SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Wednesday, May 14, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
The Taliban and Burkina Faso ambassadors pledge new trade and mining cooperation (AP)
AP [5/13/2025 1:53 PM, Wilson McMakin, 456K]
The Taliban’s acting ambassador to Iran has met with his Burkina Faso counterpart in the Iranian capital Tehran as part of a broader outreach effort by the West African country to win new trade partners, according to Taliban-controlled media.
During the meeting between acting Ambassador Maulvi Fazl Mohammad Haqqani and Ambassador Mohammad Kabura, both parties pledged to cooperate on trade, mining and vocational training. The Taliban are the de facto rulers of Afghanistan.“In this meeting, the parties emphasized the expansion of cooperation in the fields of trade, agriculture, mining, and the exchange of professional and vocational skills,” the Afghan embassy in Tehran said in a statement.
Both ambassadors also pledged Monday to have private sector delegations visit soon as part of the plan to develop trade between Afghanistan and Burkina Faso.
The meeting comes less than a week after the Commander General of Iranian law enforcement and security forces visited neighboring Niger and announced new areas of cooperation and training for the Niger Police and National Guard, including training at the Iranian Police University.“The meeting culminated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding covering several areas of cooperation between the two countries,” according to a statement from Niger’s Minister of the Interior, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Toumba to media outlets.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of withdrawing from the country after two decades of war.
Burkina Faso has struggled in recent years with a ballooning militant insurgency, elements of which are aligned with the Taliban informally. The landlocked nation of 23 million people has come to symbolize the security crisis in the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara in recent years. It has been shaken by violence from extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, and the governments fighting them.
The three-nation bloc of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced last year that they were leaving the regional bloc known as ECOWAS. They then created their own security partnership, known as the Alliance of Sahel States, severed military ties with long-standing Western partners such as U.S. and France, and turned to Russia for military support.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Bamako, told The Associated Press that Burkina Faso and the Alliance of Sahel States, known by its French acronym AES, have been searching for alternative partners since their respective military juntas took power.
They wish to “rely less on western companies and focus more on their so called new partners,” Laessing said.“Iran has been trying to boost cooperation with the Sahel AES countries. They also have been active in Burkina Faso sending even some aid. A shipment arrived at Ouagadougou airport.” Taliban Prepares to Send Top Diplomat to Beijing (Breitbart)
Breitbart [5/13/2025 9:01 AM, Frances Martel, 2923K]
The Chinese Communist Party invited Taliban "foreign minister" Amir Khan Muttaqi to Beijing this weekend following assurances Beijing will offer continuing support for the jihadist rulers at a meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Muttaqi accepted and will visit the Chinese capital "later this month," the Afghan outlet Tolo News reported.
China sent its top diplomat on Afghanistan issues, Yue Xiaoyong, to meet with senior Taliban officials this weekend on a number of issues, most prominently expanding economic cooperation and China helping legitimize the Taliban as the formal government of Afghanistan.
The Taliban has been in power in the country since August 15, 2021, when the American-backed government of then-President Ashraf Ghani collapsed, sending Ghani fleeing abroad.
The Taliban had waged a campaign of conquest throughout that year featuring tens of thousands of attacks that had effectively dismantled the Afghan armed forces in response to then-American President Joe Biden announcing he would extend the 20-year Afghan War beyond the end date established under predecessor and successor Donald Trump.
While the Taliban approach four years in power uncontested, no foreign state has recognized the Sunni jihadist terror organization as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and many of the world’s international financial and diplomatic institutions have refused to incorporate its leadership. The United Nations allows the defunct Ghani government to keep diplomats at its outposts in New York and Geneva, although it has invited Taliban terrorists to its annual summit on climate alarmism, the Conference of the Parties (COP).
While not officially accepting the Taliban’s legitimacy, the U.N. Security Council voted to approve cooperation with "relevant Afghan political actors" by its members in 2022; the Taliban are the only "relevant political actors" left in Afghanistan.
China has led the few countries willing to interact with the Taliban by accepting their status as an allegedly "interim" political vehicle and is the only country in the world to formally welcome a Taliban ambassador representing Afghanistan, Bilal Karimi.
Yue visited Kabul in this context, alongside a representative of the government of neighboring Pakistan. Taliban leaders published photos showing Yue and Muttaqi, the top Taliban diplomat, greeting each other warmly as part of the meeting.
According to Tolo News, Yue "discussed the expansion of political and economic relations and emphasized that Beijing will continue supporting Afghanistan at the international level," presumably meaning support for the world to recognize the Taliban as a bona fide government. Yue also reportedly "extended an official invitation to Muttaqi to visit China.".
A Taliban spokesman said that Muttaqi "warmly welcomed" the invitation to visit Beijing "later this month" and was expected to make the trip. Afghan media reports did not specify if Muttaqi would be visiting in the context of a larger international event or the Taliban travel to China would be its own diplomatic event.
Muttaqi is no stranger to diplomacy with China and has spearheaded efforts to bring the Taliban deeper into China’s orbit. In 2022, the Taliban terrorists visited Tunxi, China, to attend an event dedicated to empowering the Taliban, led by China but attended by other regional actors. Muttaqi used the opportunity of addressing the "Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan Plus Afghanistan" diplomatic event to demand legal recognition and condemn the United States for not funding the success of the Taliban.
"Afghanistan expects its neighboring countries to offer the Afghan Interim Government diplomatic recognition as soon as possible," Muttaqi said at the time, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. "[T]he United States has undermined Afghanistan’s political and economic sovereignty for a long time and destroyed and damaged facilities during its hasty withdrawal, which has made Afghanistan face great difficulties at present.".
"Afghanistan is no longer willing to slavishly dependent on others and will no longer count on the alms-giving of the Western countries led by the United States," he proclaimed in his comments. "It urges the United States to immediately lift the freeze on Afghanistan’s overseas assets and unreasonable sanctions against Afghanistan, and hopes that the international community will provide support and help for Afghanistan.".
Muttaqi met with his then-counterpart from China, Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in April 2023, almost a year after his visit to Beijing.During that meeting, taking place in Uzbekistan, Qin assured Muttaqi that China supports the Taliban, claiming Beijing "respects Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the independent choice made by the Afghan people." The Chinese government has consistently referred to the Taliban’s violent overthrow of the Afghan government as a "choice" made by "the Afghan people.".
Qin also declared that China would help the Taliban, a radical Islamist terrorist group, build "inclusive and moderate governance" and welcomed the Taliban to "advance the Belt and Road cooperation." While genocidal dictator Xi Jinping has since purged Qin out of his government, China’s policies towards the Taliban has remained supportive. The Taliban formally sought membership in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2023, expanding its business opportunities with Beijing. The BRI is a global debt trap scheme in which China offers predatory loans to poor countries meant to be used to pay Chinese companies to build onerous and often unnecessary infrastructure projects. China’s BRI is especially active, and destructive, in neighboring Pakistan.
A representative of the Pakistani government reportedly joined meetings this weekend with the Taliban and China’s envoy. Afghan outlets reported that the three "reportedly agreed to limit India’s strategic footprint in Afghanistan," a notable move given India and Pakistan’s recent hostilities following a terrorist attack in India’s Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, China’s footprint in Afghanistan has expanded dramatically. As Afghanistan’s Amu TV reported this weekend, "Taliban authorities have awarded Chinese firms deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including a gold mining concession in Takhar Province and a cement project in Logar.". Inside the Extraordinary Contradictions in Trump’s Immigration Policies (New York Times)
New York Times [5/13/2025 4:14 PM, Hamed Aleaziz and Michael Crowley, 831K]
On the same day that dozens of white South Africans arrived in the United States as refugees, at the invitation of President Trump himself, his administration said thousands of Afghans could be deported starting this summer.
Mr. Trump’s immigration policies are riddled with contradictions, epitomized by Monday’s arrival of a chartered jet, paid for by the American government, carrying dozens of Afrikaners who say they are facing racial discrimination at home.
The Trump administration’s focus on white Afrikaners, an ethnic minority that ruled during apartheid, is particularly striking as it effectively bans most other refugees and targets legal and illegal immigrants alike for deportation. Those include Afghans who were granted “temporary protected status” after the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, many of whom had risked their lives to help American forces.
Mr. Trump’s hard line on immigration helped propel him back to the White House as voters from both parties expressed frustration over the issue. He has promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, and one of the first executive orders of his second term was to suspend refugee resettlement in the United States.
But the administration’s decision to carve out an exception for white Afrikaners has raised questions about who the “right” immigrants are, in Mr. Trump’s view.
Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, who greeted the Afrikaner refugees on Monday, told reporters that the group had been “carefully vetted.”“One of the criteria was that refugees did not pose any challenge to our national security and that they could be assimilated easily into our country,” he said, without elaborating on what that meant, or why other populations would not be assimilated as easily.
Asked by a reporter to explain why people from South Africa were welcomed even as Afghans were losing their legal status in the United States, Mr. Landau suggested that the Afghans had not undergone sufficient background checks, saying that the Biden administration “had brought in people that we were not sure had been carefully vetted for national security issues.”
Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said the protections for Afghan immigrants were always meant to be temporary. Trump officials have argued that temporary protected status is being used improperly, to allow people to stay in the United States indefinitely.“Secretary Noem made the decision to terminate T.P.S. for individuals from Afghanistan because the country’s improved security situation and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country,” Ms. McLaughlin said.
Mr. Trump has long railed against refugees, claiming that resettlement programs flood the country with undesirable people and allow criminals and terrorists into the United States.
But he has made an exception for Afrikaners, who say they have been discriminated against, denied job opportunities and have been subject to violence because of their race. Mr. Trump said on Monday that the United States had “essentially extended citizenship” to them because he said they were victims of a genocide.
There have been murders of white farmers, a focus of Afrikaner grievances, but police statistics show they are not any more vulnerable to violent crime than others in the country.
Three decades after the end of apartheid, white South Africans continue to dominate land ownership. They are also employed at much higher rates than Black South Africans and are much less likely to live in poverty.
P. Deep Gulasekaram, a professor of immigration law at the University of Colorado Law School, said the exceptions made for white Afrikaners — while other groups are kept out — “overtly advances a narrative of global persecution of whites.”
The Trump administration’s reasoning for denying Afghans temporary protected status is that Afghan migrants would not face a “serious threat to their personal safety due to an ongoing armed conflict,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. (Serious personal threats from “ongoing armed conflict” are among the specific criteria for temporary protected status in U.S. immigration law.)
Experts on the situation in Afghanistan questioned that reasoning, noting that security threats remain and that Afghans who cooperated with U.S. forces during America’s 20-year occupation remain at extremely high risk of imprisonment, torture or execution.
After U.S. forces left the country, Taliban officials said they would not carry out reprisals against people who had assisted American forces or the former U.S.-backed Afghan government.
But a 2023 report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented at least 800 human rights violations against former officials and armed forces members who served under the U.S.-backed government. The abuses included “extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill treatment and threats.”
Former Afghan Army members were at greatest risk, the report found, followed by national and local police officers, and people who worked in the former government’s security directorate.“What the administration has done today is betray people who risked their lives for America, built lives here and believed in our promises,” Shawn VanDiver, president of the group AfghanEvac, said in a statement. White House welcomes Afrikaners to the U.S., but drops protection for Afghan allies (NPR)
NPR [5/13/2025 4:43 PM, Quil Lawrence and Tom Bowman, 13K]
As many as 9,000 Afghan refugees are at risk of deportation, as the Trump administration has ended the temporary protected status (TPS) that allowed them to stay in the U.S. legally. The White House says their country is no longer dangerous for them, a contention that confounds Afghanistan watchers.
"It’s a death penalty for them if they return," said Zia Ghafoori, who worked as an interpreter in combat with U.S. Army Special Forces from 2002 to 2014.
Ghafoori was received by President Trump at the White House in 2019 and became a U.S. citizen in 2020.
"He’s a big supporter of our veterans and that’s what we love about the president," Ghafoori said. "Maybe he’s not aware how the policy is going to affect our Afghan allies. I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.".
"I hope we can keep those promises that we made," he added. "But unfortunately, right now I don’t know how to explain that to the families that are here and living in stress and depression without any immigration status.".
Ghafoori says the move also affects thousands of Afghans in limbo, including 13 members of his own family that had been set to fly to the U.S. from Pakistan when the Trump administration canceled flights for Afghans earlier this year.
Ending TPS for Afghans is part of the administration’s stated goal of realigning the United States refugee admissions program. It is a realignment that saw the Trump administration on Monday welcome the first group of white South African refugees under an executive order mandating that they be prioritized for resettlement.
"This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent," said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement on Monday.
"We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country," she said.
Not forgotten
A chorus of dissenting voices has condemned the change as a betrayal to those who helped the U.S. at war or were stranded by the abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2001.
"To our Afghan allies, you are not alone, you are not forgotten," said Jack McCain, a veteran of the Afghan war and son of the late Sen. John McCain.
"Allies here in the United States who fought alongside people like me … who risked their lives and the lives of their families to execute our foreign policy are at the very real credible risk of deportation and in many many cases, death," said McCain in a statement on social media.
Bill Frelick with Human Rights Watch called the move to revoke the status for Afghans "a betrayal of U.S. commitments.".
"The only justification for revoking temporary protection would be if permanent protection was being offered since Taliban rule clearly makes returns unsafe," he said.
As for Noem’s assertion that the country is now safe, it left advocates wondering where the DHS is getting its information.
"I wonder if Secretary Noem is operating on the assumption that the Taliban has given promises that they’re not going to put people that worked with the U.S. in harm’s way?" said Morwari Zafar, with the Georgetown University Center for Security Studies.
"Even if that were true, even if we could trust their word, it’s not just the Taliban. You’ve got an environment where there are hostilities towards the population that would be coming back just based on the fact that they worked with the U.S. military – and also that they were the ones that got out," she said.
Veterans of the post-9/11 wars are among the most passionate advocates for protecting Afghans status. Many had taken encouragement that two of Trump’s cabinet picks were staunch supporters of TPS for Afghans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was one; he’s recently gone quiet on the issue. Former National Security Adviser and Afghanistan war vet Mike Waltz was the other, and he appears to have been marginalized.
Some Republicans who condemned the Biden administration’s ending of the Afghan war are now criticizing Trump."The Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was a catastrophe. Deporting Afghans who bravely helped us would be Trump’s catastrophe," said Bradley Bowman with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Bowman is an Afghanistan vet who also taught at West Point. He called deporting Afghan allies immoral but also short-sighted from an American national security standpoint.
"Around the world, countries are looking at the actions of the United States to determine whether Washington is a good partner that honors its commitments and stands by its friends," he said. "If we deport such individuals, the consequences for those Afghans and their families may be severe and the decision will rightly be viewed as a betrayal.".
The immigration advocacy group CASA announced it has sued the Trump administration over its termination of TPS for Afghans and also Cameroonians. That action came at the same time the Trump administration made good on a promise to accept white South Africans into the U.S., citing what Trump baselessly claimed was a racial genocide against them.
Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a Marine combat veteran, said the contrast was stark.
"As every Iraq or Afghanistan veteran knows, this is textbook betrayal. To say that the conditions in Afghanistan have improved as our allies are being hunted down is clearly absurd," he said in a statement to NPR. "I know Kristi Noem doesn’t understand the idea of risking your life for our country, but perhaps she understands outright racism in accepting Afrikaner ‘refugees’ in their place," he said in a statement to NPR. Green Berets demand justice for Afghan ‘brother’ they fought side-by-side with against the Taliban after he’s killed over parking space in Texas (New York Post)
New York Post [5/13/2025 10:29 AM, Daryl Khan, 54903K]
They fought side-by-side with him against the Taliban in the War on Terror, and now a heartbroken group of Green Berets is demanding justice for their Afghan "brother" and refugee whose killer remains free after gunning him down over a parking spot.
Abdul Rahman Waziri, a 31-year-old dad of two, was shot dead following an argument over parking at his Houston, Texas apartment complex last month after surviving years of disarming IEDs and fierce firefights against terrorists in Afghanistan before moving to the US with his family as refugees in 2021.
"Abdul Rahman was literally willing to lay down his life for us – for us, for Americans," Green Beret Ben Hoffman told The Post. "He was a lion. He was a warrior. He was a hero.".
That’s why Hoffman said he and others in the military who served with Waziri, an alum of the elite Afghan National Mine Removal Group, are dismayed by how he was killed and outraged at the lack of justice in the wake of his senseless death.
The deadly fight over the parking spot ended when the shooter walked away, only to go to his car to get his gun, Waziri’s family lawyer, Omar Khawaja, said, citing witnesses.
Waziri put his hands up and uttered his last words: "Please, don’t shoot" before he was shot multiple times, according to the lawyer.
Security camera footage obtained by the Post shows the alleged killer strolling away from the shooting, holding a bag of McDonald’s.
Houston police have not made any arrests in the killing after the Harris County District Attorney declined to charge the shooter, who had called 911 and reportedly confessed.
Cops said Monday that the investigation is ongoing while the gunman remains free and is back living in the apartment complex.
"We are hopeful that the right decision is made here," Khawaja said about the possibility of charges being brought in the incident.
The suspect, who was not identified by officials, called police and turned himself in. He was questioned and then let go — outraging family and the members of the small but growing Afghan community in Houston, many of them soldiers like Waziri who fought with US special forces.
"To see a guy like that, a lion of a man, a man among men, to go to Houston of all places and get gunned down for no reason, it infuriates me," Hoffman said. "If he were going to get gunned down in Logar Province, it may have been different. You want to kill one of our dudes? It would be a hunt-kill mission until we found the guy who did it.".
As angry as he is, Hoffman said he would never consider taking revenge.
"It’s not what Abdul Rahman would want," he said. "He was a peacemaker. He was a warrior, but he wanted to bring peace," he added.
Another member of the Army who fought side by side with Waziri agreed.
"They were us. Without them, we were nothing," said Jay, a combat engineer who worked closely with Waziri and other Afghan nationals. "They were one of us. They were our brothers.".
Jay, who declined to use his name out of safety concerns, said he can’t wrap his head around the irony that Waziri fled the notoriously brutal Taliban in his home country only to get gunned down in the streets of Houston — where his death wasn’t given a second thought.
"It doesn’t make any sense. This guy needs justice, I don’t know how else to say it. It needs to be told to the f–king world, it’s really bad. If I went back to Afghanistan tomorrow, I would take Mr. Waziri with me, man.".
Abdullah Khan, Waziri’s biological brother, was also a member of the mine removal team.
"We were doing serious missions, we went to some spicy places with Americans, we were fighting the Taliban, but ISIS too," he said.
He said in the chaos of the US withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021, Waziri had to leave his wife and newborn baby behind. His flight to the US took off just two hours before a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Kabul airport.
Waziri’s wife and baby later joined him in Texas, where the couple had a second daughter less than a year ago.
"He made it safely onto the airflight," Khan said. "He was lucky until this moment in the parking lot.".
The day after his brother’s slaying, Khan said he was cleaning up Waziri’s blood in the parking lot when the alleged killer, who lives in the same apartment complex, strolled by and glared at him.
"I was like ‘Oh my God’, he was looking at me like he didn’t like me. I was the one talking to the news. Cleaning up my brother’s blood.".
"We have in my country some of the worst laws in the world. But if something like this happened, you know the person will not walk in front of you," Khan said. "Even in Afghanistan, that wouldn’t happen.".
Waziri’s wife, now a widow, is too scared to stay in Houston with the couple’s two young daughters, 9-month-old Zoya and her 4-year-old sister, Bahar. The mom and girls are currently staying with Khan in Florida.
Waziri’s heroism was not limited to the battlefield. In the lead-up to the chaotic withdrawal of troops in the summer of 2021, Waziri was essential in helping Afghans who were allies to the US military to get out of the country by creating a safe house and safeguarding valuable intelligence.
"It was a s–t show, it was absolute madness," said a member of the Army who declined to use his name for his safety. "But Mr. Waziri worked to keep people safe.".
"The Taliban were already spying on people. Rolling through the streets with guns. The executioner’s noose was coming," said Shireen Connor, a member of Waziri’s Afghan Evacuation Team. "And Mr. Waziri held fast in making sure he was still helping other people, one thousand percent at the risk of his own life,".
"To know that somebody like that died in a parking lot with no justice served is a crime in and of itself," Connor added.
"They wanted better for themselves and their country. They appreciate what the American servicemen were doing over there. They were brothers. That sense of democracy, that spirit – for Mr. Waziri to come here and get no due process, it’s unconscionable," Connor said.
Former Green Beret and US Army contractor Vince Leyva was so impressed with Waziri’s work that he brought him on as a trainer at Camp Dahlkie. Leyva would try to satisfy Waziri’s endless curiosity about the US. He even organized a party for Waziri when he got engaged.
Leyva wrote letters of support for Waziri to come to the US and was thrilled when he finally made it and was living his life with his wife and two daughters in Texas.
"You fight to save American lives in a country like Afghanistan. You could have lost your leg, you could have lost your hand, your eye, your life. You do all that for America and survive getting shot by bullets and bombs," he said. "Then you’re killed in a parking lot. He deserved a different ending to his story.".
Leyva wrote a letter — one of dozens — seeking justice for Waziri that will be delivered to the Houston mayor and the Harris County District Attorney.
Leyva’s letter ends with a plea to city officials.
"Please look into this man’s tragic killing so that his family can get justice for his father, brother, and husband who deserved to live in peace in a country he so courageously supported during our forever war in Afghanistan.".
The Houston mayor’s office, the Houston police department and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately return requests for comment. Pakistan
Pakistan Deports Afghans Awaiting U.S. Resettlement (Reason Magazine)
Reason Magazine [5/13/2025 7:00 AM, Beth Bailey, 52868K]
As one war after another raged in Afghanistan, an estimated 3.5 million Afghans found relative safety living in Pakistan, including about 700,000 who fled across the border following the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021.
In 2023, the Pakistani government announced its intention to deport 3 million Afghans in its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan. More than 800,000 Afghans then returned to their homeland from October 2023 through January 2025.
Deportations got underway in earnest in April of this year, with nearly 110,000 Afghan refugees deported to Afghanistan from April 3 to May 3.
Thus far, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) has provided support to about 48,000 Afghan returnees and is urgently requesting funds to "address the needs of between 600,000 and 1.5 million Afghan returnees" in the coming months.
Also in place to provide assistance is the Aseel Foundation. During the tumultuous summer of 2021, Aseel expanded its mission of linking Afghan artisans to the international marketplace and began crowdfunding aid packages to support Afghans who were displaced, facing food insecurity, or affected by natural disasters.
In April, Aseel began deploying personnel to the returnee area at Torkham to provide deported Afghans with food packages, clothing, and shelter. It has also begun to register Afghans for omid (the Persian word for "hope") identification cards, which allow holders to receive direct crowdfunded aid.
Blocked Paths to the U.S.
Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, some U.S. allies with Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applications and an estimated 20,000 U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) applications fled to Pakistan. They weren’t just hoping to escape Taliban reprisals: Their cases could be processed only through an active U.S. embassy.
For three and a half years, an agreement between the U.S. and Pakistani governments was meant to offer Afghans security in Pakistan. But refugees in Pakistan cannot work or send their children to school, and they face elevated costs of living, threats of deportation, and extortionate visa costs.
After President Donald Trump’s January 20 executive orders suspended the USRAP and paused foreign funds, Afghans in the SIV and USRAP pipelines began facing the threat of deportation.
One Afghan told me he had been returned to Afghanistan already, despite his USRAP case.
"I showed the letter which was emailed to us by [the] State Department to exempt us from deportation, but all the Pakistani authorities, including police, was laughing," he said.
I asked the Pakistani Embassy and the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs how long they assured the U.S. that its allies would remain safe within their borders, whether those Afghans face retribution on return to their homeland, and how many of America’s Afghan allies have thus far been returned. I received no answer.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told me that the "Department does not comment on private diplomatic conversations." The spokesperson added that "all countries must be able to manage their borders and immigration processes in a manner that ensures the safety, security, and prosperity of their citizens.".
With the world deaf to their pleas for assistance, USRAP applicants (speaking under pseudonyms) told me they feel increasingly desperate.
Farid tells me he has been waiting in Pakistan for USRAP processing since September 2021, facing "financial hardship, the constant threat of deportation, [and] lack of access to health care and education." In Pakistan, Farid’s wife suffered a miscarriage and has developed severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. While taking her for medical treatment, Farid was detained by police and forced to pay a bribe to be released, exhausting the last of the funds he had made from selling his family’s home and his wife’s jewelry.
Farid says he feels "utterly hopeless," and explained that a close friend, also a USRAP applicant, recently committed suicide.
Haseena qualified for the USRAP through decades of work with the U.S. government and international NGOs. Her efforts, including helping a 14-year-old who had been forced to marry a senior Taliban member, earned her threats from the Taliban as well as from ISIS and other extremist groups. For her safety, Haseena was transferred to Pakistan a year ago with help from a former employer. The Taliban tortured her brother when they could not locate Haseena.
Haseena’s processing was nearly complete, and she had been contacted by IOM about scheduling travel in December before the USRAP suspension. "I cannot even imagine returning because doing so would mean certain death—for me and for my loved ones," Haseena told me.
Nasib spent the last three years waiting for USRAP processing in Pakistan. "We had gone through many problems" before the USRAP suspension, Nasib noted. Now, he added, "the problems have increased." For Nasib, deportation "means death.".
It is unclear whether the applicants who shared their stories will benefit from a recent breakthrough in the International Refugee Assistance Project’s Pacito v. Trump lawsuit, which was filed in February to challenge the USRAP suspension.
Following U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead’s February 25 preliminary injunction that forced the U.S. government to continue processing USRAP cases, the government argued it should have to process only 160 USRAP cases.
On May 5, Whitehead issued a compliance order compelling the government to process 12,000 refugees who had conditional approval and confirmed travel scheduled prior to the executive order. Not all of these refugees are Afghan or based in Pakistan. An untold number of other refugees with no confirmable travel plans remain in limbo.
Afghans who are set to be processed under the compliance order have not yet received notice, according to Shawn VanDiver, the founder and president of #AfghanEvac, a nonprofit organization supporting Afghans seeking relocation and resettlement. If the government complies with the timeline ordered, then all Afghans set to be processed will receive word of their inclusion by May 19. According to VanDiver, the government is attempting to file an appeal to have the order amended or overturned. Pakistan says it is committed to truce with India, vows to respond to aggression (Reuters)
Reuters [5/13/2025 3:04 PM, Asif Shahzad, Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Shivam Patel, 52868K]
Pakistan said on Tuesday that it remains committed to the truce with India, agreed after four days of intense fighting last week, but vowed to respond to any future aggression by New Delhi with full resolve.
The comments from Islamabad came in response to an address to the nation by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, in which he warned Pakistan that New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India, without being deterred by "nuclear blackmail".
The nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours fired missiles and drones targeting each other’s military installations after India said it struck "terrorist infrastructure" sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday in retaliation for an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 men.
Pakistan said the targets were all civilian and denies Indian accusations that it was behind the Kashmir attack.
Pakistan’s military said on Tuesday the dead in the attacks comprised 40 civilians and 11 of its armed forces. India has said at least five military personnel and 16 civilians died.
It was the worst fighting between the two nations in nearly three decades and they agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday, following diplomacy and pressure from the United States.
The Pakistani foreign ministry said Islamabad categorically rejects the "provocative and inflammatory assertions" made by Modi on Monday.
"At a time when international efforts are being made for regional peace and stability, this statement represents a dangerous escalation," it said in a statement.
"Pakistan remains committed to the recent ceasefire understanding and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability," it said, adding that any future aggression will also be met with full resolve.
India said late on Tuesday it had declared an official working at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata "for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India".
Pakistan also declared a staff member at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad persona non grata "for engaging in activities incompatible with his privileged status".
In both cases, the individuals were told to leave the country within 24 hours.
Both countries have already reduced the strength of their embassies after relations nosedived following the April 22 Kashmir attack.
MODI REPEATS WARNING
Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan each rule part of the Himalayan region of Kashmir, but both claim it in full.
The neighbours have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over the region and there have been several other limited flare-ups, including in 1999 and 2019.
Earlier on Tuesday, Modi visited the Adampur air base near the border and repeated his warning to Pakistan as he addressed Indian Air Force personnel, posing with them for photographs.
"We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism," Modi said, referring to India’s response in the event of another attack.
"We will enter their dens and hit them without giving them an opportunity to survive," he said.
Separately, the Indian foreign ministry said the issue of trade did not come up in discussions with Washington during their conversations on the tensions with Pakistan.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the leaders of India and Pakistan were "unwavering", and the U.S. "helped a lot" to secure the ceasefire, adding that trade was a "big reason" why the countries stopped fighting.
India has said the military operations chiefs of both nations spoke by telephone on Monday, reiterating their commitment to halt firing and consider steps to reduce troops on the border.
Pakistan has not provided details of the call. Pakistan Returns Indian Border Guard Captured After Kashmir Attack (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/14/2025 2:20 AM, Staff, 931K]
Pakistan handed over on Wednesday an Indian border guard captured a day after an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir which killed 26 people, the paramilitary border guard said.
The attack near the tourist town of Pahalgam sparked a four-day conflict between India and Pakistan, which ended with a ceasefire on Saturday.
Border Security Force soldier "Purnam Kumar Shaw, who had been in the custody of Pakistan Rangers since 23 April 2025, was handed over to India," BSF said in a statement.
The handover was "conducted peacefully and in accordance with established protocols," it added.
No group has claimed responsibility for the April 22 attack but India blamed Pakistan for backing the attack, sparking a series of heated threats and diplomatic tit-for-tat measures.
Islamabad rejects the accusations and called for independent probe. Pakistan’s use of J-10C jets and missiles exposes potency of Chinese weaponry (The Guardian)
The Guardian [5/14/2025 1:01 AM, Helen Davidson and Amy Hawkins, 78.9M]
As India and Pakistan traded missile strikes over the weekend, and the world watched with horror as the two nuclear-armed neighbours erupted into open conflict, military analysts spotted something curious. Pakistan, it seemed, had used Chinese jets to shoot down India’s planes.
Last week, India launched missiles at Pakistan, in retaliation for a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April that killed 26 people. The conflict escalated with mutual strikes and drone attacks.
Pakistan claimed to have shot down several Indian air force fighter jets with Chinese-made missiles fired from Chinese-made J10-C jets. The Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar told parliament the Pakistani-flown fighters had taken down India’s French-made Rafales. Dar said he had informed the Chinese and they were pleased. China’s social media celebrated.
The use of J-10Cs by Pakistan would mark the first time the Chinese planes – and the PL-15 missiles they were carrying – have been used in combat anywhere in the world, giving military analysts a rare glimpse of their capabilities, and China’s military, the PLA, a crucial test case.“Any state producing or buying weapons is keen to see how the product does in real conflict. Tests and exercises can tell most about capabilities of weapons, but the ultimate test is often combat,” said Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
China is a crucial ally of Pakistan. Sipri estimates that it is Pakistan’s biggest military weapons supplier, providing more than 80% of its stock from fighter jets to navy vessels and missiles.
Andrew Small, a Berlin-based senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said China gets particular benefit from seeing its weapons used against western equivalents. “It gives them a chance to assess their performance under far more complex and challenging conditions than usual, and with Pakistan this is not just about the fighter jets themselves, it’s about the missiles, the radar systems, and the whole technology spine of the Pakistani military, from electronic warfare capabilities to satellite systems.”
It’s not just western arms that China’s planes are being tested against. India has the support of both China’s biggest rival, the US, and its closest ally, Russia, which supplies 36% of India’s arms imports.
But analysts says it has provided a wake-up call about China’s military capabilities as it threatens to annex Taiwan.“We may need to reassess the PLA’s air combat capabilities, which may be approaching or even surpassing the level of US air power deployments in east Asia,” Shu Hsiao-Huang, an associate research fellow at the Taiwan defence ministry-linked Institute of National Defense and Security Research, told Bloomberg.
Under the rule of Xi Jinping, China’s military has been modernising and expanding, with a goal to be capable of an air and land invasion of Taiwan by 2027.
Hu Xijin, the former editor of the nationalistic Chinese state-linked tabloid Global Times, said the incident showed Taiwan should feel “even more scared”.
Part of China’s contingency planning is an expectation that the US military and potentially others would be involved in defending Taiwan.
Yun Sun, director of the China programme at the Stimson Center, said the two combat theatres were not directly comparable, as a Taiwan invasion would probably involve more input from the navy, marines and army than this month’s limited conflict between India and Pakistan.“And technically, India did not use American weapon systems during this round,” Sun said. “But the surprising victory of Chinese J-10 and PL-15 [missiles] will force people to reconsider the military balance of power in the event of a Taiwan contingency.”
The apparent success of the J-10C against the Rafales also boosts China’s reputation as a manufacturer and seller of weapons. While China is the world’s fourth largest arms exporter, more than half goes to Pakistan and the rest is mostly to smaller developed nations. It must work around US sanctions.
The share price of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, which makes the J-10Cs, soared on the news.
Small said Pakistan was often seen as a showcase for Chinese weapons.“A good performance demonstrates to others the benefits of maintaining a close partnership with Beijing as PLA capabilities advance, especially given the rumours that China provided Pakistan, one of its closest strategic partners, with versions of the PL-15 missiles that have a longer range than the usual export variant,” he said.
Wezeman said the shooting was too limited to draw a lot of firm conclusions about the state of China’s military, which has also been mired in corruption scandals in recent years.“That said, the clash seems to support a general assessment that Chinese weapons are proving to have become a match for western weapons.”
China’s military and government have neither denied nor celebrated the J-10C claims. The foreign ministry said when asked that it was “not familiar” with the J-10C situation.
But on Tuesday China’s vice-foreign minister Sun Weidong met with Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Khalil Hashmi. “China welcomes and supports Pakistan and India achieving a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire,” a foreign ministry statement said. Pakistan Isn’t That Risky Anymore. Its Economy Is a Mini-Miracle. (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/13/2025 12:07 PM, Craig Mellow, 126906K]
For markets like Pakistan, it can take a threat of war to capture the world’s attention. Investors may regret not having looked sooner.
The country of 255 million has pulled off a macroeconomic miracle of sorts over the past two years. Inflation has nosedived from near 40% annually to near zero. Eurobonds maturing in 2031 have soared from 40 cents on the dollar to 80 cents. The Karachi Stock Exchange index has tripled. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government reached a $7 billion stabilization agreement with the International Monetary Fund last September. More than $2 billion has already been disbursed.
"Pakistan is a good story," says Genna Lozovsky, chief investment officer at Sandglass Capital Management, which buys distressed emerging markets debt. "So good it’s not risky enough for us anymore.".
The latest armed conflict with India, in a tenuous state of truce at press time, won’t likely knock Pakistan’s recovery off course. The country’s own shaky underpinnings might. The latest IMF bailout is its 24th since joining the Fund in 1950. "Pakistan has been known for boom-and-bust cycles throughout its history," notes Khaled Sellami, an emerging markets sovereign debt manager at Barings.He sees some signs that this time could be different. Pakistan’s current bout of stabilization started with a near-default experience in 2022-23. Catastrophic flooding and a spike in oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine coincided with domestic political turmoil, as Sharif engineered a no-confidence motion against his predecessor Imran Khan, who was subsequently locked up on corruption charges.
"Everyone thought Pakistan would default along with Sri Lanka in 2023," says Alison Graham, chief investment officer at frontier markets specialist Voltan Capital Management.
Instead, the State Bank of Pakistan hiked interest rates from 10% to 22%, pitching the country into recession but wringing out inflation. Sharif won a (disputed) election in February 2024, and improved Khan’s rocky relations with Islamabad’s meddlesome military, hopefully securing political stability until the next required poll in 2029.
Pakistan’s sovereign creditors—China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—rolled over their loans without extending new credit. Gross domestic product growth bounced back to 2.5% last year, and the country’s books are uncustomarily balanced. "The current account balance is positive, and they have a primary fiscal surplus [excluding interest payments]," Sellami observes. "That’s something we haven’t seen in many years.".
Stabilization is one thing, though, development another. Pakistan’s IMF program, like all IMF programs, calls for reforms that will be unpopular with powerful interests or the population at large. Islamabad is supposed to increase its tax take by half and slash electricity subsidies, among other uphill battles.
India’s leap forward in advanced industries like IT and pharmaceuticals points up its neighbor’s relative stagnation. Cotton, apparel and cereals account for two-thirds of Pakistan’s exports. It is belatedly moving into IT outsourcing, foreign sales rising from near nothing to $3 billion annually over the past few years, Sellami says. India is in the $200 billion range.
Without a value-added ladder to climb, fate and free-spending election cycles may continue driving Pakistan’s boom and bust, Graham thinks. "Pakistan remains extremely fragile to external shocks," she says. "When there is a rally, you need to be in early.".
Sellami is more optimistic, remaining "constructive" on Pakistani Eurobonds.
Circumstances may have handed Sharif and his military partners one of the best incentives in economics and life: having no choice. Pakistan’s strategic importance to the U.S. during the Cold War and War on Terror is long gone. Its current foreign friends, China and the Gulf states, made clear in 2022 that they are writing no blank checks, Sellami says. "The government knows if they deviate from the tightrope they are walking, they won’t have external finance," he says.
Meanwhile, Sharif and his colleagues deserve some credit. India
As Trump Crows Over Ending a Conflict, India’s Leaders Feel Betrayed (New York Times)
New York Times [5/13/2025 4:14 PM, Mujib Mashal, 831K]
Russia is still waging its grinding war on Ukraine. Israel is only deepening its fight in Gaza. But last week, President Trump got to play peacemaker, as he announced a cease-fire after the most expansive military conflict in decades between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed powers.
He has hardly stopped talking about it since. And his freewheeling descriptions of the U.S. mediation are repeatedly poking some of India’s most politically sensitive spots, straining relations with a growing partner that had overcome decades of hesitance to reach what it thought was a place of trust with the United States.
On Tuesday, India directly contradicted a claim that Mr. Trump made both that day in Saudi Arabia and the day before in Washington as he commented on the American diplomatic efforts.
The president said he had offered to increase trade with India and Pakistan if they ceased hostilities, and had threatened to halt it if they did not. After these enticements and warnings, he said, “all of a sudden they said, I think we will stop” the fighting.
None of this was true, an official in India’s foreign ministry said at a news conference on Tuesday.“There were conversations between Indian and U.S. leaders on the evolving military situation,” said Randhir Jaiswal, the ministry’s spokesman. “The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions.”
India’s strong push to rebut Mr. Trump shows its leaders’ concerns about how the Indian public will view their conduct of India’s military effort. They are worried about being perceived as having halted the confrontation under outside pressure before achieving victory against a weaker adversary, analysts said.
The U.S. involvement in ending the four days of escalating military clashes was not surprising, given that the United States has long been a force in cooling flare-ups in this part of the world.
But India expected that such intervention from a partner it was growing to trust would happen quietly and on favorable terms, especially in a standoff with Pakistan, its archenemy ever since that country’s creation 78 years ago.
In the hours after the truce was announced, the Indian government refused to publicly acknowledge the American role, insisting that the deal had been reached directly with Pakistan.
The matter of frustration in New Delhi, officials and analysts said, was less about Mr. Trump’s front-and-center presence. His penchant for taking credit is well known, as is his desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize. So few were surprised that he would not wait for the two sides before making the cease-fire announcement and keep the spotlight on himself.But the overall U.S. messaging — in which Mr. Trump also spoke of India and Pakistan on equal terms and offered to mediate issues that India considers strictly bilateral — was seen as leaving India’s political leaders vulnerable.
The unease led analysts aligned with the right-wing base of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to question India’s shift toward closer U.S. relations, describing Mr. Trump’s comments as a betrayal, whether they were a product of indifference to Indian concerns or unawareness of them.
India has long tried to isolate Pakistan as a small problem that it can handle on its own. While Pakistan was once a close ally of the United States, India thought it had helped drive a wedge between them by arguing that Pakistan was using terrorism as a proxy to wage violence against India.
During his first administration, Mr. Trump held back military aid to Pakistan over these same accusations. In the first months of his second term, the relationship between New Delhi and Washington appeared to be only deepening, with India escaping the worst of the tariffs and other shocks Mr. Trump unleashed on the world. In one sign of the closeness, India has been purchasing billions of dollars of American military equipment.
Immediately after the deadly terrorist attack last month that sent tensions soaring between India and Pakistan, Mr. Trump was among the first world leaders to call Mr. Modi and offer support. Trump administration officials said they strongly backed India’s fight against terrorism, which New Delhi saw as a green light for its military action.
What irritated India, officials and analysts said, was that in announcing the cease-fire, Mr. Trump had offered gracious words for both sides. He made no mention of how the confrontation had started with a terrorist attack that killed 26 civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir, a massacre that India has linked to Pakistan.
The president spoke of future negotiations on the competing claims by India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region, something that India has long declared nonnegotiable. On Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Trump said that both countries had very “powerful” and “strong” leaders, and that they might now “go out and have a nice dinner together.”
That image rankles in India. “When Mr. Trump comes in and says, you know, ‘I spoke to both sides,’ he’s kind of equating,” said Nirupama Menon Rao, a former Indian ambassador to Washington.
Ms. Rao said that the American approach had complicated India’s decades of efforts to be viewed independently, not through the lens of conflict with Pakistan. India has reoriented its foreign policy to position itself as the United States’ key partner in the region, increasingly willing to play the role of counterweight to China, a country that has become Pakistan’s most powerful patron.“India and Pakistan are being hyphenated once again,” Ms. Rao said. “India had genuinely felt that we had broken free of that hyphenation and that Pakistan had kind of receded into the shadows as far as the U.S. was concerned.”Mixed messaging from the Trump administration also vexed Indian officials.
After India first struck Pakistan last Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance, who had been on a visit to India when the terrorist attack took place on April 22, told Fox News that the escalating conflict was “fundamentally none of our business.”
While some saw that as the reflexive answer of an at-times isolationist American presidency, others in New Delhi thought it was a continued green light for India’s military actions.
But in the following days, Mr. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio became the anchors of an urgent diplomatic effort to end the fighting.
According to both American and Indian accounts of the diplomacy, alarm had grown after India struck an airfield within 15 miles of both the Pakistani military headquarters and the unit that oversees and protects the country’s nuclear arsenal.
A senior Indian official said that India, before hitting Pakistan, had been in communication with the Trump administration about its intent to do so, and that it had briefed Mr. Trump’s advisers after the initial strikes.
Once the conflict escalated, the official said, Mr. Vance called Mr. Modi to share the U.S. concern about “a high probability of a dramatic escalation of violence.”
Mr. Modi listened, but India made its own decision to end the fighting, the official said, after another night of clashes in which Indian forces struck several Pakistani bases. Pakistan requested a direct call to discuss arrangements for a cease-fire, the official said.
While many commentators close to Mr. Modi’s support base saw the American messaging around the truce as “treachery,” other observers said India had been too optimistic to expect unequivocal support from Washington and a full American divorce from Pakistan.“The last few days have been hard on India. India’s battles against Pakistan-sponsored terror have been invariably lonely ones,” Indrani Bagchi, a New Delhi-based foreign policy analyst, said on X. “The U.S. and China may be strategic rivals everywhere. But they come together in Pakistan. That reality has not changed.” India disputes Trump’s claim that trade incentives led to the India-Pakistan ceasefire (AP)
AP [5/13/2025 10:04 PM, Rajesh Roy, 3531K]
The Indian government on Tuesday disputed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S.-mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan came about in part because he had offered possible trade concessions.
Addressing a weekly news conference, Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, said top leaders in New Delhi and Washington were in touch last week following the Indian military’s intense standoff with Pakistan, but that there was no conversation on trade.
"The issue of trade didn’t come up in any of these discussions," Jaiswal said, referring to the conversations held between U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar.
Following Saturday’s understanding between India and Pakistan to stop military action on land, in the air and at sea, Trump told reporters on Monday that he had offered to help both nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate.
"I said, come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it. Let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’ll do a trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade,’" Trump said.
"And all of a sudden, they said, I think we’re going to stop," Trump said, crediting trade leverage for influencing both the nations’ decision. "For a lot of reasons, but trade is a big one," he said.
The militaries of India and Pakistan had been engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades since last Wednesday, when India struck targets inside Pakistan it said were affiliated with militants responsible for the massacre of 26 tourists last month in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any links to the attackers.
After India’s strikes in Pakistan, the two sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto borders, followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and airbases.
The escalating hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals threatened regional peace, leading to calls by world leaders to cool down tempers.
Trump said he not only helped mediate the ceasefire, but also offered mediation over the simmering dispute in Kashmir, a Himalayan region that both India and Pakistan claim in entirety but administer in parts. The two nations have fought two wars over Kashmir, which has long been described as the regional nuclear flashpoint.
New Delhi also declined Trump’s offer for mediation on Tuesday.
"We have a longstanding national position that any issues related to the federally controlled union territory of Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. There has been no change to the stated policy," Jaiswal said.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Tuesday that Pakistan was expelling a staff member of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, accusing him of unspecified inappropriate activity and giving him 24 hours to leave the country.
In a tit-for-tat move last month, India and Pakistan reduced each other’s diplomatic presence in Islamabad and New Delhi. So far, none of the expelled diplomats have returned. Pakistan and India routinely expel each other’s diplomats over allegations of espionage. India’s military says it killed 3 militants in a gunfight in disputed Kashmir (AP)
AP [5/13/2025 7:56 AM, Staff, 456K]
Three suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Indian military said Tuesday.
It is the first reported gunbattle between Indian troops and militants in the region since last month’s massacre that left 26 tourists dead, and which India has blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad has denied the charge.
India’s military said in a statement soldiers acting on a tip carried out a “search and destroy” operation in the Keller area of the southern Shopian district early Tuesday, during which militants “opened heavy fire and a fierce firefight ensued,” it said.
The army hasn’t provided further details or casualties among soldiers, but stated that soldiers continued their search operation.
The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the incident.
The Himalayan territory is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Before the April 22 gun massacre in the Kashmiri resort town of Pahalgam, the fighting had largely ebbed in the region’s Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion and mainly shifted to mountainous areas of Jammu in the last few years.
The massacre spiked tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals last week, leading to the worst military confrontation in decades and the death of dozens of people until a ceasefire was reached on May 10 after U.S mediation.
Since 2019, the territory has simmered in anger when New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations. India expels Pakistan diplomat as war of words simmers in place of fighting (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/13/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 18.2M]
India has ordered a Pakistani diplomat to leave the country within 24 hours as tensions simmer in the wake of heavy military exchanges between the nuclear-armed neighbours before a ceasefire was agreed last week.
The unnamed official, stationed at Pakistan’s embassy in New Delhi, was accused by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday of “indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status”.
The move comes after a brief but intense military confrontation last week that threatened to erupt into the fifth full-scale war between the two countries. While the truce brought a temporary halt to cross-border missile and drone strikes, sporadic skirmishes continue along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in disputed Kashmir, a region claimed by both nations.
On Tuesday, Pakistan reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire but warned it would respond forcefully to any future attacks.
The statement came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned in his first national address since the truce that India would strike “terrorist hideouts” across the border if provoked again.
The ultranationalist Hindu leader added that India “only paused” its military action against Pakistan.
Modi’s remarks were swiftly condemned by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called them “provocative and inflammatory”.“At a time when international efforts are being made for regional peace and stability, this statement represents a dangerous escalation,” it said.“Pakistan remains committed to the recent ceasefire understanding and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability,” the statement continued, adding that any future aggression would receive a response.
The conflict ignited after a deadly April 22 shooting attack in the Pahalgam area of India-administered Kashmir, where 25 Indian tourists and one Nepalese visitor were killed. India accused Pakistan’s government of links to the attacks – an accusation Islamabad strongly denied.
India launched strikes on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
According to Islamabad, 40 civilians and 11 Pakistani military personnel were killed in last week’s violence. India said at least 16 civilians and five Indian soldiers were killed.
The fighting marked the most severe exchange between the two countries in nearly 30 years and ended only after sustained diplomatic pressure. On Monday, India said it held a rare phone call with Pakistan’s military leaders, agreeing to uphold the ceasefire and explore ways to de-escalate the conflict.
Fragile ceasefire
Despite the ceasefire, sporadic violence continued on Tuesday with Indian forces reporting a gun battle in southern Kashmir’s Shopian district. The army said three suspected fighters were killed in a “search and destroy” operation launched on intelligence input.
On Tuesday, Modi visited Adampur airbase near the border and reiterated India’s stance in a speech to air force personnel. “We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism,” he said.“We will enter their dens and hit them without giving them an opportunity to survive.”
Meanwhile, both sides have taken a series of retaliatory diplomatic and economic measures.India has suspended most visa services for Pakistani nationals, halted bilateral trade and announced its intention to unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, a World Bank-brokered water-sharing agreement in place since 1960 that is critical for farming.
In response, Pakistan banned visas for Indians, closed its airspace to Indian aircraft and imposed a reciprocal trade embargo. India Signals Tougher US Trade Stance as China’s Tactic Pays Off (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/14/2025 3:58 AM, Shruti Srivastava and Ruchi Bhatia, 5.5M]
Indian officials said trade talks with the US remain on track, although there are signs that New Delhi is adopting a tougher approach in negotiations, following China’s defiance of US President Donald Trump.
Trade talks between India and the US are progressing smoothly, with the first tranche of a deal expected by fall, according to people familiar with the discussions. However, it’s unclear if India can secure an interim deal by early July, when Trump’s reciprocal tariffs are expected to kick in, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public.
India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment.
On Monday, India threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s higher duties on steel and aluminum. New Delhi’s move was likely a negotiating tactic as it prepares to send a high-level delegation led by India’s trade minister to the US for trade talks from Saturday.
This marks a more assertive approach from India since the start of the year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone out of its way to placate the White House, offering concessions on issues ranging from trade to immigration. It also comes amid growing frustration in New Delhi over Trump’s insistence he used trade as a bargaining chip to secure a truce between India and Pakistan.
So far, the US had been “dictating terms to India,” said Biswajit Dhar, a professor at the Council for Social Development, a New Delhi-based research institute. The proposed retaliatory tariffs are the first sign that India is willing to “stand up and play hardball.”
Trump announced 25% tariffs on all US steel and aluminum imports, effective from March. In April, New Delhi sought consultations with Washington, labeling the hikes as “safeguard measures” or trade restrictions, according to a World Trade Organization notification. However, in a separate notification to the WTO, the US rejected the request, arguing the tariffs were based on national security concerns and didn’t qualify as safeguard measures.
While it’s unclear why India chose to counter this week, the move came just hours after the US dramatically slashed duties on Chinese products — a development seen as a strategic vindication for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who had held firm against Trump on tariffs.“China getting US to do a deal shows that India will have to assert itself harder,” said Dhar. India has to “show its mettle,” he said.
Talks Progress
Analysts will watch for signs that India plans to maintain its assertive stance when Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal visits the US for trade talks from May 17 to 20.
New Delhi’s planned retaliatory tariffs on US goods will now be part of the negotiations, according to officials.
There is a “growing feeling” in India that the government is “ceding too much to the US in trade talks,” said Priyanka Kishore, founder of the Singapore-based consulting firm Asia Decoded Pte. India “may take this opportunity to re-assert its position as an equal trade partner,” she said.
Trump’s repeated assertion that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan is likely to cast a shadow over Goyal’s trip. On Tuesday, Trump again said he “used trade to a large extent” to resolve the conflict between the two nuclear-armed South Asian nations, despite New Delhi saying just hours earlier that trade never featured in those talks.
Trump has “crossed the red line,” said Dhar. “You can’t deal with Americans, if you’re on a back foot.” India’s trade minister to lead delegation to US for trade talks, say sources (Reuters)
Reuters [5/13/2025 9:51 AM, Staff, 41523K]
India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal will lead a trade delegation to the United States starting May 16 to advance trade negotiations, two government officials said on Tuesday, as both countries push for a bilateral trade pact.
Goyal’s visit follows U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s trip to New Delhi last month and amid renewed efforts to secure a deal aimed at avoiding U.S. tariffs and to court President Donald Trump’s administration.
India’s trade ministry did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
New Delhi is seeking to clinch a trade deal with the U.S. within the 90-day pause on tariff hikes announced by Trump on April 9 for major trading partners, including a 26% tariff on India.
A 10% base tariff continues to apply to India and many other nations during the pause.
The United States is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totalling some $129 billion in 2024. The trade balance is currently in favour of India, which runs a $45.7 billion surplus with the U.S.
India’s chief negotiator for the bilateral trade talks with the U.S., Rajesh Agrawal, will also accompany the minister along with other senior officials, one of the government officials said.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. in February, both nations agreed to work on the first segment of a trade deal by the fall of 2025, aiming for bilateral trade worth $500 billion by 2030. 14 people die from drinking toxic liquor in India (AP)
AP [5/13/2025 1:18 PM, Staff, 456K]
At least 14 people died and six were hospitalized in critical condition after consuming toxic liquor overnight in northern India, police said Tuesday.
Seven people were arrested on allegations they supplied the toxic liquor in five villages around 19 kilometers (12 miles) from the city of Amritsar in northern Punjab, senior police officer Maninder Singh said.
The police have launched a crackdown to destroy the network of spurious liquor supplies in the area following the incident, Singh said.
The local administration deployed medics to the villages to check on people who drank the contaminated liquor, said Sakshi Sawhney, a senior government official in Amritsar.
Those showing symptoms are being shifted to hospitals to ensure the death toll doesn’t rise, said Sawhney.
Investigators have not said what ingredients were suspected of causing the deaths and sickness.
In India, deaths from consumption of contaminated liquor manufactured locally is rampant, mainly in rural areas. In one Indian city, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat (AP)
AP [5/14/2025 2:13 AM, Sibi Arasu, 456K]
For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist.“Everyone is suffering from the heat,” Yadav said. “I hope they do more of this across the city.”
Rising heat is a problem for millions of people in India. In Ahmedabad, temperatures this year have already reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit), a level usually not seen for several more weeks, prompting city officials to advise people to stay indoors and stay hydrated.
And yet, coping with that heat is a familiar challenge in Ahmedabad. After a 2010 heat wave killed more than 1,300 people, city and health officials rushed to develop South Asia’s first heat action plan.
The plan, rolled out in 2013 and now replicated across India and South Asia, includes strategies for hospitals, government officials and citizens to react immediately when temperatures rise beyond human tolerance. Public health officials said it’s helped save hundreds of lives every summer.City officials, with help from climate and health researchers, have implemented two simple yet effective solutions to help those affected most by heat: the poor and those who work outdoors. By painting tin-roofed households with reflective paint, they’ve reduced indoor temperatures, which otherwise might be up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than outside. More recently, the city hung curtains woven of straw and water sprinklers at one bus stop so commuters can get relief from the sun and heat. Officials said they plan to expand the idea to other bus stops in the city.
Residents said both measures have been a relief even as they brace for at least three more months of sweltering summer.
A simple coat of paint makes all the difference
Throughout the city’s low-income neighborhoods, hundreds of tin-roofed homes have been painted with reflective paint that helps keep the indoors cooler. Residents said their houses were so hot before the roofs were painted that they would spend most of their time outdoors under any shade they could find.“Earlier, it was really difficult to sleep inside the house,” said Akashbhai Thakor, who works as a delivery van driver and lives with his wife and three-month-old child in Ahmedabad. Thakor’s roof was painted as part of a research project that is trying to measure the impact of the so-called cool roofs.
Early results have been promising. “After the roof was painted, the house is much cooler, especially at night,” said Thakor.
People like Thakor are much more vulnerable to extreme heat because their houses aren’t insulated and, since most of them depend on a daily wage, they must work regardless of the weather, said Priya Bhavsar of the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, who is working on the project. Bhavsar said low-cost solutions could be the only respite for thousands of people in the city who can’t afford to buy an air conditioner.
Veer Vanzara, who lives in the same area as Thakor and works in a nearby garment factory, said the heat makes his job much worse, especially since his factory has no ventilation. So his family is grateful for the cool roofs. “The evenings and night are much cooler than before inside our house,” he said.
A bus stop that’s become an oasis from the heat
In Ahmedabad’s city center, a 25-meter stretch of a bus stop has been draped with mats made of straw which, when sprinkled with water, immediately cool the hot wind. Sprinklers installed on the bus stop roof lightly spray cool water on the commuters below, providing instant relief from the blazing heat just a step away.“When nothing like this was here, it was really hot. What they’ve done is really good. Senior citizens like me can get some cooling from the heat,” said 77-year-old Ratilal Bhoire, who was waiting under the sprinklers with his daughter. Bhoire said when he was younger, Ahmedabad was hot, but it was still possible to walk many kilometers without feeling dizzy, even at the height of summer. “Nowadays you can’t do that,” he said.
Heat is the city’s biggest problem and heat waves — continuous days of extreme heat — are increasing, said Dr. Tejas Shah of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, who oversees the city’s heat action plan. “We are in the period of climate change, and it has already shown its effect,” said Shah.
Shah and other city officials said the onset of summer has become a testing time and efforts such as cool roofs and cool bus stops are reducing heat-related illness and deaths. As climate projections predict only hotter and longer summers for his city, Shah said being prepared is the only thing to do.“It (the heat) needs to be addressed in the proper way,” he said. NSB
Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina’s party barred from election as party registration suspended (Reuters)
Reuters [5/13/2025 2:51 PM, Ruma Paul and Shivam Patel, 5.2M]
Bangladesh’s Election Commission has suspended the registration of ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, effectively barring the party from contesting the next national elections.
The move comes after the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus banned all activities of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act after days of protests. The government cited national security threats and a war crimes investigation under way against the party’s top leadership over the deaths of hundreds of protesters.“With the home ministry’s ban on all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations, the Election Commission has decided to suspend the party’s registration,” Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters late on Monday.
Under Bangladesh’s electoral laws, a political party must be registered with the Election Commission to participate in national polls. The suspension means the Awami League — which led the country for more than 20 years — is now officially disqualified from contesting future elections unless the ban is lifted and the registration restored.
The Election Commission also prohibited the party and its affiliates from conducting any political activities, including publications, media appearances, online and social media campaigns, processions, rallies or conferences, until the International Crimes Tribunal completes its proceedings.
Hasina, credited with turning around the economy but accused of human rights violations and the suppression of dissent, won a fourth straight term in 2024, but the poll was boycotted by the main opposition, whose top leaders were in jail or in exile.
Bangladesh has seen rising tensions and protests in recent months, after deadly protests forced Hasina to flee to India in August 2024 and an interim government led by Yunus took charge.
Yunus, who is not aligned to any party, has pledged reforms and said national elections could be delayed until 2026. He has said he is not interested in running.
India said on Tuesday that it was concerned by the ban on the Awami League, as well as the "curtailment of democratic freedoms" and "shrinking political space" in Bangladesh.
"We strongly support the early holding of free, fair and inclusive elections in Bangladesh," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing.
Washington was aware of the move and urged Bangladesh to respect the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association for all, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters. "We support a free and democratic process as well as fair and transparent legal processes for all individuals," Pigott said.
Political parties, including former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have also demanded an early poll and return to a democratically elected government.
The newly formed student-driven National Citizen Party, which emerged from last year’s uprising that toppled Hasina, wants polls only after reforms are implemented.
The unrest began in July with student protests against public sector job quotas, but morphed into one of the deadliest periods of political violence since independence in 1971.
The Awami League has faced growing criticism in recent years over alleged authoritarianism, corruption and rights violations under Hasina’s leadership. Maldives: Communities Lack Equitable Access to Water (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [5/13/2025 10:00 PM, Staff, 1.6M]
Marginalized island communities in the Maldives face limited access to water because of inadequate government consultations, poor monitoring, and economic barriers, Human Rights Watch said today. The Maldives government should ensure that its efforts to adapt to the climate crisis protect the rights of those most affected, including by addressing systemic problems that have led to inequities in accessing water.
The Maldives government has sought to secure vital financing for climate adaptation measures, but the authorities have often failed to engage affected communities, particularly those living far from major urban islands, in key decision-making processes. As a result, the design, implementation, and maintenance of foreign-funded water projects has not protected the rights of remote and poorer communities experiencing water shortages.“The Maldives government’s lack of consultation with island communities has hindered essential water projects and is threatening the livelihoods of those most exposed to the effects of climate change,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These deficiencies undermine the government’s efforts to secure vital funds for climate adaptation measures that are essential for the country’s survival.”The impacts of climate change, coupled with the Maldives’ growing population, are straining the country’s already limited freshwater supplies. Due to its low-lying geography, the Maldives is particularly exposed to sea-level rise, extreme weather events, saline intrusion, and increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns. These factors, as well as the country’s lack of water infrastructure, have led to increasingly frequent water shortages across the country.
The right to water, recognized under several international human rights treaties, guarantees everyone, without discrimination, access to “sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use.” The Maldives faces unique problems in realizing the right to water for its population as an expansive archipelago. The Maldives government has made a commitment to ensure access to safe water through relevant laws and strategic plans that generally align with the right to water and other international human rights obligations.
However, communities on the Maldives’ outer islands, especially those far from the country’s economic hubs, Malé and Addu City, face severe barriers to accessing safe, clean water. On the more remote islands, which include many low-income families and farmers, poverty rates are higher and water infrastructure such as piped water systems and desalination plants are in poor repair or nonexistent.
To respond to this situation, the Maldives government, with the support of the Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest fund dedicated to climate, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in 2017 initiated a US$28.2 million project to address water shortages in the country’s outer islands. The initiative aimed to provide 32,000 people on 49 islands access to reliable, safe water by introducing Integrated Water Resource Management systems, combining desalination, rainwater harvesting, and groundwater recharge to ensure better access to sustainable clean water.
In May and July 2024, Human Rights Watch conducted interviews and focus group discussions with 47 people from communities affected by water scarcity on two islands where the government undertook water projects with foreign funding, Kanditheem in Shaviyani Atoll and Nolhivaranfaru in Haa Dhaalu Atoll. On both islands, residents said the water projects were carried out hastily and remained only partially completed, years behind schedule. Community consultations were few and often excluded both local residents and at times island councils. Currently, some key elements of the projects, such as the water testing facilities, remain nonoperational, while others, such as securing piped water connections to 66 row houses in Nolhivaranfaru, were only recently completed, more than two years after the intended completion date.
After the projects were launched, residents raised concerns about water safety, affordability, and accessibility. On one island, council members said that up to 60 percent of the population still relied on bottled water for drinking due to concerns about water quality. Over two-thirds of those interviewed on Kanditheem and Nolhivaranfaru expressed concerns about the quality of available water on their islands, including water provided directly from the new systems.
System breakdowns and other operating problems were making the situation worse and were often left unaddressed for lengthy periods because of insufficient resources and maintenance and monitoring capabilities, Human Rights Watch found.
Human Rights Watch in 2023 reported on the Maldives government’s failure to adhere to and enforce its environmental protection laws in the context of land reclamation projects, and the harm those projects have caused to the environment and local communities. Such infrastructure projects – often funded by international climate finance – have also lacked meaningful public consultation with affected communities and adherence to recommendations in impact assessments.
In seeking financial support for adaptation measures made necessary by the climate crisis, the Maldives government should consult with affected communities – before, during, and after a water project is proposed and implemented – to ensure water systems are properly designed and safely implemented, maintained, and monitored. Given the mounting challenges arising from climate change and sea-level rise, the government should ensure the projects provide sufficient, safe, affordable, and accessible water for present and future generations, in line with the human right to water.
The government should adopt measures, including appropriate pricing policies and income supplements for users, to ensure that water is affordable for all and that projects do not entrench or exacerbate existing inequalities in access to water. It should particularly take into account that artificial sources of water, such as desalinated water, are much costlier than the groundwater and rainwater islanders historically have relied on.
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ draft general comment on the environmental dimension of sustainable development requires countries to protect rights from the harm caused by the climate crisis on the basis of equality, nondiscrimination, and the use of maximum available resources.
Climate-financing countries have an obligation to provide international assistance and cooperation in accordance with the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.” This principle, incorporated in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, requires all countries to address climate change and environmental destruction, but recognizes that some are more responsible for the climate crisis and are economically better able to address it.“The Maldives government has an obligation to provide all its people with safe water,” Pearson said. “Countries providing climate finance should support and work with the government to ensure it happens.”
Human Rights Watch spoke with farmers, plantation owners, members of civil society organizations, and other local residents directly affected by water projects on the Maldives’ islands of Kanditheem and Nolhivaranfaru. They described their experiences with water quality, accessibility, and affordability, and the impact on their health and livelihoods. Human Rights Watch also interviewed members of island councils, including a council president and women’s development committee members, and water plant operators responsible for implementing and maintaining the projects. In some cases, names and other identifying information have been withheld at the request of the individuals interviewed.
Maldives and Climate Change
The Republic of Maldives is a low-lying archipelago made up of 26 atolls and 1,192 islands, 187 of which are inhabited, and another 130 of which operate as resorts. Due to its dispersed geography, Maldives is one of the world’s countries most exposed to the impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion, drought, and extreme and unpredictable weather and rainfall patterns. The climate crisis is also a human rights crisis, placing at risk Maldivians’ rights to life, water, health, an adequate standard of living, and a healthy environment, among others.
Water Shortages
A major human rights risk in the Maldives associated with the climate crisis is water shortage. Outer islands rely on two natural sources of water: rainwater collection and groundwater from freshwater aquifers. Resort islands and more populated islands, including the capital, Malé, also use artificial water sources, notably desalination plants. During the dry season, when outer islands run out of natural water supplies, the government has shipped emergency consignments of desalinated water to up to 80 islands, at significant financial and environmental cost.
Groundwater and rainwater on small islands are highly affected by climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, saline intrusion, extreme weather, and droughts, exacerbating chronic water scarcity and quality issues. The lengthy annual dry season, from December to April, means that rainwater collection tanks frequently run dry, particularly in outer islands that lack alternative sources.
Due to limited landmass, particularly of the smaller islands, low elevation, thin groundwater lens (a layer of freshwater floating above denser saltwater), and highly permeable sandy soil, groundwater supplies in the Maldives are highly susceptible to saline intrusion and contamination from human activity, notably from inadequate human waste disposal facilities.
Sea-level rise is a key driver of increased saline intrusion and groundwater depletion and is expected to accelerate in the coming years as climate change intensifies. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2022 assessment report projected that water quality degradation, which is increasing under climate change due to warming, enhanced floods, and sea-level rise, would drive water insecurity: a trend already evident in the Maldives.
This strain on the groundwater supply is compounded by increased extraction demands due to the Maldives’ high population growth in recent years, which also affects the availability of rainwater from collection tanks.
Climate Finance
While Maldivian administrations have varied in their approach to the existential threat caused by climate change, internationally they have consistently pressed high-income countries to provide greater financial support for mitigation and adaptation measures. In multilateral forums, the Maldives has been a leading voice for urgent action, including putting forward a UN Human Rights Council resolution recognizing the immediate threat climate change poses to human rights. The resolution was adopted by consensus in March 2008.In September 2024, at a High-Level Meeting on Sea Level Rise at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said that the international community should double climate adaptation financing and “remove the tedious approval procedures, and conditions to access finance.”
To address its water shortages, the Maldives has sought support for local-level water projects from donors including the United Nations Development Program and the Green Climate Fund. Over the years, the government has received grants and donations from ally nations, notably China and India. In 2024, China funded the construction of desalination plants on 5 islands and donated over 3,000 tons of bottled water to islands experiencing water shortages.
Kanditheem
In 2019, the Maldives government initiated a project on Kanditheem island to integrate rainwater harvesting and desalination and to install piped drinkable water to 270 households, later expanded to 289. The project was financed by the Maldives Green Fund, established in January 2019 under the Public Finance Act. The fund receives its funding from the Green Tax: a daily US$6 fee paid by tourists, the national budget, and contributions from the private sector and international organizations, among other sources. Five years after the project’s intended completion date, many residents said they continued to rely on rainwater they collect themselves or bottled water for drinking, due to quality-related concerns with the piped water.
A member of the Kanditheem women’s development committee said: “No one wants to drink straight out of the tap. Even those who use it for drinking install secondary filters, and not everyone can afford that.”
Concerns about water quality are not unfounded. At the time of writing, the Kanditheem testing lab is still not operational, even though regular monitoring and testing of the water is a regulatory requirement and is included in the project tender documents. Instead, water samples are sent from Kanditheem to neighboring islands, including Sh. Milandhoo, for testing, the results of which are not publicly available to the community. The Kanditheem Council president, Ahmed Ahsan, said that this lack of transparency contributes to further erosion of public trust in the water project.
Cost represents another significant barrier to water access for residents in Kanditheem. As a result, a common practice on the island is water sharing; when families run out of rainwater, they often turn to neighbors with larger tanks to share drinking water. For nondrinking purposes, many residents who struggle to afford piped or bottled water still use groundwater. However, groundwater supplies are rapidly depleting and becoming increasingly saline due to sea-level rise, and contaminated due to sewage and wastewater from septic tanks being discharged directly into the ground.
Agricultural workers are particularly vulnerable to these shortages as they rely solely on groundwater for irrigation. Approximately 10 percent of households in Kanditheem depend on growing bananas for their livelihood, with plantation owners relying entirely on groundwater for irrigation, using electric pumps to draw groundwater from the lens. A banana plantation owner said: “If the groundwater becomes too saline, we won’t be able to afford desalinated water for irrigation. This will destroy our crops and income.”
A women’s farming group in Kanditheem said that if the groundwater becomes unusable and they are instead required to pay for water, they will not be able to continue growing bananas as it would become financially unsustainable for them and other small-scale farmers.
Nolhivaranfaru
In September 2022, the Maldives government handed over an Integrated Water Resource Management system to Nolhivaranfaru island as part of its joint project with the UNDP and the Green Climate Fund titled “Supporting vulnerable communities in Maldives to manage climate change induced water shortages.” The project’s stated aim is to “secure year-round, safe, reliable, and uninterrupted water supply to residents of the most vulnerable outer islands” in the country.
In July 2024, council workers and island residents from Nolhivaranfaru reported that the system remained incomplete, over a year after the official completion date. They said that poor implementation and oversight of the project and inadequate monitoring of water quality was forcing islanders who could not afford bottled water to rely on existing groundwater and rainwater supplies, even when these were potentially unsafe.
In particular, 66 newly built row houses on Nolhivaranfaru lacked water connections for over two years after the project was launched, forcing residents to rely on groundwater in an area where, as a Nolhivaranfaru council member said, the groundwater is “contaminated” and “foul-smelling.” At an initial sensitization session held by the Green Climate Fund on December 18, 2017, Nolhivaranfaru council members asked specifically whether the project design would include newly built houses, to which a government representative assured them that all new development areas would be covered under the new water network.“It’s been more than two years since people moved into the row houses, and they still don’t have water connections,” said Abdul Kareem Abdul Rahman, Nolhivarafaru Council vice president.
The design of the rainwater harvesting facilities, a key pillar of the system on Nolhivaranfaru, has also raised concerns among island communities. Rainwater – the primary source of drinking water on Nolhivaranfaru – is captured from government building roofs and directed to the plant, but inadequate infrastructure has resulted in frequent flooding. “The catch pits at government buildings are too small,” Abdul Kareem Abdul Rahman said. “After just an hour or two of rain, they overflow and flood the school and health center.”
Where piped water is available, the water quality has been a major issue, with residents noting visible discoloration, discouraging them from using it. “When the project started, the water was clear. Now it has a color, and no one drinks it without filtering,” a focus group participant said. This distrust is compounded by low capacity at on-site testing facilities and the limited training provided to staff who work at the facilities.
The government has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that the water available for personal or domestic use in the Maldives is safe and does not constitute a threat to health. According to the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, water provided should be of an acceptable “taste, odour, and appearance”: a standard that a number of islanders said was often not met.
Much as in Kanditheem, the cost of water – for domestic use as well as for farming – is a pressing issue for families on Nolhivaranfaru. As groundwater supplies become increasingly scarce and saline, and in the absence of a functioning system providing safe water, islanders have felt compelled to resort to more expensive alternatives such as desalinated water and imported bottled water.“When the groundwater becomes fully saline, we cannot buy piped desalinated water for irrigation,” one resident said “We don’t make much profit already. If we have to pay for water, we will need to stop farming. We can’t afford the water.”
A member of the Nolhivaranfaru council’s women’s development committee said: “We’re already struggling with electricity bills. Adding another bill for water will be a financial burden on many families.”
The vice president of the women’s development committee in Nolhivaranfaru, Aishath Ihusana, said that the rates for piped water were too high for families on the island to afford it.
Lack of Meaningful Consultation and Communication
In 2015, the Maldives government submitted its proposal to the Green Climate Fund for the Nolhivaranfaru project. The proposal stated that the government had conducted extensive consultations during development of the project, which brought together “all stakeholders at the island-level.” However, key stakeholders in Nolhivaranfaru said that the consultations were grossly inadequate.
Ihusana said: “Only the project involving the gallery system consulted farmers, but even that wasn’t enough. There wasn’t any meaningful and realistic consultation for the water project undertaken to provide water to households.”
Abdul Kareem Abdul Rahman, said, “there was one meeting for the entire island, and it was too technical. Even we, as council members, don’t fully understand the components of the project.”
Council members also highlighted the continuing inadequate communication by the government with the councils and affected communities. “We’re supposed to represent the community, but even we don’t know the specifics of these projects. There’s no proper communication,” said Ameena Mohamed, a Nolhivaranfaru council member.
The lack of engagement and transparency in decision-making has led to widespread dissatisfaction in both Kanditheem and Nolhivaranfaru among island residents who feel their concerns about water projects have not been taken into consideration.
Inadequate Monitoring and Maintenance
Island residents said that the piped water in Nolhivaranfaru has visible discoloration, and the lack of fully functional on-site testing facilities, trained staff, and sometimes limited or expired chemical reagents – which are legally required – raise questions about safety. These problems also hinder the ability of plant operators to maintain the systems and perform basic repairs, leading to frequent, lengthy, and ultimately, costly disruptions to the water supply—at times leaving residents without access to piped water for days on end. “We weren’t properly trained, and we don’t have the tools to fix things when they break,” a water plant operator on Kanditheem said. “If something goes wrong, we have to wait for technicians from Malé.” Central Asia
Eurasia is a significant source of methane emissions – report (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/13/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a major contributor to global warming, and is far more potent than carbon dioxide in preventing heat from escaping Earth’s atmosphere. According to a new study, much of the human-generated methane now escaping into the atmosphere is containable. It adds that Eurasia is a significant source of global methane emissions, and regional governments’ deeds are not matching their words when it comes to addressing the issue.
The Global Methane Tracker 2025, published by the International Energy Agency, asserts that methane emissions have not yet reached a “definitive peak,” despite international reduction efforts. Globally, “record production of oil, gas and coal, combined with limited mitigation efforts” produced more than 120 million tons (Mt) of methane emissions in 2024, about 7 percent of which originated from abandoned wells and mines. Russia generates about 60 percent of methane emissions in Eurasia, but Turkmenistan is also a major emitter. Overall, Eurasian states were responsible for generating about 22 Mt of methane last year, according to the report.“Emissions events large enough to be detected by satellites are common in Turkmenistan, representing around one-third of all observations from the Methane Alert and Response System,” the report stated. “While satellite coverage is very limited in Russia – due to ice and snow and prolonged periods of limited daylight – around 90 plumes were observed over Russian territory in 2024.”
Although not counted in the report, Kazakhstan was the scene of one of the world’s worst methane leaks during the second half of 2023. A blowout and subsequent fire at a well in western Kazakhstan went undetected for over six months, releasing about 127,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere, an amount capable of powering hundreds of thousands of cars for a year.
While energy production is a major cause of global emissions, the report also identifies “incomplete combustion of traditional biomass used in cooking and heating,” as well as the agricultural and waste sectors, as important sources of methane.
Every Eurasian emitter participates in a World Bank Initiative known as Zero Routine Flaring by 2030. Meanwhile, Russia is lone regional producer not participating in the Global Methane Pledge, a joint US-EU initiative. The pledge calls on 159 participating states to “take voluntary actions to contribute to a collective effort to reduce global methane emissions at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030.”
The report states that "all major emitters in Eurasia participate in some sort of methane regulation initiatives, but with little real results." Azerbaijan is the only Eurasian producer boasting a lower methane intensity, defined as the ratio of methane emissions to the amount of gas produced, than the global average, the report adds.
Roughly 70 percent of all methane emissions connected to fossil fuel extraction and production could be eliminated at little cost through the implementation of existing technologies, the report contends. “Around 35 Mt of total methane emissions from oil, gas and coal could be avoided at no net cost, based on average energy prices in 2024,” it states. “This is because the required outlays for abatement measures are less than the market value of the additional methane gas captured and sold or used.”
In Eurasia, the report indicates that roughly 45 percent of fossil fuel-related methane emissions in 2024 could have been eliminated using cost-neutral measures. “Leak detection and repair (LDAR) is the single-most effective measure for reducing fossil fuel methane in the region,” it adds.
Excessive methane emissions pose a major challenge for Turkmenistan, which has shown interest in exporting an increasing volume of its gas to the European Union. A US Energy Department report released in early 2025 noted that “high methane emissions from its [Ashgabat’s] oil and natural gas fields may prevent its exports from complying with the EU’s 2030 import emission limits.”
A monitoring website operated by Capterio, an entity that provides “gas-flaring solutions for energy companies to capture flared gas,” noted that methane emissions at one notorious site in Turkmenistan have decreased recently. An update posted last October praised the state energy company Turkmengaz for taking steps to contain a flare at the Darvaza Crater, which tourists have dubbed “the Gates of Hell.” Flaring at the site has decreased in late 2024 by “1 million standard cubic feet per day,” compared to the year-earlier period. Kazakhstan’s Slow Shift Away From Celebrating Victory Day (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [5/13/2025 12:48 PM, Albert Otkjær, 777K]
On the 20th floor of a residential building in Astana, a drone can be seen. It is playing a message: "Dear tenants, we ask you to close the window and step away from it for your own safety." The scene is captured in a video recorded by a resident filming the start of Kazakhstan’s first Victory Day parade since 2019. In fact, it may just be the most-watched clip from the event.
Despite it being the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany, framed across the former Soviet Union as a Soviet victory, Kazakhstan’s celebration had little to do with honoring its Soviet heritage.
Aside from the absence of traditional black-and-orange St. George ribbons, long a symbol of Eastern Front veterans, few Soviet flags were seen at the parade. Most notable, however, was the date: the parade was held on May 7, the day Kazakhstan’s military was established, instead of the customary May 9, when Victory Day parades are usually held across the former Soviet republics. This was also one of the only public events the country held in remembrance of World War II. As Kazakhstan continues to distance itself from the Soviet legacy, particularly since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, commemorations are being nationalized or quietly phased out.
While the state-sponsored parade marking World War II’s end in Europe has officially been held on May 7 since 2013, some events are still observed on May 9, in parallel with Russia. One such example is the "Immortal Regiment" marches, where participants carry portraits of relatives who fought in the war. In recent years, however, there have been clear efforts to move beyond these traditions. The "Immortal Regiment" marches were initially moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic, then rebranded as a "Tribute to the Heroes" in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since then, such events have not been officially permitted.
This year, authorities again tried to cancel the marches, citing a "lack of available space." Officials even warned that violators could face fines or detention. Yet despite this, the decision was partially reversed just days before Victory Day. On May 6, local media reported that marches were set to proceed in Almaty and Semey. The next day, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev confirmed it.
"In our country, the Tribute to Heroes march will take place, dedicated to Kazakhstani frontline soldiers. Descendants of the participants of the bloodiest war in human history will carry their portraits through the streets," he announced during his Defenders of the Fatherland Day speech.
The reversal appeared to be a relief to many. One local outlet reported that more than 30,000Almaty residents participated. Yet while the march went ahead with Tokayev’s blessing, its visual identity had changed dramatically. As in the Astana parade earlier that week, many participants had replaced St. George ribbons and Soviet flags with banners, ribbons, and flags in Kazakhstan’s turquoise and yellow.
This new color scheme stood in sharp contrast to what Tokayev experienced in Moscow on Victory Day. Sitting just four seats away from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tokayev joined other world leaders at the annual Red Square parade – most of them wearing the St. George ribbon.
Kazakhstan didn’t just attend; it participated, sending a military brigade to march in the ceremony. This was Tokayev’s third consecutive visit to the Moscow parade, after skipping it in 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine.
Still, one small detail set him apart from other leaders: his pin. While others wore the traditional black-and-orange ribbon, Tokayev opted for a small silver pin marking the 80th anniversary of the victory.
Even as Tokayev maintains a presence at Russia’s commemorations, Kazakhstan’s own observances are slowly shrinking. This year marked the first major domestic celebration in several years. Whether Victory Day will remain a fixture of Kazakh public life in another ten years is unclear. If it does, the colors will likely be more turquoise and yellow than red, orange, and black. Tajikistan decriminalises ‘liking’ social media posts deemed extremist (Reuters)
Reuters [5/14/2025 5:22 AM, Mariya Gordeyeva, 2K]
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon signed a law on Wednesday removing criminal liability for "liking" posts on social media containing material that publicly calls for terrorism or other serious crimes, his press service said.Official figures show more than 1,500 people have been jailed for liking and commenting on articles that the authorities consider extremist, including videos and posts by opposition figures.Tajikistan is a landlocked country of some 10 million people sandwiched between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. Security officials there in recent months have been grappling with a string of militant attacks, some of whose perpetrators have professed support for Islamic State.In 2018, Tajik lawmakers passed amendments criminalising public justification of terrorism online, and authorities soon began prosecuting people for liking or reacting with emojis to posts or videos found to be supporting extremism. Those found guilty could be sent to prison for up to 15 years.Last year, Rakhmon, who has led Tajikistan since 1994, spoke out publicly against the prosecutions, saying they should be "put an end to", according to Tajik media. Restrictions, discrimination do not significantly stem Tajik migration flow to Russia (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/13/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
The number of Tajik labor migrants heading abroad is dipping, but the amount of money they are sending home is skyrocketing, according to data published by the International Organization for Migration.
The IOM’s Tajikistan situation report covering the last half of 2024 shows that as of last September, 618,097 Tajiks citizens had traveled abroad in search of work, roughly 98 percent of them heading to Russia. During the same timeframe in 2023, the number of Tajik labor migrants stood at 673,285.
The 8 percent decrease is understandable, but not as severe as one might expect, given the circumstances. Labor migrants in Russia experienced a sharp uptick in harassment and a tightening of employment rules in the aftermath of the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack, in which Tajik militants killed over 140 individuals attending a concert in Moscow last March. Six months later, the Tajik Embassy in Moscow issued an advisory urging labor migrants not to travel to Russia “unless absolutely necessary.”
World Bank figures show that Tajiks living and working abroad generated a “significant increase in remittance inflows” for relatives and friends in Tajikistan. Labor migrants sent $5.8 billion home in 2024, a 27 percent increase over the $4.6 billion in remittances generated the previous year. The remittance total for 2024 accounted for a whopping 45 percent of Tajikistan’s annual GDP, the IOM report shows.
Meanwhile, labor migration to Tajikistan experienced an uptick in 2024, although the numbers are miniscule in comparison to outbound guest workers. The government issued 6,500 work permits to foreigners as of December 2024, over two-thirds of whom were Chinese nationals. Another almost 1,000 guest workers combined came from Afghanistan, Iran and India, while Russia accounted for 100 labor migrants. Uzbekistan and Afghanistan: A New Era of Limited Recognition (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [5/13/2025 8:21 AM, Islomkhon Gafarov, Hamza Boltaev, and Bobur Mingyasharov, 777K]
In early May, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture Jamshid Abduzukhurov and the governor of Afghanistan’s Balkh Province, Haji Muhammad Yusuf Wafa, signed a bilateral agreement concerning the joint management of the Amu Darya water resources, ensuring their fair and rational use. On one hand, this agreement marks a transition to a new phase in the management of transboundary water resources, and on the other hand, it signifies that relations between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are becoming increasingly institutionalized.
While Uzbekistan has not officially recognized the current government of Afghanistan, its practical steps – including the acceptance of an ambassador appointed by the Taliban, Abdul Ghafoor Bahar – indicate a policy of de facto recognition. This raises an important issue from the perspective of international law and politics: to what extent is it justified and legitimate to conclude legally binding agreements with a political entity that has not been officially recognized?
Against the backdrop of such legal uncertainty, the signed agreement reflects Uzbekistan’s pragmatic foreign policy and underscores Tashkent’s prioritization of regional interests, based on the recognition of the actual situation in Afghanistan. This approach emphasizes the superiority of practical solutions over ideological considerations in critical matters such as water resources.
Following the Taliban’s return to power, Uzbekistan has repeatedly emphasized the need for a unified and coordinated international strategy toward Afghanistan. Tashkent has articulated this position repeatedly at many international forums, such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Organization of Turkic States. Uzbekistan cannot remain a passive observer, since instability in Afghanistan directly impacts its own vital interests. Therefore, Tashkent is compelled to pursue an active and pragmatic foreign policy vis-à-vis Afghanistan, even if it is unilaterally pursued.
At the same time, deepening ties with Afghanistan is accompanied with serious challenges. A primary challenge concerns security as terrorist groups, such as Islamic State Khorasan Province and al-Qaida, continue to operate in the country, posing a threat to regional stability. Uzbekistan is compelled to extend its security horizons toward its neighbor in order to make sure its vital interests are intact. In its efforts to combat radicalization, Uzbekistan sees education as a key tool, which is why it Tashkent is funding the construction of madrassas in northern Afghanistan.
The Qosh-Tepa canal project has raised significant concerns in the media, both within Uzbekistan and globally. The 285 km long canal project, currently under construction in Afghanistan, could divert about 25 percent of the Amu Darya’s water, thereby substantially affecting water supplies for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Despite the reported completion of over 80 percent of construction, there are concerns about the canal’s compliance with international standards, as reports have indicated water leakage in certain sections.
Regarding international standards and transboundary water use, Afghanistan has disputes not only with Uzbekistan but also with Iran and Pakistan. While the Iran-Afghanistan conflict over the Helmand River seemed to be resolved in early 2025, no official agreements have been signed with Pakistan, despite decades of negotiations. The planned construction of new dams on the Kunar (Gamberi) and Kabul (Shahdud) rivers with India’s support is causing concern in Pakistan due to the potential reduction in water supply, which would impact agriculture and drinking water for millions of people.
The countries in the region have not engaged in a collective effort to resolve water issues with Afghanistan; each is acting independently. Given that the Amu Darya issue is a matter of survival for Uzbekistan, Tashkent has adopted an independent and proactive stance, establishing direct and decisive contact with Afghanistan, without waiting for initiatives from other players.
In late March of this year, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Water Resources Shavkat Hamraev stated, "Once the documents are in place, we will take further steps; everything will be resolved through dialogue.".
This has come to pass – Uzbekistan signed a water agreement with Afghanistan without officially recognizing its government.
Here, a logical question may arise: to what extent, given the lack of official status in relations between the government of Uzbekistan and the Taliban, is the agreement credible?
In Uzbekistan’s approach to the conundrum of Afghanistan, pragmatism takes precedence. Within this pragmatic approach, implementation is carried out practically via local inter-regional, inter-ministerial, and inter-agency cooperation. The absence of official recognition of the Taliban government does not mean the absence of formality or a lack of a legal basis when official documents are signed between local authorities and relevant government organizations. The ties between Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya region and the Afghan province of Balkh, as well as between the cities of Termez and Mazar-i-Sharif, are evidence of this. In Termez, a trade center for Afghan products has been opened, and a Trade House of Uzbekistan is planned for Mazar-i-Sharif.
Therefore, contemporary relations between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan go beyond legal and diplomatic recognition, forming a model for so called "limited recognition" based on practical cooperation. This approach enables the development of intersectoral ties even in the absence of official recognition.
In summary, Uzbekistan has chosen a model of practical cooperation, developed consistently through a clear strategy. Although formal recognition has not yet occurred, the republic remains the only regional state striving for an independent solution to the Afghan issue. This highlights that Uzbekistan is not passive; it is acting in accordance with its own national interests.
If the international community continues to delay the recognition of Afghanistan and fails to adopt a unified stance, the likelihood of Uzbekistan making an independent political decision regarding recognition increases. In such a case, this could trigger a domino effect in the region – similar steps may be taken by other countries actively involved in the Afghan agenda, such as Kazakhstan and Russia.
Uzbekistan’s strategy is not merely a shift in foreign policy but reflects a consistent direction aimed at ensuring regional security, deepening economic integration, and strengthening its leading position in Central Asia. Therefore, Uzbekistan is not only shaping a new platform for political engagement with Afghanistan but also offering the international community an extra option for establishing a working collaboration. Indo-Pacific
How India and Pakistan pulled back from the brink with US-brokered ceasefire (Reuters)
Reuters [5/13/2025 11:59 PM, Saeed Shah, Asif Shahzad, Shivam Patel and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, 62527K]
At 2.09 a.m. on Saturday, Ahmad Subhan, who lives near an air base in the Pakistan military garrison city of Rawalpindi, heard the first explosion that rattled the windows of his house - and took South Asia to the brink of war.
As dawn broke, the heaviest fighting in decades between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan reached a crescendo, after nearly three weeks of escalating tensions.
Fighter jets and missiles crisscrossed the skies of one of the world’s most populated regions. Pakistani officials said they would convene an emergency meeting of their top nuclear decision-making body.
The critical eight-hour window also saw Indian missile barrages on three major Pakistani air bases and other facilities, including Nur Khan, which is ringed by civilian homes like Subhan’s, and just a 20-minute drive to the capital, Islamabad.
After the initial blast, Subhan and his wife grabbed their three children and ran out of their home. "We were just figuring out what had happened when there was another explosion," said the retired government employee, who remembered the precise time of the strike because he was just about to make a call.
This account of Saturday’s events - which began with the looming specter of a full-blown war and ended with an evening cease-fire announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump - is based on interviews with 14 people, including U.S., Indian and Pakistani officials, as well as Reuters’ review of public statements from the three capitals.
They described the rapid escalation of hostilities as well as behind-the-scenes diplomacy involving the U.S., India and Pakistan, and underscore the key role played by Washington in brokering peace.
The attack on Nur Khan air base saw at least two missile strikes as well as drone attacks, according to Subhan and two Pakistani security officials, who like some of the people interviewed by Reuters, spoke on condition of anonymity.
The barrage took out two roofs and hit the hangar of a refuelling plane, which was airborne at the time, according to one of the officials, who visited the base the next day.
A senior Indian military officer, however, told reporters on Sunday that an operations command center at Nur Khan had been hit."The attack on Nur Khan ... close to our capital, that left us with no option but to retaliate," Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Reuters.
Nur Khan is located just over a mile from the military-run body responsible for Pakistan’s nuclear planning.
So, an attack on the facility may have been perceived as more dangerous than India intended - and the two sides should not conclude that it is possible to have a conflict without it going nuclear, said Christopher Clary, an associate professor at the University at Albany in New York.
"If you are playing Russian roulette and pull the trigger, the lesson isn’t that you should pull the trigger again," said Clary.
India’s defense and foreign ministries, as well as Pakistan’s military and its foreign ministry, did not immediately respond to written questions submitted by Reuters.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson did not directly respond to questions from Reuters about the American role, but said that further military escalation posed a serious threat to regional stability.
VANCE CALLS MODI
India and Pakistan have fought three major wars and been at loggerheads since their independence. The spark for the latest chaos was an April 22 attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad.
It was the latest of many disputes involving Kashmir, a Himalayan territory ravaged by an anti-India insurgency since the late 1980s. Both New Delhi and Islamabad claim the region in full but only control parts of it.
Hindu-majority India has accused its Muslim-majority neighbor of arming and backing militant groups operating in Kashmir, but Pakistan maintains it only provides diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.
After a go-ahead from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian military on May 7 carried out air strikes on what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan, in response to the April attack in Kashmir.
In air battles that followed, Pakistan said it shot down five Indian aircraft, including prized Rafale planes New Delhi recently acquired from France. India has indicated that it suffered losses and inflicted some of its own.
Senior U.S. officials became seriously concerned by Friday, May 9 that the conflict was at risk of spiralling out of control, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Another source familiar with the matter said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a series of calls from May 6-8 with Indian and Pakistani officials, including with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the foreign ministers and national security advisers of both countries.
Then on the morning of May 9, Rubio and U.S. Vice President JD Vance discussed with Trump in the Oval Office a plan for Vance to call Modi to underscore that Washington "believed there was a high probability for dramatic escalation as the conflict entered its fourth day," the source said.
"The vice president encouraged Modi to consider de-escalatory options, outlining a potential off-ramp that Secretary Rubio and his staff understood the Pakistanis would be amenable to," the source added.
Rubio then engaged in "a marathon session of telephone diplomacy" with Indian and Pakistani officials into the early morning of May 10 to get the parties talking and reach an agreement on a ceasefire, the source said.
The U.S. intervention came despite Vance saying publicly on Thursday that the U.S. was "not going to get involved in the middle of war that’s fundamentally none of our business.".
The sources didn’t provide specifics but said Modi was non-committal. One of the people also said that Modi told Vance, who had been visiting India during the Kashmir attack, that any Pakistani escalation would be met by an even more forceful response.
Hours later, according to Indian officials, that escalation came: Pakistan launched attacks on at least 26 locations in India in the early hours of May 10.
Pakistan said their strikes occurred only after the pre-dawn Indian attack on its air bases, including Nur Khan.
NUCLEAR SIGNALS
A little over an hour after that Indian attack began, Pakistan military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed Indian strikes on three air bases.
Some Indian strikes on Saturday, May 10 also utilized the supersonic BrahMos missile, according to a Pakistani official and an Indian source. Pakistan believes the BrahMos is nuclear-capable, though India says it carries a conventional warhead.
By 5 a.m. local time on Saturday, Pakistan’s military announced it had launched operations against Indian air bases and other facilities.
About two hours later, Pakistani officials told journalists that Prime Minister Sharif had called a meeting of the National Command Authority, which oversees the nuclear arsenal.
Dar told Reuters on Tuesday that any international alarm was overblown: "There was no such concern. There should not be. We are a responsible nation.".
But signalling an intention to convene NCA reflected how much the crisis had escalated and "may also have been an indirect call for external mediation," said Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia expert.
About an hour after the NCA announcement, the U.S. said Rubio had spoken to Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir - widely regarded as the most powerful man in that country - and was pushing both sides to de-escalate.
Rubio also soon got on the phone with Dar and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
"Rubio said that Indians were ready to stop," Dar told Reuters. "I said if they are ready to stop, ask them to stop, we will stop.".
An Indian official with knowledge of Rubio’s call with Jaishankar said that Rubio passed on a message that the Pakistanis were willing to stop firing if India would also cease.‘GREAT INTELLIGENCE’
Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who only days earlier warned of conflict, dialled into a local TV news channel at around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Two-and-a-half hours after Pakistani officials shared news of the NCA meeting, Asif declared that no such event had been scheduled, putting a lid on the matter.
The international intervention anchored by Rubio paved the way to a cessation of hostilities formalized in a mid-afternoon phone call between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) of India and Pakistan. The two spoke again on Monday.
Pakistan Lt. Gen. Chaudhry said in a briefing that New Delhi had initially requested a call between the DGMOs after the Indian military’s May 7 strikes across the border.
Islamabad only responded to the request on Saturday, following its retaliation and requests from international interlocutors, according to Chaudhry, who did not name the countries.
Almost exactly 12 hours after Pakistan said it had launched retaliatory strikes against India for hitting three key air bases, Trump declared on social media there would be a cessation of hostilities.
"Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence," he said. One casualty in the Indo-Pakistan fighting: The truth (Washington Post – opinion)
Washington Post [5/13/2025 4:39 PM, Rana Ayyub, 31735K]
In the long and bloody history of India-Pakistan relations, ceasefires have often come with silence — a manufactured quiet that drowns out dissent, suppresses journalism, and blurs the line between narrative and truth. The most recent truce between the two nuclear neighbors, following the April 26 terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir and the retaliatory strikes that followed, is no exception. While fighter jets retreated and shelling quieted along the line of control, a fierce battle raged online and in the media — not for peace, but for control of the story.On May 8, as shelling continued between India and Pakistan, with villages bombarded, sirens blazing, civilians injured and killed, the social media platform X announced that the Indian government had demanded it take down more than 8,000 accounts, “subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees. The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users.”
“In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India’s local laws,” the statement said. “For a significant number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts. … We disagree with the Indian government’s demands. Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.”The censorship extended beyond X. A statement released by the Wire, an independent Indian news website, said its website had been blocked on government orders for running a story on an Indian fighter jet allegedly downed by Pakistan, which was based on a CNN video report. Pakistan claimed it had shot down five Indian planes, and The Washington Post confirmed debris consistent with two.Meanwhile, people in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where 15 civilians lost their lives during the shelling, had few takers for their stories. A prominent local journalist, Hilal Mir, was arrested on charges of “disseminating content on social media to disturb peace,” according to police, while senior Kashmiri journalists Muzamil Jaleel and Anuradha Bhasin had their handles blocked. An Indian Muslim teacher who lost his life in the Pakistani shelling was labeled a “top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander” by one of India’s leading news channels, although people in his town called him a 20-year high school instructor and religious figure who “had no affiliation with any terror outfit,” according to local police.As jingoism and chest-thumping became the norm, voices of reason that supplied accurate information were censored. What the public got instead was a fire hose of unverified claims and nationalist posturing. Indian and Pakistani news channels took turns airing footage of fighter jets and fiery studio debates, peddling brazen disinformation under the guise of breaking news. Among the claims: that India had destroyed the port of Karachi and captured Islamabad and that the Pakistani army leader had been replaced during an internal coup. The fact-checking site Boom “concluded that the reports aired by many Indian news outlets were not based on facts, lacked official confirmation, and contributed to the spread of misinformation during a sensitive time.”In Pakistan, too, news channels played their own version of victory while sharing years-old images of the war in Gaza as evidence that Pakistan had bombed India.With deliberate obfuscation from both sides, news coverage devolved into a theater of conjecture, where propaganda wore the costume of reporting. The press in India and Pakistan, both ranked at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, has often become an accomplice in stoking hostility.Indians and Pakistanis may never learn how many lives have been lost in the conflict or even the terms and conditions of the ceasefire. And the people of Kashmir, who have become the victims of cross-border terrorism, are yet again living in fear with little reliable information.Both countries claimed to have won the battle, or the battle of narratives. Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, whose popularity was on the decline because of his harsh command, became a hero of the masses. Meanwhile Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party released an advertisement on its X account mocking former prime minister Manmohan Singh of the opposition Congress Party for cowardice and hailing Modi as a hero for delivering a befitting reply to Pakistan. The party has announced a nationwide rally to convey the success of India’s military operation to the nation.As critical questions started seeping in, in the form of tweets and questions by independent journalists, a spokesperson for the ruling party in India, Amit Malviya, tweeted, “Make no mistake: in the days ahead, various arms lobbies, funded by foreign agencies, will go into overdrive, planting stories through pliable journalists willing to act against India’s interests. This will be part of a globally coordinated campaign aimed at influencing public opinion, either to promote their preferred military hardware or to undermine India’s defense preparedness.” This broadside came in response to a journalist asking straightforward questions about the downing of Indian fighter planes.In all this, one voice remained notably absent: the voice of truth. Instead of independent verification, we got victory laps. Instead of accountability, we got algorithms suppressing journalists.If a ceasefire becomes a pretext for stifling dissent and rewriting events in real time, then it is peace in name only. Until both India and Pakistan allow the truth — however inconvenient — to emerge alongside diplomacy, real peace will remain elusive. The ultimate casualty in this conflict is not just human lives but the truth itself. Twitter
Afghanistan
Abdul Qahar Balkhi@QaharBalkhi
[5/13/2025 2:09 PM, 257.6K followers, 34 retweets, 139 likes]
Remarks: IEA-MoFA considers recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a positive step & acknowledgement of existing realities, affirming progress in Afghanistan’s security & economic environment. IEA views this as a clear recognition of progress made
Abdul Qahar Balkhi@QaharBalkhi
[5/13/2025 2:09 PM, 257.6K followers, 3 retweets, 18 likes]
in national security, economy & other areas. Afghanistan is the shared home of all Afghans, & all have the right to free movement. IEA stands ready to engage in constructive dialogue with the US & other countries regarding repatriation of Afghans who no longer meet
Abdul Qahar Balkhi@QaharBalkhi[5/13/2025 2:09 PM, 257.6K followers, 3 retweets, 18 likes]
criteria to remain in host countries. IEA underscores the importance of bilateral mechanisms & consular services for its citizens, in line with established standards, to prevent complications, address national security concerns, & ensure the dignity & rights of returnees.
Mariam Solaimankhil@Mariamistan
[5/13/2025 9:11 PM, 100.7K followers, 16 retweets, 62 likes]
The Taliban built 23,000 madrassas while keeping school doors shut for girls beyond 6th grade. They’re not building a nation- they’re building an army of blind obedience. With this war on modern education, Afghanistan is being turned into a factory for extremism. Pakistan
Imran Khan@ImranKhanPTI
[5/13/2025 12:56 PM, 21.2M followers, 20K retweets, 43K likes] “The recent escalation between Pakistan and India has once again proven that Pakistanis are a brave, proud, and dignified nation. I have always said, "Mulk bhi mera, Fauj bhi meri" (this country is mine, and so is the army). Just as our soldiers defeated Modi on both aerial and ground fronts, the people of Pakistan—especially on social media—exposed and dismantled Modi and the RSS’s narrative at a global level. By targeting innocent civilians such as children, women, the elderly, and civilian infrastructure in Pakistan, Modi displayed cowardice. Our forces responded with strength and precision. We stand in full solidarity with the families of both civilians and military personnel who were martyred in these cowardly attacks. I pay tribute to the Pakistan Air Force and all our military personnel for their professionalism and outstanding performance. Unlike Modi, who targets civilians and public infrastructure, our forces successfully hit only the aircraft and installations directly involved in the attacks.
Narendra Modi harbors deep hatred for Pakistan. The fearless attitude shown by Pakistanis during this conflict must have only fueled his anger. He is likely furious and may attempt another false-flag operation, similar to what he orchestrated in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. We must stay alert and fully prepared. I had predicted this scenario back in 2019 as well. Modi will also try to inflict economic damage on Pakistan. In case of any new attack, the nation must remain united and ready. During wartime, a swift response is absolutely vital. Wars are fought as much with nerves as with weapons—perhaps 60 percent of it depends on mental strength. That is why it is crucial to have leadership that enjoys the people’s trust and can make bold and timely decisions in the face of aggression. In a state of war, the military needs public support more than ever. The morale of the nation becomes the strength of the armed forces. That is why I’ve consistently emphasized that we must not isolate our people, and we must breathe life back into our justice system” Illegally incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s conversation with his family at Adiala Jail today, in reference to India’s attack on Pakistan and the Pakistani nation’s resilient response (May 13, 2025)
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[5/13/2025 9:54 AM, 8.5K followers, 24 retweets, 60 likes]
Latest @reason - Pakistan deportations are devastating for Afghans, particularly those with pathways to the U.S. who have already endured much while waiting for processing. Grateful to @ASEELApp for sharing about their vital work at the border and to all who shared stories for this piece. https://reason.com/2025/05/13/pakistan-deports-afghans-awaiting-u-s-resettlement/
Hamid Mir@HamidMirPAK
[5/13/2025 2:50 PM, 8.7M followers, 210 retweets, 1.1K likes]
Score is 1-1 in a new diplomatic war between India and Pakistan begins today. India orders a Pakistani diplomat to leave country after declaring him ‘persona non grata’. Within two hours Pakistan also expelled an Indian diplomat from Islamabad today. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2545630/india-orders-pakistani-diplomat-to-leave-country-after-declaring-him-persona-non-grata
Hamid Mir@HamidMirPAK
[5/13/2025 2:30 PM, 8.7M followers, 342 retweets, 1.4K likes]
Yes @realDonaldTrump is contradicting the claims of @narendramodi again and again. Modi claimed yesterday that Pakistan contacted India for a ceasefire but Trump saying NO NO I forced India and Pakistan for a ceasefire. I trust Trump.
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[5/14/2025 3:03 AM, 80.6K followers, 6 retweets, 50 likes]
Pakistan and India have exchanged one prisoner each today at the Wagah Attari checkpost -- Pakistan handed over Indian BSF’s Purnam Kumar Shaw to Indian authorities while Pak Rangers’ MuhamadUllah has been handed over to Pak authorities, per Pak media quoting their security sources.
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[5/13/2025 2:02 PM, 80.6K followers, 40 retweets, 220 likes]
#Pakistan SUMMONS #India’s Charge d’Affairs in Islamabad -- Declares a staff member of the Indian High Commission, Islamabad, as persona non grata for engaging in activities incompatible with his privileged status -- Asks to leave within 24 hours. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/13/2025 10:26 AM, 108.7M followers, 7.1K retweets, 43K likes]
Gratitude to the people of Assam for the unequivocal support for NDA’s development agenda. Our efforts to boost Assam’s progress will continue with full vigour. I would like to appreciate all NDA Karyakartas who worked among the people and effectively conveyed our development agenda.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/13/2025 9:50 AM, 108.7M followers, 10K retweets, 86K likes]
Chaired a meeting on India’s mission to eliminate TB. Driven by active public participation, the movement has gained significant momentum over the last few years. Our Government remains committed to working closely with all stakeholders to realise the vision of a TB-free India.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/13/2025 6:00 AM, 108.7M followers, 13K retweets, 67K likes]
Interacted with the air warriors and soldiers at AFS Adampur. Their courage and professionalism in protecting our nation are commendable. https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ynJOljeBqqxR
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/13/2025 2:58 AM, 108.7M followers, 35K retweets, 189K likes]
Earlier this morning, I went to AFS Adampur and met our brave air warriors and soldiers. It was a very special experience to be with those who epitomise courage, determination and fearlessness. India is eternally grateful to our armed forces for everything they do for our nation.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[5/14/2025 2:12 AM, 27M followers, 326 retweets, 1.8K likes]
General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, along with General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Army Staff, Air Chief Marshal A. P. Singh, Chief of the Air Staff, and Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, Chief of the Naval Staff, called on President Droupadi Murmu and briefed her about Operation Sindoor. The President commended the valour and the dedication of the Armed Forces that made India’s response to terrorism a sterling success.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[5/14/2025 1:23 AM, 27M followers, 228 retweets, 1.4K likes]
Shri Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/13/2025 4:52 PM, 225.4K followers, 262 retweets, 1.5K likes]
Trump’s recent comments—publicly announcing the India-Pakistan ceasefire, both-siding the crisis, ignoring the terror attack that triggered it, invoking Kashmir, and seemingly making light of it all—risk sparking a diplomatic crisis w/India that neither side could’ve expected.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/13/2025 1:39 PM, 225.4K followers, 138 retweets, 940 likes]
Trump, in Riyadh, on his role in brokering the India-Pakistan ceasefire: “I said, ‘fellas, come on, let’s make a deal. Let’s do some trading. Let’s not trade nuclear missiles, let’s trade the things that you make so beautifully.’” MBS seen smiling as Trump said this.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/13/2025 1:39 PM, 225.4K followers, 23 retweets, 123 likes]
More Trump on India-Pakistan: “They’re actually getting along. Maybe we can even get them together, Marco, where they go out and have a nice dinner together.”
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[5/13/2025 2:34 PM, 624.7K followers, 337 retweets, 1.9K likes]
Trump is not only equating India with Pakistan but also equating Narendra Modi with Shehbaz Sharif! https://x.com/i/status/1922359716128174233
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/13/2025 8:17 AM, 290.1K followers, 1.5K retweets, 5.1K likes]
Two days after India’s military campaign began, the US facilitated IMF approval of a new $2.4b bailout for its "major non-NATO ally" Pakistan and then, as Trump said, threatened trade suspension to compel India to cease its operation. Now, the US is set to bail out Bangladesh with a $1.3b IMF loan, despite that country’s increasing lurch toward Islamist authoritarianism.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/13/2025 3:01 AM, 290.1K followers, 827 retweets, 2.4K likes]
Addressing the nation, Modi asserted that India’s armed forces inflicted such “heavy damage” on Pakistan that Islamabad was compelled to plead for global intervention to de-escalate the conflict. If that was indeed the case, why then did Modi agree to an immediate ceasefire, effectively bailing out Pakistan? This decision risks adding to India’s long and frustrating history of squandering military gains in pursuit of political or diplomatic expediency. The recent operation was carefully calibrated and precisely executed, shattering the illusion of Pakistan’s immunity under its nuclear umbrella — an illusion that has long emboldened Islamabad to support cross-border terrorism with impunity. By crossing yet another psychological and tactical threshold, India redrew the boundaries of escalation, sending a powerful signal that proxy warfare would no longer go unanswered.
Yet, Modi’s decision to halt the operation just three days after its launch risks diluting the impact of this bold step. Internationally, the sudden cessation created the perception of a military standoff that ended in a draw. In Pakistan, just as public discontent with the military was visibly growing — with more Pakistanis blaming their generals for the country’s decline — India’s premature halt of its operation has inadvertently handed a propaganda victory to the Pakistani military. Modi now claims that India has only “paused” its military campaign — not ended it. But in diplomatic and legal terms, that is the very definition of a ceasefire.
Instead of accepting a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, India should have declared a unilateral ceasefire after prolonging its operations over several days and visibly degrading the Pakistani military’s capability — and prestige, especially in the eyes of its own citizens. As things stand, it’s only a matter of time before Pakistan’s military resumes its old playbook of cross-border attacks. NSB
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[5/14/2025 2:19 AM, 161.9K followers, 1 retweet, 39 likes]
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus joins a view exchange programme at Chittagong Circuit House on Wednesday.
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[5/13/2025 1:21 AM, 161.9K followers, 8 retweets, 55 likes]
Chittagong Port is heart of Bangladesh economy, says Chief Adviser Chittagong, May 14, 2025: Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus said on Wednesday that the Interim Government had taken initiatives to turn Chittagong Port into world class by inviting top global port management companies. The Chief Adviser revealed the plan while speaking at the New Mooring Container Terminal of the Chittagong Port in the first event of his daylong tour in Chittagong, when he was briefed about the port capacity. "It will be big opportunity for us," said the Chief Adviser, adding that once the government plans are materialised it will improve the economy of the country and create jobs for thousands of people. "If we have to change the economy of Bangladesh, Chittagong Port is the hope. Without it, there is no alternative," he said.
Calling the Chittagong Port the heart of Bangladesh’s economy, the Chief Adviser said, "If the heart is weak, no physician could make it function better. This is why we have to make it world-class." "They ( top global port management firms) were called earlier, but there was no meaningful progress," he said. "This heart has to be connected with neighbours, that is why I said about Nepal, Seven Sisters ( seven northeastern stares of India). If they are connected to it, they will be benefited and so will be us. Those who will not be connected will be the losers," he said.
Recalling his childhood memory with Chittagong Port, the Chief Adviser said he was waiting for this visit. “Chittagong Port is not a new place to me. I am familiar with it since my childhood. It has changed a lot over the years, but it’s sad to see that its changes are slow. Since I got a chance, from day one I was trying to see what could be done for it," he said. “The world has moved a lot, and we are lagging a lot behind. Nobody cares about it. This is why I was pushing for change. I asked to hand over the charge of port handling to world’s top operators. I hope everyone would realise it," he said. Shipping Adviser Brigadier General ( Retd) Shakwat Hossain lauded Chief Adviser’s eagerness to improve the port facilities in Chittagong. He said that the construction of several terminals surrounding the Chittagong port would ease container congestion. "I hope within six months you will notice the change," he said.
Chittagong Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman laid the emphasis on mordernisation of Chittagong port, saying that it handles 92 percent of Bangladesh’s foreign trade and 98 percent of this trade is handled by New Mooring Container Terminal. There is no alternative available to it at the moment, he said, adding that due to natural reasons ship above a length of 200 meters cannot anchor in Chittagong Port. Due to this, Bangladesh suffers a loss of around 1 million ( DOLLARS or TAKA) a day, he said, quoting a World Bank Study.
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[5/13/2025 5:37 AM, 161.9K followers, 33 retweets, 484 likes]
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) holds a view exchange programme with different political parties at its office in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Abdulla Khaleel@abkhaleel
[5/13/2025 8:48 AM, 34K followers, 25 retweets, 29 likes]
#Maldives has been elected as a member of the Governing Council of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (@APDIM_ESCAP) under the auspices of @UNESCAP for the term 2025-2028. The Maldives will collaborate closely with our partners to advance disaster management and capacity building. We look forward to meaningful engagement with the other elected members of the Governing Council and hope to work with partners to achieve significant impact. @NDMAmv
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal
[5/13/2025 7:03 AM, 435.6K followers, 218 retweets, 273 likes]
It is concerning that Canada has inaugurated a Tamil Genocide Memorial when, under international law, no genocide has been proven or can be proven against the Sri Lankan military in its conflict with the LTTE terrorists. The so-called Tamil genocide monument appears to be a politically driven move by the Canadian government, which has long been influenced by certain factions within the Tamil diaspora. Rather than working towards peace and unity, these groups have fueled division for their own interests. The LTTE, which began its violent campaign by assassinating Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah in 1975, went on to carry out numerous brutal acts. This terrorist group forcibly recruited thousands of Tamil children and youth, separating them from their families and causing immense suffering. The Sri Lankan armed forces eliminated the LTTE in a legitimate military operation aimed at ending decades of violence and terrorism.
Canada’s history of supporting groups linked to terrorism, such as the LTTE and Khalistan militants, raises questions about its stance on global terrorism. If this pattern continues, it could undermine Canada’s credibility in promoting genuine reconciliation, a process in which Canada claims to have a vested interest. The Sri Lankan government should immediately summon the Canadian High Commissioner to formally protest and urge Canada to support accurate historical narratives. Promoting a false genocide narrative in the context of a legitimate war not only distorts history but also poses a serious threat to the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka. The government’s failure to act decisively on this issue is a disservice to the armed forces, the country’s sovereignty, and its people. It also highlights the government’s inability to effectively address critical matters that impact Sri Lanka’s national interests.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[5/13/2025 9:34 PM, 8.2K followers, 11 retweets, 90 likes]
As a Tamil who grew up in Sri Lanka, I am deeply proud of my heritage and my identity as a Sri Lankan – never a symbol of division or hate. My parents, like many others, lived through the brutal years of war, carrying scars that only those who endured it can truly understand. Despite those hardships, they never lost their love for this beautiful, diverse island. Sri Lanka’s strength lies in its unity – a place where people of different faiths, cultures and backgrounds come together as one. We are not defined by our race or religion but by the bond we share as Sri Lankans. I respect the challenges faced by those who had to leave during the conflict, but I believe that those who have never experienced the reality of post-war Sri Lanka should be cautious about supporting movements that reignite old wounds. Many in the diaspora might know only fragments of the story, shaped by painful memories and distant perspectives but those of us who remained have seen the beauty of a united Sri Lanka, where we coexist beyond the divisions of the past. We are a nation of resilience, compassion and unity, and I am proud to call myself a Sri Lankan. -a true Sri Lankan - Via Tanush Pratheepan FB
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[5/13/2025 11:07 AM, 8.2K followers, 50 retweets, 224 likes]
If ever there was a genocide in Sri Lanka, it was the LTTE’s brutal ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Sinhalese from the Northern Province. In October 1990, Muslims, fellow minorities, were given just 24 hours to pack up and leave their ancestral homes. Over 75,000 people were expelled. Their properties looted, mosques desecrated, and lives shattered, simply because of their faith. Sinhalese families were driven out too, many never allowed to return. This is the real, documented ethnic cleansing that took place in our lifetime. Today, the Northern Province stands as a testament to resilience, not of ethnic purity, but of political participation. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) swept the recently concluded Local Government Elections in that very province. Would that be possible in a land where “genocide” was allegedly committed by the state?
Let’s be honest, what a farce. The truth is, all communities suffered in this conflict. The Tamils bore unimaginable hardship, both from the war that raged through their lands and from appalling riots like in 1983. The Muslims and Sinhalese too suffered displacement and loss. But to falsely label Sri Lanka with the gravest of crimes, genocide, is not just wrong, it is divisive, dangerous, and deeply irresponsible. The Canadian government should know better. But sadly, they are blinded by vote-bank politics, chasing ballots, not balance. This recklessness doesn’t heal. It doesn’t unite. It emboldens extremism, inflames wounds, and threatens the very reconciliation we all aspire to achieve. We must stand for truth, for all communities, and for a future rooted not in falsehood and foreign posturing, but in justice, unity, and dignity for every Sri Lankan.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[5/13/2025 9:25 AM, 8.2K followers, 34 retweets, 78 likes]
A Personal Reflection on the Brampton Monument and Tamil Genocide Education Week As a citizen deeply committed to Sri Lanka’s unity, dignity, and reconciliation, I am both dismayed and saddened by the recent developments in Ontario, Canada , including the inauguration of a so-called “Tamil Genocide Monument” and the observance of a “Genocide Education Week.” Let me be clear, Sri Lanka did not commit genocide. That claim is not only unfounded, it is deeply damaging. No international tribunal has ever found Sri Lanka guilty of genocide. What took place in Sri Lanka was a tragic but necessary military operation to end a decades-long conflict against the LTTE, a proscribed terrorist organization in over 30 countries, including Canada. It was a war against terror, not against any community. While every loss of innocent life in war is heartbreaking, mischaracterizing the conflict as genocide not only distorts the truth but also dishonours the memory of all Sri Lankans who suffered, Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim alike. These symbolic acts in Canada far removed from our realities on the ground and directed at appeasing vote bank risk reopening old wounds, hardening divisions, and undermining the delicate progress we’ve made in healing as a nation. Reconciliation cannot be built on selective memory and one-sided narratives. It requires courage, honesty, and above all, empathy for all communities who endured pain during the war. As someone who has dedicated years in public service, I know how difficult but essential it is to bring people together. This kind of gesture does the opposite it divides Sri Lankans at home and polarizes our diaspora abroad. We must learn from our past, yes. But let us do so with truth, nuance, and compassion not with slogans that simplify complex histories or monuments that deepen mistrust. Central Asia
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/13/2025 11:31 AM, 216.6K followers, 4 retweets, 8 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev met with Alexander Dyukov, chairman of the board of Russia’s “Gazprom Neft”. Sides considered issues of strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation in the fuel and energy complex.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/13/2025 10:39 AM, 216.6K followers, 7 retweets, 15 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev met with the @EUSR_CA Eduards Stiprais. They discussed expanding bilateral and regional cooperation and practical implementation of the first “Central Asia - EU” summit agreements.{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.