SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Monday, June 9, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
The Taliban leader slams Trump’s travel ban on Afghans and calls the US an ‘oppressor’ (AP)
AP [6/7/2025 8:42 AM, Staff, 24051K]
The top Taliban leader on Saturday slammed President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Afghans, calling the United States an oppressor, as Afghanistan’s rulers seek greater engagement with the international community.The comments from Hibatullah Akhundzada marked the first public reaction from the Taliban since the Trump administration this week moved to bar citizens from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, from entering the U.S.Trump’s executive order largely applies to Afghans hoping to resettle in the U.S. permanently, as well as those hoping to go to America temporarily, including for university studies.Since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures, banned women from public places and education for women and girls beyond the sixth grade. And though they have so far failed to gain recognition as the country’s official government, the Taliban have diplomatic relations with several countries, including China and Russia.A message from the leaderAkhundzada released his message on the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice,” from the southern city of Kandahar, where he has set up base but is rarely seen in public.In a 45-minute audio recording shared by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on X, Akhundzada denounced the Trump administration for imposing “restrictions on people.”“Citizens from 12 countries are barred from entering their land — and Afghans are not allowed either,” he said. “Why? Because they claim the Afghan government has no control over its people and that people are leaving the country. So, oppressor! Is this what you call friendship with humanity?”He blamed the U.S. for the deaths of Palestinian women and children in Gaza, linking this allegation to the travel ban. “You are committing acts that are beyond tolerance,” he added.The Trump administration says the measure is meant to protect U.S. citizens from “aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”It argues that Afghanistan lacks a competent central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and lacks appropriate screening and vetting measures. It also says Afghans who visit the U.S. have a high visa overstay rate.Trump also suspended a core refugee program in January, all but ending support for Afghans who had allied with the U.S. and leaving tens of thousands of them stranded.The Taliban offer amnestyAlso on Saturday, the Taliban prime minister said that all Afghans who fled the country after the collapse of the former Western-backed government are free to return home, promising they would be safe.“Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland,” Mohammad Hassan Akhund said. “Nobody will harm them.”
“Come back to your ancestral land and live in an atmosphere of peace,” the Taliban prime minister said in a message on X and instructed officials to ensure returning refugees were given shelter and support.He also used the occasion to criticize the media for making what he said were “false judgements” about Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and their policies.“We must not allow the torch of the Islamic system to be extinguished,” he said. “The media should avoid false judgments and should not minimize the accomplishments of the system. While challenges exist, we must remain vigilant.”The return of the Taliban ruleThe Taliban swept into the capital of Kabul and seized most of Afghanistan in a blitz in mid-August 2021 as the U.S. and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.The offensive prompted a mass exodus, with tens of thousands of Afghans thronging the airport in chaotic scenes, hoping for a flight out on the U.S. military airlift. People also fled across the border, to neighboring Iran and Pakistan.Among those escaping the new Taliban rulers were also former government officials, journalists, activists, those who had helped the U.S. during its campaign against the Taliban.Separately, Afghans in neighboring Pakistan who are awaiting resettlement are also dealing with a deportation drive by the Islamabad government to get them out of the country. Almost a million have left Pakistan since October 2023 to avoid arrest and expulsion. ‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [6/7/2025 8:25 AM, Staff, 3077K]
The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions.
US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting.
Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency.
"For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans… I want to tell them, ‘Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system’," he said in a speech marking the Eid al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media.
"You will not face abuse or trouble," he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had "granted amnesty for all".
After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.
In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to "gender apartheid".
Afghans fled in droves to neighbouring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamouring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.
The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink.Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July. Travel ban may shut door for Afghan family to bring niece to US for a better life (AP)
AP [6/8/2025 3:59 PM, Jeffrey Collins, 491K]
Mohammad Sharafoddin, his wife and young son walked at times for 36 hours in a row over mountain passes as they left Afghanistan as refugees to end up less than a decade later talking about their journey on a plush love seat in the family’s three-bedroom suburban American home.
He and his wife dreamed of bringing her niece to the United States to share in that bounty. Maybe she could study to become a doctor and then decide her own path.
But that door slams shut on Monday as America put in place a travel ban for people from Afghanistan and a dozen other countries.
"It’s kind of shock for us when we hear about Afghanistan, especially right now for ladies who are affected more than others with the new government," Mohammad Sharafoddin said, referring to the country’s Taliban rulers. "We didn’t think about this travel ban.".
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as the Western forces were in the final phase of their withdrawal from the country, they have barred education for women and girls beyond sixth grade, most employment and many public spaces. Last August, the Taliban introduced laws that ban women’s voices and bare faces outside the home.
President Donald Trump signed the travel ban Wednesday. It is similar to one in place during his first administration but covers more countries. Along with Afghanistan, travel to the U.S. is banned from Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Trump said visitors who overstay visas, like the man charged in an attack that injured dozens of demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, earlier this month, are a danger to the country. The suspect in the attack is from Egypt, which isn’t included in the ban.
The countries chosen for the ban have deficient screening of their citizens, often refuse to take them back and have a high percentage of people who stay in the U.S. after their visas expire, Trump said.
The ban makes exceptions for people from Afghanistan on Special Immigrant Visas who generally worked most closely with the U.S. government during the two-decade war there.
Thousands of refugees came from Afghanistan
Afghanistan was also one of the largest sources of resettled refugees, with about 14,000 arrivals in a 12-month period through September 2024. Trump suspended refugee resettlement on his first day in office.
It is a path Sharafoddin took with his wife and son out of Afghanistan walking on those mountain roads in the dark then through Pakistan, Iran and into Turkey. He worked in a factory for years in Turkey, listening to YouTube videos on headphones to learn English before he was resettled in Irmo, South Carolina, a suburb of Columbia.
His son is now 11, and he and his wife had a daughter in the U.S. who is now 3. There is a job at a jewelry maker that allows him to afford a two-story, three-bedroom house. Food was laid out on two tables Saturday for a celebration of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
Sharafoddin’s wife, Nuriya, said she is learning English and driving — two things she couldn’t do in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
"I’m very happy to be here now, because my son is very good at school and my daughter also. I think after 18 years they are going to work, and my daughter is going to be able to go to college," she said.
The family wants to help a niece
It is a life she wanted for her niece too. The couple show videos from their cellphones of her drawing and painting. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, their niece could no longer study. So they started to plan to get her to the U.S. at least to further her education.
Nuriya Sharafoddin doesn’t know if her niece has heard the news from America yet. She hasn’t had the heart to call and tell her.
"I’m not ready to call her. This is not good news. This is very sad news because she is worried and wants to come," Nuriya Sharafoddin said.
While the couple spoke, Jim Ray came by. He has helped a number of refugee families settle in Columbia and helped the Sharafoddins navigate questions in their second language.
Ray said Afghans in Columbia know the return of the Taliban changed how the U.S. deals with their native country.
But while the ban allows spouses, children or parents to travel to America, other family members aren’t included. Many Afghans know their extended families are starving or suffering, and suddenly a path to help is closed, Ray said.
"We’ll have to wait and see how the travel ban and the specifics of it actually play out," Ray said. "This kind of thing that they’re experiencing where family cannot be reunited is actually where it hurts the most.".
The Taliban criticize the travel ban
The Taliban have criticized Trump for the ban, with their top leader Hibatullah Akhundzada saying the U.S. was now the oppressor of the world.
"Citizens from 12 countries are barred from entering their land — and Afghans are not allowed either," he said on a recording shared on social media. "Why? Because they claim the Afghan government has no control over its people and that people are leaving the country. So, oppressor! Is this what you call friendship with humanity?". Afghans who helped US war effort feel betrayed by Trump’s travel ban (CNN)
CNN [6/8/2025 9:00 AM, Jennifer Hansler, 47007K]
When President Donald Trump issued a proclamation last week blocking nationals from Afghanistan and 11 other countries from traveling to the United States, it added to the fear, uncertainty and sense of betrayal that some vulnerable Afghans were already feeling.
There are a number of immigration pathways for Afghans to come to the US, but practically all of them have been impacted during the Trump administration. Thousands of Afghans have already been left in limbo by cuts to services and offices intended to help them apply for visas. Those who qualify for refugee status have been affected by the almost total shutdown of resettlement efforts. Others already living in the US under Temporary Protected Status may now have to leave as the administration announced it is ending that program.
Wednesday’s travel ban does provide an exception for people with Afghan Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs, which are reserved for those who worked for or on behalf of the US for at least a year during the country’s nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan.
But scores of others who helped the US do not necessarily qualify for SIVs, advocates say. Some may not meet the one-year employment requirement, for example, or do not technically meet the definition of having worked directly for, or on behalf of, the US government. They and others like family members with any affiliation to the US remain at risk of reprisal.
Advocates have welcomed the SIV carveout, but many note that in practice, it does very little because of the administration’s other cuts and policy changes.
"The issue with that exception is that it is sort of a straw man, because separately, under different auspices, the administration is dismantling the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts. They’re shutting that office down by July 1," said a former State Department official.
The State Department has told Congress in a notice that the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts "will be eliminated and its functions will be realigned to the Afghanistan Affairs Office.".
The former State Department official also noted the administration is ending Enduring Welcome, a program that helps Afghan SIV recipients and applicants get to a third country to finish immigration processing. Because the US does not have a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan, applicants must complete their visa interviews in another country.
"It sounds nice that there’s a carveout for SIVs and we need to have a carveout for SIVs, but we also need the supporting infrastructure to help them get here and begin a life in the United States," said retired Lt. Gen John Bradley, who founded the Lamia Afghan Foundation, which provides humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.
The State Department did not immediately reply to a CNN request for comment.Afghans seek clarity on their families
Afghans who received SIVs and spoke with CNN said they still have family members and friends in Afghanistan or third countries like Pakistan – which has returned hundreds of thousands of refugees to Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.
"There are some obviously just tragic cases of folks that had to flee the Taliban and had to leave family members behind, and so it’s really important that those SIVs are able to reunite with their spouses and children," said Andrew Sullivan, the executive director of No One Left Behind, a charity that supports former interpreters and US government employees who are eligible for Iraqi and Afghan SIVs.
Although immediate family members should fall under the SIV carveout, many SIV holders who spoke to CNN still expressed confusion and fear about whether the fate of their loved ones who remain in limbo will be affected by Trump’s proclamation. Advocates noted that although organizations are trying to explain the ban’s impact, it is likely not fully understood on the ground.
"Frankly, our immigration system, while it is working as it was designed, it is designed to be confusing, and so people aren’t sure what this travel ban means for their particular type of case," the former State Department official said.
One Afghan, who said he worked alongside US forces in Afghanistan and is a US service member, has been trying to bring family members to the US since Afghanistan fell back under Taliban rule in 2021.
CNN is calling him H. — he and others in this story spoke anonymously for fear of retribution for their loved ones.
H. said it’s not clear whether the travel ban impacts his younger brother, who does not qualify for an SIV and fears for his children and wife under the harsh repression of the Taliban.
"I wouldn’t even know what this travel ban means and how this is going to affect people," H. said.
H. said his brother is no longer concerned about himself, but wants his wife and daughter to be able to lead a normal life by being able to go to school and out in public. The Taliban has increasingly excluded women from public life, imposing a swathe of draconian laws since it regained power.
Zia Ghafoori, a former interpreter who now heads the Interpreting Freedom Foundation, which helps interpreters with the SIV process and US resettlement, called the administration’s moves a betrayal.
"I voted for our new administration, for our president, Donald J. Trump," said Ghafoori, who was recognized by Trump in remarks at a Medal of Honor ceremony in 2019, "and I was super happy that now we could able to help our veterans and our allies because most of those high-ranking officials have been deployed to Afghanistan, and they have seen our Afghan partner services that they provided for them.".
"There was a lot of happiness on our allies’ faces when they took over, they thought they will make it to the US. But unfortunately, that’s opposite, and every month or two, we are putting a different policy and different rule for each status of Afghan holders," Ghafoori said, noting that many of his former comrades still in Afghanistan or Pakistan have lost hope.
Another Afghan in the US, who CNN is calling M., said it’s also unclear what the ban means for his family still in Afghanistan because his own future feels up in the air. He qualified for entry to the US under a number of categories, having worked for the US during the war. But he came to the US under the Fulbright Program and his SIV visa was approved after he arrived. He has now applied for a green card, but he doesn’t know its status.
He is hopeful that once he has his green card, his wife and daughter will be able to join him despite the travel ban. He has yet to meet his almost-4-year-old daughter, as his departure from Afghanistan was accelerated as its government collapsed in August 2021.
"They booked my flight on the 15th (of August 2021)," he said. "My baby girl was born on the 19th, and I’ve not seen her.".
Even if someone has an SIV and can get on a flight (some private organizations have stepped in to pay for them), there are concerns that the ban will be mistakenly applied to them. The travel ban goes into effect on Monday. According to guidance sent by the State Department to its diplomatic posts, the ban does not affect existing visas.
Anna Lloyd, who runs Task Force Argo, a volunteer group that worked to evacuate thousands of Americans and Afghans when the Taliban took over, said organizations will be carefully waiting to see whether the exceptions are honored when the ban goes into effect.
"Whichever Afghan ally arrives at a port of entry on June 10, we are all going to be watching," Lloyd said. U.S. Abandons Afghan Allies as Trump Administration Shuts Down Resettlement Programs (Reason – opinion)
Reason [6/6/2025 11:31 AM, Beth Bailey, 121822K]
Last week, the Trump administration eliminated the Congressionally mandated entity that oversees vetted Afghan allies’ travel to the U.S. and stated that it will dismantle the program that oversees their resettlement, continuing the series of blows dealt to our Afghan allies since January 20.
In a document sent by the State Department to multiple Congressional Committees on May 29, the Department announced that "the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) Office will be eliminated and its functions will be realigned to the Afghanistan Affairs Office.".
The decision angered Rep. Dina Titus (D–Nev.), sponsor of the CARE Authorization Act, which passed with bipartisan support in November 2024. The act states that the Secretary of State "shall appoint" a coordinator for a term of three years to assist in relocating and resettling "eligible Afghan allies," facilitating the relocation of American citizens or legal permanent residents, and coordinating with the interagency.
On May 29, Titus shared a video on X of a question she asked of Secretary of State Marco Rubio only a week earlier, as he came before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "We are going to continue with this Afghan relocation…this CARE office, is what you’re committing to me?" Titus asks. "We’re going to comply with the statutory requirements," Rubio replies.
"Clearly, he lied," Titus commented.
Two days later, the White House’s Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget included notice that the government will soon terminate the Enduring Welcome program, "the U.S. Government’s long-term resettlement program which relies on standard immigration pathways for immigrant visa, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa, and refugee admissions programs.".
"The Department will shut down the Enduring Welcome program by the end of FY 2025," the document explains. With no additional funds for the program, the document states that "any remaining prior-year balances will be used solely to finalize contractual and/or other legal obligations.".
I asked the State Department whether CARE will recommence funding travel for vetted allies prior to its July 1 sundown date, and whether the Trump administration has made a final decision about the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), the 90-day suspension and review of which was meant to end on April 20. I received no response.
On June 4, days after announcing the sunset of the systems that assist our allies, the Trump administration announced via executive order that it will ban travel for nationals of 12 countries, including Afghanistan. There are exceptions for Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants, and the executive order states that it does not "limit the ability of an individual to seek asylum, refugee status, withholding of removal, or protection under the [Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment of Punishment].".
Shawn VanDiver, president of the nonprofit #AfghanEvac, said the exemption for SIV applicants is "functionally useless" given that CARE and Enduring Welcome no longer exist to help with resettlement and travel. According to VanDiver, the order blocks some family reunification programs, eliminates student visas for Afghans, and "does nothing to help our allies, including the family of active duty U.S. military service members stranded" in third countries.
The nonprofit No One Left Behind expressed gratitude for the SIV exemption in a press release but noted that the order does not protect Afghans "who were injured in the line of duty and were unable to complete a full year of service" or "the women and men of the Afghan National Army who trained and served with U.S. Special Forces," among others.
Advocates, such as veteran Elizabeth Lynn, director of government affairs at the nonprofit evacuation organization Operation Recovery, are concerned about the developments. "It is as if the chaos of the withdrawal in 2021 continues and our allies are not just being left behind but dumped. Ending both Enduring Welcome and CARE places this administration at the epicenter of the chaos," Lynn said. "Essentially stranding our allies across the globe while potentially deporting them from the United States," is something Lynn said veterans and "people around the world will remember.".
Multiple Afghans, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, explained the impact these decisions have had on them.
Ahmad, who has been waiting on a Priority-1 referral to the USRAP due to his work with the Ministry of Interior, has been living in Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar for nine months. He says that the elimination of CARE has increased his "stress and sadness" as "CARE was a vital source of support, hope, and guidance for us during such a difficult time." Ahmad reports that camp life "has become more unstable" as families have "started to lose hope about relocating to the U.S.".
"Personally, my 206 bones have pain from inside," Ahmad said, though he said he tries "to hold on to hope.".
Feroza said that "living in Afghanistan is [a] nightmare as a girl who worked with USA government [sic]." Though it feels that "they left us behind and totally forget us [sic]," she implores the U.S. to relocate its allies to countries friendly to Afghan women if it will not help them directly.
Masud says that his "adorable" son perished of cerebral palsy while he underwent USRAP processing in Pakistan because he "wasn’t able to help him with proper medical care and treatment due to our refugee status" and a lack of funds. Awaiting word about the USRAP, Masud says he is "devastated.".
Nasir, another USRAP applicant, says he faced "extremely difficult conditions" once he made the difficult decision to relocate to Pakistan on the U.S. government’s advice after working for several years on projects supported by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
After selling his Kabul home "for half its value," Nasir says he "faced three years of hardship and instability," including a lack of employment and education for his two children, and a "constant fear of deportation." Though his case was in its final stages and he was set to travel to the U.S. within two weeks of the January suspension of USRAP, Nasir says he is now "trapped in limbo.". Kabul at risk of becoming first modern city to run out of water, report warns (The Guardian)
The Guardian [6/7/2025 5:43 AM, Mariam Amini, 121822K]
Kabul could become the first modern city to completely run out of water, experts have warned.
Water levels within Kabul’s aquifers have dropped by up to 30 metres over the past decade owing to rapid urbanisation and climate breakdown, according to a report by the NGO Mercy Corps.
Meanwhile, almost half of the city’s boreholes – the primary source of drinking water for Kabul residents – have dried out. Water extraction currently exceeds the natural recharge rate by 44m cubic metres each year.If these trends continue, all of Kabul’s aquifers will run dry as early as 2030, posing an existential threat to the city’s seven million inhabitants.
"There should be a committed effort to document this better and to draw international attention to the need to address the crisis," said Mercy Corps Afghanistan country director, Dayne Curry. "No water means people leave their communities, so for the international community to not address the water needs of Afghanistan will only result in more migration and more hardship for the Afghan people.".
The report also highlights water contamination as another widespread challenge. Up to 80% of Kabul’s groundwater is deemed unsafe, with high levels of sewage, salinity and arsenic.
Water access has become a daily battle for people in Kabul. Some households spend up to 30% of their income on water, and more than two-thirds have incurred water-related debt.
"Afghanistan is facing a lot of problems, but this water scarcity is one of the hardest," said Nazifa, a teacher living in the Khair Khana neighbourhood of Kabul. "Every household is facing difficulty, especially those with low income. Adequate, good quality well water just doesn’t exist.".
Some private companies are capitalising on the crisis by actively digging new wells and extracting large amounts of public groundwater, then selling it back to city’s residents at inflated prices.
"We used to pay 500 afghanis (£5.30) every 10 days to fill our cans from the water tankers. Now, that same amount of water costs us 1,000 afghanis," said Nazifa. "The situation has been getting worse over the past two weeks. We are afraid it will get even more expensive.".
Kabul’s sevenfold growth from less than 1 million people in 2001 has drastically transformed water demands. A lack of centralised governance and regulation has also perpetuated the problem over the decades.
In early 2025, the UN’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs announced that its partners had received just $8.4m (£6.2m) of the $264m required to implement planned water and sanitation programming in Afghanistan. A further $3bn in international water and sanitation funding has been frozen since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. The US’s recent move to cut more than 80% of its USAID funding has compounded the crisis.
"Everything is so aid-dependent," said Curry. "We can throw millions of dollars at short-term water fixes and say we’ve addressed the need, but that need will continue until there’s better investment for longer-term solutions. And that’s where foreign governments are stopping short at this point due to political dynamics.".
Nazifa said: "Water is a human right and natural resource of Afghanistan. It is not a political issue. My heart bleeds when I look at the flowers and fruit trees in the garden, all drying up. But what can we do? We are currently living in a military state, so we can’t exactly go to the government to report the issue.".The Panjshir River pipeline is one project which, if completed, could alleviate the city’s over-reliance on groundwater and supply 2 million residents with potable water. The design phases for this were completed in late 2024 and are awaiting budget approval, with the government seeking additional investors to supplement the $170m cost.
"We don’t have time to sit around waiting for budgets. We are caught in a storm from which there will be no return if we don’t act immediately," said Dr Najibullah Sadid, a senior researcher on water resource management and member of the Afghan Water and Environment Professionals Network.
"Those in Kabul are in a situation where they have to decide between food or water. And yet, the locals we’ve spoken to are still willing to invest what little they have towards a sustainable solution. Whichever project will bring the most immediate impact is the priority. We just need to start somewhere.". Pakistan
Pakistani Delegation: ‘Trump Is not Being Celebrated Enough’ for Ceasefire with India (Breitbart)
Breitbart [6/8/2025 4:14 PM, Olivia Rondeau, 3.1M]
A high-level Pakistani delegation to the United States, led by the former foreign minister and son of President Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, praised President Donald Trump for brokering a ceasefire with India as the two nuclear-armed countries lobby U.S. lawmakers for support.
Speaking to Breitbart News on Friday at the Embassy of Pakistan, Bhutto Zardari, who leads the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), called the Indian government’s denial that Trump helped the ceasefire deal “embarrassing” and accused them of “robbing” that victory from the U.S.
The Pakistani delegation, which included several other lawmakers, met with numerous think tanks, security officials, members of Congress, and other figureheads while visiting Washington, DC, this week as their Indian counterparts did the same:
The worst violence between the neighboring South Asian nations occurred in early May, two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing a terrorist attack on civilians in the Indian-run side of the disputed region of Kashmir, Breitbart News reported:
India bombed alleged terrorist targets inside Pakistan on Tuesday night in retaliation for the brutal massacre of tourists by terrorist gunmen with Pakistani connections on April 22. Pakistan fired on India’s warplanes during the operation, and the two sides have been exchanging attacks and counter-attacks with artillery and small arms fire every day since Tuesday, each side blaming the other for initiating hostilities.
On May 10, Trump announced a “full and immediate ceasefire” between the battling countries after a “long night of talks mediated by the United States”:
At the time, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that the top military officials in his country and in Pakistan have been in contact, and they have agreed that “both sides would stop all fighting and military action on land, air and sea with effect from 17:00 Indian Standard Time (7:00 A.M. Eastern time) today.”
However, the Indian publication Deccan Herald reported on June 5 that New Delhi has “dismissed the US president’s claim” that he brokered an agreement and “stressed that the proposal for halting the cross-border offensives had come from Islamabad on May 10 after Pakistan’s airbases and other military installations had suffered severe damage due to missile and drone strikes by India.”
Bhutto Zardari dismissed India’s refusal to acknowledge Trump’s role, saying, “It’s just embarrassing at this point. The entire world saw the events. We know Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] made phone calls to our side, made phone calls to their side.”“They made promises to both sides,” he continued. “All the titles in the intelligence community knows, your media knows, everybody else in the room or part of that conversation — we’re all saying the same thing.”
Pakistani Sen. Musadik Malik, who served as spokesperson for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and is currently Minister of Energy (MoE) in Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s administration, told reporters that “President Trump is not being celebrated enough” for his “critical role” in the ceasefire.“I think that was a great intervention that the U.S. president did. And I think he’s not getting recognized enough for that and he should be, both internationally, as well as in the United States,” Malik said during the Friday press conference.
The senator went on to say that Trump is playing the same peacemaker role with Russia and Ukraine, and between Israel and Palestine.“As the senator said, I believe that the United States should be celebrated,” Bhutto Zardari concurred.
He added, “For five days, they were up all night trying to resolve this crisis. The least you can do with a common decency is to appreciate and acknowledge what they’ve done.”“So in [India’s] attempts to sort of run away from this commitment about this cease fire, they will try to sabotage President Trump’s broader vision for peace in the region.” From Pakistan to Spain via the Canaries, smugglers are using longer, more dangerous migration routes (AP)
AP [6/7/2025 1:00 AM, Munir Ahmed and Renata Brito, 31733K]
It was supposed to be the final leg of Amir Ali’s monthslong journey to Europe. But he was nowhere near his destination, with only death in sight.
The 21-year-old Pakistani had been promised a visa and a flight to Spain. Yet six months, four countries and $17,000 later, he found himself crammed in a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean alongside 85 others, screaming for their lives as seawater sloshed over the gunwales.
Forty-four fellow Pakistani migrants perished during the 10-day failed crossing in January from Mauritania’s coast toward Spain’s Canary Islands.
The deadly journey cast a spotlight on how globalized and sophisticated smuggling networks on the West African coast — and specifically Mauritania — have become. Interviews with survivors and relatives of migrants who died revealed how smugglers have adapted to tighter border controls and anti-migration policies across the Mediterranean and North Africa, resorting to lengthier, more dangerous routes.
A journey that began 5,000 miles away
Ali’s odyssey began last July. After making an initial deposit of 600,000 Pakistani rupees ($2,127), he went to Karachi airport, where he was told to wait for a shift change before approaching the immigration counter.
"The smugglers had inside help," he said. He and other migrants were swiftly put on a flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
From there Ali boarded a second flight to Dakar, Senegal, where he was told someone would be waiting for him.
Instead, when he arrived he was told to go to the Senegal River bordering Mauritania, a seven-hour taxi ride north. He joined other Pakistanis traveling to the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. In each country he passed through, bribes were demanded for visas, Ali said.
Imran Iqbal, 42, took a similar journey. Like Ali, he flew from Karachi to Senegal via Ethiopia before reaching Mauritania. Other Pakistanis Iqbal met, he said, traveled through Kenya or Zimbabwe enroute to Mauritania.
A monthslong waiting game
Once in Mauritania, the migrants were taken to cramped safe houses where smugglers took their belongings and deprived them of food. "Our passports, our money — everything," Iqbal said. "I was essentially held captive," Ali said.
During the six months Iqbal and Ali were in Mauritania, smugglers moved them repeatedly, beating them to extract more money.
While he managed to get some money sent from Pakistan, Iqbal did not tell his family of his dire situation.
"Our parents, children, siblings ... they would’ve been devastated," he said.
Ali said the smugglers lied to their families in Pakistan, who asked about their whereabouts and questioned why they hadn’t called from Spain.
Finally, on Jan. 2, Iqbal, Ali and the other Pakistani migrants were transferred to an overcrowded boat that set course for Spain’s Canary Islands.
"On the day of departure, 64 Pakistanis from various safe houses were brought to the port," Ali recalled. "The Mauritanian police and port officials, who were complicit, facilitated our transfer to the boats.".
"What followed were the hardest 15 days of my life," Iqbal said.
Mauritanian authorities have launched several investigations into smuggling networks and, in the past two months, heightened surveillance at the country’s borders and ports, according to a Mauritanian embassy official in Madrid who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to comment publicly.
The world’s ‘deadliest’ migration route is only growing
While migration to Europe has been falling steadily, the Atlantic Ocean crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands has reemerged since 2020.
Nearly 47,000 people disembarked in the Canaries in 2024, an increase from the nearly 40,000 in 2023, according to Spanish Interior Ministry figures.
Until recently, the route was mostly used by migrants from West African nations fleeing poverty or violence. But since last year, migrants from far-flung countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan have increasingly embarked on the fishing boats used to reach the European archipelago.
Smugglers connect with migrants locally in Pakistan and elsewhere, as well as on social media. Migrants post videos of their voyages on TikTok. Although some warn of the dangers, they also share idyllic videos of life in Europe, from Canary Island beaches to the bustling streets of Barcelona and Madrid. For many, Spain is just an entry point for continuing to France, Italy and elsewhere.
Chris Borowski, spokesperson for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, believes smuggling networks bringing Pakistanis and other South Asian migrants through the Canaries are still "testing the waters" to see how profitable it is.
However, experts at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime warn the route is here to stay.
"With the conflict landscape showing no sign of improvement, movement on the Canary Islands route looks set to increase," the group warned. "Because it remains the deadliest migration route in the world, this has severe humanitarian implications.".
The Atlantic Ocean crossing can take days or weeks. Dozens of boats have vanished.
Exact figures don’t exist, but the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project recorded at least 1,142 deaths and disappearances last year, a number it calls a vast understatement. Spanish rights group Walking Borders reported nearly 9,800 victims on the Canaries route last year — which would make it the world’s deadliest migration route.
Only a tiny fraction of bodies are ever recovered. Some shipwrecked vessels have appeared hundreds of thousands of miles away, in the Caribbean and South America.
The boat Ali and Iqbal boarded had a 40-person capacity but was packed with more than double that. Immediately, there were fights between the Pakistanis and the Africans on board, they said.
The Associated Press wasn’t able to locate non-Pakistani survivors to verify the accusations, but reports of violence on the Canaries journey are frequent even among those of the same nationality and ethnicity. Dehydration can cause hallucinations, exacerbating tensions.
"The weather was terrible," Ali said. "As water entered the boat, the crew threw our belongings and food into the sea to keep the boat afloat.".
On the fifth day, a man died of a heart attack, Ali and Iqbal said. More people perished every day, their bodies thrown overboard; while some died from hunger and thirst, the majority were killed.
"The crew attacked us with hammers, killing 15 in one night," Ali said. Both men showed photos of injuries others sustained, although AP couldn’t verify what caused them.
"The beatings were mostly to the head — so brutal that people started losing their sanity," Iqbal said. They prayed for a merciful death, convinced they had little chance of survival.
On the 10th night, after dozens had died, lights appeared on the horizon. They shouted for help. At daybreak, a fishing vessel approached, handing them food and water before eventually towing them to the West African coast two days later. Forty-four Pakistanis had died.
"Only twelve bodies returned to Pakistan," Ali said. "The rest were lost at sea.".
Back at square one
News of the failed journey made international headlines, prompting a pledge by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to go after smugglers.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has arrested dozens of people suspected of arranging the journey or connections to the smugglers.
A nationwide crackdown was already underway, but smugglers change locations to evade capture. In Europe and Pakistan, smugglers who are caught are primarily low-level operatives, resulting in limited impact on the overall business.
Staring at the mansions being built around his modest brick home in the Pakistani village of Dera Bajwa, Ali reflected on his wasted journey.
"These are the houses of those who made it abroad," Ali said. "People like me see them and dream without thinking.". Pakistan: Blasphemy Laws Exploited for Blackmail, Profit (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [6/8/2025 10:00 PM, Staff, 1441K]
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws perpetuate religious discrimination and are used to target the poor and minorities in unlawful evictions and land grabs, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These accusations have had devastating consequences for those affected, while the federal and provincial governments have failed to prevent the abuse or provide justice for victims.
The 29-page report, "‘A Conspiracy to Grab the Land’: Exploiting Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws for Blackmail and Profit," documents the use of blasphemy accusations for personal economic gain. Accusers have long used blasphemy charges to incite mob violence that has forced entire communities to flee their homes, leaving their property vulnerable to land grabs. Those seeking to exploit the law for their own profit have used blasphemy accusations as a weapon against rivals and businesses owned by religious minorities.
"The Pakistani government should urgently reform its blasphemy laws to prevent them from being weaponized to blackmail rivals, settle personal scores, and attack marginalized communities," said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Failure to prosecute those responsible for incitement and attacks in the past has emboldened those who use these laws to extort and blackmail in the name of religion.".
Human Rights Watch interviewed 14 people who had faced blasphemy accusations, as well as lawyers, prosecutors, judges, police officials, human rights activists, and journalists between May 2024 and January 2025 in Lahore, Gujranwala, Kasur, Sheikhupura, and Islamabad districts of Pakistan.
Blasphemy is an offense officially punishable by death in Pakistan. Although no one has been executed for blasphemy, a mere accusation can be a death sentence. In the past decade, vigilantes have killed dozens of people in mob violence following blasphemy accusations.
While the targets of blasphemy accusations and the violence they foster belong to all socio-economic and religious groups in Pakistan, most of the victims have been from marginalized groups, Human Rights Watch found. Blasphemy accusations against Christians and Ahmadis in particular have often forced entire communities to flee their homes and neighborhoods. Because many minority communities in Pakistan live in informal, low-income settlements without title to the land, their forced exodus leaves their property up for easy seizure.
Those alleging blasphemy have also benefitted financially by targeting business rivals and businesses owned by religious minorities. The exploitation of the blasphemy law, in particular the ease with which someone can make an accusation as part of a personal dispute or for economic gain, has instilled fear among those most at risk.
An entrenched bias in Pakistan’s criminal justice system results in miscarriages of justice against people accused of blasphemy. The authorities almost never hold those who commit violence in the name of blasphemy to account, while those accused under discriminatory and vague blasphemy laws—generally without evidence—suffer long pretrial detention, lack of due process, and unfair trials that may result in years in prison.In cases of vigilante attacks, police seldom take action to protect those targeted, and those who do may themselves face threats of violence. As a result, those responsible for mob violence who are protected by politicians or religious leaders avoid arrest or are acquitted.
The government of Pakistan should repeal the blasphemy law and safely release all those held or imprisoned on blasphemy charges, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should investigate all attacks and threats based on blasphemy accusations, with particular concern for those targeting religious minorities and other marginalized groups and those that result in forced evictions and large-scale forced displacement. The authorities should also institute safeguards to prevent the coerced transfer and sale of properties of those accused following any such incidents.
"The Pakistan government’s indifference to the abuses under the blasphemy law and the violence it provokes is discriminatory and violates the rights to fundamental freedoms," Gossman said. "The authorities’ failure to hold those responsible for violence against religious minorities to account only encourages extremists and reinforces fear and insecurity among all minorities.".
Selected Accounts
Nadia (pseudonym)
Nadia, 52, a beautician and make-up artist in Lahore, is Christian. In July 2019, she decided to quit her job at a local salon and set up her own business. She pooled her life’s savings and obtained loans from people she knew to start her own salon. Her previous employer tried to dissuade her by offering a raise. When Nadia refused, the previous employer threatened her, saying that "the consequences of this will not be good for you.".
In November 2019, a mob led by a local cleric barged into her salon, beat her and her staff, and ransacked and vandalized the premises. They claimed that she had desecrated the Quran and that a boy in the neighborhood had found pages of the Quran in the trash. Nadia denies this. She said, "I respect all religions and didn’t even have a copy of the Bible at the salon. Why would I have a copy of the Quran? I would have to be completely mad and suicidal to even think about disrespecting it.".
Firoz (pseudonym)
Firoz, 43, is a Christian who runs a private school with both Muslim and Christian students in a low-income neighborhood of Lahore. In February 2021, Firoz received a call from an angry parent regarding "blasphemous" comments by a teacher. Firoz offered to meet the parent and also asked the teacher for an explanation. The teacher denied making any blasphemous comments. A few days later, a group of people affiliated with a local religious and sectarian organization threatened to "burn down the school" if an apology was not made. Firoz said that the teacher resigned. But that was not enough to appease the religious group. Firoz said:
It soon became clear to me that it wasn’t about any remark or "blasphemy." They asked me to donate PKR 200,000 (US$800) to their religious charity to "atone" for my sin. Of course, they realized that since I was a Christian, just a murmur of blasphemy would mean that my school and possibly I too would be set on fire by a mob. No one would ask any questions. My religion made me additionally vulnerable. However, a blasphemy accusation could also result in burning down of a school run by a Muslim. The truth of the allegation doesn’t matter. Now, I have started a cycle of blackmail, and they can extort me whenever.
Mian Yasir
Mian Yasir, a lawyer who has represented several blasphemy defendants over the past decade, said:
In my experience, almost all blasphemy accusations in Pakistan are driven by personal motives and mostly by economic reasons. The accusation is a weapon to settle all kinds of scores. Religious minorities are additionally vulnerable, but everyone is vulnerable, even Muslim religious clerics are not immune. Anyone can weaponize this against anyone at any time in Pakistan. This is the sad reality.
Sawan Masih
In March 2013, a mob of about 3,000 people attacked Joseph Colony, a Christian housing community in Badami Bagh, following an allegation of blasphemy against Sawan Masih, a resident. More than 100 houses were ransacked, burned, and looted. The entire community fled. The local government said that the police had "avoided" confronting the "religiously charged mob" because if any officers were killed "the issue might have blown out of proportion and spread all across the country.".
Instead of protecting the residents of Joseph Colony, the police arrested Masih. In 2014, a trial court sentenced him to death. His conviction was finally overturned in 2020. Local residents and rights activists maintained that the objective of the attack was to capture land in Joseph Colony. At the trial, Masih said that for years, businessmen linked to the local steel industry had pressured the Christian community to sell their property and leave because they wanted the land:
They contrived a case under the blasphemy law.… They put up banners against me alleging blasphemy against the Prophet.… They played with the religious sentiments of the people.… They involved the local police to create fear and alarm among Christian residents who were threatened and told to leave the colony to save their lives.… This was a conspiracy to grab the colony.
A number of families moved out because they knew they would remain vulnerable to such attacks in the future. India
US trade team said to extend India stay as talks gather momentum (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [6/8/2025 5:45 AM, Shruti Srivastava, 1421K]
A US trade team that’s currently in India for negotiations has extended its stay, according to people familiar with the matter, in a sign talks are progressing ahead of a July deadline.
The team, which was initially scheduled to hold talks with Indian officials on June 5-6, will now be staying till Tuesday to continue discussions, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Most of the issues may get finalized within a week, the people estimated.
India and the US are working on a phased trade deal with an early agreement targeted for July, the deadline for implementation of the so-called reciprocal tariffs. At the same time, those tariffs are facing legal challenges in Washington.
India’s Commerce Ministry and the US Trade Representative’s office in Washington didn’t respond to email requests for comment outside of regular business hours. Local Indian media earlier reported the extension of the visit.
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal described his meeting with US counterpart Howard Lutnick during a visit to the US in May as "constructive." Earlier this month, Lutnick said he’s "very optimistic" about prospects for a trade deal between the US and India "in the not-too-distant future.".
India was one of the first countries to begin negotiating a trade deal with the US, hoping to avert President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are scheduled to kick in on July 9. India, U.S. trade talks extended as deadline looms for interim deal, say sources (Reuters)
Reuters [6/6/2025 9:46 AM, Manoj Kumar, 5.2M]
Trade talks between Indian and U.S. officials have been extended into next week as both sides seek consensus on tariff cuts in the farming and auto sectors, aiming to finalise an interim deal before a July 9 deadline, Indian government sources said.
A U.S. delegation led by senior officials from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) held two days of discussions in New Delhi with Indian trade officials headed by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, the sources said.
"The two countries are actively engaged in focused discussions to facilitate greater market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, enhance supply chain resilience and integration," one Indian government official with direct knowledge of the talks, said.
Negotiators, who had initially aimed to wrap up talks by Friday, will now continue discussions on Monday and Tuesday to resolve outstanding differences, a second Indian official said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed in February to conclude a bilateral trade pact by fall 2025 and more than double trade to $500 billion by 2030.
The current talks are part of efforts to hammer out a limited trade agreement that could lead the Trump administration to revoke 26% reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods - tariffs that have been paused along with those on several other U.S. trading partners for 90 days, the second official said.
"Many Indian exporters have held back shipments to the U.S. in the last two weeks, fearing cargos may not reach before the July 9 deadline,” the official added.India’s exports to the U.S. jumped nearly 28% year-on-year to $37.7 billion in the January–April period, driven by front-loading of shipments ahead of tariff hikes in April, while imports rose to $14.4 billion, widening the trade surplus in India’s favour, according to US government data.
India approved a licence for Elon Musk’s Starlink to launch commercial operations, ignoring his public spat with Trump, Reuters reported on Friday.
India is opposing U.S. demands to open up its agricultural and dairy markets, another Indian official said, citing the impact on millions of poor farmers who cannot compete with heavily subsidised American products.
Indian officials have also made it clear New Delhi could pursue its complaint at the World Trade Organisation against the U.S. tariff hikes on steel and aluminium, while aiming to work out a bilateral agreement, the source added. FBI Working With India to Disrupt Chinese Fentanyl Network—Kash Patel (Newsweek)
Newsweek [6/7/2025 2:58 PM, Mandy Taheri, 54790K]
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel told podcaster Joe Rogan during a Friday episode that the agency is working with the Indian government to dismantle global fentanyl networks, which he said originate in China.
Newsweek has reached out to the FBI’s press office, the Indian Government’s Ministry of External Affairs, and the Chinese Embassy in Washington for comment via email on Saturday.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has made combating the opioid crisis, particularly the influx of illicitfentanyl, a central focus of his administration’s policies. Earlier this year, to address the sources of fentanyl trafficking, Trump imposed tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada. There are some legitimate medical uses for fentanyl.
The opioid crisis has far-reaching impacts across the country. In 2024, the United States witnessed a significant decrease in opioid-related overdose deaths, dropping from 110,037 in 2023 to 80,391 in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Rogan, host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, is one of the most-listened-to media figures, drawing an audience of roughly 11 million listeners.
What To Know
Patel told Rogan that when he joined the bureau, he launched a "massive enterprise" to target companies in China that manufacture "fentanyl precursors." He said that while China may not produce the drug in its final form, it supplies the key ingredients used to make fentanyl, calling the country the "root of the problem.".
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which provides recommendations to Congress, stated in an August 2021 finding that "China remains the primary country of origin for illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the United States.".
Patel said during the interview with Rogan that the country has been shipping the precursors "to places like India—and I’m also doing operations in India—and they’re having the Mexican cartels now make this fentanyl down in Mexico.".
In March, the Chinese government published a white paper laying out its purported efforts to crack down on fentanyl trade and hit back at U.S. criticism as Washington imposed tariffs over the issue.
"I literally just got off the phone with the Indian government, I said: ‘I need your help. This stuff’s coming into your country and then they’re moving it from your country because India’s not consuming fentanyl...I need you and your help,’" the FBI director told Rogan.
He explained the FBI is "working with the heads of their [the Indian] government, law enforcement authorities to say, ‘We’re going to find these companies that buy it and we’re going to shut them down. We’re going to sanction them; we’re going to arrest them where we can. We’re going to indict them in America if we can. We’re going to indict them in India if we can.’".
He reiterated that "this is a global problem.".
Patel said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) isn’t partaking in the trade for profitability reasons, but rather, "in my opinion, the CCP have used it as a directed approach because we are their adversary...And their long-term game is how do I, in my opinion, kneecap the United States of America, our largest adversary?" suggesting that the drug allows them to "take out generations of young men and women.".
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have been high over a slew of issues, including tariff policies and national security issues.
In May, federal authorities arrested 16 individuals and seized over 400 kilograms of the drug in the largest fentanyl bust in Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) history.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in mid-May: "I have a personal stake in this. There are two very close friends [who] lost children to this terrible scourge. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die every year. And I think that we saw here in Geneva the Chinese are now serious about assisting the U.S. in stopping the flow of precursor drugs.".
A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said in March: "Facts speak louder than words. The U.S. is spreading all kinds of false information on the fentanyl issue, smearing and scapegoating China, and hiking tariffs on Chinese imports over fentanyl.".
President Donald Trump wrote in an April 24 Truth Social post: "...By the way, Fentanyl continues to pour into our Country from China, through Mexico and Canada, killing hundreds of thousands of our people, and it better stop, NOW!".
What Happens Next?
It is unclear what the partnership looks like, but according to Patel it is ongoing. Carney invites Modi to G7 summit despite strained ties between Canada and India (AP)
AP [6/6/2025 9:24 PM, Rob Gillies, 346K]
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta later this month, an invitation Modi accepted despite strained ties between the countries.
The countries expelled each other’s top diplomats last year over the killing of a Sikh Canadian activist in Canada and allegations of other crimes.
The invitation prompted anger from the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which wrote to Carney in May asking him not to invite Modi. Tensions remain high between Canada and India over accusations about Indian government agents being involved in the murder of a Canadian activist for Sikh separatism in British Columbia in 2023.
Carney extended the invitation to Modi in a phone call between the two leaders on Friday. The summit runs from June 15 to 17.
Carney noted Canada is in the role of G7 chair and said there are important discussions that India should be a part of.
"India is the fifth-largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains," Carney told reporters, adding that there has been some progress on law enforcement dialogue between the two countries.
"I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi and, in that context, he has accepted," Carney said.
Carney said there is a legal process underway in the killing of the Canadian Sikh activist and said he would not comment on the case, when asked by a reporter if he thought Modi was involved.
The tit-for-tat expulsions came after Canada told India that its top diplomat in the country is a person of interest in the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and that police have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government.
Modi said he was glad to receive a call from Carney and congratulated him on his recent election victory.
"As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests. Look forward to our meeting at the summit," Modi said in a social media statement.
Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot in his pickup truck after he left the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. An Indian-born citizen of Canada, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.
Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar’s murder.
Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, called Carney’s invitation to Modi a "betrayal of Canadian values.".
"The summit to which Mr. Modi is being invited falls on the anniversary of the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar two years ago," he said. "So for us, this is unacceptable, it’s shocking and it’s a complete reversal of the principled stand that Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau had taken.".
Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil.
In 2023 US prosecutors said an Indian government official directed a failed plot to assassinate another Sikh separatist leader in New York. Canada’s Last Minute G-7 Invite to Modi Signals a Thaw (Bloomberg – opinion)
Bloomberg [6/8/2025 5:00 PM, Karishma Vaswani, 19320K]
As last minute invitations go, this one went down to the wire. After an initial snub, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed that Canada has invited him to the upcoming Group of Seven summit. President Donald Trump’s trade war is bringing the two nations, whose relations have been strained in recent years, closer together.India isn’t a member of the G-7 — a grouping of the world’s richest countries comprising the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan. But it has been a regular attendee. This will be the nation’s 12th time participating and Modi’s sixth consecutive invitation. Ottawa had originally decided to leave him off the list, a move that raised questions about India’s credibility in the international arena.But newly elected Canadian leader Mark Carney1has likely made an important calculation: Getting India onside is crucial as he tries to show that democracies can still function collaboratively, even in a fragmented world order. This comes despite Freedom House classifying the South Asian giant as only partly free, noting that the government led by Modi and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution affecting Muslims.Ties between Ottawa and New Delhi deteriorated sharply in recent years, hitting fresh lows after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India’s government of orchestrating the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader, outside a temple in British Columbia. Many Sikhs in the Canadian diaspora want a separate homeland within India for followers of the faith — an ambition that worries security authorities, who have outlawed the movement and view it as a terrorist threat.New Delhi denied it was involved in Nijjar’s death, alleging that Ottawa has harbored Sikh separatists. The public spat led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions and a freeze in high-level engagements.Hopes of a thaw were raised after Carney was elected in April as the country’s new prime minister. He’s expressed interest in rebuilding ties with “like-minded countries” as he tries to navigate a difficult relationship with Trump and deal with the fallout from his trade war. That’s led to some positive developments, including discussions about a reset in relations and a recent friendly telephone call between foreign ministers.Diplomatic priorities appear to have outweighed domestic political considerations. Activists in the Sikh diaspora have argued New Delhi should be kept at arm’s length until the investigation into Nijjar’s death is complete. When asked why he decided to invite Modi, Carney said it “made sense” to have India, the fifth largest largest economy, at the gathering.He needs all the friends he can get as he tries to navigate a complex economic landscape, while Trump rewrites the rules of multilateralism. Canadian media has indicated leaders of Australia, Ukraine and Mexico have also been invited. The inclusion of the outer ring of G-7-plus partners has become commonplace as a way to get buy-in for major initiatives, particularly among emerging economies. For Modi, who has long positioned himself as the natural leader of the Global South, the late inclusion will be embarrassing, but one he will survive. Domestically he has received both praise and criticism over the handling of recent hostilities with Pakistan. Diplomats have been on a global charm offensive to build international support for a hardline military approach to Islamabad. Images of him mingling with global heads of state will benefit his standing at home and abroad, feeding into the narrative that he’s respected globally.For Carney, this is an opportunity to stabilize relations with an increasingly influential New Delhi. He may be signaling a desire to prioritize trade, tech, and climate cooperation over continued isolation. But it’s also a chance to balance Trump’s disruption to the world order, preventing him from dominating the economic narrative.Regardless of the underlying motivations, Canada’s decision to include India in this gathering is eminently sensible. In an era marked by fractures in the global order, sustaining engagement should be a priority. Modi can seize this opportunity to strengthen bilateral ties, while remembering that influence extends beyond economic size. It hinges on relationships, credibility, and trust — in short supply in today’s volatile political arena. Setting aside differences to collaborate is not just a positive step, it’s essential. UK and India Discuss ‘Counter-Terrorism’ Cooperation After Pakistan Ceasefire (Reuters)
Reuters [6/7/2025 10:51 AM, Krishna N. Das, 24051K]
Britain and India on Saturday discussed expanding their "counter-terrorism" collaboration following recent fighting between India and Pakistan, Britain’s foreign minister told Reuters after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
British foreign minister David Lammy is the highest-profile Western official to have visited both New Delhi and Islamabad since the South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire last month after their worst fighting in nearly three decades.The latest tensions began in April after the killing of 26 men in Indian Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied. India then attacked what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan, leading to escalation from both sides until a May 10 ceasefire.
"We want the situation to be maintained, but of course we recognise fragility, particularly in the backdrop of terrorism, terrorism designed to destabilise India," Lammy said in an interview at the residence of the British High Commissioner in New Delhi.
"We are keen to continue to work with our Indian partners on counter-terrorism measures.".
He said he discussed the next steps with both Modi and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, but gave no specifics.
Last year, India and Britain discussed combating the financing of terrorism, cooperation between law enforcement and judicial bodies and information sharing.
Lammy said he also discussed boosting trade between the world’s fifth and sixth largest economies. The countries concluded talks for a free trade deal early last month.
"I know that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is very much looking forward to coming to India very soon to sign the free trade agreement," Lammy said. "There is so much that our two nations can continue to do together.". India Holds Major Air Drill Near Pakistan Weeks After Giant Dogfight (Newsweek)
Newsweek [6/9/2025 4:48 AM, Amira El-Fekki, 17M]
India concluded a massive two-day air combat drill along its southern border with Pakistan, according to multiple Indian news outlets.Newsweek has reached out to the Indian Defense Ministry and the office of Pakistan’s prime minister for comment.Why It MattersThe exercise took place nearly a month after India launched its military campaign "Operation Sindoor" targeting Pakistan in their biggest confrontation in decades following a deadly attack on a tourist bus in Kashmir that killed 26 people. Pakistan denied Indian accusations of involvement in that attack.Four days of fighting was marked by an extensive air battle, one of the largest dogfights since World War II, before the two nuclear rivals reached a ceasefire agreement following U.S. diplomatic efforts.What To KnowThe Indian Air Force issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) earlier this week for a large-scale exercise scheduled for June 7 and 8, taking place in Rajasthan’s southern sector near the Pakistan border. Aircraft deployed included the Rafale, Mirage 2000, and Sukhoi-30, according to Indian outlets including Firstpost, The Shillong Times, and Mathrubhumi English.In May, Pakistan said it shot down several Indian planes, including the French-made Rafale and Russian Sukhoi, with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar saying Chinese J-10C jets were used in the operation.Diplomatic tensions have continued despite a ceasefire agreed under U.S. pressure. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Pakistan of disrupting infrastructure development in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir following the Pahalgam attack, Reuters reported Friday.Pakistan accused India of using claims of developmenta in Jammu and Kashmir to mask an unprecedented military presence, arbitrary arrests, and efforts to alter the region’s demography in violation of international law, according to The Associated Press of Pakistan.Growing tensions also surround India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam attack.What People Are SayingIndia’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh wrote in The Times of India on June 6: "India has made it clear that we have a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. Talks and terrorism cannot go hand-in-hand. Any future dialogue with Pakistan will focus solely on terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Also, if Pakistan is serious, it must hand over UN-designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar."Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said on June 6, as quoted by the Associated Press of Pakistan: "We are deeply dismayed that the Indian Prime Minister has once again chosen to accuse Pakistan of involvement in the Pahalgam attack, without presenting a single piece of credible evidence."What Happens NextRelations between India and Pakistan remain tense and any incident could easily prompt a resumption of hostilities. India vows to keep up development in Kashmir after tourist attack (Reuters)
Reuters [6/6/2025 10:53 AM, Sakshi Dayal, 5.2M]
India is committed to efforts to develop its restive territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, accusing neighbour Pakistan of seeking to destroy livelihoods there with April’s deadly attack on tourists.
He was speaking on his first visit to the Himalayan region since Islamist attackers targeted Hindu tourists in the popular Pahalgam area, killing 26 men, triggering hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbours that ended in a ceasefire last month.
"The atmosphere of development that emerged in Jammu and Kashmir will not be hindered by the attack ... I will not let development stop here," Modi said in remarks after inaugurating infrastructure projects.
Key among these was a $5-billion rail link between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of India, which has been more than 40 years in the making and features the world’s highest railway arch bridge.
Others include highways, city roads and a new medical college.
India has accused Pakistan of backing the April attack, a claim denied by Islamabad, and they engaged in four days of fierce fighting last month before agreeing to a ceasefire.
Pakistan aimed to disrupt the livelihoods of the poor in Kashmir, who rely heavily on tourism, Modi said, adding that he would face down any obstacle to regional development.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry rejected Modi’s remarks on Friday and said it remained steadfast in its "principled support" for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Claims of development...ring hollow against the backdrop of an unprecedented military presence, suppression of fundamental freedoms, arbitrary arrests, and a concerted effort to alter the region’s demography in violation of international law," it said.
Last month, Islamabad said a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute was essential to ensure lasting peace in the region, known for its snow-topped mountains, scenic lakes, lush meadows, and tulip gardens.
The region, which drew more than 3 million visitors last year, is at the heart of the hostility between the old foes, both of which claim it in full, but rule it in part and have fought two of their three wars over it.
India also accuses Pakistan of supporting Islamist militants battling security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, but Islamabad denies the accusation.
Trains run in the Kashmir Valley but the new link is its first to the wider Indian railway network. Apart from boosting the regional economy, it is expected to help revive tourism, which plummeted after the April attack. Musk’s Starlink gets key license to launch satellite internet services in India (AP)
AP [6/6/2025 9:22 AM, Rajesh Roy, 456K]
India has granted a key license to Elon Musk’s Starlink, bringing the satellite provider a step closer to launching its commercial internet services in the country, a top Indian government official said on Friday.“Yes. License has been granted,” said the official with direct knowledge of the matter at the department of telecommunications. The official declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.
The approval comes at a time when Musk is embroiled in a public spat with U.S. President Donald Trump, which threatens billions of dollars’ worth in contracts between Starlink and the U.S. government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Musk met in the U.S. in February, when the two discussed the company’s long-delayed plans for India.
In March, Starlink signed agreements with India’s top two telecom operators -- Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel -- to bring the U.S. satellite internet giant’s services to the world’s most populous country.
At least 40% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people have no access to the internet. Cheap satellite broadband is needed to bridge this gap, particularly in India’s vast remote and mountainous rural areas.
The department of telecommunications recently approved a similar license for Reliance Jio, the country’s biggest telecom service provider owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
The next phase for Musk’s company would be to secure a separate approval from India’s space regulator and secure airwaves used for telecommunications from the government, which may take at least a couple of months.
The company would also need to showcase through testing and trials that it meets local security rules which it has agreed to while securing the license.
But the biggest challenge Musk’s company faces is pricing as mobile data in India is among the world’s cheapest. Ambani’s Jio once even provided it for free with mobile plans.
Starlink operates the world’s largest satellite constellation with over 6,750 satellites currently orbiting Earth to provide low-latency broadband, including to areas where internet previously has been completely unavailable. Can India dodge the fallout of US-China trade war and decoupling push? (Nikkei Asia – opinion)
Nikkei Asia [6/8/2025 4:05 PM, Ritesh Kumar Singh, 1083K]
Amid the intensifying trade and tech war between China and the U.S. -- unleashed by President Donald Trump’s tariff brinkmanship -- the U.S. is directly and indirectly pressuring its trade partners to decouple from Chinese supply chains.India is heavily dependent on the U.S. market. The U.S. is India’s top export destination, accounting for roughly 20% ($ 87.4 billion) of India’s total outbound shipments of $437.4 billion in FY2024/25. Given this, the current U.S. administration could compel India (and other trade partners) to delink from China by imposing stringent sourcing restrictions, either through the use of preferential (such as the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement, currently under negotiation) or non-preferential rules of origin.However, moving away from China in the short run is not feasible as the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s localization efforts are, at best, a work in progress due to multiple obstacles, including its failure to rein in India’s administrative machinery that zealously guards its discretionary power without any accountability, especially with respect to business facilitation and tax certainty. That makes running manufacturing operations commercially unviable in the country, which makes investors jittery. Also, matching China in pricing or scale is not easy.The policy of maintaining a strong currency -- which is done to support net importers and large infrastructure companies with foreign currency-denominated loans who seek to minimize or avoid hedging costs -- further disadvantages Indian exports, making India less attractive as an alternative manufacturing and sourcing hub.Moreover, the high costs of doing business coupled with a stronger rupee forces Indian suppliers to cut their operating costs by increasingly sourcing their inputs and intermediates from China, which offers unmatchable scale and pricing advantages. Rather than reducing, this further increases India’s dependence on China.Thus, it’s no surprise that China supplies more than 70% of the key starting materials (KSM) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used by India’s generic medicine companies. For antibiotics, India depends on China for 90% of the APIs needed for essential drugs such as penicillin, azithromycin and cephalosporins.For fermentation-based antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, the dependency is 100%, with nearly all requirements met by China. Even when APIs are produced locally, the key starting materials for many of these drugs are still primarily sourced from China. Similarly, China accounts for 65% to 70% of India’s electronics imports, including mobile phone parts, semiconductor chips, displays and batteries, and supplies 75% to 80% of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. It also supplies 90% of India’s requirements of rare earth magnets which are critical to electric vehicle propulsion systems.Despite hikes in import duties on solar cells and modules, and preference to local suppliers in government procurement through policies such as the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), China remains the dominant source of polysilicon, ingots and wafers, and supplies 50% to 60% of solar cells, which are assembled into modules as domestic supplies are costlier as well as inadequate.Consequently, any serious attempt to reduce this reliance -- whether prompted by Trump’s tariff brinkmanship or independently -- would substantially increase the costs of transitioning to green energy. Therefore, addressing the challenge of excessive reliance on China calls for a calibrated, multipronged approach that prioritizes gradual decoupling alongside a series of internal reforms to genuinely enhance ease of doing business in India.The federal government may reimburse import duties embedded in exports, but it doesn’t compensate for cost disadvantages arising from unfavorable exchange rate policy. That calls for a market-determined exchange rate with a devaluation bias. Thus, the Reserve Bank of India should intervene only to check wild currency market fluctuations.India’s policymakers must understand that increases in import duties on key industrial inputs often penalize higher-margin domestic sales (of value-added products), which typically cross-subsidize export sales in a country where the export basket is dominated by undifferentiated products with little to no pricing power. Consequently, any constraints on domestic sales -- whether due to higher import duties that increase input costs or the elevated cost of doing business driven by growing regulatory complexity -- end up discouraging exports.India’s excessive raw material protectionism -- which favors large domestic corporations controlling the supply of synthetic fibers, in particular polyester staple fiber (PSF) and viscose staple fiber (VSF), which are key inputs for the textile value chain -- forces Indian apparel manufacturers and exporters into two choices: either source textile fabrics (to make apparel) from China, which offers lower prices, or lose export sales.Due to the high cost of local non-cotton textile fabrics and relatively higher wages, Indian fashion retailers are increasingly sourcing apparel from Bangladesh, which uses cheaper Chinese fabrics that can enter Bangladesh duty-free as they are meant for export to India after being converted into garments using cheap local labor. This again increases dependence upon China.Shielded from import competition, India’s steel industry produces some of the world’s most expensive steel. This prompts downstream industries -- such as automotive, capital goods, real estate and construction -- to seek cheaper imports, with China meeting the demand through competitive pricing. However, to counter rising imports of competitively priced steel (often labeled as dumped or subsidized by India’s steel lobby), New Delhi frequently raises import duties rather than lowering them to foster market competition, which could reduce domestic steel prices and discourage the use of imported steel.Ending excessive raw material protectionism and promoting genuine ease of doing business by cutting down on regulatory cholesterol will help lower the cost of doing business and encourage localized supply chains. India must curb the harassment of small and medium-size enterprises by state goods and services tax (GST) inspectors and streamline the endless filing and reporting requirements by replacing them with quarterly tax payment and annual filing similar to income tax.In addition, the authority to set import duties needs to be taken away from the Ministry of Finance, which is guided by only one motive: revenue consideration. That has resulted in higher duties on raw materials than finished goods, and has discouraged manufacturing of value-added products in industries like chemicals and textiles. That’s not sustainable if India aims to position itself as a credible alternative to China as the world’s factory.Moreover, India must seek temporary exemptions for sourcing from China under its trade agreement with the U.S. that is currently under negotiation. Otherwise, its exports to the U.S. will suffer even if India secures a free trade deal with Trump’s administration. For the pharmaceutical sector, two concessions from the U.S. would help: no insistence on "WTO plus" intellectual property rights (which effectively means ever-greening of patents), and flexibility to use Chinese key starting materials and APIs for production of generic drugs. India also can’t switch off China in the solar sector in one go without jeopardizing its green energy ambition and hence needs time to adjust.While the U.S. remains India’s top export destination, China continues to be its major source of critical inputs and intermediates that can’t easily be wished away, at least in the short run. Failing to take this reality into account while devising rules of origin will boost inflation and undermine India’s export competitiveness. NSB
Bangladesh to hold national elections in April 2026, interim leader Yunus says (AP)
AP [6/6/2025 11:36 AM, Julhas Alam, 456K]
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on Friday said that the country will hold national elections in the first half of April 2026.
In a televised address to the nation on Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said that the Election Commission would roll out a detailed roadmap for the election in due course.
Yunus took over three days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule. Hasina has been in exile in India since. The interim government banned Hasina’s Awami League party, which is one of the country’s two largest political parties. Hasina faces trial for hundreds of deaths related to the uprising in July and August last year.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, headed by Hasina’s archrival and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, had been demanding the elections be held in December. The BNP is the main political party and is hoping to form the next government in the absence of Hasina’s party.
Salahuddin Ahmed, a spokesman for BNP, criticized Yunus for failing to “to meet the expectation of the nation” about the polls schedule.
He told Channel 24 television that April is not ideal for an election because the annual month of fasting that starts in mid-February makes campaigning challenging. He said it would also be difficult for a new government to formulate the year’s budget, usually announced in June.
The Jamaat-e-Islami party, the country’s largest Islamist party, may also be able to take part in the elections after the country’s Supreme Court on June 1 cleared the path for the party to regain its registration as a political party.
Hasina’s party had fiercely criticized it for its opposition to Bangladesh gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was the country’s independence leader.
Yunus had earlier said that the election would be held between December and next June. The relationship between Yunus and the BNP has been frosty in recent months over a disagreement about the election schedule. Zia’s party accused Yunus of tactics to delay a vote.
In February, a new party was formed by student leaders who led the anti-Hasina uprising. Yunus’ critics say the party had backing from him, and Hasina’s party calls the new National Citizen Party a “king’s party.” Bangladesh to hold election in first half of April 2026, interim PM says (Reuters)
Reuters [6/6/2025 11:22 AM, Ruma Paul, 5.2M]
Bangladesh will hold a national election in the first half of April 2026, its de facto premier said on Friday, after a period of interim unelected government since student-led unrest in 2024 toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The administration led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been running the South Asian nation of 173 million people since August, when Hasina fled to India in the face of deadly street protests against her government.
Yunus’ administration, however, has also faced serious discontent in recent weeks, with protests breaking out last month over wage demands and orders relating to the dismissal of public servants for misconduct without lengthy procedures.
"After reviewing the ongoing reform activities..., I am announcing to the people today that the next national election will be held on any day in the first half of April 2026," Yunus said in an address to the nation on Friday.
The election commission would provide a detailed roadmap for the vote at an appropriate time, said Yunus, who is not aligned with any party and has said he is not interested in running.
Opposition groups, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had been demanding early elections, warning of instability and "strong resentment within the people" if a vote were not held by December.
The BNP’s leader and former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, was acquitted in January in a 2008 corruption case, paving the way for her to run in the next election.
Hasina’s Awami League party was effectively barred from contesting the polls when the elections commission suspended its registration last month.
Yunus’ government had earlier banned all Awami League activities under the Anti-Terrorism Act after days of protests, citing national security threats.
Hasina, credited with turning around the economy but accused of human rights violations and the suppression of dissent, won a fourth straight term in 2024, but the vote was boycotted by the main opposition, whose top leaders were in jail or in exile. Tulip Siddiq requests meeting with Bangladeshi leader over corruption allegation (The Guardian)
The Guardian [6/8/2025 12:00 AM, Daniel Boffey, 83M]
The former City minister Tulip Siddiq has asked to meet Bangladesh’s leader during his London visit to clear up a “misunderstanding” after corruption allegations made by his administration led her to resign from the UK government.
Siddiq, whose aunt Sheikh Hasina was put on trial in absentia last week over crimes against humanity during her 15 years as prime minister, has been accused of benefitting from the former regime by the authorities in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
A series of allegations have been aired in the media including the claim from the country’s anti-corruption commission (ACC) that Siddiq or her mother had received a 7,200 sq ft plot of land through “abuse of power and influence”.
Siddiq denies the claims which her lawyers have described as being “politically motivated” and without foundation. She further claims not to have been contacted by the authorities over any of the allegations.
She was cleared of any wrongdoing by the adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, but resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury and city minister over the “distraction” being caused for Keir Starmer’s new government.
In a letter to Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel prize-winning economist who is the interim leader of the Bangladeshi government, Siddiq has asked for an opportunity to discuss the ongoing controversy during his visit to London next week where he will meet King Charles and see Keir Starmer in Downing Street.
In her letter, Siddiq writes that she hopes a meeting might “help clear up the misunderstanding perpetuated by the anti-corruption committee in Dhaka that I have questions to answer in relation to my mother’s sister, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina”.Siddiq denies the claims which her lawyers have described as being “politically motivated” and without foundation. She further claims not to have been contacted by the authorities over any of the allegations.
She was cleared of any wrongdoing by the adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, but resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury and city minister over the “distraction” being caused for Keir Starmer’s new government.
In a letter to Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel prize-winning economist who is the interim leader of the Bangladeshi government, Siddiq has asked for an opportunity to discuss the ongoing controversy during his visit to London next week where he will meet King Charles and see Keir Starmer in Downing Street.
In her letter, Siddiq writes that she hopes a meeting might “help clear up the misunderstanding perpetuated by the anti-corruption committee in Dhaka that I have questions to answer in relation to my mother’s sister, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina”.
She continued: “I am a UK citizen, born in London and representing the people of Hampstead and Highgate in parliament for the last decade.“I have no property nor any business interests whatsoever in Bangladesh. The country is dear to my heart but it is not the country where I was born, live in or have built my career in.“I have sought to clarify this to the ACC but they refuse to engage with my lawyers in London and apparently keep sending correspondence to a random address in Dhaka.”
Siddiq added: “Every move in this fantasy investigation is briefed to the media, and yet no engagement was facilitated with my legal team.“I know you’ll appreciate how important it is to ensure those reports do not become a distraction from the critical work of doing my very best for my constituents and my country.”
The ACC has been probing allegations that Sheikh Hasina and her wider family embezzled billions of pounds from infrastructure spending based on a series of claims made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of the former prime minister.
Siddiq has claimed she is being targeted by a “politically motivated smear campaign” orchestrated by her aunt’s opponents.
Last month it was reported that a warrant had been issued in Bangladesh for Siddiq’s arrest.
She claims to have no knowledge of any such warrant or court hearings to which she was required to appear. As a 2B extradition country, the UK requires ministers and judges to see clear evidence from Bangladesh before they make an arrest decision.
After Siddiq had referred herself to the adviser on ministerial standards last year amid allegations about her acquirement of property in the UK, she was cleared in January of any wrongdoing.
Magnus had found no evidence to suggest that any of Siddiq’s assets were derived from anything other than legitimate means but added that she could have been more alive to the reputational risks arising from her family’s ties to Bangladesh.
The inquiry had also looked into her presence at the signing of a 2013 nuclear deal between her aunt and Vladimir Putin in Moscow over which there had been claims aired in the media of embezzlement by Siddiq. The standards adviser accepted her explanation that she had been in Moscow socially and as a tourist.
Last month the National Crime Agency froze almost £90m of luxury London property belonging to two men linked to Siddiq’s aunt.
Shafiqul Alam, the Bangladeshi leader’s spokesperson, said his government had not yet received Siddiq’s letter although it is understood to have been emailed and posted by the former’s minister’s lawyers. “We cannot comment on something we have not seen,” he said. Nepal ex-PM faces graft charge over land deal with Indian yoga guru’s firm (Reuters)
Reuters [6/6/2025 6:27 AM, Gopal Sharma, 5.2M]
Authorities in Nepal have charged former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal with corruption and demanded a million-dollar fine over the purchase of land by a firm owned by Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, a court official said on Friday.
Nepal, prime minister between 2009 and 2011, faces charges of allowing Patanjali Yogpeeth Nepal company to purchase more land than it was legally allowed to own for herb production, processing and a hospital in the Himalayan nation 15 years ago.
Both Nepal and Patanjali Yogpeeth deny any wrongdoing.
The 72-year-old Nepal heads a small opposition group in parliament and his United Socialist Party says the prosecution is an act of "political vendetta" against him."I have not done anything illegal nor indulged in any corruption concerning Patanjali land deal causing any loss to the state," Nepal told the Kantipur daily newspaper.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a corruption watchdog, alleged that some of the land, in Kavre district, was later allowed to be swapped with other land, or sold at a higher price, causing a loss to the state.
The allegations were set out in a charge sheet filed by the commission on Thursday at the Special Court in Kathmandu.
The commission demanded Nepal be ordered to pay a fine of 185.85 million Nepali rupees ($1.35 million). If found guilty he could also be sentenced to up to 17 years in jail.
A spokesperson for Patanjali in India denied any wrongdoing, saying it bought the land privately through due legal process.
"Patanjali has not acquired any government land. It is unfair to drag our name in local political vendetta actions and proceedings," S K Tijarawala, Patanjali’s spokesperson, told Reuters in a text message.
The commission also charged 92 others, including some former ministers and officials, some of whom are already dead.
Yaga Raj Regmi, information officer of the court, said Nepal would receive a formal court notice giving him 15 days in which to present himself at court and the hearing would start after that. Central Asia
Central Asian Leaders Groom Their Offspring As Successors With Moscow Meetings (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [6/9/2025 12:01 AM, Farangis Najibullah, 235K]
When Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoev travel to Moscow to meet senior Russian officials, it’s just another series of meetings between leaders with deep ties. But a series of recent meetings that involved their children told a different story: the succession process is on.
The Kremlin has long considered Central Asia an area in its sphere of influence. And while the European Union and China are making big pushes to gain a bigger foothold in the region, Central Asian nations still see Russia as a major player in their economies, making Moscow’s approval of who leads the country critical.
"Moscow is marking its territory, and it also is sending a signal to the authoritarian presidents in Central Asia that the Kremlin would back their decision if they chose to groom their children or cronies for presidency instead of holding democratic elections. This is what sets Russia and the EU apart," a university professor in Dushanbe, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFE/RL.He added that Putin "doesn’t care about or want democracy in Central Asia, which is run by authoritarian regimes."
Putin met Tajikistan’s "first son," Rustam Emomali, who is widely expected to take over the country when his 72-year-old father who has ruled since 1994, decides to step aside.
Emomali, 37, is the chairman of the Tajikistan’s upper house of parliament, the second highest official position in the country after the president. He is also the mayor of the capital, Dushanbe.
Moscow’s Critical Support
"Moscow’s support is critical even before a transfer of power can take place. Russia has a military base in Tajikistan, which it has had since the country gained independence. Russia also remains one of Tajikistan’s largest trading partners," said Central Asian analyst Bruce Pannier.
"If Moscow does not approve the process, it could seriously complicate the situation for Emomali Rahmon and any other contenders for power. That is why the Kremlin’s support is critical -- both for the transfer of power itself and for its sustainability in the future."
Meanwhile, the elder daughter of the Uzbek president, Saida Mirziyoeva, met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin recently as well.
Mirziyoeva, 40, serves as the first assistant to the president of Uzbekistan, the second-highest position in the presidential administration after the head of state.
Emomali and Mirziyoeva’s appointments to high government positions, their rapid rise through official ranks, and increasingly prominent profiles have fueled speculation that their fathers are setting the stage for potential succession, and the meetings in Moscow did little to dispel that notion.
If the Central Asian leaders were looking to push their successors down the path of acceptance, the Kremlin was also pushing an agenda: keeping its place in the influence pecking order.
The timing of the meetings, which focused on strategic partnership and bilateral cooperation according to official statements, came after the European Union pledged billions of dollars in future investments to Central Asia to demonstrate its long-term commitment to the resources-rich region.
Uzbekistan hosted a high-profile EU-Central Asia summit in April -- the first of its kind -- headlined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.
During the summit in Samarkand, von der Leyen announced a new 12 billion euro ($13.6 billion) investment package for Central Asia through the EU’s Global Gateway Initiative.
The package comes in addition to a 10 billion euro ($11.3 billion) investment plan that the EU announced in 2024 to boost transport connectivity in the region.Von der Leyen described the EU-Central Asia cooperation as a "strategic partnership," a term unlikely to sit well with Russia, which has historically hold significant sway over the former Soviet region.
As Emomali and Mirziyoeva were being received in Moscow last week, Central Asia hosted Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who said the region "has now gained strategic significance" for Europe.
Meanwhile, China has surpassed Russia to become Central Asian countries’ largest investor and trading partner in recent years as they increasingly seek to diversify their relationships and reduce dependency on Moscow.
Khidirnazar Allakulov, a leading Uzbek economy professor and opposition activist, told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service he believes that "through Saida and Rustam, Russia made it clear to the [Uzbek and Tajik presidents] that it is unhappy with their growing relations with Europe."‘Russia Has Cards’
Despite the billion-dollar investment pledges from the EU and China, many experts in Central Asia agree that Russia still has "major cards" to play to maintain its clout over the region, especially its poorer states such as Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Russia hosts millions of migrant workers from Central Asia, whose remittances are vital to keep their families afloat amid a widespread unemployment that has plagued the region for decades.
"While Europe and the United States are clamping down on immigration, Russia remains a lifeline for millions of Tajiks who almost entirely depend on Russia for income. If Russia closes its door to migrants, it can lead to civil unrest in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and Moscow knows this," the Dushanbe-based professor said. Kazakhstan president replaces ministers of defence and transport (Reuters)
Reuters [6/8/2025 7:53 AM, Tamara Vaal, 51390K]
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Sunday replaced two ministers in his government, including the transport minister, who he had previously criticized for delays in infrastructure modernisation.
He fired Defence Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov and replaced him with Zhaksylykov’s deputy and Air Defence Forces chief Dauren Kosanov, according to decrees published on the president’s site.
Tokayev met Kosanov on Sunday and gave him several instructions, including strengthening the army’s combat readiness, expanding the capabilities of the Special Operations Forces, and modernising the military’s infrastructure.
Zhaksylykov, previously deputy interior minister and head of the national guard, was appointed defence minister after civil unrest in January 2022 triggered by the removal of a price cap on fuel. Authorities were forced to call in troops from a Russian-led alliance of former Soviet states to quell what became a broad protest against corruption and economic hardship.
Tokayev also sacked transport minister Marat Karabayev who he had reprimanded in May for problems with transport and logistics.
It is not clear who will replace Karabayev. The president did not reveal the reasons for the reshuffle. Promises Of High-Paid Work Lure Kyrgyz Into Russian Drug Trade (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [6/7/2025 12:02 AM, Staff, 763K]
In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, it’s not hard to find an offer of a high-paying job in Russia.
Ads posted around the city promise job-seekers a chance to earn $1,000 a week -- double what most Bishkek residents earn in a month. The ads say the job requires just three to four hours of work each day, and the worker’s travel costs to Russia and housing will both be paid for.
When RFE/RL contacted the Telegram account listed on the ads, a reply came back confirming that the work would involve transporting illegal drugs.
It’s an offer that many Kyrgyz citizens have taken, despite the serious risks. Drug-trafficking charges in Russia can result in prison terms of 20 years to life.
"The ‘career’ of a drug courier is very short -- at best, they last two weeks," Mirlan Toktobekov, an immigration lawyer, told RFE/RL. "Of all the crimes committed by Kyrgyz citizens in the Russian Federation, the majority are drug-related. I recently took part in a court case where a Kyrgyz citizen, born in 1998, was sentenced to 15 years for simply transporting a package," Toktobekov said.
In some cases, smugglers recruited into the business are reported to the authorities by traffickers higher up in the organization. "When it’s time to pay [the couriers], the organizers themselves turn them over to the police, and they are detained," Toktobekov said.
In those cases, foreigners working in the Russian drug trade have few resources to defend themselves. "The rights of our citizens [in Russia] are very poorly protected," Toktobekov said. "Additional charges can easily be pinned on them. People from Central Asia are an easy target for these schemes.".
Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry said authorities are working to track down the organizers who recruit Kyrgyz citizens into criminal activity in Russia.
Kanybek Usenov, a representative of the Drug Control Service within the Interior Ministry, said the investigative work is being conducted in cooperation with Russia and other Central Asian governments. In one recent operation, Kyrgyz authorities shut down an online site selling drugs and detained three suspects: a Kyrgyz citizen, an Uzbek, and a Russian.
"Since everything happens online, it’s very difficult to determine [the traffickers’] location," Usenov said. As for the recruitment efforts, Usenov said "these ads are posted by our own citizens.".For foreign nationals who face trafficking charges in Russia, the consequences can go beyond a prison sentence.
More than 30,000 foreign citizens are currently detained in Russian prisons, according to the head of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service. Nearly 70 percent of them are from Central Asian countries.
Those inmates are frequently recruited to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to Ukraine’s I Want To Live project, which gives occupying soldiers an opportunity to surrender, more than 3,000 Central Asian citizens are now fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian forces. Kyrgyzstan removes towering Lenin statue from second city (AP)
AP [6/8/2025 6:18 AM, Staff, 456K]
Authorities in the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, Osh, have removed a towering statue of Vladimir Lenin thought to be the tallest of the revolutionary Soviet leader in Central Asia.
The 23-meter (75-foot) monument was erected in 1975 when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union. Photos appeared online Saturday showing the statue flat on the ground after being lowered by a crane.
While many countries formerly part of the Soviet Union have moved to downplay their ties to Russia as part of efforts to reshape national identity, the monument was taken down with little public fanfare and officials in Osh framed the removal as routine city planning.
In a statement, Osh City Hall called the move “common practice” aimed at improving the “architectural and aesthetic appearance” of the area.
Officials also noted that Lenin monuments have been “dismantled or moved to other places” in Russian cities including St Petersburg and Belgorod, and said that the issue “should not be politicized.”
The monument, they said, will be replaced by a flagpole, as was the case when a different Lenin statue was relocated in the capital, Bishkek.
The move came a week after Kyrgyzstan’s ally Russia unveiled a monument to brutal Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at one of Moscow’s busiest subway stations. Fertile Land And Clean Air At Risk: Chinese Mining Alarms Villagers In Serbia And Tajikistan (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [6/8/2025 12:04 AM, Kenan Gerimagic, 235K]
Living next to the Chinese-owned Zijin mines, villagers near Bor in eastern Serbia and Panjakent in western Tajikistan face the same threat: poisoned air, degraded farmland, and no recourse. At the same time their governments deepen ties with Beijing.
As both countries embrace Chinese investment under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, villagers say they’re paying the environmental price, allegations Zijin denies.
"That smell hits your nose, makes you dizzy. It’s poison," says Asadulo Rahmonov of Khumgaron, Tajikistan.
"With this dust, it’s impossible to grow anything healthy," adds Milos Bozic from Krivelj, Serbia.
Zijin operates a copper mine in Serbia and a gold mine in Tajikistan. Both sites have drawn repeated complaints from nearby residents, who say promised relocations and cleanups never materialized.
"Sell my property? What am I supposed to do -- sell my dignity?" asks Dragoslav Stanculovic, head of the local council in Ostrelj, Serbia, where most households have already left.
Zijin acquired Serbia’s former state-run mining basin in 2018 and launched operations at the new and fully Chinese Cukaru Peki mine in 2021. Since then, residents and experts have warned of worsening pollution. The company says it has spent $259 million on environmental improvements, including reducing sulfur dioxide. But toxic particles remain.
"PM particles and arsenic are still present," says Snezana Serbula, a professor at Bor’s Technical Faculty. "People in Bor breathe them daily."
Air-quality monitors show continued problems. "Before, you saw the smoke," says Violeta, a Bor resident. "Now it’s invisible, but it smells awful."
Despite public outcry, the Serbian government has defended Zijin. By 2024, Chinese firms became Serbia’s top exporters, earning over $1 billion.
"What good is money if you’re losing your health?" asks Bor resident Vlada.
Activist Dejan Lazar calls it "aggressive mining," with locals left behind.
"The city was built around the mine. No one’s against mining. But this is irrational," he says.
Others, like Miodrag Zivkovic, say they were pushed off their land with little recourse.
"That farmland was my livelihood," he says. "Now I live on a 200-euro pension. You tell me how."
Zijin says 98 percent of land in the area was acquired voluntarily, and remaining expropriations followed legal procedures. It insists it is developing Serbia’s first "green mine" in compliance with environmental laws.
In Tajikistan, Zijin holds a 70 percent stake in the Zarafshon gold mine.
"In the morning, thick smoke covers the village," says Abutolib Mukhtorov of Shing. "You can’t breathe."Zijin has been fined multiple times but enjoys strong backing from Tajik authorities, who point to millions in tax revenue. Meanwhile, critics report police intimidation, surveillance, and detention.
Those who speak out risk retaliation. In 2023, a group of women who traveled to Panjakent to protest were detained.
"We asked what crime we committed. They mocked us," recalls Firuza Kahorova. "When I fainted, they said, ‘Don’t give her water; give her dirt.’"
Zijin maintains it operates legally and plans to mine in Tajikistan for another 20 years.
In both countries, authorities hail the company as a driver of economic growth, even as the environmental cost mounts.
"Peaches don’t grow. Cucumber flowers fall off. The river’s poisoned," says Rahmonov.
For those living in its shadow, Zijin’s expansion brings not prosperity, but dust and a fight for the future. Indo-Pacific
Trump’s expansive new travel ban takes effect for 19 countries (Washington Post)
Washington Post [6/9/2025 12:15 AM, David Nakamura and Marianne LeVine, 6.9M]
The Trump administration on Monday will begin enforcing an expansive new travel ban for people from 19 countries, restrictions that come eight years after President Donald Trump’s first attempt to impose a ban led to chaotic scenes at U.S. airports.
Trump announced the new policy last week, fully banning travelers from a dozen countries and partially restricting those from another seven. Administration officials said the prohibitions are necessary to improve national security by targeting countries that have ties to terrorism, lack sufficient vetting for passports and have high rates of citizens who overstay their U.S. visas.
Immigrant advocates said they do not anticipate the same level of mass protests that greeted Trump’s announcement of an immediate ban in January 2017 on travelers from some Muslim-majority countries. That decree led federal authorities at U.S. airports to detain people with valid visas who were traveling to the country when Trump made his announcement, prompting a flurry of lawsuits challenging the order. Two versions of the ban were halted by federal judges.
Trump’s latest effort, however, may be more difficult to challenge in court. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a third revision of the ban. Legal experts said the Trump administration has applied lessons from Trump’s first term and crafted the new order in a way that makes it less susceptible to being blocked.
The White House said the restrictions include exceptions for legal permanent residents, refugees already in the country, current visa holders and individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests. Unlike in 2017, the administration also provided several days’ notice for the provisions to take effect, giving prospective travelers and foreign governments time to prepare for the changes.“A lot of what people remember from the first Muslim travel bans was that they resulted in this chaos at airports,” said Stephanie Gee, senior director of U.S. legal services at the International Refugee Assistance Project. “There was a mass mobilization around that. I wouldn’t anticipate the same scale of that issue because it seems like they learned their lesson on the implementation front.”
Trump’s order fully restricts the entry of individuals from Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also partially restricts the entry of travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Democrats and at least one Republican — Rep. Michael Lawler of New York — have denounced the ban as inhumane and unnecessary. Lawler, whose district includes the Hudson Valley, with a large population of Haitian immigrants, said that country was experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis because of widespread violence. He called on the administration to remove Haiti from the list.“This shameful ban revives some of our nation’s most reviled discriminatory immigration practices,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) said in a statement. “We are evaluating all legal options in coordination with our multistate partners to defend the integrity of our immigration laws.”
The effort to significantly curtail travelers from 19 countries comes as the Trump administration has pursued extraordinary measures to curtail illegal and legal immigration, including efforts to enact mass deportations, ban birthright citizenship, suspend refugee admissions and scrap due process rights for alleged gang members from Venezuela.
In a video message last week, Trump defended the travel restrictions as a way to protect the country against potential terrorist attacks or other security threats, even though national security analysts question the need for such measures. Alex Nowrasteh, a policy analyst at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said one person has been killed on U.S. soil by a terrorist from one of the countries facing a full ban on travel.“The strength of the restrictions we’re applying depends on the severity of the threat posed,” Trump said in the video. “The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made and, likewise, new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world.” Twitter
Afghanistan
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[6/7/2025 9:22 AM, 33.7K followers, 59 retweets, 175 likes] “Please don’t let me die in silence.” That’s the message one Afghan man sent me moments ago, fearing for his life after the latest travel ban. He believed in us. Now he’s hunted, abandoned, and terrified. Help us fight for him. http://AfghanEvac.org/donate #AfghanEvac
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[6/7/2025 9:22 AM, 33.7K followers, 9 retweets, 36 likes]
The new administration banned nearly all Afghans from entering the U.S., even as thousands await reunification or protection. These are people we promised to protect. AfghanEvac is still in the fight. Join us: https://afghanevac.org/donate
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[6/7/2025 3:18 PM, 8.6K followers, 27 retweets, 64 likes]
Most of you are worried about USRAP - understandably, considering that you were told to go to a third country for 12-18 months of processing and were left in limbo. As I reported in Reason yesterday, USRAP shouldn’t be impacted by the travel ban, but its future hasn’t been decided by the admin yet, and they’re fighting over whom they must still process in the Pacito v. Trump case.
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[6/7/2025 2:08 PM, 8.6K followers, 5 retweets, 13 likes]
Afghan Christians who left their country to avoid persecution by the de facto government now face deportation in the U.S. Afghan Christian elder Ben told me about how he’s attempting to ensure ten members of his flock are protected. Latest at The Afghanistan Project Podcast: https://youtu.be/I0jzzhgxlP8?si=hXQJlf4y4Kudra_l
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[6/6/2025 11:53 AM, 8.6K followers, 20 retweets, 58 likes]
My latest at @reason deals with the issues facing Afghans with the ending of CARE and Enduring Welcome and the administration’s new travel ban: https://reason.com/2025/06/06/u-s-abandons-afghan-allies-as-trump-administration-shuts-down-resettlement-programs/
Zalmay Khalilzad@realZalmayMK
[6/8/2025 11:04 AM, 265.7K followers, 39 retweets, 193 likes]
A positive statement from Taliban Prime Minister. #Afghanistan https://www.nbcnews.com/world/afghanistan/top-taliban-official-offers-amnesty-afghans-fled-country-urges-return-rcna211593
Golchehrah Yaftali@womenaidafghan1
[6/8/2025 4:55 AM, 28.1K followers, 179 retweets, 430 likes]
The harassment of a young man by the Taliban just because he had long hair ،while most of the #Taliban themselves have long hair and are often infested with lice ،is pure hypocrisy. Pakistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[6/8/2025 9:26 AM, 497.7K followers, 25 retweets, 105 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, today spoke with the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, Bakhtiyor Saidov @FM_Saidov. The two leaders exchanged heartfelt greetings on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha and prayed for peace, prosperity and well-being of the peoples of both countries and the entire Muslim Ummah.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[6/8/2025 9:12 AM, 6.8M followers, 164 retweets, 948 likes]
Had a cordial Eid ul Adha telephone conversation with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan and conveyed warm greetings to him and the brotherly people of Kazakhstan. We expressed satisfaction over the growing momentum in our bilateral ties and reaffirmed our shared commitment to expanding cooperation across all areas. I briefed the President on Pakistan’s efforts to uphold peace and stability in the region during the recent Pakistan-India crisis. Looking forward to welcoming President Tokayev to Pakistan later this year. Ahead of this, the Kazakh Foreign Minister will visit early next month to explore concrete pathways for deepening cooperation between our two countries.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[6/7/2025 1:22 PM, 6.8M followers, 215 retweets, 1.3K likes]
Had a warm and productive telephone conversation with President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran to extend heartfelt Eid-ul-Adha greetings to him and the brotherly people of Iran. Also conveyed my respectful regards to His Eminence Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei. We discussed regional and global developments, including the recent Pakistan-India crisis and the tragic situation in Gaza. Reaffirmed our shared commitment to strengthen Pakistan-Iran relations. I also reiterated my invitation for President Pezeshkian to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[6/7/2025 10:23 AM, 6.8M followers, 117 retweets, 628 likes]
Conveyed my profound greetings to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the brotherly people of Uzbekistan on the blessed occasion of Eid-ul-Adha. Thanked him for Uzbekistan’s balanced stance during the recent Pakistan-India crisis and reaffirmed Pakistan’s firm commitment to regional peace and stability. We welcomed the growing momentum in our bilateral ties and agreed to further deepen cooperation—especially in trade and regional connectivity, which is vital for unlocking the full potential of our region. Looking forward to welcoming President Mirziyoyev to Pakistan soon.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[6/7/2025 7:03 AM, 6.8M followers, 235 retweets, 1K likes]
On this sacred and joyous occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, I extend my heartfelt greetings to the people of Pakistan and the entire Muslim Ummah. May this Eid bring with it peace, prosperity, and the spirit of selflessness and unity that lies at the heart of this blessed festival. Eid-ul-Adha commemorates the timeless Sunnah of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and the unwavering obedience of Hazrat Ismail (AS), a shining example of faith, sacrifice, and submission to the Will of Allah. This holy ritual reminds us that true greatness lies in placing collective good above personal interest, and in standing firm for higher causes. As we offer the symbolic sacrifice today, let us also honour the sacrifices of our valiant sons of the soil, especially the brave soldiers of our Armed Forces, who have once again proven their unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve in the successful conduct of Operation Bunyan Um Marsoos. Their steadfast defence of our sovereignty and territorial integrity during the recent military aggression by India has written a new and glorious chapter in our nation’s history. The entire country salutes their selfless service as well as the sacrifice of our innocent civilians during the recent Marka-e-Haq, which has only strengthened our national unity and resolve.
This Eid also reinforces the values of empathy and compassion. We must remember and reach out to those in need, particularly our Palestinian brothers and sisters who continue to suffer from inhumane atrocities and hunger under a ruthless blockade. Likewise, we reaffirm our unflinching solidarity with the brave people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, whose just and heroic struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination continues despite decades of oppression. We will always be their voice and support them in their noble struggle. Let us also draw inspiration from this Eid day to promote peace, justice, and compassion in our society and beyond. May Allah Almighty accept our prayers and sacrifices and guide us towards a more peaceful and prosperous future, for our nation and the world. Eid Mubarak! Pakistan Paindabad!
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[6/7/2025 4:33 AM, 6.8M followers, 429 retweets, 2.8K likes]
Exchanged Eid ul Adha greetings with my brother President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan this morning over telephone. Thanked him for the generous hospitality during my recent visit to Dushanbe and the successful Glacier Preservation Conference. I appreciated Tajikistan’s balanced stance during the recent Pakistan-India crisis and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace. We agreed to further deepen our growing bilateral ties. I also extended a most warm invitation to President Rahmon to visit Pakistan.
Imran Khan@ImranKhanPTI
[6/7/2025 11:23 AM, 21.2M followers, 12K retweets, 22K likes]
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Message from Adiala Jail on Eid al-Adha (5 June 2025) “Eid al-Adha Mubarak to all Muslims around the world. The essence of this sacred occasion lies in sincere sacrifice in the name of Allah. Today, as Pakistan faces unprecedented challenges, the greatest sacrifice is to rise for the truth. To sacrifice for the cause of Haqeeqi Azadi: genuine freedom, which is the highest form of struggle according to Islam. Our nation’s trials will not end until we, as a united people, commit ourselves to this struggle without hesitation or fear of loss. I, along with all other political prisoners, am engaged in this very struggle with utmost resolve. Let Maulana Rumi’s quote be our guiding light, where he said that if Allah has given you wings, why do you go through life crawling like ants?”
Imran Khan@ImranKhanPTI
[6/8/2025 12:16 PM, 21.2M followers, 12K retweets, 22K likes] Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan’s Conversation with Lawyers, Workers, and Media in Adiala Jail - June 5, 2025 “Human societies are built upon two fundamental pillars: justice and moral authority. In contrast, the law of the jungle is based solely on brute force, where the powerful operate above the law. When power supersedes justice in a human society, that society inevitably collapses. I often quote Maulana Rumi who said: ‘When God has given you wings, why do you crawl on the ground like ants?’ Today in Pakistan, justice and democracy have been ruthlessly trampled and law of the jungle prevails. Independent judges have been sidelined, while obedient, state-appointed judges have been pushed forward. The weak and vulnerable now have no recourse, no avenue for redress. It is not nuclear weapons that destroy nations; it is the collapse of moral values that leads to national destruction. What we are witnessing is a shameless and systematic assault on morality and democracy.
The inhumane treatment of my wife, inflicted in a bid to break me, is an unprecedented act of depravity in Pakistan’s history. Wives of Sheikh Mujib, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, or Nawaz Sharif were never subjected to political vengeance, but my wife, Bushra Bibi, has been held in complete isolation for 14 months under deplorable conditions—solely to punish me. She has been unjustly imprisoned under the baseless Al-Qadir case, in which she is falsely accused of abetment, a charge the prosecution never even argued in court.
After his removal from office, the so-called ‘King of the Jungle’ sent a message to Bushra Bibi through Zulfi Bukhari, saying: ‘Aapa (Sister), I would like to meet you.’ She flatly rejected the request, stating clearly that she had no involvement in politics or governance and therefore had no reason to meet. That dignified refusal is what triggered the vindictive wrath of Asim Munir, who is now enacting his personal vendetta through a Colonel illegally posted at Adiala Jail, someone who holds court orders in utter contempt. Asim Munir has made this personal now. On his explicit instructions, scheduled weekly meetings between me and my wife have been denied for the past four weeks. Even the most basic human rights afforded to prisoners have been suspended without cause.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf remains the only true federal political party of this country. We are the force that binds the nation. As the largest democratic force, we are committed to uniting the country under the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, judicial independence, freedom of expression, and the protection of fundamental human rights. This nation has paid a heavy price for labeling political opponents as ‘traitors.’ The branding of Sheikh Mujib and Akbar Bugti as traitors inflicted irreversible harm. Today, the same narrative is being irresponsibly used against political figures like Mahrang Baloch and others. These tactics must end. Accusations of treason serve only to fracture the nation.
Media has been silenced through the draconian PECA law, and through coercion and bribery in the form of advertisements. After the unlawful 26th constitutional amendment, the 27th amendment is now being introduced with the same aim: to suppress every voice that dares to speak out against ‘His Majesty, the King’. Those who submit will have their cases wiped clean. Those who resist will languish in prison. Independent journalists have been abducted, silenced, or exiled. Their families have been harassed to the point of despair. This is one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan’s journalistic history. The morally bankrupt and shameless Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has played the role of chief facilitator in establishing this monarchy. 1/2Imran Khan@ImranKhanPTI
[6/8/2025 12:16 PM, 21.2M followers, 3.8K retweets, 6.1K likes]
Fugitives and convicted criminals like Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, and Asif Zardari have had all corruption cases and fake accounts forgiven. Meanwhile, the only ‘crime’ of leaders like Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and others is their refusal to abandon Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. If they were to issue a single statement distancing themselves from PTI today, they would immediately be released from unlawful detention. This nation has never forgotten any injustice. The illegitimate verdict of Justice Munir remains etched in our collective memory, and the people of Pakistan will never forgive Justice Qazi Faez Isa for his betrayal of judicial principles while occupying the highest seat of justice. The nation is watching every judge closely, witnessing who stands on the right side of history in defense of the Constitution and who, like Munir and Isa, is complicit in trampling national rights to appease a dictator. Similarly, the people are also observing the journalists, lawyers, and politicians of this era: those who stand for the Constitution, democracy, and civil rights, and those who are actively crushing them under the orders of the ‘King.’ The politicians who are like lambs, roped in by the will of the establishment will never be forgiven by the nation.” 2/2
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[6/8/2025 2:57 AM, 100.6K followers, 2.2K retweets, 5.4K likes]
Alarming reports of the continued disappearance of Baloch students in Balochistan and across Pakistan speak to a pattern of targeting students of Baloch origin. Mahjabeen Baloch, a student at the University of Balochistan, has been missing since 29 May 2025. Earlier on 24 May, her brother Younas Baloch was forcibly disappeared by security forces. The clampdown by authorities on students has intensified after protests in Quetta, which resulted in the arrest of Baloch activists including Mahrang Baloch. Javid Musafir Baloch, a law student at Karachi University, has been missing since a raid by police and counter terrorism department officials, as per eyewitnesses, at his residence in Karachi on 23 April, and another student Guhram Ishaq was picked up outside Civil Hospital Quetta on 24 April. Their whereabouts remain unknown. Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to conduct prompt, thorough and effective investigations into the enforced disappearances, disclose the whereabouts of the Baloch students and immediately release them. Those deemed responsible for these disappearances should be brought to justice through fair trials. The practice of enforced disappearances runs contrary to Pakistan’s international human rights obligations.
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[6/8/2025 3:21 AM, 626.2K followers, 69 retweets, 272 likes]
Trump praises Pakistani leaders for 12th time since 10 May! https://x.com/i/status/1931974840270921910 India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/8/2025 11:30 PM, 108.8M followers, 2.6K retweets, 8.9K likes]
A clear focus on good governance and transformation! Powered by the blessings and collective participation of 140 crore Indians, India has witnessed rapid transformations across diverse sectors. Guided by the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’, the NDA Government has delivered pathbreaking changes with speed, scale and sensitivity. From economic growth to social upliftment, the focus has been on people-centric, inclusive and all round progress. India today is not just the fastest-growing major economy, but also a key global voice on pressing issues like climate action and digital innovation. We are proud of our collective success but at the same time, we look ahead with hope, confidence and a renewed resolve to build a Viksit Bharat! #11YearsOfSeva
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/8/2025 12:57 AM, 108.8M followers, 5.7K retweets, 23K likes]
Over the last 11 years, the NDA Government has redefined women-led development. Various initiatives, from ensuring dignity through Swachh Bharat to financial inclusion via Jan Dhan accounts, the focus has been on empowering our Nari Shakti. Ujjwala Yojana brought smoke-free kitchens to several homes. MUDRA loans enabled lakhs of women entrepreneurs to pursue dreams on their own terms. Houses under the women’s name in PM Awas Yojana too have made a remarkable impact. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao ignited a national movement to protect the girl child. In all sectors, including science, education, sports, StartUps and the armed forces, women are excelling and inspiring several people. #11YearsOfSashaktNari
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/7/2025 12:40 AM, 108.8M followers, 3.7K retweets, 15K likes]
It’s our privilege to serve our hardworking farmers. For the past 11 years, our various initiatives have boosted prosperity for farmers and also ensured an overall transformation of the agriculture sector. We have focussed on issues like soil health and irrigation, which have been greatly beneficial. Our efforts towards farmer welfare will continue with greater vigour in the times to come. #11YearsOfKisanSamman
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/8/2025 11:21 PM, 108.8M followers, 5.3K retweets, 54K likes]
Best wishes on Eid ul-Adha. May this occasion inspire harmony and strengthen the fabric of peace in our society. Wishing everyone good health and prosperity.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/6/2025 11:42 AM, 108.8M followers, 8.2K retweets, 54K likes]
A journey to remember and a big boost to connectivity! Travelled from the Chenab Rail Bridge to Anji Bridge and thereon to Katra for the public meeting. Today’s development works will enhance the development journey of Jammu and Kashmir.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/6/2025 11:31 AM, 108.8M followers, 9.4K retweets, 75K likes]
Delighted to meet with the Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. India deeply cherishes its historical ties with the countries of Central Asia. Look forward to working together to further deepen our cooperation in trade, connectivity, energy, fintech, food security and health for mutual progress and prosperity. We stand firm and resolute in our collective fight against terrorism.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/6/2025 9:00 AM, 108.8M followers, 10K retweets, 64K likes]
Glad to receive a call from Prime Minister @MarkJCarney of Canada. Congratulated him on his recent election victory and thanked him for the invitation to the G7 Summit in Kananaskis later this month. As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests. Look forward to our meeting at the Summit.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[6/8/2025 7:46 AM, 108.8M followers, 13K retweets, 98K likes]
Rising boldly across the mountains, the Chenab Rail Bridge showcases design ingenuity and structural mastery. It will deepen connectivity, thus boosting trade, commerce and tourism.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[6/7/2025 8:05 AM, 226.1K followers, 268 retweets, 2K likes]
Modi’s invite to join Canada-hosted G7 summit is likely more a reflection of India’s global significance than it is of an emerging India-Canada detente. Yes, there are signs of a coming thaw. But at end of day, hard to leave a top partner of West & #4 world economy out of summit.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[6/9/2025 2:20 AM, 295.5K followers, 87 retweets, 305 likes]
Some Indian media reports incorrectly state that Pakistan gets 80% of the waters of the western rivers (the Indus system’s three main rivers). As this chart from my book shows, Pakistan gets 80.52% of the total waters of the six-river Indus system — and almost 100% of the western rivers’ waters. With the Indus system’s smaller three rivers reserved for India, the latter’s share is just 19.48% of the total waters under what is indisputably the world’s most lopsided and inequitable water-sharing treaty. The Indus system’s largest rivers in terms of transboundary flows are the Chenab (originating in India’s Himachal Pradesh), followed by Jhelum (which begins in Indian Kashmir) and then the Indus stream (which starts in Tibet but gathers much of its water in Indian Ladakh). These three rivers are reserved for Pakistan’s use.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[6/8/2025 2:34 AM, 295.5K followers, 174 retweets, 569 likes]
After the 2016 Uri terrorist attack, Modi warned Pakistan that “water and blood cannot flow together.” Yet, as the then-water resources secretary, Shashi Shekhar, reveals in a media interview, Modi rejected his proposal to invoke India’s rights under international law to suspend or withdraw from the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), citing the need for a collaborative approach to managing such a vital resource. Almost nine years later, following the Pahalgam terrorist slaughter, Modi has taken a political step — placing the IWT “in abeyance,” a term undefined in international law and left unexplained by New Delhi in practical terms. Unlike the legal act of suspending or withdrawing from the treaty, putting the world’s most generous water-sharing arrangement “in abeyance” is a reversible political move. As New Delhi has acknowledged, this status can be lifted if Pakistan credibly halts cross-border terrorism. In effect, Modi has still not abandoned the idea of water cooperation with Pakistan — a stance that may explain his long-standing reluctance, in 11 years in office, to initiate any major hydro-infrastructure project that could reduce transboundary flows of the three main Indus-system rivers reserved for Pakistan under the IWT.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[6/7/2025 3:35 AM, 295.5K followers, 102 retweets, 247 likes]
Even as Trump continues to claim credit for using the threat of trade sanctions to force a ceasefire, the otherwise outspoken Modi has remained silent. Here’s Trump asserting he spoke to both India and Pakistan. Shouldn’t Modi set the record straight? https://x.com/i/status/1931140068237771165 NSB
Tshering Tobgay@tsheringtobgay
[6/8/2025 12:28 PM, 102.4K followers, 15 retweets, 173 likes]
Today, I had the pleasure of meeting Shri Munu Mahawar, Additional Secretary from India’s Ministry of External Affairs. I expressed my heartfelt appreciation to the Government of India for its steadfast support to Bhutan’s socio-economic development.
Tshering Tobgay@tsheringtobgay
[6/8/2025 12:28 PM, 102.4K followers, 1 retweet, 9 likes]
We discussed key areas of collaboration, including infrastructure, healthcare, and hydropower. I deeply value the strong partnership between our countries and look forward to continued close cooperation.
Tshering Tobgay@tsheringtobgay
[6/5/2025 6:18 AM, 102.4K followers, 1 retweet, 17 likes]
I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Rushnan Murtaza, UNICEF’s newly appointed Representative in Bhutan, who took office two months ago. I welcomed her to the country and expressed my appreciation for UNICEF’s continued support in improving the lives of children and communities.
Tshering Tobgay@tsheringtobgay
[6/5/2025 6:18 AM, 102.4K followers, 3 likes]
We discussed opportunities to deepen collaboration, particularly through innovative approaches in health, education, and social protection. I look forward to working closely with her and the UNICEF team in the years ahead.
Abdulla Khaleel@abkhaleel[6/8/2025 7:25 AM, 34K followers, 22 retweets, 34 likes]
The ocean makes up 99% of our nation. It is vital to the Maldivian way of life, making it our responsibility to ensure we sustain it the way it sustains us. This World Ocean Day we celebrate the ocean’s wonder, from all the wonders within it to the wonder it inspires in us. As we look forward to the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, let us commit towards effective and meaningful ocean action.
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal
[6/7/2025 11:50 AM, 435K followers, 22 retweets, 117 likes]
Present state of affairs plaguing Sri Lanka:
1/ 50 daylight shootings since January
2/ 323 containers allegedly containing controversial items were released in January without any inspection. The government refuses to take responsibility
3/ An inmate involved in financial fraud was released from prison on a presidential pardon during Vesak. However, the PMD now denies it, saying a CID inquiry has been launched into how the inmate was released. Does this mean that the prison authorities have acted on their own?
This is the state of law and order today. The NPP, which protested at every juncture asking for good governance and strong leadership, has today, just six months on, lost its grip on the nation. Central Asia
MFA Kazakhstan@MFA_KZ
[6/8/2025 8:09 AM, 55.8K followers, 3 likes]
As part of his official visit to Iran, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu held negotiations with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi. https://gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/1013429?lang=en
MFA Kazakhstan@MFA_KZ
[6/6/2025 3:31 PM, 55.8K followers, 7 retweets, 23 likes]
Kazakh Foreign Minister was Received by the Prime Minister of India https://gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/1013337?lang=en
MFA Kazakhstan@MFA_KZ
[6/6/2025 3:18 PM, 55.8K followers, 1 retweet, 2 likes]
Kazakhstan and India Expand Investment Cooperation in Energy, Pharmaceuticals, and High Technologies https://gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/1013332?lang=en
MFA Kazakhstan@MFA_KZ
[6/6/2025 10:15 AM, 55.8K followers, 2 retweets, 3 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu took part in the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the “Central Asia – India” Dialogue. https://gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/1013321?lang=en{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.