epubdos : Afghanistan
SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO:
SCA & Staff
DATE:
Monday, March 17, 2025 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
Life of British man, 79, imprisoned by Taliban is in serious danger, say family (The Guardian)
The Guardian [3/16/2025 1:04 PM, Matthew Weaver, 78938K]
The life of a 79-year-old British man imprisoned along with his wife by the Taliban is in serious danger, his family have warned.

Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.

Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, said her father’s health had "significantly deteriorated" after the couple were separated and moved to a high-security prison.

"We hear he now has a chest infection, a double eye infection and serious digestive issues due to poor nutrition," she said.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Entwistle said: "Without immediate access to necessary medication, his life is in serious danger." He requires pills for his heart after he had a mini-stroke before he was detained.

Entwistle said the family had been told that Reynolds was in immense pain after being "beaten and shackled".

In a direct plea to her parents’ captors, she added: "Our desperate appeal to the Taliban is that they release them to their home, where they have the medication he needs to survive.

"We believe this request should be viewed not merely as a plea, but as a unique opportunity to demonstrate an unforgettable act of kindness that will resonate around the world.".

The couple’s business, Rebuild, has run projects in schools in Afghanistan for 18 years and continued after the Taliban regained power in 2021. Barbie previously became the first woman to receive a certificate of appreciation from the Taliban.

The pair were arrested on 1 February with an American-Chinese friend, Faye Hall, who had rented a plane to travel with them, and a translator from Rebuild.

The reason for their detention remains unclear. Entwistle suspects it was because they were teaching mothers with children.

The previous Taliban regime, before it was toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001, had accused the couple of teaching against Islam, but this case was dropped. The family said their parents respected Taliban rule and had adapted to the imposition of strict Islamic laws.

A Rebuild employee said last month the detained group was told their flight "did not coordinate with the local government", adding that the three foreign nationals had been imprisoned in Kabul.

Hopes were raised in late February that the couple would be released.

In a statement reported by the BBC, the Taliban official Abdul Mateen Qani said: "A series of considerations is being taken into account and, after evaluation, we will endeavour to release them as soon as possible.".

He added that the three foreign nationals had Afghan passports and national ID cards.

Qani’s statement drew a cautious welcome from Entwistle, who told the Times: "It’s the first thing we’ve heard from the Taliban, so it’s really positive, but he’s really not saying very much. We know they were investigating to see if they were teaching anything against Islam, so that was a relief to us as we knew they wouldn’t be.".

She added: "Next thing we heard, the investigation was because they’re teaching parenting skills to mothers over the age of 30, with their children. Apparently, that was now against the law, but none of the influential people in that village [Bamiyan] thought it was a problem.".

The couple, who originally met at the University of Bath, married in Kabul in 1970 after travelling there as part of an academic placement scheme. They became Afghan citizens after returning to the country 30 years later to set up Rebuild.

The couple’s family initially did not want the UK government to get involved with the case.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan.".
Every Two Hours A Woman Dies During Childbirth In Afghanistan (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [3/15/2025 4:14 PM, Farangis Najibullah, Mustafa Sarwar, and Abdul Hamid Hakimi, 235K]
Every two hours. That’s how often a woman dies during childbirth in Afghanistan.

The staggering maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. And under the repressive rule of the Taliban, the situation is only getting worse.

Among the victims was a young woman who died during childbirth in her village in the northwestern province of Badghis in December.

"Both my sister and her unborn child died," said Fereshta, the woman’s sister. "There are no midwives or any health centers in our area."

Fereshta did not name her sister, who she said was in her 20s and had three young children.

In Afghanistan, at least 638 mothers died for every 100,000 births, according to the UN figures for 2024. The real number could be even higher as some cases go unreported, especially in remote areas.

The UN said many of the deaths were due to preventable pregnancy complications exacerbated by severe shortages in qualified birth attendants and an under resourced health-care system.

Rising Maternal Deaths

The maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan was 1,346 for every 100,000 births in 2000, during the Taliban’s first stint in power. The ratio dropped to 629 in 2020 due to generous international support and development aid.

But since the Taliban regained power in 2021, the number of deaths during childbirth has increased again.

The public health-care system in Afghanistan, which was largely funded by foreign aid for nearly two decades, has been in freefall since the Taliban seized power and international donors immediately cut financial funding.

While some foreign aid organizations continue to operate in Afghanistan, many of them have been forced to curb their work as international funding diminishes.

In a major blow, the United States, the largest foreign donor, paused its humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in January.

The UN estimates that the absence of the US aid in Afghanistan could result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths between 2025 and 2028.

Exacerbating the situation, the Taliban has banned women from attending university and severely restricted their job opportunities, including in the health sector.

In December, the hard-line Islamist group banned women from attending medical institutes that offered classes in midwifery, nursing, dental hygiene, and laboratory science.

Tom Fletcher, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said the ban is set to prevent more than 36,000 midwives and 2,800 female nurses from joining the country’s health sector in the foreseeable future.

Taliban ‘Does Not Care About Women’s Health’

A midwife at Kabul, who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said the Taliban "does not care about women’s health, as if this issue does not exist."

The woman, who has worked in state hospitals for more than two decades, said women’s lack of access to information about maternal health is also an ongoing issue.

The high maternity rate in Afghanistan, she said, "is not only about a lack of access to a clinic or a midwife during childbirth."

"Expectant mothers should be under constant monitoring of clinics from the early stages of pregnancy," she added. "But in many cases in Afghanistan, even in big cities, pregnant women come to hospital only when they have some major health issue or only to give birth."
Author says ban on her book reflects Taliban’s repression of women (VOA)
VOA [3/14/2025 2:59 PM, Roshan Noorzai and Noshaba Ashna, 2913K]
When Naveeda Khoshbo published her book of political analysis in 2019, she received widespread praise and recognition.

For many, "it was the first time that they were reading a book written by a young woman," she said.

So, when she received a text message from a friend and fellow journalist in November 2024, telling her the Taliban had banned her book, she was shocked.

Khoshbo, 33, said she can’t figure out why the book, "Siyasi Jaj" or "Political Analysis," was banned, saying "it did not address any sensitive topics."

Published by the Peace Publish Center in Kabul, her book covers political events and processes from 2001 to 2019.

But last year it was included in a list circulated on social media of more than 400 books banned by the Taliban.

The list covers a range of topics: democracy, the arts, literature, poetry, history, religion, governance, rights and freedoms.

The Taliban’s deputy minister for the Ministry of Information and Culture, Zia-ul Haq Haqmal, told media his department had identified 400 books deemed "against Afghanistan’s national interest and Islamic values."

‘Hostility is directed at women’

Khoshbo believes her book also was banned because it was written by a woman. She is now based in London.

"I believe their hostility is directed at women, and for them, the books written by women are the first to be targeted, regardless of their content," she said.

About a dozen titles in the book ban are by women, or they were translated by women. Other titles include the book by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, "I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education."

The Taliban, who seized power in August 2021, have imposed strict measures against women in Afghanistan, barring them from education, work, long-distance travel and participating in public life.

Afghan writer Nazeer Ahmad Sahaar told VOA the Taliban jettison anything they see as contrary to their ideology.

"Anything that is against the Taliban’s political and religious beliefs and narrative is banned under the Taliban," said Sahaar.

The author has written more than a dozen books. One of those, "Waziristan: The Last Stand" is also on the list of banned publications.

Sahaar sees the book ban as part of a larger crackdown on "women, the press and freedom of expression."

Sahaar said the ban on books, though, is of little surprise.

"It was evident that they would impose restrictions in many areas," he said.

Alongside the book ban and restrictions imposed on women, the Taliban return has led to restrictions on freedom of expression.

Media outlets work under rules that are not always clear about what can and cannot be covered, and in some cases must submit coverage for review before publication.

The Taliban also imposed restrictions on printing books.

An owner of a printing press in the eastern province of Nangarhar, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told VOA that the provincial Directorate of Information and Culture instructed publishers not to print anything without prior permission.

"In a meeting with publishers, the Taliban officials said that ‘if you are publishing any book, you must first obtain permission from the directorate,’" said the business owner.

The owner said that businesses are struggling under the Taliban, but there is an increased demand for books, particularly ones that are banned.

"The Taliban’s restrictions have sparked social and cultural resistance," he said, with people seeking ways to oppose the limitations, including by reading prohibited books.

‘It reflects the fear’

Abdul Ghafoor Lewal, an Afghan writer and former diplomat, told VOA the Taliban’s actions reveal fear of any opposition.

"It reflects the fear authoritarian regimes have of freedom of expression, books and knowledge," said Lewal.

Khoshbo said the Taliban’s ban would not stop her and other women from writing and participating in social and political life.

"The Taliban can’t suppress our voices by "banning books," said Khoshbo, but "women can’t be erased from society and politics."
Pakistan
Pakistan’s army accuses India of sponsoring terror after 26 hostages were killed in a train attack (AP)
AP [3/14/2025 1:00 PM, Munir Ahmed and Abdul Sattar, 44838K]
Pakistan’s military accused neighboring India on Friday of sponsoring insurgents in the restive southwest as more survivors recounted their ordeal from the unprecedented attack by armed separatists this week that killed 26 passengers aboard a hijacked train.

The scope of the attack in Balochestan province underscored the struggles that Pakistan faces in efforts to reign in militant groups as attacks across the country escalated in recent years.

Accusing India and neighboring Afghanistan has been Islamabad’s go-to strategy in the past. No evidence was offered for the latest accusation, which New Delhi promptly rejected.

In the attack Tuesday, members of the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army ambushed a train in a remote area, took about 400 people onboard hostage and triggered a firefight with security forces. The standoff lasted until late Wednesday, when the army said 33 hijackers were killed.

Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province. Ethnic Baloch residents have long accused the central government of discrimination — a charge Islamabad denies.

International condemnation

The attack has drawn condemnation from the international community, including the United States, China, Turkey, Iran and Britain. On Friday, the members of the U.N. Security Council “condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” on the train in Balochistan.

“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice,” the council said in a statement.

The military points at India

At a news conference in Islamabad, army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said Friday that “in this terrorist incident in Balochistan, and others before, the main sponsor is your eastern neighbor,” referring to India.

He offered no proof. It was the first time the BLA — which has been fighting for more autonomy if not outright independence and a greater share of the province’s resources — had hijacked a train, although it had attacked trains before.

Some assailants escaped, and a search operation was underway to find them, Sharif said. When asked by a reporter, Sharif said most of the fatalities on the train were security forces protecting the passengers and troops traveling to their home cities.

Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister of Balochistan, told reporters that Pakistan has “solid evidence” of India’s involvement in attacks but didn’t share any specifics.

Sharif added that an Indian naval officer arrested in 2016 and convicted of espionage in Pakistan had worked for Indian intelligence to help the Baloch separatists and other militant groups. The officer, identified as Kulbhushan Jadhav, has been sentenced to death. Sharif did not link him to the train attack.

Pakistan and India are nuclear-armed rivals with a history of bitter relations. They have fought three wars since they gained independence in 1947 from colonial power Britain.

“We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan,” India’s foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry claimed the train attack was orchestrated from Afghanistan. Kabul denied the accusation and said that the BLA has no presence in Afghanistan.

Still, Sharif claimed the train attackers had been in contact with handlers in Afghanistan and that they had weapons originating from both India and Afghanistan.

Dealing with the aftermath

Pakistan has suspended all train services to and from Balochistan since Tuesday’s attack. Sharif Ullah, a railway official, said repairs on the tracks, which were blown up by insurgents to stop the train, have not yet started.

Survivors have recounted their harrowing ordeal during the 36-hour hijacking.

Muhammad Farooq, a resident of Quetta, described how BLA stopped the train and ordered passengers to disembark.

“They checked identity cards and started killing people who worked for the armed forces,” Farooq said. Many passengers, he said, fled successfully while the hijackers were exchanging fire with Pakistani troops.

Mohammad Tanveer, who was traveling from Quetta, Balochistan’s provincial capital, to the eastern city of Lahore, said he was wounded but managed to escape the hijackers. The attackers were looking for members of the military and security forces, and started killing them in small groups, one after another, he said.

College student Nair Husnain said he saw the militants go through the train, asking people to stand up and tying their hands before shooting them several times. They first killed soldiers, then minority Shiites and Punjabis. Balochs were spared.

Husnain, who also made his escape while the hijackers were exchanging fire with Pakistani security forces as they laid siege to the train, recounted how a mother traveling with three sons — all soldiers — had to watch as they were shot and killed.

“Those scenes are still before my eyes,” he said.
Death toll in Pakistan’s train hijacking rises to 31, army says (Reuters)
Reuters [3/14/2025 10:10 PM, Asif Shahzad, 5.2M]
The death toll from a militant hijacking of a train in Pakistan’s southwestern mountains has risen to 31 soldiers, staff and civilians, the military said on Friday as it accused India and Afghanistan of backing the insurgents.

The separatist Baloch Liberation Army, which claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, released a statement saying its fighters had escaped with 214 hostages and since executed all of them, without giving any evidence to back that up.

Militants took over the Jaffar Express in a remote mountain pass in Balochistan province, blowing up train tracks in the attack then holding passengers hostage in a day-long standoff.
Army spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said soldiers killed 33 of the insurgents, rescued 354 hostages and brought the siege to a close. He added there was nothing to suggest the BLA had taken other hostages from the scene.

A final count showed 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers had died in the attack and rescue mission, Chaudhry said, up from a previous estimate of 25 casualties.

He added that Pakistan had evidence that India and Afghanistan had backed the insurgents, echoing accusations made by the foreign ministry after the attack. Both countries have denied the accusation.

The separatist group released a statement in response to the army, saying it had killed all the hostages in its custody. Pakistani officials have accused the group of making exaggerated claims in the past.

"This battle is not over yet but has intensified," the BLA said in its statement.

The BLA is the largest and strongest of several ethnic Baloch insurgent groups which have been fighting for decades to win independence for the mineral-rich province, home to major China-led projects including a port and gold and copper mines.
Suicide car bomber hits buses carrying security forces, killing 7 in southwestern Pakistan (AP)
AP [3/16/2025 1:25 PM, Staff, 44838K]
A suicide car bomber targeted a convoy of buses carrying security forces in restive southwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least five officers and two civilians, the military and police said.

Ten people were also wounded in the attack in Naushki, a district in Balochistan, said Zafar Zamanani, a local police chief. The dead and wounded, some of whom in critical condition, were transported to a hospital.

Authorities said separatist rebels opened fire on the buses after the car bombing.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.

A military statement said “sanitization operations in the area would continue and perpetrators of this henious and cowardly act will be brought to justice.”

Last week, rebels attacked a train and took about 400 people hostage. Twenty-six died before security forces launched an operation that killed all the 33 attackers.

Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister of Balochistan, said security forces returned fire on Sunday and killed at least four of the attackers.

Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province. Ethnic Baloch residents have long accused the central government of discrimination, a charge Islamabad denies. The Baloch Liberation Army has been demanding independence from the central government.
At least 11 dead after separate security operations against militants in restive northwest Pakistan (AP)
AP [3/15/2025 1:07 PM, Staff, 44838K]
Pakistan’s security forces raided two militant hideouts in the country’s restive northwest on Saturday, triggering gun battles that left at least two soldiers and nine militants dead, the military said in a statement.

The raids were conducted in the Mohmand and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

According to local police officials, the insurgents were Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.

The outlawed TTP is a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of a withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.

Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.

In a separate incident on Saturday, insurgents ambushed security forces in the northwestern Kurram district of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, local police said. However, authorities have yet to confirm any troop casualties.

Pakistan’s military is currently engaged in an ongoing operation in Kurram, an area that has witnessed years of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities. Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between heavily armed factions, exacerbating tensions in the region.

Since November, Kurram has remained isolated after authorities blocked key roads following sectarian violence. The closure has led to severe shortages of medicine and food, further deepening the humanitarian crisis.

Also on Saturday, a bomb exploded outside a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing cleric Mufti Shakir, local police said. It was unclear who was behind the attack and an investigation is continuing.
A Chinese shipyard completes a second submarine for ally Pakistan (AP)
AP [3/16/2025 6:10 AM, Staff, 44838K]
A Chinese shipyard has completed a second submarine for the Pakistan navy, further strengthening military ties between the two countries.

The diesel-electric Hangor class craft was launched on Thursday at China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s shipworks in the central city of Wuhan on the Yangtze River, Chinese state media reported Sunday.

Pakistan contracted to buy eight of the submarines, the final four of which are to be built by the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works in the Pakistani port city of the same name.

The Hangor class is believed to be an export version of China’s 039A submarine, with a crew of 38 plus eight spaces for special forces troops and equipped with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles.

Pakistan has used submarines in the past to confront India as part of their land wars over disputed territory in the north. Prohibitions on dual military and civilian use of technology by European nations that make diesel submarines has left China Pakistan’s best option for modern military equipment.

According to a Swedish military think tank, China has accounted for more than 81% of Pakistan’s weapons imports over the past five years. Joint venture projects include the Hangor as well as the JF-17 fighter jet.

Meanwhile, China and India have agreed to work toward a solution to their long-running border dispute in the Himalayas after a military standoff that flared with a deadly clash in 2020 but dates back decades.
Swallowed by the sea, Pakistan’s Indus delta now threatened by canals (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [3/17/2025 12:27 AM, Manesh Kumar, 18.2M]
On a sunny afternoon at Dando Jetty, a small fishing village in Pakistan’s sprawling Indus Delta, a boat is being unloaded and another is about to leave for the Arabian Sea.

The melodious voice of Sindhi folk singer Fouzia Soomro rises from a loudspeaker playing on a nearby parked boat.

About 130km (81 miles) from Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi, Dando Jetty sits on the bank of Khobar Creek, one of the two surviving creeks of the Indus River in Thatta, a coastal district in the eastern Sindh province.

“There should be freshwater in this creek, flowing into the sea,” Zahid Sakani tells Al Jazeera as he embarks on a boat to visit his ancestral village, Haji Qadir Bux Sakani, in Kharo Chan, a sub-district of Thatta, three hours away. “Instead, it’s seawater.”

Six years ago, Sakani, 45, used to be a farmer. But his land, along with the rest of Haji Qadir Bux Sakani village, was swallowed by the sea, forcing him to migrate to Baghan, 15km (nine miles) from Dando Jetty, and turn to tailoring for survival.

Now, the Kharo Chan port wears a deserted look – no human beings in sight, stray dogs roam freely, and abandoned boats outnumber those that are still in service. Sakani sometimes goes to Kharo Chan to visit the graves of his father and other ancestors.

“We cultivated 200 acres [81 hectares] of land and raised livestock here,” said Sakani as he stood at the port. “But all were lost to the sea.”

Kharo Chan was once a prosperous area comprising of 42 “dehs” (villages), of which only three now exist. The rest were submerged into the sea, forcing thousands of people to migrate to other villages or Karachi city.

According to the government census, Kharo Chan’s population shrunk from 26,000 in 1988 to 11,403 in 2023.

It was not only Kharo Chan that met this fate. In the past decade, dozens of villages in the Indus Delta have disappeared, swallowed by the advancing sea.

New canal projects

And now, a new threat has emerged in an already fragile ecosystem.

As part of a so-called Green Pakistan Initiative, the Pakistan government is seeking $6bn investment from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain over the next three to five years for corporate farming, aiming to cultivate 1.5 million acres (600,000 hectares) of barren land, and mechanise the existing 50 million acres (20 million hectares) of agricultural land across the country.

The project aims to irrigate a total of 4.8 million acres (1.9 million hectares) of barren land by constructing six canals – two each in Sindh, Balochistan, and Punjab provinces. Five of those canals will be on the Indus, while the sixth will be constructed along the Sutlej River to irrigate the Cholistan Desert in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province.

According to the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, a World Bank-brokered water distribution agreement between India and Pakistan, the waters of the Sutlej primarily belong to India. It is one of the five rivers that originate in India and fall into the Indus in Pakistan. Along with the Sutlej, the waters of the Ravi and Beas Rivers also belong to India under the treaty, while the waters of the Chenab and Jhelum, apart from Indus itself are Pakistan’s.

However, the Sutlej does bring water to Pakistan during the monsoons in India, with Cholistan historically reliant on rainfall for irrigation.

“They will divert water from Indus to Sutlej through Chenab and then to Cholistan canal,” said Obhayo Khushuk, a former irrigation engineer. “You cannot build a new irrigation system depending on [monsoon] floodwater.”

Meanwhile, corporate farming has already begun in Cholistan under the Green Pakistan Initiative, with the authorities approving 4,121 cusecs of water to irrigate 0.6 million acres (24,000 hectares) of land in the Cholistan Desert – an area larger than Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city.

Mohammad Ehsan Leghari, Sindh’s representative in the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), a regulatory body established in 1992 to oversee the allocation of water to Pakistan’s four provinces, strongly opposed the move.

“From 1999 to 2024, not a single year has passed without water shortage in Pakistan, with Sindh and Balochistan provinces facing up to 50 percent water scarcity during the summer. In this situation, where will the water for the proposed canal system come from?” he asked.

In a letter to the Council of Common Interest (CCI), a constitutional body authorised to resolve issues between the federal government and provinces, the Sindh government also criticised the project, saying that IRSA had no right to issue certificates of water availability. CCI is headed by the prime minister, with the chief ministers of the four provinces and three federal ministers as its members.

Sindh’s Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro warned the Cholistan canal would “turn Sindh barren”. However, federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the Sindh government’s objections were “baseless” as new canals would not affect its share of water.

But Hassan Abbas, an Islamabad-based independent water and environment consultant, calls the Cholistan canal an “unscientific” project. According to him, building a canal system needs even and steady land, not sand dunes as present in Cholistan.

“Water does not know how to climb a sand dune,” Abbas said.

The delta’s destruction

The mighty Indus River has been flowing for thousands of years and once cradled one of the earliest known human civilisations spread across modern Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

But as the British colonised the subcontinent two centuries ago, they also engineered the river, building dams and diverting its course. After independence in 1947, the same colonial policies were followed by successive governments, as more barrages, dams and canals led to the destruction of the Indus Delta – the fifth largest in the world.

“A delta is made up of sand, silt and water. The process of the destruction of the Indus Delta began back in 1850 when the Britishers established a canal network. Every canal built in Pakistan, India or China since contributed to the destruction of the Indus Delta,” Abbas told Al Jazeera. The Indus originates from the Chinese-controlled Tibet region, where China has built a dam on the river.

According to a 2019 study by the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water, the Indus Delta was spread over 13,900 square kilometres (5,367sq miles) in 1833, but shrunk to just 1,067sq km (412sq miles) in 2018 – a 92 percent decline in its original area.

“A delta is like an open hand and its creeks are its fingers that fall into the sea,” Sakani said. “The space between those fingers is home to millions of people, animals and other creatures, but it is rapidly shrinking.”

As more and more land got degraded, residents were forced to migrate upstream. But not everyone could afford to move. Those who remained in the Delta switched from farming to other professions, mainly fishing.

Sidique Katiar, 55, a resident of Haji Yousif Katiar village near Dando Jetty, became a fisherman some 15 years ago.

“I remember there used to be only a few boats in our village. Now, every household has boats [and] the number of fisherfolk is growing day by day,” he told Al Jazeera.

Loss of livelihood

At Sanhiri Creek along the Arabian Sea, a seven-hour boat journey from Dando Jetty, about a dozen makeshift huts are inhabited by the so-called “fishing labourers”.

Nathi Mallah, 50, a resident of Joho village in Thatta’s Keti Bandar area, is one of them. She shoves a small iron rod into a jar of salt and then inserts it into the sandy ground. She waits briefly before pulling the rod back, quickly grabbing a small aquatic creature locally known as “maroarri” (razor shell in English), because of its long, narrow and rectangular shape, resembling an old-fashioned razor.

Mallah works with her husband and six children to catch “maroarri”, which the fisherfolks say is only exported to China. None of Mallah’s children go to school as the family works for 10-12 hours a day for a local contractor, who provides them some salt and drinking water.

Marroarri sells for 42 Pakistani rupees (15 US cents) a kilo and each member of the Mallah family collects about 8-10kg daily, earning them enough to survive. Nathi entered the business some five years ago when their fishing profession in Joho went into losses.

Muhammad Sadique Mallah, Nathi’s husband, says increasing land degradation pushed people to switch from farming to fishing. “There are more fishermen on the sea than there used to be in my youth,” the 55-year-old told Al Jazeera.

A 2019 report by the World Bank says catches of fish dwindled from 5,000 tonnes a year in 1951 to a meagre 300 tonnes now due to the Indus Delta’s degradation, forcing Pakistan to face a loss of $2bn annually.

“There was a time when our men would go to the sea and return in 10 days,” said Nathi. “Now they don’t come back even after a month.”

No water for crops

Allah Bux Kalmati, 60, lives in Dando Jetty where he cultivates tomato, chilli, some vegetables, and betel leaves. He says freshwater is only available during the two months of the monsoon season.

But Kalmati’s betel-leaf garden needs water every two weeks. “It has now been a month and there is no water for the plants,” he says.

According to the Water Apportionment Accord (WAA) of 1991, an agreement between Pakistan’s four provinces on sharing water, at least 10 million acre feet (MAF) of water has to be discharged annually down the Kotri Barrage, the last diversion on Indus, for the downstream deltaic ecosystem.

In 1991, the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation for Nature, however, recommended a release of 27MAF annually – a goal that could never be materialised. Moreover, IRSA data showed that water flow was less than 10MAF during 12 of the past 25 years because officials diverted it elsewhere before it reached the sea.

“Ten MAF water is not enough for Indus Delta. It received 180 to 200MAF water annually before the canal system and it requires the same amount of water to survive,” said researcher Abbas as he attributed the water shortage to dams and barrages.

“We have 10 percent more water than the last century. But building canal after canal has diverted the flow of water, resulting in waterlogging upstream and sedimentation in the dams,” he said.

Mahmood Nawaz Shah, president of a growers’ association in Sindh, said Pakistan’s irrigation system has become “old and outdated”. “Our average grain production stands at 130 grams per cubic metre while it is 390 grams in neighbouring India,” he said.

Shah explained that instead of expanding the irrigation system, Pakistan needs to fix the existing water network and better manage the resource. “Pakistan utilises 90 percent of its water in agriculture, while the world’s usage is 75 percent maximum,” he said, citing an International Water Management Institute study.

“There are areas where canals are available but water doesn’t reach when required. Take for example the Indus Delta. You don’t have water for the existing cultivable lands. Pakistan should learn how to save water and increase its production.”

Back at Dando Jetty, Sakani has just returned after visiting his ancestral village in Kharo Chan. Before heading home, he wanted to buy some fresh fish at Dando, but no boat had arrived from the sea that day.

“There was a time when we would distribute palla [hilsa herring] among the beggars,” he said. “But now, we can’t get fish at this place.”

Meanwhile, the high tide makes Khobar Creek look like the sea, now only 7-8km (4-5 miles) from Baghan, Sakani’s new hometown.

“The sea was 14-15km [8-9 miles] away when we shifted here from Kharo Chan,” he told Al Jazeera. “If there is no freshwater left downstream, the sea will continue to erode the land and, in the next 15 years, Baghan, too, will perish. We will have to move again to another place.

“More canals and impediments to Indus River would completely block the flow of water into the sea. It will be the final nail in the coffin of the Indus Delta.”
Pakistan’s Economy Is Back. But So Is Terrorism (Bloomberg – opinion)
Bloomberg [3/16/2025 6:30 PM, Mihir Sharma, 5.5M]
The Pakistani state’s control over its western borderland has never been absolute. Last week, the horrific hijacking of a train by Baloch separatists showed that what little authority it had is fraying. Four soldiers died retaking the Jaffar Express; 21 of the hundreds of hostages had already been killed by the militants, some of whom may have been in the military as well.

Sparsely populated Balochistan has long resented Islamabad’s rule. But separatist activity has intensified in recent years, particularly after Pakistan invited Chinese companies to develop Gwadar port and exploit local minerals. One such organization, the Baloch Liberation Army, claimed this attack.

Pakistan’s military — which, rather than the civilian government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, retains control over national security — was quick to blame the Afghan Taliban government in Kabul for allowing the BLA to operate from its soil. Relations between the two countries are at a familiar low.

Certainly, the establishment is no longer gloating that the extremists it supported managed to outlast the US military. The Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Kabul has emboldened its fellow travelers. The Pakistani Taliban killed 558 people in 2024, almost twice as many as in the previous year. Baloch separatists murdered more than 500, up from 116 in 2023.

The resurgence of terrorism in Pakistan’s wild west has complicated Sharif’s already difficult job. He wants to focus on steering the country away from economic crisis, but issues from Afghan relations to Baloch discontent demand his government’s attention. These are problems that need political solutions.

The disconnect between the grim drumbeat of terror attacks on the country’s margins and the positive economic news from its heartland is startling.

Inflation is running at 1.5%, down from almost 40% in just two years. Investors in the Karachi stock market were given a world-beating 84% return last year, and expect about 40% this year. The government looks stable enough now that foreign investors have returned to buying its short-term debt. As the soldiers finished their grim task in Balochistan last week, Moody’s was announcing that it had changed its outlook on the banking system from stable to positive.

Much of this is thanks to the civilian government’s work raising revenue and managing public debt. Privatization efforts and new taxes mean that revenue may increase enough for the International Monetary Fund to keep running its $7 billion loan program. And China has promised to roll over its $2 billion loan book as well.

New success stories are emerging out of the country, as well. It’s now one of the largest markets for solar panels in the world; just the amount it bought in 2024 would be enough to raise installed electricity capacity in the country by a third.

But Sharif’s work at staving off crisis, particularly by stabilizing the current account deficit, clearly hasn’t pleased everyone. Economic gains are always at risk if you don’t come to some accommodation with your rivals, political or geopolitical.

The jailed opposition leader Imran Khan, for example, directly targeted the economy when he asked his supporters abroad to stop sending money home. Without workers’ remittances, Pakistan wouldn’t have the foreign exchange it needs for imports, particularly of energy. Fortunately, Khan’s irresponsible gambit failed, with remittances growing 29.3% in 2024. But he has more than enough supporters to paralyze the nation’s streets whenever he gives the order.

The Pakistani Taliban feels similarly to Khan about the return of economic stability, and has turned to threatening firms linked to the military. Given the military’s presence in business, you could read that as a threat against the country’s entire economic infrastructure.

Pakistan’s nascent economic revival could be swiftly jeopardized if terror and insecurity spread from the country’s tribal borderlands to its urban centers. That has happened in the past, and it is a very real danger again today.

The compact at the heart of the current Pakistani dispensation is simple: The elected government repairs the economy, while the military keeps the country calm. It is clear now that this is an unstable bargain. As one Pakistani newspaper put it: “While there is a visible security angle to the Balochistan crisis, at its heart it is a political problem, which needs a political solution.”

That’s true not just of Balochistan, but of all the other destabilizing factors in Pakistan — from relations with Kabul and Beijing to the anger of Khan’s supporters. Pakistan can’t be governed if politicians focus only on the economy while allowing all its other problems, even knotty ones like federalism and foreign relations, to be dealt with purely as “security” issues by the army.

The military, too, must recognize that they will lose credibility when they fail to manage security — and failure is guaranteed without some form of political outreach to the various discontented factions. They have to allow the politicians to take some risks and show some independent leadership. Sharif has done well to steady Pakistan’s economy. It’s time for him to become a prime minister, not just a glorified finance minister.
India
Modi Praises Ties With Trump That Are Now Being Tested by Tariff Threats (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [3/16/2025 9:59 PM, Jon Herskovitz, 16228K]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lavished praise on Donald Trump as a man of courage, underscoring strong personal bonds now being tested by the US president’s tariff plans, which also include the South Asian nation.

Modi said he gets along well with Trump because they both put their nations first. He made the comments in a rare interview on the Lex Fridman Podcast released over the weekend that come as India becomes a prime target for reciprocal US tariffs from April 2.

“His reflection showed his America First spirit, just as I believe in nation first,” Modi said. “I stand for India first and that’s why we connect so well.”

Modi has been making concessions to appease Trump. India has lowered some of its levies on American goods and officials in New Delhi have been discussing reducing duties for a range of other products including automobiles, some agricultural products and chemicals, Bloomberg has reported.

Modi was one of the first world leaders to meet Trump after he returned to the White House. Modi’s trip in February followed years of deepening ties between the US and India, which Washington has been cultivating as a regional counterweight against a more assertive China.

During Modi’s latest US visit, the two sides agreed to negotiate the first tranche of a multi-sector trade deal by the fall of this year. Trade between the two countries grew to $127 billion in 2023, making the US India’s largest trading partner and putting pressure on New Delhi to strike a deal.

The Indian leader said Trump took him aside for a personal trip around the White House when Modi visited for the first time. He also appreciated how Trump in his first term joined the Indian leader at a “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston 2019 to walk around the stadium and wave to the crowd.

“It showed me that this man had courage,” he said.

Modi said Trump is better positioned to lead in his second term and commended the government efficiency campaign lead by billionaire Elon Musk.

“I have observed President Trump both during his first term and now in his second run,” Modi said. “This time, he seems far more prepared than before. He has a clear roadmap in his mind with well-defined steps, each one designed to lead him toward his goals.”
India’s Modi says Trump has ‘clear roadmap’ in second term (Reuters)
Reuters [3/17/2025 12:40 AM, Tanvi Mehta, 5.2M]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said U.S. President Donald Trump was ‘far more prepared’ for his second term, furnished with a clear roadmap, speaking in a podcast interview weeks ahead of reciprocal tariffs planned by Washington.

India is among the trading partners set to face the tariffs from April, which threaten to cause distress to its exporters in industries from automobiles to agriculture.

After Modi and Trump met last month, the two nations agreed to resolve tariff rows and work on the first segment of a deal by the fall of 2025, aiming to reach two-way trade of $500 billion by 2030.

"This time, he seems far more prepared than before," Modi said in a podcast with American computer scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman released on Sunday, referring to Trump’s second term, which began in January.

"He has a clear roadmap in his mind with well-defined steps, each one designed to lead him toward his goals," he added.

During the discussion, which ran more than three hours, Modi spoke on issues from diplomacy and artificial intelligence to his early life, in a conversation Fridman called one of the most "powerful" of his life.

Modi praised Trump for his graciousness and humility, underscoring a strong bond between the leaders.

"His (Trump’s) reflection showed his ‘America First’ spirit, just as I believe in nation first. I stand for India first, and that’s why we connect so well," Modi said.

INDIA’S NEIGHBOURS

India’s relations with neighbour China improved last year after striking a milestone pact to lower military tension on their Himalayan border following talks between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia.

"Slowly but surely, trust, enthusiasm, and energy will return," Modi said during the podcast, as the two countries work to restore relations to their state before a military border skirmish in 2020.

"But of course, it will take some time, since there’s been a five-year gap," he said, adding that the focus of the two nations was to ensure their differences "do not turn into disputes".

On ties with archfoe Pakistan, Modi expressed hope for peaceful relations.

"Every noble attempt at fostering peace was met with hostility and betrayal," he said, adding, "we sincerely hope that wisdom prevails upon them and they choose the path of peace."

The foreign ministries of China and Pakistan did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Businesses are pivoting away from China — but few wind up in India (Washington Post)
Washington Post [3/16/2025 2:00 AM, Karishma Mehrotra, 31735K]
When companies began shifting their global supply chains away from China, India declared it was ready to become the world’s factory. But the moment hasn’t arrived.

A decade ago, India positioned itself as the prime destination for companies looking to diversify their manufacturing base, known as the China Plus One strategy. Now it is grappling with a sobering reality: Smaller countries such as Vietnam have been much more successful at attracting foreign investment.

Bureaucratic red tape, restrictive import policies and unpredictable regulations have prevented global companies from fully committing to India, according to interviews with more than two dozen business executives, government officials and diplomats. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive economic matters.

“Things are becoming better, but let’s face it,” said a former Indian ambassador. “We aren’t Vietnam.”

Often obscured by the flashy messaging of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s signature “Make in India” campaign is a more complicated story — one of missed deals, stalled investments and companies quietly choosing to go elsewhere.

Several Taiwanese semiconductor firms conducted site visits in India but ultimately opted out. Samsung said in 2018 that India would be home to its largest factory in Asia, but the company continues to invest more heavily in Vietnam. Even Apple, India’s most high-profile success story, has faced obstacles that have slowed its planned pivot away from China.

“We feel we have a big market and we feel that we deserve these brands,” said Faisal Kawoosa, an Indian market analyst. “But everybody competes. And Vietnam is doing that extra bit.”

A tale of two countries — and two companies

As manufacturers began to rethink their dependency on China, two industry giants took divergent paths. South Korea’s Samsung — which began making televisions in India in the 1990s — doubled down on Vietnam for its next phase of expansion. Apple, meanwhile, turned its attention to India.

Today, the majority of Samsung’s smartphones are produced in Vietnam. The company has six factories there and investments surpassing $23 billion, allowing it to shut down its Chinese manufacturing operations.

Apple, by contrast, still makes the majority of its devices in China. Only 15 percent are produced in India, well short of the company’s goal of 25 percent by 2024, according to a person close to Apple.

“In Apple’s world, a 15 percent shift is not a lot,” the person said. “It’s not a pace they like.”

Apple and Samsung declined to comment for this story.

Restrictions on component imports — namely from China — and the quality of production have led to “friction and frustration” for the company’s global manufacturing leadership, the person said. Worker strikes have also served as a strong “reality check.”

“It’s the kind of attention that Apple doesn’t enjoy,” the person close to the company said, referring to the 2021 protests at an iPhone assembly plant in Tamil Nadu run by Foxconn — Apple’s main manufacturing partner — where 2,000 female workers blocked a highway after reports of mass food poisoning at company-run hostels.

Foxconn did not respond to a request for comment.

There have been at least three worker strikes since September at Samsung’s Tamil Nadu facility, where it produces home appliances. Labor unrest is comparatively rare in Vietnam, a tightly controlled authoritarian state.

“Vietnam has a strong central policy-setting and long-term planning, which provides more certainty for business,” said a global markets director whose company has experience in both countries.

India’s sprawling democracy and decentralized governance leads to “inconsistency,” the markets director said. “It is the antithesis of what businesses are looking for.”

Vietnam’s close ties to China give it an edge over India, analysts say, and make it a natural next stop for companies looking to pivot. India, by contrast, severely curtailed Chinese investment following clashes along the countries’ shared border in 2020.

Vietnam’s electronics industry is now worth $126 billion, more than triple the size of India’s — a country 10 times larger and 14 times as populous.

The disparity is borne out by trade figures. Vietnam is now America’s sixth-largest trading partner, ascending from 15th in 2014. India remains stuck in 10th place. A Goldman Sachs report this year found that India’s exports to the United States are among the lowest of any emerging economy.

India’s uphill battle

The urgency for India is mounting amid a slowdown in its economic momentum. The country is in the midst of an acute employment crisis, unable to create enough jobs for the 14 million people entering the workforce each year.

Lagging foreign investment in manufacturing — the kind of labor-intensive industry India needs to develop — is central to the problem.

Even some government assessments acknowledge the reality: “India has seen limited success so far in capturing the China Plus One strategy,” a December report by the state policy planning body concluded. It noted that Southeast Asian nations have drawn more investment, thanks to lower labor costs, streamlined regulations and favorable tax policies.

“The government is aware that we are not the only game in town,” said S. Krishnan, the secretary of India’s technology ministry.

A 2023 parliamentary report found that India had “not been able to create a positive impression amongst the businesses moving away from China.”

“Our disadvantage really is largely policy,” said Arvind Panagariya, chairman of India’s Finance Commission, in a December speech reported by the Indian Express. “We have made land incredibly expensive [and] employment of labor incredibly difficult.”

Missed opportunities

The Indian government has repeatedly urged Taiwanese semiconductor companies to set up shop in Gujarat — Modi’s home state — but most of those efforts have faltered.

“Due to tariffs, India has failed to attract more Taiwanese investment,” said a senior official with knowledge of the efforts. A lot of companies “came to India for surveys during the pandemic and decided not to come back because it’s not profitable.”

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) ruled out plans for a joint venture company with India’s Tata Group after assessing the risk, opting instead to sell its technology and assist in factory construction with the Indian conglomerate, the senior official said. A $19.5 billion semiconductor partnership between Foxconn and Indian conglomerate Vedanta collapsed in 2023.

Vedanta and PSMC did not respond to a request for comment.

Companies have “stars in their eyes” looking at India’s market but then begin to calculate the “frictional cost of doing business in India,” said the global markets director.

The hesitation isn’t limited to the production of semiconductors. Out of every 10 Japanese companies that inquire about India, only one commits, according to Kenji Sugino, secretary general of Japan’s Chamber of Commerce in India. Only about 10 Japanese companies in total have managed to shift their operations from China to India, Sugino added.

Those that do come often struggle. Japanese auto companies complain of high import duties on friction-free tires. Nippon Steel endured significant losses after Indian customs blocked key shipments for months because of regulatory issues.

For multinationals looking to India, history offers no shortage of cautionary tales.

Pharmaceutical giant Daiichi Sankyo suffered a costly exit from the country in 2013 after American authorities found the Indian company it acquired had falsified data and sold banned exports to the United States, according to an Indian executive with knowledge of the situation.

General Motors, meanwhile, spent at least four years beginning in 2020 trying to sell its Indian factory, hindered by rules requiring the new buyer to retain its workforce, a person familiar with the incident said.

The Indian government is considering fresh incentives to lure foreign companies, including subsidies for component manufacturing. It is also hoping to seal a trade deal with the Trump administration, which would be likely to reduce India’s tariffs and make manufacturing in the country more attractive.

“The world needs a trustworthy partner that can create high-quality products and has a reliable supply,” Modi said this month. “I want us to fulfill the world’s expectations.”
Nary a Critical Word: Bill Gates’s Close Bond With Narendra Modi (New York Times)
New York Times [3/17/2025 1:30 AM, Anupreeta Das, 831K]
In September 2019, Bill Gates presented Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India with an award on behalf of his philanthropic organization, the Gates Foundation, for the Indian leader’s work on improving sanitation.

An uproar followed.

Three Nobel Peace Prize laureates wrote to Mr. Gates, arguing that Mr. Modi, who was given the award on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, did not deserve the recognition because democratic and human rights had eroded under his rule. “This is particularly troubling to us, as the stated mission of your foundation is to preserve life and fight inequity,” the laureates wrote.

The outrage did little to deter Mr. Gates and Mr. Modi, who have developed an unusually warm and high-profile relationship in the past decade.

They have met several times, and Mr. Gates has been nothing but complimentary of Mr. Modi. Last year, just before a national election, Mr. Gates sat down with the prime minister for an extended televised exchange that Mr. Modi used to burnish his image as a tech-savvy leader.

The relationship between Mr. Gates and Mr. Modi, according to observers, former foundation employees and critics, yields benefits for both men. Mr. Gates is set to visit India in the coming week, his third visit in three years, and will meet with government leaders and others to discuss India’s innovations and progress.

“This trip will give me a chance to see what’s working, what’s changing and what’s next — for India and the foundation,” Mr. Gates wrote on GatesNotes, his personal blog.

India is central to Mr. Gates’s philanthropic work, which makes it essential for the Gates Foundation to stay on the good side of a government that has cracked down on organizations backed by foreign donors. With the vast number of Indians in dire poverty, global development goals cannot be met without progress in India.

The Gates Foundation’s continued access to India has become all the more important as President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization and gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development. The W.H.O., which supports a range of public health programs in India, is facing budget cuts after the United States’ exit. The Gates Foundation, a behemoth in global public health and development, is among the top donors to the W.H.O.

For Mr. Modi, an endorsement from Mr. Gates — the very face of the computer age to many Indians — is a way to connect the Gates technological legacy to the digital economy championed by the Modi government, a pillar of its “Developed India” policy.

Mr. Modi’s desire to harness technology for growth personally resonated with Mr. Gates, given his deep belief in the power of innovation for progress, according to posts he has written on GatesNotes and two former employees with direct insight into the foundation’s activities in India. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing professional relationships.

Representatives of the Gates Foundation and Gates Ventures, the philanthropist’s private office, did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs had no immediate comment.

Mr. Gates has ample company in embracing Mr. Modi, with political and business leaders across the West courting India as a rising geopolitical and economic power. In doing so, many have turned a blind eye to the Modi government’s assault on the country’s secular foundations, its demonization of India’s Muslim minority and its silencing of civil society.

Globally, the recognition from Mr. Gates brings attention to Mr. Modi for his development work rather than his Hindu nationalist politics. Domestically, the relationship has potential political benefits for Mr. Modi.

“The tech-driven sections of the Indian middle class, they grew up with Gates as this iconic figure,” said P. Sainath, an activist who is the founder and editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India, an independent digital media outlet. “Being in good with Bill Gates doesn’t hurt your image with those classes.”

Each Other’s Cheerleader

India’s ties with Mr. Gates and with Microsoft, the company he co-founded, run deep. Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, is from India. In January, Mr. Nadella announced plans to invest $3 billion in India, including in artificial intelligence, to help further Mr. Modi’s vision. Mr. Gates has visited India more than a dozen times over the decades, including as Microsoft’s chief executive.

The Seattle-based Gates Foundation, which was started in 2000, opened its India office in 2003 and has invested more in the country than anywhere besides the United States. This year, the foundation’s board of trustees will meet in India as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.

The foundation has partnered with successive Indian governments, supporting public health initiatives, such as polio eradication. It also works closely with the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two populous and impoverished Indian states. Mr. Gates sat down with previous Indian prime ministers, including Mr. Modi’s predecessor, Manmohan Singh. But the conversations were typically focused narrowly on the foundation’s work in India.

Mr. Gates hit it off with Mr. Modi during their first meeting in 2014, talking for twice as long as scheduled, according to a GatesNotes post. He said he was impressed with Mr. Modi because of their shared focus on public health, in particular sanitation. Toilets were “high on the agenda, along with vaccines, bank accounts and health clinics.”

Open defecation and waste management remain huge challenges in India, a country of 1.4 billion people. Mr. Modi’s government launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), and by 2019, it claimed to have built more than 100 million toilets. That was the work for which the foundation gave him the award, drawing a backlash.

When Mr. Gates traveled to India in 2023, he said his sit-down with Mr. Modi was the “highlight” of his visit and commended him on the country’s digital payments system. “The country is showing what’s possible when we invest in innovation,” he wrote on GatesNotes.

Several people with knowledge of the foundation’s affairs said some employees were unnerved by Mr. Gates’s embrace of Mr. Modi, arguing that the foundation could have pursued its goals and aligned with the government’s objectives without Mr. Gates’s becoming a cheerleader for the prime minister.

Mr. Modi has also heaped praise on Mr. Gates, saying that his government valued the foundation’s expertise and its data- and evidence-driven approach. In 2020, when they met virtually during the pandemic, Mr. Modi encouraged the foundation to “take the lead” in analyzing health care and education changes needed in a post-Covid world.

Last March, three weeks before an election in which Mr. Modi was seeking a third term, he invited Mr. Gates to his official residence for a chat about the country’s progress in using technology to improve the lives of Indians.

The government had planned to air the entire meeting on national television, which reaches more than 650 million people. But the Election Commission told the public broadcaster that doing so would give Mr. Modi’s party an unfair advantage, according to a report in The Economic Times, an Indian newspaper. In the end, only parts of Mr. Modi’s chat with Mr. Gates was aired on television, although it was streamed in full on the website of Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

A spokesman for the Election Commission said he did not have information about the event. Rajiv Kumar, the chief election commissioner at the time, did not respond to requests for comment.

Tight Grip on Foreign Donors

India has long relied on foreign donors to meet its goals. Organizations like Amnesty International, Rotary International, the Red Cross, Oxfam, U.S.A.I.D. and Greenpeace, as well as various United Nations bodies and private groups like the Ford, Rockefeller and Gates Foundations, provided funding to a thriving local community of nongovernmental organizations or worked alongside them.

But as the Modi government grew increasingly intolerant of any criticism or challenge, including from overseas, Indian laws that regulate the flow of foreign donor funds into domestic nonprofits grew more stringent and were applied more frequently.

A year after Mr. Modi became prime minister in 2014, the government launched a crackdown on foreign organizations, starting with Greenpeace. Many began to scale back their activities or take steps to ensure that their agendas were aligned with the government’s goals.

In 2017, the Indian government accused the Public Health Foundation of India, one of the country’s largest nonprofit groups, of misusing funds and revoked a license allowing it to receive foreign contributions. The Gates Foundation was a big donor to the organization. The health nonprofit regained its license in 2021.

The Gates Foundation has made it clear that its role is to help the Indian government meet its objectives by offering expertise in priority areas like ensuring access to financial services for the poor, female-led development, public health and climate change.

The foundation hewed closely to that message after the controversy over the award it presented to Mr. Modi.

At the time, the foundation said its award was narrowly focused on sanitation goals.

Not long after, Mr. Gates met with Mr. Modi in India. According to a government news release at the time, Mr. Gates reinforced his foundation’s commitment to supporting the goals of the Indian government.
How a Columbia Student Fled to Canada After ICE Came Looking for Her (New York Times)
New York Times [3/15/2025 4:14 PM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Hamed Aleaziz, 831K]
The first knock at the door came eight days ago, on a Friday morning.

Three federal immigration agents showed up at a Columbia University apartment searching for Ranjani Srinivasan, who had recently learned her student visa had been revoked. Ms. Srinivasan, an international student from India, did not open the door.

She was not home when the agents showed up again the next night, just hours before a former Columbia student living in campus housing, Mahmoud Khalil, was detained, roiling the university. Ms. Srinivasan packed a few belongings, left her cat behind with a friend and jumped on a flight to Canada at LaGuardia Airport.

When the agents returned a third time, this past Thursday night, and entered her apartment with a judicial warrant, she was gone.

“The atmosphere seemed so volatile and dangerous,” Ms. Srinivasan, 37, said on Friday in an interview with The New York Times, her first public remarks since leaving. “So I just made a quick decision.”

Ms. Srinivasan, a Fulbright recipient who was pursuing a doctoral degree in urban planning, was caught in the dragnet of President Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators through the use of federal immigration powers. She is one of a handful of noncitizens that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has targeted at Columbia in recent days.

In the week since that first knock at the door, Ms. Srinivasan says she has struggled to understand why the State Department abruptly revoked her student visa without explanation, leading Columbia to withdraw her enrollment from the university because her legal status had been terminated.

On Friday, while considering her future in Canada, she received some answers.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement that characterized Ms. Srinivasan as a terrorist sympathizer and accused her of advocating violence and being “involved in activities supporting Hamas, a terrorist organization.” The department did not provide any evidence for its allegations.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, posted surveillance footage on social media that showed Ms. Srinivasan lugging a suitcase at LaGuardia as she fled to Canada. Secretary Noem celebrated Ms. Srinivasan’s departure as a “self-deportation.”

“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America,” Secretary Noem wrote on X. “When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country.”

Ms. Srinivasan’s lawyers have vehemently denied those allegations and have accused the Trump administration of revoking her visa for engaging in “protected political speech,” saying she was denied “any meaningful form of due process” to challenge the visa revocation.

“Secretary Noem’s tweet is not only factually wrong but fundamentally un-American,” Naz Ahmad, one of Ms. Srinivasan’s lawyers, said in a statement, adding: “For at least a week, D.H.S. has made clear its intent to punish her for her speech, and they have failed in their efforts.”

In response to questions, officials with the Homeland Security Department said that when Ms. Srinivasan renewed her visa last year, she failed to disclose two court summonses related to protests on Columbia’s campus. The department did not say how the summonses made her a terrorist sympathizer.

“I’m fearful that even the most low-level political speech or just doing what we all do — like shout into the abyss that is social media — can turn into this dystopian nightmare where somebody is calling you a terrorist sympathizer and making you, literally, fear for your life and your safety,” Ms. Srinivasan said in the interview on Friday.

Ms. Srinivasan’s current situation can be traced back to last year, when she was arrested at an entrance to Columbia’s campus the same day that pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Hamilton Hall, a university building. She said she had not been a part of the break-in but was returning to her apartment that evening after a picnic with friends, wading through a churning crowd of protesters and barricades on West 116th Street, when the police pushed her and arrested her.

She was briefly detained and received two summonses, one for obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic and another for refusing to disperse. Her case was quickly dismissed and did not result in a criminal record, according to her lawyers and court documents. Ms. Srinivasan said that she never faced disciplinary action from the university and was in good academic standing.

“She was taken in with roughly 100 other people after being blocked from returning to her apartment and getting stuck in the street,” said Nathan Yaffe, one of her lawyers. “The court recognized this when it dismissed her case as having no merit. Ranjani was just trying to walk home.”

Ms. Srinivasan said she did not disclose the summonses in the visa renewal form later in the year because her case had been dismissed in May and she did not have a conviction.

“Because I had not and the charges were dismissed, I sort of marked it as ‘no,’” she said. “But maybe that was my mistake. I would have been happy to disclose that, but just the way they had questioned us was sort of assuming that you had a conviction.”

The State Department has broad discretion to revoke student visas, which it typically does if someone overstays or the government discovers fraud; convictions and arrests can also lead to revocations. Immigration lawyers said it was highly unusual for ICE to descend on college campuses searching for students with recently revoked visas as the agency has the past few days at Columbia, rattling many students.

“It is more rare for the government to act the way it has, such as in the cases in Columbia University, where they’re going on campus and conducting an operation to apprehend somebody,” said Greg Chen, a lawyer at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The Trump administration’s targeting of students with visas at a university enveloped in a cultural firestorm opened a new front in the president’s attempts to ramp up deportations and tamp down pro-Palestinian views. The president canceled $400 million in grants to the university after accusing it of failing to protect Jewish students. The arrests and attempted detentions of the Columbia students has led to an uproar among Democrats and civil rights groups.

Jason Houser, a senior ICE official during the Biden administration, said that “criminalizing free speech through radicalized immigration enforcement is a direct attack on our democracy.”

Last week, ICE arrested Mr. Khalil, a green card holder who had become a leading face of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia. Mr. Trump hailed the arrest as “the first of many to come.” On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it had arrested Leqaa Kordia, who had been involved in the protests at Columbia. Federal officials said she had overstayed her visa and had previously been arrested at a Columbia protest in April.

Unlike Mr. Khalil, Ms. Srinivasan said she was not an activist or a member of any group that organized demonstrations on campus.

Ms. Srinivasan said she was an architect who came to the United States from India as part of the Fulbright program in 2016 and that she enrolled at Columbia in 2020. She said she was in the fifth year of an urban planning doctoral program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and was supposed to graduate in May.

She said that her activity on social media had been mostly limited to liking or sharing posts that highlighted “human rights violations” in the war in Gaza. And she said that she had signed several open letters related to the war, including one by architecture scholars that called for “Palestinian liberation.”

“I’m just surprised that I’m a person of interest,” she said. “I’m kind of a rando, like, absolute rando,” she said, using slang for random.

It was March 5 when she received an email from the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, India, indicating that her visa had been revoked. The notice did not provide a reason, saying only that “information has come to light” that may make her ineligible for a visa.

Confused, she emailed Columbia’s office for international students the following day seeking guidance. An official informed her that the revocation would take effect only if she left the country and that she could remain in the United States to pursue her studies for the time being, according to emails reviewed by The Times.

The next morning, on March 7, Ms. Srinivasan was on a call with an official from the international student office when the federal agents first knocked on the door of her apartment, which is off campus but operated by Columbia. The official told Ms. Srinivasan to call campus security, while her roommate engaged with the agents from behind the closed apartment door.

In an interview, her roommate said that the agents had initially identified themselves as “police,” declined to provide their badge numbers, saying they feared they would be doxxed, and stood to the side of the door so that they were not visible through the peep hole. The roommate, a fellow Columbia student who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for her safety, said that the building’s doorman, who is an immigrant, later told her that he had let the three agents into the building because he was frightened.

Ms. Srinivasan abandoned the apartment that night, so she was not there when officials returned the following evening. Her roommate once again refused to open the door to let them in and recorded audio of the interaction, which she shared with The Times.

“We were here yesterday,” one of the officials says, believing he was talking to Ms. Srinivasan because the roommate had not identified herself. “We’re here today. We’re here tonight. Tomorrow. You’re probably scared. If you are, I get it. The reality is, your visa was revoked. You are now amenable to removal proceedings.”

The official stressed that he and his colleagues were not trying to break the law, that she would have the right to go before an immigration judge and left a phone number for the Homeland Security Department that she could call if she had “a change of heart.”

“That’s the easiest and fastest way to do this, as opposed to you being in your apartment and us knocking on your door every day, which is just silly,” he said. “You’re a very smart person. It’s just not — it’s not worth it.”

The next day, Ms. Srinivasan received an email from Columbia saying that homeland security had alerted the university that her visa had been revoked and her legal status in the country had been terminated. Because she had to immediately leave the United States, the email said, her enrollment at Columbia had been withdrawn and she had to vacate student housing.

The email, signed by the university’s international student office, said that, in compliance with its legal obligations, Columbia was asking her to meet with the homeland security agents. The university declined to comment on Ms. Srinivasan’s case.

On Thursday night, three federal agents returned to Ms. Srinivasan’s apartment with a search warrant signed by a judge and went inside to search for her, according to her roommate and lawyers.

By then, Ms. Srinivasan was already in Canada.
India in Talks With New Zealand on Trade Deal as US Tariffs Loom (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [3/16/2025 7:03 AM, Malavika Kaur Makol, 5.5M]
India has started negotiations on a free trade deal with New Zealand as the countries seek to strengthen economic ties amid rising uncertainty in global trade.

India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal met Todd McClay, New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Investment on Sunday, according to a statement released by the Press Information Bureau. The negotiations aim to achieve better market access and enhanced supply chain integration.

India is among nations that face an increase in US tariffs from next month. President Donald Trump is set to impose blanket reciprocal tariffs on April 2 that will affect industries beyond steel and aluminum where duties were already hiked earlier this month.

New Zealand joins other nations in trying to hammer out free trade agreements with India. The EU and India aim to conclude a deal this year, while the UK and the South Asian nation tried to revive long-running trade negotiations earlier this year.
India and New Zealand relaunch free trade talks after a decade (BBC)
BBC [3/17/2025 3:36 AM, Neyaz Farooquee, 69.9M]
India and New Zealand have restarted free trade talks a decade after negotiations fell apart, as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon began his five-day tour of Delhi. He is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.

The two sides have agreed to begin the first round of negotiations next month.

The announcement is a "major breakthrough" in the economic relationship between the two countries, Luxon said.

"India holds significant potential for New Zealand and will play a pivotal role in doubling New Zealand’s exports by value over the next 10 years," Luxon said.

Bilateral trade between the two countries is valued at under $2bn (£1.55bn) currently.

Luxon is a keynote speaker at an ongoing geopolitical conference in Delhi, which will also be attended by the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.

"India is an important power in the Indo-Pacific and I will discuss with Prime Minister Modi what more we can do together to maintain peace and prosperity in our region," Luxon said after his arrival in India.

Besides trade, New Zealand said it was deepening its engagement with India across areas such as defence, security, sports and environment, adding that economic ties with Delhi were a "key priority".

Luxon is reportedly being accompanied by one of the largest delegations a prime minister has ever travelled with, underscoring the importance of the visit.

Trade negotiations between the two countries had initially begun in 2010 but stalled after several rounds over issues such as market access.

New Zealand has sought greater access to India’s dairy market, which India has traditionally protected to support its farmers.

After years of scepticism over free trade, India has recently become more open to negotiating bilateral deals with other countries.

The announcement to restart trade talks with New Zealand comes close on the heels of Delhi relaunching free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Last year, Delhi signed a $100bn free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association - a group of four European countries that are not members of the European Union - after almost 16 years of negotiations.

India and Australia also signed a major trade cooperation deal two years ago.

Last week India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal had "cautioned" an Indian exports organisation "to come out of their protectionist mindset" as the country tried to negotiate trade agreements.

For Delhi, these trade talks have assumed renewed significance on the back of US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on imported goods from countries, including India. These are due to come into effect on 2 April.
India watches warily as Bangladesh-Pakistan ties thaw (BBC)
BBC [3/16/2025 8:09 PM, Anbarasan Ethirajan, 52868K]
The dramatic political developments in Bangladesh that led to prime minister Sheikh Hasina being ousted last year have thrown up many surprises - including Dhaka’s growing closeness with one-time foe Pakistan.

Last month, after decades of troubled relations, the two countries began directly trading for the first time, with Dhaka importing 50,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan. Direct flights and military contacts have also been revived, visa procedures have been simplified, and there are reports of co-operation on security matters.

The countries - separated by the landmass of India - have deep, painful historical ties. The animosity between them goes back to 1971, when Bangladesh - then known as East Pakistan - launched a struggle to gain independence from Islamabad. India supported the Bengali rebels during the nine-month war which led to the formation of Bangladesh.

While the scars from that period run deep, Dhaka had cordial relations with Islamabad between 2001 and 2006, when a coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami governed the country.

This changed during Hasina’s 15-year rule from 2009 - when she was strongly backed by Delhi and maintained a distance from Pakistan. But after she fled to India following mass protests against her government, ties seem to be thawing.

"For the past 15 years, the Pakistan-Bangladesh relationship was on a slightly difficult trajectory," says Humayun Kabir, a former senior Bangladeshi diplomat, adding that the relationship seems to now be returning to that of "two normal neighbours".

The developments are being watched closely, particularly in India, which has a long history of hostile relations with Pakistan.

Relations between Dhaka and Delhi have been frosty since Hasina’s exit. India has not reacted to Bangladesh’s demands to extradite her to face charges of crimes against humanity, money laundering and corruption. Hasina denies the accusations against her.

Some experts think the reviving of relations between Dhaka and Islamabad is a strategic move.

"Pakistan and Bangladesh have a tactical relationship at the moment. Together, they want to represent a pushback against the dominance of India," says Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani academic who is a senior fellow at King’s College in London.

There have been other developments apart from starting direct trade.

Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim Bangladesh government, met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at multilateral forums several times in recent months.

And then there is a growing military relationship.

A high-level Bangladeshi military delegation made a rare visit to Pakistan in January and held talks with influential army chief General Asim Munir. The Bangladeshi navy also participated in a multinational maritime exercise organised by Pakistan off the Karachi coast in February.

Veena Sikri, who was India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh between 2003 and 2006, describes the growing closeness between Dhaka and Islamabad as a "déjà vu" moment.

During her tenure in Dhaka, she said, India repeatedly raised the issue of "Indian insurgents getting trained inside Bangladesh with the support of the ISI [Pakistan’s intelligence agency] and a section of the Bangladeshi military".

"We even provided evidence to Bangladeshi authorities," she said.

Authorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh denied these allegations at the time.

The long, porous border between India and Bangladesh makes it relatively easy for armed insurgent groups from India’s north-eastern states to cross over from Bangladesh. But, after Hasina’s Awami League came to power in 2009, it cracked down on these groups and dismantled their bases.

So the revival of military ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan is "a major security concern for India", says Ms Sikri.

"It’s not just the military relationship. The Pakistani establishment is also reviving ties with Bangladeshi Islamist parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami, which supported Islamabad during Bangladesh’s independence war," she adds.

The Yunus administration’s press office has flatly rejected Indian media reports that senior ISI officials have visited Dhaka. It has also described reports that claim Pakistani operatives were working to reopen a camp of an Indian insurgent group in Bangladesh as "baseless".

Pakistan’s military did not respond to BBC questions on India’s concerns over the future role of the ISI in Bangladesh.

Analysts say Bangladeshi politicians are aware that, given the close economic and linguistic ties, Dhaka cannot afford to take an anti-India stance.

And despite apprehensions in Delhi, Bangladeshi diplomats argue that ties with Pakistan cannot be normalised unless issues related to the 1971 war are resolved.

During the war, hundreds of thousands of Bengalis were killed and tens of thousands of women were raped. The war ended with more than 90,000 Pakistani security and civilian personnel surrendering to the joint command of Indian and Bangladeshi forces in what is seen as a humiliating chapter in Islamabad.

Bangladesh has demanded a formal apology from Pakistan for the atrocities committed during the war but Islamabad has shown no inclination to do so.

"Pakistan needs to own the crimes that had taken place during the independence war," said Mr Kabir, the former Bangladeshi diplomat. "We had also raised the issue of the division of pre-1971 assets between the two nations in several bilateral meetings with Pakistan.".

Even former Pakistani military officers like Ikram Sehgal accept that "the main stumbling block in bilateral ties is the requirement of the Bangladeshis that Pakistanis should apologise for what happened in 1971".

However, the retired Pakistan army major insists that Bangladesh should also address the issue of attacks by Bengalis on Urdu speakers during the struggle for independence.

"I was a witness to the atrocities that took place against the Urdu-speaking Bihari people [in East Pakistan]," Mr Sehgal, who now lives in Karachi, told the BBC.

While history casts a shadow over ties between Dhaka and Islamabad, economists point out the two countries can first focus on improving bilateral trade, which currently stands at less than $700m (£540m), mostly in favour of Pakistan.

"Pakistan’s more than 250 million population is a solid market for Bangladesh in the medium to long term," says Sabrin Beg, an associate professor of economics at the University of Delaware.

Currently, there are constraints including high tariffs on both sides and businesses and exporters face visa and travel obstacles, she points out. However, Ms Beg says "improved bilateral political and trade relations will ease these constraints".

Some of these issues may be discussed during Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to Dhaka in April. By the end of the year Bangladesh is expected to hold general elections and a new government may have a different set of foreign policy priorities.

But, whatever happens, the stakes are high for Delhi, which strongly feels that a stable and friendly Bangladesh is necessary to maintain peace and stability in its north-eastern states.
Why is India quietly boosting ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban? (Nikkei Asia – opinion)
Nikkei Asia [3/14/2025 8:05 AM, Derek Grossman, 52868K]
The Taliban’s reconquest of Afghanistan following the U.S. military’s withdrawal in August 2021 generated serious strategic concerns for India. No longer would New Delhi have a friendly Afghan government in place. Nor would it benefit from having U.S. troops on the ground to serve as a bulwark against instability and terrorism, especially against groups seeking India harm, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). And now, India’s top rivals -- China and Pakistan -- are trying to fill the power vacuum, with potentially significant economic and security consequences.

It is for these reasons that India is taking no chances. Indeed, New Delhi has been quietly reestablishing and elevating ties with the Taliban, not only to ensure they remain a strategic partner rather than adversary but also to incentivize cooperation with India over China and Pakistan. Although India closed its embassy in Kabul immediately after the Afghan national government fell to the Taliban in August 2021, India sent a "technical team" there in June 2022 to reestablish its diplomatic presence. The team was tasked with facilitating the distribution of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, which helped New Delhi build goodwill and trust with the Taliban shortly following the political transition.

Then, in November 2024, India obliged the Taliban’s request to allow an envoy into the country. According to reports, the Taliban appointed a post-doctoral student of international law from New Delhi’s South Asia University, Ikramuddin Kamil, as their unofficial or "acting" diplomatic representative in the Afghan Consulate in Mumbai.

This decision seemingly paved the way for a major diplomatic engagement that moved beyond previous low-level and indirect interactions at regional fora and in other venues. In January, India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, and the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met to discuss bilateral relations, marking the first time the two sides have met at such a high level. Clearly pleased by the outcome, the Taliban later said: "In line with Afghanistan’s balanced and economy-focused foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate aims to strengthen political and economic ties with India as a significant regional and economic partner."

Most recently, India is rumored to have agreed to a new Taliban request last month. The Taliban will send an ambassador-level though unofficial envoy to the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi. The Taliban is yet to name the representative, but the announcement appears imminent. Although India is unlikely to become the first nation to diplomatically recognize Taliban-led Afghanistan, it is certainly inching closer and closer to that milestone.

Whether New Delhi has been successful in its low-key engagement with the Taliban is yet to be determined. On the terrorism challenge, the Taliban in 2022 were reportedly allowing LeT and JeM to return to Afghanistan, raising renewed fears in New Delhi that the country could once again become a training platform for anti-India terrorist groups. But at a minimum, JeM is probably operating there less today, and the same may be true of LeT. However, this seems more a function of deteriorating Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, which has prompted Islamabad to pull back its proxy forces, rather than India’s strengthening influence over Taliban decision-making.

It is also unclear whether India is making significant strategic headway against China. The early answer is probably not.

For example, although it does not diplomatically recognize the Taliban, China nonetheless has also welcomed a Taliban envoy to Beijing -- but in this case, labelling him an official representative. And senior Chinese officials had engaged with Taliban counterparts even before the U.S. military withdrawal (India did not). Hence, Beijing probably has the inside track on accessing critical minerals within Afghanistan and leveraging it as part of a regional strategy of economic and security cooperation in Central Asia.

By contrast, New Delhi’s Central Asia strategy has consistently been hamstrung by poor relations with Pakistan and stiff competition from China. If India continues to have less influence than China in Afghanistan, it will continue to struggle in engaging with neighboring Central Asian states.

None of this, however, should suggest that India’s approach has been inconsequential or wrong. Rather, New Delhi’s strategy makes good sense because it gives India a fighting chance to succeed with Afghanistan.

The alternative policy of shunning Afghanistan’s rulers would virtually ensure less Taliban concern about anti-India terrorism and allow Chinese and Pakistani influence to grow unchecked. A pivot completely in the other direction, whereby India might become the first state to diplomatically recognize the Taliban, would also be a mistake since it would compromise New Delhi’s democratic values and bestow a benefit on the Taliban that is unlikely to be reciprocated.

Thus, the best policy is to engage directly, but in a quiet and incremental way, which should offer India some benefits without the risk of major harm to its strategic position.
NSB
‘People Will Die’: Trump Aid Cuts Threaten Refugees’ Survival, U.N. Says (New York Times)
New York Times [3/16/2025 4:14 PM, Mujib Mashal, 831K]
More than a million people in the world’s largest refugee camp could soon be left with too little food for survival.

In the camp in Bangladesh, United Nations officials said, food rations are set to fall in April to about 18 pounds of rice, two pounds of lentils, a liter of cooking oil and a fistful of salt, per person — for the entire month.

The Trump administration’s freeze on aid has overwhelmed humanitarian response at a time when multiple conflicts rage, with aid agencies working feverishly to fill the void left by the U.S. government, their most generous and reliable donor. Many European nations are also cutting humanitarian aid, as they focus on increasing military spending in the face of an emboldened Russia.

The world is left teetering on “the verge of a deep humanitarian crisis,” the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, warned on a visit to the Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh on Friday.

“With the announced cuts in financial assistance, we are facing the dramatic risk of having only 40 percent in 2025 of the resources available for humanitarian aid in 2024,” he said, addressing a crowd of tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees. “That would be an unmitigated disaster. People will suffer, and people will die.”

At the refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar, overcrowded warrens of bamboo and tarp huts on mounds of dirt house more than a million Rohingya people driven from their homeland, Myanmar, by a campaign of ethnic cleansing that intensified in 2017.

Fenced off from the rest of Bangladesh, and almost entirely cut off from opportunities to find work or integrate into the country, the Rohingya refugees remain entirely at the mercy of humanitarian aid. The United Nations, with the help of the Bangladeshi government and dozens of aid organizations, looks after the needs of the traumatized people — education, water, sanitation, nutrition, medical care and much more.

The sudden drop in humanitarian aid threatens a wide range of programs and communities around the world, but the plight of the Rohingya is unusual in its scale and severity.

“Cox’s Bazar is ground zero for the impact of budget cuts on people in desperate need,” Mr. Guterres said. “Here it is clear budget reductions are not about numbers on a balance sheet. Funding cuts have dramatic human costs.”

Even at the current food allowance of $12.50 per person, per month, more than 15 percent of the children at the camp are acutely malnourished, according to the United Nations — the highest level recorded since 2017, when hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived after a sharp escalation of violence in Myanmar.

When a funding shortfall slashed the monthly food allowance to $8 in 2023, malnutrition and crime soared. People tried to flee the camp by embarking on dangerous and often fatal boat journeys.

During Mr. Guterres’s visit to the camp, U.N. officials had set up on a table sample food baskets showing what refugees currently get at $12.50 per person, and what that will be slashed to next month if, as they now project, the allotment falls to $6, barring a last-minute rescue.

Pointing to the sparse basket marked “$6,” Dom Scallpelli, the Bangladesh country director for the World Food Program, said, “If you give only this, that is not a survival ration.”

Even the $6 diet expected for the month of April would be made possible only because the United States unfroze its in-kind contribution, agreeing to send shipments of rice, beans, and oil, Mr. Scallpelli said. The cash contributions — the United States provided about $300 million to the Rohingya response last year, a little over half the entire response fund — remain halted.

“If we didn’t even have that, it would have been a total nightmare situation,” Mr. Scallpelli said about the in-kind donations. “At least we are thankful to the U.S. for this.”

Abul Osman, a 23-year-old refugee who arrived at Cox’s Bazar in 2017, said the refugees were already struggling with the bare minimum and the slashing of rations would be devastating for a population with no livelihood options. The Rohingya in Bangladesh are only allowed schooling inside the camp, and are not allowed access to higher education or jobs outside.

Pregnant women and children will suffer the most from dire food shortages, but the resulting mental health crisis will affect everyone, he said.

“It’s a threat to our survival,” he said.

Mr. Guterres was speaking at a Muslim breaking of fast meal, or Iftar, organized by Bangladesh’s government for what officials said were 100,000 Rohingya refugees. He was joined by Bangladesh’s interim leader, the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The presence of the two leaders was an expression of solidarity with a refugee population that feels largely forgotten and forsaken by the world.

The event itself turned deadly, with at least one refugee man killed and five others injured in the rush of the crowd leading up to the Iftar meal, Mr. Yunus’s office confirmed.

While the immediate focus remains on food, aid officials also worry that the cuts are affecting every part of the humanitarian response.

The camp, a severely congested collection of shelters, remains deeply vulnerable to fires, disease and flooding.

Sumbul Rizvi, the Bangladesh country head for the U.N.’s refugee agency, said every year, ahead of the monsoon downpours that typically start in June, agencies bolster the slopes most vulnerable to mudslides with bamboo. Up to half of the shelters require fixing and renovation to counter the extreme weather.

This year, because of the aid freeze, all that has been upended.

“I dread to think what is going to happen in the monsoon — or even a cyclone just passing us,” Ms. Rizvi said.
UN chief describes aid cuts as ‘a crime’ during visit to Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh (AP)
AP [3/14/2025 2:50 AM, Al-Emrun Garjon and Julhas Alam, 44838K]
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday described humanitarian aid cuts by the United States and countries in Europe to Bangladesh, where thousands of Rohingya refugees are located, as “a crime.”

Guterres was on a four-day visit to Bangladesh where he is assessing the plight of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar whose future remained uncertain over possible aid cuts soon. Every year, he chooses a Muslim country to visit during the holy month of Ramadan.

He said that Bangladesh’s southern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, where most of the Rohingya have been sheltered, is “ground zero for the impact of the budget cuts on people in desperate need.”

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, including more than 700,000 who arrived in 2017, have lived in Bangladesh for decades. About 70,000 others crossed the border from Myanmar in 2024 when, during fighting with the military junta, the opposition force known as the Arakan Army effectively took over the Rakhine state where Rohingya were displaced.

The U.N. will do everything possible to arrange adequate funding for the Rohingya refugees after the recent announcement of dramatic aid cuts by the U.S. and other countries in Europe, Guterres said. The U.N.’s food agency recently said it would have no option but to cut food aid by half for the Rohingya starting next month if they fail to arrange adequate funds to feed them.

In a meeting with Bangladesh’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus in the capital, Dhaka, Guterres expressed his concern over Western nations’ decision to boost defense spending while humanitarian aid is squeezed across the world.

“(Aid) cuts are a crime,” the U.N. chief was quoted as telling Yunus by the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha agency during Friday’s meeting.

Worries surfaced in recent weeks in dozens of camps for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s southern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar and elsewhere over fears of aid cuts following Washington’s decision to close operations. A large portion of the millions of dollars needed for supporting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh had come from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

Bangladesh had said the halt of international aid money would stop other projects in the country but that funding for Rohingya refugees would continue to flow.

A letter from the U.N.’s World Food Program earlier this month said cuts to food rations could take effect starting next month at Cox’s Bazar, home to dozens of camps housing Rohingya refugees. The WFP said the food rations could be reduced to $6, from the current $12.50 per month, unless adequate funding is secured.

WFP spokesperson Kun Li said recently if the WFP is unable to secure sufficient funding — $81 million to sustain operations through the end of the year, including $15 million needed for April — it will have to reduce rations starting next month.

The interim government in Bangladesh hopes the visit will boost international efforts to mobilize aid for the Rohingya refugees and attract new global attention to their crisis.

‘A feeling of frustration’

Yunus, who came to power in August after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from office in a mass uprising, used his meeting with Guterres to seek U.N. support for the dignified return of the Rohingya to their homeland in the western Rakhine state in Myanmar. He also asked Guterres to mobilize adequate food and humanitarian assistance for the refugees.

“We are trying to raise attention of the plight of the Rohingya people. The world should know how they are suffering. There is a feeling of frustration,” Yunus was quoted as saying.

Guterres and Yunus left Dhaka to visit camps in Cox’s Bazar district where the leaders met with refugees and learned about their plights.

In a media briefing later Friday, Guterres said he will call on the international community to give urgent support to the refugees.

“We cannot accept that the international community forgets about the Rohingya,” he said. “I will be reaching out to all countries that can support us to ensure that sufficient funds are made available, so people do not suffer even more — or, in some cases, lose their lives.”

Repatriation is ultimate solution

Guterres said that Rohingya refugees “want to go home — Myanmar is their homeland.”

“My message to all parties in Myanmar is clear: exercise maximum restraint, prioritize the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, and prevent further incitement of communal tension and violence — paving the way for democracy to take root and to create conditions for Rohingya to be able to go back home as they all want,” he said.

The U.S. has been the top donor to Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees, providing the U.N. with emergency food and nutrition assistance. The U.S. usually provides almost half of the aid money spent on the humanitarian response to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, which amounted to about $300 million in 2024.

Bangladesh says repatriation of the refugees to Myanmar is the ultimate solution. The Buddhist-majority Myanmar has been accused in an international court of genocide against Rohingya. Complexities over verification and other diplomatic and political issues have made the future of the refugees bleak.
UN considering humanitarian channel from Bangladesh to Myanmar (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [3/15/2025 4:51 PM, Staff, 304K]
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday the organisation is exploring the possibility of a humanitarian aid channel from Bangladesh to Myanmar.

Guterres is on a four-day visit to Bangladesh that saw him meet on Friday with Rohingya refugees, threatened by looming humanitarian aid cuts.

Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.

"We need to intensify humanitarian aid inside Myanmar to create a condition for that return (of the Rohingyas) to be successful," Guterres said during a press briefing.

Guterres suggested that under the right circumstances, having a "humanitarian channel" from Bangladesh would facilitate the return of the Rohingya community, but said it would require "authorisation and cooperation".

Asked if dialogue with the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic minority rebel group in Myanmar, was essential for the repatriation of Rohingyas, Guterres said: "The Arakan Army is a reality in which we live."

He acknowledged that in the past relations with the AA have been difficult but said, "Necessary dialogue must take place".

Guterres added that engaging with the AA was important as sanctions against the group would require the UN Security Council’s approval, which could prove difficult to obtain.

"It’s essential to increase pressure from all the neighbours in order to guarantee that fighting ends and the way towards democracy finally established," Guterres said.

The UN chief’s remarks came after human rights group Fortify Rights issued a statement urging the Bangladesh government to facilitate humanitarian aid and cross border trade to reach war-affected civilians in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

The AA is engaged in a fierce fight with the military for control of Rakhine, where it has seized swaths of territory in the past year, all but cutting off the state capital Sittwe.

The UN’s World Food Programme said on Friday that it will be forced to cut off one million people in war-torn Myanmar from its vital food aid because of "critical funding shortfalls".

The upcoming cuts would hit 100,000 internally displaced people in Rakhine -- including members of the persecuted Rohingya minority -- who will "have no access to food" without its assistance, it said.

Last year, the UN warned that Rakhine faces an "imminent threat of acute famine".
US official sought to end aid for Rohingya refugees, email says (Reuters)
Reuters [3/14/2025 5:45 PM, Jonathan Landay, 62527K]
The Trump administration official overseeing the dismantling of the main U.S. foreign aid agency proposed phasing out help for crisis-torn Lebanon and the Rohingya, the world’s largest stateless population, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.

Written on February 16 by Peter Marocco, the acting USAID deputy administrator, the email provides a window into some of the thinking behind the administration’s drive to terminate aid programs that it does not believe benefit the U.S.

In it, Marocco appeared to want the Rohingya and Lebanon to express their gratitude for U.S. support, saying the U.S. "should procure some type of consideration or good faith from the recipient populations to the American people.".

The email directed Tim Meisburger, the head of USAID’s humanitarian affairs bureau, to draft an "Action memo" drawing U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s attention to "the odd dependency" of Lebanon and the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on U.S. aid.

It should outline options for "how we recommend, immediately, sending the signal, that though we have compassion, people had the warning on November 5, and things will have to change," Marocco wrote, referring to Trump’s 2024 re-election.

"Please propose the best method and timeline of weening this dependency and what we might seek, from them - or partners. Nothing is owed," he wrote, apparently meaning an absence of any U.S. obligation to provide further support.

A source with knowledge of the issue confirmed the authenticity of the email and that Marocco sought to phase out aid to the Rohingya and Lebanon.

Marocco "is not convinced these people need more aid," the source said.

The State Department declined to comment. Marocco and Meisburger did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reuters could not determine whether Meisburger sent the requested memo to Rubio or how much U.S. aid continues to flow to Lebanon or the more than 1 million Rohingyas who have fled violent persecution in Myanmar that the U.S. in 2022 declared a genocide.

The United States provides military, humanitarian and other assistance to Lebanon.

Marocco sent the email as he and billionaire Elon Musk´s Department of Government Efficiency were launching a drive to shrink USAID and merge its remnants into the State Department.

They have fired hundreds of staff and contractors and terminated billions of dollars in services on which tens of millions of people around the world depend. Rubio on Monday said more than 80% of all USAID programs have been canceled.

ROHINGYA AID COVERED BY WAIVER

The drive began hours after Trump took office on January 20, with the Republican president ordering a 90-day freeze on all foreign assistance pending reviews of whether aid programs conformed with his America First foreign policy.

Food aid for the Rohingya and Lebanon was shielded by a waiver from the freeze for emergency food aid issued by Rubio on February 24, the source said.

Four days later, Rubio granted a waiver for all life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such aid.

The U.S. has been the largest provider of aid to the Rohingya refugees, contributing nearly $2.4 billion since 2017, according to a State Department website.

More than 1 million Rohingyas live in squalid camps in the Cox´s Bazar district of Bangladesh, which borders Myanmar, and according to the U.N. refugee agency, 95% of Rohingya households depend on humanitarian assistance.

Others have sought refuge in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and elsewhere.

The United Nations earlier this month warned it will have to cut monthly food rations to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from $12.50 to $6 next month, unless it can raise more funds.

Visiting Cox’s Bazar on Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the U.N. will do all it can to help prevent cuts to the refugees’ rations.

Lebanon has been rocked by a series of crises, including an influx of refugees from Syria, political paralysis, a financial collapse, a blast that devastated Beirut’s port and fighting that erupted in October 2023 between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement that uprooted tens of thousands.

The U.S. long has viewed Lebanon’s stability as critical to that of the region and sought to counter the influence that Iran has exerted there through Hezbollah, part of Tehran’s Axis of Resistance against Israel.

To that end, successive Democratic and Republican presidents, including Trump in his first term, have approved since 2001 more than $5.5 billion in humanitarian, military and other aid for Lebanon, according to a USAID website.
Tulip Siddiq used fake signature to transfer flat to sister, Bangladeshi prosecutor alleges (Financial Times)
Financial Times [3/14/2025 4:24 AM, Susannah Savage, 810K]
Anti-corruption authorities in Bangladesh have accused former UK City Minister Tulip Siddiq of using a fake notary document in a property transfer to her sister, as part of an investigation into the alleged unlawful allocation of state-owned land.

Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission claims Siddiq — the niece of the country’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — used her political influence to secure government plots in Dhaka’s Purbachal New Town project for herself and her family, benefiting from the unlawful allocation of state-owned land.

The agency also alleges she used a fake notary to transfer a separate flat to her sister, according to a charge document released by the agency on Thursday.

The ACC will now submit its charges against Siddiq to the court, which has to approve before it can bring the case to prosecution, in a process that is widely regarded as a formality.

Siddiq resigned from her UK government post in January after facing political pressure following allegations first reported by the Financial Times that she had benefited from properties linked to the Awami League, the party led by her aunt, Sheikh Hasina. She has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The Anti-Corruption Commission, which has powers to prosecute as well as investigate corruption cases, said it has drawn up charges against multiple members of Hasina’s family, including Siddiq, as part of a wider investigation into allegations of corruption involving state resources.

The agency claims that Hasina and her relatives secured government land in violation of eligibility rules, bypassing standard allocation procedures.

“It’s only the tip of an iceberg,” agency chair Dr Mohammad Abdul Momen told the FT. “There are a lot more allegations now under investigation with ACC that will speak of the colossal size of the corruption of the deposed prime minister and her immediate family members.”

Hasina’s 15-year rule as Bangladesh’s prime minister, marked by increasing authoritarianism, ended last August amid mass protests. Since then, a series of allegations involving corruption, land deals, and financial misconduct involving Hasina’s family have emerged,

The Anti-Corruption Commission contends that 60 katha (approximately one acre) of government land in the Purbachal New Town project, a major residential development on the outskirts of Dhaka, was unlawfully allocated to Hasina, her children, and close family members.

Investigators have alleged that Siddiq’s ownership of another property in Dhaka should have disqualified her from receiving a plot under the land allocation scheme, but that she and her family members manipulated regulations to gain access to the prime real estate.

This saw them bypass public lotteries and eligibility criteria designed to prevent politically connected individuals from obtaining land meant for civil servants.

As part of its broader investigation, the ACC also claims Siddiq used a fraudulent notary document to transfer ownership of a flat in Dhaka’s Gulshan area to her sister, Azmina Siddiq.

Supreme Court lawyer Gazi Sirazul Islam, whose seal appears on the document, denied notarising it, according to the charge sheet. While the seal bore his name, he stated, the signature did not match his own.

Islam also told investigators that he only notarises documents within his law chamber and had no prior acquaintance with either Tulip or Azmina Siddiq.

The disputed document, a Heba deed — an Islamic legal instrument for gifting property — dates back to 2015, when Siddiq was a Labour MP but before she was a government minister. The ACC alleges that the notary fraud was part of an effort to obscure the real ownership of the property.

A close ally of UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Siddiq said in January that staying in her role — which included responsibility for tackling corruption — would be a distraction from government.

A spokesperson for Tulip Siddiq MP said: “Absolutely no evidence has been presented for these allegations. Tulip Siddiq has not been contacted on these matters and totally denies the claims.”
Why Bhutan May Make Trump’s Travel Ban List (Skift)
Skift [3/17/2025 12:43 AM, Peden Doma Bhutia, 322K]
Bhutan’s name on the list might be less of an oversight and more of a deliberate move by U.S. policymakers, looking to get ahead of future challenges in an increasingly complex immigration landscape.

As the Trump administration considers imposing travel restrictions on dozens of countries, potentially implementing a full ban on up to 11 nations, one name on the potential list has raised eyebrows: Bhutan.

This small Himalayan kingdom, home to fewer than 800,000 people, actively prioritizes Gross National Happiness (GNH) and a maintains peaceful foreign policy.

Bhutan has maintained a low-profile global presence, and rarely faced security threats. So dedicated is it to preserve its unique Buddhist culture that Bhutan only welcomed foreign tourists in the 1970s and introduced television broadcasts as late as 1998.

Yet, Bhutan’s inclusion in the proposed U.S. travel ban, according to reports in the New York Times and Reuters, has left many wondering why this famously peaceful nation has been singled out.

EduYoung Happyness, an educational consultancy, addressed concerns on social media, clarifying that Bhutan’s inclusion is still under review and not finalized. The company further emphasized that the proposed restriction applies only to the U.S. and does not impact travel or immigration to countries like Australia or New Zealand. “We urge everyone to stay calm and wait for official updates from the concerned authorities before making any assumptions or decisions,” the post said.

Where is Bhutan?

Bhutan is a small, landlocked country in South Asia, nestled between India and China with a GDP per capita of $3711. It transitioned to a constitutional monarchy in 2007 and follows a unique development philosophy centered around Gross National Happiness. Unlike its powerful neighbors, Bhutan has prioritized sustainability, environmental conservation, and cultural preservation over rapid industrialization.

However, Bhutan faces economic challenges, with a growing number of young citizens seeking opportunities abroad.

Why Could the U.S. Impose a Travel Ban on Bhutan?

Despite its reputation for happiness and sustainability, Bhutan’s increasing migration rates have drawn U.S. scrutiny. Although the number of visitors from Bhutan is relatively small, the Department of Homeland Security’s fiscal 2023 report shows that the overstay rate for Bhutanese students and exchange visitors stood at 26.6%. This suggests that over a quarter of Bhutanese students and exchange visitors remained in the U.S. beyond their authorized period.

Meanwhile, 12.7% of Bhutanese nationals who entered the U.S. on business or tourist visas overstayed, highlighting a broader issue of visa compliance.

According to The Bhutanese, a news portal from Bhutan, the country’s inclusion in the travel ban is linked to an immigration fraud in Nepal in 2023, where Nepalese nationals falsely posed as Bhutanese refugees to gain entry into the U.S. The scandal, it said, has cast suspicion on Bhutanese migration patterns.

Bhutan’s Economic and Social Context

Bhutan’s economy is largely dependent on hydropower and tourism, both of which have faced setbacks in recent years. Having first introduced a $65 per night sustainable development fee for visitors in 1991, Bhutanese officials increased it in 2022 to $200. This has now been reduced to $100. In 2024, Bhutan brought in 145,065 tourists, less than half of its 2019 high of 315,000.

Several key factors are contributing to rising emigration:

Youth Unemployment: Standing at 19% in 2024, Bhutan’s high youth unemployment rate is pushing many to seek work and study opportunities abroad.

Tourism Decline: The sector has struggled to recover post-pandemic, reducing a crucial source of revenue.

Economic Dependence on India: Bhutan’s trade and financial ties with India are strong, but limited economic diversification has made job creation difficult.

Soaring Migration to Australia: In 2023 alone, 1.5% of Bhutan’s population moved to Australia for work or education. Australia is now the top study destination for Bhutanese youth, according to a survey by the Observer Research Foundation. Australian news, culture, entertainment, and apps are becoming popular.

Growing Interest in the U.S.: Bhutanese students and professionals have also shown increasing interest in migrating to the U.S., the survey by Observer Research Foundation said.

What is Gross National Happiness?

Since its transition to a constitutional monarchy, Bhutan has measured national progress using Gross National Happiness (GNH) instead of traditional economic indicators like GDP.

At its core, the GNH Index is a multi-dimensional poverty index that assesses well-being across nine key domains:

Living Standards – Financial security and access to basic needs.
Health – Physical and mental well-being.
Education – Literacy rates and quality of learning.
Environment – Conservation and sustainability efforts.
Community Vitality – Social support and relationships.
Time Use – Work-life balance and leisure time.
Psychological Well-being – Emotional health and life satisfaction.
Good Governance – Trust in leadership and public services.
Cultural Diversity and Resilience – Preservation of Bhutanese traditions.
Each domain includes 33 specific indicators, which are used to calculate an overall GNH Index score. Bhutan’s GNH Index has increased from 0.743 in 2010 to 0.781 in 2022, reflecting improvements in national well-being.

Vajrayana Buddhism, Bhutan’s state religion, deeply influences many principles of GNH, emphasizing mindfulness, compassion, and balance. However, experts continue to debate the exact criteria and measurements of GNH, particularly regarding how to define happiness, which indicators to include, and how to measure success.
Central Asia
The US and EU drumbeat for Central Asia’s critical minerals grows louder (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [3/14/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
It is not just the Trump administration that is into hard rocks. The European Union is also a big fan of Central Asian metal.

In their dealings with Central Asian governments, US and EU officials seem fixated on expanding access to the region’s abundance of “critical minerals.”

Over the past few days, top Trump administration officials have courted Kazakhstan. Energy Secretary Chris Wright raised the topic of rare earths during a March 13 meeting with his Kazakh counterpart, Almassadam Satkaliyev, on the sidelines of an energy conference in Houston.

A day earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement following talks with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister-Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu stating that the United States “looks forward to working with Kazakhstan to deepen economic ties in the energy, telecommunications, and critical minerals sectors.”

The growing American interest in critical minerals is matched by the European Union. European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikelak, who began a six-day tour of the five Central States on March 12, is also scouting out potential investments in the mining sector.

An EU statement noted that critical minerals is one of the four main topics for discussion with Central Asian leaders during Sikelak’s visit, with the EU aiming to promote “best practices, new jobs and economic resilience.” The other chief aims of the tour are to improve infrastructure in transport, digital connectivity and water, energy & the climate sectors, enabling an expansion of trade between Central Asia and the EU. During a stop in Uzbekistan, Sikelak is scheduled to tour the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex.

Uzbekistan earlier in March announced a $2.6 billion initiative to develop its mineral and mining sector creating a prime opportunity for US and European investment.

During his recent visit to France, Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a $5 million mineral deal, the state-aligned Gazeta.uz outlet reported March 13. As part of the agreement, France’s Geological Service will “provide its experience and knowledge for the development of the national geological service in Uzbekistan,” the Gazeta.uz report said. Another project involves “geological and technical studies of critical minerals.”

A lack of supply of rare earths needed to power many of the gadgets deemed indispensable in the 21st century is prompting the US and EU to look to Central Asia as a supply source. “A combination of factors makes Central Asia – particularly resource-endowed Kazakhstan but also Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – the most viable alternative to traditional suppliers [especially China],” according to an analysis published in late 2024 by the Australia-based Lowy Institute.

But the United States and EU must play catch-up to gain a significant share in the region’s mining and minerals sector. China long ago established itself as the region’s dominant player.

“China’s own growing internal demand for critical minerals – primarily associated with the rapidly increasing production of microchips and green energy – makes its strategic interest in this sector of Central Asian economies particularly strong,” the Lowy Institute analysis stated. “In effect, Beijing has already taken the lead, especially in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where it controls almost all the leases of rare-earth mining.”

While few opportunities may exist with current mining operations, the US and EU have an opportunity to capture a major share of future projects.

“Central Asian leaders understand that without foreign (financial) capital, know-how and technologies, capitalization on local resource potential is not realistic,” said the Lowy Institute analysis. “They have also realized that collaborative actions will better enable them to excel in producing [critical minerals], thus securing their place in the global supply chain.”
Environmental groups caution against overdevelopment of river resources in Central Asia (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [3/14/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
A coalition of environmental organizations is calling on international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to reexamine the utility of financing hydropower projects on rivers “left untouched during the Soviet era.”

The coalition, including CEE Bankwatch and Kazakhstan-based Rivers without Boundaries, sent an appeal March 14 to financial institutions, stating 200 hydropower projects at present are either planned or are already under construction in Central Asia, many on rivers that have not been subject to previous infrastructure work. The appeal goes on to argue that some of the projects threaten “unique river basins.”

A CEE Bankwatch background report stressed that the evaporation of the Aral Sea was caused by extensive damming on the middle and lower portions of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, Central Asia’s two main waterways. But it adds that many of those two rivers’ high-mountain tributaries remain undeveloped.

A detailed map designed by the NGO coalition indicates that the NarynRiver in Kyrgyzstan and the Pyanj River separating Tajikistan and Afghanistan are set to experience heavy hydropower development in the coming years and decades.

“Often in Central Asia, the construction of dams and reservoirs is presented as inevitable, a kind of forced measure to preserve water resources,” a statement issued by the coalition quoted Evgeny Simonov, the international coordinator for Rivers without Boundaries, as saying. “However, global experience tells us that such an approach is extremely ineffective from an economic point of view, and often has destructive consequences from an environmental point of view.”

The highest-profile hydropower project currently in the works is Tajikistan’s Rogun Dam, which, if completed to its current specifications, could become the world’s tallest dam. In late 2024, Rivers without Boundaries published a study indicating that the dam would be uncompetitive as a supplier of electricity by the time it became fully operational, undercut by cheaper solar and wind-power generation options.

Central Asian governments have cited severe shortages of power to justify not only the development of hydropower, but also the construction of nuclear reactors.

“If all planned hydropower projects are implemented, the vast river basins of Central Asia will hardly retain any unfragmented natural river habitat,” states the NGO appeal to international financial institutions.
Dress Codes Tighten In Turkmenistan, Where The State Tells Women What To Wear (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [3/16/2025 4:34 AM, Amos Chapple, 968K]
After unmarried Turkmen women learned they needed to wear yellow head scarves to work in Ashgabat, their bosses shrugged when queried. The order came "from above," the women were told.

The directive for young women came in early March, along with a requirement for married women to attend work in yellow dresses. Those who fail to comply with the latest color condition have been warned they can be fired.

The aesthetic rules are the latest in a growing list of requirements in Turkmenistan that have no legal codification but can have heavy consequences if ignored.

Cars in Turkmenistan, especially in the capital, Ashgabat, are required to be white or pale, air-conditioning condensers have been removed from buildings, and women are required to wear traditional dresses. Young men must also be clean-shaven in a de facto ban on beards, which has also been seen elsewhere in Central Asia.

"These ‘regulations’ are not based on legal documents," Slavomir Horak, an expert on Central Asia at Charles University in Prague, told RFE/RL. "Often it’s based on some notice, remark, or ‘recommendation’ of the president or somebody from the presidential family.".

Turkmenistan has been ruled by President Serdar Berdymukhammedov since March 2022. On voting day, the young politician arrived at a polling station in a car bearing the plate 72 97. He was later declared the winner of the presidential election with 72.97 percent of the vote. The 43-year-old is the son of ex-President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who was in office from 2006 to 2022 but is widely believed to remain the primary decision-maker in the country.

Horak told RFE/RL that, in the case of a de facto ban on satellite dishes, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov publicly declared that the dishes "destroyed the face of the city." For police on the ground, the statement was enough that "officers understood it as an order," Horak said.

The headscarf ruling, which comes on the back of several previous directives on women’s appearance, has received a strong reaction privately.

"When will this end? When will the humiliation of women’s dignity end?" one Turkmen woman told RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, speaking anonymously for safety reasons. Female state employees have previously been forbidden from using makeup, wearing tight dresses, or dyeing their hair blonde, among other requirements.

The Women’s Union of Turkmenistan did not respond to queries from RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service about the latest clothing stipulation.

Horak says the aesthetic rules in Turkmenistan are partly a legacy of the country’s Soviet era and the whims of the country’s first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who died in 2006. "But it reached its peak during Berdymukhammedov’s dynasty," the academic adds.

So far, there is only speculation over why certain colors have been chosen for Turkmen women’s clothing. Some believe it is due to the preference for yellow by the wife and sisters of Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.

Observers say that, since Serdar Berdymukhammedov took office three years ago, there have been small positive changes in Turkmenistan, including an apparent willingness to address forced labor in the cotton industry and the publication of census data .

But the country remains one of the most corrupt and authoritarian states on Earth where -- outside showcase cities and resorts -- poverty remains severe. Although publicly available data is hard to come by, the median income in the gas-rich country is estimated to be just $2.40 per day, less than a quarter of that in neighboring Kazakhstan.
Indo-Pacific
Draft List for New Travel Ban Proposes Trump Target 43 Countries (New York Times)
New York Times [3/15/2025 10:10 AM, Charlie Savage and Ken Bensinger, 3531K]
The Trump administration is considering targeting the citizens of as many as 43 countries as part of a new ban on travel to the United States that would be broader than the restrictions imposed during President Trump’s first term, according to officials familiar with the matter.

A draft list of recommendations developed by diplomatic and security officials suggests a “red” list of 11 countries whose citizens would be flatly barred from entering the United States. They are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, the officials said.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations, cautioned that the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago, and that changes were likely by the time it reached the White House.

Officials at embassies and in regional bureaus at the State Department, and security specialists at other departments and intelligence agencies, have been reviewing the draft. They are providing comment about whether descriptions of deficiencies in particular countries are accurate or whether there are policy reasons — like not risking disruption to cooperation on some other priority — to reconsider including some.

The draft proposal also included an “orange” list of 10 countries for which travel would be restricted but not cut off. In those cases, affluent business travelers might be allowed to enter, but not people traveling on immigrant or tourist visas.

Citizens on that list would also be subjected to mandatory in-person interviews in order to receive a visa. It included Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.

When he took office on Jan. 20, Mr. Trump issued an executive order requiring the State Department to identify countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”

He gave the department 60 days to finish a report for the White House with that list, meaning it is due next week. The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has taken the lead, and the order said the Justice and Homeland Security Departments and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were to assist with the effort.

Spokespeople at several agencies declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment. But the State Department previously said it was following Mr. Trump’s order and was “committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” while declining to specifically discuss internal deliberations.

The Times and other news outlets reported this month that Afghanistan, which was not part of Mr. Trump’s first-term travel bans but fell to the Taliban when the U.S. withdrew its forces in 2021, was likely to be part of the second-term ban. But the other countries under consideration had been unclear.

It is also not clear whether people with existing visas would be exempted from the ban, or if their visas would be canceled. Nor is it clear whether the administration intends to exempt existing green card holders, who are already approved for lawful permanent residency.

The Trump administration this past week said it had canceled the green card of a Syrian-born former Columbia University graduate student of Palestinian descent, Mahmoud Khalil, because he had led high-profile campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that the government says were antisemitic, setting off a court fight over the legality of that move.

Some of the countries on the draft red and orange lists were sanctioned by Mr. Trump in his first-term travel bans, but many are new. Some share characteristics with the earlier lists — they are generally Muslim-majority or otherwise nonwhite, poor and have governments that are considered weak or corrupt.

But the reason several others were included was not immediately clear. Bhutan, for example, was proposed for an absolute ban on entry. The small Buddhist and Hindu country is sandwiched between China and India, neither of which were on any of the draft lists.

The proposal to sharply restrict, if not outright ban, visitors from Russia raises a different issue. While the Russian government has a reputation for corruption, Mr. Trump has been trying to reorient U.S. foreign policy in a more Russia-friendly direction.

A decision to include Venezuela could also disrupt a nascent thaw in relations that has been useful to Mr. Trump’s separate efforts to deport undocumented migrants.

The proposal also includes a draft “yellow” list of 22 countries that would be given 60 days to clear up perceived deficiencies, with the threat of being moved onto one of the other lists if they did not comply.

Such issues could include failing to share with the United States information about incoming travelers, purportedly inadequate security practices for issuing passports, or the selling of citizenship to people from banned countries, which could serve as a loophole around the restrictions.

That list, the officials said, included Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.

During Mr. Trump’s first term, courts blocked the government from enforcing the first two versions of his travel ban, but the Supreme Court eventually permitted a rewritten ban — one that banned citizens from eight nations, six of them predominantly Muslim — to take effect. The list later evolved.

Soon after he became president in January 2021, Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a proclamation revoking Mr. Trump’s travel bans, calling them “a stain on our national conscience” and “inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all.”

Mr. Trump’s executive order in January said he would revive the bans in order to protect American citizens “from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
Twitter
Afghanistan
Habib Khan
@HabibKhanT
[3/16/2025 4:31 PM, 247.8K followers, 174 retweets, 386 likes]
Nadia Sadat protested against the Taliban and was arrested, stripped naked, filmed, and sexually abused during her horrifying two-week imprisonment. Many women who took to the streets in protest have faced similar brutality—victims of the Taliban’s relentless oppression of women.

Habib Khan
@HabibKhanT
[3/15/2025 9:52 PM, 247.8K followers, 77 retweets, 205 likes]
This exhibition features 3,000 Hazara victims of targeted attacks in Afghanistan & Pakistan, with 15,000 documented so far. Hazaras remain the most vulnerable, facing systematic violence due to their race and religion. #StopHazaraGenocide

Jahanzeb Wesa
@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[3/16/2025 3:55 PM, 5.7K followers, 50 retweets, 84 likes]
Afghanistan is the only country where girls are completely banned from education. Worldwide, 118.5 million girls are out of school, costing the global economy trillions. This is not just a loss—it’s a deliberate erasure of their future. #LetAfghanGirlsLearn #Afghanistan #HRW

Jahanzeb Wesa
@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[3/16/2025 7:00 AM, 5.7K followers, 22 retweets, 73 likes]
A powerful testament to the relentless fight for the rights of Afghan girls and women—honoring their resilience and demanding real change. Deep gratitude to dear Tonni Ann Brodber for her impactful speech and unwavering support for Afghan women and girls at #CSW69 in UN New York. https://x.com/i/status/1901242191550492726
Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[3/16/2025 10:16 AM, 3.1M followers, 14 retweets, 45 likes]
A delegation of members of board of Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad today.

Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[3/16/2025 4:54 AM, 3.1M followers, 16 retweets, 65 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met FIA and IB officials who nabbed a notorious gang leader involved in human trafficking.

Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[3/16/2025 4:54 AM, 3.1M followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes] Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif awarded cheques and shields to the FIA and IB officials who nabbed a notorious gang leader involved in human trafficking.

Dr. Arif Alvi
@ArifAlvi
[3/16/2025 4:26 PM, 4.4M followers, 10K retweets, 20K likes]
RELEASE IMRAN KHAN TO SAVE PAKISTAN It is the only way. Please make sure that this slogan reaches every house and every citizen.

Dr. Arif Alvi
@ArifAlvi
[3/16/2025 12:09 AM, 4.4M followers, 1.1K retweets, 3.5K likes]
Meeting Senator Chris Van Hollen: A Substantive Conversation on Human Rights and Democracy It was truly an honor to meet Karachi-born Senator @ChrisVanHollen, a leader deeply committed to global justice. He takes immense pride in his origins and possesses a nuanced understanding of Pakistan’s political landscape.

We shared our unwavering passion for human rights—a commitment that transcends borders and unites us in a unique manner too, as both of us are born ‘Karachiites’, in our concern for oppressed people worldwide particularly in Pakistan. We found common ground in our alarm when I informed him that democracy has been violently derailed, and the fundamental pillars of a free society—the constitution, the judiciary, and the media—have been trampled upon with impunity. For those who cherish democratic values, this is nothing short of shocking & demands urgent international attention.

Senator Van Hollen is an important member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is one of the most outspoken U.S. representatives, and his steadfast stance on the Middle East reflects his alarm for human suffering, particularly in Gaza. I admire the fact that he has a remarkable ability to speak truth to power guided by unwavering values and principles. Our conversation was exceptionally engaging and insightful, covering not only Pakistan but also the rapidly shifting global order, including the Ukraine conflict—which played a pivotal role in Pakistan’s regime change.

The Grave Human Rights Crisis in Pakistan:
I emphasized the dire need for the international community to turn its gaze toward Pakistan, where the situation has escalated into a formidable crisis of repression. It is unconscionable that citizens are being killed for protesting peacefully, their homes ransacked and looted with no regard for basic rights. Thousands of individuals—men, women, and even entire families—are languishing in prison on fabricated charges, subjected to brutal treatment simply for exercising their democratic rights. The targeting of journalists is equally alarming. Senator Van Hollen was surprised to learn that legacy media is banned from showing @ImranKhanPTI’s picture or even mentioning his name, and that his trial is being conducted inside a prison. The entire independent media landscape has been dismantled, replaced by a state-controlled propaganda machine that silences dissenting voices.

We discussed, and I informed him of flagrant injustices, including the plight of ex PM Imran Khan (whom the Senator has met in Washington & in Pakistan) who commands 91% public support and whose party secured a 75% electoral mandate—only for the results to be shamelessly stolen through fraud. For over 590 days, he has been imprisoned on politically motivated charges, a victim of judicial manipulation that is aimed to silence him.

The Fight for Democracy Must Not Be Ignored
Pakistan’s crisis is not an isolated struggle; it is a defining moment for global democracy. The right to freedom of association, enshrined in the UN Charter and every democratic constitution, has been stripped away. Protesters are being gunned down, as was seen in the Islamabad massacre of Nov 26, where more than a dozen lives were lost in a night of brutality that will forever stain our history. Meanwhile, the judiciary has been systematically dismantled, with the Supreme Court stacked with compliant judges, while terrorism surges across the country.

Pakistan is a sovereign nation, and there should be no further external interference in our affairs. However, the world cannot remain silent as democracy is strangled before our eyes. This is not just about Pakistan—it is about preserving the fundamental principles of freedom, justice, and human dignity.

I am deeply grateful to Senator Chris Van Hollen for his time, his empathy, and his commitment to ensuring that these critical issues remain in focus. I have requested him to support the cause of a democratic Pakistan, the country of his birth.

The voices of Pakistanis yearning for justice and liberty must resonate across the globe, amplified by those who stand in solidarity with our struggle. The fight for democracy continues, and the voices of millions cannot be silenced. Despite the dire circumstances, I firmly believe that constructive dialogue and engagement remain the best path forward.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[3/16/2025 1:39 PM, 219.1K followers, 139 retweets, 555 likes]
The regional dynamics of Pakistan’s growing security crisis are critical. It accuses its neighbors of sponsoring the attacks. But ties w/India, Iran & Afghanistan vary from fragile to hostile. Borders are tense. And security risks have strained ties w/China, its closest ally.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[3/16/2025 1:04 PM, 219.1K followers, 535 retweets, 1.9K likes]
Pakistan is facing an alarming security crisis: Dozens of attacks in recent days by an emboldened BLA and by a relentless TTP launching its spring offensive. Anti-state actors are strengthening capacities, boosting recruitment and joining forces. Big test for a beleaguered army.

Ashok Swain
@ashoswai
[3/16/2025 1:06 PM, 621.6K followers, 243 retweets, 851 likes]
5 more killed today in Baluchistan by BLA and at least 3 of them soldiers. Is Pakistan army going to blame Afghanistan or India? Pakistan army must ask itself why it has made Pakistan No2 in Global Terrorism Index!

Lynne O’Donnell
@lynnekodonnell
[3/16/2025 4:57 AM, 27.5K followers, 1 retweet, 8 likes]
In #Afghanistan & beyond its borders, #Haqqani will be more dangerous outside than in. #Taliban https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1292299-rumours-abound-of-sirajuddin-haqqani-s-resignation

Hamid Mir
@HamidMirPAK
[3/16/2025 11:00 AM, 8.6M followers, 49 retweets, 273 likes]
The map of Independent Baluchistan includes areas of not only Pakistan but also the Baloch areas of Iran and Afghanistan. It will be difficult for Baluch separatists to defeat three countries. My column in Hindi newspaper @DainikBhaskar https://www.bhaskar.com/magazine/news/train-hijack-the-strings-of-the-baloch-problem-are-linked-to-the-past-134647141.html
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[3/16/2025 7:31 AM, 105.8M followers, 11K retweets, 51K likes]
A wonderful conversation with @lexfridman, covering a wide range of subjects. Do watch!

President of India
@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/17/2025 2:45 AM, 26.5M followers, 65 retweets, 356 likes]
President Droupadi Murmu hosted breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre for Members of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Speaker, Lok Sabha Shri Om Birla and Union Ministers Shri Rajnath Singh and Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda were also present on the occasion.

Vice-President of India
@VPIndia
[3/17/2025 2:11 AM, 1.6M followers, 11 retweets, 61 likes]
Hon’ble Vice-President and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar extended birthday greetings to Shri Jaggesh Ji in Rajya Sabha today. #RajyaSabha @Jaggesh2

Dr. S. Jaishankar
@DrSJaishankar
[3/16/2025 12:26 PM, 3.4M followers, 878 retweets, 4.8K likes]
A must watch podcast of PM @narendramodi with @lexfridman.
Shares many insights into his thinking, beliefs and vision.
The sections on his worldview will interest the foreign policy community.
Of particular note:
- The relationship with President Trump and thoughts on his personality.
- On China, the long view of our ties. Differences must not become disputes, competition not become conflict.
- No battlefield solution possible in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Need for direct talks.
- An uncertain and anxious world requires reform and reassurance.
- Hope that Pakistan, steeped in terrorism, will choose to take a different path.
And so much else, both on his personal journey as well as his leadership of Bharat.

Derek J. Grossman
@DerekJGrossman
[3/16/2025 1:12 AM, 96.3K followers, 5 retweets, 44 likes]
India is quietly boosting ties to Taliban-run Afghanistan. But why? Think counterterrorism and countering China. Although unclear whether New Delhi’s strategy is working, it has little choice but to follow through. My latest commentary explains. https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Why-is-India-quietly-boosting-ties-with-Afghanistan-s-Taliban
NSB
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh
@ChiefAdviserGoB
[3/16/2025 7:38 AM, 123.6K followers, 265 retweets, 2.5K likes]
Longi, the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world, has decided to set up an office and invest in solar panel manufacturing in Bangladesh, Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen said on Sunday.

Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh
@ChiefAdviserGoB
[3/15/2025 7:45 AM, 123.6K followers, 75 retweets, 1K likes]
The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and the foreign adviser, Md. Touhid Hossain, attend a joint press briefing at a Dhaka hotel on Saturday.

Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh
@ChiefAdviserGoB
[3/15/2025 4:13 AM, 123.6K followers, 35 retweets, 454 likes]
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday visited the new UN Common Premises to view the 50th anniversary photo exhibition and to do the official UN flag raising. The visit followed a meeting with UNCT Bangladesh.

Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh
@ChiefAdviserGoB
[3/14/2025 1:11 PM, 123.6K followers, 98 retweets, 785 likes]
UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres visited Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, on Friday, where he engaged with Rohingya children at a learning centre and spoke with Rohingya women at Camp 18.

Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh
@ChiefAdviserGoB
[3/14/2025 1:06 PM, 123.6K followers, 475 retweets, 3.3K likes] Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and UN Secretary General @antonioguterres attended an Iftar gathering with approximately 100,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals at Demo Hill in the Rohingya Camp, Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, on Friday.

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[3/16/2025 12:45 PM, 7.9K followers, 2 retweets, 4 likes]
This is the situation I have been signaling on my last article & since #TulsiGabbard was nominated by #Trump as head of National Security. Her extremely close ties with the RSS signal that the false narrative of Hindus being persecuted in #Bangladesh will be amplified greatly.

Ashok Swain
@ashoswai
[3/16/2025 1:19 PM, 621.6K followers, 113 retweets, 800 likes]
Bangladesh govt’s Chief Adviser Prof Mohammad Yunus will visit China from March 26-29. Chinese ambassador in Dhaka describes, it is going to be the "most important visit" by a Bangladesh leader over the last 50 years. Modi has made India to lose Bangladesh to Pakistan & China.

The President’s Office, Maldives
@presidencymv
[3/17/2025 2:13 AM, 112.4K followers, 28 retweets, 30 likes]
First Lady condemns attack on MDP Activist, calls for restraint and justice https://presidency.gov.mv/Press/Article/33313

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives
@MoFAmv
[3/16/2025 12:50 PM, 55.5K followers, 12 retweets, 15 likes]
Minister Dr. Khaleel departs to India, on an Official Visit Press Release | https://t.ly/qFSpG

Abdulla Khaleel
@abkhaleel
[3/16/2025 11:40 AM, 33.8K followers, 26 retweets, 34 likes]
Traveling to India to attend the 10th edition of #RaisinaDialogue. I will be speaking at the high-level panel discussion, ‘Climate Cataclysm: The Adaptation Agenda is Gasping,’ on Day 2 of the dialogue. Looking forward to insightful discussions. @raisinadialogue
Central Asia
Press Office of the President of Kazakhstan
@aqorda_press
[3/14/2025 9:15 AM, 817.6K followers, 27 retweets, 46 likes]
President @TokayevKZ at the 4th National Kurultai: “Globalism is losing its relevance, while state nationalism, the pursuit of spheres of influence, and the regionalization of world politics are coming to the forefront. For decades, many countries have been subjected to the imposition of so-called democratic moral values, including LGBT ideology. Under this pretext, international NGOs have grossly interfered in their internal affairs. In reality, it turned out to be quite simple – billions in budgets were embezzled.

The personal wealth of nearly all advocates of ‘progress and democracy,’ ‘human rights,’ ‘freedom of the press,’ and the ‘fight against corruption’ does not match their official salaries. Therefore, the efforts undertaken by the current 🇺🇸U.S. administration, led by President @realDonaldTrump, to expose large-scale abuses, unmask the political hypocrisy of the ‘deep state,’ and restore traditional moral values deserve support. It is well known that everything happening in the #UnitedStates has a direct impact on the entire world.” @elonmusk

MFA Kazakhstan
@MFA_KZ
[3/16/2025 7:05 AM, 56.9K followers, 4 retweets, 7 likes]
The Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic event in the city of Kočani and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured. Our thoughts are with the people of the North Macedonia @MFA_MKD during this difficult time.

Emomali Rahmon
@EmomaliRahmonTJ
[3/16/2025 3:19 PM, 3.4K followers, 3 retweets, 8 likes]
On March 16, the official visit of the President of #Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to the #Russia began with his arrival in #Moscow. Emomali Rahmon, was warmly and sincerely welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russia #MaratKhusnullin and other high-ranking representatives.

Javlon Vakhabov
@JavlonVakhabov
[3/16/2025 11:11 PM, 6.1K followers]
Taking place ahead of the First Central Asia – European Union Summit on April 3–4 in Samarkand, the EU-CA Think Tank Forum at @IICAinTashkent will serve as a premier platform for expert dialogue between the two regions. The event will foster an in-depth exchange of perspectives on some of the key issues related to enhancing interregional cooperation, strengthening dialogue and coordination between expert and business communities, and identifying promising avenues for future collaboration. Stay tuned! Read more: https://iica.uz/en/news/2025/03/17/toshkentda-markaziy-osiyo-va-yevropa-ittifoqi-mamlakatlari-tahliliy-markazlari-forumi-ochilmoqda

Javlon Vakhabov
@JavlonVakhabov
[3/14/2025 7:17 AM, 6.1K followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
Uzbekistan has officially acceded to the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, becoming the last Central Asian country to do so. @president_uz Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the accession law on March 11, following parliamentary approval. Originally adopted in 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark, the convention aims to uphold the right to a healthy environment by ensuring transparency, public involvement, and legal recourse in environmental matters.

The Aarhus Convention guarantees:
- Access to Information – Citizens have the right to obtain environmental data from authorities.
- Public Participation – Communities must be involved in environmental decision-making.
- Access to Justice – Legal mechanisms must be available for environmental disputes.
With this step, Uzbekistan commits to greater environmental transparency and civic engagement. Read more: https://lex.uz/ru/docs/7426235

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[3/14/2025 10:39 AM, 24.2K followers, 1 retweet, 2 likes]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights @volker_turk visiting Kyrgyzstan March 19-20, 2025. He is scheduled to meet with President Sadyr Zhaparov. https://www.ohchr.org/en/media-advisories/2025/03/un-human-rights-chief-volker-turk-visit-kyrgyzstan

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[3/14/2025 7:14 AM, 24.2K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
The U.S. congratulates Tajikistan and the Kyrgyzstan on "historic agreement to delineate and demarcate the entirety of their border. This accomplishment reflects the commitment of their governments to diplomacy and regional stability. " @statedeptspox @SecRubio

{End of Report}
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