SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Monday, March 24, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
The US lifts bounties on senior Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, says Kabul (AP)
AP [3/23/2025 6:39 AM, Staff, 12K]
The U.S. has lifted bounties on three senior Taliban figures, including the interior minister who also heads a powerful network blamed for bloody attacks against Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, officials in Kabul said Sunday.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who acknowledged planning a January 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed six people, including U.S. citizen Thor David Hesla, no longer appears on the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website. The FBI website on Sunday still featured a wanted poster for him.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said the U.S. government had revoked the bounties placed on Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and Yahya Haqqani.
"These three individuals are two brothers and one paternal cousin," Qani told The Associated Press.
The Haqqani network grew into one of the deadliest arms of the Taliban after the U.S.-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. The group employed roadside bombs, suicide bombings and other attacks, including on the Indian and U.S. embassies, the Afghan presidency, and other major targets. They also have been linked to extortion, kidnapping and other criminal activity.
A Foreign Ministry official, Zakir Jalaly, said the Taliban’s release of U.S. prisoner George Glezmann on Friday and the removal of bounties showed both sides were "moving beyond the effects of the wartime phase and taking constructive steps to pave the way for progress" in bilateral relations."The recent developments in Afghanistan-U.S. relations are a good example of the pragmatic and realistic engagement between the two governments," said Jalaly.
Taliban see the opening in breaking out of isolation.
Another official, Shafi Azam, hailed the development as the beginning of normalization, also citing the Taliban’s announcement they were in control of Afghanistan’s embassy in Norway.
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, China has been the most prominent country to accept one of their diplomats. Other countries have accepted de facto Taliban representatives, like Qatar, which has been a key mediator between the U.S. and the Taliban. U.S. envoys have also met the Taliban.
The Taliban rule, especially bans affecting women and girls, has triggered widespread condemnation and deepened their international isolation.
Haqqani has previously spoken out against the Taliban’s decision-making process, authoritarianism and alienation of the Afghan population.
He has been under U.N. sanctions since 2007, because of his involvement with the network founded by his father, Jalaluddin.
But the global body has allowed him to travel in the past 12 months, including to the United Arab Emirates to meet the country’s leadership and to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. Those were his first trips abroad since the Taliban takeover.
Ibraheem Bahiss, a senior analyst with International Crisis Group’s Asia program, said the removal of the bounties was a win for Taliban officials wanting to do business with the international community. The U.S. was showing it could reward those who made compromises within their own remit, even if these compromises didn’t translate to national policy, he said.
The international community had made demands of the Taliban, specifically lifting restrictions on women and girls, but offered nothing in return, said Bahiss. Scrapping bounties was a sign that small diplomatic overtures were possible.
While recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan might not immediately be on the horizon, the Taliban viewed normalization as enough progress given their existing diplomatic inroads in the region, according to Bahiss.
"For the Taliban, the removal of sanctions is more important than (official) recognition. Sanctions bite. They inhibit your ability to do business, to travel. That’s why they would celebrate this as a victory. The transactional nature of this diplomacy suits both the Taliban and Trump.".
His partial rehabilitation on the international stage is in contrast to the status of the reclusive Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who could face arrest by the International Criminal Court for his persecution of women. Taliban says US has lifted $10 million reward for information on Sirajuddin Haqqani (Reuters)
Reuters [3/22/2025 1:54 PM, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Mushtaq Ali, and Philip Stewart, 41523K]
The United States has lifted a $10 million reward offer for information leading to the arrest of a major Taliban leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan interior ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to request for comment. The FBI still lists the reward on its website, saying Haqqani was "believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan". American freed by Taliban reunited with wife, former cellmate, in US (Reuters)
Reuters [3/21/2025 4:06 PM, Patricia Zengerle and Humeyra Pamuk, 126906K]
George Glezmann, an American detained in Afghanistan for more than two years before being released by the Taliban, arrived in the United States on Friday, where he reunited with his wife and was greeted by a welcoming party that included his former cellmate.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Ryan Corbett, another former prisoner of the Taliban who had been held in the same cell as Glezmann, was at Joint Base Andrews, outside Washington, to greet Glezmann.
"After a brief ceremony, George and (his wife) Aleksandra flew to another location in the United States to rest and recover," Bruce told a regular State Department news briefing.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement on Thursday confirming the release of Glezmann, who was detained in 2022 while visiting Kabul as a tourist.
A source told Reuters he left Afghanistan aboard a Qatari aircraft on Thursday evening bound for Qatar, following direct talks between U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler and Taliban officials in Kabul.
Bruce said the U.S. is grateful for the support of the government of Qatar in bringing Glezmann home. She said the United Arab Emirates also played a role in facilitating the initial discussions.
In a statement, the Taliban called Glezmann’s release a "goodwill gesture" reflecting its willingness to engage with the United States "on the basis of mutual respect and interests.".
Bruce said the United States remains "deeply concerned" about the well-being of Mahmood Habibi and other Americans still believed to be in custody in Afghanistan.
Thursday’s meeting in Kabul marked the highest-level direct U.S.-Taliban talks since President Donald Trump came to power in January.
Boehler met with the Taliban administration’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement. American Glezmann Returns Home After 2-Year Detention In Afghanistan (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [3/23/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 235K]
George Glezmann, an American who was released from detention in Afghanistan on March 20, has arrived in the United States and been reunited with his wife, a State Department spokesperson said.
Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on March 21 that Ryan Corbett, another former American prisoner in Afghanistan who had been held in the same cell as Glezmann, was in a welcoming party for Glezmann at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
"After a brief ceremony, George and [his wife] Aleksandra flew to another location in the United States to rest and recover," Bruce told reporters at a regular State Department news briefing.
Glezmann, 66, was released from detention in Kabul following the first visit by a senior US official to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country in August 2021.
Former US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on X that he and Adam Boehler, a senior adviser at the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met with Taliban officials in Kabul on March 20.
"We succeeded in obtaining the release of an American citizen, George Glezmann, after two years in detention in Kabul. The Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to [President Donald Trump] and the American people," Khalilzad said.
Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.“I feel like born again,” Glezmann said on Fox News after arriving at Joint Base Andrews. “I’m just thankful. I’ve got no word to express my gratitude for my liberty for my freedom.”
Glezmann also thanked President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others who helped free him, he said on Fox News, recalling how he was abducted in the streets of Kabul and thrown "into a dungeon with no windows no nothing."
Boehler told Fox News he expects to see more Americans released.“The Taliban understand that there is a new sheriff in town. That president Trump is that new sheriff and that’s why you are seeing something like this," he said.
One of the other US citizens being held in Afghanistan is Mahmood Habibi, who also has been held since 2022.
Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken into custody by Taliban authorities while on a tourist visit to Afghanistan in December 2022 and had been deemed wrongfully detained by the US government.Rubio called Glezmann’s release "a positive and constructive step" that was aided by officials in Qatar, which has often hosted negotiations between Washington and the Taliban.
"It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan," he added.
The release comes two months after two other Americans held in Afghanistan were exchanged for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.
Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 and was incarcerated in a US prison.
Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022. Uncertainty Clouds The Future Of Thousands Of Afghans Seeking US Migration (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [3/23/2025 4:14 PM, Abubakar Siddique, 235K]
For over three years, Syed Abdul Samad Muzoon, a middle-aged former Afghan security official, has lived with his wife and their teenage daughter in Pakistan to pursue immigration to the United States.
During Washington’s nearly two-decade-long war in Afghanistan, he worked for the Afghan security forces in sensitive roles, he said, helping the US war effort.
Yet, there is still no clarity on whether they will ever be able to make a fresh start in the United States because of new curbs on immigration.
In January, hundreds of Afghans cleared for resettlement in the United States were prevented from traveling to the country after President Donald Trump immediately suspended Washington’s refugee program and foreign aid after assuming office on January 20.
On February 18, Reuters reported that the State Department’s program to manage Afghan resettlement in the United States will be shut down in April.
Media reports suggest that the Trump administration could impose a new travel ban to bar the entry of people from Afghanistan and Pakistan, which would close all pathways for Afghans to move to the United States.
The State Department, however, disputes this. “There is no list,” Tammy Bruce, its spokesperson, told journalists on March 17.
Trump has been elected twice on an anti-immigration platform. In a Gallup poll from 2024, a majority of Americans (55 percent) said that they believed there should be less immigration to the United States.
Since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, Washington has helped some 200,000 Afghans resettle.But Muzoon and many more Afghans might never have a chance to begin a new life in the United States. Tens of thousands of them have been living in Pakistan, Qatar, Albania, and other countries for years as they wait for a final decision on their refugee and immigration cases. Fearing retribution by the Taliban, many are fearful of returning to Afghanistan.‘Extreme Predicament’
Advocacy groups estimate that up to 200,000 more Afghans may be eligible for US immigration. Meanwhile, after reviewing government documents, CBS reported that more than 40,000 Afghans who have already been cleared to leave the country are now stranded.“I and other Afghan refugees here are in an extreme predicament,” Muzoon said.
Since late 2023, Pakistan has expelled more than 800,000 Afghans, and in the capital, Islamabad, Afghans face constant harassment and police brutality.
Muzoon and 20,000 more Afghans in Islamabad now fear repatriation to Afghanistan after the Pakistani government announced it would forcefully deport some 1.5 million documented and undocumented Afghans if they fail to leave by the end of this month.“I am suffering from the uncertainty and the seemingly endless wait for our cases,” he said.
Muzoon said threats to his life and family prompted him to flee Afghanistan soon after the Taliban seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, on August 15, 2021, as it toppled the pro-western Afghan republic.
He is among more than half a million Afghans, mostly educated professionals and officials who were integral to running the Afghan republic, who fled the Taliban’s takeover.
Most feared being persecuted for working with the US-led international forces in Afghanistan. Others were senior officials in the Afghan government or worked in the civil society sector.
Three years on, those still waiting for a decision on their US immigration are stuck.“We are living in extreme despair,” said Maiwand Alami Afghan. He leads an informal association of Afghan refugees in Islamabad.‘Hanging By A Thread’
He said most families in Islamabad sold their properties and belongings in Afghanistan, but that money is now running out.“Most of us are hanging by a thread,” he said.
Afghan said he had worked for US-funded development projects, which, he fears, makes it impossible for him to return to Afghanistan because the Taliban have persecuted some Afghans associated with the US presence in the country.“We will still be refugees in our own country, because we don’t have a house, job, or any prospects to earn a livelihood,” he said.
Washington, however, does not look like it will be welcoming any more migrants. During his election campaign, President Trump promised stricter controls on immigration.
In his speech to Congress on March 4, Trump said his administration “has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history.”
Steps taken by Trump after taking office have effectively blocked or suspended the two primary routes for Afghans to immigrate to the United States.
Under the Special Immigration Visa (SIV), Afghans who worked directly for the US government, such as embassy staff or translators for its forces, qualify for relocation. Afghans granted visas under this program can still relocate to the US without financial assistance from Washington, according to Afghans seeking relocation under the program.“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,” said Bruce, the State Department spokesperson.
The refugee program, which enabled former Afghan government officials, lawmakers, and civil society figures to immigrate to the US, is suspended for the next couple of months.
However, the suspension of the State Department’s Afghan resettlement program has rattled Americans involved in or supporting the initiative.“Right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Shawn VanDiver, head of the Afghan Evacuation Association, a coalition of US veterans and advocacy groups that support Afghan resettlement.‘Nothing But Problems And Worries’
VanDiver is now lobbying the US Congress to remove the “complete stop” Trump’s executive orders have put on Afghan resettlement. He says that Congress had authorized Afghan resettlement through December 2027.“President Trump needs to listen to the voices,” he said, pointing to the bipartisan support in Congress, veterans and service members, who want the immigration of Afghans to continue.
In a statement on March 18, the Afghan Evacuation Association said the ambiguity surrounding the immigration of Afghans “is unnecessary and cruel”. It called on Washington to provide “clear and unequivocal answers” to its wartime Afghan allies.
In media statements and letters, scores of lawmakers have urged President Trump to “fully restore humanitarian and refugee protections for our Afghan allies.”
Several courts across the United States are hearing cases regarding refugee and foreign aid suspensions. Some have issued injunctions against Trump’s executive orders.
A State Department spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “At this time, no decisions have been made” about its Afghan relocation program.
The spokesman said the department is “considering” the future of its Afghan relocation program, officially called Enduring Welcome and the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE).
The spokesperson noted that it “continues to provide life-sustaining support to Afghan allies and partners previously relocated to our overseas case-processing platforms.”
In Islamabad, Muzoon has little understanding of how his future will unfold amid the domestic US wrangling over the fate of Afghans seeking immigration to the country.
He hopes to avoid being deported back to Afghanistan. He wants to move to the United States to send his daughter to school, treat his wife’s depression, and seek some treatment for his heart ailment.“I have nothing but problems and worries,” he said. Undocumented Afghans In Iran Face Uncertain Future Amid New Restrictions (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [3/21/2025 4:14 PM, Abubakar Siddique, 235K]
Millions of Afghans in Iran face an uncertain future as Tehran prepares to implement sweeping restrictions that will cut off access to health care, education, housing, and other essential services for undocumented immigrants.
The new policy, set to take effect on March 21, has left many Afghans grappling with impossible choices between a hostile host country and an unstable homeland.
For Rasheed, an Afghan immigrant living in Iran, the consequences of these policies have already hit home.
Rasheed recently returned to Afghanistan after doctors in Iran refused to treat his elderly mother for her heart disease.“I was told to return to Afghanistan because Afghans were not supposed to get any treatment here,” Rasheed recalled of his conversation with an official at a government hospital in Tehran.“My mother’s condition was rapidly deteriorating, which prompted me to return to my country,” he told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. Rasheed requested that his real name be withheld to protect his identity.
In Karaj, a city near Tehran, Ehsan Zia, another Afghan immigrant, is devastated that his two teenage daughters can no longer attend school.“Our hopes have been dashed,” he told Radio Azadi. “Even here, my daughters are being deprived of education.”
Zia moved to Iran three years ago after the Taliban banned teenage girls from attending school following their return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Despite having a legal visa to stay in Iran, Zia says he has been unable to enroll his daughters in school due to bureaucratic obstacles and shifting policies.
Who Will Be Affected By The New Policy?
Earlier this month, the Center for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants’ Affairs (CAFIA) at Iran’s Interior Ministry announced six categories of Afghans who will remain eligible for key services under the new rules.
These include Afghans registered as refugees, those with valid visas or work permits, former employees of the Western-backed Afghan government that was toppled by the Taliban, and families with school-going children who apply for visas.
Tehran has already deported more than 2 million Afghans over the past two years as part of a campaign targeting undocumented immigrants.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of CAFIA, defended the government’s move, telling the semiofficial ISNA news agency that “there is no obstacle to returning [to Afghanistan] due to the relative stability and declared policies of the current Afghan government.”
The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that that some 4 million Afghans live in Iran, including more than 2 million undocumented migrants. Figures cited by Iranian officials and media vary widely, with some claiming that 8 million Afghans reside in Iran.
Risking Tensions With The Taliban
The crackdown on undocumented Afghans has coincided with rising anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran. Impoverished Afghan migrants are often scapegoated for crimes, insecurity, and unemployment. Such views have fueled mob violence against Afghans as well as mass arrests and brutal treatment by Iranian police and border security forces.“Cutting off basic services to migrants will disrupt the labor market and drive more people into the underground economy,” said Graeme Smith, senior Afghanistan analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
Afghan migrants make up a significant portion of Iran’s labor force in agriculture and construction -- sectors that could suffer if undocumented workers are expelled en masse.
Smith also warned that Tehran’s policies could worsen tensions between Iran and Afghanistan. The Taliban government has already clashed with neighboring Pakistan over its treatment of Afghan refugees.“The Taliban may feel provoked to respond, for example, with restrictions on water sharing,” Smith said, referring to a long-standing dispute over water rights.
Experts argue that Tehran’s approach could backfire, both economically and geopolitically. An isolated and heavily sanctioned Iran needs stable relations with Afghanistan’s Taliban government to expand trade ties, maintain border security, and build a more integrated regional economy.“Not only will this cause suffering for the Afghans affected,” Smith noted, “but it’s a self-defeating policy for Tehran.” UNICEF calls on the Taliban to lift ban on girls’ education as new school year begins in Afghanistan (AP)
AP [3/21/2025 9:45 PM, Munir Ahmed, 456K]
The U.N. children’s agency on Saturday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately lift a lingering ban on girls’ education to save the future of millions who have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
The appeal by UNICEF comes as a new school year began in Afghanistan without girls beyond sixth grade. The ban, said the agency, has deprived 400,000 more girls of their right to education, bringing the total to 2.2 million.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education, with the Taliban justifying the ban saying it doesn’t comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law.“For over three years, the rights of girls in Afghanistan have been violated,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement. “All girls must be allowed to return to school now. If these capable, bright young girls continue to be denied an education, then the repercussions will last for generations.”
A ban on the education of girls will harm the future of millions of Afghan girls, she said, adding that if the ban persists until 2030, “more than four million girls will have been deprived of their right to education beyond primary school.” The consequences, she added, will be “catastrophic.”
Russell warned that the decline in female doctors and midwives will leave women and girls without crucial medical care. This situation is projected to result in an estimated 1,600 additional maternal deaths and over 3,500 infant deaths. “These are not just numbers, they represent lives lost and families shattered,” she said.
The Afghan Taliban government earlier this year skipped a Pakistan-hosted global conference where Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned the state of women’s and girl’s rights in Afghanistan as gender apartheid. Getting Out of Afghanistan’s Opium Quagmire (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [3/21/2025 9:07 PM, Maha Siddiqui, 53K]
Following a ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan imposed by the de facto authorities, the Taliban, in April 2022, opium production plunged by an estimated 95 percent by 2023 from 6,200 tons in 2022 to 333 tons in 2023. Poppy fields were reduced from 233,000 hectares to 10,800 hectares.
However, three years since the Taliban’s ban, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), announced last week that the price of opium from Afghanistan has gone up tenfold – from $75 to $750 per kilogram. The price increase is not surprising. A classic economic model tells us that when demand is inelastic, supply-side reduction tends to make the commodity pricier. Hence, in the case of opium, many argue that a crackdown on the demand side would be more effective than one on the supply side alone.
A Paradoxical Problem: A Win in the Drug War, a Punishment for the Poor.
However, the bigger fear that presents itself with a commodity becoming dearer is the collapse of the measure responsible for the shortage – in this case, the poppy cultivation ban. Amid the ban, small holdings farmers, including women, who were involved in the production of opium for the sake of their livelihood are suffering great distress in Afghanistan, while high-level traders and exporters in organized crime groups are making a killing, as per the UNODC’s admission.
The drastic reduction in poppy cultivation for opium in Afghanistan has had significant consequences for farmers and vulnerable rural populations in Afghanistan, mostly in the southwestern provinces where poppy growing has largely been concentrated. For a country that was already in macroeconomic tatters due to massive political turmoil in 2021, even as it was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the ban on poppy cultivation added a devastating microeconomic shock for individual farmers. A World Bank report released last year said that in a "historic reversal," the GDP per capita fell in at least 75 countries in the last four years with people in Afghanistan subsisting on less than $4 a day.
The opium poppy is drought-tolerant and a high-value commercial crop. With a devastated economy and society, opium poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan became the only viable source of income for much of its population. In other words, in Afghanistan with its conditions of extreme poverty and insecurity, opium production became a source of human security. The opium economy secured the livelihood of 3.3 million people directly involved in poppy cultivation, accounting for nearly 15 percent of the total population of the country.
According to the UNODC Afghanistan Opium Survey 2019, opium harvesting provided the equivalent of up to 119,000 full-time jobs to local and migrant workers hired by farmers. Reported wages for those weeding opium poppy fields are comparable to other types of farm labor at roughly $4 a day. But lancing could bring in $6 a day.
Opium poppy cultivation and production is labor-intensive work. Even in the deeply conservative Afghanistan society, women could be involved in the labor inside family compounds without being exposed to men from outside, which is considered un-Islamic in Afghan society. The division of labor provided opportunities for Afghan women and offered some degree of financial independence, through access to cash and status through work. In the context of rural poverty and a chronic cycle of debt for rural families, the opportunity to grow a lucrative cash crop was seen as a blessing by many rural households, as per a write-up in The New Humanitarian titled "Afghan Women and Opium.".
In 2021, the opiate economy accounted for up to 14 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product (GDP), making opium cultivation and trade a major economic source. Given that Afghanistan’s GDP further contracted in the following year, the opiate economy likely constituted a larger proportion of its total economy in 2022.The Political Utilization of Opium: From the Taliban to the CIA.
Opium has long been deeply entrenched in the political and power games in Afghanistan.
One of the first efforts toward the prohibition of poppy came in 1957 under the Muhammad Daud Khan government, when Afghanistan was not a big grower. However, it posed a challenge to the political stability of the state as Badakhshan rose in rebellion. Three decades later, mujahideen leaders like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Pir Sayad Ahmed Gaylani, and Ismat Muslim used drug money for anti-Soviet resistance. This was strategically fed into and expanded by U.S. covert operations via the CIA to counter the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Ironically, the Taliban’s success is also linked to their early occupation of valuable poppy cultivation areas in southern and eastern Afghanistan by the end of the 20th century, which enabled them to pay higher wages to their followers and their mercenaries. Most of the production was taking place in Helmand (about 49 percent) and Nangarhar (25 percent); however, in the northern parts under mujahideen control, Badakhshan also became a smaller center of poppy cultivation (3 percent).
The Taliban took over in 1996 and cracked down on opium production in 2001 with a complete ban that dropped the production to 185 metric tons by the end of their first regime, but while out of power for the next two decades, Taliban strongholds showed an increase in opium production. Drug money once again essentially fueled the Taliban’s fight against the U.S. and NATO forces, leading to its return to power in August 2021.
The Taliban’s inconsistent and opportunistic stance on opium is quite obvious, like it has been for those before them. Poppy fields were destroyed after the Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada decreed that it would be prohibited to grow them because addiction and businesses related to it are un-Islamic, yet the Taliban have exploited and used poppy money all along.
A flip-flop in policy sends conflicting signals to those who implement policies on the ground and those who are supposed to follow the law. This remains a significant issue in Afghanistan around poppy cultivation along with other problems, like the rise in the price of the commodity can force the desperate farmers to take risks or lucrative cultivation shifts to other areas as was seen when Thailand first decided to crack down on opium.
A lesson to learn from Thailand’s success in eliminating poppy cultivation and becoming "opium-free" is that, unlike Afghanistan and Iran, they did so over a period of time, starting in 1984 and being declared opium-free by UNODC in 2008. Thailand is heralded as a successful example of "alternative development" programming, where the loss of income due to substitute crops was made up by establishing a floor price and the government became the guaranteed buyer paying the difference in the amount to the farmer.
Most Afghan farmers have very small holdings and a severe water shortage in the region means they have relied on drought-resistant, cash crops like poppy that result in handsome financial returns. The policy of banning opium poppy cultivation was not coupled with any alternative livelihood measures for the farmers, proving to be devastating for the struggling population.
Meanwhile, even when alternative livelihood efforts have been made in the past they have been poorly designed and ineffective and rarely generated sustainable income for poppy-production-dependent populations, as highlighted by Vanda Felbab-Brown in "No Easy Exit: Drugs and Counternarcotics Policies in Afghanistan." Therefore, the brunt of the eradication is most often borne by the poorest and socially marginalized while generating extensive political capital for the Taliban.
This time, too, it seems the Taliban may have been angling for political legitimacy through measures that create the appearance of cracking down on illegal activities. The UNODC could use this desire to negotiate an alternative livelihood plan for the farmers. Felbab-Brown also suggested enacting a microcredit system, which continues to be lacking throughout much of Afghanistan. This, coupled with the establishment of local Afghan seedbanks, seed markets, rural enterprises, and value-added chains, will address the structural market deficiencies.
This moment could also be a foot in the door for the world to negotiate a better deal for the women and girls in Afghanistan. The current imperative is to transition from mere crop substitution to a more comprehensive strategy for sustainable livelihoods. This entails a balanced blend of on-farm support and off-farm employment opportunities, benefiting both men and women.
The Taliban need to be made to understand that the longevity of the opium ban hinges on a multifaceted approach. To achieve this, the Taliban must reconsider their stance on education and work for girls and women. Historically, opium-poppy cultivation involved women, serving as a safety net for families when male breadwinners faced adversity. Now, vocational training should be accessible to both genders, while targeted education can enhance women’s employability. By fostering multiple earning members within families, Afghanistan’s GDP and per capita GDP could be lifted. Moreover, women re-entering the labor force could pave the way for renewed foreign aid, offering hope to a struggling nation.
The Taliban’s real motives aside, seen purely in terms of an anti-drug war, it is also a moment for the UNODC to be able to assist with a clear knowledge of what the Taliban may truly be after, as explained above. The sharp reduction of opium from Afghanistan in 2023 needs to be sustained on a long-term basis by supporting farmers, as well as women, to transition away from poppy cultivation. This will mean not just a win for the fight against opium but also ensure a life of dignity for the Afghans, away from crippling poverty. Pakistan
Pakistan Is Trying to Integrate the ‘Most Dangerous Place’ on Earth. It’s Failing. (New York Times)
New York Times [3/22/2025 4:14 PM, Zia ur-Rehman, 831K]
The rugged borderlands of northwestern Pakistan have long had a reputation for lawlessness and militancy, labeled by President Barack Obama as “the most dangerous place in the world.”
The Pakistani government, facing global scrutiny over the presence of groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, moved in 2018 to overhaul the semiautonomous region’s outdated governance. It merged what had been known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas into the country’s mainstream political and legal framework, vowing economic progress and a reduction in violence.
Today, the effort is seen by many in the region as a failure.
A renewed wave of terrorism, especially after the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, has undone much of the progress toward stability. Attacks have risen sharply in Pakistan, with more than 1,000 deaths across the country last year, up from 250 in 2019, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, an international think tank. The group ranks Pakistan as one of the countries most affected by terrorism, second only to Burkina Faso in Africa.
The region’s troubles can be traced back to harsh colonial-era laws that were in force for more than a century and were meant to control the population, not serve it. The tribal areas’ ambiguous legal status and proximity to Afghanistan also made them a geopolitical pawn.
The merger of the underdeveloped region into a neighboring province has not resolved deep-rooted issues, experts say. The deteriorating law and order there is yet another major challenge for a nation of 250 million people that is grappling with economic instability and political turmoil.
Tribal elders and Islamist parties are now going so far as to advocate for the merger to be reversed. That is also a primary goal of one of the biggest sources of insecurity in the region: the Pakistani Taliban, who have waged a relentless assault on security forces in a campaign aimed at overthrowing the government and establishing an Islamic caliphate.
Pakistan’s leaders “promised development, peace, jobs and a fair justice system — everything we have been denied for decades,” said Noor Islam Safi, an activist from Mohmand, one of seven districts of the British-era tribal areas.“The promises were empty,” he said during a protest in Mohmand that he led in mid-January. “All we’ve been given is neglect, rising violence and a growing sense of hopelessness.”
The former tribal region, which covers about 10,000 square miles — less than 5 percent of Pakistan’s landmass — and is home to more than five million people, has long been a stark emblem of terrorism, repression and neglect.
In 1901, the British imposed the harsh frontier laws to suppress resistance and buffer against Russian expansion. Pakistan inherited these regulations at its birth in 1947.
The region’s people were denied basic rights and excluded from national governance; they were not given the right to vote in Pakistani elections until 1997. Residents lived under the constant threat of arbitrary arrest and the absence of fair trials. Collective punishment was common. Entire communities suffered for the actions of one individual, facing imprisonment, fines, property destruction and exile.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 turned the region into a staging ground for Islamic fighters backed by the United States, Arab nations and Pakistan who were battling Moscow’s forces.“This border region has long served as a geopolitical chessboard, where the ambitions of colonial and post-colonial powers have sought to influence Afghanistan and reshape global geopolitics at the expense of local communities,” said Sartaj Khan, a researcher in Karachi, Pakistan, with extensive expertise in the country’s northwest.
After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the region descended into lawlessness, becoming a hub for fugitives, criminal networks, smugglers of arms and drugs, and kidnappers demanding ransom.
The region became a militant stronghold after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon, as U.S. military operations in Afghanistan pushed Taliban and Qaeda militants into the tribal areas.
Groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the T.T.P. or Pakistani Taliban, moved to establish control. Such groups offered rudimentary governance while intimidating and killing tribal elders who resisted their rule.
Over time, the T.T.P. expanded its terrorist network beyond the borderlands, carrying out attacks across Pakistan, including in major cities like Karachi, and even internationally, notably in New York, with the attempted Times Square bombing in 2010.
After a vast operation in the tribal areas, the military declared victory over the T.T.P. in 2018. That year, Pakistan’s Parliament abolished the colonial-era laws and merged the region with the adjacent province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
But gaps in the integration process, analysts and political leaders say, left the region vulnerable when the Taliban returned to power. The Taliban’s resurgence gave the T.T.P. sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan and access to advanced, American-made weapons that had been seized after the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
This allowed the Pakistani Taliban to escalate attacks in the former tribal areas. Since mid-2021, a majority of the surging terrorist attacks in Pakistan have occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with a significant concentration in the seven former tribal districts, most notably North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
The T.T.P. killed 16 Pakistani soldiers in South Waziristan in December, and Pakistan responded with an airstrike inside Afghanistan, heightening tensions with Taliban rulers in Kabul.
In Kurram district, 50 miles southeast of Kabul, sectarian violence exacerbated by land disputes led to more than 230 deaths last year. Road closures by warring tribes have kept residents trapped in a cycle of violence.
Farther north along the Afghan border, in Bajaur district, 34 attacks were recorded in 2024, primarily carried out by the Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, the local branch of the Islamic State, which poses global security risks.
In other districts, the T.T.P. and local allied groups exert control, extorting money from traders.
The new legal frameworks in the former tribal areas remain largely unenforced because of inadequate administrative capacity and insufficient numbers of formal police officers. While the region was promised $563 million in annual development funding, Pakistan’s economic struggles have caused shortfalls. Many essential services are still underdeveloped or dysfunctional.“An abrupt merger, rather than a gradual and thorough process, failed to replace a governance system that had operated for over a century,” said Naveed Ahmad Shinwari, a development expert with extensive experience in the region.
While police personnel have been recruited and stations established, the traditional semiformal police, composed of illiterate individuals representing their tribes, have struggled to transition into a formal structure, making them vulnerable to militant attacks. Courts exist in some places, but officials in many areas say that security concerns have prevented them from building a judicial infrastructure, forcing residents to travel long distances for justice.
As part of the Trump administration’s gutting of global aid, major initiatives in former tribal areas, including land settlement regulation and infrastructure improvements, have been disrupted.
The region’s merger initially garnered widespread support among residents eager for equal citizenship, but significant resistance has emerged to the changes that followed. Replacing outdated tribal policing and jirgas, or councils of tribal elders, has prompted deep concerns about the impact on a centuries-old way of life.“Our jirgas used to resolve cases in months, sometimes days, but Pakistan’s overburdened judiciary takes years,” said Shiraz Ahmed, a resident of a remote village who traveled 60 miles for a land dispute hearing.
While some groups in the former tribal areas are calling for the merger to be reversed, analysts said that doing so could essentially hand the region over to militant groups. Pakistani security forces kill 16 militants attempting to cross border from Afghanistan (AP)
AP [3/23/2025 12:28 PM, Staff, 2K]
Pakistan ‘s security forces said 16 militants were killed on Sunday in a remote northwestern border area as they tried to cross the border with neighboring Afghanistan.A military statement said the “Khwarij,” a phrase the government uses for Pakistani Taliban, attempted to enter Pakistan from Ghulam Khan, a border town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.It said Pakistan has long urged Afghanistan to ensure effective border management. Pakistan often accuses the Taliban government in Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to militants operating near the frontier. Kabul denies the charge.The statement said the Afghan government “is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil” by militants “for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks, most claimed by Pakistani Taliban who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, and are allies of the Afghan Taliban.TTP is a separate group and has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since then. Pakistan army says it killed 16 Islamist militants on Afghan border (Reuters)
Reuters [3/23/2025 8:31 AM, Asif Shahzad, 5.2M]
Pakistan’s army has killed 16 Islamist militants along the country’s western border with Afghanistan, a statement said on Sunday.
It said border troops killed all the militants in an exchange of fire during the night between March 22 and 23 in North Waziristan district.
"Own troops effectively engaged and thwarted their attempt to infiltrate," the army statement said.
Islamabad says that Islamist militants who attack inside Pakistan, and against the army have safe havens in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies.
The incident took place as Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Sadiq Khan is on a two-day official visit to Kabul to talk about bilateral and economic issues, a statement from Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul said. Pakistan charges Baloch activist with ‘terrorism’ (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [3/23/2025 10:09 AM, Staff, 52868K]
Pakistan on Sunday charged a Baloch rights activist with terrorism, sedition and murder after she led a demonstration which ended in the death of three protesters, according to police documents.
Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights advocates, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it has been targeted by Islamabad with harassment and extrajudicial killings.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
On Friday, she and other activists took part in a sit-in protest outside the University of Balochistan in the provincial capital of Quetta.
They demanded the release of members of their support group, whom they allege had been detained by security agencies.
Police launched a pre-dawn raid on Saturday, arresting Baloch and other activists, during which at least three protestors died. Both sides blamed each other for the deaths.
Mary Lawlor, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said she was "very concerned" at Baloch’s arrest.
Baloch and other protesters have been charged with terrorism, sedition and murder, according to the police charge sheet seen by AFP.
Hamza Shafqaat, a senior administrative official in Quetta, said that Baloch and other activists were held under public order laws.
Her lawyer, Imran Baloch, confirmed she was detained in a jail in Quetta.
Baloch was barred from travelling to the United States last year to attend a TIME magazine awards gala of "rising leaders".
Protests among the Baloch are often led by women. Baloch, now in her 30s, began her activist career aged 16 when her father went missing in what his supporters said was an alleged "enforced disappearance". His body was found two years later.
Earlier in March, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) -- which accuses outsiders of plundering the province’s natural resources -- launched a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault. Pakistan Gunmen Kill Four Punjabi Labourers, Four Police (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [3/22/2025 1:43 PM, Staff, 913K]
Gunmen shot dead four ethnic Punjabi labourers and four policemen in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials said, in the latest killing in a volatile region where violence has drastically increased in recent weeks.
Attacks on labourers from other parts of the country have increased in Balochistan, with militants accusing them of profiting from the region.
The incident took place in Mangocher town of Kalat district in Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
"The militants arriving on motorcycles shot dead four Punjabi labourers who were operators of borewell drilling equipment," Ali Gul Imrani, a local administration official, told AFP.
A local police official, Muhammad Asghar, also confirmed the details to AFP.
In a separate incident, four policemen were killed in an ambush in Nushki district of the same province.
The region saw a dramatic train siege this month that officials said resulted in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.
The assault was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of several separatist groups that accuse outsiders of plundering the province’s natural resources.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Saturday attacks. However, BLA has claimed such attacks in the past.
Earlier this month, three ethnic Sindhi migrant barbers were shot dead in the province while in February, militants executed seven Punjabi labourers after stopping a bus and identifying where they were from.
Eleven Punjabi labourers were also killed after being abducted from a bus in the city of Naushki in April last year, and six Punjabi barbers were shot in May the same year. ‘He only wanted revenge’: the bloody insurgency in Balochistan gaining lethal momentum (The Guardian)
The Guardian [3/24/2025 1:23 AM, Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch, 78.9M]
No one knows how Kamran Hasan became a militant. The history-loving 23-year-old had returned home from Islamabad, where he worked as a chartered accountant, and had his hopes set on a degree in education. But then in June, he disappeared. A brief phone call to his father came days later.“He told me, ‘I am going to the mountains,’” says his father, Mohammad Akram, who knew that meant only one thing: his son was joining the militant insurgency that had rocked their home region of Balochistan for decades. “I begged him no, asked if it was reasons of money or family that led him to take this step. But he did not give any more details and disconnected the call.” Hasan’s friends also had no answers.
Hasan’s story has become an increasingly familiar one in homes across Pakistan’s troubled south-western region of Balochistan, the country’s largest and poorest province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
The insurgency in Balochistan is almost as old as the country itself. It began in 1948 when the region was controversially – some say forcefully – annexed to become part of the newly formed Pakistan. Violent separatist uprisings, which were largely tribal-led, took place again in 1958, 1962 and 1973.
In the early 2000s the violence took a turn. Baloch nationalists, who had long accused the Pakistani state and military of exploiting Balochistan’s valuable mineral resources, oppressing its people and rigging its elections, began to mobilise into organised insurgent armies that called for an independent Baloch state.
For years it remained a low-intensity operation, marked by sporadic attacks and ambushes. Yet in recent years, the long-festering insurgency has gathered a lethal new momentum. Baloch militants – often in vast numbers – began to carry out sophisticated attacks on high-profile Pakistan military targets and multimillion-dollar Chinese projects . They also started using suicide bombers.
Young men and women in their hundreds – some estimate thousands – began to bolster the ranks of militant groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Increasingly, those radicalised were educated graduates from middle class families with no militant connections. The BLA has also become highly media savvy, sending out coordinated press releases about their attacks and posting videos across X, TikTok, Telegram and Instagram glorifying their violence.
Insurgents show a ‘massive escalation’ in military skill
The newfound scale and ambition of the Baloch insurgency became starkly apparent this month, as the BLA carried out one of its most high-profile attacks yet. Hundreds of Baloch militants blew up railway tracks and hijacked a passenger train carrying almost 500 passengers as it travelled through the remote mountains of Balochistan, taking hundreds hostage.
The Pakistani government claimed that 31 people were killed overall, and that the military operation took out 33 Baloch insurgents. But the BLA called the claims “a lie” and said they had executed 214 hostages who were mostly military and police personnel onboard the train. With secrecy surrounding the Pakistan military’s operation and very few of the rescued hostages seen in the aftermath, both accounts were impossible to independently verify, leading to questions about the true scale of the death toll on either side.
Watching the news of the train hijacking unfolding, Hasan’s father was unable to sleep for days, fearful that his son was among the militants responsible. “We keep switching on TV and scrolling social media to know about the attackers,” he says. “I am haunted by the fear he is among those killed.”
It was followed days later by another deadly BLA attack, as suicide bombers attacked a convoy of paramilitary forces in the city of Noshki. In 2024 alone, the BLA claimed responsibility for 302 attacks, including a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.“Since around 2017 we have seen a massive escalation, not just in the levels of violence but the lethality, the complexity, the military skill and the geographical scope of the Baloch insurgency,” says Asfandyar Mir, an expert in South Asia counter-terrorism at the United States Institute of Peace. “It’s clear there is a high level of resolve to sustain the fight.”
The surge of violence has helped push Pakistan’s security situation to its most precarious in more than a decade. Baloch militants have become highly visible across the province, frequently blocking roads, setting up checkpoints and attacking police and military posts, forcing the army and paramilitary to stay confined in their camps.
A loss of faith in political solutions
This month, senior government ministers and army leaders held a special meeting to discuss the country’s deteriorating security crisis.
Public support for the Baloch resistance – both violent and non-violent – has been growing, particularly among the younger generation, with vast numbers turning out to recent protests. Many continue to be radicalised in response to the ongoing human rights horrors inflicted in Balochistan by the army and paramilitary for about two decades – an anti-insurgency crackdown and the crushing of dissent, known as Pakistan’s secret dirty war, that has led to thousands of activists, journalists, students and civilians in the region being abducted, tortured and then killed or rarely seen again.According to Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, since 2009 almost 1,500 of the “disappeared” have turned up dead, often in a brutalised state, and another 6,000 remain missing. Since the insurgency was revitalised, human rights groups have reported an increase in extrajudicial killings and disappearances once again. The military denies any involvement.
There has also been a widespread loss of faith in finding political solutions to Balochistan’s problems, after credible allegations of military interference in the last two elections in 2018 and 2024 which brought down popular Baloch nationalist politicians.“Violence has become the dominant form of interaction between the state and the Baloch, sidelining and undermining political avenues for addressing the issues,” says Sajid Aziz, a researcher into the Baloch insurgency.
Ayoub Azim was 21 when he was abducted, along with his best friend, by the security forces along in 2017. He was kept in a dark cell and tortured, despite having no links to militant groups. When he was eventually released two years later, Azim tried to get over the trauma and got married, with his wife quickly falling pregnant. But months later, he disappeared to join the ranks of the BLA.“As a family, we tried to stop him but he refused and said he only wanted to take revenge,” says his father-in-law, Uzair. Azim returned briefly to see his daughter two years ago. The next the family heard of him was that he had been killed last March carrying out a suicide attack on a naval base.
Benefiting from the return of the Taliban
In 2017, the BLA – now the most prominent Baloch separatist group – also began to undergo a transformation. In the decade previous, the brutality of the military’s crackdown was deemed largely successful in bringing the Baloch insurgency under control. However, this began to shift when the BLA began to reorganise and brought in founder Aslam Achu Baloch as their commander-in-chief.
Under Aslam Baloch’s leadership, the BLA moved away from its powerful tribal leaders to become a more educated middle class movement. He revitalised the Majeed brigade – the elite squad of suicide bombers – and established intelligence and operative wings within the BLA. The infighting and division between the BLA and other insurgent groups was also largely brought to an end after a coalition of separatist groups was formed in 2018.
Afghanistan is also seen to have played a critical role in fuelling Baloch militancy. Mir says it had gone “under-appreciated how much the Baloch outfits have benefited from the return of the Taliban”, who came back to power in Afghanistan in 2021 and have an increasingly hostile relationship with Pakistan.
It is widely acknowledged that the current BLA commander-in-chief, Bashir Zaib, has been freely living in Afghanistan, just as his predecessor Aslam Baloch did. Afghanistan is also believed to have provided a crucial training ground for BLA militants, with evidence suggesting BLA fighters have trained in camps alongside the Pakistani Taliban.This was reiterated by a senior security source in Pakistan who say they have traced direct coordination and logistic support between the BLA and Pakistani Taliban, particularly in training for suicide bombers. They also allege the BLA militants were using American weapons left behind in Afghanistan. In a press conference last week, the military alleged the train hijacking was coordinated from Afghanistan.
Pervez Saleem, the former chief secretary of Balochistan, says the renewed insurgency and its widespread support should serve as a wake-up call for Pakistan’s military.“They think they can keep Balochistan by force but it can’t happen any more. The geopolitical situation has changed and the army needs to change its policies. There’s a new great game at play.” India
U.S trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday (Reuters)
Reuters [3/24/2025 5:51 AM, Manoj Kumar, 5.2M]
A delegation of officials from the United States will visit India from March 25 to 29 for trade talks with Indian officials, a US embassy spokesperson said on Monday.Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group."This visit reflects the United States’ continued commitment to advancing a productive and balanced trade relationship with India," the spokesperson said.Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal spent nearly a week in the United States earlier this month where he held trade discussions, and as U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 causing alarm among Indian exporters.During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. last month, both nations agreed to work on the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025, with a target of reaching $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.India and the US are engaged in discussions to resolve tariff-related issues, and finalise a framework for a bilateral trade pact, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s external affairs ministry, said last week."We value our ongoing engagement with the Government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner," the US embassy spokesperson said. India-China relations: Modi’s hope for a thaw amid uncertain geopolitics (BBC)
BBC [3/23/2025 8:28 PM, Michael Kugelman, 52868K]
In a recent interview, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke positively about India’s relationship with long-time rival China. He said normalcy had returned to the disputed India-China border and called for stronger ties.
These are striking comments, because tensions have been high since a nasty border clash in the northern Ladakh region in 2020 - the deadliest since a 1962 war.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning expressed appreciation for Modi’s words and declared that "the two countries should be partners that contribute to each other’s success".
Modi’s pitch for closer partnership isn’t actually as big of a leap as it may seem, given recent improvements in bilateral ties. But the relationship remains strained, and much will need to fall into place - bilaterally and more broadly geopolitically - for it to enjoy a true rapprochement.
India-China ties have many bright spots.
Bilateral trade is consistently robust; even after the Ladakh clash, China has been India’s top trade partner. They co-operate multilaterally, from Brics, the alliance of major developing countries, to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. They share interests in advancing non-Western economic models, countering Islamist terrorism and rejecting what they deem US moral crusading.
Even after the Ladakh clash sunk ties to their lowest level in decades, the two militaries continued to hold high-level dialogues, which resulted in a deal in October to resume border patrols. Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Brics summit in Russia that month and they pledged further co-operation. In January, the two sides agreed to resume direct flights.
Still, the relationship remains troubled.
Each side has close security ties with the other’s main competitor: India with the US and China with Pakistan.
China opposes Indian policies in the disputed Kashmir region. Beijing frustrates India’s great power ambitions by blocking its membership in influential groupings like the Nuclear Suppliers Group and permanent membership on the UN Security Council.
China has a large naval presence, and its only overseas military base, in India’s broader maritime backyard.
The Belt and Road Initiative, the connectivity corridor through which Beijing has expanded its footprint in India’s neighbourhood, is categorically rejected by Delhi for passing through India-claimed territory.
Meanwhile, India is deepening ties with Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province. It hosts the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. Beijing regards him as a dangerous separatist.
India is negotiating sales of supersonic missiles to Southeast Asian states that could be used to deter Chinese provocations in the South China Sea. China views several global forums to which India belongs, such as the Indo-Pacific Quad and the Middle East Europe Economic Corridor, as attempts to counter it.There are several signposts to watch to get a better sense of the relationship’s future trajectory.
One is border talks. Fifty thousand squares miles of the 2,100-mile (3,380km)-long frontier - an area equal to the size of Greece - remain disputed.
The situation on the border is the biggest bellwether of the relationship. The Ladakh clash shattered trust; last year’s patrolling deal helped restore it. If the two sides can produce more confidence-building measures, this would bode well for relations.
Future high-level engagement is also important. If Modi and Xi, both of whom place a premium on personal diplomacy, meet this year, this would bolster recent momentum in bilateral ties. They’ll have opportunities on the sidelines of leaders summits for Brics in July, G20 in November and the Shanghai Co-operation Group (SCO) sometime later this year.
Another key signpost is Chinese investment, which would bring critical capital to key Indian industries from manufacturing to renewables and help ease India’s $85bn (£65.7bn) trade deficit with China.
An increase in such investme ts would give India a timely economic boost and China more access to the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Stronger commercial co-operation would provide more incentives to keep broader tensions down.
Regional and global developments are also worth watching.
Four of India’s neighbours - Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka - recently had new leaders take office who are more pro-China than their predecessors. But so far, they’ve sought to balance ties with Beijing and Delhi, not align with China.
If this continues, Delhi’s concerns about Beijing’s influence in India’s neighbourhood could lessen a bit. Additionally, if China were to pull back from its growing partnership with India’s close friend Russia - a more likely outcome if there’s an end to the war in Ukraine, which has deepened Moscow’s dependence on Beijing - this could help India-China ties.
The Trump factor looms large, too.
US President Donald Trump, despite slapping tariffs on China, has telegraphed a desire to ease tensions with Beijing.
If he does, and Delhi fears Washington may not be as committed to helping India counter China, then India would want to ensure its own ties with China are in a better place.
Additionally, if Trump’s impending reciprocal tariff policy hits India hard - and given the 10% average tariff differentials between the US and India, it certainly could - India will have another incentive to strengthen commercial cooperation with Beijing.
India and China are Asia’s two largest countries, and both view themselves as proud civilisation states.They’re natural competitors. But recent positive developments in ties, coupled with the potential for bilateral progress on other fronts, could bring more stability to the relationship - and ensure Modi’s conciliatory language isn’t mere rhetoric. Why India Must Stop Ignoring Bangladesh’s Interim Government (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [3/21/2025 7:50 PM, Abu Jakir, 53K]
Bangladesh and India, two neighboring countries that share the world’s fifth-longest border, were once believed to enjoy a harmonious bilateral relationship. Today, however, they are far from close.
Following last year’s bloody uprising in Bangladesh, which resulted in the end of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year autocratic rule — widely believed to have been supported by New Delhi — the Indian government has largely ignored the interim administration of Bangladesh led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The most recent instance of this Indian disregard is Bangladesh’s exclusion from the Raisina Dialogue, India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics. The Raisina Dialogue has been held in New Delhi for the past decade, and the 10th edition this year was held on March 17-19. There were participants from 125 countries, yet none from Bangladesh, a country with which India not only shares its longest border but, until recently, referred to as its "closest neighbor and ally.".
This omission is a stark example of New Delhi’s apparent indifference to Dhaka.
While diplomatic snubs and omissions are one thing, there is also a noticeable effort to portray Bangladesh in a way that distorts reality. Since Hasina’s removal, Indian media, think tanks, and politicians have relentlessly worked to depict Bangladesh as a nation oppressing its minorities, and as a state veering toward extremism, with a narrative of a "fundamentalist Islamist state" on the rise.
While the Indian government’s executive branch has generally maintained a factual and measured stance on the situation in Bangladesh, it is no secret that much of the Indian media, often referred to as "Godi media" or lapdog media for echoing the government’s favored narrative, has left no stone unturned in vilifying Bangladesh’s interim administration.
A glaring example of this bias can be seen in NDTV’s interview with U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was visiting India as part of a multicountry trip and participating in both the Raisina Dialogue and a security and intelligence conclave held on the sidelines.
NDTV asked Gabbard a series of leading questions, including whether she was concerned about the "alarming situation" in Bangladesh and whether the country needed stability at this time.
In response, Gabbard stated that the "longtime unfortunate persecution, killing, and abuse of religious minorities like Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others has been a major concern for the U.S. government and President Trump’s administration," though she did not clarify what "longtime" actually refers to. She also added that Trump is determined to "identify and defeat radical Islamic terrorism," immediately following her comments on the Bangladesh situation, in effect linking the two.
Bangladesh’s interim government swiftly rejected these claims, condemning any attempts to associate the country with an "Islamist caliphate." It emphasized that such remarks were "misleading and damaging to the image and reputation of Bangladesh," a country whose Islamic practices have long been inclusive and peaceful, and which has made significant progress in combating extremism and terrorism.
Several leading Indian media outlets published the interim government’s protest statement. However, Dhaka’s rejoinder was drowned out by other issues in the Indian capital.
After almost eight months of Hasina’s fall, the Bangladesh-India relationship remains clouded by mistrust and misinformation. Deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s continuing presence in India, despite Dhaka’s repeated calls for her repatriation to face trial in Bangladesh, remains the biggest elephant in the room.
The Indian media’s criticism of the interim government continues on multiple fronts. Initially, it focused on exaggerated reports about minority oppression in Bangladesh but in recent weeks has shifted focus to Bangladesh’s outreach to Pakistan and China.
Bangladesh is currently governed by a "secular" and "internationally renowned leader, who heads what is widely considered in the country to be one of the most secular-minded Cabinets. But the Indian media and think tanks are saying that the interim government is paving the way for an "Islamist state.".
While some of the optics have indeed raised concerns for Bangladesh, including incidents of attacks on minorities (which, it should be noted, were largely politically motivated rather than communal), a visible rise in protests, marches by Islamist parties, and certain violations of liberal values by the far-right, the reality is more nuanced.
During her decade-long autocratic rule, Hasina fiercely suppressed Islamist parties to score political points for ostensibly tackling "terrorism" and gain favor with both New Delhi and the West. However, since her ouster, analysts have argued that the situation has become like a shaken soda bottle — once the lid popped off, frustrations that had been building up over the years began to spill over. But this doesn’t necessarily mean Bangladesh is becoming a fundamentalist state.
The truth is India has not shown genuine interest in fully understanding the situation in Bangladesh, nor has it demonstrated a sincere effort to repair its relationship with Dhaka’s interim government. The time has come for New Delhi to realize that Dhaka will not wait indefinitely for India to repair fraying relations. It has already begun exploring other avenues to safeguard its own interests.
Increasing trade with Pakistan and Yunus’ upcoming trip to China could open doors for Bangladesh to improve economic welfare. These are pragmatic steps the interim government is taking to safeguard its economy and are not part of a larger strategy to destabilize or harm India.The responsibility to mend this relationship now rests squarely with New Delhi. The sooner this happens, the better for both countries. Controversy erupts in India as wads of cash found at senior judge’s home (The Independent)
The Independent [3/23/2025 7:01 AM, Namita Singh, 126906K]
A major judicial controversy has erupted in India after an inquiry report revealed a large sum of cash discovered at the official residence of a high court judge.
The report, made public on Saturday by the Supreme Court of India, includes images of charred bundles of currency allegedly found after a fire broke out at the home of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma on 14 March.
Delhi High Court chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya has urged the chief justice of India (CJI), Sanjiv Khanna, to initiate a comprehensive investigation, citing a report from the city’s police commissioner.
The 25-page document records Justice Varma’s firm denial of any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as a calculated attempt to tarnish his reputation.
"At the cost of repetition, I unequivocally state that neither I nor any of my family members had stored or kept any cash or currency in that storeroom at any point of time," he said in the statement.
"Our cash withdrawals, made from time to time, are all documented and always through regular banking channels, the use of UPI applications and cards. Insofar as the allegation of the recovery of cash, I once again make it clear that no one from my house ever reported seeing any currency in burnt form in the room," said Justice Varma.
He argued that multiple individuals, including household staff, gardeners, and Central Public Works Department personnel, had access to the storeroom where the cash was found.
However, Justice Upadhyaya contradicted this claim, asserting that preliminary findings suggest no unauthorised access beyond those residing at the property or authorised personnel.
"Based on the evidence presented and Justice Varma’s responses, I am of the prima facie opinion that this matter requires a deeper probe," he stated in the report.
The case gained momentum when Delhi Police reported that a security guard at Justice Varma’s residence had witnessed debris and partially burned items being removed from the affected room on the morning of 15 March.
Chief Justice Khanna directly questioned Justice Varma about the origins of the cash and how it ended up at his residence. In response, Justice Varma categorically denied any knowledge or involvement, calling the allegations "totally preposterous".
Justice Varma said he and his wife were in Madhya Pradesh that day and only his daughter and elderly mother were home when the fire broke out. He said he returned to Delhi with his wife on 15 March.
"When the fire broke out around midnight, the fire service was alerted by my daughter and my private secretary and whose calls would be duly recorded (sic).
"During the exercise to douse the fire, all staff and the members of my household were asked to move away from the scene of the incident in view of safety concerns. After the fire was doused and when they went back to the scene of the incident, they saw no cash or currency on site," the judge said.
The Supreme Court has since formed a three-member panel to conduct an internal inquiry into the matter. The committee includes Justice Sheel Nagu, chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court; Justice GS Sandhawalia, chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court; and Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Karnataka High Court. Meanwhile, Justice Varma has been temporarily relieved of his judicial duties while the investigation proceeds.
The fire that led to the discovery occurred late at night on 14 March, coinciding with the Hindu festival of Holi. Firefighters responding to the emergency extinguished the blaze before reportedly uncovering stacks of charred currency. As part of the Supreme Court’s disclosure, images of the cash were uploaded to its website, intensifying public scrutiny of the case.
Justice Varma, upon viewing the images presented in the report, expressed shock, claiming they differed from what he had seen at the site.
"It was during our meeting at the High Court Guesthouse that I was first shown the video and other photographs which had been shared with you (Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya) by the Commissioner of Police.
"I was totally shocked to see the contents of the video since that depicted something which was not found on-site as I had seen it. It was this which prompted me to observe that this clearly appeared to be a conspiracy to frame and malign me," said Justice Varma, according to the statement noted in the report.
In response to the preliminary findings, Chief Justice Khanna has requested access to Justice Varma’s call records and digital communications from the past six months to further the investigation.
"Justice Yashwant Varma should be advised not to alter or delete any data, messages, or conversations from his mobile phone(s)," he directed in correspondence with the Delhi High Court chief justice.
Adding to the intrigue, Justice Varma was transferred to the Allahabad High Court on Friday, fueling speculation about the case. However, the Supreme Court has clarified that his transfer was unrelated to the cash discovery. Comedian’s jokes about an Indian state leader are being investigated as potential defamation (AP)
AP [3/24/2025 3:53 AM, Staff, 456K]
A comedian popular for his biting political humor is being investigated for possible defamation over jokes made about an Indian state leader who is an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in yet another case raising questions over freedom of speech in the country.
Police in the western city of Mumbai opened the investigation Monday against Kunal Kamra over a comedy skit referring to Eknath Shinde, the second highest elected leader of Maharashtra state, following a complaint filed by a politician from Shinde’s Shiv Sena party.
Kamra had made the remarks in a comedy skit, but it was unclear when the performance took place.
A video clip of the skit Kamra posted on his Instagram profile on Sunday showed him taunting Shinde in a parody song. Kamra’s use of the term “traitor” particularly triggered Shiv Sena party workers and on Sunday they ransacked the studio where he had performed the skit.
Police are also investigating the vandalism.
One lawmaker from the party Sunday threatened Kamra, saying he would be chased by the party workers throughout the country. “You will be forced to flee India,” lawmaker Naresh Mhaske warned Kamra in a video message.
Shinde has not commented about the matter, but Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Kamra should apologize for his remarks.“We respect freedom of expression, but recklessness will not be tolerated,” Fadnavis told reporters.
Kamra has made no comment on the investigation, but late Sunday he shared on his Instagram a picture of himself holding the Indian Constitution with caption: “The only way forward.”
The Habitat Comedy Club, where Kamra had performed, said it was shutting down following the vandalism.“We are shocked, worried and extremely broken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us,” it said in a statement Monday, adding that the club will remain shut “till we figure out the best way to provide a platform for free expression without putting ourselves and our property in jeopardy.”
Kamra has faced the ire of Hindu nationalist groups and political parties in the past, particularly for jokes about Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party politicians.
Other Indian comedians have been arrested or had shows canceled for making fun of politicians or making references to the Hindu religion or national icons. Prices slide as India unwinds ban on rice exports (Financial Times)
Financial Times [3/24/2025 12:56 AM, Andres Schipani, Susannah Savage, and Humza Jilani, 14.6M]India has lifted its last restrictions on rice exports in a bid to double agricultural shipments by the end of the decade and boost economic growth.
India is the world’s largest rice exporter and this month’s decision to open up all rice for export has piled pressure on rival producers. The price of a metric tonne of benchmark Thai white rice had fallen to $405 by last week, down from $669 in January 2024.
The decision comes as New Delhi seeks to increase agricultural and food exports to raise earnings and farmers’ income amid an economic slowdown in a country where the agriculture sector supports more than 42 per cent of the 1.4bn population.
India’s goal, according to commerce minister Piyush Goyal, was to ship $100bn worth of agricultural and food goods by 2030 — more than double the $48.15bn shipped in 2023-24. “Last year we did about $50bn dollars in exports from India. But then, just like the stomach is hungry for more, the commerce ministry of any country is hungry for greater achievement. I do hope to see a three-digit mark, the $100bn mark,” he said earlier this year. The government has also eased restrictions on sugar exports.
India started cracking down on rice exports in 2022 amid fears of a shortfall as prices rose in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Those restrictions triggered panic-buying in Asia and North America and sent the Asian benchmark rice price to its highest level since 2008.
India began easing export restrictions in September. New Delhi, which exported 14mn tonnes of rice in 2023, is expected to export a record 21.5mn metric tonnes of rice between September 2024 and October 2025, according to S&P Global.“In a market of about 54-55mn tonnes global, if India exports more than 20mn tonnes, it would be flooding the market,” said Ashok Gulati, an agricultural economist at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
India’s return to the market has come at the expense of cash-strapped Pakistan, which had enjoyed a shortlived bump as its exporters captured part of India’s market share in places such as Indonesia and east Africa.
Ibrahim Shafiq, director for exports at Lahore-based Latif Rice Mills, said that prices for non-basmati rice from Pakistan fell to $650 per metric tonne from $850 “almost overnight” when India lifted its ban in September.“As soon as India was back in the market, African and Indonesian markets reverted back to cheaply priced Indian rice,” he said, causing revenues to take “a hit compared to earlier years”.
The US Department of Agriculture estimates that Pakistan will export just 5.8mn tonnes of rice in the 12 months to May — an 11.4 per cent drop on the previous cycle. “Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand, all of them captured some of the markets when India left that vacuum there. Once India’s returned to the market, nobody really can compete with India,” said Samarendu Mohanty, a Bengaluru-based rice economist. “India will get this market back. This will drive everybody else out of the African market,” he added.
The surge in India exports will enable poor African countries to secure the grain at lower prices, as well as support east Asian animal feed and ethanol producers, analysts said.
Africa is typically a large market for broken rice — accounting for more than 80 per cent of India’s exports over 2018-20, according to data from the International Food Policy Research Institute. In 2022, Indian rice accounted for more than 60 per cent of rice imports for 17 African countries and more than 80 per cent in nine, including Somalia.“The lifting of the restrictions is more than welcome because we usually import huge amounts of rice from India,” said Ahmed Elmi Mohamed, a senior agricultural official in Mogadishu. NSB
Arrested ARSA leader blamed for violence against Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh (Radio Free Asia)
Radio Free Asia [3/23/2025 7:24 PM, Kamran Reza Chowdhury, 1627K]
The leader of a Rohingya insurgent group blamed for instigating attacks that provoked a deadly offensive by the Myanmar military and the forced cross-border exodus of Rohingya in 2017 has not spilled "significant information" since his arrest earlier this week, Bangladesh police said.
Ataullah Abu Jununi, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA, was arrested on Tuesday at an apartment near Dhaka where he had been staying for four months.
The Rapid Action Battalion, an elite security force, said it took him into custody on suspicion of terrorism and illegal entry. Nine suspected accomplices were also arrested that day from northern Mymensingh district, RAB said.
Mohammad Shahinur Alom, the officer-in-charge of Siddhirganj police station, said Ataullah and his accomplices were being interrogated for 10 days under a court order.
"He is behaving in a very modest way. He has yet to give any significant information. Let us see what happens in the next several days," Shahinur Alom told RFA affiliate BenarNews on Friday.
Ataullah’s arrest occurred the same day that Southeast Asian NGO Fortify Rights released a 76-page report alleging that ARSA and another group had committed potential war crimes through killing, abducting and torturing Rohingya who were sheltering at refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh.
The report also alleges that ARSA under Ataullah’s leadership carried out coordinated attacks on government security outposts in Myanmar in August 2017, prompting the Myanmar military and Buddhist vigilante groups to launch a brutal offensive against the entire Rohingya population in Rakhine state.
The crackdown forced about 740,000 to flee to the Bangladesh camps, which are home to about 1 million refugees.
"As the commander-in-chief of ARSA, Ataullah is responsible for ordering and overseeing egregious violations of international law, including targeted killings, abductions, and the torture of Rohingya civilians," Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith said in a news release on Thursday, after Ataullah was arrested.
"This is a critical moment. Bangladesh has taken the important step of arresting Ataullah and others, and we encourage the ICC prosecutor to seek an arrest warrant for Ataullah to prosecute him in The Hague," Smith said, referring to the International Criminal Court.
Who is Ataullah?
Born in a refugee camp in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi in 1977, Attaulah and his parents moved to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where he was enrolled in an Islamic religious school, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
As a young boy, he worked at a mosque in Saudi Arabia and attended the Rohingya community meetings where his speeches impressed Saudis, who backed his efforts to gain rights for Rohingya Muslims.
ICG said Ataullah became leader of ARSA in 2016. In 2017, he posted a video vowing to fight for the rights of the persecuted Rohingya in Rakhine, Myanmar.
In the Aug. 28 video statement, Ataullah stated that ARSA was established in response to Burmese government and paramilitary abuses against the stateless Rohingya community.
"Our primary objective under ARSA is to liberate our people from dehumanized oppression perpetrated by all successive Burmese regimes," he said.
What is ARSA?
ARSA, a Rohingya insurgent group formerly known as Al-Yaaqin, gained international notoriety after it launched coordinated attacks on government security outposts in Rakhine state in August 2017, leading to the bloody crackdown against the Rohingya people.
In September 2021, popular Rohingya leader Muhib Ullah, who had visited the White House in Washington as part of his advocacy for Rohingya to be repatriated to Myanmar, was assassinated at his office in a refugee camp.
After years of denying an ARSA presence in the camps, Bangladesh authorities in June 2022 said Ataullah had ordered ARSA members to kill Muhib.
In 2023, ARSA joined forces with the Myanmar government, according to the ICG.
"Despite the Myanmar military junta being responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya, ARSA and the junta have joined forces to fight the Arakan Army, one of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed organizations based in Rakhine state," the ICG said.
How are Rohingya reacting?
After hearing the news of the ARSA leader’s arrest, refugee camp resident Mohmmad Amin said he had paid a 300,000 taka (U.S. $2,467) ransom to be released after members of the Rohingya militant group abducted him.
"Ataullah sold the Rohingya people for his personal gain. We are happy for his arrest. We hope Bangladesh will give him tough punishment," Amin told BenarNews, adding, "Ataullah was involved in the murder of Muhib Ullah.".
In the same camp, a group of Rohingya circulated a video asking Bangladesh’s interim government to release Ataullah, terming him a leader fighting for the rights of the Rohingya.
Meanwhile, Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University, questioned the report that Ataullah lived in an apartment near Bangladesh’s capital for months without being arrested, saying it was not believable. Still, the arrest is a significant development in relations with Myanmar, he said.
"Ataullah Jununi’s arrest is a significant signal from Bangladesh to the Arakan Army and the central government that ARSA is under control," Ahmed told BenarNews.
Across the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Rakhine state, the anti-junta Arakan Army rebels have made significant gains in battles with junta troops to gain control of the region.
"The U.N. secretary-general has stressed that Bangladesh should talk to the Arakan Army. Ataullah’s arrest could create a congenital atmosphere for probable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, provided that Arakan Army and the central government agree," he said. MPs think they may have been targets of ‘disinformation’ over Bangladesh inquiry (The Guardian)
The Guardian [3/24/2025 1:00 AM, Rob Davies, 78.9M]
British MPs believe they may have been targeted by a “disinformation” campaign aimed at discrediting the man leading efforts to trace funds allegedly laundered from Bangladesh into the UK.
MPs raised the alarm after receiving emails about Ahsan Mansur, who was installed as the central bank governor of Bangladesh last year, after a student-led revolution swept away the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina.
Mansur has been in London seeking help from the government and private companies to track down billions of dollars in assets allegedly stolen by allies of the Hasina regime, some of which he believes may have been used to buy UK property.
His visit has already been overshadowed by an escalating row involving Hasina’s niece, the former City minister Tulip Siddiq, who resigned from the role this year after Dhaka’s anti-corruption commission (ACC) filed a criminal case against her. She has denied all wrongdoing.Now MPs fear that Britain’s efforts to assist Bangladesh could be further clouded by an apparent smear campaign against Mansur involving news articles by fake journalists.
MPs in the 47-strong all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on responsible tax and corruption received emails before a session on Monday with Mansur. The sender, who claimed to be a journalist, sent links to a website called International Policy Digest, featuring articles about apparent displays of wealth by Mansur’s daughter and questioning why she was not being investigated.
Neither of the articles’ supposed authors appears to have any other profile as a journalist. The Guardian found that pictures of them were actually stock images.
Mansur and MPs on the committee raised concerns that the emails were part of a concerted disinformation campaign.
Mansur, a former IMF official, who previously lived and worked in Washington, said he believed that people under investigation for money laundering were trying to “diminish my reputation and target me in various ways”.
He added that his daughter was a US citizen who had little to do with Bangladesh.
One APPG member, Rupa Huq, received a separate email from a UK public relations firm called Palatine Communications, also linking to International Policy Digest.
The email said that if Mansur was prepared to “impugn the integrity of Tulip Siddiq” then he and his family should also face scrutiny.
Mansur said he had never made any comments about Siddiq.
However, he is a key figure in the transitional government led by Mohammad Yunus, whose ACC accused Siddiq, along with her family members, amid an investigation into a 2013 deal with Russia that allegedly overinflated the price of a nuclear power plant.
Huq said it was “highly unusual” to receive such an email and compared it to demonstrations that have targeted her speaking about Bangladesh in parliament. She said both were “designed to intimidate and interfere with parliament and MPs’ normal work”.
Members of the APPG are understood to have referred the emails to parliamentary cyber security advisers, as well as to the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, which is investigating disinformation.“If it is the case that this communication is an attempt to mislead UK politicians when it comes to a very serious corruption scandal, then I think we should be very concerned,” said APPG member Phil Brickell.“I urge the relevant parliamentary authorities to investigate thoroughly – we must get to the bottom of who paid for this, and why, in order to understand how we can best protect ourselves.”A spokesperson for Palatine Communications said: “Our client instructions are confidential. In sending the email in question, we acted on our own initiative.“We have nothing to do with, and know nothing of, the authorship of this article, but nor did we ever claim it represented the gospel truth. Like numerous articles from many media outlets, it raises legitimate concerns about the current situation in Bangladesh that we believe are worthy of MPs’ consideration.”
A spokesperson for International Policy Digest said the person who had actually written the articles had “wished to remain anonymous”, adding that they were confident that the content was “fairly accurate”. USAID In Sri Lanka: Controversy And Reality (Eurasia Review – opinion)
Eurasia Review [3/23/2025 8:04 PM, A. Jathindra, 206K]
In the face of uncertainties surrounding the future operations of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), President Donald Trump’s administration has released a 36-point questionnaire directed at UN agencies and recipients of US foreign assistance. The purpose of the questionnaire is to gauge their positions and includes requests to ensure they are not collaborating with ‘entities associated with communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties, or any party that espouses anti-American beliefs.’ Additionally, it asks, ‘how much does this project directly impact efforts to counter malign influence, including China?
The 90-day freeze on USAID funding has had a profound impact on global humanitarian projects, particularly those implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in developing countries. USAID and the State Department jointly manage the majority of nonmilitary aid. Before the freeze, USAID allocated around $40 billion annually to global projects aimed at promoting democracy, countering authoritarianism, alleviating hunger, and improving health, among other objectives. In 2023, the United States disbursed USD 72 billion, representing 1.2 percent of its total budget, to over 200 countries for 20,000 activities. In this scenario, the questionnaire demonstrates how the Trump administration plans to redirect USAID’s future funding to ‘ensure it aligns with an America First agenda’, as explained by the State Department.
Sri Lanka is also one of the South Asian countries hit by the temporary suspension of US foreign aid programs. According to the US embassy in Sri Lanka, since 1956, the United States has provided more than $2 billion (approximately 720 billion Sri Lankan rupees) in development assistance to Sri Lanka across various sectors. USAID is the single largest donor in Sri Lanka among western donor agencies. In 2023 and 2024, Sri Lanka benefited from $120 million and $110 million respectively from various US aid programs. Following the USAID controversy, the Sri Lankan government stated that it "may have to go for alternatives" to fill the gap, though it appears to lack the capacity to do so. Consequently, Sri Lanka may need to seek assistance from India or turn to China.
The suspension of USAID operations has led to two primary reactions in Sri Lanka. Firstly, the abrupt halt of USAID-funded projects has created significant uncertainty, particularly affecting the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Secondly, local political groups have raised questions about the past activities of USAID. Recently, these groups gathered in front of the US Embassy in Colombo, demanding that NGOs benefiting from USAID funding provide detailed reports on how the money was spent.
One of their main allegations concerns the Media Empowerment for a Democratic Sri Lanka (MEND) project, which is described as a "crazy waste of Americans’ tax money" by billionaire Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) established by an executive order from President Donald Trump. MEND is one of the USAID-funded projects in Sri Lanka implemented by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). The project was allocated $7.9 million to train Sri Lankan journalists to avoid binary-gendered language.
President Trump also posted on his X platform, stating, "George Soros received $260,000,000.00 from USAID and used this money to spread chaos, change governments, and for personal gain in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, the UK, and the US.". Groups that stimulate speculations about USAID’s involvement have utilized these statements to push for an investigation into USAID’s spending in Sri Lanka.
However, blaming foreign countries and agencies during regime changes in Sri Lanka is not new political rhetoric. Conspiracy theories are common in Sri Lankan mainstream politics, and minority parties are also not exempt from this. Following his defeat in the 2015 presidential election, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa immediately pointed fingers at Indian intelligence and then US intelligence.
It is true that the involvement of foreign agencies in the 2015 regime change was somewhat exaggerated. In 2015, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Sri Lanka and stated that the country had achieved democracy and should use this as a basis for "look ahead." Some in Sri Lanka misinterpreted this as Kerry acknowledging a US-backed regime change. In reality, his words had a different perspective, noting that "the past year also marked important democratic gains in such countries as Nigeria, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela.".
Despite an observation that Kerry’s trip was "being read locally as an increasing stamp of approval for the new government," subsequent events disproved these assumptions. The regime change was insufficient to justify stories of foreign interference. The rapid collapse of the 2015 regime change allowed the Rajapaksa clan to regain power. If foreign entities were involved in the regime change, why did they not attempt to make it permanent? This question challenges the accusations against USAID. Moreover, if there was a US hand behind the regime change, it indicates that the US attempt failed.
The people of Sri Lanka have undoubtedly benefited greatly from USAID contributions since 1961. However, it is difficult to ascertain the exact benefits that the United States has derived from this foreign aid. Strengthening civil society is a crucial aspect of USAID funding programs, with one-third of the funding directed to civil society-based local NGOs. These funding supports initiatives focused on reconciliation and social cohesion in Sri Lanka. It is difficult to answer questions from an American perspective about the effectiveness of these projects in advancing US foreign policy interests.
Against this backdrop, the new step should be should be comprehended. President Trump’s executive order to freeze funding underscores the notion that USAID programs are not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States’. During a trip to El Salvador, Secretary of State Marco Rubio provided a different viewpoint, telling reporters, "We fund programs irrespective of whether it’s aligned or not aligned with foreign policy. That’s ridiculous." The principal criticism of stopping USAID funding has raised concerns about exploitation by rival powers. The lingering question is whether traditional USAID programs, like the reconciliation project in Sri Lanka, have succeeded in countering China’s influence. Sri Lanka presents a clear example suggesting the contrary. It remains challenging to determine how programs for civil society empowerment, human rights promotion, and gender projects funded by USAID after the war ended in 2009 have advanced US global interests, as China’s soft power influence continues to grow in Sri Lanka.
USAID was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 through an executive order, leveraging the authority of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, during the height of the Cold War to counter Soviet influence abroad. For the past sixty years, USAID has functioned as a soft power instrument to safeguard US global interests. However, in the current Sino-US geopolitical chess, the Trump administration appears to believe that USAID programs are not effective in addressing new challenges. As the world shifts towards a new Cold War atmosphere, the US administration’s stance indicates that traditional foreign aid programs are outdated. In his 1949 inaugural address, President Harry S. Truman identified four priorities for US foreign policy, one of which was "a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.".
The world that supports the Rule-Based International Order anticipates a bold new foreign aid strategy from the Trump administration. Sri Lanka, given its pivotal geo-strategic location within the Indian Ocean Region, has the potential to succumb to illiberal influence, challenging the US Indo-Pacific Strategy. Central Asia
WrestleMania Central Asian-style: great powers battle for region’s critical minerals (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [3/21/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
A four-way game is quickly taking shape in Central Asia to gain a major share of the region’s mineral wealth, as well as develop its nuclear energy sector.
The United States and European Union have demonstrated rising interest in Central Asia’s critical minerals in recent months. They additionally have shown interest in getting involved in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants to be built in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The US quest for rare earths appears to be intensifying, underscored by a low-key tour by a US congresswoman, Carol Miller, a Republican from West Virginia, who has held meetings with high-profile Central Asian leaders. In a highly unusual protocol twist for a US representative who is not a member of the legislature’s hierarchy, Miller met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on March 20, three days after holding talks with Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Uzbekistan.
There has been scant coverage of the visit. Statements issued by the presidential press services of both countries provided vague summaries of the discussions, but did touch on the topic of mining. Miller’s own website does not even mention she traveled to Central Asia. One March 19 report published by an Uzbek outlet, however, said Miller met with top Uzbek Trade Ministry officials and that Uzbekistan expressed “readiness to more actively develop partnership in key areas such as industry, critical minerals, investment and trade.”
Meanwhile, Russia and China are showing that they’re not about to cede ground willingly to their Western rivals.
Russian officials voiced readiness to help Tajikistan develop its mining sector during Tajik leader Emomali Rahmon’s recent visit to Moscow, the Russian outlet Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported. In addition, Alexei Likhachev, the head of the Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom, said in a March 17 television interview that Russia and Tajikistan “are building new technological chains in a number of other areas related to energy, instrument making, and possibly rare earth metal mining. Tajikistan is rich in rare earth metals.”
Likhachev also revealed Rosatom was in the “initial stage of negotiations” with Tajik leaders on the construction of a small nuclear power plant in Tajikistan, a country that has already invested vast sums in building the Rogun Dam to meet the country’s electricity needs.
China, which already has a strong position in Central Asia’s mining sector, is also looking to get a piece of the nuclear energy action. Shen Yanfeng, the head of China’s National Nuclear Corporation, paid a visit earlier in March to Kazakhstan, which recently announced an intention to build three nuclear power reactors. During a meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Shen pitched the possibility of Chinese involvement in developing “advanced technologies for the peaceful use of nuclear energy and training Kazakhstani specialists.”
Elsewhere, Azim Akhmedkhadzhayev, the director of Uzbekistan’s nuclear energy agency Uzatom, said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro that Tashkent will engage French companies in the construction and operation of a nuclear plant on Uzbek soil for “political, financial and technological reasons.” Uzbekistan already has a deal with Rosatom to help develop the country’s nuclear energy potential. Russian Crackdown On Central Asian Migrants Continues A Year After Moscow Terror Attack (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [3/21/2025 7:02 PM, Staff, 968K]
Central Asian migrants in Russia have met with increased harassment and violence since four Tajik men were arrested for the deadly terror attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024.
The attack left more than 140 people dead and more than 550 injured in what was the worst such attack in Russia in years.
The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility.
"After a year, there have seen significant changes in the migration climate in Russia," says migration expert Rahmon Ulmasov.
"Firstly, migrants not only from Tajikistan, but also from Central Asia, primarily from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, have been treated very harshly. Secondly, the [Russian government] adopted several resolutions, which made it more difficult to recruit migrants.".
The Russian authorities amended legislation in the summer of 2024 to give the police more powers to expel migrants without court orders.
A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report highlighted a surge in ethnic profiling and arbitrary arrests of Central Asians in Russia as well as increased instances of xenophobia and cruelty by far-right nationalist groups.
They found video evidence of coordinated physical assaults by young Slavic-looking men on Central Asian men working in construction, maintenance, and service sectors.
The videos were filmed by the assailants and posted online.‘Pressure And Intimidation’.
HRW also claims that Russian authorities have targeted Central Asians for military recruitment, using arbitrary detention and threats of deportation to force them to enlist for the war in Ukraine.
"Muslims in Russia have been under different types of pressure and intimidation for some time," says political scientist Emil Juraev.
"This was before the events in [Crocus City Hall] and after that. We see it all the time. We see how mosques are being raided. And that was happening even before [the attack].".
The four main Tajik suspects have yet to face trial.
All four appeared to have been beaten when they appeared in court in March 2024. At least 23 other suspects were detained.
Gulrakat Mirzoeva, the mother of one of the suspects, Dalerjon Mirzoev, claims he is innocent.
"I just look at my phone. I see pictures of the same man. I see my baby [was beaten] black and blue, that’s all. It’s been a year since they’ve called me. Maybe it’s my fault. I’m not wealthy enough to visit him. I don’t want anything. Our situation is already miserable.".
Russia depends heavily on migrant labor with close to 3.3 million workers from Central Asia working in Russia in 2024. In the Face of Oppression, Feminist Resistance in Kazakhstan Persists (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [3/21/2025 8:25 PM, Xeniya Golub and Alfiya Jangitayeva, 53K]
Zhanar Sekerbayeva, a co-founder of the Kazakhstan-based feminist organization Feminita, was arrested on February 28. Just a few days later, on March 3, another feminist activist, Aktorgyn Akkenzhebalasy was detained. Both were accused of participating in a peaceful protest in 2024 demanding life imprisonment for former Economy Minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who brutally murdered his wife Saltanat Nukenova and was sentenced to a 24-year prison term. Their arrests highlight the ongoing suppression of feminist activism in Kazakhstan, where authorities frequently obstruct efforts to address gender-related issues.
Feminist activism in Kazakhstan faces systemic barriers from both akimats (local governments) and society. March 8, a symbolic day for gender equality movements worldwide, has become a point of contention in Kazakhstan. The first feminist march, organized by KazFem on March 8, 2017, sought to bring attention to issues such as domestic violence, bride kidnapping (alyp kashu), and economic inequality. It marked the beginning of an ongoing struggle for the country’s feminist community.
Many feminist groups in Kazakhstan, including Feminita, 8marchkz, KazFem, FemAstana, and FemPoint, operate without official registration, a status that exacerbates their vulnerability to government suppression. Feminita, for instance, applied for official recognition three times since 2017, only to be denied each time. Then in February 2025, Sekerbayeva was fined for leading an unregistered organization, highlighting the paradoxical crackdown on groups unable to operate legally.
Apart from these legal obstacles, feminist protests are frequently disrupted by local authorities. Akimats often justify protest bans on vague security concerns, despite no documented instances of feminist demonstrations disturbing public order. Additionally, law enforcement officials monitor activists’ social media activity and issue threats of intervention by special police forces (OMON).
While feminist protests face significant restrictions, some government-favored groups advocating selective women’s rights have been granted easier access to public demonstrations. In 2024, Bibinur Sheralieva, head of the social house Rahym and a member of the ruling Amanat Party, was permitted to protest after a single application to the Akimat. In contrast, 8March made 20 unsuccessful attempts to secure a permit. Sheralieva’s demonstration, ostensibly about gender issues, also included messages about credit debt and a disorganized stage performance. At one point, Dilnara Isenova, a participant, went on stage wearing a wolf’s pelt on her shoulder and started dancing. The bizarre performance, which seemed disconnected from the stated purpose of the protest, further raised questions about its true intent.
Feminist activism also encounters opposition from anti-feminist movements. The "Kazakhstan’s Union of Parents," a group also known for spreading disinformation about vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic, has actively opposed gender equality initiatives. The organization lobbied against the Law on Combating Domestic Violence in 2019 and later resisted the 2024 law on women’s rights and children’s safety, which criminalized domestic violence. In February 2025, members of the group, led by Bagila Baltabayeva, forced their way into a hotel where Feminita was conducting a human rights training event, accusing the organization of "violating the law.".
Rinat Zaitov, a member of the Mazhilis (the lower house of parliament), expressed a willingness to classify Feminita as an extremist organization, calling it "a disgusting organization that soon led our youth to depravity." This hostility toward Feminita stems not only from anti-feminist sentiment but also from homophobia. Both of the movement’s organizers, Gulzada Serzhan and Zhanar Sekerbayeva, are openly queer. The movement advocates for women’s rights regardless of age, race, and sexual orientation, with the latter particularly provoking backlash in Kazakhstan’s socially conservative environment.This broader resistance to Feminita and feminist activism is part of a wider reactionary pushback against feminist initiatives in Kazakhstan, where prevailing societal norms often hinder progress on gender equality. The delay in adopting stronger legal protections for women in Kazakhstan illustrates this resistance — domestic violence was decriminalized in 2017 and only reinstated as a crime in April 2024 after public outrage over Nukenova’s murder. Lawyer Zhanna Urazbakhova, who represented Nukenova’s family, criticized the new law for failing to explicitly define domestic violence and lacking preventive measures.
Notably, authorities have not only suppressed feminist activism but also targeted individual leaders. Dinara Smailova, head of the "Ne Molchi" foundation, which provides legal and psychological support to victims of violence, is currently seeking asylum in Europe after being placed on a wanted list by Kazakhstan’s provincial authorities. Accused of fraud, Smailova and her supporters allege that the case is politically motivated, with police pressuring donors to fabricate claims against her. Human Rights Watch has called for an impartial investigation into the case.
Despite facing systemic repression, Kazakhstan’s feminist movement continues to make an impact. Activist groups employ diverse strategies, from grassroots legal aid to digital advocacy. As of December 2023, Ne Molchi has helped sentence 239 offenders and assisted over 35,000 victims of violence. Feminita conducts training sessions and lectures on women’s rights, while Batyrjamal, an independent media platform, engages in online feminist discourse. Protests, despite government opposition, remain a vital tool for raising awareness and demanding change.
Kazakhstan’s feminist activists persist despite formidable resistance from both the state and anti-feminist groups. Their resilience reflects the ongoing struggle for gender equality in the country. Meaningful change depends not only on their perseverance but also on the support they receive within and beyond Kazakhstan. While the fight for women’s rights is far from over, every act of advocacy strengthens the movement, gradually pushing society toward justice and equality. Indo-Pacific
Migrants Deported to Panama Ask: ‘Where Am I Going to Go?’ (New York Times)
New York Times [3/23/2025 8:32 AM, Genevieve Glatsky, Farnaz Fassihi, Julie Turkewitz and Nathalia Angarita, 145325K]
When the first buses of newly freed migrants arrived this month in Panama City from a detention camp at the edge of a jungle, three people were visibly ill. One needed H.I.V. treatment, a lawyer said, another had run out of insulin and a third was suffering from seizures.Confusion, chaos and fear reigned. “What am I going to do?” one migrant wondered aloud. “Where am I going to go?”These are questions being asked by dozens of migrants deported to Panama last month by the Trump administration, part of the president’s sweeping efforts to expel millions of people from the United States.At first, Panamanian officials had locked the group of about 300 people in a hotel. Then, those who did not accept repatriation to their home countries were sent to a guarded camp at the edge of a jungle. Finally, after a lawsuit and an outcry from human rights groups, the Panamanian authorities released the deportees, busing them back to Panama City.Now, the remaining migrants — from Iran, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan and elsewhere — are free but stranded in a country that doesn’t want them, many sleeping in a school gymnasium made available by an aid group, with no real sense of what to do next.Interviews with 25 of the deportees offered a revealing look at who is being pushed out of the United States by the Trump administration, and what happens once they arrive in Central America.The region has emerged as a key cog in the deportation machinery President Trump is trying to kick into high gear.But Washington’s decision to send migrants from around the world to Central America has also raised legal questions, tested governments seemingly unprepared to receive migrants and left people marooned in nations where they have no support networks or long-term legal status.Most of the migrants in Panama said that when they arrived in the United States they told officials they were fearful of returning to their countries, but were never given an opportunity to formally ask for asylum.A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said in an email that the migrants had been “properly removed” from the United States. She added that “not a single one of these aliens asserted fear of returning to their home country at any point during processing or custody.”
“The U.S. government coordinated for the welfare of these aliens to also be managed by humanitarian groups in Panama,” she said.Since taking office, Mr. Trump has sent hundreds of migrants from around the world to Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador, though it is unclear if the U.S. government plans to continue doing so.“Whether there will be more planes from the United States or not, I honestly don’t know,” Panama’s president, Raúl Mulino, said this month. “I’m not very inclined to do it, because they leave us with the problem.”Those now stranded in Panama include Hedayatullah Zazai, 34, a man who said he had served as an officer in the Afghan Army, working alongside U.S. Special Forces and American consultants. After the Taliban took over, he fled to Pakistan, he said, then Iran, then flew to Brazil and trekked through South and Central America to get to the U.S. border.The deportees also include Iranian Christians who said they were under threat at home, and several Afghan women from the Hazara ethnic minority who say they face persecution under the Taliban.Another deportee is Simegnat, 37, an Amhara woman traveling alone from Ethiopia who said she had been targeted by her government because her ethnicity led the authorities to suspect her of working with a rebel group. She said she fled after her home was set on fire, her father and brother were killed and the police told her she would be next.“I was not a person who wanted to flee my country,” she said. “I owned a restaurant and I had a good life.”
“We are humans, but we have nowhere to live,” she said of the Amhara people.She and several of the other migrants, fearing for the safety of relatives back home, asked not to be identified by their full names.Most of the migrants described crossing the Mexico-U.S. border early this year, being held for about two weeks in detention, then shackled by U.S. officials and put on a plane to an unknown destination. Some said they had been told they were headed from California to Texas; most said they were never given an opportunity to ask formally for asylum.One 19-year-old woman from Afghanistan said U.S. officials had permitted her parents and five younger siblings to cross the border into the United States. As the only sibling over 18, she was separated from them, detained and flown to Panama, she said.Some said they owed hundreds or thousands of dollars to people who helped them fund their journeys.“If I go back to Ethiopia without their money,” Simegnat said, “they would kill me.”Panama has given the deportees 30-day permits that allow them to stay in the country for the time being and has given them the option of extending their stay to 90 days.While Panama has an asylum program, migrants have received mixed messages about the likelihood of receiving long-term legal protections in the country, they said.Another option is for individuals to find another country that will take them. But that would require a case-by-case legal effort, said Silvia Serna, a lawyer who is part of the team that filed a lawsuit that called Panama’s detention of the migrants at the hotel and border camp illegal.Ms. Serna said she had been interviewing the migrants to see what assistance her team could offer but cautioned that it might be very hard for people to find welcoming countries.In interviews, three of the Iranian deportees said they planned to turn around and head back to the United States and were already negotiating with a smuggler. A fourth had already left for the U.S. border.One is Negin, 24, who identified herself as a gay woman from Iran, where openly gay people face government persecution. “At least if I’m lingering idly,” she said, “I’ll be inside an American detention camp and on American soil.”The smuggler quoted one woman a price of $5,000 to get her across the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, and $8,000 to secure her a visa and put her on a plane to Canada.For now, most of the group is staying at a school gymnasium-turned-shelter outside Panama City run by two Christian charities. The migrants sleep on thin mattresses and eat meals from plastic foam containers. A group of them went door to door at various embassies this past week asking for help but said they had been rejected at every one.Elías Cornejo, who works with one of the aid groups, Fe y Alegría, was unsparing in his criticism of the new U.S. administration.“We think that the policies of the Trump administration are part of a machine that grinds the migrant like meat,” he said. “And that obviously is a serious problem of inhumanity.”A smaller group of deportees, mostly families with children, has been staying at a hotel in Panama City paid for by UNICEF. Among them is a married couple, Mohammad and Mona, who are Christian converts from Iran. One night, as their 8-year-old son broke down, both parents leaned over him, stroking his face.“He doesn’t go to school, and life has become repetitive for him,” Mohammad said.The couple had considered re-entering the United States illegally, they said, and eventually decided they could not put their child through more suffering. They are holding out hope that a lawyer on Ms. Serna’s team can persuade the Trump administration to grant them entry as persecuted Christians.If that doesn’t work, Mohammad said, he was considering staying in Panama and was already looking for work.Not far from the hotel recently, Artemis Ghasemzadeh, 27, another Iranian Christian, entered a white-walled church and knelt in a pew. Ms. Ghasemzadeh became something of a leader of the group after she posted a video online from detention at the Panama City hotel, pleading with the world for help.She said that a priest had offered the migrants group housing north of Panama City, where they would be welcome to stay as long as they were in the country. The houses have kitchens, and they would have no curfew, she added. She was mulling over the offer.“I don’t know what will happen next,” Ms. Ghasemzadeh said. “I don’t know my next step. At the moment, we are in God’s hands.” Trump extends State Department deadline for new travel bans (Washington Examiner)
Washington Examiner [3/21/2025 7:13 PM, Christian Datoc, 2296K]
The Trump administration will not be announcing new restrictions on certain foreign citizens traveling to the United States on Friday, the deadline President Donald Trump set for a report.
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, giving the State Department until Friday, March 21, to name 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.".
When asked Friday about the president’s plans to unveil the ban, White House officials referred the Washington Examiner to State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce’s briefing that evening, where she announced the extension of the deadline.
"That deadline is, now, not today. I can’t tell you the specifics, but don’t expect that today is a day that something will have to come out," Bruce told reporters.“The Department of State is committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process, as laid out by Trump’s executive order, which is what initiated this dynamic,” she continued. “The visa adjudication process must ensure that U.S.-bound foreign travelers do not pose a threat to the national security and public safety of the United States. This was obviously a huge discussion on September 12, 2001, and this is an issue that Americans care about.”The New York Times reported last week that the State Department had settled on a list of 43 countries that would see partial or complete bans on travel to the United States for its citizens.Of that group, 11 countries were placed on the State Department’s “red” list, which would flatly bar citizens of those countries from traveling to the United States. These countries include Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.An additional 10 countries made their way onto an “orange” list, which would see new restrictions on visas, while the remainder of the 43 will be handled on a case-by-case basis 60 days after arrival in the United States.You can watch Bruce’s briefing in full below. Twitter
Afghanistan
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/23/2025 1:49 PM, 219.2K followers, 29 retweets, 118 likes]
The US decision to lift bounties on 3 top Haqqani Network leaders marks a notable change in US approaches to the Taliban since it retook power. US officials have had some limited engagements w/Taliban, including meetings in Doha. They’ve negotiated deals. But no big concessions.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/23/2025 1:49 PM, 219.2K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
US goals are limited in Afg. But there are things the administration wants (release of captive Americans, return of US weaponry) and may want (help targeting IS terrorists) from the Taliban. Removing bounties could be an inducement to help move the needle forward on those goals.Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/23/2025 1:49 PM, 219.2K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
The administration seems to be banking on getting things done w/Taliban political leaders in Kabul while ignoring the supreme leadership in Kandahar. Makes sense; Kandahar doesn’t engage w/the West, and US asks (which avoid social/ideological issues) fall under Kabul’s portfolio.
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[3/23/2025 12:08 AM, 76.3K followers, 13 retweets, 47 likes]
With the US’ Reward for Justice Program removing the name of Sirajuddin Haqqani, his brother and brother in law from their rewards list, There is currently no living Afghan Taliban leader that carries a US bounty on their head[anymore]. #Afghanistan
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[3/22/2025 6:16 AM, 76.3K followers, 7 retweets, 26 likes]
#Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan @AmbassadorSadiq who is currently visiting Afghanistan, met with #Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul where the two discussed Pak Afghan bilateral relations
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[3/23/2025 4:37 PM, 5.7K followers, 17 retweets, 43 likes]
On Nowruz Cultural Day, despite all dangers, Afghan women gathered inside Afghanistan to sing and prepare Samanak, turning tradition into resistance. Their voices for freedom, education, and rights defy Taliban oppression. The fight continues. #Afghanistan #WomensRights #Nowruz https://x.com/i/status/1903909061344805047
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[3/23/2025 2:09 AM, 5.7K followers, 61 retweets, 94 likes]
March 22 marks a new school year in Afghanistan—but the silence is deafening. For the third year, girls above grade 6 are barred from education. This is not just policy; it’s a brutal violation of human rights. World must hold Taliban accountable & stand up for Afghan girls now.
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[3/22/2025 6:38 AM, 99.1K followers, 91 retweets, 150 likes]
Afghanistan: Today is the start of the new school year in Afghanistan but girls above grade six are banned from education. This is unjustifiable and in violation of fundamental human rights to education. The Taliban must allow girls of all ages to attend school and stop using cynical pretexts to further its discriminatory agenda, Sign our petition calling on international community to hold the Taliban accountable. https://amnesty.org/en/petition/break-the-silence-end-human-rights-violations-in-afghanistan/ Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[3/23/2025 4:21 AM, 6.7M followers, 360 retweets, 1.3K likes]
Heartfelt greetings to all Pakistanis, at home and abroad, on this momentous day of national celebration: #PakistanDay Eighty-five years ago, on March 23, 1940, our forefathers laid the foundation for an independent homeland, envisioning a nation where Muslims could live with dignity and freedom, in harmony with their cultural and religious identity. Today, we commemorate not only that defining moment in our history but also the enduring spirit of egalitarianism, resilience, and hope that gave birth to Pakistan. The best tribute we can offer to our Founding Fathers is to carry forward their vision with steadfast will, tireless effort, and a shared national purpose—to build a stronger, more prosperous, and progressive Pakistan.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[3/22/2025 8:27 AM, 6.7M followers, 143 retweets, 505 likes]
#EarthHour2025 Let’s unite across Pakistan – from the mountains of Swat to the shores of Gwadar as we unplug to reconnect. Switch off your lights on March 22 at 8:30 pm and take part in this symbolic gesture to inspire action, raise awareness, and empower individuals, businesses, and communities to adopt sustainable practices.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[3/22/2025 3:25 AM, 6.7M followers, 221 retweets, 906 likes]
Water is the cornerstone of life; fundamental to our economies, our food systems, and our environment. On this #WorldWaterDay ,we are reminded of the critical role glaciers play in sustaining our planet’s freshwater supplies and of the grave challenges we face in protecting this essential resource. Today, let us reaffirm our resolve to preserve our glaciers, protect our water resources, and work together for a resilient, water-secure future, for our people, our region, and our planet.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/22/2025 12:37 PM, 219.2K followers, 61 retweets, 201 likes]
In this new essay for @Openthemag I explain why current policies and conditions in Pakistan risk exacerbating the crisis in Balochistan rather than easing it. I also argue that militarized approaches aren’t a viable solution. https://openthemagazine.com/essay/the-big-baloch-question/
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/22/2025 10:40 AM, 219.2K followers, 1.7K retweets, 5.4K likes]
Mahrang Baloch’s activism against state repression has galvanized Balochistan and is resonating elsewhere in Pakistan, too. Arresting Baloch, the beating heart of a growing peaceful movement, will only produce more anger and resistance. It’s a misguided move & bound to backfire.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/22/2025 10:40 AM, 219.2K followers, 113 retweets, 318 likes]
Not to mention, she’s a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and recipient of a Time Magazine award. She has considerable international prominence. So her arrest will likely receive international attention, which won’t help the global image of Pakistan that its leaders are keen to soften.
Dr. Arif Alvi@ArifAlvi
[3/23/2025 1:13 PM, 4.4M followers, 5.9K retweets, 18K likes]
The most deserving of Awards, and I am proud and humbled to have been the person to bestow it on behalf of the people of Pakistan. https://x.com/i/status/1903857717657178348
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[3/23/2025 9:57 AM, 99.1K followers, 6.2K retweets, 11K likes]
PAKISTAN: More than 38 hours since Mahrang Baloch’s unlawful detention, she is still being denied access to her lawyers and family. There are also worrying reports of continued arbitrary arrests and detentions across Balochistan province. Pakistani authorities must immediately release Mahrang Baloch and all others being detained for exercising their right to peaceful protest, and refrain from implicating Baloch activists in frivolous cases to unlawfully prolong their detention.
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[3/21/2025 1:54 PM, 99.1K followers, 4.1K retweets, 7K likes]
PAKISTAN: The alarming news of at least three deaths and nearly dozen injuries following live ammunition fired by the security forces today against the peaceful Baloch protesters in Quetta is a shocking indictment of the Pakistani authorities’ utter disregard for human life. In blatant violation of the right to protest, the authorities conducted mass arrests and fired tear gas before resorting to unlawful use of lethal weapons against the unarmed protesters. Mobile networks in the city remain suspended, hindering free flow of information. Amnesty International urges the Pakistani authorities to immediately stop the reckless crackdown against the peaceful protesters and guarantee the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, in line with Pakistan’s international human rights obligations. All those detained solely for exercising their right to protest must be released immediately. Authorities should also conduct a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the unlawful force and bring those responsible to justice. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[3/23/2025 3:19 AM, 106M followers, 5.6K retweets, 26K likes]
The recent podcast with Lex Fridman is now available in multiple languages! This aims to make the conversation accessible to a wider audience. Do hear it… @lexfridman https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxx0m3vtiqMZZlS72enpNMMSQSHhLvyYr
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[3/22/2025 11:16 PM, 106M followers, 9.9K retweets, 47K likes]
Today, our nation remembers the supreme sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Their fearless pursuit of freedom and justice continues to inspire us all. https://x.com/i/status/1903646935548064225
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[3/22/2025 12:06 AM, 106M followers, 7.1K retweets, 28K likes]
On World Water Day, we reaffirm our commitment to conserve water and promote sustainable development. Water has been the lifeline of civilisations and thus it is more important to protect it for the future generations!
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[3/23/2025 1:23 PM, 3.4M followers, 140 retweets, 631 likes]
Pleased to address @business_today Vucanomics 2025 on the subject ‘Diplomacy in the Age of Disruptions’. Spoke about the challenges our businesses face in a world undergoing churn. And how our foreign policy facilitates our economic interests abroad while achieving growth and development at home.
Highlighted :- The importance of trust and strong political relationships in advancing our trade and technology partnerships.- Our diverse energy partnerships as well as choices, to meet our development demands.- The active role played by Indian embassies in pursuing our commercial interests.- The role of concessional financing in enabling access for Indian businesses abroad. - The efforts for Indian talent mobility in a global workplace. And in reaching out to Indians abroad when in distress.- Our endeavours in promoting Tourism, as an economic driver back home.- Our connectivity initiatives, globally and in the neighbourhood. And the key role therein for our businesses. As we move forward, our diplomacy and businesses must continue to work together as Team India in the quest for a #ViksitBharat and in promoting India’s interests globally. https://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/39253
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[3/22/2025 4:07 AM, 3.4M followers, 134 retweets, 887 likes]
Concluded the first Consultative Committee Meeting of 2025 for External Affairs. A useful discussion on India’s relationship with Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Thank @PmargheritaBJP, @ManishTewari, MP Vaiko, @vikramsahney, @kcvenugopalmp, @Kesridevsinh, @bjpanilfirojiya, @mpsamadani, @GK__Vasan, @priyankac19, @MukulWasnik and @GurjeetSAujla for their active participation.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/23/2025 8:51 AM, 219.2K followers, 20 retweets, 77 likes]
This week for @ForeignPolicy I argue that recent developments in China-India relations, India’s economic situation, and new Trump administration policies all likely prompted Modi’s recent comments calling for stronger ties with China. https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/19/india-china-modi-comments-border-security-trump/ NSB
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[3/23/2025 6:23 AM, 112.5K followers, 72 retweets, 82 likes]
President extends Pakistan Day greetings to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan https://presidency.gov.mv/Press/Article/33325
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[3/23/2025 6:21 AM, 112.5K followers, 116 retweets, 130 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu visits Orange Hiya to assess progress on efforts to relocate National Thalassaemia Centre. He reviewed the facility, and inquired about the latest updates - ensuring the new centre will enhance care and services for thalassaemia patients.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[3/23/2025 4:37 AM, 112.5K followers, 163 retweets, 162 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu visits the National Thalassaemia Centre today, meeting with patients, listening to their concerns, and observing the centre’s daily operations – underscoring a commitment to improving thalassaemia care in the Maldives. He also met with staff and senior officials to discuss key challenges, providing guidance on effective and swift solutions to improve patient care.
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[3/23/2025 6:04 AM, 90.7K followers, 179 retweets, 181 likes]
On this #WorldMeteorologicalDay, the Maldives remains committed to closing the early warning gap. Through investments in advanced meteorological infrastructure, we are working to ensure that every island and every citizen has access to timely and accurate warnings to improve resilience in the face of climate change. Let’s act together for a safer tomorrow. #EarlyWarningsForAll
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[3/22/2025 4:04 AM, 90.7K followers, 257 retweets, 291 likes]
On this #WorldWaterDay I extend my heartfelt greetings to all Maldivians and our global partners. This year’s theme, #GlacierPreservation is a potent reminder of the complex connection between climate change, water resource limitations and human vulnerability. Our commitment to addressing such vulnerabilities is unwavering, as ensuring sustainable access to clean water remains one of our nation’s top priorities. Let us be determined to take meaningful actions towards building a more sustainable future.
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[3/24/2025 2:38 AM, 90.7K followers, 45 retweets, 47 likes]
On #WorldTuberculosisDay, we reaffirm our commitment to ending TB. We are among one of the five nations to achieve 70% case detection & 85% cure rates since 1998. Today, we are dedicated to strengthening our efforts with free Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) and renewed commitment to early detection and comprehensive care. Yes! We Can #EndTB: Commit, Invest, Deliver! Central Asia
Navbahor Imamova@Navbahor
[3/22/2025 10:18 AM, 24.2K followers, 1 retweet, 18 likes]
Washington: Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum officially retired this month. Rosenblum is America’s former ambassador to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Previously he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia and U.S. Assistance Coordinator. @State_SCA @dnrosenblum
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[3/22/2025 2:29 PM, 214.5K followers, 5 retweets, 35 likes]
Concluding his trip to the city of #Samarkand, President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev visited the Hazrat Khizr memorial complex to pay a tribute to the country’s first President #IslamKarimov at his mausoleum, and returned to #Tashkent
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[3/22/2025 1:15 PM, 214.5K followers, 7 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev visited the International Touristic Centre “Silk Road Samarkand” to review ongoing construction and improvement projects aimed at expanding facilities and enhancing service for foreign delegations and tourists. This year Samarkand will host major international events, including the first "Central Asia - European Union" summit, the Climate Forum, the summit "Central Asia - Arab Gulf States" and the 43rd session of @UNESCO General conference.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[3/22/2025 10:33 AM, 214.5K followers, 14 likes]
Today, President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev visited the #Samarkand region, where he toured the Imam Bukhari mausoleum, one of the most revered sites in the Islamic world. As part of a 44-hectare memorial complex, a grand mausoleum and a mosque for 10,000 worshippers are under construction, along with four 75-meter-high minarets. Plans are also underway to develop over 20 hotels accommodating 2,000 visitors and to create promenades for pilgrims. The President also reviewed projects for restoring Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi’s mausoleum and enhancing the Makhdum Azam shrine in the Akdarya district.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[3/21/2025 11:56 AM, 214.5K followers, 10 retweets, 45 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev took part in festivities on the occasion of #Navruz holiday in “Yangi Uzbekiston” Park and delivered a congratulatory speech. The event continued with a grand concert, featuring renowned performers from #Türkiye, #Turkmenistan, #Azerbaijan, #Kazakhstan, #Kyrgyzstan and #Tajikistan, alongside Uzbek artists.Javlon Vakhabov@JavlonVakhabov
[3/23/2025 3:20 AM, 6.2K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
Wonderful to welcome to the International Institute for Central Asia (@IICAinTashkent) these incredibly outstanding ladies from France and true friends of Uzbekistan - Ambassador Aurélia Bouchez of France, Marie Paret, Senior Secretary at The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (@francediplo_EN), and Marie Favereau, Director of the French Institute for Central Asian Studies in Bishkek.
Javlon Vakhabov@JavlonVakhabov
[3/22/2025 10:44 AM, 6.2K followers, 3 retweets, 10 likes]
On March 19, 2025, The International Institute for Central Asia (@IICAinTashkent) hosted the inaugural “Central Asia – EU Think Tanks Forum,” which brought together 150 participants, including diplomats, think tank leaders, academia, business representatives, and media from both regions. Attendees represented a wide range of countries, including Belgium, the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Finland, France, as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Organized by the IICA and the the Brussels-based European Neighbourhood Council ( @ENC_Europe), the Forum marked a pivotal moment in deepening EU-Central Asia relations.
The central theme of the event was the establishment of the "Tashkent Platform," aimed at fostering enhanced cooperation in fields such as technology, artificial intelligence, trade, investment, regional connectivity, education, and tourism. Discussions also explored emerging areas of collaboration, such as digital skills, infrastructure, and attracting European investment to the region. Key recommendations put forward during the Forum will be highlighted at the upcoming EU-Central Asia summit in Samarkand. The event ended with a commitment to continuing the expert dialogue, with plans to meet biennially ahead of future EU-Central Asia summits. Read more: https://iica.uz/ru/event/v-tashkente-sostoyalsya-perviy-forum-analiticheskikh-tsentrov-tsentralnaya-aziya-es {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.