SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Wednesday, March 12, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Johnson drops Afghan visa extension to win over funding bill holdouts (Washington Examiner)
Washington Examiner [3/11/2025 10:04 AM, Annabella Rosciglione, 2296K]
Republican House leadership removed a provision to extend the number of visas for Afghan allies living in the United States to win support from GOP holdouts on the continuing resolution to fund the government.
The provision would have increased the number of visas for Afghan allies who fought alongside U.S. troops. With a razor-thin House majority, Republicans can only afford to lose one vote to pass the measure, and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is already firmly against the bill.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), one of the holdouts, said in an interview with Politico that he was pushing for the change to the provision of Special Immigrant Visas, or SIV, for Afghans. He cited concerns about the ability to vet Afghans resettled in the U.S. properly.
"It’s a sticking point for me," Ogles said.
An estimated eight to 10 Republican lawmakers planned to oppose the funding bill unless the SIV change was made. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said he will include the SIV change in the reconciliation bill later this year.
The amendment cuts a planned increase in the Afghan SIV visa cap from 70,500 to 50,500. The change also eliminates a provision that would have extended the application deadline for another two years but keeps the program operational through this year.
GOP leaders attached the SIV changes to an amendment that cleared the Rules Committee on Monday evening, teeing up the CR for a vote on the House floor on Tuesday.In addition to Massie, a few House Republicans are still uncommitted to voting in favor of the CR, which will fund the government at levels set in 2022 through September. Reps. Cory Mills (R-FL) and Tim Burchett (R-TN) have not confirmed if they will vote in favor of the bill. House GOP Funding Bill Brings More than 50,000 Afghans to U.S. on ‘Special Immigrant Visas’ (Breitbart)
Breitbart [3/11/2025 3:54 PM, John Binder, 2923K]
A spending package from House Republicans provides Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) to 50,500 Afghan nationals looking to resettle in the United States. The move comes after former President Joe Biden brought nearly 100,000 Afghans to the U.S. in the largest resettlement operation, which has been plagued with vetting failures, posing serious national security risks.
House GOP leadership had initially sought to increase the number of Afghans brought to the U.S. on SIVs by more than 20,000, but almost a dozen Republicans objected to the plan. As a result, the spending bill allots 50,500 SIVs for Afghans hoping to resettle in American communities.
The State Department Inspector General (IG) has previously noted that the SIV program "relies on Taliban cooperation for SIV applicant relocation from the country because of a lack of a ground presence in Afghanistan.".
"The amendment extends the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program through this year in its current form until the Administration concludes its review of the program," a senior GOP leadership aide told Politico.
House Republicans’ insistence on continuing the SIV program for Afghans comes after the Biden administration imported almost 100,000 Afghans within months of the U.S. Armed Forces’ retreat from Kabul, Afghanistan — many of whom were not screened or vetted in person by federal agents, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department has admitted.
In one such recent case, a 27-year-old Afghan man was arrested in Oklahoma last year after allegedly planning an Election Day terrorist attack on Americans. The man had been brought to the U.S. through Biden’s massive resettlement operation and applied for an SIV but was not approved.
In April 2023, a former Department of Defense (DOD) official revealed to Congress that some unvetted Afghans were resettled in the U.S. who were found to have been involved in placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan to kill American troops.
In 2021, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) requested information about the number of Afghans who sought entry to the U.S. and were listed on the federal government’s "No Fly List" because of their ties to Islamic terrorism. Biden’s top agency officials refused to disclose the total.
In September 2022, the DHS Inspector General (IG) issued a bombshell report detailing how the Biden administration imported Afghans who were "not fully vetted" and could "pose a risk to national security.".Similarly, in February 2022, a DOD IG report revealed that Biden’s agencies failed to properly vet Afghans who arrived in the U.S. and that about 50 Afghans were flagged for "significant security concerns" after their resettlement.
Most of the unvetted Afghans flagged for possible terrorism ties, the DOD IG report stated, have since disappeared into American communities. The report noted that as of September 17, 2021, only three of 31 Afghans flagged with specific "derogatory information" could be located.
In August 2022, Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) detailed allegations from a whistleblower who claimed the Biden administration knowingly resettled almost 400 Afghans in the U.S. who were listed as "potential threats" in federal databases and urged staff to cut corners in the vetting process.
In May 2022, a Project Veritas report alleged the Biden administration resettled Afghans listed on the federal government’s "Terrorism Watch List" in American communities. Pakistan
Pakistan Separatists Hijack Train With 400 Onboard and Give Ultimatum (New York Times)
New York Times [3/11/2025 4:14 PM, Zia ur-Rehman, 831K]
Separatist militants hijacked a train carrying more than 400 people in an isolated mountainous area of southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday.
A militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack said it was holding scores of security personnel who had been on the train, and it threatened to kill them if the Pakistani government did not agree to a prisoner exchange.
The fate of the rest of the passengers was not immediately clear, though security officials said that at least 104 of them, mostly women and children, had been rescued, and that 17 injured passengers had been taken to the hospital for treatment.
The militants, Baloch ethnic fighters, forced the train to stop in the Bolan district of Balochistan Province after opening fire on it, according to railway and police officials.
The train was traveling from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. It was scheduled to pass through several cities, including Lahore and Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. But it became stranded inside a tunnel about 100 miles from Quetta as it came under attack, and the driver was killed, according to the local authorities.
Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan provincial government, said the authorities had initially struggled to reach the site of the ambush because of the challenging terrain.
But security officials said that an operation was underway to rescue the passengers. A large number of helicopters were seen heading toward Bolan from the military air base in Quetta.
Pakistani security forces said they had surrounded the area around the train and had killed at least 16 militants. They said the fighters had dispersed into small groups because of the operation.
The militants took some passengers into the nearby mountains, Muhammad Tallal Chaudry, the minister of state for interior, said on the news channel Geo TV.
Rashid Hussain, a trader in Quetta, said his family had left on the train for Rawalpindi in the morning but had become unreachable after 2 p.m. “I am deeply worried,” he said by telephone. “The government is not providing any updates. Neither roads nor trains are safe in this province.”
The seizure of the passenger train highlighted the increasing sophistication of a separatist insurgency in Pakistan’s southwest that seeks greater political control and economic development in the region.
The attack was the latest in a series of violent episodes in Balochistan, a province bordering Iran and Afghanistan that is the site of major Chinese-led projects, including a strategic port.
A group known as the Baloch Liberation Army, or B.L.A., claimed responsibility for the train hijacking.
The group gave conflicting numbers about how many hostages it was holding.
Initially, the B.L.A. claimed it had taken 182 hostages, including members of various security agencies traveling on leave. It said it had released civilian passengers, including women, children, the elderly and local Baloch residents.
In a later statement, however, the group said it was holding at least 214 people, including military and civilian law enforcement personnel. It said it would give the government 48 hours to grant the “immediate and unconditional release” of prisoners and threatened to kill its hostages if the demand was not met.
The B.L.A.’s claim that it held large numbers of hostages could not be independently verified, and the government has yet to publicly confirm reports of hostages or casualties. In the past, separatist groups have given exaggerated figures in such cases.
Last year, the B.L.A. carried out one of Pakistan’s deadliest terrorist attacks, a suicide bombing that killed at least 25 people, including security personnel, at Quetta’s busy railway station.
The group also claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing targeting a convoy carrying Chinese citizens near the international airport in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. The separatists accuse the Chinese of stealing the province’s resources.
In recent months, separatist groups have escalated high-profile attacks along Balochistan’s three major highways, directly challenging the state’s authority. Last week, an alliance of the groups, including the B.L.A., announced plans to intensify attacks on Pakistani security forces, infrastructure and Chinese interests in the region.“It points to two key trends: the increasing operational capabilities and sophistication of separatist groups and the weakening control of the government in Balochistan,” said Abdul Basit, senior associate fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
At the Quetta railway station, families of passengers aboard the train anxiously gathered at the information counter on Tuesday, seeking updates.
Many people in the region had begun to prefer rail travel after frequent militant ambushes on the highways in which passengers were killed after being taken off buses. Frequent protests have also caused road blockages.
Train services had resumed only in October after a two-month suspension because of militant attacks on railway tracks. Pakistan Army Kills 27 Militants as Hundreds Held on Train (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [3/12/2025 3:59 AM, Kamran Haider, 5.5M]
Pakistani security forces killed at least 27 people in an exchange of gunfire with insurgents who have been holding a train since Tuesday in southwestern Balochistan province thought to have hundreds aboard.
More than 155 people have been rescued so far, according to security officials familiar with the matter, who spoke Wednesday on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation. The train left Quetta for Peshawar with about 450 passengers aboard, Ishtiaq Soomro, deputy in-charge at the railway police control room in Quetta, said by phone.
Authorities traded fire with the militants during rescue efforts, the officials said, adding that 17 people were injured. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said killed 20 soldiers, according to Pakistani media.
Militants from separatist groups like BLA have been attacking security forces in the mineral-rich Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan, for decades but they have increased in the past few years.
Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies, said seizing a passenger train appears to be a new strategy for the BLA, which has also previously hit infrastructure.“This is a tactic to terrorize both common people and security apparatus,” Gul said. “They have scaled the ladder.”
The attack comes as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tries to rebuild an anemic economy and lure investment, while struggling to control violence from militants.
China, which has built major infrastructure and energy plants in Pakistan, last year urged Islamabad to provide a safe environment for its projects after militants targeted a convoy of Chinese workers at the Port Qasim Electric Power Co., near Karachi’s airport. Two Chinese nationals died in the incident.
China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning strongly condemned the latest attack when speaking at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.“China firmly opposes terrorism in any form,” Mao said. “We will continue to firmly support Pakistan in combating terrorism, maintaining solidarity and social stability, and protecting the safety of civilians.” Pakistani security forces battle to free about 300 hostages aboard a hijacked train (AP)
AP [3/12/2025 4:38 AM, Abdul Sattar and Munir Ahmed, 456K]
Pakistani security forces exchanged gunfire Wednesday with hundreds of separatist militants as they worked to free about 300 hostages who were still on a train after it was attacked in the country’s rugged southwest, officials said.
Security forces were being cautious as officials said the hostages were surrounded by militants wearing vests loaded with explosives. Government spokesman Shahid Rind said Pakistani forces were being backed up by helicopters in the remote region and described the attack as “an act of terrorism.”
At least 27 militants have been killed and security forces rescued more than 150 of the 450 people who were on the train when it was hijacked on Tuesday as it entered a tunnel in Bolan, a district in restive Balochistan province. It was the first time militants have ever carried out such an attack.
The Baloch Liberation Army group has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was open to negotiations to swap prisoners. So far, there has been no response from the government to the offer from the insurgents.
The BLA regularly targets Pakistani security forces, but has also in the past attacked civilians, including Chinese nationals working on multibillion-dollar projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC.
Pakistan hosts thousands of Chinese workers as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is building major infrastructure projects including ports and airports in Balochistan.
China condemned the attack and foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said her country “will continue to firmly support Pakistan in advancing its counter-terrorism efforts.”
Authorities said the rescued so far included women and children, while an undisclosed number of security personnel have been killed, according to three security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media.
According to the officials, the train was partially inside a tunnel when the militants blew up the tracks and immobilized the engine and its nine coaches. The driver was critically wounded by gunfire and guards aboard the train were attacked, although the officials gave no details on the number of guards who were aboard or their fate.
Rescued passengers were being sent to their home towns and injured were being treated at hospitals in Mach district in Balochistan. Others were taken to Quetta about 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.
The train that was traveling from the provincial capital, Quetta, to the northern city of Peshawar when the attack took place.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has long been a hotspot for separatist insurgencies in those countries, with militants demanding greater autonomy and a larger share of the region’s natural resources. The main insurgencies, however, have centered on Pakistan and Iran.
Insurgencies on either side of the Iran-Pakistan border have frustrated both countries. Their governments suspect each other of supporting — or at least tolerating — some of the groups operating on the other side of the border.
In Iran, the militant group Jaish al-Adl has carried out many attacks in recent years. Tehran has sought help from Pakistan in countering the threat from Jaish al-Adl, and Pakistan also wants Tehran to deny sanctuaries to BLA fighters. In January 2024, the two nations engaged in a tit-for-tat airstrike targeting insurgents inside each other’s border areas, killing at least 11 people, but later they quickly deescalated the situation through talks.
The BLA, which has waged a yearslong insurgency in Pakistan, said the hostages and some captured members of the security forces were being guarded by suicide bombers. The BLA has warned that the life of hostages would be at risk if the government does not negotiate.
BLA spokesman Jeeyand Baloch said in in a statement on Tuesday night that the group was ready to free passengers if the government agrees to release the group’s jailed militants. Since then, no government officials have been available for comment. Such demands have been rejected in the past.
Trains in Balochistan typically have security personnel on board as members of the military frequently use trains to travel from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan to other parts of the country.
Militants have attacked trains in the past but have never managed to hijack one.
In November, The BLA carried out a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta that killed 26 people. Pakistani authorities and analysts estimate that the BLA has around 3,000 fighters.
Analysts said the train attack and its focus on civilians could backfire.“After failing to damage the Pakistan Army within Balochistan, BLA has shifted its targets from military to unarmed civilians. This may give them instant public and media attention, but it will weaken their support base within the civilian population, which is their ultimate objective,” said Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based independent security analyst.
Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province. It’s a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. Pakistan train hijack: 155 passengers rescued, others still held hostage (Reuters)
Reuters [3/12/2025 3:17 AM, Asif Shahzad, 5.2M]
Attackers wearing suicide bombs were sitting next to passengers taken hostage after militants took over a train in southwest Pakistan, sources said on Wednesday, complicating rescue efforts a day after the country’s first such hijacking.
The separatist militants blew up a railway track and opened fire on the Jaffar Express on Tuesday as it travelled from Quetta, Balochistan’s capital city, to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistani forces have rescued 155 passengers, and the government said a security operation was under way to free dozens still held hostage, without specifying the exact number.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an ethnic armed group, claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to start executing hostages unless Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing persons it said had been abducted by the military were released within 48 hours.
BLA said on Tuesday it was holding 214 people hostage, and a security source told Reuters that there were 425 passengers on the train when it was attacked.
The number of militants involved in the attack was not clear. The security sources said on Wednesday that 27 had been killed so far.
BLA is the largest of several ethnic armed groups battling Pakistan’s government in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
SOME PASSENGERS KILLED, SAY EYEWITNESSES
Several of those rescued were brought to Quetta early Wednesday, escorted by security forces, where their relatives were waiting for them.
"People were attacked ... passengers were injured and some passengers died," said Muhammad Ashraf, who was on the train.
Several witnesses interviewed by Geo News said they were asked by security personnel to stay low when there was gunfire.
Visuals from the broadcaster showed those rescued meeting and hugging relatives and friends.
A woman, who said her son was among the passengers still held hostage, confronted provincial minister Mir Zahoor Buledi when he visited the freed passengers.
"If you cannot protect trains, then you should not run them. Please, bring my son back," she said.
Pakistan Railways has suspended all operations from Punjab and Sindh provinces to Balochistan until security agencies confirm the area is safe , local media reported on Wednesday.Buledi told reporters that the government was working to improve the security situation in the region. Packed passenger train in Pakistan attacked by Baloch separatists, possibly hijacked in bloody assault (CBS News)
CBS News [3/11/2025 8:57 AM, Staff, 51661K]
Pakistani insurgents opened fire on Tuesday at a passenger train in the country’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, wounding the driver and prompting security guards aboard the train to fire back, officials said. After the attack, the train came to a stop in a remote area in the Bolan district and the fate of the passengers was not immediately clear.
The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army, which has been waging a yearslong insurgency in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. Officials at Pakistan Railways said the Jafar Express train was carrying an estimated 500 passengers, including women and children.
A Baloch Liberation Army source told CBS News’ Sami Yousafzai that the group had killed six security personnel as it seized control of the train, but the group’s claim could not be verified.
The train was traveling from the provincial capital of Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar when it came under attack, government spokesman Shahid Rind said, adding that enforcements were heading to Bolan to respond to the situation. He had no further details.
He later said that ambulances were dispatched but that access to the site was not easy due to the mountainous and rugged terrain. He described the attack as "an act of terrorism" and said Bolan hospitals were put on an emergency level.
Trains in Balochistan typically have security personnel on board as separatists have previously carried out deadly attacks on trains and security forces in the region.
A Pakistani security official in Quetta told CBS News’ Yousafzai that the BLA militants had destroyed the tracks before the train arrived, forcing it to stop in the mountainous area, possibly inside a tunnel. The official said the attack, which left the train driver injured, "created significant challenges for security forces responding to the situation.".
"We have not yet established contact with the attackers or passengers, but it’s most likely a hostage situation," the official said, adding that security forces were preparing for a major operations.
Authorities did not immediately confirm any casualty figures, but an emergency situation was declared at nearby hospitals.
In November, the Balochistan Liberation Army carried out a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta that killed 26 people, including security personnel, railway staff and passengers. The group has been designated as a terrorist organization for years by both the Pakistani and U.S. governments.
Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest, but also its least populated province. It’s a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. 104 hostages rescued after Pakistani train attacked, 450 taken hostage (ABC News)
ABC News [3/11/2025 4:46 AM, Nadine El-Bawab, Josh Margolin, and Habibullah Khan, 34586K]
There have been 104 passengers rescued from a train in Pakistan on Tuesday after it was attacked and hundreds were taken hostage by the militant Balochistan Liberation Army, according to a Pakistani military official.
At least 17 people have been injured and 16 terrorists have been killed as a military operation continues, according to the official.
Earlier, a U.S. official told ABC News that at least 450 people were taken hostage on the train and said six Pakistani military personnel were killed.
The separatist militant group claimed it had taken 182 military and security personnel hostage on the train, according to a post on Telegram, but said they had released the majority of the civilians on board. The group claimed a higher number of casualties in the attack, saying they killed 20 Pakistani military personnel and shot down a drone.
The BLA had threatened to kill all the hostages if Pakistan’s military tries to rescue them, the official said.
The BLA blew up part of the track, forcing the train to stop, before they boarded and took control, according to the official.
The attack happened in mountainous area right before a tunnel, making a rescue very difficult, they said.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to "beasts who fire on innocent passengers.".
The train was trapped in a tunnel after the tracks were blown up and militants opened fire on it, reportedly injuring the driver, local authorities and police have told media. Militants kill 10 people after hijacking passenger train, taking hostages in western Pakistan, officials say (CNN)
CNN [3/11/2025 11:05 PM, Asim Khan, Saleem Mehsud, and Sophia Saifi, 52868K]
Separatist militants killed at least 10 people after hijacking a train carrying hundreds of passengers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan on Tuesday, according to government and railway officials.
Nine of those killed were security personnel, Imran Hayat, a senior railway official, told CNN Tuesday night, adding that a train driver was also killed in the attack.
It is unclear exactly when the deaths occurred. Earlier Tuesday, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind told CNN that "intense gunfire" had been reported on the train. Tuesday evening, security sources not authorized to speak on the record told CNN that security forces had "surrounded the terrorists" and an exchange of fire had taken place. The security sources added that the militants were using "women and children as shields.".
The train, known as the Jaffer Express, was stopped by the militants as it reached a tunnel on Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The train was on its way from Quetta in Balochistan, Pakistan’s westernmost province, to the northwestern city of Peshawar.
"Armed individuals stopped Jaffer Express inside Tunnel No. 8 (in Bolan)," Muhammad Kashif, Quetta Railways’ controller, told CNN.
The train, which departed from Quetta at 9 a.m. local time, had nine coaches and was carrying approximately 450 passengers, Kashif said.
By Tuesday night, 104 hostages had been freed by security forces, the security sources told CNN. Those released included 58 men, 31 women and 15 children, the security sources said, adding that injured passengers had been taken to hospital and that work to rescue the remaining hostages was still underway.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The BLA had said in an earlier statement seen by CNN that they had taken hostages from the train who would be "executed" if a security operation takes place.
But Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said Tuesday evening that operations will continue "until the last terrorist is eliminated." On Tuesday night, the security sources told CNN that 16 militants had been killed and many more had been injured.
The militants have been split into small groups and are surrounded by the security forces, the sources said.
Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind told CNN that access to the train, which was being held in Balochistan’s mountainous region of Sibi, he said, was "challenging.".
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement Tuesday that he "strongly condemns" the attack.
"The terrorists’ targeting of innocent passengers during the peaceful and blessed month of Ramadan is a clear reflection that these terrorists have no connection with the religion of Islam, Pakistan (or) Balochistan," Sharif said.
Junaid Ahmed, from Quetta, told CNN that his cousins were traveling on the Jaffer Express at the time of the incident.
"When I found out about the train incident, I lost contact with them. I came here (Quetta Railway Station), but officials here are saying that (they) are unable to make any contact too.".
The Balochistan government had directed emergency response efforts, Rind said, with a relief train sent to the scene.
On Friday, in a letter seen by CNN, Balochistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department had issued a threat alert, regarding "a planned attack" by the BLA and asked "all concerned authorities" to "take extraordinary precautions and safety measures to prevent any occurrence.".
An insurgency in Balochistan has been running for decades, but has gained traction in recent years since the province’s deep-water Gwadar port was leased to China, the jewel in the crown of Beijing’s "Belt and Road" infrastructure push in Pakistan.
Militants are angered by what they say is the state’s exploitation of the region’s rich mineral resources, with little of the proceeds filtering down to people in what remains Pakistan’s poorest province. The port, often touted as "the next Dubai," has become a security nightmare with persistent bombings of vehicles carrying Chinese workers, with many killed.
The BLA has been responsible for the deadliest attacks in Pakistan in the past year. Militants attack train, take hostages in Pakistan’s Balochistan province (VOA)
VOA [3/11/2025 10:17 PM, Sarah Zaman, 2913K]
Militants attacked a cross-country passenger train Tuesday in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, taking many hostages.
Authorities say the Jaffar Express was traveling north from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when it came under intense fire, hours after departure.
The train was carrying roughly 450 passengers, when it came under attack while passing through a tunnel.
The Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement to media, the banned separatist militant outfit said it had blown up tracks and taken more than 100 passengers hostage. It later claimed they were holding over 200 hostages.
According to security sources, 104 passengers, including 58 men, 31 women and 15 children, had been rescued, while 17 injured people were shifted to a hospital.
The sources said 16 terrorists had been killed.
A clearance operation involving military helicopters has been going on for hours with frequent exchange of fire reported between Pakistani security and BLA militants.
Emergency situation
"So far, it’s no foot on the ground," Imran Hayat, the divisional railway superintendent in Quetta, told VOA, about the inability of railway officials to reach the scene.
"It’s a no-signal area. They [attackers] stopped the train at a spot where there is no signal support," the railway official said.A train carrying security officials to beef up support had departed Quetta, Hayat added.
Despite media reports, Hayat did not confirm the death of the train driver who sustained injuries during the initial attack.
"Mobile and wireless signals are not working and, unfortunately, we are not able to get in touch with the crew," railway deputy controller Muhammad Sharifullah in Quetta told VOA soon after the attack.
Provincial spokesperson Shahid Rind earlier told media that security forces, a rescue train and ambulances had been dispatched. Located in barren, mountainous terrain, the scene of the attack is hard to reach.
An emergency has been declared at the government hospital in Sibbi to receive the injured.
BLA surges
According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025 released last week, Pakistan experienced a 45% increase in terrorism deaths last year, compared to 2023. That is the largest year-to-year rise in more than a decade. The BLA emerged as one of the top two militant groups driving the increase.
The separatist group has been fighting a deadly insurgency against the Pakistani state, accusing the government of robbing the province of its rich natural resources. The group also opposes Chinese investment in the province.
Both Pakistan and China reject the claims that their joint ventures are depriving ethnic Baloch from economic opportunities and their share in the province’s mineral wealth.
The United States and Pakistan have both designated BLA as a terrorist group.
Security sources have said the handlers of Tuesday’s attack are based in Afghanistan. Islamabad has blamed several recent attacks on militants present on Afghan soil. Afghan Taliban routinely deny providing sanctuary to anti-Pakistan fighters.
Recent attacks
Since the beginning of the year, the BLA has ramped up attacks on security forces, settlers and workers primarily from the eastern Punjab province.
Earlier this month, a female suicide bomber detonated her explosive devices near a military convoy in Balochistan’s Kalat district, killing at least one security personnel and injuring four others.
Last month, BLA insurgents ambushed a bus transporting a paramilitary force in Kalat and killed 18 of those on board.
Just days later, a roadside bomb blast killed 11 coal miners in the city, while the BLA took credit for attacking a military vehicle securing a supply convoy for a mining company operated by China. Pakistani authorities reported the convoy was passing through Kalat when it came under attack, resulting in injuries to eight security personnel. India
Vance to visit India for second foreign trip as VP (Politico)
Politico [3/11/2025 3:25 PM, Dasha Burns and Jake Traylor, 52868K]
Vice President JD Vance will travel to India later this month alongside Second Lady Usha Vance, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
It marks Vance’s second foreign trip as vice president after making his world stage debut in France and Germany last month.
Usha Vance’s parents emigrated from India to the U.S. It will be her first time visiting her ancestral country as second lady.
The vice president’s first foreign trip was marked by a fiery speech at the Munich Security Conference where he criticized European governments for their handling of illegal migration, ignoring religious freedoms, and overturning elections. The speech shook allies, who were expecting to hear about proposals to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine to end the war. India’s steel secretary says industry does not expect major impact of US tariffs (Reuters)
Reuters [3/12/2025 2:44 AM, Neha Arora, 5.2M]
India’s steel secretary said on Wednesday that the industry does not see a major impact from tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on steel imports as they do not export much steel to the country.
"To U.S. we export less than 100,000 metric tons," Sandeep Poundrik told reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.
Trump’s increased tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminum imports took effect on Wednesday, stepping up a campaign to reorder global trade norms in favour of the United States. Indian Americans worried over US ties under Trump, survey reveals (BBC)
BBC [3/11/2025 6:42 PM, Soutik Biswas, 52868K]
Indian Americans are increasingly optimistic about India’s future, but hold deep concerns about US-India relations under a second Donald Trump administration, a new survey finds.
The 2024 Indian-American Survey, conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and YouGov in October, examined Indian-American political attitudes.
Two pivotal elections happened in India and the US last year, amid a deepening - but occasionally strained - partnership. Tensions between the countries flared over a US federal indictment of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and allegations of a Delhi-backed assassination plot on American soil.With more than five million Indian-origin residents in the US, the survey asked some key questions: How do Indian Americans view former president Joe Biden’s handling of US-India ties? Do they see Donald Trump as a better option? And how do they assess India’s trajectory post the 2024 election?
Here are some key takeaways from the report, which was based on a nationally representative online survey of 1,206 Indian-American adult residents.
Trump v Biden on India
Indian Americans rated the Biden administration’s handling of US-India relations more favourably than Trump’s first term.
A hypothetical Kamala Harris administration was seen as better for bilateral ties than a second Trump term during the polling.
Partisan polarisation plays a key role: 66% of Indian-American Republicans believe Trump was better for US-India ties, while just 8% of Democrats agree.
Conversely, half of Indian-American Democrats favour Biden, compared to 15% of Republicans.
Since most Indian Americans are Democrats, this gives Biden the overall edge.
During their February meeting at the White House, both Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised each other’s leadership, but Trump criticised India’s high trade tariffs, calling them a "big problem.".‘Murder-for-hire’ controversy
The alleged Indian plot to assassinate a separatist on US soil has not widely registered - only half of respondents are aware of it.
In October, the US charged a former Indian intelligence officer with attempted murder and money laundering for allegedly plotting to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-based advocate for an independent Sikh state, Khalistan.
This marked the first time the Indian government has been directly implicated in an alleged assassination attempt on a dissident. India has stated it is co-operating with the US investigation. In January, a panel set up by India to examine Washington’s allegations recommended legal action against an unnamed individual believed to be the former intelligence agent.
A narrow majority of the respondents said that India would "not be justified in taking such action and hold identical feelings about the US if the positions were reversed".
Israel and the Palestinians
Indian Americans are split along partisan party lines, with Democrats expressing greater empathy for Palestinians and Republicans leaning pro-Israel.
Four in 10 respondents believe Biden has been too pro-Israel in the ongoing conflict.
The attack in October 2023 by Hamas fighters from Gaza killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, inside Israel and saw 251 people taken hostage. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Talks to prolong the fragile ceasefire, the first phase of which ended on 1 March, are expected to resume in Qatar on Monday.
India’s outlook brightens
Forty-seven percent of Indian Americans believe India is heading in the right direction, a 10 percentage point increase from four years ago.
The same share approves of Modi’s performance as prime minister. Additionally, four in 10 respondents feel that India’s 2024 election - where Modi’s party did not get a majority - made the country more democratic.
The survey found that many Indian Americans support Modi and believe India is on the right track, yet half are unaware of the alleged assassination attempt on US soil.
Does this indicate a gap in information access, selective engagement or a tendency to overlook certain actions in favour of broader nationalist sentiment?
"It is hard to tease out the precise reason for this, but our sense is that this has more to do with selective engagement," Milan Vaishnav, co-author of the study, said.
Data collected by Carnegie in 2020 shows that around 60% of Indian Americans follow Indian government and public affairs regularly, leaving a significant portion who "engage only sporadically".
"Often people form broad impressions based on a combination of the news, social media and interactions with friends and family. Given the deluge of news in the US of late, it is not entirely surprising that the ‘murder-for-hire’ plot did not break through for a large section of the community," Mr Vaishnav said.
Indian Americans, while cautious about Trump and generally favouring Biden or Harris for US-India relations, continue to strongly support Modi back in India. Given Modi’s nationalist policies, what accounts for this divergence? Is it driven more by personal impact than ideology?
"This is a case of ‘where you sit is where you stand’," Mr Vaishnav said.
He said in related research, "we’ve explored this question in depth and found that Indian Americans generally hold more liberal views on US policy issues compared to India".
"For instance, while Muslim Indian-Americans – minorities both in India and the US – maintain consistently more liberal attitudes, Hindu Indian-Americans express liberal views in the US (where they are a minority) but more conservative stances in India, where they belong to the majority.
"In other words, a person’s majority or minority status plays a key role in shaping their political views," Mr Vaishnav said.
If Indian Americans viewed Trump as a threat to bilateral ties, why did they embrace him during his first term, as seen at events like ‘Howdy Modi!’? Has their opinion of Trump shifted due to his policies, or is it more about changing political currents?
"We should not generalise from one event or even one segment of the Indian American population. More than 50,000 Indian Americans gathered at ‘Howdy, Modi!’ first and foremost to see Modi, not Trump. Recall that Trump was added at a later date," Mr Vaishnav said.
"Second, this is a diverse diaspora with a range of political views. While Indian Americans lean overwhelmingly toward the Democratic Party, a very sizeable minority - we estimate around 30% in 2024 - support the Republicans under Trump.".
Indian Americans remain committed to the Democratic Party, but attachment has waned. Some 47% identify as Democrats, down from 56% in 2020, a survey found last year.
Do Indian Americans have a nuanced understanding of political developments in both countries, or are their views more influenced by diaspora-driven narratives and media echo chambers?
Mr Vaishnav said data from 2020 shows that online news was the primary source of information about India, followed by television, social media and word of mouth. Within social media, YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp were the most common platforms.
"Direct engagement with India is more limited, with foreign-born Indian Americans typically more involved than those born in the US.
"Having said that, one should not overlook the fact that the bonds of cultural connectivity remain quite strong, even with second and third-generation Indian Americans.".
In the end, the survey underscores a complex portrait of the Indian American community - one shaped by a blend of selective engagement, shifting political winds and varying personal experiences. China Piles the Pressure on India in Its Own Backyard (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [3/11/2025 5:00 PM, Peter Martin, Kamlesh Bhuckory, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Adrian Leung, and Demetrios Pogkas, 16228K]
Diego Garcia, a remote Indian Ocean island nearly 2,000 miles from the East African coast, boasts clear-blue waters, pristine beaches — and a US-UK military base at the heart of the great-power chess match involving the US, China and India.The British territory in the Chagos Archipelago – which has housed the base since the 1970s — is now at the center of a wider push by the US and India to counter China’s growing presence in the region. The Trump administration has said it’s inclined to support a deal reached by the UK last year to hand back the islands to Mauritius despite previous Republican concerns that the agreement could enable China to spy on US activities at the base.
While it’s largely flown under the radar, Diego Garcia, which sits near the center of the Indian Ocean, is arguably as important to American global strategic interests as Panama or Greenland, allowing the US to operate missions from the Middle East to Asia — and counter a growing Chinese presence in the region.
Over more than a decade, China has built up economic and military ties across the Indian Ocean, sending warships on training and anti-piracy missions while winning access to key naval bases. It has also poured billions into 46 commercial ports across the region, 36 of which are capable of hosting naval assets, according to data from the Council on Foreign Relations.
That has particularly alarmed India, which has constructed an airstrip where it can land surveillance aircraft on the Agaléga islands, another Mauritian territory some 1,100 miles west of Diego Garcia, in large part to track Chinese activity. This week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the guest of honor at Mauritius National Day celebrations in the capital, Port Louis — part of an effort to reinforce the region’s importance to his country. New Delhi has also given its blessing to the Chagos deal.
"All these big powers are very much interested in the Indian Ocean, and the principal reason is because of the rise of Chinese power," Dhananjay Ramful, Mauritius’ foreign minister, said in an interview from his office overlooking the harbor in the capital. "It’s all to do with geopolitics.".
India’s ministry of external affairs did not respond to an emailed request for comment. China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that all countries enjoy freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean.
Stretching from the Horn of Africa to Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean is home to almost 3 billion people and around 40% of the planet’s offshore petroleum. Its waters include four of the world’s six most important maritime chokepoints and hold the key to trade between Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Beijing has already made dramatic advances in the region.
China has constructed a military base in Djibouti and fostered a growing naval presence in Cambodia, giving it the potential to project power from both sides of the Indian Ocean. It regularly deploys destroyers, frigates and at least one submarine to conduct anti-piracy missions off Somalia. In the last year alone, Beijing has also penned a security pact with the Maldives and helped Pakistan launch stealth submarines.
Meanwhile, three dozen of the commercial ports China has built — from Mozambique to Australia — include berths deep enough for naval vessels, which has sparked concern in Washington.While there’s no immediate flashpoint comparable to Taiwan or the South China Sea in the Pacific Ocean, India’s foreign minister and military officials have expressed alarm over the steady increase of China’s naval presence in the waters. With 95% of India’s trade and 80% of its crude oil supply flowing through the ocean, New Delhi sees unfettered access as a precondition for India’s rise.
Indian officials also say a Chinese-dominated Indian Ocean would leave them more vulnerable in any broader conflict with Beijing. In 2020, the two powers engaged in the deadliest clashes over their disputed Himalayan border since the two countries fought a war in 1962.
India’s Backyard
The US in recent years has sought to bring India further into its orbit in order to counter China. And while US President Donald Trump has threatened New Delhi with reciprocal tariffs, he also welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House last month as one of his first guests and pledged to deepen technology and defense ties, including with the sale of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 fighter jets to the South Asian nation.
"India should be taking the leading role in countering Chinese threats in the Indian Ocean region," said Lisa Curtis, former senior director for South and Central Asia on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term. "The US wants India to be able to stand up to China, to compete effectively with China and to act as a counterbalance to China. It’s an important region.".
But India has faced setbacks, heightening its sense of vulnerability to Beijing. It failed to secure a military base in the Seychelles and has faced skepticism from new governments in the Maldives and Bangladesh.
"India finds itself on the back foot in what it sees as its backyard," said David Brewster, author of India’s Ocean: The Story of India’s Bid for Regional Leadership. "They see themselves in the long-run as the leading natural power of the Indian Ocean and that makes them fragile to any expansion of Chinese influence.".
India’s struggles come down to its "big brother attitude toward its small neighbors," said retired Chinese senior colonel Zhou Bo. "The traditional mentality is that this is India’s sphere of influence, but China got in" because of its desire to engage economically, he added.
Hanging over the competition is renewed uncertainty about the role of the US. While Trump has promised to compete with China, he’s also hostile to the kinds of overseas assistance that’s helped America gain influence in the region’s most strategic locations.
At the center of it all are tiny countries like Mauritius, which find themselves courted by powers that might once have overlooked them.
Known for its azure seas and friendly tax regime, Mauritius lies some 700 miles east of Madagascar. The island nation is one of the wealthiest African countries and a mature democracy, and commands an exclusive economic zone larger in size than Greenland.It’s also long been a focus of geopolitical competition. Britain took the island from France during the Napoleonic wars and used it to track Japan’s navy during World War II.
The US presence at Diego Garcia dates back to the 1960s, when India requested American military assistance in a war with China. The US signed a lease for the island from the UK — which detached the territory from Mauritius — and later used it to conduct strikes on Afghanistan and Iraq.
Now the main players are India and China, attested to by a flurry of construction across the country.
"We are being courted by a lot of people and we should use this to our advantage," said Hans Nibshan Seesaghur, the former head of the Mauritius Economic Development Board office in Shanghai. "Now we have a choice.".
Indian companies are completing a new metro line connecting Port Louis to nearby cities. The project, reminiscent of Chinese infrastructure diplomacy, is part of a $353 million package that saw India build a new supreme court and hospital.
New Delhi’s history in Mauritius runs deep. Since independence in 1968, Mauritius’ national security adviser has always been an Indian national, as has its head of coast guard. Cultural ties are also significant: around two-thirds of its population are ethnically Indian.
Still, India has had to work to assert its influence amid a years’ long push by China.
In 2013, China completed work on a new international airport terminal, financed with a $260 million loan. In 2017, it completed the $108 million Bagatelle Dam, and has financed a $36 million sports complex and a $20 million cruise-ship terminal. In 2019, Mauritius became the first African nation to sign a Free Trade Agreement with China.
More concerning, US officials say, is the fact that Huawei Technologies Co. rolled out a surveillance camera system across the island.
Washington has also entered the fray, working with London to secure long-term access to the Diego Garcia base, which helps link its 5th fleet in Bahrain and its 7th fleet in Japan.
The US is also upgrading its embassy from a crowded space in an inauspicious office building into a $300 million compound outside the capital.
"Everything is playing to the advantage of Mauritius," said Ramful, the foreign minister.
Chinese Funding
The same jockeying is playing out with Mauritius’ neighbors.
In Madagascar, China has built roads and hydroelectric power stations, and pledged to construct a special economic zone. In the tiny Comoros islands — where India and the US don’t even have embassies — China built a 10,000-seat stadium and has lavished it with high-level visits.
To the north, in the Seychelles, China is building a new headquarters for the Seychelles Broadcasting Corp. after constructing the country’s supreme court and national assembly. India tried and failed for years to secure a military base in the country despite its longstanding cooperation with the country’s coast guard. The US, prompted largely by China, reopened its embassy in June 2023 after a 27-year absence.
"We’re being wooed left, right and center," said Ryan Adeline, a former Seychelles diplomat at the University of Seychelles.
More than 1,400 miles northwest of the Seychelles, the tiny African nation of Djibouti epitomizes US and Indian fears about Beijing’s inroads.
China opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti in 2017, providing it a foothold on the Bab el-Mandeb strait — the gateway to the Red Sea crucial to oil exports from the Gulf. The US, France and others also have bases in Djibouti, but it’s China’s presence, so far from home, that speaks to its desire to secure sea lanes long policed by America.
Defense analysts say China’s current military footprint in the region would be vulnerable during wartime, but it’s the trend that worries US and Indian officials.
China is also looking for alternate footholds on Africa’s eastern seaboard, which has grown more significant since an upsurge in Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping has forced cargo around southern Africa. Washington believes Beijing is pushing for military port access in Tanzania and Mozambique, Bloomberg reported.
"From New Delhi’s perspective, this looks awful," said Raja Mohan, an Indian strategic analyst at the National University of Singapore. "A stronger Chinese naval profile on the east coast of Africa will complement the PLA’s presence in Pakistan and base in Djibouti, allowing Beijing to dominate maritime choke points in the northwestern quadrant of the Indian Ocean.".
India Plays Catchup
Beijing’s growing clout has forced India to work harder to win hearts and minds closer to home in countries like Sri Lanka.
China poured $12.1 billion into infrastructure projects across the country between 2006 and 2019, according to Chatham House in London. Those investments included an enormous port in Hambantota, on which China secured a 99-year lease in 2017 as Sri Lanka struggled to pay its debts. In August 2022, a Chinese surveillance vessel docked at the port, prompting alarm in New Delhi.
Sri Lanka’s debts, combined with Covid’s impact on tourism and policy missteps, led the country to default on its sovereign debt in 2022. That crisis, though, created an opportunity for India, which issued a nearly $4 billion line of credit to the country, winning it plaudits from Sri Lankan elites.
"Because China invested, India upscaled their investment," said Ali Sabry, Sri Lanka’s former foreign minister. "If we are smart enough we must use our strategic location to attract investment from China, India and the US.".
The country’s new president, political outsider Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has visited both India and China since taking office in September, securing promises of investment from both.
The picture is more problematic for India in the Maldives, where a pro-China candidate is now dominant, and in Bangladesh, which has become a significant concern since protesters overthrew the India-backed Sheikh Hasina.
As India seeks to win over officials in its neighborhood, it is also building military facilities. In addition to Agaléga, India commissioned a new base on its western seaboard on Minicoy Island last year and opened its first off-shore military logistics facility at the Duqm Port in Oman. Indian officials say they are also boosting military cooperation with France and Australia in the Indian Ocean as they look for partners to compete against Beijing.
Chinese Military Buildup
The competition continues more than 1,000 miles east of India’s southern tip at the entrance to the Malacca Strait, a chokepoint that Beijing worries America could use to block its energy supplies in a war over Taiwan.
India allowed the US access to its Andaman and Nicobar islands, which sit at the entrance to the strait, after joint exercises last year. It’s also posting troops there permanently for the first time.
Delhi meanwhile suspects China is building a surveillance post on Myanmar’s nearby Coco Islands, Indian officials say. The countries also have competing port projects in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State, with India securing the rights to operate a port in Sittwe and China constructing a $7 billion deep-sea port at Kyaukphyu, which offers it a way to circumvent Malacca.
The boldest part of Beijing’s response to its Malacca dilemma lies in Cambodia, where the US says China has gained access to Ream naval base, where PLA Navy ships have made months-long visits, according to satellite imagery analyzed by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Beijing and Phnom Penh deny such a deal exists. "I believe we have a need for some more," Zhou, the former Chinese officer, said of Beijing’s quest for new bases. "Given China’s global interests, it is reasonable that there is a demand, but it won’t be easy.".
It’s possible, though, that Beijing’s momentum is slowing amid its economic malaise.
China is no longer able to spend like it did in the heady early years of its Belt and Road Initiative. Across the developing world, it has pivoted to lending at commercial rates on smaller projects.
The JinFei economic zone a few miles north of Port Louis shows how the old approach sometimes played out.
Launched with fanfare in 2009 as an area modeled on the economic zones that powered Chinese growth in the 1990s, the project aimed to bring $500 million of foreign investment into Mauritius within eight years and make Mauritius China’s gateway to Africa.
But inside its headquarters today, plaster hangs from the ceiling and signs in the elevator threaten tenants with lawsuits over unpaid rent. "Our company is currently facing financial challenges," one sign says.
Over 300 of the zone’s original 500 acres have been reclaimed by the Mauritian government. Faded concept drawings on unused bus stops show a five-star hotel that never materialized. And a retail complex sits empty except for a shuttered hot pot restaurant.
Still, none of this means China has given up on the island — and the Mauritian government knows it.
Ramful, the foreign minister, said increased geopolitical competition makes it harder for great powers to ignore small countries like his.
"You shouldn’t take any country for granted," he said. "There’s no exclusivity. We are open.". Modi lands in Mauritius to back sovereignty claim over Chagos and boost maritime security (The Independent)
The Independent [3/11/2025 6:22 AM, Shweta Sharma, 44838K]
Narendra Modi was set to support Mauritius in its dispute with Britain over the Chagos archipelago as India’s prime minister arrived in the Indian Ocean nation to a grand welcome on Tuesday.
Mr Modi was received in the strategically located maritime neighbour by prime minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and was scheduled to meet president Dharam Gokhool.
The Indian leader was expected to attend National Day celebrations in the capital Port Louis on 12 March as the chief guest. A contingent of the Indian military and a naval ship were set to participate in the event as well.
India’s foreign ministry said the prime minister would discuss the Chagos dispute and reaffirm Delhi’s longstanding support for Mauritius’ sovereignty over the islands.
"We have continued to support Mauritius and will continue to do so," foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi. "I would imagine that during the visit there will be an opportunity perhaps for the Mauritius side to update us on any issues that might still be outstanding if there are any issues by that time.".
The Chagos archipelago, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, is a group of seven atolls comprising over 60 islands. One of the atolls, Diego Garcia, is operated by the US as a forward operating base for its forces in the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific, making it a key strategic hub.Mauritius gained independence in 1968, but the UK kept control of the Chagos islands and forcibly displaced an estimated 2,000 native people to establish the Diego Garcia base, which was leased to the US.
India sees Mauritius as a key ally in countering China’s ever-growing influence in the Indian Ocean and enhancing regional security.
The UK last year reached a landmark deal with Mauritius on returning sovereignty over the Chagos islands after years of negotiations. The agreement would guarantee a lease on the base for 99 years, at a reported cost of £18bn to the British taxpayer.
Last month, US president Donald Trump confirmed that he would support an agreement between Mauritius and the UK.
In the course of Mr Modi’s visit, India and Mauritius could sign several agreements on capacity building, bilateral trade and tackling cross-border financial crime. They were also set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to boost cooperation in maritime zone management and ocean observation and research.
"This visit is a wonderful opportunity to engage with a valued friend and explore new avenues for collaboration in various sectors," Mr Modi said on X. "Mauritius is a close maritime neighbour and key Indian Ocean partner. We are connected by shared values and deep-rooted cultural ties. My visit will further strengthen the foundations of our friendship and build a brighter chapter in India-Mauritius ties.".
Samuel Bashfield, an expert on Indo-Pacific security at the Australia India Institute, said it was in India’s interest to retain the US presence on Diego Garcia as a counterweight to China.
"Diego Garcia could be a useful runway for Indian surveillance aircraft in the Indian Ocean to use periodically," Mr Bashfield explained.
India, in a bid to expand its strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean, previously helped Mauritius develop sea and air links on the remote Agalega islands. Musk’s Starlink could help remote parts of India get online under deals with telecoms players (AP)
AP [3/12/2025 4:40 AM, Sheikh Saaliq, 456K]
Elon Musk’s Starlink signed an agreement with India’s top telecom operator on Wednesday to bring the U.S. satellite internet giant’s services to the world’s most populous country, a day after announcing a similar agreement with the country’s second-largest provider.
The deals with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, which together control more than 70% of India’s telecom market, could help bring internet connections to millions of people who live in remote areas.
But they depend on Starlink obtaining government approval to enter India. The partnership announcements come weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Musk in Washington.
Deals will put Starlink devices in stores across India
Wednesday’s deal will allow Starlink to stock and sell its equipment in Jio’s thousands of retail outlets, giving the company direct distribution across India. Starlink will also use its partners’ network infrastructure to enhance satellite coverage across India, where a vast population still lacks internet access.
A statement from Jio said Starlink will compliment the Indian telecom giant’s broadband services “by extending high-speed internet to the most challenging of locations in a quick and affordable manner.”
Jio will also provide installation and activation support for the Starlink devices, the statement said.
India has long been out of reach for Musk’s companies
Jio has long been at odds with Starlink over methods for awarding satellite service spectrum in India.
Jio had urged Indian government to grant spectrum for satellite services through auctions to ensure fair competition, while Musk wanted spectrum to be allocated administratively, in line with global trends. Indian government eventually decided to assign satellite spectrum.
It is unclear whether Starlink’s licence application has already been approved, but local media reports suggest it is nearing initial regulatory approval.
Last November, India’s telecoms minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said Starlink had yet to comply with security norms, and that a license would be issued to the company only after it meets all the requirements.
Yet the biggest challenge Starlink faces in India could be pricing.
Mobile data in India is among the world’s cheapest — Ambani’s Jio once even gave it for free with mobile plans.
Tesla, Musk’s electric car maker, has also faced hurdles in India due to the country’s high import duties on vehicles, but it could be getting a boost as well. The copmany began hiring in India last month and has also signed a lease deal to open its first showroom in Mumbai, according to local news reports.
Starlink could help India bring millions online in remote areas
At least 40% of the country’s more than 1.4 billion people don’t have access to the internet. Cheap satellite broadband is needed to bridge this gap, particularly in India’s vast remote and mountainous rural areas.Starlink has at least 6,900 active satellites orbiting Earth that provide low-latency broadband, including to areas where internet previously has been completely unavailable. Musk’s Starlink, India’s Airtel tie up to challenge Ambani in broadband race (Reuters)
Reuters [3/11/2025 9:18 AM, Indranil Sarkar, Kashish Tandon, and Munsif Vengattil, 126906K]
Elon Musk’s Starlink has signed a deal with India’s No. 2 telecoms company Airtel to bring Starlink’s internet services to the world’s most populous country, intensifying rivalry with fellow billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom firm Reliance Jio.
The pact will allow the U.S. satellite internet giant to utilize Airtel’s retail store network to distribute its devices throughout India, and is conditional upon Starlink obtaining government approval to begin operations in the country.
Airtel said on Tuesday the companies will look at using each other’s network infrastructure to enhance coverage, but didn’t provide details. Airtel will also explore offering Starlink services to its business and other customers.
The Starlink announcement comes weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Elon Musk in Washington where they discussed issues including space, mobility, technology and innovation.
Starlink, which has long wanted to launch in India, has clashed recently with Ambani’s telecom firm Reliance Jio over how the country should grant spectrum for satellite services.
Reliance had urged an auction but the Indian government sided with Musk, who wanted it to be allocated administratively, in line with global trends. Analysts say an auction, requiring much more investment, would likely deter foreign rivals.
Ambani has been worried that his telecom company, which spent $19 billion in airwave auctions, risks losing broadband customers to Starlink and potentially even data and voice clients later.
Airtel has a similar distribution agreement with global satellite group Eutelsat, where its parent entity owns a stake.
Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio have already won approvals from India’s space regulator to launch commercial satellite broadband services in the country. India has six of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, report shows (NBC News)
NBC News [3/11/2025 8:28 AM, Peter Guo and Yixuan Tan, 52868K]
Six out the world’s 10 most polluted cities are in India, while California has the worst air pollution in North America, a new report shows.
New Delhi was the most polluted capital city globally, followed by N’Djamena, capital of Chad, a country in central Africa with the world’s worst air pollution, according to the 2024 World Air Quality Report published Tuesday by IQAir, a Swiss air monitoring company.
Ten out of the 15 most polluted cities in North America, including Ontario and Bloomington, are located in California as the United States reclaimed the top spot as the most polluted country in the region in 2024, the report said.
India, the world’s most populous country with more than 1.4 billion people, saw a 7% decline in PM2.5 concentration in 2024, but air pollution remains a "significant health burden" that reduces life expectancy in the South Asian nation by an estimated 5.2 years, the report said. The country’s major pollution sources include industrial discharge, construction dust and the burning of crop residues.
PM2.5 refers to tiny particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less that can go deep into lungs and even enter the bloodstream. Deriving from emission sources such as the combustion of gasoline and oil, it is linked to premature death, heart attacks and breathing difficulties.Though the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that average annual concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter, only 17% of global cities meet its air quality standard, the report said.
Chad’s PM2.5 levels were more than 18 times higher than the WHO guideline, with mineral dust in the Sahara Desert as the primary source of air pollutants. Oceania, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island nations, is the world’s cleanest region, with 57% of cities meeting the WHO standard.
Bangladesh and Pakistan, both of which neighbor India, ranked as the second and third most polluted countries. Last November, air quality in Pakistan reached "hazardous" levels due to a combination of festival celebrations, brick kiln emissions and adverse weather.China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, recorded lower air pollution levels in more than 300 cities in 2024, the report said.
While noting Chinese authorities’ "ambitious" goal to reduce the country’s annual average PM2.5 concentration levels to below 25 micrograms per cubic meter, the report said that is still "significantly" above the WHO guideline of 5 micrograms.
A senior Chinese environmental official said last month that China aimed to effectively eliminate severe air pollution by the end of this year. China announced its "war against pollution" in 2014.
The report also noted the "considerable" gaps in air quality that still exist in many parts of the world. Currently, only 21% of the world population has access to hyper-local, real-time air quality information, according to IQAir estimates.
Cambodia had no official government monitoring, while many critical regions in Africa and West Asia lack sufficient monitoring. In comparison, North America has a "robust" air quality monitoring infrastructure that accounts for 56% of ground-based stations."Air pollution remains a critical threat to both human health and environmental stability, yet vast populations remain unaware of their exposure levels," Frank Hammes, global chief executive of IQAir, said in a statement.
"Air quality data saves lives," Hammes said. "It creates much needed awareness, informs policy decisions, guiding public health interventions, and empowers communities to take action to reduce air pollution and protect future generations.".Last week, U.S. embassies and consulates said they had stopped monitoring air quality abroad, ending a program that had provided essential public health data for more than a decade.
Data the U.S. provided in dozens of countries had led to noticeable improvements in local air quality in China and elsewhere, reducing premature deaths and generating cost savings associated with lower mortality, studies found.
Air pollution accounted for 8.1 million deaths globally in 2021, according to the WHO. Children under the age of 5 are considered especially vulnerable, with health effects including premature birth, low birthweight, asthma and lung disease. Is it safe to travel to India? Travel advice amid fears for women’s safety (The Independent)
The Independent [3/11/2025 5:17 PM, Amelia Neath, 33298K]
Tourist numbers have rapidly dwindled in the Unesco World Heritage site destination of Hampi in India following the gang rape of two women and the death of a male tourist on Thursday night.
The two women, a 27-year-old Israeli tourist and a 29-year-old Indian homestay operator, were stargazing with three male tourists near Sanapur Lake in Hampi, Karnataka, when a group of men attacked them. A male tourist from Odisha was later found dead, police said.
The attack has increased concerns about safety in Hampi, known for its group of spectacular remnants of monuments and temple complexes from the Vijayanagara Empire that attract thousands of domestic and international tourists.
Since the incident on Thursday, there appears to be a sharp decline in tourists making their way to the ancient village.
More than 25 homestays in and around Hampi saw travel agencies cancel bookings over the weekend, and local media is reporting that several tourists have cut their stays short and left the region.
Virupakshi V Hampi, secretary of the State Tourist Guides Association, confirmed there was a decline in homestay bookings.
"Even tourists from other states are cancelling or postponing their visit to Hampi," he told The New Indian Express. "The entire nation condemned the Sanapur rape incident. Hope police increase patrolling in Hampi and surroundings.".
Vijayanagara police superintendent Shrihari Babu B L said his force was ready to take care of visitors to Hampi and that they would issue guidelines for homestay owners.
Foreign visitors in Hampi said they had been instructed to travel in groups and return to their homestays by 8.30pm.
The attack comes after similar incidents last year, including the gang-rape of a tourist from Spain in Jharkhand and the rape and murder of a 28-year-old Irish tourist in Goa.Sexual assault reports in India have become more frequent in the country, as police recorded 31,516 rape cases in 2022, a 20 per cent increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Yet the actual figure is believed to be much higher dueto lack of reporting caused by the stigma surrounding sexual violence in the country.
Government advice on travel in India
The UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not issued any specific travel advice relating to the attacks in Hampi.
The FCDO does give advice on sexual assault cases in general in India: "There is a risk of sexual assault, including attacks on female foreign national visitors in tourist areas and cities.
"Female travellers often experience verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men. Serious sexual attacks involving both Indian and foreign nationals have been reported. British women have been victims of sexual assault, including rape, in multiple states in India. Avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day," the FCDO writes.
The FCDO does also share advice on the state of Goa: "Many opportunistic criminals operate in Goa because of the high number of tourists.
"There have been some serious incidents involving British nationals in recent years, including sexual assaults and the murder of a young female traveller.".
If you’re the victim of crime in India, call:
police helpline: 100 national emergency number: 112
women helpline: 1091
The FCDO advises against all travel within 10km of the India-Pakistan border and the region Jammu and Kashmir, as well as all but essential travel to the state of Manipur.
FCDO advice for women travelling abroad to any country.
The FCDO says that when planning travel, it is worth researching the local culture of a country and whether women travelling have received unwanted attention or difficulties because of their gender.
It warns that violence towards women and girls is a risk in many countries, but could take different forms depending on the local context, laws, history and culture in the country.
Rape and sexual assault are risks to people of all genders worldwide, it adds, and local services and attitudes towards it can vary by country.
The FCDO says they take any report of rape and sexual assault seriously.
Guidance on rape and sexual assault abroad
"If you have been sexually assaulted it is important to remember that it was not your fault," the FCDO writes on its guidance page for British nationals who have been raped and sexually assaulted abroad.
"Rape and sexual assault is always wrong – no matter who commits it or where it happens. It is traumatic and it can affect you both physically and emotionally. Do not be afraid to get help.".
When reporting rape or sexual assault to the FCDO, it says you will be provided with immediate support on the telephone at any time of the day or night, staff will try to see you in person as soon as possible, and will be empathetic, patient, sensitive and non-judgemental.
They will also try their best to provide you with a female consular official if you prefer to talk to a woman.
In most countries, you must report the crime before returning to the UK if you want it to be investigated. UK police do not have jurisdiction to investigate an attack that has taken place abroad and cannot direct something to be investigated.
You can report the crime to your local UK police who should send the information you provide to the country where the crime happened. However, it is up to the police forces in that country to decide whether to investigate a crime.
It may be possible to report an assault from the UK to a foreign police force via a third party, such as a local lawyer to make representations on your behalf to the local police.
The FCDO adds that "in a very small number of countries, being the victim of rape or sexual assault could be considered illegal" and could lead to local authorities questioning you. If you have concerns about this, contact the FCDO for advice.
Modi’s nationalists demand destruction of ‘thief’ emperor’s tomb (The Times)
The Times [3/11/2025 12:29 PM, Amrit Dhillon, 810K]
By the time Lord Curzon became Viceroy of India and set about restoring its ancient monuments, the tomb of the last great Mughal emperor was little more than a mound of earth.For the British envoy, the tomb of Aurangzeb, in Khuldabad, represented an ignominious end for an emperor who ruled for almost 50 years, variously described as either a merciless tyrant or a pious upholder of Mughal culture at all costs.Though Curzon only installed a marble screen around the grave, his decision still reverberates to this day.More than 300 years after the death of Aurangzeb, whose full name was Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Mohammad Aurangzeb, allies of India’s Hindu nationalist prime minister, Narendra Modi, have demanded his grave be removed.For Modi and his allies, the legacy of the Mughals, who ruled India for some six centuries, is a byword for the subjugation of Hindus by a foreign occupier. Udayanraje Bhosale, MP for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra, the state where Aurangzeb is buried, urged the authorities to “send a bulldozer and raze his grave … he was a thief and looter”.He added: “Those who visit Aurangzeb’s tomb and pay homage … should take the tomb to their own homes, but the glorification of Aurangzeb will not be tolerated any more.”Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister in the state, also backed calls to remove the tomb, which was handed over to the Archaeological Society of India (ASI) under previous governments in an effort to protect it. “We all also want the same thing, but you need to do it within the framework of the law, because it is a protected site,” he said. “The site was put under ASI’s protection during the [Indian National] Congress regime some years back.”For many Hindus, Aurangzeb was cruelty incarnate. Under his reign, from 1658 to 1707, Hindus were raped, butchered and forcibly converted by the Muslim dynasty. Aurangzeb was a devout Muslim and chose an austere lifestyle, unlike other Mughals whose magnificent courts and colossal wealth were the envy of European monarchs.Aurangzeb, who died in 1707, aged 88, specifically instructed that it should be plain and unmarked, unlike the monumental tombs of Akbar, Humayun and Jahangir, as well as the Taj Mahal — commissioned by Aurangzeb’s father, Shah Jahan, to house the resting place of his wife Mumtaz Mahal — that took Mughal architecture to new heights. His grave location was requested to be close to the guru and Sufi saint Syed Zainuddin.Legend has it that Shah Jahan had planned a second, black Taj Mahal for himself opposite the mausoleum of his wife, Aurangzeb’s mother, but he never built it because his son deposed him and imprisoned him in the Red Fort in Agra.Defending Aurangzeb’s legacy has become a dangerous job under Modi. Last week, Abu Azmi, an MP, was suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly until the end of the budget session over his praise for Aurangzeb. Azmi said the emperor was depicted wrongly in history. “Aurangzeb built many temples,” he said. “I do not consider Aurangzeb a cruel administrator.”The move represents a broader redrawing of Indian history. The BJP has changed the Muslim names of railway stations, streets and towns and downplayed the Mughals’ contribution to India in school textbooks, from which all mention of them has been pruned.Atia Rabbi, an academic and social worker from Delhi, said the BJP was indulging in “nonsensical” talk. “You can’t bend history to your will. Whether you like them or hate them, you can’t erase the Mughals. The BJP should focus on jobs and real problems rather than this kind of divisive rhetoric,” she said. NSB
Bangladesh: Rohingya fear crime surge amid food ration cuts (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [3/11/2025 12:53 PM, Araftul Islam, 126906K]
Shafika is one of the over 700,000 Rohingya people who fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2017 when Myanmar’s military launched a "clearance operation" in the country’s western Rakhine state.
The ethnic group faces discrimination and statelessness as they are denied citizenship and other rights in Myanmar.
Shafika ended up in overcrowded refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar district in southern Bangladesh, where over a million Rohingya are currently estimated to live.
The 38-year old refugee, together with six of her family members, lives in a hut in Kutupalong, one of the country’s oldest refugee camps.
Following a military coup in 2021, Myanmar has been engulfed in a civil war, which has pushed even more Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh.
The refugees depend on the food rations provided by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) for their survival.
But the WFP recently announced that there will be cuts to food rations supplied to Cox’s Bazar from April 1.
The agency cited funding shortfall for the decision, but did not elaborate on the reasons behind it.
"Without urgent new funding, monthly rations must be halved to $6 (€5.5) per person, down from $12.50 per person," the WFP said in a statement last week.
To sustain full rations, the organization said, it urgently requires $15 million for April and $81 million until the end of 2025.‘What will we eat?’
Shafika said the WFP’s announcement "felt like a heart attack" for the people living in the camps.
"How would we survive if they reduced rations, and what would we eat? We are not allowed to work outside," she told DW. "We get arrested, kidnapped, or even killed if we go out to work. We starve," she added.
Shafika fears that the law and order situation in the camps could deteriorate even further if the decision is not reversed. "Stealing and robbery could surge if they reduce rations. Our kids will be kidnapped for ransom. Where will we get money to free them?".
Mohammad Esha, another Rohingya refugee, echoed this view.
He also fears a surge in crime if the ration cuts come into effect.
"We want to work to survive. But the NGOs here don’t give us work. Our shops get demolished if we try to do business. We don’t have any other income sources, which keeps us solely dependent on the rations," Esha told DW.
US aid cuts behind food funding shortage?
Although the WFP didn’t explain the reasons behind the funding shortfall, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner (RRRC), believes US President Donald Trump’s decision to abruptly stop most foreign aid and dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) could have played a major role.
Shortly after he returned to the White House, Trump signed an executive order freezing US foreign assistance for a 90-day review, a move that has significantly hampered the global humanitarian sector.
"As far as I know, 80% of WFP funds come from the US. If the US were to withdraw the 90-day fund freezing decision imposed on January 20, then I think the warning issued by the WFP would not have been implemented," Rahman, who is responsible for managing Rohingya refugees, told DW.
The European Union, meanwhile, has announced that it will increase financial assistance to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
"The Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are the largest stateless population in the world. We thank Bangladesh for their solidarity in hosting them. The EU has increased humanitarian aid to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, in the broader region & for the Myanmar crisis," Hadja Lahbib, EU commissioner for preparedness and crisis management, tweeted during her visit to Bangladesh earlier this month.
Increased risk of hunger and malnutrition
However, Rahman pointed out that the EU increased its aid by only a few million US dollars, which he stressed is not enough.
The official warned that cuts to food rations will likely have a devastating effect on the vulnerable population.
"The food that refugees get now is not enough. They get around $0.13 per meal. It will just be halved if the WFP implements new ration cuts," Rahman explained, adding: "It’s not possible to eat anything with $0.07. It will impact their health and nutrition massively. They are already one of the most vulnerable communities in terms of malnutrition.".
Rahman urged the international community to keep supporting the Rohingya refugees.
John Quinley, director of Fortify Rights, urged the Trump administration to urgently change course and allow USAID to operate.
"The US funding cuts will create regional insecurity. The Rohingya may be pushed into trying to flee to Thailand and Malaysia, and we could see an increase in the use of trafficking networks which are taking advantage of vulnerable refugees," he told DW. Central Asia
Kazakhstan Aims to Increase Oil Exports via BTC Pipeline (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [3/11/2025 2:58 PM, Catherine Putz, 2K]
Kazakhstan aims to further increase the volume of oil it exports through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, underscoring Astana’s continued efforts to diversify its routes amid the Central Asian region’s constrained geography.
Following a meeting in Astana this week with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu noted that the two sides were implementing prior agreements to supply Kazakh energy resources to global markets via Azerbaijan.
"Last year, 1.4 million tons of oil were exported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. In the future, it is planned to increase the volume of transit of Kazakhstani oil to 2.2 million tons per year," he said.
In November 2022, Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company, KazMunayGas (KMG), signed a five-year agreement with Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company, SOCAR, in which 1.5 million tons of Kazakh oil would be transferred via the BTC pipeline from Azerbaijan to Georgia and on to Turkiye.
At the time, then-Kazakh Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov indicated the country’s aims to increase its oil exports via alternative routes, with the Astana Times reporting that Kazakhstan planned "to increase oil supplies through Azerbaijan to 6-6.5 million tons.".
The agreement came as Kazakhstan looked to operationalize additional routes in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Writing in October 2022, Paolo Sorbello noted that oil producers in Kazakhstan recognized the risks of the war on pipelines running through Russia as well as the opportunities presented by European customers looking for alternative suppliers.
By April 2023, Kazakh oil was being shipped from Ceyhan, in Turkiye, across the Black Sea to the Petromidia refinery near the Romanian port of Constanta (the port of Midia, one of Constanta’s satellite ports, is used to supply the refinery). Petromidia is owned by KMG International, which acquired a 75 percent stake in the original operating company, Rompetrol, in 2007 and the final 25 percent in 2009. Petromidia is Romania’s only Black Sea coast refinery.
Bloomberg reported in March 2023 on Kazakh struggles to export enough crude oil via pipelines to meet European demands, given a drop in production in February 2023 amid unplanned maintenance work at the Tengiz field. Production volumes ebb and flow: in October 2024 maintenance work brought production levels down at the Kashagan field; in February 2025, however, Kazakhstan’s oil output hit a record high, in particular on the back of surging output at Tengiz.
There have also been more unique issues, such as the February 17 Ukrainian drone attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The CPC carries oil from Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk; it handles an estimated 80 percent of Kazakhstan’s exports. According to RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, Azattyq, in 2024, the CPC transported 63 million tons of oil – 53 million tons from Kazakhstan – most of which went on to Europe and the United States.
An expansion of volumes routed through the BTC pipeline won’t come anywhere close to lessening Kazakhstan’s dependence on the CPC, but serves to underscore the continued necessity of expanding Astana’s options wherever possible. The significant volume Kazakhstan would need to reroute to eliminate its dependence on Russian territory arguably requires a pipeline across the Caspian Sea.
In an August 2024 article, Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, argued that a "pipeline is the only economically viable way to move natural gas across the Caspian Sea.".
A full decade ago, in 2016, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan were discussing a trans-Caspian project, building on a decade of prior discussion. While the pipeline remains a dream, the motivations for such a project continue to accrue. Tajik President to Visit Kyrgyzstan, Sign Border Deal, Ahead of Momentous Trilateral Summit (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [3/11/2025 6:35 PM, Catherine Putz, 53K]
President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan is scheduled to make a state visit to the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, on March 12-13. Rahmon’s visit this week to Kyrgyzstan comes in the wake of the settling of a final border agreement between the two countries and ahead of an expected trilateral summit – with the Kyrgyz and Uzbek presidents – reportedly planned for March 31 in Khujand, Tajikistan.
Relations between the three Fergana Valley neighbors have undergone a tremendous transformation over the last few years. This transformation was enabled in part by new leadership in Uzbekistan following the 2016 death of Islam Karimov, who had notoriously bad relations with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan during much of his 30-year tenure as president. Current Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made deepening regional cooperation a primary goal. While a border deal signed by the two presidents in December 2022 triggered protests in Kyrgyzstan, and a crackdown on dissenters (which ultimately ended in acquittal), it did illustrate better relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, whose mutual border had once been mined by Karimov.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s border clashes in 2021 and 2022 brought the two countries as close to war as they could be, a precipice terrifying enough to inspire serious diplomatic efforts between them over the course of 2023 and 2024. They reached a final agreement in December 2024 on their shared border.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov is expected to sign the border deal into law alongside Rahmon during the latter’s visit this week.
In late February, as committees in the Kyrgyz parliament, the Zhogorku Kenesh, discussed and ultimately approved the agreements on delimitation and demarcation of the border with Tajikistan, the airing of certain details sparked some tensions. In particular, head of the State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev announced that the village of Dostuk in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region would be transferred to Tajikistan, with residents resettled to another village. A few days later, parliamentary deputy Sultanbay Ayzhigitov of the Yiman Nuru faction criticized parts of the deal. He was quickly expelled from his faction, and criticized in turn by Japarov, who said Ayzhigitov’s remarks were "sheer demagogy.".
Presumably, the agreements will be ratified by the respective full parliaments before presidential signatures.
"The border has been decided forever," Japarov said amid his commentary about Ayzhigitov’s comments. "That’s it, the point has been made, the interests of both sides have been taken into account.".
The deal between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan addresses a major obstacle to regional cooperation. While the practicalities of making the new border real on the ground will take time, and the Dostuk matter continues to generate some consternation, the border agreement opens an opportunity for a thaw in relations that have long been chilly between the two states. And it contributes to the wider project of enhancing regional cooperation.
Last month, Deputy Chairman of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers Edil Baisalov announced that the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan would meet for their first-ever trilateral summit on March 31. In remarks made at the 58th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Baisalov dubbed the upcoming meeting "an important step in strengthening regional cooperation.". Tajikistan gets high marks for accommodating refugees, IDPs – UNHCR (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [3/11/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Tajikistan is the most welcoming state in Central Asia for forced migrants, according to a just-released survey conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The UNHCR survey measured socio-economic conditions for forcibly displaced and stateless persons in 11 countries across the Asia and Pacific regions, including three in Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. UNHCR collected data from “household level” questionnaires circulated between late 2022 and last summer, covering individuals classified as refugees, internally displaced and stateless.
Tajikistan ranked the highest among all 11 countries surveyed in the areas of civil registration and secure property rights. According to the survey, every forced migrant in Tajikistan has obtained “legally recognized identity documents,” such as birth certificates, marriage certificates and government IDs. UNHCR did not report civil registration data for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Papua New Guinea had the lowest reported percentage of forced migrants possessing government-issued documents, 22 percent.“Tajikistan demonstrates strong performance in civil registration, with 100 percent of refugees holding documents recognized by national authorities as proof of identity and 84 percent of births among refugees being registered,” the survey states.
The Migration Data Portal shows Central Asian states in mid-2023 were hosting 21,814 registered refugees, 2,468 asylum seekers and 41,401 stateless persons. Virtually all those classified as refugees and about two-thirds of asylum seekers were originally from Afghanistan. Over two-thirds of those surveyed in Tajikistan by UNHCR reported enjoying “secure tenure rights to housing,” while “property rights for forcibly displaced people in most countries remains below a third.”
Tajikistan also offered the best access to healthcare among Central Asian states, with 94 percent of respondents confirming regular opportunities to receive health services. In Kyrgyzstan, 74 percent of those surveyed reported having regular access; in Kazakhstan, only 37 percent enjoyed access.
In all three Central Asian states, forced migrants grappled with economic hardship. Just 58 percent of forced migrants in Tajikistan reported having bank accounts; no numbers were reported for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, the survey showed unemployment rates for forced migrants in Kazakhstan at 36 percent, 16 percent in Kyrgyzstan and 17 percent in Tajikistan. “In addition to restrictions on the right to work, factors such as labor market dynamics and private sector competitiveness appear to adversely impact income generation opportunities for forcibly displaced populations,” according to the UNHCR survey. The ease with which forced migrants in Tajikistan can obtain official documentation “does not appear to translate into positive economic outcomes.”
Kazakhstan reported the best numbers for children of forced migrants when it comes to access to education, although the survey contained a seeming anomaly with 71 percent of eligible children reported to be attending primary school, while 100 percent were attending secondary school. Kyrgyzstan reported enrollment rates of 77 percent for primary and 87 percent for secondary school; Tajikistan lagged far behind with rates of 25 percent/primary and 22 percent/secondary.“Generally, the gross enrollment rate for primary school is higher than secondary school among the populations,” the UNHCR survey noted. The 100 percent rate for secondary school enrollment in Kazakhstan “may be attributed to adults seizing education opportunities to return to school.”
According to UNHCR, the survey results are intended to provide “evidence for enhanced advocacy and programming by exploring relationships between indicators within four thematic areas, covering legal status, social environment, basic needs and livelihoods.”
While refugee numbers have plummeted in Central Asia since reaching a peak in the early 2000s, a recently published UNHCR situation update for Afghanistan found that there were still 5.53 million Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in neighboring states, mainly Iran and Pakistan, as of mid-2024. In addition, 3.22 million Afghans were classified as internally displaced. Twitter
Afghanistan
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver[3/11/2025 10:41 PM, 32.3K followers, 15 retweets, 85 likes]
Quick update after the House passed a Continuing Resolution today.
1. It passed, which keeps the government open.
2. All support for SIVs was removed, late last night.
3. The report on Executive Order 14161 goes from the State Dept to the White House tomorrow. And then we wait.
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[3/11/2025 9:57 AM, 5.6K followers, 74 retweets, 203 likes]
After a month in Taliban prison, Wazir Khan has been released, according to his relatives. For three years, he defied the Taliban’s oppressive rule by educating both girls and boys in Kabul. He was arrested on February 24. I hope we see him speaking freely in the media soon.
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[3/11/2025 7:47 AM, 5.6K followers, 7 retweets, 16 likes]
Nine countries, including France, support the ICC prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant against Taliban leader Hebatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani. They condemn the Taliban’s systematic gender discrimination as unacceptable. #Afghanistan #HumanRights #Women #UN
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[3/11/2025 7:38 AM, 5.6K followers, 24 retweets, 39 likes]
Afghan human rights defenders in Pakistan face imminent deportation—a move that could cost them their lives. They fled Taliban torture and imprisonment, seeking safety. Sending them back means sending them to death. The world must act now to stop this!
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[3/11/2025 3:23 PM, 247.7K followers, 84 retweets, 170 likes]
Under the Taliban in Afghanistan, women are now banned from praying at mosques during the holy month of Ramadan. The ban has been enforced in Herat and Kandahar, with women forcibly expelled from mosques during Taraweeh prayers in Kandahar.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[3/11/2025 7:54 AM, 247.7K followers, 78 retweets, 225 likes]
Nine countries—Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and the UK—backed the ICC’s request for an arrest warrant against Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada for crimes against humanity. Where are the other countries?
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[3/11/2025 6:27 AM, 247.7K followers, 148 retweets, 347 likes]
Before the Taliban’s takeover, women made up about 27% of the public sector workforce in Afghanistan and contributed significantly in the private sector. Under the Taliban, women are banned from most jobs with many now forced to beg for food. https://x.com/i/status/1899406708390166619 Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[3/11/2025 5:26 AM, 6.7M followers, 702 retweets, 2.5K likes]
We strongly condemn Israel’s latest suspension of humanitarian aid, including food and medicines from entering Palestinian Territories and cutting off power supply that threatens to limit water supplies in the area. Such repressive measures during the holy month of Ramadan are highly condemnable as they endanger the lives of millions of innocent Palestinians including women and children.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/12/2025 12:31 PM, 3.1M followers, 9 retweets, 26 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has announced to build Daanish University of Applied and Emerging Sciences in Islamabad utilizing £190 million amount that was transferred from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for ensuring the smooth transfer of £190 million to the federal government account.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/11/2025 6:33 AM, 3.1M followers, 6 retweets, 16 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting regarding price control and provision of cheap essential commodities during Ramzan.
Anwaar ul Haq Kakar@anwaar_kakar
[3/11/2025 11:48 PM, 136.1K followers, 98 retweets, 418 likes]
The attack on Jaffer Express by foreign-funded BLA anarchists reflects the their intent to disrupt peace & stability in Balochistan. Pakistanis are united against such cowardly acts of terror, and our prayers are with the wounded and the families of the martyred. #Balochistan
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/11/2025 11:19 PM, 218.9K followers, 101 retweets, 418 likes]
Today’s BLA attack in Balochistan was abhorrent. Hard to imagine what’s gone through the minds of all the children held hostage by armed militants on a train stuck in a dark tunnel. Pakistan faces a multifaceted terrorist threat-BLA, TTP, ISK-and it lacks a strategy to curb it.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/11/2025 9:54 AM, 218.9K followers, 726 retweets, 2.2K likes]
In Pakistan, the Balochistan Liberation Army has seized an entire train with more than 400 people abroad. What an alarming development. I’m not aware of the BLA or any other group taking an entire train hostage in Pakistan previously. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/11/gunmen-hijack-train-in-pakistans-balochistan-take-hundreds-hostage
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[3/11/2025 4:46 PM, 621.7K followers, 1.1K retweets, 3.6K likes]
In Pakistan, Baloch Liberation Army hijacks a train full of army personnel and kills many of them - Asim Munir can’t protect his soldiers, how can he protect the country?
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[3/12/2025 12:57 AM, 247.7K followers, 9 retweets, 33 likes]
To end the ongoing bloodshed, the Pakistani military must withdraw from Balochistan. The Baloch have the right to live freely on their resource-rich land, which has long been exploited by the military. Balochistan belongs to the Baloch people, not Pakistan.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[3/11/2025 7:45 AM, 247.7K followers, 31 retweets, 110 likes]
The world must intervene to dismantle Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal for the sake of regional and global security. With the deteriorating security situation, Pakistan is no longer capable of securing these weapons of mass destruction.
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[3/11/2025 6:17 AM, 76.1K followers, 2 retweets, 14 likes]
Hours after denial of entry to a senior Pakistani diplomat and subsequent deportation by the US in Los Angeles, the US Chargé d’Affaires in Islamabad calls on Pakistan’s Foreign Minister @MIshaqDar50 where, "the two agreed to upscale and strengthen trade relations", among others
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[3/11/2025 3:02 AM, 96.6K followers, 378 retweets, 417 likes]
PAKISTAN: The disturbing pattern of arbitrary arrests, harassment and violence against the Ahmadiyya community is in violation of their right to freedom of religion and belief. In the past two weeks alone, more than 60 Ahmadis, including children, have been unlawfully arrested in Daska, Sargodha and Karachi cities in Punjab and Sindh provinces, while Ahmadiyya places of worship have been desecrated in Bahawalnagar and Gujranwala. The authorities have filed cases under section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code which bars the Ahmadiyya community from calling themselves Muslims or preaching their faith. Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to immediately release and drop charges against all Ahmadis detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief. Local authorities in Pakistan must provide adequate protection to Ahmadi places of worship and any officials engaged in harassment or destruction of Ahmadiyya property must be brought to justice. Denying the Ahmadis their right to freedom of religion and belief is in violation of Article 20 of Pakistan’s Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[3/11/2025 11:00 PM, 105.8M followers, 1K retweets, 6.2K likes]
Today, we pay homage to all those who participated in the historic Dandi March, a defining chapter in India’s freedom struggle. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, this March ignited a nationwide movement for self-reliance and independence. The courage, sacrifice and unwavering commitment to truth and non-violence of all those who took part in the Dandi March continues to inspire generations.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/12/2025 2:51 AM, 26.5M followers, 28 retweets, 190 likes]
President Droupadi Murmu graced the convocation ceremony of Panjab University at Chandigarh. The President urged policy makers to work more on university-industry linkage and future-readiness. She also advised students to develop positive mindset and advanced skill-set for facing the challenges in future.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/11/2025 10:17 AM, 26.5M followers, 168 retweets, 1K likes]
President Droupadi Murmu attended a civic reception hosted in her honour by the Government of Punjab at Mohali. The President said that the land of Punjab has given birth to extraordinary personalities who have contributed to the country and the world in many fields like social reform, education, science and technology, industry, sports, politics and social service. Punjab has also made a pioneering contribution in the development of Indian agriculture.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/11/2025 9:19 AM, 26.5M followers, 136 retweets, 792 likes]
President Droupadi Murmu graced the convocation ceremony of AIIMS, Bathinda. The President appealed to all stakeholders of AIIMS, Bathinda, to develop it as a regional centre of medical excellence through their research and medical service.
Richard Rossow@RichardRossow
[3/12/2025 3:41 AM, 30K followers, 2 likes]
India’s Ministry of Steel outlines key steps to counter impact of U.S. tariffs on steel & aluminum. Taxes on India’s suppliers, lower duties on raw materials, targeting gov’t procurement, PLI, more. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2110254
Richard Rossow@RichardRossow
[3/11/2025 11:39 AM, 30K followers, 4 retweets, 25 likes]
India crosses the 1m mark in its drive to put rooftop solar on 10m homes. Noting success in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2110283 NSB
Sabria Chowdhury Balland@sabriaballand
[3/11/2025 1:18 PM, 7.9K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Response from the #Bangladesh Army to India’s malicious disinformation campaign. @EconomicTimes & @IndiaToday have been spreading deceitful propaganda about disunity in the Bangladesh Army.
Sajeeb Wazed@sajeebwazed
[3/11/2025 2:14 PM, 475.2K followers, 40 retweets, 185 likes]
The so-called “Purbachal Plot Scam” is yet another desperate attempt by the unelected and unconstitutional #Yunus regime to distract people from the abysmal state of governance in #Bangladesh. Whenever the illegal #Yunus regime faces challenges at home due to their governance performance, their usual fallback is for #Yunus or one his aides to make up some outrageous allegation against my mother and my family members in foreign media. This time, when the country is reeling from a sharp rise in violent crimes such as rape, extortion, and robberies, the regime’s fallback provision is to charge six members of my family, including my mother and myself, with corruption involving the allocation of residential plots in the Purbachal Project. I can unequivocally state that no corruption was involved in the allotment of plots of land in the Purbachal Project. The processes complied with all relevant laws and rules. This is simply another attempt by the #Yunus regime to drag the names of my family members through mud. To date they have provided absolutely no evidence against us. They only keep making allegations. For this purpose, the regime has used the Anti Corruption Commission, reconstituted by them in December 2024 with BNP-minded people. The new ACC Chairman, Dr. Mohammad Abdul Momen, was appointed on BNP’s recommendation since he was the private secretary of Khaleda Zia. It should be noted that Chairman Momen was made an OSD and then sent into forced retirement by the Awami League Government for corruption allegations during his tenure as Biman MD and CEO. Thus, no credible investigations can be expected from such a compromised and biased official.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[3/11/2025 4:23 AM, 55.5K followers, 26 retweets, 30 likes]
Today, #FOSIM launched its new “How to … Series” training under the Skills Development & Enhancement Programme. The first session: “Engage with Media” was brought by Senior Under Secretary, Mr Hassan Hussain Shihab, providing valuable insights on effective media engagement.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[3/11/2025 10:23 AM, 146.3K followers, 3 retweets, 47 likes]
Three new Justices to the Court of Appeal - W.K.S.U. Premachandra, K. Priyantha Fernando and A. Premashankar took their oath before me at the Presidential Secretariat today (11). Strengthening our judiciary is key to upholding justice and the rule of law.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[3/11/2025 4:02 AM, 146.3K followers, 5 retweets, 79 likes] At COYLE’s 26th Anniversary, I reaffirmed our government’s commitment to securing a strong global presence for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs. With strategic reforms, investor-friendly policies and economic stability, we are unlocking international markets for sustainable growth.
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal
[3/11/2025 10:13 AM, 436.8K followers, 14 retweets, 86 likes]
A female doctor on duty at Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital was brutally attacked and raped—a horrifying crime that demands immediate justice. Just days ago, there were strong statements about ensuring women’s safety and protecting their rights. But what good are words when women aren’t even safe at their workplaces? This is exactly what happens when a government fuels hatred and division for political and personal gain, creating a society where lawlessness prevails. This culture of impunity must end. The person responsible for this horrific crime must be brought to justice, and real action must be taken to protect every woman in Sri Lanka. Right now, the reality doesn’t match the promises.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[3/11/2025 6:37 AM, 8K followers, 8 retweets, 69 likes]
Shocked and deeply disturbed by the horrific incident reported at the Anuradhapura hospital. This is not just an isolated crime, it is a stark reminder of the urgent need to ensure the safety of women in workplaces, public spaces, and even within their own homes. Rather than engaging in blame games, it is time for meaningful action. We must put in place robust mechanisms that protect women, hold perpetrators accountable, and create an environment where women feel safe and empowered. Respect and dignity for women should not be ideals we aspire to, it must be the foundation of our society. Until we truly foster a culture of respect, justice, and equality, we have a long way to go. While we continue to advocate for women’s safety, we must be mindful and decent enough to respect the privacy of the victims. Central Asia
UNODC in Central Asia@UNODC_ROCA
[3/11/2025 6:16 PM, 2.5K followers, 2 retweets, 2 likes]
At #CND68, the Regional Youth Network for Central Asia showcased its efforts in drug use and crime prevention - empowering peers, advocating with governments, and driving change. With its current 3,400 members, the Network continues to grow and inspire!
MFA Kazakhstan@MFA_KZ
[3/12/2025 3:32 AM, 57K followers, 1 like]
On Telephone Conversation between the Kazakh Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State{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.