SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Wednesday, March 19, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Afghan refugees in US struggle as faith-based aid is disrupted (AP)
AP [3/18/2025 11:46 AM, Tiffany Stanley, 2017K]
The rent is due, but Rahmani has no money to pay it.
The Afghan father of two worked for a U.S.-backed organization in Kabul, which put him at risk of Taliban retribution. Now he is among thousands of newly arrived refugees who lost financial assistance when the Trump administration cut off funding for the federal refugee program in January.
His family’s monthly rent and utilities total nearly $1,850, an unfathomable amount compared to what he once paid in Kabul.
He has spent weeks looking for work, walking along the suburban highway across from his family’s apartment, inquiring at small markets and big box stores. So far, there are no job leads.
He moved here in November with the federal refugee program, a vetted form of legal migration to the U.S. for those fleeing persecution. To fast-track self-sufficiency, it provides refugees with wraparound services for three months — help with housing, food and job placement — while other federal grants support their first five years.
Instead, Rahmani’s relocation services were largely halted after only two months, when the Trump administration upended the refugee program. He otherwise would have qualified for extended rental assistance for up to six months. Still jobless and unable to make ends meet, his anxiety mounts by the day.
For the stress, a doctor prescribed medication. "Without it," he said, "the negative talk comes.".
Rahmani is a client of Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, a local faith-based resettlement agency also in disarray. The organization is waiting on $3.7 million in federal reimbursements for work it has already provided.
LSSNCA has struggled to make payroll, and its support services have fallen like dominoes after it was forced to lay off 75 people and furlough seven others. Nearly a third of its staff is now gone, with its case management team hit the hardest, leaving many refugees without a steady presence as they navigate their new lives.
Two-thirds of its clients are Afghan allies, who were offered visas and protection in the United States after the Taliban returned to power. These Afghans worked alongside U.S. troops or, like Rahmani, were employed by U.S.-backed organizations.
Rahmani worked in information technology in Afghanistan for a large Afghan media organization, which the U.S. helped fund as part of its democracy-building efforts. He is identified using only one of his names because he still fears for his family’s safety.
Sitting in his spartan apartment, he gestured to his daughter, a bright-eyed, dark-haired toddler in Hello Kitty leggings. She just turned 2; a "happy birthday" banner still hangs on the wall.
Rahmani came here for the futures of both his daughter and 7-year-old son. "Because in my own country, girls are not allowed to go to school.".
Now he wonders if coming here was a mistake.
"If they kick me out from the apartment, where should I stay?" he asked. "Should I stay with my family in the road?".
The risk of widespread evictions
Covering the rental assistance promised to new refugees is LSSNCA’s most pressing concern. By early March, at least 42 households under its care had received eviction notices, putting nearly 170 people in Virginia and Maryland on the edge of homelessness, with more — like Rahmani’s family — at risk. The staff has been negotiating with landlords and fundraising to stave off evictions.
"It is like a daily conversation about how much money came in today," said Kristyn Peck, CEO of LSSNCA. "OK, who’s most at risk of eviction out of all these people? … Whose rent can we pay first? And they’re just kind of impossible choices.".
The organization raised $500,000 in six weeks, but that doesn’t fill the gap left by frozen government funds. LSSNCA had expected President Donald Trump to lower refugee admissions, as he did during his first term, but they didn’t anticipate losing funds for refugees already in the U.S.
The Rev. Rachel Vaagenes, pastor of Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., started a GoFundMe for LSSNCA in February and quickly raised $25,000 to cover rent for three families in Maryland for three months."It’s a drop in the bucket, right? Even if there were a thousand churches doing this, we still couldn’t do what the U.S. government does," Vaagenes said. "We cannot make up the gap, no matter how much we want to as individual congregations.".
Global Refuge is the parent organization of LSSNCA and has long served as one of 10 national agencies partnering with the federal government to resettle refugees. The vast majority of Global Refuge’s funding comes from state and federal dollars, which accounted for more than 95% of its 2023 budget. It has received no federal reimbursements for work done since Inauguration Day and has laid off hundreds of staff. Nearly 6,000 refugees in its care were within 90 days of arrival, the initial aid window, when it received a stop-work order from the Trump administration.
Across resettlement agencies nationwide, support for at least 30,000 recent arrivals was affected. At LSSNCA, 369 people were within their first 90 days in the U.S.; 850 more clients were eligible for longer-term services.
"We’re seeing the de facto wholesale destruction of a longstanding bipartisan program that saved millions of lives," said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge.
Refugees fled instability, only to find more of it in the U.S.
LSSNCA’s capacity has been stretched thin before. The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 led to a surge of Afghans being resettled in the U.S.
LSSNCA went from serving 500 people a year to 500 a month. They staffed up to deal with the influx of Afghans, with case managers working late into the night. The quality of their work suffered: Federal reimbursements were often delayed, and they struggled to provide services. The difference then was they knew the federal government backed their work.
Marjila Badakhsh came to the U.S. in December of 2021. A journalist who worked for a U.S.-funded Afghan media organization, she was evacuated from Kabul, eventually landing at a military base in New Jersey before LSSNCA took her case and she was resettled in Virginia.
She was later hired at LSSNCA, putting her language skills to use with Afghan clients. Though recently promoted, she was among those laid off in January when the agency received its stop-work order.
"I was thinking that I’m stable at this job, and I’m building my career here," she said. "But right now, after three years, with one policy I’m thinking that I’m back to the day that I came to the United States for the first time, and I should start again.".
She stays busy applying to jobs in Virginia and California, where her brother — who worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan — was recently resettled. But her dreams of one day welcoming their parents and sister to the U.S. are on hold after Trump suspended most of the refugee program.
Other LSSNCA clients remain in limbo. Anastasiia De Zoysa fled war-torn Ukraine and received temporary legal status in the U.S. She and her family settled near relatives in Frederick, Maryland, where her husband got a job in his field. But now she worries their status will be revoked.
"I’m willing to go home when it’s safe," she said, noting her former city is under Russian control. "I have nothing in Ukraine now if I go back.".
The courts are still weighing in
Lawsuits against the Trump administration have been filed over its immigration policies, with one judge ruling in favor of three faith-based resettlement agencies. In a recent court filing, administration lawyers argued that initial refugee benefits are "not required by law." They indicated it would take months to comply with a court order to restart the program.
This week, Global Refuge received some federal reimbursements for its work during the Biden administration. Those funds came through the Department of Health and Human Services. Global Refuge has not received federal payments for work done since late January, and it has not received reimbursements for the 90-day aid offered through the State Department, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Resettlement can be difficult under any circumstances. Rahmani remembers the first lonely weeks in his new town, when he spotted another Afghan man. He called out to him in Dari, his own language, and cried when they hugged.
He now knows of at least 10 recently arrived Afghan families living nearby, and many are also struggling. With his English skills, he often serves as their translator, helping them at appointments.
More and more, Rahmani thinks he will have to go back to Afghanistan, despite the danger.
"If I don’t have the home rent, then I don’t have any other choice," he said.
At least if something happened to him in Afghanistan, his relatives would be there to care for his wife and children.
"But in the United States," he said, "there is nobody who would take care of my family.". Advocates push to protect Afghan allies as US considers new travel bans (Scripps News)
Scripps News [3/18/2025 11:21 AM, Haley Bull, 837K]
Advocates are working to relocate people from Afghanistan with special immigrant visas in anticipation of potential travel bans as the Trump administration enacts stricter immigration policies.
Departments are expected to provide recommendations to the White House by the end of the week identifying 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," through the Immigration and Nationality Act. The executive order enacted by President Trump includes the heads of the Department of State, Justice Department, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Homeland Security.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the agency is reviewing visa programs, as directed by Trump. The spokesperson said the visa adjudication process "must ensure that US-bound foreign travelers do not pose a threat to the national security and public safety of the United States.".
An administration official said no decisions have been made.
However, a report due to the White House may include Afghanistan in a list of countries recommended to bar entry from, according to a US official.
"What people are looking at over these last several days is not a list that exists here that is being acted on," said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
"When it comes to the nature of Afghanistan and those who have helped us, the arrangements we have made already in the past, getting as many people from that conflict here, certainly those who have assisted us and worked with us, that’s been a policy and a dynamic that we’ve worked on from certainly even the previous administration, working to try to get that happening," Bruce said.
The administration has not commented on internal deliberations, details or specific countries.
"All very premature. For those of you who are familiar with this from the previous administration, it’s a security assessment that’s made on a wide variety of factors. Do they accept their deportees? Do they share security information? Do they have good biometrics? Do they have control over their own territory? Do they engage in intelligence sharing? There’s a wide variety of assessments that go into the determination," said White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security advisor Stephen Miller.
Trump enacted a travel ban against several majority-Muslim nations during his first term. The order was challenged but upheld by the Supreme Court. While campaigning, Trump promised a return to his first administration’s immigration policies, with the Republican platform supporting a travel ban.
"Wouldn’t that be a stupid thing for me to say," President Trump said last week when asked which countries he’d target for a travel ban.
But advocates aiding Afghans who helped the U.S. and their families are preparing for a ban.
"Right now we understand that in the State Department version, Afghanistan is on the red list, and also there’s an exemption for the SIV pipeline. Now that may not make it out of the State Department to the White House with that exemption still intact," said Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac. The coalition, which formed amid the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, brings together organizations helping Afghans resettle. "We’re hoping that when the report goes over, they sort of do some reconciliation, and it stays in there for wartime allies. But this is just, It’s unconscionable to think that this, that these wartime allies in the refugee and SIV track wouldn’t be allowed to continue arriving and have the help that they’ve earned when they arrived.".
Advocates are seeking clarity from the administration.
"The ambiguity surrounding this issue is unnecessary and cruel. After years of uncertainty, our wartime allies deserve clear and unequivocal answers, not word salads and clever Washington games," AfghanEvac said in a statement.
The considerations come as efforts to resettle Afghan families of U.S. service members, people who aided the U.S. military and unaccompanied children waiting for family reunification have been impacted by the Trump administration’s recent executive actions. The orders halted the refugee admission program and paused foreign aid.
A State Department spokesperson said the processing of Afghan special immigrant visas continues, but relocation flights from Kabul to third-country processing platforms for Afghan refugees and SIV applicants have been paused. Those with a special immigrant visa can arrange their own travel to the United States.
While SIV case processing is occurring, there are no funds for travel or resettlement benefits, according to a U.S. official.
VanDiver indicated there are private efforts underway to sponsor those with a special immigrant visa, with more than 200 helped so far.
"But 5,000 a month were leaving before. So the scale is just not the same," said VanDiver.
Previously, a State Department spokesperson confirmed it was considering the future of its relocation program for Afghans and the office that coordinates it, but at last check, no decisions had been made.
Lawmakers have urged the administration to reconsider efforts to shut down the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and Operation Enduring Welcome, warning it would abandon hundreds of thousands of allies and impact global credibility.
"Every individual in the Enduring Welcome pipeline served alongside American forces, risked their lives for our mission, and was promised a path to safety. The Afghans in this program are the most vetted immigrants in U.S. history having undergone extensive screening by DHS, DOD, FBI, CIA, and the State Department," wrote Congressmen Lawler, McCaul and Hudson in a letter to the president. "The Taliban considers anyone who worked with the U.S. to be an enemy. They are being hunted, detained, and executed.".
"Without Enduring Welcome, Afghans who qualify for relocation have no legal pathway to reach safety and cannot simply "apply from home"—their only options are escape or death," the lawmakers wrote. US senator urges Rubio to uphold commitment to Afghan allies (Amu TV)
Amu TV [3/18/2025 4:14 PM, Siyar Sirat]
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take immediate action to support Afghan allies left stranded by President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending resettlement efforts.
In a letter released by the Foreign Relations Committee, Shaheen expressed “deep concern” over the fate of thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during its 20-year war in Afghanistan and are now left in limbo due to the halted Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program.“I write with deep concern regarding the Afghanistan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program and the fate of the allies who stood shoulder to shoulder with U.S. service members and diplomats throughout two decades of war,” Shaheen wrote. “President Trump’s recent executive order has effectively suspended resettlement efforts for these individuals and their families. As a result, many Afghan allies who were scheduled to travel to the U.S. have had their flights canceled and are now stranded with no clear path forward.”
Shaheen warned that Trump’s resettlement freeze has left thousands of Afghans—including SIV applicants and visa holders—stuck in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, and Albania.“This order has halted the resettlement of thousands of Afghans who supported the U.S. mission, leaving them at risk,” she wrote. “At least 5,752 individuals awaiting SIV processing or holding visas remain stranded in Afghanistan and neighboring countries, including the families of U.S. military personnel. They are now living without access to basic necessities such as medical care, women’s and children’s services, mental health counseling, and infant care.”
Shaheen urged Rubio to push for an immediate exemption for Afghan allies and ensure their safe passage to the U.S.“I respectfully request that you continue longstanding U.S. support for these individuals and take all necessary steps to remove barriers preventing Afghan SIV holders and applicants from traveling to the United States,” she wrote. “Their admission is not only a moral obligation but also a national security priority, reaffirming America’s commitment to its allies in times of crisis.”
Shaheen underscored the urgent need for action, warning that these Afghan allies face grave dangers if forced to return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.“Since the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, Afghan allies have been at extreme risk of Taliban reprisals due to their service alongside American forces,” she wrote. “Many have already been killed since August 2021, demonstrating the very real threat they face.”
Shaheen emphasized that the U.S. made a promise to protect these individuals and their families, many of whom risked their lives for American troops.“These Afghan allies put their lives on the line for the United States,” she said. “In return, we pledged to protect them and their families. America must stand by that promise.”
Trump’s January executive order instructed the State Department to suspend refugee admissions, transfers, and resettlement efforts for over 200,000 Afghans under the SIV, P-1, P-2, P-3, and P-4 refugee programs.Nearly three months later, the Trump administration has yet to provide a clear response on whether or when these programs might resume. Pakistan
Rights group says Pakistan steps up pressure on Afghans to return home where they risk persecution (AP)
AP [3/19/2025 4:06 AM, Munir Ahmed, 456K]
A leading rights group said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s authorities have intensified pressure on Afghan refugees to go back to neighboring Afghanistan, where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions.“Pakistani officials should immediately stop coercing Afghans to return home and give those facing expulsion the opportunity to seek protection,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch.“The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan should prevent any reprisals against returning Afghans and reverse their abusive policies against women and girls,” she said.
Pakistan set a March 31 deadline for the deportation of all foreigners living illegally in the country. Most of them are Afghans.
The HRW appeal came a month after the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad said that Pakistan has stepped up arrests of Afghan citizens in Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi for forced expulsion.
However, Pakistan has dismissed the allegation by Kabul, saying that the authorities were only trying to facilitate conditions for the swift return of Afghans to their home country.
More than 500,000 Afghans who fled the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 have been living without papers in Pakistan, thousands of them waiting for resettlement in the United States and elsewhere.
There are also around 1.45 million Afghan refugees, registered with the U.N. refugee agency, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of their country. Last July, Pakistan extended the stay of refugees registered with UNHCR until June, saying they won’t be arrested or deported at least until the extension expires.
In January, U.S. President Donald Trump paused American refugee programs for at least three months and since then, around 20,000 Afghans who were awaiting resettlement in Pakistan are now in limbo. Afghans waiting for relocation to the United States have also urged Trump to restore the refugee program to end their ordeal.
HRW said in a statement that the human rights situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.“Women and girls are banned from post primary education and denied a broad range of rights and freedoms. Human rights defenders, journalists, and former government personnel are at particular risk,” the group said.
The statement also said that Afghans returning to their country struggle to survive amid Afghanistan’s soaring unemployment rate, broken health care system and dwindling foreign assistance.
Earlier this year, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also approved the March 31 deadline for the deportation of those Afghans awaiting relocation to third countries unless their cases are swiftly processed by the governments that have agreed to take them.“Afghanistan is not safe for any forced refugee returns,” Pearson said, “Countries that pledged to resettle at-risk Afghans should respond to the urgency of the situation in Pakistan and expedite those cases.”
HRW said that Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has also announced that Afghans without official residence documents, along with holders of Afghan Citizen Cards, must leave the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi or face deportation.“Afghans holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards must leave by June 30,” it said.
More than 800,000 Afghans have returned home or have been expelled by force from Pakistan since 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency that tracks migration.
More than 70% of those returning to Afghanistan have been women and children, including girls of secondary school age and women who will no longer have access to education, according to HRW.
The group said that “Pakistani police have raided houses, beat and arbitrarily detained people, and confiscated refugee documents, including residence permits. They have demanded bribes to allow Afghans to remain in Pakistan.” Pakistan: Forced Returns Expose Afghans to Persecution, Destitution (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [3/19/2025 12:00 AM, Staff, 1.6M]
Pakistani authorities have intensified abusive tactics and other pressure on Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan, where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions, Human Rights Watch said today.
The human rights situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Women and girls are banned from postprimary education and denied a broad range of rights and freedoms. Human rights defenders, journalists, and former government personnel are at particular risk. And all of those returning struggle to survive amid Afghanistan’s soaring unemployment, broken healthcare system, and dwindling foreign assistance.“Pakistani officials should immediately stop coercing Afghans to return home and give those facing expulsion the opportunity to seek protection,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan should prevent any reprisals against returning Afghans and reverse their abusive policies against women and girls.”
On January 31, 2025, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior announced that Afghans without official residence documents, along with holders of Afghan Citizen Cards, must leave the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi or face deportation. Afghans holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards must leave by June 30.
During 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed 35 Afghans in Pakistan and several who had recently arrived in Afghanistan about the reasons they left Pakistan and the conditions they confronted upon arrival. Human Rights Watch also interviewed representatives of aid organizations working with Afghan refugees on both sides of the border.
A previous wave of deportations and expulsions, from September 2023 through January 2024, drove over 800,000 Afghans – many born in Pakistan or living there for decades – to Afghanistan. Since November 2024, Pakistani authorities have renewed pressure to expel Afghans. More than 70 percent of those returning have been women and children, including girls of secondary school age and women who will no longer have access to education.
Pakistani police have raided houses, beat and arbitrarily detained people, and confiscated refugee documents, including residence permits. They have demanded bribes to allow Afghans to remain in Pakistan. The United Nations reported that most Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan have cited fear of detention by Pakistani authorities as the reason they left.
Masood Rahmati, an Afghan sports journalist, said that even Afghans who are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or who had valid residence cards were not safe. “We had PoR cards,” said Atifi. “But the police cut our cards and sent us to Afghanistan.”
Among those most at risk are people affiliated with the former Afghan government’s security forces. Human Rights Watch and the UN have documented extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, and torture and other ill-treatment of people affiliated with the former government’s military and police forces, some of whom had returned to Afghanistan after first seeking refuge in Pakistan. Journalists and activists who fled to Pakistan after criticizing the Taliban also fear retaliation. And the Taliban have threatened, arbitrarily detained, and tortured women who have protested the Taliban’s policies.“I left Afghanistan because I was a human rights activist and protested against the Taliban,” said Naheed, who, after fleeing Afghanistan in August 2024, was living in hiding in Pakistan, fearing deportation, and whose full name, as with others, is not used for his protection. “Once my identity was revealed, I had to leave: I can’t return while the Taliban are in power.”
Returning refugees have generally had to abandon property and savings in Pakistan, and have few livelihood opportunities or little land in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan lost access to the international banking system and almost all foreign development aid, which had largely funded the former Afghan government. As a result, its economy contracted sharply, with a loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
As of January, more than 22 million Afghans, almost half the population, required emergency food aid and other assistance, and an estimated 3.5 million children were acutely malnourished. Very few support services are available for people with disabilities. The Taliban’s ban on women’s employment with nongovernmental organizations has compounded the crisis by limiting women’s access to work and services.“Don’t ask about life,” said Mohmadullah, who arrived in Kandahar in February 2024. “There’s no electricity, no fan. This is not life. Our tent has holes, and our floor gets wet. My kids sleep hungry.”
Women and girls returning to Afghanistan face severe restrictions on their rights to education, employment, and freedom of movement. “There’s a school in front of our place [in Kandahar], but girls are not allowed,” said Hamidullah, who had lived in Pakistan for 40 years and was deported to Afghanistan in 2024. “I have five daughters who used to go to school.”
Countries hosting Afghan refugees, including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, should maintain the position that Afghanistan is unsafe for returns. Pakistan’s coerced returns, expulsions and deportations of Afghans may amount to violations of Pakistan’s obligations as a party to the UN Convention Against Torture and the customary international law principle prohibiting refoulement, or forced return to a place where they would face a genuine risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment, or a threat to their life. Germany and other countries have also put Afghans at risk by deporting them to Afghanistan.“Afghanistan is not safe for any forced refugee returns,” Pearson said, “Countries that pledged to resettle at-risk Afghans should respond to the urgency of the situation in Pakistan and expedite those cases.”
Surge in Coerced Returns and Expulsions of Afghans from Pakistan
As of the start of 2025, Afghans were one of the world’s largest refugee populations, numbering 6.4 million. Many Afghan refugees in Pakistan have lived there since the war in Afghanistan began in 1978. Continuing instability, including the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, have driven 1.6 million more Afghans to neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
In late 2023, Pakistani authorities issued directives that all Afghans living without legal status had to leave voluntarily or face deportation. Broadcalls by Pakistani officials for mass deportations instigated an increase in police abuse against Afghans, including assault, arbitrary detention, and destruction of property. By December 2024, over 800,000 Afghans had left Pakistan for Afghanistan, with 85 percent reporting fear of arrest as the reason. More than 38,000 were deported following an arrest.
The numbers had slowed since the beginning of 2024. However, renewed calls accusing Afghans of supporting militant groups in Pakistan led to further threats and police abuse in late 2024, despite a temporary extension of Afghans’ identity documents.
In November 2024, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry announced that Afghans could not stay in Islamabad, the capital, after December 31. By the end of December, police had detained over 800 Afghans in Islamabad. Since then, Pakistani authorities have called again for the expulsion of all Afghan refugees.Refugees told Human Rights Watch that Pakistani police raided their houses or neighborhoods both during the day and at night and took them or relatives to police stations to extort money. A 33-year-old Afghan woman living in Islamabad said the house raids in her area began at 4 a.m., “as if they are looking for criminals. It’s a very traumatizing experience.”
Zahra, who has lived in Pakistan since 2023, said, “They brought trucks and arrested people. If you don’t open the door, they will enter through the windows. They don’t care about children or older people. I know of people with valid visas who had to pay between 20,000 and 100,000 rupees [US$70 to $400] not to be arrested.”
Hashema M., a former prosecutor, feared being deported back to Afghanistan. “I have given a lock to my neighbors to lock me inside, so they think I’m not home,” she said. “My 4-year-old daughter has had a fever since yesterday, but I dare not take her to the doctor as we don’t go out.”
Another Afghan coerced to leave said, “They don’t care about pending visas or UNHCR cases. Even those who have visas need to bribe.” A women living in hiding in Islamabad said, “They have arrested people from classes. The fact they are arresting people from everywhere affects people’s mental health.”
Even when just one family member lacks the necessary legal documentation, the police may force all family members to leave, or expel half the family while some, including children, stay in Pakistan. Aid organization representatives said that children under 18 have been left in Pakistan without their parents or deported on their own to Afghanistan. Police have arrested children walking to school, and Afghans in school, and at workplaces and markets. One nongovernmental organization representative said that some Afghans were keeping their children out of school for fear they might be deported. Teenage boys in particular are at high risk of being arrested and deported.
Afghans in Pakistan who have pending resettlement cases in other countries, such as the US and Germany, are also at risk of being deported back to Afghanistan. Atefa R., 37, who has been living in Pakistan since 2023 and has a pending humanitarian protection case with Canada, said: “On January 4, 2025, police detained my husband. They took him even when I told them we are waiting for our Canadian visa to be processed. He was released after we paid 20,000 rupees [$70].”
At border crossing points, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) provide assistance for Afghans arriving from Pakistan. Those returning have only a few days to move through these transit centers, where they are given temporary accommodation, food, health checks, hygiene kits, and transportation to their destinations.
Aid groups try to identify people from marginalized groups, such as women traveling alone, people with disabilities, and unaccompanied children, for additional support and available psychosocial services. “When people arrive, we provide immediate assistance, but that’s not enough for them to build a life,” said a director of a humanitarian organization.
The groups cannot provide some essential services due to lack of funds and Taliban restrictions. “We work with some civil society NGOs that work with communities to make referrals, and do some medical tests, but these are limited services,” said a humanitarian organization representative. One organization that works with returnees said, “The transit time is short, and [the returnees] need to be moved quickly. We don’t have time to register and follow up.”
Abuses Against People Associated with the Former Government
Because returnees are formally registered at border crossings, some Afghans who fear they might face retribution from the Taliban may instead enter Afghanistan through other areas along its porous border with Pakistan. Those who are deported do not have that option, though.
Ahmad M., who had worked in the former government’s security forces, fled to Pakistan after the Taliban takeover and was deported back to Afghanistan in November 2023. He said that the Taliban arrested him when he arrived in Afghanistan. “I was in detention for two months,” Ahmad M. said. “Every night, they would tell me: ‘We will kill you tonight,’ but they didn’t. I was beaten in the National Directorate of Security prison. They hid their faces because they didn’t want me to recognize them. I was released after two months, but I know of so many colleagues who have been detained and disappeared.”
Taliban’s Ban on Education and Abuses Based on Gender
Since taking power, the Taliban have banned education for girls and women beyond primary school. In December 2024, the authorities closed one of the last remaining loopholes in their ban on education for older girls and women by forbidding them from attending institutions offering medical education. For Afghans returning from Pakistan, where girls and women could attend school and university regardless of age, these bans have been devastating.“My 13-year-old daughter used to go to school and can’t go here,” said Noor Mohamad, who was deported to Nimroz province. “It’s a very difficult life.”
Mahmoud S., who had lived in Pakistan for 27 years and was deported from Peshawar to a returnee township in Logar province in mid-2024, also said his daughters used to go to school in Pakistan, and now “in Afghanistan they can’t.”
In most provinces, the Taliban have issued regulations that forbid women from travelling or leaving their houses without being accompanied by a mahram – a male relative as a chaperone – including to go to work. Bibbi Roshana, who used to make and sell handicrafts in Islamabad and was deported in May 2024, can’t run her small business anymore. “In Nimroz, as a woman, you need to have a mahram to be able to sell your products, so I can’t,” she said.
Ayesha L., who was forced to leave Pakistan in December 2023, said that her daughter was an English teacher in Pakistan. “Here, she cries all day and is depressed,” she said. Fatima M., who was forced to leave Pakistan and return to Kabul in January 2024 said, “I feel I am in prison, but I don’t know what crime I have committed."
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people also fear harassment and detention. While previous Afghan governments criminalized same-sex conduct, LGBT people report that abuses have intensified under the Taliban. There is no dedicated referral system among embassies and international agencies for the protection of LGBT people.Lack of Livelihoods and Access to Services
The UN has reported that more than half of the Afghan population of 42 million are experiencing food insecurity, with 14.8 million people facing acute hunger. In addition, 14 million people have limited access to basic healthcare services, including medicine. Many new arrivals settle in “returnee townships” populated by recent returnees and other displaced people that generally do not have work opportunities or sources of income, and lack education and health services.
According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, as of mid-2024, there were 46 such refugee townships in 29 out of 34 of the country’s provinces. A UNHCR survey found that Afghan returnees cited housing, food, and financial assistance, along with protection issues including fear of arrest and need for political protection, as their most important concerns.
Zarif H., who was deported to Afghanistan in October 2023, said that returnees lack adequate food, drinking water, and housing. Gul Agha, who was deported in November 2023 and currently lives in Logar, said, “There are 14 families with about 85 members in this township. None has a job. We struggle to find food for our children every day.” Ahmad Gul, at a similar site in Kandahar, said: “There are no jobs. I have been living with my family in a tent at a refugee camp for the past six months.”
Many returnees lack tazkiras (identity documents), which are required for assistance, to get a mobile phone, or to register children for school. Abdul Hadi, a recent returnee in Farah, said:
I was deported six months ago. I lived in Pakistan all my life. I don’t have an ID card. I have eight family members. I am very poor here. My life used to be better. I have daughters who are 7 and 8 years old and they can’t go to school. I don’t know what the procedure is [to get a tazkira].
Hazarat Gul, 51, who had also lived in Pakistan all his life, cannot get aid services. “I don’t have a tazkira, and I don’t know anyone in my village who can help,” he said. “Getting a tazkira in Afghanistan is a long process and requires two individuals who can confirm the applicant’s identity.” Afghans returning from many years or decades in Pakistan may not be able to locate two people from their original district to vouch for them.
An official with an aid organization based in Nangarhar said: “There’s an urgent need for these families to be registered at the border. The Taliban authorities must open mobile tazkira issuance centers at the Torkham and Spin Boldak borders.”
The lack of adequate health care has also affected those forced out of Pakistan, particularly women and girls for whom there are few female doctors available, especially in rural areas. One Helmand resident who had recently returned said that his sister had been ill for months: “But we can’t afford to send her to a central hospital. In our area, there’s no female doctor.”
Humanitarian organizations face problems due to lack of sufficient funds as well as the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s employment and freedom of movement. “The mahram policy has made our work difficult,” said a humanitarian worker. “Our female staff need to be accompanied by male guardians; otherwise, they could be stopped at checkpoints. The authorities also require us to have separate offices and vehicles for women, which is expensive.”Hamid S.’s children also haven’t been able to receive medical care since they were forced to return to Afghanistan in November 2023: “Both my children have thalassemia (a blood disorder) and need continuous treatment. I had taken them to our ‘clinic,’ but they told me I must take them to a private hospital because they can’t treat them here. With no job, I can’t afford private healthcare services.”
People with Disabilities
Afghans with disabilities who return to their provinces of origin face even greater problems in accessing essential services outside of provincial centers, and most cannot afford the travel costs. Services at transit centers and returnee townships are often physically inaccessible for people with physical disabilities. “Toilets and bathing areas are not accessible to people with physical disabilities,” said a humanitarian worker at the Torkham border crossing.
An international organization reported that due to the short stay in transit centers and inadequate assessments, people with disabilities lack sufficient referral to organizations providing disability-specific services.“There are no special services for people with disabilities on either side of the border,” said Sharifa M., 43, who has a physical disability.
People with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities also face severe challenges accessing disability-specific services, due to lack of availability, stigma, and funding for these programs.
Returnees with disabilities are subject to stigma and discrimination by both the Taliban authorities and host communities that exacerbates their marginalization. Women with disabilities have been at risk due to the intersection of gender and disability-based discrimination. An aid worker at the Torkham border said that humanitarian staff often lack awareness of disability-related needs and fail to prioritize needed aid to people with disabilities.
The forced return of people to Afghanistan has had significant mental health consequences. Many people face anxiety, depression, and trauma related to displacement and fear of persecution. Yet, Afghanistan has long had a severe lack of mental health services. Studies suggest that one out of two Afghans has experienced stress, anxiety, or other forms of psychological distress from political violence, instability, and poverty.
Recommendations
To the Pakistan Government
Respect the principle of nonrefoulement and stop the forced return and deportation of Afghans regardless of their current legal status in Pakistan. People who return voluntarily should not be coerced and should be fully informed about conditions in Afghanistan. They should be granted adequate time to prepare and be able to return with their assets, including household items, livelihood, and savings. UNHCR and IOM should have full access and be involved in monitoring and facilitating all phases of the voluntary repatriation process.
Extend and reopen registration for Proof of Registration cards and Afghan Citizen Cards.Issue written directives to all relevant police and other security forces to end abuses, including arbitrary detention, unlawful house raids, and extortion.
Investigate and appropriately discipline or prosecute police and other officials responsible for abuses against Afghan nationals.
Issue legal residency for Afghans born in Pakistan.
To the Taliban:
Reverse bans on access to secondary and higher education for girls and women and employment of women, and end all rights violations against women and girls.
End abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment against former government personnel, and immediately investigate and hold to account those responsible for these abuses.
Immediately open a mobile office at the Pakistan border to issue identification documents (tazkira) free for Afghan refugees who are deported or forced to return from Pakistan.
To Concerned Governments:
Stop the deportations of Afghans from any country and adhere to the policy that Afghanistan is not a safe country to which to forcibly return any refugee.
Increase resettlement of Afghan refugees from Pakistan to third countries and expedite the emergency resettlement of at-risk Afghans.
Fund and prioritize support for people with disabilities in transit centers and provinces to which they return, including disability-inclusive needs assessments.
Fund health services, including psychosocial support and mental health services, in Afghanistan. Pakistani leader calls for unity to combat militants after a surge in attacks (AP)
AP [3/18/2025 12:14 PM, Staff, 34586K]
Pakistan’s prime minister called Tuesday on the country’s political leadership to unite in its resolve to combat militants with "the full force of the state" following a surge in deadly violence.
Separatists in Balochistan last week hijacked a train and killed 26 hostages before security forces shot dead all 33 attackers in one of the worst bloodshed in recent months that drew nationwide condemnation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he convened a meeting of parliament’s National Security Committee that was also attended by army Chief Gen. Asim Munir. He said he regretted that the opposition party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan boycotted the meeting, which unanimously condemned the recent attacks and paid tribute to security forces.
"The forum emphasized the need for a strategic and united political resolve to face this threat with the full strength of the state and called for national consensus in the fight against terrorism," according to a government statement.
While Sharif in his remarks did not directly attribute the recent violence to any specific group, both the Pakistani Taliban and the Baloch Liberation Army have claimed responsibility for many recent attacks. BLA mainly operates in oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan and said it was behind the train hijacking and killing of hostages.
According to a military statement, Gen. Munir at the meeting underscored the urgent need for better governance.
"Those who believe they can weaken Pakistan through these terrorists should know that today, we send them a clear message: We are united and will not only defeat them but will also dismantle their facilitators," Munir said, according to the statement. India
Tulsi Gabbard Goes to India for Strategic Partnership Talks with Narendra Modi (Breitbart)
Breitbart [3/18/2025 11:30 AM, John Hayward, 2923K]
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard arrived in India on Monday for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
Gabbard and the Indian ministers discussed defense and intelligence issues, including India’s concerns about Sikh separatists.
Modi, who also met with Gabbard in February during his visit to Washington, D.C, gifted the DNI with a vase containing water from Prayagraj, the site of India’s recently-concluded Maha Kumbh religious festival. Gabbard was raised in the Hindu faith and spoke of her appreciation for Hindu philosophy during her visit to India.
"Happy to have met the U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in New Delhi. We discussed a wide range of issues which include defense and information sharing, aimed to further deepen the India-U.S. partnership," Defense Minister Singh said after his meeting with Gabbard.
India’s NDTV reported that both Singh and Doval "raised the Khalistani terrorist issue" in their conversations with Gabbard, including "specific reference to concerns about anti-India elements operating from American soil.".
The Khalistani movement is a Sikh independence campaign based in Punjab province, whose population is about 60 percent Sikh. In the eyes of adherents, "Khalistan" would be an independent state carved out of Punjab as a "land of the pure.".
The Khalistani movement became militant in the 1980s, and India now regards it as a major terrorist threat with global reach, because there are large Sikh populations harboring Khalistan activists in other countries.Canada is one such country and, in June 2023, the Khalistan issue became a major global story following the assassination of separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Vancouver temple. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused Modi and his government of killing Nijjar, although he later admitted he had little hard evidence to back up the accusation. A harsh diplomatic feud erupted between India and Canada, and relations between the two nations remain tense to this day.
Based on their public comments, Indian officials appeared satisfied that Gabbard took their security concerns seriously. Doval, the Indian national security adviser, said he had a "good discussion" with Gabbard about mutual security issues.
Another topic of discussion during Gabbard’s visit was President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs. Trump said India, along with other countries that impose tariffs on American exports, could face reciprocal tariff increases on April 2.
Gabbard said New Delhi and Washington are having a "direct dialogue at the very top" on tariffs. The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner.
"What I see as a great positive is that we have two leaders who have common sense and who are looking for good solutions. This direct dialogue is happening at the very top in both of our countries, but also at the different secretaries and the cabinet members is going to be key to lay down what that path forward really looks like," Gabbard said in an interview with India’s ANI on Monday.
"What I have heard from the Indian government officials that I have spoken to over the last few days, there is an opportunity here to see. There is more potential for strengthening our economic relationship," she said.
"I am glad to see that they are looking at it in a more positive light than just one that is focused in a negative way, when we look at tariffs," she added.
Gabbard said both Modi and Trump had valid interests in the tariff debate, and were looking for a "good solution" that would benefit both sides.
"PM Modi is looking out for what is in the best interest of India’s economy and the opportunities available for the people of India. Similarly, President Trump is doing the same for the U.S., our economic interests, and the interests of the American people," she said.
Gabbard’s interview with ANI became somewhat infamous after the Associated Press (AP) deliberately misquoted her to create a false story that she had described Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "very good friends." Gabbard was actually talking about Trump and Modi, which the AP later admitted after withdrawing its fake story.
"The tone and the relationship with our new administration under President Trump and Prime Minister Modi was set during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the White House. As you know, they are already good friends," she told ANI. India asks US to list Sikh group as terrorist organisation, Indian source says (Reuters)
Reuters [3/18/2025 7:30 AM, Shivam Patel, 41523K]
India has asked the U.S. to list a Sikh separatist group as a terrorist organisation, an Indian government source said on Tuesday, more than a year after the U.S. said it had foiled a plot with Indian links to kill a leader of the group in the U.S.
Washington went public about the plot in November 2023 and later charged a former Indian spy service officer with directing the plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canada citizen and the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), in an episode that tested growing India-U.S. friendship.
India denied any official connection to the plot, set up a panel to probe Washington’s accusations and said in January that the panel had recommended legal action against an unnamed person.
India’s request to the U.S. to list SFJ as a terrorist group came during talks between Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and visiting U.S. national intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard, said the Indian government source, who declined to be identified as the discussions were confidential.
Indian media outlets have also reported the request.
Formed in 2007, SFJ holds referendums to advocate for a separate state for Sikhs called Khalistan in Hindu-majority India.
SFJ was labelled an "unlawful association" by India in 2019, citing its support for extremist and secessionist activities, and Pannun was listed as an "individual terrorist" in 2020.
India has had a diplomatic dispute with Canada over the June 2023 killing of another Sikh separatist there.
SFJ has rejected New Delhi’s accusations.
"Who is the terrorist? Is it SFJ, which is peacefully and democratically organizing the Global Khalistan Referendum to liberate Punjab from Indian occupation?" Pannun said in a statement shared with Reuters on Tuesday, referring to the home state of Sikhs in India.
"Or is it (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s India, which engages in violent transnational repression and hires hitmen to assassinate Khalistan Referendum organizers?" he said.
An Indian defence ministry spokesperson declined to comment. A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said they did not have anything to add beyond a statement about the talks between Singh and Gabbard issued by India’s defence ministry on Monday, which mentioned deepening security ties but made no mention of SFJ.
Gabbard’s team and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
At a geopolitics conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, Gabbard said that during her trip she’d heard from her Indian counterparts "about the very serious concerns that you have here for your own security interests", without elaborating. India Follows Trump to Fight Global Steel Glut With Tariffs (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [3/19/2025 1:18 AM, Preeti Soni and Katharine Gemmell, 5.5M]
India is about to join the worldwide wave of steel protectionism, outlining plans for sweeping trade tariffs just a week after President Donald Trump slapped duties on all US imports.
The global steel market is facing upheaval as multiple nations put up defences to fight a flood of metal, particularly from billion-ton producer China. India’s Commerce ministry has proposed temporary “safeguard” duties of 12% on a wide range of steel products, according to a statement on Tuesday.
Safeguard measures are used “in times of increased, unfavourable and unforeseen imports that cause or threaten to cause permanent damage to the domestic industry,” the ministry’s statement said.
India, the world’s second-biggest steelmaker, joins countries from Asia to Europe and Latin America in seeking tariff relief. China’s property crisis has sent its steel exports rocketing, fueling a global glut at a time of fragile demand — and Trump’s 25% duties threaten to push metal to other markets.
The proposed tariffs on Indian imports will be applied for a period of 200 days, according to the preliminary decision that followed an investigation by the country’s trade authority. A final ruling will be made after 30 days of consultation and a public hearing.“In terms of domestic market, we are seeing a lot of new capacity so there will be some support now because of these duties,” Shankhadeep Mukherjee, principal analyst at CRU Group, said by phone from Kolkata.
Steelmaker shares in India rose on Wednesday, with state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd. gaining as much as 5%. Tata Steel Ltd. went up 2.9%, while Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. advanced more than 2%.
Critical Circumstances
Though China’s steel producers have reduced production, the country is still making a lot more steel than it needs domestically, and exports increased to a nine-year high in 2024. India also noted the impact of multiple trade measures worldwide, as well as slowing demand and growing steel capacity more widely across Asia.“There exist critical circumstances, where any delay in application for provisional safeguard measures would cause damage which it would be difficult to repair,” the ministry said. Imports of finished steel from China grew 80% to 1.6 million tons in the first seven months of 2024, according to government data.
India’s steel output has grown rapidly in the past decade, although its output last year was still only about 15% of China’s. Its producers have big plans to expand over the long term to feed the country’s urbanization and industrialization.
If imposed, the duty will bring some relief to the swathe of steelmakers that had asked for the probe through the Indian Steel Association. Several producers had requested the government to impose a safeguard duty for four years. India Needs Satellite Internet, Minister Says in Boost to Musk (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [3/18/2025 9:16 AM, Alisha Sachdev, Santosh Kumar, and Debjit Chakraborty, 5.5M]
India needs satellite internet especially in its rural areas, its telecom minister said, a positive regulatory sign for Elon Musk’s Starlink Inc. which has aspirations to operate in the world’s most-populous nation.“There are many remote corners of the country where you cannot take fiber or mobile connectivity. How do you do 100% saturation if you don’t have satellite internet?” Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in an interview in New Delhi Tuesday. He added that satellite connectivity will be “the only way that you can activate things” if natural disasters destroy towers and fiber networks.
Emphasizing the complementary — and not competitive — role played by these services, Scindia said India was committed to offer consumers terrestrial, fiber as well as satellite communications.
The minister’s remarks underscore the solid backing for these services from the Narendra Modi-led government. It also bolsters global firms vying for an Indian entry, including Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and OneWeb Ltd.
While Starlink is yet to secure a regulatory license to start operations in India and is awaiting local rules on spectrum pricing, many things are beginning to align for the US firm.
Last week, it announced alliances with two Indian wireless operators —- Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. — winning over those who had earlier opposed Starlink being granted cheap airwaves.‘Open for Anyone’“India’s market is open for anyone and everyone who wants to come and participate in this large market and provide a service,” Scindia said. “Ultimately it’s the consumer that has to decide who they will go with.”
Scindia declined to comment on when Starlink may get the license or what price satellite internet firms will be asked to pay for airwaves.
India’s telecom regulator is making rules on the latter and how the spectrum is priced will influence the cost of satellite broadband for users in India.
India is the world’s second-largest internet market, trailing China. Phone data charges are as low as $0.11 per gigabyte, among the lowest in the world, and any entrant will be fighting for users in a price-sensitive market.
Scindia said the firms will decide the pricing of their satellite internet services.
Security Conditions
Global firms, including SpaceX’s Starlink, will also need to satisfy India’s internal and external security conditions before securing a license. Rival OneWeb as well as Reliance Jio’s JioSpaceFiber has already got the local licenses to start operations.“Eventually it’ll be an economies of scale argument that’ll come through,” Scindia said. “At this point of time, let the market be penetrated first.”
Here are some of the other key comments from Scindia:
India plans to set up a Telecom Manufacturing Zone with end-to-end services for telecom equipment makers, including testing and certification labs. It’ll have an anchor tenant.
State-run wireless operator BSNL is on track for a turnaround; aims to roll out 5G services by June
In the last decade, mobile consumers have increased from 900 million to 1.2 billion while phone charges have gone down India snubs Bangladesh on medical visas, opening way for China (Reuters)
Reuters [3/19/2025 1:06 AM, Krishna N. Das, Shivam Patel and Ruma Paul, 5.2M]
India is resisting pleas by Bangladesh to resume issuing normal volumes of medical visas, citing staffing shortages amid worsening ties, six sources said, giving China rare space to expand similar offerings and build people-to-people ties.
The bulk of India’s visas for Bangladeshis in 2023 went to those seeking its affordable private healthcare and Bengali-speaking hospital staff, helping to cement ties between the neighbours and limit China’s regional influence.
"When there is a vacuum, others will come and fill the space," one of four Bangladesh sources, most of them diplomats, told Reuters. "Some people are going to Thailand and China."
Since August, India has handed out fewer than 1,000 medical visas each working day, down from a figure of 5,000 to 7,000, said the sources, who all sought anonymity, citing their terms of employment.
The numbers have fallen as relations have cooled after Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, replaced India’s long-term ally Sheikh Hasina.
Fleeing deadly protests that unseated her in August, Hasina sought refuge in New Delhi, and India has not responded since to Bangladesh’s request to send her home for trial.
In 2023, India issued more than 2 million visas to Bangladeshis, most of them on medical grounds, government data from both countries shows. But its withdrawal since has opened an enticing gap for China.
Just this month, a group of Bangladeshis visited the southwestern province of Yunnan for treatment, in a bid to "explore the potential of the medical tourism market", said the Chinese ambassador, Yao Wen.
And at least 14 of its companies have invested more than $230 million in Bangladesh since the interim government took office, the most of any country in that period, Wen said last week.
Bangladesh’s de facto prime minister, Yunus, is set to visit China this month to meet President Xi Jinping.
China, with which India is only slowly restoring ties after Himalayan border clashes in 2020, is also considering opening a friendship hospital in Dhaka, the government of Bangladesh has said, and eased access for Bangladeshis seeking treatment there.
China is willing to work together with Bangladesh to continuously deepen and explore mutually beneficial cooperation, a spokesperson of its foreign ministry said.
"The cooperation between China and Bangladesh is not targeted at any third party, nor is it influenced by third-party factors," the spokesperson told Reuters.
The foreign ministries of India and Bangladesh did not respond to requests for comment.
ALIENATION
India’s tardy visa processing was alienating not just the government of Bangladesh, but also the wider population, the four sources said, which could keep India out of Dhaka’s favour for a long time, as a swift comeback by Hasina’s party is unlikely.
India has repeatedly cited staff shortages in its Dhaka embassy for the visa problems, said the diplomats and Indian government sources added that they were concerned about staff security.
New Delhi evacuated many diplomats and their families from its missions in Bangladesh in August after public opinion turned against it for sheltering Hasina, with protesters in the Bangladesh capital attacking an Indian cultural centre.
The Indian government sources said they wanted Bangladeshis with medical conditions to secure access to treatment in India, adding that staff would be added to missions in the neighbouring country when there is "stability in Bangladesh".
One of them also attributed the fewer medical visas to the finding that some were being misused by people looking to "try and escape difficult conditions in Bangladesh".
The visa bottlenecks come against the backdrop of Indian credit lines of more than $7 billion extended to Bangladesh for projects from rail links and Indian economic zones at two ports to nuclear power plant infrastructure and defence purchases.
This month, India’s foreign ministry said some of its projects in Bangladesh had been affected and the two sides had discussed "rationalising the project portfolio".
Ties between Bangladesh and China are gathering pace, however.
While a source said India had not formally engaged with any politicians in Bangladesh, a delegation led by a former minister of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party recently went to China at Beijing’s invitation.
This week, Yunus told Wen that Bangladesh was ready to further open its market to China, after top solar energy player Longi Green Energy (601012.SS) agreed to set up an office in Bangladesh and invest in manufacturing.
Wen has also met a top BNP leader over what he called "issues of mutual concern", but gave no further details.
By contrast, the first meeting between Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected only next month on the sidelines of a conference in Thailand, two Indian sources said.
China’s regional influence is growing, an Indian analyst said.
"South Asia is undergoing a major strategic shift in which China is becoming one of the biggest players," said Happymon Jacob, who teaches international relations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in the Indian capital.
"With every South Asian country, the traditional primacy that India enjoyed is being questioned." India, New Zealand target free trade pact in 60 days to boost trade ties (Reuters)
Reuters [3/18/2025 8:10 AM, Manoj Kumar, 126906K]
India and New Zealand aim to sign a free trade agreement in the next two months, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Tuesday, a move that could expand bilateral trade in agricultural, aerospace and renewable energy sectors.
India and New Zealand have restarted negotiations for a trade pact after a decade-long hiatus, following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Luxon, who is on a visit to India.
"Let’s drive this relationship forward, and I look forward to signing that agreement with Prime Minister Modi in 60 days," Luxon told a gathering of business leaders.
Talks are taking place against a backdrop of mounting global trade tensions, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose reciprocal tariffs on imported goods from several countries, including India.
Looking to cushion the effect of U.S. policy, India is also accelerating efforts to secure trade agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Bilateral trade between India and New Zealand grew by over 30% year-on-year to reach $1.2 billion in 2024, according to data from India’s trade ministry.
A proposed free trade agreement with New Zealand could bolster bilateral ties significantly in areas such as farm products, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and tourism, India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said, suggesting trade could grow 10-fold in just a decade.
"The huge amount of opportunity in innovation that comes out of New Zealand can reach the whole world through India," Goyal said. "Manufacturing (and) producing in India for the world at competitive prices can help us take this partnership to greater heights.".
However, analysts warn that trade negotiations could face delays due to differences over tariffs on dairy products and non-trade issues.
Indian negotiators have resisted pressure to lower tariffs ranging from 30% to 60% on agricultural products, particularly dairy, in free trade talks with several partners including the European Union and New Zealand, arguing it could threaten the livelihood of millions of small farmers.
Goyal said both countries plan to accelerate negotiations while "respecting each other’s sensitivities".
"I’ve always said that no free trade agreement is ever negotiated with a gun on anybody’s head," he said.
Luxon said New Zealand expected an enhanced partnership with India in the fields of aerospace and renewable energy, among others. Six Women Were Elected. So Why Were Their Husbands Sworn In? (New York Times)
New York Times [3/19/2025 12:01 AM, Alex Travelli and Suhasini Raj, 831K]
The video that set off the storm was not much to look at. A circle of 12 men draped in bright garlands were reading aloud solemn statements during a ceremony to form a new local government in a deeply rural corner of India.
The scandal was that six of those elected to lead the village had been women. Those six were absent, each one represented by her husband instead.
The video went viral after the March 3 ceremony, and reporters from India’s national newspapers descended on Paraswara village in the central state of Chhattisgarh over the next week — which included International Women’s Day.
The public erasure of the six female officeholders was shocking but hardly surprising. This kind of unofficial substitution is commonplace in rural India, in exactly the places where small-time leadership positions have long been set aside for women.
Since 1992, the national rules concerning panchayats, or traditional village councils, have promised that one-third and in some cases one-half of all seats will be set aside for women. The idea was to lift up a generation of female leaders and to make the councils more attuned to women’s needs.
The spirit of this law, however, is often disregarded, even when the letter is obeyed. The women who are supposed to take seats in the panchayat end up serving as deputies to their own husbands, who wield power alongside the elected men. There is a well-known term in Hindi, pradhan pati, for this “boss husband” role.
India has a long way to go to empower women at the national level, too. Only about 15 percent of members of Parliament are women, and there are just two women in the 30-member cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government approved a constitutional amendment in 2023 to reserve a third of all parliamentary seats for women, though it will not go into effect for at least another four years.
While many female politicians have risen to national prominence, that has come not via panchayat seats, but often through association with established male politicians.
In Paraswara, the men who had been present at the village’s swearing-in ceremony were defensive about the absence of the six women. One of the men, Bahal Ram Sahu, said in an interview later that three of the women had been ill and that the other three were required at a funeral that day. Other witnesses differed about the details, but all agreed with Mr. Sahu: Sometimes a husband stands in for his wife, and “nobody thinks there is anything wrong with that.”
Over the past 15 years, Mr. Sahu’s wife, Ram Bai, has been elected three times to Paraswara’s panchayat and once served as its head. But “as a husband, I am always with her,” he said. He counseled her on all matters, he added, and represented her whenever she was indisposed.
The husband who serves as a proxy for his officially empowered wife has become a stock character in fiction. “Panchayat” is the title of a popular series on Amazon Prime in which a village’s local boss lounges around on a string bed calling shots while his wife pretends to hold the office to which she was elected.
The national government has recognized the problem. It commissioned a report in 2023 aimed at “eliminating efforts for proxy participation,” and last month it proposed “exemplary penalties” against husbands who usurp their wives’ roles.
Even “Panchayat” the TV show has a role to play. As the series unspools, the wife turns out to be a wily and capable character and finds ways to exercise her lawful authority. Now the show’s producers are working with the government on a series of episodes subtitled “Who’s the Real Boss?,” in which, after all, the woman knows best.
Encouragement comes from real life, too, in other parts of India. In the state of Punjab, Sheshandeep Kaur Sidhu became the head of her village’s panchayat at the age of 22. Ms. Sidhu, who is now 29, had earned a master’s degree in political science and felt determined to do something for her village.
After winning one of the seats reserved for women, Ms. Sidhu had her eye on fixing problems involving education and sanitation. She faced resistance. “I was very young and they were like: ‘What can this girl achieve?’” she recalled.
Ms. Sidhu wants every woman seated in every panchayat in India to stick up for herself and her fellow women, and to use the power the state has entrusted with them. Women like her, she said, must be “headstrong” and “make your points clear to your husbands.”“I was told politics is not considered a good thing for girls and women,” Ms. Sidhu said. So she made a priority of solving a symbolic problem in her village.
For every household that was headed by a woman, she had a nameplate hung outside. These houses used to be known only by the names of male relatives: fathers, brothers or husbands, even if dead or departed. Now each one shows the name of the actual woman who runs the home. Curfew in India city after violence over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb (BBC)
BBC [3/18/2025 9:03 AM, Neyaz Farooquee, 52868K]
A curfew has been imposed in parts of a city in India’s western state of Maharashtra after Hindu groups demanded the removal of the tomb of Aurangzeb, a 17th-Century Mughal emperor, sparking violence on Monday night.
Vehicles were set on fire and stones were thrown in the Mahal area of Nagpur city.
Police say the situation is now under control and are appealing to people to keep the peace.
The tomb of Aurangzeb, who died more than 300 years ago, has in recent years become a political flashpoint amid growing calls for its removal by hardline Hindu groups.
It is located about 500km (311 miles) from Nagpur in the state’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, which was earlier called Aurangabad after the emperor.
Monday’s violence broke out after two Hindu organisations, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, burnt the emperor’s effigy and chanted slogans demanding the removal of his tomb, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state assembly.
This sparked rumours that some religious symbols had been desecrated. Fadnavis said this led to violence that looked like "a well-planned attack".
He said after evening prayers, a crowd of 250 Muslim men gathered and started shouting slogans. "When people started saying they would set vehicles on fire, police used force," he added.
More than 50 people have been detained and 33 policemen were injured in the incident, Nagpur police commissioner Ravinder Singal told ANI news agency.
Shops and businesses in the central areas of Nagpur remain closed and security has been tightened across the city.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have criticised the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government saying "law and order in the state has collapsed".
The trigger for this week’s violence has been a recent Bollywood film about Sambhaji – a Maratha ruler who clashed with Aurangzeb but lost – and its graphic depiction of him being tortured.
The movie has "ignited people’s anger against Aurangzeb", Fadnavis told the state assembly on Tuesday.
The issue has been making headlines in the state for days with politicians from Hindu nationalist parties criticising Aurangzeb and calling for his tomb to be removed.
The protesters were also angered earlier this month when Abu Azmi, a regional politician, said that Aurangzeb was not a "cruel administrator" and had "built many temples".
Azmi also said the emperor’s reign saw India’s borders reaching Afghanistan and present-day Myanmar, and the country was referred to as a golden bird, with its gross domestic product accounting for a quarter of the world’s GDP.
He later told a court his remarks were misinterpreted, but he was suspended from Maharashtra’s state assembly and an investigation was ordered against him.
In 2022, Aurangzeb’s name was trending on social media when the dispute over a mosque - built on the ruins of the Vishwanath temple, a grand 17th-Century Hindu shrine destroyed on Aurangzeb’s orders - broke out as a court ordered a survey to ascertain if the mosque had been built over what was originally a Hindu temple.
His tomb was shut for visitors after a regional politician questioned "the need for its existence" and called for its destruction.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke about "Aurangzeb’s atrocities and "his terror" at an event in Varanasi that year. "He tried to change civilisation by the sword. He tried to crush culture with fanaticism," Modi said.
Who is Aurangzeb?
Aurangzeb was the sixth emperor of the Mughal kingdom who ruled India for nearly five decades from 1658 to 1707.
He is often described as a devout Muslim who lived the life of an ascetic, but was ruthless in his pursuit of expanding the empire, imposing strict sharia laws and discriminatory taxes.
He was accused of razing Hindu temples, though some critics point out he also built a few. Migrant carers from India’s Kerala await justice in UK visa ‘scams’ (BBC)
BBC [3/18/2025 9:12 PM, Nikhil Inamdar and Jaltson AC, 52868K]
It took Arun George half a working life to scrape together £15,000 ($19,460) in savings, which he used to secure a care worker job for his wife in the UK.
But in barely a few months, he lost it all.
Mr George - not his real name as his wife doesn’t want to be identified within their small community for the shame associated with having returned without a job - paid the money in late 2023 to the managers of Alchita Care.
The BBC has seen evidence of the payment to Alchita Care, the private domiciliary care home in Bradford that sponsored his family’s visa. He did it at the behest of a local agent in his town in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
It was the promise of a better life for their child who has special needs that prodded the couple to dip into their savings and take such a risk. But when they got to the UK there was no work.
"We kept chasing the care home, but they made up excuses. After I pleaded with them, they forced us to undergo some unpaid training and gave my wife just three days of work," Mr George said. "We couldn’t carry on and came back to India a few months later.".
Mr George believes he has been scammed by the company and says the ordeal has set him back at least by a decade financially. His family is just one among hundreds of people from Kerala seeking work in the UK who have been exploited by recruiters, care homes and middlemen.
Most have now given up hope of getting justice or their money.
Alchita Care in Bradford has not responded to the BBC’s questions. Their sponsorship licence - which allows care homes to issue certificates of sponsorship to foreign care workers applying for visas - was removed by the Home Office last year.
But at least three other care workers who sent thousands of pounds to Alchita Care and uprooted their lives from Kerala told us that the jobs they had been promised did not materialise.
For many Indians, the care worker visa was a golden ticket to a better life as they could take family along [Vishnu Vardhan].
One of them, still in the UK, said his condition was so precarious that he was surviving on "bread and milk" from charity shops for the past few months.
Like Mr George, Sridevi (not her real name) says she was charged £15,000 for a visa sponsorship by Alchita Care. She spent another £3,000 to get to the UK in 2023.
She’s unable to return to India, scared of facing family members and friends from whom she took a loan to make the trip.
"I struggle to even pay for my rent and meals," she said. Her job is a far cry from the stable eight-hour work she was promised, she says. She is sometimes on call from 4am to 9pm, driving from one patient’s home to another, but gets paid only for the few hours she is actually with the patient, and not the full shift.
Thousands of nurses from Kerala, desperate to migrate to the UK every year, are estimated to have been exploited after the government added care workers to the UK’s shortage occupation list during Covid. This allowed people to be recruited from overseas as long as they were sponsored.For many, the care worker visa was a golden ticket to a better life as they could take family along.
Baiju Thittala, a Labour party member and the mayor of Cambridge, told the BBC he had represented at least 10 such victims over the last three years.
But the cross-border nature of these exploitative schemes means it has been incredibly hard to pursue justice, he said. Very often the victims have made payments to care homes or middlemen domiciled outside India which leads to "jurisdiction problems", he added.
Secondly, lawyers are expensive and most care workers, already in deep debt, can hardly afford to fight it out in the courts.
Thittala estimates at least 1,000-2,000 people from Kerala, directly or indirectly victims of these schemes, are still in the UK.
In the town of Kothamangalam, some 30 people said they had collectively lost millions of dollars while trying to obtain a care visa [Vishnu Vardhan].
There are also hundreds of people scattered across Kerala’s towns who lost money before they could even leave home.
In the town of Kothamangalam, the BBC spoke to some 30 people who had collectively lost millions of dollars while trying to obtain a care visa that allows professionals to come to - or stay - in the UK to work in the social care sector.
All of them accused one agent - Henry Poulos and his agency Grace International in the UK and India - of robbing them of their life savings through fake job offers and sponsorship letters.
Mr Poulos even made some of them take a 2,500km journey to Delhi for visa appointments that were non-existent, they said.
Shilpa, who lives in the town of Alleppey, told the BBC she had taken out a bank loan at a 13% interest rate to pay Mr Poulos, who gave her a fake certificate of sponsorship.
"I thought the UK would offer a good future for my three daughters, but now I am struggling to pay their school fees," she told the BBC.
"I have lost everything. My wife had left her job in Israel so that we could move to the UK," said another victim, Binu, breaking down. He made a comfortable £1,500 with his wife in Israel but has now been forced to take his children out of private school in Kerala because there’s no money anymore.
Neither Mr Poulos nor Grace International responded to the BBC, despite repeated attempts to get in touch with them. The police in Kothamangalam said Mr Poulos was absconding in the UK, and they had sealed his local offices after receiving complaints from six people.
Shilpa told the BBC she had taken out a bank loan at a 13% interest rate to pay the agent for her visa [Vishnu Vardhan].
The previous Conservative government in the UK admitted last year that there was "clear evidence" that care workers were being offered visas under false pretences and paid far below the minimum wage required for their work.
Rules to reduce its misuse were tightened in 2024, including increasing the minimum salary. Care workers are also now restricted from taking dependents, making it a less attractive proposition for families.
Since July 2022, about 450 licences allowing employers to recruit foreign workers have been revoked in the care sector.
Since the beginning of this year, sponsors are now also explicitly prohibited by the Home Office from passing on the cost of the sponsor licence fee or associated administrative costs to prospective employees.
Top police officials in Kerala, meanwhile, told the BBC they were still investigating these cases in India and would work with Interpol agencies to crack down on agents, if necessary.
But for the hundreds who’ve already been exploited, justice remains elusive, and still very much a distant dream. India’s Coddled Billionaires Feel the Pain of US Tariffs (Bloomberg – opinion)
Bloomberg [3/18/2025 5:00 PM, Andy Mukherjee, 5.5M]
There’s still two weeks to go before US President Donald Trump’s April 2 deadline for imposing reciprocal taxes on imports. But New Delhi already seems to have gone into damage-control mode, anticipating the worst.
Over 24 hours last week, two of India’s largest wireless carriers, whose billionaire owners were staunchly opposed until now to Elon Musk getting a free pass to enter their market, independently announced partnerships with his Starlink Inc. A top government minister even posted (and then deleted) a welcome message on X, even though the satellite broadband service is yet to obtain local regulatory approvals.
Narendra Modi didn’t respond to the opposition Congress Party’s allegations that the deals were orchestrated by his administration “to buy goodwill with Trump.” But throw in the flurry of news last month around the prime minister’s visit to the White House about how India might allow imports of Tesla Inc.’s cars at a much lower duty than the 110% it charges currently, and it’s pretty clear that New Delhi is changing its tune on trade and tycoons.
In the past 10 years, Modi’s economic strategy has relied heavily on a small team of national champions. To protect them from foreign competition, tariffs that in 2011 had almost fallen to China’s 7% levels were raised to 12% by 2022, among the highest in the world.
This preference for shielding oligarchs with hefty tariffs, favorable government contracts, as well as nontariff barriers like stifling rules for foreign-backed commerce, has been pretty well-known internationally. Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative during Trump 1.0, kept the biographies of about 15 of them on his desk while negotiating with New Delhi. As he noted in his 2023 book, “In predicting Indian government positions, I would look to the interests of these men.”
Academic research has corrobrated the growing heft of the richest businessmen — Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani — as well as the Mumbai-based Tata Group, cement czar Kumar Mangalam Birla and telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal. The top five groups’ share of nonfinancial assets rose from 10% in 1991 to 18% by 2021.
The expansion picked up steam after Modi first became prime minister in 2014. That’s when the conglomerates “started acquiring larger and larger shares within the sectors where they were present,” according to Viral Acharya, a former central bank deputy governor who now teaches at the New York University. “Given the high tariffs, Big-Five groups do not have to compete with international peers” in many industries, Acharya noted in his 2023 study. Nor do they have to test their muscles overseas. They garner most of their revenues at home, in areas ranging from telecoms, media and retail, to ports, airports, building materials and autos.
Under Trump 2.0, India’s so-called Billionaire Raj could grind to a halt. The Modi government has already started preparing domestic industry for April 2, with the commerce minister asking exporters to “come out of their protectionist mindset.” They’re not the ones who need a change of heart, though. The state has a strong political imperative for a course correction.
In pushing India to buy more from America, the Trump administration has highlighted India’s 39% tariffs on agricultural products, eight times what the US charges. But Modi has a testy relationship with farmers in North India. They have rejected his offer of a more market-based pricing regime and continue to agitate for greater state protection. In a country where nearly half of the workforce is still in farming, any trade concessions on agriculture may be politically expensive. It may be safer to push the burden of Trump’s tantrums to local billionaires.
But the tycoons will also lobby to protect their turf. According to media reports, India has asked manufacturers to replace Chinese-made parts and raw material with American alternatives. That’s a costly proposition. If the Modi administration pushes this line strongly, there’s bound to be resistance. Already there are murmurs in bureaucratic circles that the world’s most-populous nation has aligned itself too strongly with the West, allowing itself to be used as a pawn in US-China rivalry. Maybe it’s time to mend ties in the neighborhood instead. If Tesla is to be given a red-carpet welcome, why not clear the long-pending application by China’s BYD Co. to make electric cars in India — with a local partner?
That’s just one example. Any missteps in defining and protecting India’s national interests may upend an entire model in which a small group of national champions were galvanized to recreate an economic success rivaling China — but standing at an adversarial distance to it. That narrative is nowhere close to fruition. At 13%, factory output has a smaller share of gross domestic product than at any time since 1960. Meanwhile, the trade deficit with China has doubled in the past decade, a reflection of India’s growing dependence on the larger economy.
Before Modi could do anything about that $100 billion annual shortfall, Trump is out to crunch India’s near-$50 billion trade surplus with the US, the South Asian nation’s biggest overseas market. It couldn’t come at a worse time. Domestic demand is slowing sharply, and stock markets are reeling under a $1.3 trillion rout. New Delhi’s best hope is to buy time for broader trade negotiations with Washington by delaying the threat of reciprocal tariffs, especially on politically sensitive agricultural products.
The sudden enthusiasm for the businesses of Trump’s head of government efficiency has a clear message for India’s coddled billionaires: They’re being cut loose. Is China Losing Africa to India? (Newsweek – opinion)
Newsweek [3/18/2025 7:00 AM, Gordon G. Chang, 52220K]
"Africa is entering a period where, for the first time in modern history, it will not be dominated by external powers," Gregory Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association, told Newsweek. "The influence of Europe, Russia, the United States, and the People’s Republic of China is giving way to what now appears to be a vacuum.".
Africa, "fast becoming a key global center of gravity," may soon be able to determine its own future as others compete for money, power, and influence there. Two competitors will be—in fact, already are—the world’s two most populous states, India and China.
Chinese Communists had a long head start. From the founding of the People’s Republic, Beijing prioritized relations with the continent. Mao Zedong saw African nations as natural allies in his struggle with the Soviet Union for leadership of the worldwide Communist movement. He especially coveted Africa’s votes in the U.N. General Assembly.
Today, the continent is still a high priority for Beijing, as seen from Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit in January. According to Beijing, 2025 was the 35th consecutive year a Chinese foreign minister made his first trip of the year to Africa.
At the moment, China is dominant on the continent. China is Africa’s largest bilateral trade partner, the leading bilateral creditor, and the biggest investor.
Yet the position of the People’s Republic is eroding, and in some respects eroding fast. As Xi Jinping’s ambitions have expanded, Africa has necessarily slipped in relative importance. Now, Xi’s case of "imperial overstretch"—the popular term coined by Yale’s Paul Kennedy—is getting worse.
The severe downturn in China has aggravated the overstretch problem. The economy is not growing at the 5.0 percent pace claimed for last year. It may not even be growing at all. Yet whatever the case, China is not growing fast enough to pay back debt. After decades of debt-fueled spending sprees, total-country debt could now be as much as 375 percent of gross domestic product, perhaps 400 percent.
China, as a result, is suffering from simultaneous crises. This means the money for Xi’s grand infrastructure projects, the globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative, has been drying up. "This initiative, which sought to replace Euro-American investment on the continent, has essentially run out of cash, and Beijing is now only doing minor deals around the continent, leaving many major infrastructural projects unfinished," said Copley, also editor-in-chief of Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy. "Beijing had sought to create a network of road and rail links from the interior of Africa to ports on the Indian Ocean, but it has not been able to complete this.".
One of its signature projects, the rail line connecting Kenya’s Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to Uganda, remains uncompleted. After cutting through Kenya’s national parks, the tracks stop in a field near the town of Duka Moja in the Rift Valley, more than 200 miles short of the Ugandan border. The Export-Import Bank of China financed the line but has since refused to put up any more money for completion.
Is there room for India to fill the void?
"India puts a lot of diplomatic effort into its outreach in Africa, including using its 2023 leadership role in the G-20 to successfully push for membership for the African Union," Cleo Paskal of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told Newsweek. "This has been well received, especially by countries trying to find a ‘third way’ that isn’t the West or China.".
In the future, India will play a larger role in Africa.
"China’s economic downturn and India’s growth trajectory could provide the Indians with opportunities to enhance their footprint on the continent in the years ahead," Kamran Bokhari, a senior director of the Washington, D.C.-based New Lines Institute, told Newsweek. "The Indian economy being much smaller than the Chinese one means that New Delhi at present is not in a position to project geo-economic influence in Africa in the way that Beijing does. The reasons for this is that India’s focus has been on human development projects while China’s has concentrated on developing massive hard infrastructure in African nations.".
New Delhi has made progress, but mostly in peripheral areas. "India’s influence is largely limited to the Indian Ocean island states offshore the African continent, such as Seychelles, Mauritius, and the like," Copley noted. "India was thought to be an ideal candidate to replace the People’s Republic of China in Africa, but it has been extremely slow off the mark to seize the opportunity.".
India and China are already in competition mode, increasingly bumping into each other. Historically, Indian businesses have trouble competing against the Chinese government—Chinese firms are often state-owned or benefit from state help—but as China’s economy continues to stall Beijing will run out of the cash to pay off African elites to do its bidding.
In the meantime, India is making a concerted effort to woo the continent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November trip to Nigeria—he was the second foreign dignitary to receive the nation’s Grand Commander of the Order of Niger, following Queen Elizabeth II in 1969—highlighted New Delhi’s renewed interest. At the end of February, at the Japan-India-Africa Business Forum, the Indian government’s external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, took "a thinly veiled swipe" at China’s exploitation of African states.
"India’s approach to Africa has always been guided by a deep-rooted commitment to building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships," Jaishankar said. "Unlike extractive models of engagement, India believes in capacity-building, skill development, and technology transfer, ensuring that African countries not only benefit from investments but also develop self-sustaining growth ecosystems.".Beijing immediately took offense. In response to Jaishankar’s comments, the semi-official Global Times tarred India’s African diplomacy, calling his words "sour grapes" and boasting that "China has remained Africa’s largest trading partner for a 15th consecutive year." That defensiveness is an indication that New Delhi is making progress on a continent that China has long dominated.
The competition between Beijing and New Delhi—the Global Times denied there was a "rivalry for leadership over the Global South"—is another indication that such a rivalry exists, and China knows trends are not favorable.
Africa will become, as the Chinese would say, the world’s next growth hotspot. With a few exceptions, such as South Africa and Sudan, Sub-Saharan Africa is poised for takeoff.
Few are paying attention, but India and China know the stakes. NSB
Bangladesh security officials arrest commander of Rohingya armed group (AP)
AP [3/19/2025 1:26 AM, Julhas Alam, 456K]
Security officials in Bangladesh arrested the leader of a Rohingya insurgent group on charges of illegal entry, sabotage and terrorist activities in the South Asian nation, where there are more than 1 million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar.
Police said that a team of the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, known as the commander-in-chief of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in a raid Tuesday in Narayanganj district near the capital, Dhaka.
Jununi, a Pakistani-born Rohingya who grew up in Mecca, leads a group that has conducted attacks on officials in Myanmar as part of what it describes as “a defensive war with the brutal Burmese military regime” on behalf of the Rohingya, who face discrimination and violence in Myanmar.
Bangladeshi intelligence says ARSA members have been involved in targeted killings, kidnappings, illicit drugs, smuggling and other serious crimes in the Rohingya refugee camps. Infighting and retaliatory attacks over control of the camps led to deaths of hundreds of Rohingya.
Bangladesh’s Daily Star reported that 10 other group members, including four children and women, were also arrested in separate raids in Narayanganj and Mymensingh districts.
Shahinur Alam, a senior police official at Siddhirganj in Narayanganj, told reporters that the officials also seized cash, a knife, a sharp steel chain and four wristwatches during the raid.
A magistrate later on Tuesday authorized police to hold Jununi and six others for interrogation. Four others were sent to prison.
Further details on how Jununi came to Bangladesh and how he stayed in the country remained unclear.
ARSA was formed in 2016 by Rohingya exiles living in Saudi Arabia, according to the International Crisis Group, and is led by Jununi and a committee of about 20 Rohingya emigres. ICG says there are indications Jununi and others received militant training in Pakistan and possibly Afghanistan.
Successive governments in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar have denied the Rohingya basic rights and citizenship, deeming most of them to be foreign invaders from Bangladesh, even though Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations.
For decades, Bangladesh has sheltered more than 1 million Rohingya refugees, including more than 700,000 who crossed the border into Bangladesh in 2017 when Myanmar launched a violent clearance operation in its Rakhine state. Another 70,000 arrived in Bangladesh last year while thousands of new babies are born every year in dozens of sprawling camps in the country.
The situation in Myanmar has remained volatile after another group — Arakan Army — took control over the Rakhine state from where Rohingya refugees arrived in Bangladesh. Bangladesh arrests leader of Rohingya insurgent group (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [3/19/2025 12:33 AM, Midhat Fatimah, 13.3M]
Police in Bangladesh have arrested the leader of a Rohingya insurgent group who was allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against Myanmar security forces, authorities said on Tuesday.
Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, the 48-year-old chief of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), was arrested near the capital Dhaka as he was suspected of murder and carried out acts of sabotage, district police chief Praytush Kumar Majumder told the media.
Jununi and five of his associates were arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion on Tuesday. Another four of his associates were arrested in the central district of Mymensingh, police said.
The police first took them into custody for interrogation.
Later, a district court approved a 10-day remand for custodial interrogation of the suspects in connection with charges of murder, sabotage, and illegal entry into Bangladesh, police inspector Kaiyum Khan said.
ARSA’s history of criminal activity
ARSA was formed as an insurgent group against the stateless Muslim minority’s persecution in Myanmar.
Jununi has headed the insurgent group in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State since 2016, according to a report by the International Crisis Group.
While Jununi was leading ARSA in 2017, the organization was accused of carrying out deadly attacks on security posts in Rakhine.He is believed to have orchestrated the 2017 attacks. He first came to public attention soon after in videos posted online, where he was seen with masked gunmen vowing to liberate the Rohingya from "dehumanized oppression."
The attacks prompted a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar that drove more than 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.
Jununi is also accused of involvement in the murder of a Bangladeshi military intelligence officer.
ARSA is also accused of cross-border drug smuggling, kidnappings, abductions, extortion and torture in Bangladeshi refugee camps. Is Bangladesh the next Afghanistan? (Washington Examiner – opinion)
Washington Examiner [3/18/2025 6:00 AM, Michael Rubin, 2296K]
The smoke had hardly cleared from the Pentagon and ruins of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks before Democrats and Republicans began finger pointing: Was George W. Bush to blame for missing the warning signs about Al Qaeda’s plot? Wasn’t Bill Clinton to blame for allowing the safe haven to develop in the first place? The truth is both dropped the ball.
Clinton was more poll-driven than his predecessors. Afghanistan was not a winning issue for him, and so, rather than lead, he preferred to keep the issue out of sight, out of mind. Islamist groups declared their hatred for America, but journalists and policymakers shrugged at what many saw as just a confusing jumble of acronyms with Arabic and Pushtun names thousands of miles away from America. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, meanwhile, deferred to the State Department’s worst instincts to engage the Taliban. Credulous diplomats believed they had convinced the Taliban to quarantine Osama Bin Laden and shutter his terror training camps.
History now repeats 1,500 miles away in Bangladesh. In August 2024, protestors forced the resignation of longtime Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding leader and one of the first female leaders of a Muslim country. Sheikh Hasina had grown increasingly autocratic with time and students especially were happy to see her go.
It did not take long for most Bangladeshis to understand that the devil they knew was far better than what came next. Muhammad Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work allowing the poor to access credit, and perhaps the most famous Bangladeshi on the world stage, supported the protestors. Upon their victory, they repaid the favor and appointed the 84-year-old Yunus “chief administrator,” basically an interim president. Perhaps Yunus allowed his political grievances to blind him or perhaps ego got the better of him, but today he provides cover for what increasingly is an Islamist and terror-embracing government.Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party whose Pakistani offshoot is one of that country’s most radical parties, is quickly consolidating control over Bangladesh. In the first weeks following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina and her secular Awami League, Jamaat-e-Islami staged pogroms against religious minorities and prominent liberals. It openly seeks to convert Hindus and Christians under threat of death. Today, with Bangladesh outside the headlines, at least in the West, it is transforming the country of 175 million people into a safe haven for a number of terrorist groups, many of which make Al Qaeda look positively liberal.Just as their counterparts a quarter century ago, American journalists and national security officials have difficulty sorting through rapidly proliferating Islamist groups. There is Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh, for example, that strengthens its links to Pakistan-sponsored terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai Attacks. Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh uses its new safe-haven to plot attacks against India. An offshoot, Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, recruits fighters to supplement the Islamic State in Syria, and targets not only religious minorities but also foreigners inside Bangladesh.The new Bangladeshi regime has also sprung Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Khelafat-e-Majlis terrorists from prison.Bangladesh today is like Afghanistan in 2000. Khelafat-e-Majlis, Allah’r Dal, and Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh now coalesce under Heefazat-e-Islam to establish Islamic law throughout Bangladesh under the banner, “Bangladesh will become Afghanistan, and we will become Taliban.”Bin Laden could rain terror upon New York and Washington because both Clinton and Bush dropped the ball. Joe Biden and Donald Trump now revise those roles by ignoring Bangladesh’s rapid descent into a terrorist hell. The chief difference is that a terror base in Bangladesh could be more dangerous for two reasons. First, Bangladesh is one of the world’s densest countries. Targeting terrorists in caves and mountains is tough; routing them out from urban slums is exponentially more difficult. Second, while Afghanistan was landlocked, Bangladesh borders the world’s most populous country and has an outlet to the sea.It is time to designate and shut down the Islamic State’s new emirate before it further consolidates. UN Experts Find Bhutan Illegally Holding Political Prisoners (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [3/18/2025 7:27 PM, Meenakshi Ganguly, 1.6M]
The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan presents itself to the world as an enlightened land that promotes “gross national happiness,” but the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that the government has locked up people for life without parole for expressing their political opinions.
Human Rights Watch and the Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan (GCRPPB) identified at least 37 political prisoners in the country in 2023; five have since been released after completing lengthy sentences. In its report published this month, the UN Working Group examined three among the remaining cases and described a catalogue of violations of fundamental rights. The rest of the cases are similar or nearly identical.
The three men, Birkha Bahadur Chhetri, Kumar Gautam, and Sunman Gurung, were children when they became refugees after the then-government expelled 90,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese in 1990. After returning to Bhutan in 2008, they were arrested for distributing political pamphlets, convicted of treason under Bhutan’s National Security Act, and sentenced to life without parole.
The Working Group found that the men’s detention is arbitrary in four different ways, any one of which would make their imprisonment illegal under international human rights law.
First, the circumstances of their arrest and incommunicado detention placed them outside the protection of the law and in two cases amounted to enforced disappearance. Further, by distributing pamphlets, “the three individuals were exercising their rights … [to freedom of thought and opinion under] the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The UN group also found breaches of the prisoners’ right to a fair trial, and finally that they were “deprived of their liberty on discriminatory grounds, because of their political opinion and status as members of a linguistic minority.” It expressed “grave concern” that they are not permitted any visitors.
Human Rights Watch and GCRPPB have documented that the remaining prisoners are held in dire conditions without adequate food, clothing, or medical facilities. The government of Bhutan did not respond to the UN Working Group’s communications.
Bhutan’s international partners should call on the Bhutanese government to release all remaining political prisoners immediately. Why would Trump put Bhutan, a tiny nation that prioritizes happiness, on his ‘red list?’ (The Independent)
The Independent [3/18/2025 11:55 AM, Holly Baxter, 44838K]
President Trump’s updated travel ban list hasn’t yet been finalized, but a draft has been circulating — and one of the countries included is a bit of a head-scratcher.
The draft list divides countries into "red," "orange," and "yellow" sections. "Red" countries are subject to an immediate and automatic ban for all citizens. "Orange" countries restrict access, meaning anyone from that country who wants to enter the United States will need to attend an in-person interview before receiving a visa. Meanwhile, "yellow" countries are under review and are being asked to update their security systems or risk being put under the red or orange sections.
The 11 countries included on the red list are mostly unsurprising — they are countries where diplomatic relations have been strained for decades, or countries that Trump already included under his previous travel ban. Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen fit that bill. More confusing, however, is the inclusion of Bhutan.
Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan nation with a population of less than 800,000, usually only makes headlines due to its policy of prioritizing "Gross National Happiness" instead of GDP. It is a politically neutral country that has a policy of only passing laws if they contribute to the well-being of its citizens, and its eco-credentials are particularly high: Bhutan is the only carbon-negative country in the world. This is partly due to its dedication to green energy and partly because of its density of forests.
The nation is determined to make sustainability a core part of its identity. Tourism is tightly controlled and any traveler visiting the nation has to pay a $100-per-day Sustainable Development Fee. The money is intended to balance the economic positives of tourism with a commitment to protecting the environment and cultural artifacts. Tourists weren’t even allowed into the country until the 1970s.
Seeking to insulate its country from external forces has been a Bhutanese priority for decades. TV wasn’t introduced until 1999 — at the same time as the internet — and cellphones didn’t arrive until 2003.
There is a dark side to this ideological commitment to "preserving cultural heritage": in 1985, the country instituted a "One Nation, One People" policy. Not long afterwards, Bhutanese who were not Druk Buddhists — especially Nepali-speaking Hindus in the country’s south — were subject to citizenship revocations and arrests, and many were displaced into refugee camps in Nepal. The U.S. took 85 percent of Bhutanese refugees who were forced to leave the country during that time. Most of those refugees settled in the state of Ohio.
The Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio — the largest group for Bhutanese refugees in the United States — describes the "One Nation, One People" policy as one that was "designed to erase the cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage of the people of southern Bhutan who are minority Hindus in a majority Buddhist nation," and estimates that 28,000 such Bhutanese refugees are now settled in Ohio.
The lower-middle-income country, positioned in between India and China, is governed by a king, a prime minister, a royal advisory council and an administration.
What exactly would lead Trump to categorize Bhutan as a "red" country today, with its citizens subject to an outright ban? The reason is unclear, but it may be because Bhutanese citizens who have come to the U.S. on visas in the past few years have had an unusually high rate of overstay. The U.S. government is concerned about "irregular migration patterns" from the country, according to CNBC, as well as "national security concerns.".
According to Homeland Security’s most recent Entry/Exit Overstay Report, from the end of the fiscal year in 2023, Bhutanese nationals had a high rate of overstays on standard B1/B2 visas, at 12.71 percent — but that only works out to 23 people. In comparison, China had an overstay rate of 3.67 percent, meaning 13,805 people; Saudi Arabia had an overstay rate of 0.95 percent, which was 433 people; Russia had an overstay rate of 7.51 percent, meaning 4,057 people; and South Africa — whose white Afrikaner citizens Trump offered refugee status to in the early days of his second administration — had an overstay rate of 1 percent, which works out to 917 people.
In other words, the extremely low population of Bhutan makes it appear like huge amounts of Bhutanese refugees are entering the country and then staying on illegally, when in fact fewer than 25 people a year are doing so.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are 24,000 Bhutanese living in the United States. But the population stayed steady at 24,000 from 2015 to 2019 (the latest year the research center has data for.) And before that — in the five years between 2010 and 2015 — just 5,000 Bhutanese nationals arrived.
Quoted in The Telegraph, former Bhutanese politician Karma Loday responded to news of the possible inclusion of Bhutan on the "red list" by saying: "I feel it is unfair for whatever reason to have my beloved country enlisted with some of the countries with terrorism history. We are in no capacity to even defend our nation militarily without seeking help from others let alone wage an act of terrorism to the United States if that is a suspicion.".
This isn’t the first time Bhutan has found itself on the receiving end of a Trump immigration policy. In 2020, it was included in a pilot program by the first Trump administration that would require visitors from countries with over 10 percent overstay rates to pay a $15,000 bond to travel to the United States. Sri Lanka’s economy grew 5% in 2024 in strong rebound from financial crisis (Reuters)
Reuters [3/18/2025 8:08 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe, 5.2M]
Sri Lanka’s economy grew 5% last year, official data showed on Tuesday, beating forecasts, and marking a strong rebound from the country’s worst financial crisis in decades.
The economy grew 5.4% in the fourth quarter, the Census and Statistics Department said in a statement.
The International Monetary Fund had forecast Sri Lanka would grow by 4.5% in 2024.
Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector grew 8.3% in 2024 from a year earlier, industrial output expanded by 25.5%, and services grew by 57.5%.
Struck by a severe dollar shortfall, the economy went into freefall in 2022, contracting 7.3% as it grappled with soaring inflation, a sharply weaker currency and a historic foreign debt default.
The economy shrank 2.3% in 2023.
But it made a stronger-than-expected recovery last year as measures implemented under a $2.9 billion four-year bailout from the IMF, secured in March 2023, bore fruit.
"Growth is significantly higher than any forecasts," Raynal Wickremeratne, co-head of research at Softlogic Stockbrokers, said, adding Sri Lanka’s recovery has been swifter than expected.
"We hope tax collection and other measures remain steady... but government projections of 5% (growth) will be harder to reach this year, but not outside of the realm of possibility," Wickremeratne said.
The island nation also completed a $25 billion debt rework with bondholders and bilateral creditors including Japan, India and China, last December.
Sri Lanka has posted a "remarkable" recovery from the crisis, the IMF said earlier this month, while approving the fourth tranche of $334 million under the programme.
But the South Asian nation must now boost tax compliance, and implement other measures to support public finances and achieve a 2.3% primary surplus target, the IMF has said.
The IMF is projecting growth of 3% in 2025 and 2026. Central Asia
Kazakhstan Removes Energy Minister Amid Tensions with OPEC+, Oil Majors (Reuters)
Reuters [3/18/2025 4:21 AM, Mariya Gordeyeva and Olesya Astakhova, 7K]
Kazakhstan’s energy minister will stand down from his role, the country’s presidential office said on Tuesday, as the government struggles to convince U.S. and European oil companies to lower production that exceeds OPEC+ targets.Almasadam Satkaliyev will become the head of the country’s newly created atomic energy agency, the presidential office said in a decree published on Tuesday. It remains unclear who will succeed him at the energy ministry.A recent jump in Kazakh oil output has worsened compliance with supply cuts agreed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, raising tensions in the producer group.Kazakhstan has been producing at a record high, and well above its OPEC+ quota, as U.S. oil major Chevron (CVX.N) expands output at the largest Kazakh oilfield, Tengiz.OPEC data last week showed that Kazakhstan produced 1.767 million barrels per day of crude in February, up from 1.570 million bpd in January. Kazakhstan’s OPEC+ quota is 1.468 million bpd.Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, asked recently about Kazakhstan’s OPEC+ compliance, said everyone should meet their quotas, and the group was discussing speeding up the compensation schedule - a plan whereby nations that have been pumping too much make additional cuts.OPEC+ sources told Reuters that record Kazakh output had angered some key members and helped sway their decision this month to proceed with a plan to start raising oil output from April.Kazakh officials, speaking at a briefing this month, pledged to cut output in March, April and May.The head of Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Tuesday that flows via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline in March continued as normal with no drop in volume. The line exports the lion’s share of Kazakh oil to world markets via Russia.TALKS WITH MAJORSSatkaliyev led the energy ministry from April 2023. Last week, he travelled to the U.S. for talks with oil majors Chevron (CVX.N), Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Shell (SHEL.L), Eni (ENI.MI), and Honeywell (HON.O), all of which operate in Kazakhstan.He said discussions were aimed at reducing oil output to align with OPEC+ targets. The ministry did not disclose the outcome of the talks.Kazakhstan does not have nuclear power plants but sits on large uranium reserves, which account for about 15% of the world’s total. Russian-Kazakh JV suspends LPG supplies from Orenburg plant due to EU sanctions, sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [3/18/2025 12:13 PM, Staff, 126906K]
Kazrosgaz, a joint venture between Russia’s Gazprom and Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas, has suspended liquefied petroleum gas production and supplies from Russia’s Orenburg gas processing plant this year due to EU sanctions on imports of Russian propane and propane-butane, three industry sources said on Tuesday.
Kazrosgaz supplies Kazakhstan’s raw natural gas from the Karachaganak field to the Orenburg gas processing plant in Russia. The company normally sells the LPG that is produced to Europe via trading firms.
The European Union imposed a ban on imports of Russian propane and propane-butane from December 19 last year. That disrupted the supplies, the sources said.
According to the sources, the Orenburg plant has not made or exported any LPG produced from Kazakh gas so far this year.
Last year, Kazrosgaz sold about 15,000 metric tons of LPG per month to Afghanistan, Poland and Latvia.
"Volumes are not being produced, there is no final decision on further operations," one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
Media representatives for Kazrosgaz, the Kazakh Ministry of Energy and Gazprom did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In January, due to EU sanctions, propane tanks from major LPG producer Tengizchevroil were detained at the Belarusian-Polish border due to a protracted procedure for checking the origin of the cargo by Polish customs. Kazakhstan makes Top 40 list of arms importers – survey (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [3/18/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Kazakhstan is the only country in Central Asia and the Caucasus to rank among the Top 40 arms importers over the past five years, according to a recent study published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Over the same period, Russia has seen its position as a global arms supplier erode severely.
Astana’s purchases accounted for just under 1 percent of total global arms imports during the 2020-2024 period, good for 26th place in the Top 40, according to the SIPRI update. Russia was Kazakhstan’s dominant arms supplier, accounting for 88 percent of Kazakh purchases. The country’s worldwide share of imports during the just-completed, five-year period was slightly lower than during 2015-2019.
Despite being at war with each other for much of the most recent five-year period, Armenia and Azerbaijan did not crack the Top 40 list of arms importers. Even so, Yerevan received considerable military supplies from Russia and India, while Azerbaijan obtained arms from Turkey, Pakistan, Israel and Russia.
Arms procurement by both Armenia and Azerbaijan are set to rise in 2025. Baku approved a $4.9-billion defense budget for 2025, a record high level of military spending. In 2020, the Azerbaijani military budget was $2.2 billion. Armenia is trying to keep pace: Yerevan set defense spending in 2025 at $1.7 billion, a 20 percent increase over the previous year’s budget. In 2020, Armenia’s defense budget was $634 million.
Not surprisingly given its own struggles to maintain its war effort in Ukraine, Russia’s profile as an arms dealer is greatly diminished now, compared to five years ago. Foreign sales of Russian arms plummeted by 64 percent during 2020-24, compared to the previous five-year timespan. Moscow’s global share of the arms trade now stands at 7.8 percent, down from 21 percent during the 2015-2019 period. “The decline in Russia’s arms exports started before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” the SIPRI report notes. “In 2020 and 2021, export volumes were much smaller (ranging from 22 to 73 per cent lower) than in any year of the preceding two decades (i.e. 2000–19).”
The United States remains the world’s leading purveyor of arms, commanding a 43 percent market share over the past five years. Ukraine was the leading arms importer. Twitter
Afghanistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Afghanistan@MoFA_Afg
[3/18/2025 7:10 AM, 74.2K followers, 53 retweets, 140 likes]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan vehemently condemns the resumption of attacks by Israeli occupying regime on the Gaza Strip, resulting the loss of over 300 innocent lives, including a huge number of women & children.
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[3/18/2025 11:14 AM, 32.6K followers, 42 retweets, 222 likes]
We owe Afghans a straight answer. Yesterday, @mitchellreports asked: Will Afghan nationals be in the travel ban? @statedeptspox dodged, claiming "no list." But @nytimes & @Reuters confirm one exists—Afghanistan is on it. Lives are at stake. We need clarity. Watch & share.
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[3/18/2025 9:12 AM, 32.6K followers, 27 retweets, 111 likes]
Seeking clarity on @HeyTammyBruce’s comments from the podium at @StateDept yesterday. Is the Trump Administration going to continue #EnduringWelcome or not? It’s a simple question that I hope every defense and foreign policy reporter in Washington will ask today. #AfghanEvac
Lina Rozbih@LinaRozbih
[3/18/2025 5:37 PM, 427.4K followers, 1 retweet, 23 likes]
Three months into President Trump’s term, there has been no clear statement from the administration on how they plan to address the Taliban government. #Afghanistan #Trump #Taliban Pakistan
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/18/2025 1:17 PM, 3.1M followers, 16 retweets, 83 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif announced the declaration of the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security in Islamabad today.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/18/2025 1:10 PM, 3.1M followers, 3 retweets, 12 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif while addressing recognition ceremony marking the successful completion of pilot project of PM’s National Hepatitis C Elimination Programme in Gilgit-Baltistan stated that the federal government is in the process of establishing Jinnah Medical Centre in Islamabad, which is expected to be the Johns Hopkins Hospital of Pakistan in public healthcare.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/18/2025 4:39 AM, 3.1M followers, 7 retweets, 38 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif addresses a recognition ceremony marking the successful completion of the pilot project of the PM’s National Hepatitis C Elimination Programme in Gilgit Baltistan. Prime Minister emphasized the need for coordinated efforts by the federal and provincial governments, along with all stakeholders to eradicate Hepatitis C from Pakistan.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/18/2025 4:39 AM, 3.1M followers, 4 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif presented the shields to the contributors of the Gilgit Baltistan Pilot Project of the Prime Minister’s National Hepatitis-C Elimination Programme.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[3/18/2025 12:03 PM, 481.3K followers, 292 retweets, 783 likes]
Pakistan strongly condemns Israel’s deadly airstrikes on Gaza today, killing over 400 innocent Palestinians, mostly women and children. This horrific act of aggression, in the holy month of Ramadan, is a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement and marks a dangerous escalation that threatens to destabilize the entire region once again. We urge the international community to play it’s role to immediately end the violence and resume diplomatic efforts towards an immediate and lasting peace in Gaza and the Middle East. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[3/19/2025 1:46 AM, 105.9M followers, 3.7K retweets, 25K likes]
Welcome back, #Crew9! The Earth missed you. Theirs has been a test of grit, courage and the boundless human spirit. Sunita Williams and the #Crew9 astronauts have once again shown us what perseverance truly means. Their unwavering determination in the face of the vast unknown will forever inspire millions. Space exploration is about pushing the limits of human potential, daring to dream, and having the courage to turn those dreams into reality. Sunita Williams, a trailblazer and an icon, has exemplified this spirit throughout her career. We are incredibly proud of all those who worked tirelessly to ensure their safe return. They have demonstrated what happens when precision meets passion and technology meets tenacity. @Astro_Suni @NASA
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[3/18/2025 6:48 AM, 105.9M followers, 8.4K retweets, 57K likes]
Delighted to meet Rajya Sabha MP Thiru Ilaiyaraaja Ji, a musical titan whose genius has a monumental impact on our music and culture. He is a trailblazer in every sense and he made history yet again by presenting his first-ever Western classical symphony, Valiant, in London a few days ago. This performance was accompanied by the world-renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This momentous feat marks yet another chapter in his unparalleled musical journey—one that continues to redefine excellence on a global scale. @ilaiyaraaja
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/19/2025 1:45 AM, 26.5M followers, 33 retweets, 203 likes]
President Droupadi Murmu hosted Members of Parliament from Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and nominated MPs of Rajya Sabha for breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/18/2025 10:06 AM, 26.5M followers, 341 retweets, 2.8K likes]
Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna and judges of the Supreme Court, along with their families visited the Amrit Udyan of Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Droupadi Murmu interacted with them after the visit.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/18/2025 9:01 AM, 26.5M followers, 254 retweets, 1.7K likes]
President Droupadi Murmu met group of students from Ladakh attending the National Integration Tour and students from various Eklavya Model Residential Schools of Jammu & Kashmir at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[3/19/2025 3:29 AM, 3.4M followers, 22 retweets, 123 likes]
Joined Joel Kaplan of @Meta, Pierroberto Folgiero of @Fincantieri, Marianne Demarchi of @swiftcommunity for a conversation on Politics, Business, and New World Order at #Raisina2025. Highlighted the interplay of business forces and national security in shaping the emerging world order. Do watch.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[3/19/2025 12:46 AM, 3.4M followers, 75 retweets, 229 likes]
Speaking on ‘Commisars and Capitalists: Politics, Business, and New World Order’ at #Raisina2025. https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OwxWXmvNMwKQ
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[3/18/2025 10:33 AM, 3.4M followers, 244 retweets, 2.4K likes]
Pleased to meet FM Nepal @Arzuranadeuba today. Discussed various facets of our bilateral cooperation.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[3/18/2025 9:29 AM, 3.4M followers, 175 retweets, 1.2K likes]
Glad to meet FM @abkhaleel of Maldives in New Delhi today. Reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[3/18/2025 9:20 AM, 3.4M followers, 94 retweets, 645 likes]
Delighted to meet DG @iaeaorg @rafaelmgrossi on the sidelines of #Raisina2025 today. Discussed nuclear safety and non - proliferation issues.
Yogi Adityanath@myogiadityanath
[3/18/2025 12:34 PM, 31.4M followers, 3.4K retweets, 22K likes]
Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi Ji gifting the holy water from the sacred Mahakumbh to USA’s Director of National Intelligence, @TulsiGabbard, is a symbol of India’s civilizational strength and spiritual diplomacy. It embodies Bharat’s growing global stature and showcases the cultural pride and inclusive leadership of Pradhanmantri Ji. NSB
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[3/18/2025 10:15 AM, 124.6K followers, 102 retweets, 981 likes]
US Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) on Tuesday called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[3/18/2025 9:14 AM, 112.4K followers, 156 retweets, 162 likes]
President Dr @MMuizz visits the construction site of the new terminal at Velana International Airport (VIA) on Tuesday. During his visit, the President observed the progress of the ongoing development work. The expansion of passenger terminal is designed to accommodate 7 million passengers yearly. #RoadhaigeRoohu
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[3/18/2025 1:52 PM, 55.5K followers, 20 retweets, 25 likes]
Foreign Minister Dr @abkhaleel met with the Special Assistant to the U.S. President and Senior Director for South and Central Asian Affairs, Ricky Gill at the #RaisinaDialogue2025 today. Discussions focused on stregthening relations between MV-US.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[3/18/2025 1:33 PM, 55.5K followers, 25 retweets, 28 likes]
Minister Dr. @abkhaleel joins the panel discussion “Climate Cataclysm: The Adaptation Agenda is Gasping” at #RaisinaDialogue2025. Emphasizing the critical role of finance in adaptation efforts, Minister stated, ‘we must accelerate finance in trillions now’
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[3/18/2025 11:04 AM, 55.5K followers, 34 retweets, 41 likes]
Minister Dr. @abkhaleel had a productive meeting with Minister @DrSJaishankar today on the sidelines of the ongoing #RaisinaDialogue2025 in Delhi. Ministers reviewed the existing development partnership and explored avenues for future collaboration. @MEAIndia
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[3/18/2025 5:37 AM, 146.4K followers, 13 retweets, 132 likes]
Today (18), I committed to taking decisive steps to eliminate organized crime and drug abuse in Sri Lanka. During my discussion with police chiefs from the Western Province, I emphasized the importance of maintaining the rule of law as a fundamental responsibility of the Police Department. A just society is only possible when we uphold the supremacy of the law. Central Asia
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[3/18/2025 10:20 PM, 2.7K followers, 4 likes]
Kazakhstan welcomes the phone call between the U.S. and Russian leaders and their commitment to pursuing a peaceful resolution to ongoing global challenges.
Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[3/18/2025 5:32 AM, 28.7K followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
Astana considering changing working hours of ministries - presented as helping solve traffic jams, but comes after some places affected by #Kazakhstan’s move to single time zone unilaterally changed working hours. Crazy. Easier not to change the time! https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/v-astane-mogut-izmenit-rabochiy-grafik-565364/
Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[3/18/2025 5:23 AM, 28.7K followers, 1 like]
Government drafts law banning photography of people without their permission in #Uzbekistan, with a few exceptions such as state officials. What a blow to the profession of photography if it passes, and conceivably a tool to use against journalists https://kun.uz/ru/news/2025/03/17/zapret-na-foto-i-videosyemku-lyudey-bez-ix-soglasiya-ministerstvo-yustitsii-vyneslo-na-obsujdeniye-zakonoproyekt
Saida Mirziyoyeva@SMirziyoyeva
[3/19/2025 12:48 AM, 21.8K followers, 9 likes]
Yesterday, we opened a retrospective on Ural Tansykbayev—an icon of Uzbek painting—alongside the Uzbekistan Art & Culture Development Foundation and leading museums. His work bridges Uzbek and Kazakh art, reflecting deep cultural ties. Hope this exhibition brings us even closer!
Saida Mirziyoyeva@SMirziyoyeva
[3/18/2025 11:23 AM, 21.8K followers, 1 retweet, 25 likes]
Great meeting today with Yerlan Karin, State Counselor of Kazakhstan, to discuss preparations for the Central Asia – EU Leaders’ Summit and Aral Cultural Forum in April . We reaffirmed strong collaboration on key initiatives as well as coordination on social platforms regulation.{End of Report} To subscribe to the SCA Morning Press Clips, please email SCA-PressOfficers@state.gov. Please do not reply directly to this email.