between the two countries by launching attacks on "Chinese brothers.".
Xi said that China and Pakistan have an enduring friendship and have set a model for relations between two countries by advancing the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and cooperation in various fields.
A Chinese-funded $230 million airport, the largest in Pakistan, started operations last month in the coastal city of Gwadar in Baluchistan province, where a separatist group has launched multiple attacks targeting many groups including Chinese.
A shipping port in Gwadar is the end of the envisioned economic corridor, which would cross the length of Pakistan to link the western Chinese region of Xinjiang with the Arabian Sea.
"The Chinese side is willing to work with the Pakistani side to move forward hand-in-hand on our respective paths of modernization," Xi said.
The start of operations at the airport was delayed from last year after a surge in attacks in Baluchistan. China, Pakistan pledge to boost cooperation on infrastructure, mining projects (Reuters)
Reuters [2/6/2025 3:11 AM, Farah Master, 5.2M, Neutral]
China and Pakistan will upgrade and reconstruct Pakistan’s railway network and further develop its Gwadar port, while Chinese companies can invest in the South Asian nation’s offshore oil and gas developments, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.
The comments came as Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari visits China from February 4-8, where he will also attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Winter Games.
Chinese investment and financial support for Pakistan since 2013 have been a boon for the South Asian nation’s struggling economy.
The two countries have had close ties underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against U.S. influence across the region.
Pakistan and China recognised the importance of Pakistan’s "Gwadar Port and agreed to fully unleash its potential as a key node for connectivity and trade," Xinhua said quoting a joint statement from the two countries.
Chinese-funded enterprises would be encouraged to "carry out mining investment cooperation in Pakistan" and cooperate in terrestrial and marine geological resources.
"Pakistan welcomes Chinese companies to participate in the development of offshore oil and gas resources in Pakistan."
Longtime Pakistan ally China has thousands of nationals working on projects grouped under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The $65-billion investment is part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, designed to Beijing’s global reach by road, rail and sea. Militant attack on a police post in restive northwestern Pakistan leaves 3 officers dead (AP)
AP [2/6/2025 3:29 AM, Staff, 456K, Negative]
A group of militants armed with assault rifles attacked a police post in restive northwestern Pakistan before dawn on Thursday, killing three officers and wounding five before fleeing the scene, police said.
The attack occurred in Karak, a district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police official Abbas Khan said. He said officers also returned fire after coming under the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and offered his condolences to the families of the slain officers. He blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack.
Pakistan has in recent months witnessed a surge in militant attacks, most of them blamed on Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. While the TTP is an ally of the Afghan Taliban who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, it’s a separate group. Bodies of 4 Pakistanis who died on a migrant boat journey off West Africa return home for burial (AP)
AP [2/6/2025 2:00 AM, K.M. Chaudhry, 456K, Neutral]
The bodies of four Pakistanis who were among dozens who drowned in the capsizing of a migrant boat off West Africa last month have been repatriated.
The four were among 13 Pakistan citizens identified through DNA tests. Their remains were brought home from Morocco overnight by a Saudi flight that landed at the Islamabad International Airport, officials said Thursday. The bodies were later buried in their hometowns in Punjab province.
The boat had set off from Mauritania on Jan. 2 with 80 passengers, including several from Pakistan, according to the Foreign Ministry and a Spain-based migrant rights group, Walking Borders. The ministry said the boat capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla en route to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa where a large numbers of migrants head on a dangerous Atlantic crossing in ramshackle boats.
Walking Borders had said 50 people on the boat died on their way to the Canary Islands and 44 of them were Pakistanis. Pakistan has already repatriated all the 22 Pakistani survivors.
The brother of one of the migrants who died told The Associated Press that human smugglers had tortured and thrown the migrants, including his brother, into the sea over a payment dispute.
Mohammad Adnan said his family had agreed to paid 5 million rupees ($18,000) to a local human smuggler for sending his brother, Mohammad Arslan, to Europe and 4 million rupees ($14,000) were paid in advance. The rest was yet to be paid when they heard news about the capsizing, and later some of the survivors said the migrants were thrown into the sea.
Another man, Samar Iqbal, whose brother also died, said he did not know that human smugglers threw migrants into the sea. He said his brother Qaiser Iqbal in his last message had only said that he was boarding a boat and later he lost contact with him.
He made his comments before receiving the body of his brother at the airport. Recently, some of the survivors have also said their boat never capsized and African human smugglers had tortured migrants with hammers and threw them into the sea in a payment dispute.No government official was immediately available to comment on the claims.
Hundreds of Pakistanis die every year while trying to reach Europe by land and sea with the help of human smugglers.
After the sinking, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Jan. 18 stressed the need for strict measures to curb human trafficking. Pakistan says it is cracking down on human traffickers and sacked several immigration officials for negligence. Pakistan health workers kick off polio drive despite snow (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [2/5/2025 6:04 AM, Staff, 63029K, Neutral]
Health workers are braving freezing temperatures this week to administer polio vaccinations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after cases surged nationwide last year.
Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio is endemic, and militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security escorts.
A police officer guarding polio vaccinators in the northwest was shot dead by militants on Monday, the first day of the annual campaign that is due to last a week.
Health workers are battling freezing weather to deliver the polio vaccine in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
In Kashmir, health worker Manzoor Ahmad trudged up snowy mountains as temperatures dipped to minus six degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit) to administer polio vaccinations in the region.
"It is a mountainous, hard area... we arrive here for polio vaccination despite the three feet of snowfall," Ahmad, who heads the polio campaign in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told AFP.
Huge risk
Social worker Mehnaz, who goes by one name and has been helping the vaccinators since 2018, said the difficult climate poses a huge risk to the vaccination teams.
Harsh terrain and cold weather make the polio vaccination campaign a challenge.
"We have no monthly salary... we come here to give polio shots to the children despite the glaciers and avalanches," she told AFP.
"We risk our lives and leave our children at home.".
The challenge is larger this year for the country with a population of 240 million, after it recorded at least 73 polio cases in 2024 -- a sharp increase from just six cases the year before.
Health workers aim to vaccinate approximately 1,700 children within a week in the town of Surgan, around 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
"Our target is to give polio shots to 750,000 children below the age of five. There are 4,000 polio teams that visit house-to-house," Ahmad said.
Polio workers risk attacks by militants in their efforts to eradicate the virus.
"There have been no polio cases in Kashmir for the last 24 years," he added with pride.
Polio can easily be prevented by an oral vaccine, but in the past some Islamic religious leaders have falsely claimed that the vaccine contains pork or alcohol, declaring it forbidden for Muslims to consume. India
Trump invites Indian PM Modi to White House (The Hill)
The Hill [2/5/2025 10:49 AM, Sarakshi Rai and Alex Gangitano, 57114K, Positive]
President Trump has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House next week for a working visit, a White House official confirmed to The Hill.
Modi will travel to Washington, D.C., for a two-day visit. The invite comes just days after a recent phone call between the two leaders.
The "productive call" touched on expanding U.S.-India cooperation on a number of global issues, which included security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe.
The phone call also saw Trump emphasize "the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving towards a fair bilateral trading relationship," the White House said in a statement.
"He is going to be coming to the White House, over next month, probably February. We have a very good relationship with India," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One in January.
The confirmation of the visit follows news that a U.S. military plane with at least 100 migrants aboard landed in India on Wednesday.
An Air Force C-17 plane landed at about 3:30 a.m. EST in Amritsar, India, according to the Defense Department. India previously said it would repatriate all Indians who entered the U.S. illegally.
The visit also comes as Trump has increasingly threatened the BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — with steep tariffs if they move to create a new currency that aims to rival the dollar.
The Quad alliance among the U.S., India, Australia and Japan, a bloc formed to counter Chinese clout in the Indo-Pacific, is also expected to come up in talks between the two leaders. India is set to host the Quad leaders’ summit in 2025.The Indian prime minister, who was reelected to a third term last year with greatly reduced power in Parliament, has shared a warm relationship with Trump. Trump attended a massive rally with Modi in Houston in 2019, and he visited India in February 2020, where thousands of people watched the two leaders speak in Ahmedabad.
Trump has previously described Modi as "fantastic" while describing India as a "very big abuser" in trade. His first term saw the Trump administration in 2019 cancel special trade privileges with India, and India responded by placing tariffs of its own on more than two dozen U.S. goods.
Former President Biden hosted Modi for a state dinner in 2023, with more than 70 Democratic members of Congress signing a letter urging Biden to discuss human rights and democratic values during his visit. India’s Modi to visit US and meet Trump next week (BBC)
BBC [2/5/2025 11:39 AM, Nikita Yadav, 57114K, Neutral]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US next week and meet President Donald Trump, the White House says.
Other reports say Modi will attend a dinner hosted by the US president on the two-day trip. The dates of the official working visit have yet to be announced.
Modi will be among the first foreign leaders to meet Trump at the White House during his second term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently in Washington and Japan’s PM Shigeru Ishiba is due this week.
Modi and Trump shared warm relations during the US president’s first term. Last week they held a "productive" phone call and discussed illegal immigration, security and trade ties, the White House said.
Analysts say it will be interesting to see if the bonhomie between the two men will help overcome concerns about trade and immigration.
Trump called Modi a "great leader" last year but also accused India of charging excessive tariffs.
Confirmation of the Indian leader’s visit to Washington came shortly after a US military flight deporting about 100 Indian nationals landed in the state of Punjab.
All those on board are said to have either entered the US illegally, or overstayed their visas.
During last week’s call, Trump said he was sure India "will do the right thing" when it comes to illegal immigration.
He has made the mass deportation of undocumented foreign nationals a key policy. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants living illegally in the US had so far been identified, but the real number is likely to be higher.
According to the Pew Research Center, there were an estimated 725,000 undocumented Indian immigrants in the US last year.
India has so far escaped the threat of tariffs on its exports to the US.
In the past however, Trump has called India a "tariff king" and a "big abuser" of trade ties and threatened reciprocal action if Delhi did not reduce taxes on US imports.
India’s recent budget saw duties slashed on a range of goods, including high-end motorcycles like the iconic Harley Davidson.
India’s finance secretary told local media this was a sign the country was "not a tariff king".
Last week, the Indian foreign ministry said the two countries were working to further deepen their bilateral relations.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar represented India at Trump’s inauguration ceremony and held talks with his US counterpart Marco Rubio while in Washington.
In November, following Trump’s election victory, Jaishankar said the country was not nervous about working with the US president. U.S. military plane carrying about 100 undocumented immigrants lands in India (NBC News)
NBC News [2/5/2025 4:49 PM, Kimmy Yam, 57114K, Neutral]
A U.S. military aircraft carrying scores of undocumented Indian nationals landed in northern India on Wednesday morning, according to a Reuters video.
An estimated 100 undocumented immigrants were onboard, a defense official with direct knowledge of the situation told NBC News.
The flight is among the latest deportation operations that involve the use of military planes. It comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month, giving the military a role in immigration enforcement and border security.
The Embassy of India did not share details on the deportation, but it referred NBC News to comments made last week by Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, during a media briefing. Jaiswal said that the country is "firmly opposed" to illegal migration and will be cooperating with efforts to stem the flow.
"I do want to emphasize that cooperation between India and the U.S. is strong and effective in this domain," Jaiswal said.
The plane, a C-17 aircraft most commonly used to transport supplies and troops, left earlier this week and landed in the city of Amritsar, in the state of Punjab.
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, a cabinet minister in Punjab who spoke to reporters at the airport, said he had met with a few young Indian nationals who had been repatriated. Despite being tired after the long journey back, they appeared healthy, he told the media. Dhaliwal also called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is slated to visit the U.S. next week, to work with Trump to better support those who are facing deportation.
"There is a sword of deportation or jail hanging on the heads of Indians who moved there," Dhaliwal said, according to The Times of India. "PM Modi, who supported Donald Trump during his election campaign, should now use his friendship to resolve the issue. What is the usefulness of this friendship if it cannot help Indian citizens in need," he said.
Trump told reporters last week that he had a "productive" call with Modi and that India will "do what’s right" in regard to repatriating undocumented Indian immigrants.
The flight comes after then-acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said in a statement last month that the Defense Department would provide military airlift to support deportation flights for more than 5,000 undocumented immigrants. Since then, several military flights have departed U.S. soil, though some have encountered issues upon landing.
Mexico blocked a U.S. military flight carrying undocumented immigrants in late January. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro also initially refused to accept two military flights headed for the country. But days later, Colombia agreed to Trump’s terms, the White House said, after the president threatened to impose sweeping retaliatory measures against the country, including tariffs and visa sanctions. US deportation flight carrying illegal Indian migrants lands in Punjab (VOA)
VOA [2/5/2025 9:09 AM, Anjana Pasricha, 2717K, Neutral]
A U.S. deportation flight carrying Indian nationals accused of entering the U.S. illegally landed in the northern state of Punjab Wednesday – the first such flight to India since the Trump administration launched a crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
The military aircraft, which landed amid tight security, brought 104 deportees, according to media reports. Authorities did not confirm the number, but said the deportees will be received in a friendly manner.
New Delhi, which does not want to make illegal immigration a contentious issue with Washington, has said that it is open to the return of undocumented Indians in the United States if their nationality is verified.
President Donald Trump said last week that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that the country would "do what’s right" in taking back illegal immigrants. His comment came following a phone conversation with Modi.
In New Delhi, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing on Friday that India and the United States are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration and "cooperation between India and the U.S. is strong and effective in this domain. This will be evident in times to come.".
Trade and migration are expected to be key issues during a meeting that could take place next week between Trump and Modi."India does not want to focus on the issue of illegal migrants being deported. We know it is big business in India, sending migrants illegally. Instead, the government’s interest is in ensuring that legal migration channels to the U.S. for Indian nationals are not restricted by the Trump administration," according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
Those legal routes are H-1B visas for skilled workers and visas for students.
"Both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration, while also creating more avenues for legal migration from India to the U.S.," Jaiswal has said.
The number of Indian migrants attempting to enter the U.S. unlawfully has grown in recent years, with India now accounting for the largest number of illegal immigrants to the United States from Asian countries, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Their overall numbers, however, are still small; Indians account for only about 3 percent of illegal crossings.
The United States has identified some 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants to be sent back home, according to a Bloomberg report last week.
Deportation flights to India are not new — between October 2023 and September 2024, more than 1,000 Indian nationals were repatriated, but Wednesday’s flight was the first time that they were sent back via military aircraft.
The deportation flight was routed to Amritsar city in Punjab, which is among the three states where much of the illegal migration from India to the U.S. originates. The others are Haryana in the north and the western state of Gujarat.
Hours before the flight landed, Punjab’s minister for NRI (Non-Resident Indians) Affairs, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, urged people in the state to avoid illegal migration and instead focus on acquiring skills and education to access global opportunities through legal channels. Opposition lawmakers protest alleged mistreatment of Indian deportees by US (AP)
AP [2/6/2025 3:45 AM, Staff, 456K, Negative]
India’s Parliament was disrupted on Thursday as opposition lawmakers protested the alleged mistreatment of 104 Indian immigrants deported by the United States.
A U.S. military plane on Wednesday carrying 104 deported Indian migrants arrived in a northern Indian city, the first such flight to the country as part of a crackdown ordered by the Trump administration.
The lawmakers and media reports said the deportees’ arms and legs were shackled while on the aircraft.
Parliament’s proceedings were adjourned Thursday as the lawmakers chanted slogans and called to discuss the deportation.Renuka Chowdhury, a lawmaker in the Congress party, said the deportees were “handcuffed, had their legs chained and even struggled to use the washroom.”
Her colleague, Gaurav Gogoi, called it “degrading.”
Parliament speaker Om Birla tried to calm the lawmakers, saying the transportation of the deportees was a matter of U.S. foreign policy.“The foreign country also has its own rules and regulations,” he said.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted one of the deportees, Jaspal Singh, saying deportees’ handcuffs and leg chains were taken off only at the Amritsar airport in India.
Singh, 36, said they initially thought they were being taken to another camp in the U.S.“Then a police officer told us that we were being taken to India,” he said.
The U.S. government usually carries out deportations on commercial and chartered flights. The use of the U.S. military to return people to their home country is a relatively new method that started under the Trump administration.
Opposition lawmakers, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, also protested outside the Parliament building as they demanded a response from the government. Some wore handcuffs and carried placards that read: “Humans, not prisoners.”
The deportation came ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington, which is expected next week. U.S. President Donald Trump and Modi discussed immigration in a phone call last week and Trump stressed the importance of India buying more American-made security equipment and fair bilateral trade.
A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi said enforcing immigration laws was critical for the country’s national security and public safety.“It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens,” he said.
India has cooperated with the U.S. and said it is ready to accept the deported Indians after verification.
New Delhi says it is against illegal immigration, mainly because it is linked to several forms of organized crime, and it has not objected to the U.S. deporting its citizens.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week the deportation flights were an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, which he said is destructive and destabilizing.
The State Department said such deportations deter other people considering migrating illegally.
India’s junior External Affairs Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh recently told India’s Parliament that 519 Indian nationals were deported to India between November 2023 and October 2024, citing U.S. government data.
A Pew Research Center report said that as of 2022, India ranked third — after Mexico and El Salvador — on the list of countries with the largest number of unauthorized immigrants — 725,000 — living in the U.S. India says engaging with US to ensure deportees are not mistreated (Reuters)
Reuters [2/6/2025 4:51 AM, Aftab Ahmed, YP Rajesh, and Shivam Patel, 5.2M, Negative]Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Thursday that New Delhi is engaging with the U.S. to ensure that illegal Indian immigrants are not mistreated while being deported after opposition parties protested against the treatment of a group that was sent back this week.A U.S. military plane carrying 104 deportees landed on Wednesday in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in India’s Punjab state, part of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.The deportation came a week before Trump is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington and sparked a political furore in India, with opposition parties demanding a discussion in parliament over how the deportees were treated during their return.Jaishankar told parliament that the process of deportation followed by U.S. authorities was not a new one and it allows for use of restraints on immigrants being returned to their home countries.He also said that the women and children among the deportees were not restrained, adding that India’s focus should be on strongly cracking down on the illegal migration industry."It is the obligation of all countries to take back their nationals if they are found to be living illegally abroad," Jaishankar said, adding that hundreds of Indians have been deported every year for years."We are engaging the U.S. government to ensure that the returning deportees are not mistreated in any manner during the flight," he said.Earlier on Wednesday, the Times of India and the Indian Express newspapers said all immigrants, barring children, were handcuffed during the flight, quoting unnamed officials in Punjab who said they had spoken to the deportees.The deportees underwent hours of scrutiny at Amritsar airport before police escorted them out in small groups in police vehicles."USBP (U.S. Border Patrol) and partners successfully returned illegal aliens to India, marking the farthest deportation flight yet using military transport," USBP chief Michael Banks said in a post on X on Wednesday."If you cross illegally, you will be removed," he said in the post which had a video showing some men being led into a military plane in handcuffs and legs in chains.ENFORCING LAWS, U.S. EMBASSY SAYS"Reports have surfaced of these individuals being shackled and treated in a degrading manner during their deportation process, raising serious concerns about their human dignity and rights," opposition Congress party lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi said in a notice to the lower house of parliament.In a separate notice by another Congress party lawmaker, Manickam Tagore urged Jaishankar to make an immediate statement in parliament clarifying the Modi government’s stand and steps taken to address the issue.Enforcing immigration laws was "critically important" to the security and public safety of the United States, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Delhi."It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens," the spokesperson added.Migration has been among the key issues discussed by India and the U.S. since Trump assumed office last month, and is also expected to come up during Trump’s talks with Modi.Although Indian immigrants have been deported by previous U.S. administrations, it was the first time Washington used a military aircraft to do so.The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner and the two countries are forging deeper strategic ties as they look to counter China. India is also keen to work with the U.S. to make it easier for its citizens to get skilled workers visas. Exit Polls Predict Modi Winning India’s Capital After Decades (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/5/2025 10:20 PM, Swati Gupta, 21617K, Neutral]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party looks set to return to power in India’s capital after almost three decades in a tightly-contested local election, some exit polls predicted.The BJP could get more than 36 of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly, according to forecasts by some pollsters after voting on Wednesday. The party last governed Delhi in 1998.The incumbent Aam Aadmi Party, which means the Common Man’s Party, has been in power in Delhi since 2015, but has suffered reputational damage in recent years due to corruption allegations against some of its leaders. The BJP, on the other hand, is riding a wave of popularity with middle class Indians after making record tax cuts in the country’s annual budget last week.While the exit polls aren’t definitive, a win for the BJP will show that Modi’s popularity remains substantial, even though his party lost an outright majority in the national polls last year. Both the BJP and AAP are betting on cash handouts, particularly for women, and other freebies to help them win the election.The voter turnout in Delhi stood at about 58%, according to the latest update from the Election Commission of India. Official results for the capital are due to be released on Feb. 8.Exit polls have never been right about AAP, the party’s spokesperson said in a statement. Some well-known pollsters, including Axis My India, said they will release their projections on Thursday. Indian PM Modi’s party projected to win election in capital territory (Reuters)
Reuters [2/5/2025 10:37 AM, Staff, 48128K, Negative]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party is set to win an election in the Delhi capital territory, TV exit polls projected on Wednesday, in a rebound after its surprisingly poor showing in a general election last year.
Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party was predicted to win an absolute majority in the 70-member assembly of the capital territory, defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of Arvind Kejriwal, a fierce critic of Modi.
Exit polls, conducted by private polling firms for broadcasters, have a patchy record in India, where the voting population is highly diverse.
AAP, which grew out of an anti-corruption movement in 2012, tasted its first electoral success in Delhi and has ruled the territory, which houses India’s parliament and federal government offices, for two consecutive terms from 2015.
Kejriwal, 55, an anti-corruption crusader-turned-politician, was arrested on graft charges weeks before the general election began, and alleged a political vendetta by the Modi government. The BJP denies the charges.
He was later released on bail, but resigned as chief minister to focus on campaigning for the Delhi election.
Modi lost his outright majority in the national parliament last year but returned as prime minister for a record-equalling third term with the support of regional parties. His BJP has won two of three state elections since. How India Can Navigate Global Trade Shifts in Trump 2.0 (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [2/5/2025 2:39 PM, Somesh Mathur and Anusree Paul, 857K, Neutral]
The Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda is in full swing. Shortly after taking charge, U.S. President Donald Trump announced additional tariffs on the United States’ three largest trading partners: Mexico, Canada, and China. Although tariffs on Mexico and Canada have been paused, those on Chinese imports have come into effect.
China responded with counter-tariffs on U.S. imports.
Such measures could disrupt global growth and impact critical sectors such as retail, technology, and manufacturing that rely heavily on the global supply chain and imported inputs.
For India, these targeted tariffs and imminent protectionist policies will create complex challenges and opportunities. Trump’s renewed emphasis on decoupling from China, for instance, can serve as an opportunity. Three recent developments suggest India might be the beneficiary of the pushback on China.At the first Quad ministerial meeting after Trump took charge, the United States, Australia, India, and Japan issued a united warning against coercive actions to alter status quo in the Indo-Pacific. This is a clear yet indirect message to China regarding its assertive maritime activities. All four countries of the Quad share concerns over China’s growing influence in the region.
Second, under Trump 2.0, the "China Plus One" strategy is likely to get a major push across the board. This strategy involves diversification of the production base and investment operations of multinational companies to hedge against risks in China. Increasingly, U.S. companies are shifting their production base to alternative markets such as India and Vietnam to reduce dependency on China and boost stability.
Here, India can position itself as a viable alternative to attract foreign direct investment and benefit from trade diversion. Companies such as Apple Inc., for instance, have already begun expanding operations in India — beyond assembly and sales — signaling the country’s growing potential to play a central role in the global trade realignment.
Soon after the Quad ministerial meeting, Marco Rubio, the new U.S. secretary of state, held his first bilateral meeting with S. Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister. Discussions centered on regional challenges and opportunities for cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, defense, energy, and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Despite this healthy diplomatic conversation with the Trump 2.0 administration, India must strategically navigate the turbulent trade waters that lie ahead.
The United States already levies hefty tariffs on key commodities such as cereals and processed foods (193 percent), dairy products (188 percent), oilseeds and oils (164 percent). In due course, India’s core export sectors such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, and IT too will likely face higher tariffs. Such retaliatory measures raise concerns about the future of these powerhouse sectors in the U.S. market.
Higher tariffs can severely impact the economy. If the U.S. escalates the average tariff rate up to 20 percent on Indian exports, and India retaliates by increasing its average tariffs proportionately, it would trigger several consequences such as low competitiveness, economic uncertainty, job losses, trade imbalance, and decline in investments. Instead of engaging in a counter-productive tariff war, India’s strength lies in leveraging the friendly relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump for mutually beneficial tariff reductions.
The Jaishankar-Rubio meeting signals positive momentum in this regard. Besides, in its latest budget, the Indian government has also lowered tariffs on some imports from the United States.
A viable strategy for addressing trade imbalance would be stimulating domestic consumption through tax cuts. This would boost consumption and generate income in the local economy, thereby increasing trade flow and reducing the need for tariff escalation.
With the rising tide of protectionist policies under Trump 2.0, India might also need to strengthen its "Look East" strategies.
Rubio has pushed for a pragmatic and realistic U.S. approach toward the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries. India’s persistent trade deficit with China and the ASEAN countries has been due to the high volume of imports for production.
For example, India has a thriving smartphone assembly ecosystem, but it relies heavily on imported inputs. China supplies key components such as batteries, displays, and chipsets. Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand complement this by supplying supporting electronic components. The final assembly takes place in India, where companies such as Foxconn and Samsung produce smartphones for both domestic and export sales. To gain an edge in the supply chain, India must focus on restructuring its industrial and trade policies to boost exports in high-potential sectors.
Another challenge will be the restrictions on the movement of skilled and unskilled labor and immigration controls under Trump 2.0. These will create a formidable challenge for India’s IT and outsourcing sectors, which rely heavily on the U.S. market.
There’s some consolation here, though. The demand-supply gap for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Management) professionals in the U.S. and the high cost of hiring local talent suggests that India’s IT sector may retain its relevance, at least in the short run. In the long term, India could diversify its outsourcing operations and explore new markets.
India’s involvement in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) offers another avenue for growth, focusing on the four pillars of trade, supply chain, fair economy, and clean economy. Here, India is set to play a crucial role, paving the way for stronger strategic and economic ties within the region.
With its "America First" focus, if the United States withdraws from the consortium, India could benefit from the bloc propelling Asia-led growth. A U.S. exit could intensify trade flows within the bloc, fostering faster growth as member countries capitalize on existing supply chains and infrastructure linkages.
Our analysis, using an international trade database, shows that deeper liberalization within the bloc could increase trade for India from 3.55 percent to 4.19 percent.
Climate goals remain sidelined in Trump’s agenda as his second term shifts the focus back to fossil fuels. The United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, reversing climate regulations and promoting fossil fuel development. However, major oil companies have said this move could hinder their transition to cleaner energy sources.
In the short run, this policy may boost domestic oil production in the U.S. and potentially lower oil prices. However, it will adversely impact the oil and gas industry, which prefers to maintain high prices.
For India, these policies could prove to be a double-edged sword. Increased oil production in the United States will help reduce its dependence on Russia. But it could also intensify competition for its energy exports to Europe.
Amid these shifts, India must prioritize climate-friendly technologies and projects. Strengthening cooperation with Japan and Australia under the clean economy pillar of the IPEF will be crucial to advancing zero-emission goods and services.
Finally, the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization and likely withdrawal from IPEF signal a retreat from both multilateralism and regionalism. However, the existing deep economic interdependencies are likely to limit the extent of true realignment in global trade, presenting a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges for India. NSB
Bangladesh protesters torch ousted PM Hasina’s father’s home (Reuters)
Reuters [2/5/2025 10:58 PM, Staff, 48128K, Negative]
Thousands of protesters set fire to the home of Bangladesh’s founding leader, as his daughter, ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a fiery social media speech calling on her supporters to stand against the interim government.
Witnesses said several thousand protesters, some armed with sticks, hammers, and other tools, gathered around the historic house and independence monument, while others brought a crane and excavator to demolish the building.
The rally was organised alongside a broader call, dubbed "Bulldozer Procession", to disrupt Hasina’s scheduled 9 p.m. online address on Wednesday.
Protesters, many aligned with the "Students Against Discrimination" group, had expressed their fury over Hasina’s speech, which they viewed as a challenge to the newly formed interim government.
Tensions have been escalating in Bangladesh since August 2024, when mass protests forced Hasina to flee to neighbouring India.
The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has struggled to maintain control as protests and unrest have continued. Demonstrators have attacked symbols of Hasina’s government, including the house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was first set ablaze in August.
A symbol of the country’s establishment, the house is where Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), as he is popularly known, declared Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.
A few years later it became the site of a national tragedy. Mujibur Rahman and most of his family were assassinated at the house in 1975. Hasina, who survived the attack, later transformed the building into a museum dedicated to her father’s legacy.
"They can demolish a building, but not the history. History takes its revenge," Hasina said in her speech on Wednesday.
She urged the people of Bangladesh to stand against the interim government, accusing them of seizing power in an unconstitutional manner.The student-led movement behind the protests has voiced plans to dismantle the country’s 1972 Constitution, which they argue embodies the legacy of her father’s rule. Protesters set fire to ex-Bangladesh PM’s family home (BBC)
BBC [2/5/2025 9:16 PM, Koh Ewe and Anbarasan Ethirajan, 57114K, Negative]
Protesters in Bangladesh have vandalised and set fire to the former family home of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, as well as those of other members of her party.
The unrest was sparked by news that Hasina would address the country via social media from India, where she has been in exile since student-led protests ousted her last year.
The 77-year-old Hasina, who was in charge of Bangladesh for 20 years, was seen as an autocrat whose government ruthlessly clamped down on dissent.
On Wednesday evening, an excavator smashed down the house of Hasina’s late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is also Bangladesh’s founding president. The structure had been repurposed into a museum.
Hasina’s father is widely viewed as an independence hero, but anger at his daughter has tarnished his legacy among Hasina’s critics.
In a Facebook livestream, Hasina condemned the attack and demanded "justice".
"They can demolish a building, but they can’t erase history," she said.
Hasina, once hailed as a pro-democracy icon, has seen her reputation sour after taking office. She has been accused of rigging elections and jailing her critics, and her administration was widely seen as corrupt.
She faces arrest warrants for cracking down on the student-led protests last year, which saw hundreds of people killed.
While Hasina fled to India last August, anger has not dissipated against her and her Awami League partymates.
On Wednesday, protesters also vandalised and torched the houses and businesses of senior Awami League leaders. There have been calls on social media to rid the country of "pilgrimage sites of fascism".
Police told the BBC’s Bengali service that around 700 protesters showed up at the residence on Wednesday night, and dozens of police officers were deployed.
Since Hasina’s ouster, a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has kept the country running.
But it has struggled to quell lingering unrest. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in recent months, demanding Hasina to be prosecuted for her deadly crackdown on student protesters.
While Yunus’ government tries to get Hasina extradited from India, it is also dealing with a looming economic crisis - Yunus has accused Hasina of faking Bangladesh’s economic growth and laundering billions of dollars during her rule.
Yunus has pledged to hold elections in late 2025 or early 2026. Uncertainty Reigns in Bangladesh (Foreign Policy)
Foreign Policy [2/5/2025 4:47 PM, Michael Kugelman, 1436K, Negative]
The highlights this week: The public grows impatient with Bangladesh’s interim government six months after protests that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, voters head to the polls in Delhi state elections, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington next week.
The View From Dhaka
Wednesday marks six months since Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned under pressure from mass protests. It was a stunning feat: What began as demonstrations against job quotas were met with violence at the hands of security forces and morphed into a nationwide revolt against Hasina’s repressive rule.
Students and young people fronted the protests, and some of them now hold posts in Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus. The spirit of the movement—the so-called Gen Z revolution—lives on.
I spent last week in Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka, where the legacy of Hasina’s father, former President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, once loomed larger than life. The independence leader was depicted in statues and murals, and his name was routinely invoked in public speeches. Today, he is nowhere to be found, but the city is filled with commemorations of the Gen Z revolution.
However, the main takeaway from my trip was that the Bangladeshi public is growing impatient with an interim government that has made ambitious promises—to restore democracy, rebuild institutions, and reform governance—yet has underperformed so far.
Public safety has improved, with little of the deadly retributive violence that was unleashed against Hasina supporters in the days following her ouster. But many police officers are still refusing to report to duty, and activists buoyed by last year’s movement are regularly mobilizing in the streets for various causes. Many Bangladeshis, including business leaders, still worry about law and order.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s economy is floundering, continuing a decline that began in the last years of Hasina’s rule. Today, inflation is falling, but it is close to double digits. Bangladesh’s GDP growth between July and December 2024 was less than 2 percent, and foreign direct investment fell by 71 percent in the three months after Hasina’s ouster.
Additionally, the public has limited information about the interim government’s reforms process. Though commissions were formed to focus on subjects including banking and the country’s constitution, it’s unclear what goals they have set. The government insists that it will all take time; as one senior official put it to me, Hasina eviscerated the country’s governance fabric, and there is no easy way out.
Still, the lack of a formal public mandate will undermine the interim government. Most Bangladeshis welcomed the new administration last August, but it is not an elected government. The longer it stays in power, the more pressure it will face to call elections. According to multiple people I spoke with in Dhaka, two key constituencies already want to see elections soon: the business community and the military.
Yunus has said elections could take place by the end of the year, but the government has not announced a formal timeframe. Protest leaders within the government want to see reforms through—and they also likely want more time to build up the new political party that they plan to form. However, if the interim government holds off elections to ensure the implementation of reforms, the next elected government could just reverse them.
This uncertainty has intensified public concerns about Bangladesh’s future. By no means are people growing nostalgic for Hasina; there is an overwhelming view that today’s situation is preferable to the repression of the past. Still, if tangible improvements—especially economic ones—remain elusive, the public’s patience will wane.
Bangladesh’s next government will inherit not only domestic policy challenges but also growing external worries—including tense ties with India, uncertain relations with the new Trump administration in the United States, and a border with Myanmar now controlled by the rebel Arakan Army. Things won’t get any easier for Dhaka after elections, whenever they are held.
What We’re Following
Delhi elections. Residents of India’s National Capital Territory of Delhi went to the polls on Wednesday, with results expected on Saturday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, have ruled Delhi, which has its own legislature, for a decade. Despite its dominance over national politics, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hasn’t won Delhi elections for nearly 30 years.
Kejriwal is one of India’s most prominent politicians not affiliated with the BJP or the main opposition Indian National Congress. He and the AAP have little clout beyond Delhi and the nearby state of Punjab, which the party also controls. But Kejriwal, a former tax inspector, exploded onto the political scene in the 2010s as an anti-corruption crusader.
In recent years, Kejriwal has been saddled with corruption charges of his own, which prompted him to step down as Delhi chief minister last year. The BJP hopes that this will undercut the AAP’s electoral prospects; Kejriwal’s supporters reject the charges as politically motivated, part of an unrelenting ruling party crackdown on critics.
Modi to visit Washington. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected in Washington sometime next week—likely on Feb. 12 and 13, according to Indian reports. He will be one of the first world leaders to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba this week.Trade and defense will reportedly be among the issues on the agenda for Trump and Modi. One of Modi’s chief objectives will probably be to ensure that India doesn’t face new U.S. tariffs, and he might come prepared to propose the start of talks over a new economic agreement that would reduce tariffs on both sides.
Pakistan opposition talks collapse. Last Friday, Pakistan’s government announced that it would end talks with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party after the PTI refused to continue. Though Pakistani media described the PTI’s position as "unexpected," the party had threatened to end talks by Jan. 31 if its core demands were not met.
The PTI requested judicial commissions to investigate violent protests targeting military facilities in May 2023 and a state crackdown on PTI protesters last November; Islamabad declined to form these commissions. For its part, the government said the PTI also demanded the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and other senior party leaders from prison but did not include this in a formal charter.
The breakdown in talks is a blow to prospects for more stability in Pakistan. The PTI now claims that it will seek new alliances within the opposition. It has also announced plans to hold protests on Saturday, the one-year anniversary of Pakistan’s last election, in which PTI-backed independent candidates won the most seats but not enough to form a government on their own. The PTI says the election was rigged.
India announces new budget. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the new federal budget over the weekend amid ample apprehension. Indian government data recently showed that GDP growth in the third quarter of 2024 was lower than projected, at 5.4 percent—a seven-quarter low. The return of Trump and ongoing global conflict also worry policymakers.
Given persistent inflation and youth unemployment, India is under pressure to provide relief to the masses—but it also faces expectations to help the private sector. Some Indian officials recently pushed for India’s main interest rate, which has remained at 6.5 percent for several years, to be lowered; its reserve bank has so far declined to do so.
Not surprisingly, the new federal budget aims to help both the public and business. It includes income tax cuts for the middle class, intended to increase private consumption, and provides support to a range of industries, including agriculture, energy, and start-ups. Sitharaman said there will also be support for initiatives to boost manufacturing and exports.
Regional Voices
In the Kathmandu Post, poet Abhi Subedi argues that while it may be fashionable to lament the failures of Nepal’s politics, it’s not all that bad. "It is important to discuss political angst related to the political system," he writes. But "before pronouncing the apocalyptic end of this system, we should look at the positive modes of its origin and continuity.".
In Dawn, journalist Arifa Noor highlights an overlooked aspect of opposition protests in Islamabad last November: the alleged exploitation of Afghan refugees. "[A] story made its way to electronic news channels in which different young men confessed on camera that they were illegal refugees who had been paid to take part in the protest," she writes.
In the Hindu, writer Bhashyam Kasturi draws attention to the Indian state of Punjab’s decades-long challenge with drug trafficking. "Its proximity to the heroin-producing Golden Crescent—Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran—makes it vulnerable to the problem. This is why the drugs menace is also a national security issue," he writes. India boosts aid to Maldives in bid to ‘outdo’ China’s influence in region (South China Morning Post)
South China Morning Post [2/5/2025 8:00 AM, Junaid Kathju, 9355K, Positive]
India has significantly increased its financial aid to the Maldives in its latest budget, with analysts calling it an effort to "outdo and outwait" China’s influence in the region.
In the country’s 2025 national budget released on Saturday, the Maldives received an allocation of 6 billion rupees (US$69 million), up from 4.7 billion rupees last year, marking the biggest increase among South Asian beneficiaries.
India initially earmarked 6 billion rupees for the Maldives in its budget last year, but that sum was later cut to 4.7 billion rupees amid a diplomatic chill triggered by derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Maldivian officials.
Bilateral ties reached a low point in November 2023 when Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, who campaigned on an "India Out" platform, ordered New Delhi to withdraw 89 troops operating and maintaining two Indian-gifted helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft, citing concerns over national sovereignty.
Nilanthi Samaranayake, an adjunct fellow at the East-West Centre in Washington, said India and the Maldives had been able to mend ties in recent months, in large part by reaching a compromise on the aircraft issue.In October last year, Muizzu met Modi in Delhi, where they issued a joint vision document outlining plans to deepen maritime and security cooperation for the benefit of both countries and the wider Indian Ocean region.The agreement said India would help strengthen the Maldives’ defence infrastructure, including the early inauguration of a state-of-the-art ministry of defence building in Male, constructed with Indian help.India also responded to Muizzu’s directive to withdraw the Indian military personnel operating the aircraft in question by replacing them with civilian experts.“India’s negotiations demonstrated adaptation and flexibility in its Neighbourhood First policy. As a result, both countries succeeded,” Samaranayake said.“India preserved its aerial presence through civilian operators, while the Maldives’ new administration followed through on its pledge to remove foreign military presence in the country. The allocation in the budget appears to reflect this uptick in bilateral relations,” she added.Foreign affairs specialist Robinder Sachdev told This Week in Asia that India wanted to be seen as a “North Star” for the Maldives – steady, reliable, and always present for its people and political leaders.“Even in the face of President Muizzu’s criticisms and attempts to recalibrate Maldives-India relations, India remained resolute, engaging with patience and strategic foresight rather than reacting to short-term turbulence,” said Sachdev, founder president of The Imagindia Institute, a non-partisan Delhi-based independent think tank and research centre.‘Committed ally’Experts said they believed China had a long-term agenda of dominating the Indian Ocean region.Muizzu is perceived to be pro-China and Beijing has been exerting its influence over the country’s sectors including infrastructure, trade and energy.In January last year, the Maldives and China signed 20 key agreements, including a tourism cooperation deal, and announced a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Muizzu administration also sought to restructure more than US$1.3 billion in loans from China.The Maldives last year allowed the Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 to dock in its waters, raising concerns in India.“Chinese foreign policy operates with a long-term, patient view of global affairs. In the case of the Maldives, India appears to be choosing to outdo and outwait China rather than engaging in immediate power struggles,” Sachdev said.Muizzu’s recent overtures to Delhi, however, showed that the Maldives was recognising that India was not the “antagonistic power” portrayed during the election campaign, analysts noted.“They [Maldives government] have come back to India and are seeing more support from Delhi, who is willing to invest and support the Maldives,” said Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy, an associate fellow at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation’s strategic studies programme.Sachdev said Delhi was also confident that its deep-rooted historical, cultural, and economic ties with the Maldives would not only endure but also outpace China’s growing influence in the region.“Unlike Beijing’s high-debt infrastructure projects, which often come with strategic conditions, India’s developmental partnerships are designed to be transparent, sustainable and mutually beneficial,” Sachdev said.“This patient and steady approach aligns with India’s broader Neighbourhood First policy, ensuring that the Maldives views India not just as a counterweight to China, but as a long-term, committed ally dedicated to its prosperity and stability.”Meanwhile, India’s foreign aid as a whole has risen by 20 per cent in the 2025 budget. Observers see the move as bolstering the Neighbourhood First policy, with Delhi continuing to expand its partnerships across South Asia.Bhutan remained the largest recipient at 21.5 billion rupees, up from 20.7 billion last year, while Afghanistan was allocated 1 billion rupees.Shivmurthy said Bhutan received a major share of funds due to Indian investments in capital projects such as hydropower in the country.“There is now more of a dedication to exploring renewable energy beyond hydropower in terms of solar and wind power energy. This increases Bhutan’s help to a greater level,” he said.Swaran Singh, an international relations professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, said India’s increase in foreign aid stood out against US President Donald Trump’s recent freeze on most foreign aid.“US foreign help drying out makes it especially instructive of things to come. With India’s economy projected to rise by 6 to 7 per cent, this trend of India’s expanding developmental aid to other countries promises to sustain and expand in coming years,” Singh said.Singh noted that India’s developmental aid focused on its immediate neighbours, with more than 64 per cent of the allocations in the new budget going to the region.Such a move, he said, was in line with the country’s commitment to developmental aid and would help reinforce “India’s projection of itself as vishvamitr [friend of the world]”. Central Asia
Kazakh Tycoon in Talks on Making $1 Billion Payout to the State (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/5/2025 8:00 AM, Nariman Gizitdinov, 21617K, Neutral]
One of Kazakhstan’s richest men is in talks to pay about $1 billion to the state as part of a government investigation into wealth accumulated under the country’s first president.Should an agreement be reached, Timur Kulibayev, former President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, would make a combination of payments and investments, according to two people familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The payout would not include any admission of fault, the people said.A representative for Kulibayev declined to comment directly on the matter as it involved government affairs, but said “it is categorically incorrect to refer to any contributions as asset recovery.” Over the years, Kulibayev has significantly contributed to the country’s economic and social development, and “continues to engage with the government to establish how best to accelerate this progress in the coming years,” he added.The Kazakhstan general prosecutor’s office, which is responsible for negotiations with tycoons, also declined to comment for the story, citing the confidentiality of the process.The government passed a law in 2023 under which it is reviewing any wealth of $100 million or more accumulated by those with state ties since Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. That has dissuaded many of the country’s wealthiest people from investing domestically, concerned that their assets could be targeted.Kulibayev, 58, is worth $3.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is married to a daughter of Nazarbayev, who was president from independence until 2019. During that time, Kulibayev held several posts with state entities, including chairman of the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. He is a majority owner of Halyk Savings Bank JSC, Kazakhstan’s largest lender, and he also has investments in energy.An agreement would be a win for Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has been trying to cement his sway over the $263 billion economy ever since he faced unrest in 2022 that he characterized at the time as an attempted coup. Following the protests, he called on the wealthiest citizens to “give back to the people” and urged them to invest in the country.The prime minister in November said the government had that year approved agreements valued at more than 900 billion tenge ($1.7 billion), money the government has said will be used for social projects.Kulibayev has already paid the state $230 million, which will count toward his total if an agreement is reached, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. That formed part of a settlement the government made last year in a dispute led by US-based Argentem Creek Partners against Kazakhstan over oil and gas holdings, they said.The dispute had disrupted Kazakhstan’s ability to issue dollar-denominated bonds and led to as much as $28 billion in assets abroad being frozen in 2017. After its resolution, Kazakhstan returned to the dollar bond market with a sovereign debt sale for the first time since 2015. Kazakh preliminary report on jet crash backs Azerbaijani assertions of accidental Russian shoot-down (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [2/5/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
The preliminary report into the late December crash of an Azerbaijani passenger jet in Kazakhstan is a masterwork in delicate diplomacy, breaking no new ground in assigning responsibility for the tragedy, yet appearing to confirm that the plane was accidentally shot down by Russian air defenses without explicitly saying so. As such, the Kazakh-produced report has avoided, at least initially, provoking the ire of either Russia or Azerbaijan.
Kazakh officials released the report February 4, stating the 53-parge document “does not purport to assign blame or responsibility to anyone” for the incident, in which an Azerbaijani flight bound for Grozny in Chechnya is widely believed to have been hit by anti-aircraft fire before making a crash landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau, killing 38 of the 67 individuals aboard.
The report goes on to confirm various facts that have already been reported, including that the plane’s engines, hydraulic operating systems and GPS apparatus were in sound working order before take-off. It also notes the plane was not overloaded.
Kazakh investigators firmly establish that the damage done to the plane originated “from the outside by foreign metal objects,” thus dismissing the possibility of a bird strike or an internal explosion caused by a gas canister. The damage caused the pilots to lose control over most operating systems, while the plane’s GPS systems were reportedly jammed by ground-based air defenses.
The report contains photos of the plane’s tail section and fuselage speckled with “holes of various sizes and shapes,” but does not provide any information on what caused the perforations. Several apparently foreign metal objects have been recovered from the jet and are reportedly still undergoing analysis, according to the report. The visual evidence, however, shows damage that is consistent with that caused by anti-aircraft shrapnel.
Around the time of the accidental shoot-down, Grozny, the flight’s intended destination, came under a Ukrainian drone attack. The Azerbaijani plane began experiencing difficulties in Chechen airspace after being hit by the “foreign metal objects” at 5:13 am on December 25, according to the report, while the order to close airspace to civilian traffic wasn’t issued until eight minutes later. Given the distance from Ukraine, the radar capabilities of Russian air defenses and the relatively slow speed that drones tend to fly at, the lag-time in issuing the closure of airspace order is potentially an indicator of negligence or another shortcoming at some point in the Russian system.
The crash has strained Azerbaijan’s relations with Russia: Baku has demanded that the Kremlin admit responsibility and pay reparations to the relatives of those killed. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has so far declined to do so.
The Kazakh preliminary report generally aligns with the Azerbaijan’s long held version of events that Chechen air defense forces accidentally shot down the jet. Accordingly, the initial Azerbaijani reaction to the report has been restrained, neither lauding nor criticizing the contents. However, the Reuters news agency quoted a “source” in Baku that Azerbaijani authorities possessed evidenced that at least one fragment of a Pantsir-S missile system had been recovered from the plane and positively identified.
Meanwhile, Russian officials have tried to put as positive a spin as possible on the report, with a statement issued by the Russian Federal Transport Agency on Telegram highlighting that it “doesn’t contain conclusions about the causes of the incident.” The statement also tacitly airs a complaint that Russian investigators were not given access to the metal fragments found in the plane’s fuselage.
At the same time, state-controlled Russian media let loose a massive disinformation dump, regurgitating discredited alternative theories for the crash.
A story published by the Interfax news agency leads with quotes from the report about “noise impact” and a “collision with birds.” A piece distributed by the official TASS news agency blatantly distorts the report’s contents, referring to the bird strike and gas canister theories without mentioning “foreign metal objects.” Gazeta.ru’s headline falsely asserts that “both GPSs of the AZAL plane were out of order.” And an item in Vechernyaya Moskva attributes the tragedy outright to a bird strike and circulates a conspiracy theory that the data from the doomed plane’s recovered black boxes has been altered.
The final report is due to be completed in early 2026. Tajik Court Hands Down Stiff Sentences In Secretive Treason Trial (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [2/5/2025 1:57 PM, Staff, 1089K, Negative]
The Tajik Supreme Court has delivered guilty verdicts in a controversial high-profile treason case, handing lengthy prison terms to former senior government officials and politicians who were accused of plotting to overthrow authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon.
After a monthslong trial that occurred behind closed doors inside a detention center known for its strict security measures, the court gave 27-year sentences to both Tajik Ex-Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi and the leader of the opposition Democratic Party and ex-lawmaker Saidjafar Usmonzoda.
Shokirjon Hakimov, first deputy leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan; Ahmadshoh Komilzoda, a former deputy chairman of the Democratic Party; Akbarshoh Iskandarov, an ex-speaker of parliament; and Nuramin Ganizoda, a retired colonel from the State Committee for National Security, were all given 18 years in prison.
Abulfaiz Atoi, a former Foreign Ministry press secretary, received a 17-year prison term.
The court also sentenced journalist Rukhshona Hakimova to eight years in prison. Authorities have not disclosed the specific nature of the reporter’s alleged crime, citing state confidentiality. However, reports suggest that her prosecution on a treason charge was linked to an article she wrote about China’s influence in Tajikistan.
The defendants were denied public hearings, and their families were barred from attending the proceedings. Lawyers were also bound by nondisclosure agreements and independent media were denied access to the courtroom.
Authorities cited national-security concerns as the reason for the secrecy.
Despite the clandestine nature of proceedings, however, sources close to the investigation told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that many of the accused rejected the charges made by the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
Iskandarov and Komilzoda, for instance, stated that their convictions were based on insufficient evidence, according to the sources.
During earlier hearings in December 2024, several defendants also reportedly denied all the allegations and complained of being coerced by investigators.
With few details about the trial emerging, the lack of transparency has fueled speculation that it was politically motivated.
Authorities have framed the case as an attempt to prevent an overthrow of the government, but human rights activists and international observers have said the trial is part of a broader crackdown on dissent.
With Tajikistan’s judicial system largely under the government’s control, it’s likely that any appeals lodged against the sentences will have little impact.
Rahmon, who has run Tajikistan with an iron fist for more than three decades, has been criticized by international human rights groups over his regime’s stifling of political pluralism, independent media, religious freedoms, and civil society. Twitter
Afghanistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Afghanistan@MoFA_Afg
[2/5/2025 7:38 AM, 73.2K followers, 167 retweets, 266 likes]
IEA-MoFA Statement Regarding the U.S. President’s Remarks on the Displacement of Gaza Residents https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GjBkZraXoAAckgi?format=jpg&name=medium
Scott Mann@RooftopLeader
[2/5/2025 7:09 PM, 34K followers, 131 retweets, 830 likes]
Solid conversation with SECDEF @PeteHegseth about the growing Islamist Terror threat out of Afghanistan, the ongoing efforts by GWOT Vets to care for our betrayed Afgh Partners, and the need to communicate with the GWOT Generation as the Admin sorts this all out. First time in four years I felt heard and seen as a GWOT Veteran. #GWOT #Afghanistan
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[2/5/2025 3:46 AM, 247.5K followers, 71 retweets, 350 likes]
Since the Taliban’s return to power and their enforcement of Sharia law, a growing number of Afghan youth are rejecting Islam. If the Taliban stay in power much longer, I wouldn’t be surprised if half of Afghanistan turns away from the religion altogether.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[2/6/2025 12:30 AM, 247.5K followers, 76 retweets, 173 likes]
The Taliban raided and shut down Radio Begum, Afghanistan’s only women-run radio station dedicated to women’s education. Pakistan
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[2/6/2025 2:28 AM, 3.1M followers, 7 likes]
At the meeting with Premier Li Qiang today, President Asif Ali Zardari underlined CPEC as a shining symbol of China Pakistan economic cooperation. The discussions at the meeting focused on the high-quality development of CPEC 2.0, with a particular emphasis on the science & technology, infrastructure, green energy and livelihood projects to boost connectivity, growth and prosperity.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan[2/5/2025 10:39 AM, 3.1M followers, 119 retweets, 712 likes]
President Asif Ali Zardari met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing today and reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong and unwavering commitment to All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with China. The two leaders discussed the positive trajectory of the bilateral relationship, opportunities to further deepen economic partnership and jointly upholding the bilateral tradition of extending mutual support in good and challenging times. Hailing President Xi Jinping as a great friend of Pakistan, the President paid rich tribute to President Xi’s visionary leadership that had played a pivotal role in establishing the landmark China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Both leaders held in-depth discussions on the important role of CPEC in promoting regional connectivity, win-win cooperation and common prosperity, including by fostering partnerships with other countries.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[2/6/2025 2:19 AM, 480.8K followers, 15 retweets, 37 likes]
Joint Statement by Islamic Republic of Pakistan and People’s Republic of China India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/6/2025 2:05 AM, 105.1M followers, 626 retweets, 2.4K likes]‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ is back and that too in a fresh and livelier format! Urging all #ExamWarriors, their parents and teachers to watch #PPC2025, consisting of 8 very interesting episodes covering different aspects of stress free exams!
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/5/2025 4:29 AM, 105.1M followers, 13K retweets, 78K likes]
Here are highlights from a very divine visit to Prayagraj. https://x.com/i/status/1887070975717441696 Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[2/5/2025 7:20 AM, 3.3M followers, 242 retweets, 2.6K likes]
Delighted to meet SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev in Delhi this evening. Congratulated him on assuming this new responsibility. Discussed India’s work in SCO and building of SECURE SCO.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[2/5/2025 3:58 AM, 3.3M followers, 215 retweets, 1.4K likes]
Pleasure to meet @UN_PGA Philemon Yang this afternoon in Delhi. Discussed various issues on @UN agenda, including the need for reformed multilateralism. Also exchanged views on regional, global and developmental issues. Appreciate his leadership and guidance at the UN. Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/5/2025 10:34 AM, 218.3K followers, 31 retweets, 169 likes]Trump sees India as the “tariff king,” but so far he hasn’t threatened new tariffs on India. That may be because Delhi knows how Trump rolls: Right after Trump took office, India signaled its willingness to lower tariffs, take back undocumented Indian workers & import US oil.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/5/2025 10:34 AM, 218.3K followers, 20 likes]
There are other countries that haven’t sent those preemptive signals, and they’ve been targeted with tariffs in what looks to be a pressure tactic to get them to do other things sought by Trump (eg take back undocumented workers). India has so far been spared that treatment.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/5/2025 10:38 AM, 218.3K followers, 19 likes]
This isn’t to say India won’t have new problems on its hands. It will. The administration’s maximum pressure policy re Iran means that India’s work with Iran on Chabahar port will face fresh challenges-a blow to its connectivity goals. Still, overall, it could be a lot worse.
Sabria Chowdhury Balland@sabriaballand
[2/5/2025 1:09 PM, 7.8K followers, 1 retweet]
A US deportation flight carrying about 100 Indian nationals accused of entering the country illegally has landed in the state of Punjab. The US is said to have identified about 18,000 Indian nationals it believes entered illegally. #Immigration https://bbc.com/news/articles/cgj20g19z2qo.amp NSB
Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP@bdbnp78
[2/5/2025 2:57 PM, 77.4K followers, 13 retweets, 79 likes]
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the Secretary General of Bangladesh’s opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), met with Robert A. Destro, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Joining him were BNP National Standing Committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Barrister Jaima Rahman, who represented BNP’s Acting Chairman, Tarique Rahman. Mr. Destro, an attorney, academic, and seasoned government official, is currently part of the Trump administration’s transition team. With a distinguished career in human rights and civil rights law, he previously served as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is widely respected for his expertise in constitutional law, elections, and employment matters.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP@bdbnp78
[2/5/2025 11:53 AM, 77.4K followers, 31 retweets, 200 likes]
Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee Member Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Barrister Zaima Rahman met former governor of South Carolina David Beasley, one of the principals of the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation. Governor David Beasley has been a friend of Bangladesh with his illustrous work for the World Food Program (WFP) assisting the Rohingya refugees in Chittagong. Governor Beasley has received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the WFP in 2023 and also visited Bangladesh. It was an honor for the BNP delegates to meet the former governor in person.
Sajeeb Wazed@sajeebwazed
[2/5/2025 11:57 AM, 474.2K followers, 103 retweets, 518 likes]
In 6 months the #Yunus regime has achieved nothing. Law and order has collapsed, economic growth has stalled & inflation is out of control. People are not safe in their homes and they are struggling to buy day to day essentials. Since the violent overthrow of the elected Awami League government, the Yunus government has acted with impunity and made things worse with every step. That is what happens when you have an illegitimate and unaccountable regime in power. From allowing the wanton destruction of private property and businesses, to providing cover for attacks on minorities and journalists, to emptying the prisons of convicted criminals and terrorists, to raising taxes to fund the lavish use of helicopters and luxury cars by his advisors - Yunus is turning the country into a failed state.
In his quest to destroy the Awami League, he is destroying Bangladesh. To cover up his failures, Yunus has turned the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and the Anti-Corruption Commission into his personal tools of repression, using them to file thousands of false cases against Awami League MPs, ministers, grassroots supporters and my family. These cases are merely a distraction to cover up Yunus’ failures at home. Politically motivated cases are being filed on flimsy grounds, due process is not being followed and in many cases the accused are being arbitrarily detained and denied legal representation. These false cases are also accompanied by a side-show of farce. Like the recent claim by ACC investigators that they could not find the CRI office in Dhanmondi. The CRI office was vandalised and set on fire by the same criminals who set fire to and destroyed the historic house of my grandfather, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on Road 32 in Dhanmondi on August 5th. Yunus’ ACC investigators expect us to believe that they did not know the CRI office was reduced to ashes by his very own supporters 6 months ago? They couldn’t even locate the address? I can help them out - It’s down the road from Bangabandhu’s burnt out house, you can’t miss it.
These are the desperate acts of a regime that is out of its depth and out of control. The only thing that can save Bangladesh are free, fair and participatory elections. Don’t try and decide who the people should be allowed to vote for or not. Let the people decide - the we’ll see who they think the real fascists are.
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[2/5/2025 3:01 PM, 621.3K followers, 48 retweets, 187 likes]
A mob armed with bulldozers demolishing the house of leader of Bangladesh’s freedom struggle, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. No rule of law in Bangladesh anymore, mob rule has taken over the country. Yunus is ruining his name & reputation.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[2/5/2025 10:43 AM, 218.3K followers, 28 retweets, 298 likes]
In Bangladesh, the Awami League plans to hold protests. Maybe an attempt to show its continued relevance. But based on my convos in Dhaka last week, unless the AL acknowledges/apologies for its past actions, it likely won’t be able to do much-including field electoral candidates.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[2/6/2025 1:25 AM, 111.9K followers, 83 retweets, 83 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu attends the opening session of the People’s Majilis to deliver the Presidential Address 2025, highlighting the Government’s priorities for the year ahead.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[2/6/2025 2:15 AM, 111.9K followers, 22 retweets, 23 likes]
Vice President @HucenSembe attends the opening session of the People’s Majilis where President Dr @Mmuizzu highlighted the Government’s priorities for 2025.
Mahinda Rajapaksa@PresRajapaksa
[2/5/2025 11:13 AM, 554.4K followers, 8 retweets, 81 likes]
Pleasure to meet Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha today. We had a productive discussion on the strong IN-SL ties, including key connectivity projects and recent developments in Sri Lanka. Looking forward to continued cooperation between our nations. Central Asia
Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[2/5/2025 6:07 AM, 28.7K followers, 1 retweet, 3 likes]
Damage to AZAL aircraft that crashed in #Kazakhstan in December occurred before impact, Kazakh government says after studying black box data. Azeri government is briefing that it was hit by a Russian anti-aircraft missle https://en.inform.kz/news/damage-to-azal-aircraft-occurred-before-impact-kazakh-transport-ministry-8f96fa/
MFA Tajikistan@MOFA_Tajikistan
[2/5/2025 4:52 AM, 5.2K followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
The 6th Meeting of the Special Envoys of Central Asian States and the EU for Afghanistan https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/16571/the-6th-meeting-of-the-special-envoys-of-central-asian-states-and-the-eu-for-afghanistan Steve Swerdlow@steveswerdlow
[2/5/2025 8:12 PM, 15.2K followers, 4 retweets, 7 likes]
Absolutely disgraceful attack on #freeexpression in #Tajikistan as govt stamps out ANY manifestation of independent thought or reporting. A sign of authoritarian President Rahmon’s attempt to "clear the field" as he exits the political scene, leaving it to his son. #FreeRukhshona
Navbahor Imamova@Navbahor[2/5/2025 3:07 PM, 24.1K followers, 2 retweets, 4 likes]
Lack of accreditation by Tajikistan less than a month before elections makes continuation of OSCE observation mission impossible @osce_odihr https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/tajikistan/585277
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[2/5/2025 5:17 AM, 211.6K followers, 5 retweets, 20 likes]
Following the productive talks in Kuala Lumpur, President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister @anwaribrahim signed a Joint Statement to strengthen bilateral ties towards a strategic partnership. Additional agreements were adopted in areas including standardization, customs, higher education, healthcare, culture, anti-corruption and others.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[2/5/2025 3:06 AM, 211.6K followers, 5 retweets, 18 likes]
Today an official welcoming ceremony for President of Uzbekistan Shavkat #Mirziyoyev was held at the Perdana Putra government complex in Kuala Lumpur. A guard of honor was presented, the national anthems were played, and the leaders greeted official delegates and diplomats.{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.