SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Friday, May 16, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Afghans in US feel betrayed as Trump ends deportation protection (Reuters)
Reuters [5/15/2025 8:05 AM, Emma Batha and Orooj Hakimi, 62527K]
When the Taliban seized Afghanistan, public prosecutor Roya fled for her life - 18 months and 11 countries later she arrived in the United States believing she had finally found safety.
But now Roya is terrified she may be forced back to Afghanistan after the Trump administration announced it would end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans, leaving them at risk of deportation.
"This is truly shocking and an injustice to those who cooperated with the Americans for 20 years," said Roya, 34, who used a pseudonym for safety reasons.
"It is a betrayal by the Trump administration," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
TPS will end on July 14, impacting an estimated 11,700 people. They include Afghans who previously worked for the U.S. in Afghanistan as well as journalists, political activists and others who fear reprisals by the Taliban.
"People are petrified," said Arash Azizzada, founder of Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, a New York-based community organisation.
"Everybody has seen the horror of the Taliban regime so you can just imagine how deeply scared people are. I’ve been fielding calls from people in tears.".
He said it was shocking how fast the U.S. had moved from calling Afghans allies to painting them as a potential threat.
Members of Congress, U.S. veterans and rights organisations also condemned the decision as cruel and dangerous.
Some contrasted the announcement with Trump’s surprise move this week to welcome a group of white South Africans as refugees, saying it showed the administration’s blatant racism.‘DON’T SEND ME BACK’
The Biden administration evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Others like Roya, who could not access help in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover, have arrived in the U.S. via Mexico after arduous and risky journeys through Latin America.
Afghans who worked with the U.S. can apply for Special Immigration Visas, while others fearing persecution can apply for asylum. Both routes provide permanent residency.
However, thousands of Afghans are stuck in a legal limbo because of a huge backlog in processing applications. Roya has been waiting nearly two years for a decision.
During her career as a prosecutor in the north of Afghanistan, she helped put a number of Taliban members behind bars, making her a target if she returns.
"If my life hadn’t been in danger, I would never have left my country," said the mother-of-three.
"If the Trump administration plans to deport me, I’ll tell them: ‘Please shoot me here, but don’t send me back to Afghanistan under Taliban rule’. They’ve no respect for women.".
TALIBAN RESTRICTIONS
After taking power, the Taliban swiftly reversed two decades of Western-backed efforts to boost women’s rights in the patriarchal country.
They have banned older girls from education, barred women from most jobs and imposed harsh restrictions on daily life.
Roya fears for her 9-year-old daughter’s future. She is thriving at her school in New York, but in Afghanistan high schools for girls remain shut.
"Returning to Afghanistan under the Taliban is simply impossible for me," she added. "Even imagining it is unbearable.".
TPS is granted to people from a specific country due to conflicts, disasters or "extraordinary" conditions that prevent them returning safely. It allows them to work and protects them from deportation.
Afghanistan’s original TPS designation was renewed for 18 months in 2023 and Afghans had hoped it would be renewed again.But in a notice published this week, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said it was now safe for people to return to Afghanistan, citing improvements in security and the economy.
Immigration attorney Laila Ayub, who runs an Afghan community organisation in San Francisco called Project ANAR, dismissed the statement as absurd.
She said it was nonsense to suggest the country was safe or the economy was stable, and that many Afghans could face persecution, retaliation, torture or even execution if returned.
"The U.S. government has repeatedly promised these people they would have protections here, but now they’ve been left at the whim of the Trump administration’s cruel anti-immigrant policies," Ayub added.
She urged Afghans not to panic, saying they would not be deported overnight from July 15 and still had the right to pursue asylum claims.
IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
Although security has improved in Afghanistan, poverty and repression have deepened.
U.N. experts say the Taliban’s treatment of women could amount to a crime against humanity.
More than half the country’s 43 million people need humanitarian assistance and many are internally displaced.
Ayub said U.S. decisions to cut aid to Afghanistan would only worsen conditions.
The move to end TPS for Afghans comes amid a wider immigration crackdown.
Trump has halted the U.S. refugee resettlement programme, stranding thousands - including Afghans - who had already secured permission to enter the U.S..
There are also reports that the administration is considering a travel ban on people from Afghanistan. Highland barracks’ role in resettling Afghans to end (BBC)
BBC [5/15/2025 5:54 PM, Steven McKenzie, 52868K]
The 140-year-old Cameron Barracks in Inverness is to be phased out from use as a place for housing Afghans who risked their lives helping the UK armed forces.
The UK was part of a US-led military coalition which withdraw from Afghanistan in August 2021 after 20 years of conflict.
Cameron Barracks has been used as temporary accommodation for families relocated to the UK under the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP).
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the barracks, along with other military sites, were being returned to full use by the armed forces due to heightened global tensions.
Eleven families from Afghanistan have been relocated to the Highland Council area since December 2023.
The local authority said the MoD had offered eight homes it owns as alternative temporary accommodation to the former army depot.
MoD sites have been used as transitional accommodation since 2021 when the UK government’s resettlement programme started.
Families are provided with temporary housing for a maximum of nine months while more permanent homes are found for them.
Afghans supported UK armed forces personnel in various roles, including as interpreters.
The MoD said Cameron Barracks, and its other properties, had offered a "safe, interim" solution.
But UK ministers decided last December that use of the barracks and other MoD bases would be reduced, and replaced by hotels and rented accommodation.
An MoD spokesperson said: "The defence estate is not an enduring solution and must return to its original purpose – to accommodate our armed forces and their families, and to combat the acute threats and destabilising behaviour of our adversaries.".
In December, senior military figures warned that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea posed an increasing threat to UK security.
A report to Highland Council’s housing and property committee said Cameron Barracks was expected to be phased out of use over the spring and summer.
A spokesperson said Highland, like all Scottish councils, would continue discussions with local authorities body Cosla on how humanitarian and resettlement programmes could be delivered in the coming months.
They said: "The Home Office is the lead agency for refugee resettlement and Highland will await further announcements in due course on this issue.".
The main focus of the report is to seek councillors’ support for an application for a City of Sanctuary award.
The designation, which would be sought for the whole council area, would recognise the Highlands as safe and welcoming for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people.
Highland Council has housed families from Syria and Ukraine.
Edinburgh and Glasgow are part of the City of Sanctuary network.
Highland’s housing and property committee is due to discuss a bid at a meeting next week.
Cameron Barracks on the city’s Perth road was opened in 1884 as an infantry depot.
For years it served as a base for the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.
In the past, soldiers complained about the barracks’ poor drains and they required "frequent clearing". Pakistan
Fighting India Helps Revive the Pakistani Military’s Popularity (New York Times)
New York Times [5/16/2025 3:47 AM, Zia ur-Rehman, 831K]
Pakistan has been mired for years in overlapping political, economic and security crises. But right now, it is feeling like a winner.
Its government has declared victory in Pakistan’s most expansive military clash with India in more than 50 years. Political parties and ordinary Pakistanis have staged rallies to celebrate the armed forces’ performance.
In analysts’ eyes, the four-day fight was closer to a draw. Pakistan suffered some blows it cannot hide. But by holding its own against its more powerful neighbor, it has for now pushed its dire problems into the background. A renewed, if fragile, public confidence in the state and in the military, Pakistan’s most dominant institution, has begun to emerge.“It feels like we’ve won something. We’re not a failed state,” said Hafeez Siddiqui, a bank accountant in Karachi, the country’s largest city. “At least the military proved it’s still capable of the job it is meant to do.”
A few weeks ago, public sentiment was markedly different. A weary nation worried that a war with India would only add to its mounting troubles.
Pakistan has been racked by political polarization since the ouster in 2022 of Prime Minister Imran Khan — whose rise and fall were both believed to be supported by military generals — and his subsequent imprisonment. The legitimacy of the current government, which took power last year after an election widely viewed as manipulated by the military, remains contested.
The country’s economic situation is also grim, with rising fuel, food and electricity prices increasingly squeezing the poor and the middle class, exacerbating public discontent.
And Pakistan’s internal security landscape has deteriorated, as militant groups ramp up attacks in the country’s northeast, along the border with Afghanistan, and separatist insurgents test state control in the southwest.
These challenges had seemingly left Pakistan in a tenuous position as it prepared for an attack by India, a rising global power with an economy 10 times the size of Pakistan’s.
The crisis between the two nuclear-armed states erupted after 26 civilians were killed in a terrorist attack on April 22 in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir. India linked the attack to Pakistan — which denied any involvement — and vowed a serious response.
Two weeks later, India began its military strikes on Pakistan. The region was pushed to the brink of full-scale war over the following days, with attack drones piercing sovereign airspace and missiles lighting up the night skies. Diplomats in international capitals rushed to contain the emergency.
Then, just as swiftly, it ended with a U.S.-brokered cease-fire. Pakistan had negotiated an end to the fighting face to face with India, as its equal. In declaring victory, it claimed to have hit the Indian military in a particularly sensitive place, by downing some of its most advanced fighter jets.
Having rallied around the flag, Pakistanis were eager to accept the narrative of triumph. For the military, it was a timely opportunity to rehabilitate its image as a trusted pillar in Pakistani life and to deflect attention from accusations of political repression.
Gen. Syed Asim Munir, who assumed command of the military months after Mr. Khan’s ousting, was known for his reserved demeanor and limited public engagements.
He had become a despised figure among young, urban middle-class supporters of Mr. Khan as the military cracked down on his party, said Aqil Shah, a professor of South Asian military and security affairs at Georgetown University.
But General Munir adopted a more visible and assertive role as tensions with India escalated. Now, images of him appear on billboards and posters nationwide, casting him as a “national savior.”“The halo of the victory can help the army to reframe its public image as a professional force rather than an unpopular, political one,” Mr. Shah said.
The rehabilitation of General Munir reflects a recurring pattern in Pakistan, where tensions with India have often boosted army chiefs’ public standing.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, for example, gained popularity during the 1999 Kargil conflict with India, a deadly two-month confrontation that started when Pakistani forces infiltrated Indian-held territory. Later that year, General Musharraf took power in a coup.
But the support that the military has regained after the latest clash with India could evaporate as soon as the generals are seen as overreaching again in politics, said Bilal Gilani, the executive director of the research firm Gallup Pakistan.
The military also faces a threat to its image as it struggles with the country’s internal security challenges. Persistent waves of bombings and armed assaults targeting security forces have raised serious questions about the military’s ability to protect the nation.
Pakistan has heavily invested in its capacity to conduct conventional warfare against India, said Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank.“But tackling domestic insurgencies requires a fundamentally different approach,” he said, “one rooted in effective counterterrorism strategies and sustained political dialogue.” Pakistan rallies around the military. But political unity is elusive. (Washington Post)
Washington Post [5/16/2025 2:00 AM, Rick Noack, 6.9M]
Pakistanis were jubilant this week, viewing the ceasefire with India as a resounding military victory. Amid the celebrations, the country’s opposition leaders posed a pointed question: If Pakistan’s generals can reach a truce with their archrivals, then why not with them?
The 2023 arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan sparked riots by his supporters, who blamed his ouster and subsequent imprisonment on the military. It was the most direct challenge in decades to the authority of the army, which has long been more powerful, and often more popular, than the country’s civilian government. Surging inflation and militant violence in the years since further fueled public discontent.
But in the wake of last week’s fighting with India — with both nations claiming to have inflicted serious damage on the other — Pakistan’s generals find themselves in an unexpectedly comfortable position, boosted by nationalistic fervor. Posters showing the face of Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir now line the streets of the capital.“We love you,” read some of the banners in Islamabad, paid for by businesses and local politicians. The government has declared May 10 — the day of the ceasefire — a national day of commemoration.“This operation by India has united Pakistan,” said Masood Khan, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States. “It was a blessing in disguise.”
It’s less clear whether Pakistan’s military and political leaders will be able to turn this momentum into a lasting moment of unity. Khan remains in prison, and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI — described at one point as a “terrorist organization” by members of the current governing party — remains ostracized.“If you’re willing to talk to [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, who tried to damage and destroy Pakistan, why not talk to your own people?” said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a former chairman of Pakistan’s Senate Defense Committee and a member of the ruling party.“The big picture demands that the government reach out to the political opposition and release political prisoners, including Mr. Imran Khan,” he said. “We have to turn the corner.”
Khan has been convicted of corruption and faces numerous other charges, which his supporters say are fabricated and politically motivated. But his party still enjoys significant public support. Last year, authorities in Islamabad were stunned by the PTI’s strong performance in general elections, even though it ultimately fell short of an absolute majority.
As Pakistani military leaders declared their operation against India a success last weekend, they made a point of praising the country’s youths for their support — a reference understood by some as a nod to Khan’s predominantly young support base.
Khurram Bashir, a 19-year-old student from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said he has long admired the army and was surprised by the open resentment against it when he moved to Islamabad two years ago. He said his family back home endured Indian shelling last week and he is now eager to enlist in the military.“It feels like people’s opinions are changing everywhere now,” said Bashir.
By targeting Pakistan at a perceived moment of weakness, “one of the miscalculations ... the Indians have made is that there is some problem between the people and the armed forces,” Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Pakistan’s chief military spokesman, said in an interview Wednesday. “The armed forces of Pakistan, they come from the people — we are the people,” he said.
The Pakistani military denies meddling in domestic politics. And its rising standing may not lead to the national dialogue many are hoping for, analysts cautioned. “Much of the pressure on the army is gone,” said Ayaz Amir, a former Pakistani officer. “In their eyes, I think, Imran Khan and the PTI have been diminished.”
Analysts say the opposition might now see no other option than to seek reconciliation on the military’s terms. Pakistan’s economy is rebounding, and even some of the former prime minister’s closest allies are rallying around the flag.
Zulfi Bukhari, an adviser to Khan, said the “PTI was at the forefront” of supporting the military during the conflict with India.
Party activists “regarded as traitors, disrupters and social media terrorists ... were the ones that were defending the army and the country the most,” Bukhari argued. He said he hopes this “can be taken in a positive light” and ease “some of the tension between everyone.”
But the PTI’s main rivals seem unwilling to pursue a détente. The leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, often seen as a potential future prime minister, said now is not the time to reconcile.
Zardari acknowledged that “political polarization and partisanship have really challenged our fragile democracy and put it to a test.” But, he added, “during this conflict, while I would say a large majority of PTI supporters and workers stood with Pakistan, there’s a few PTI members who at every opportunity — no matter what’s under discussion — go back to freeing Imran Khan.”
Some PTI members are equally skeptical of their opponents, seeing the current moment as just a fleeting reprieve from the country’s political divisions.
Irfan Saleem, a regional PTI leader in Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan, said that while Khan’s party backed the military in recent weeks, “we will consider it our adversary if it commits unlawful and unconstitutional acts.”At a phone repair shop in Islamabad, Waqar Abbasi, a 24-year-old employee, said he feels sorry for Khan and would still like to see him freed. But, for now, he’s willing to give the generals the benefit of the doubt.“Finally, they’re back to doing what an army should be doing,” he said, sitting next to a Pakistani flag. “That’s all we ever wanted.” India
Trump Pokes at India Again With Claims on Tariffs and Technology (New York Times)
New York Times [5/15/2025 4:14 PM, Alex Travelli, 831K]
After claiming credit for ending India’s military escalation with Pakistan last week, President Trump appeared to rankle New Delhi again on Thursday with comments about high-stakes U.S.-India trade negotiations and Apple’s production of iPhones in the country.
Mr. Trump, speaking to business leaders during his visit to Qatar, said India was nearing “a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff,” without offering any details.
In response, S. Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, was careful not to contradict the president directly. “Trade talks have been going on,” Mr. Jaishankar told the Indian news media, adding that the negotiations “are very intricate” and “nothing is decided until everything is.”
Mr. Jaishankar emphasized that there would be no deal until India and the United States settled on one that is mutually beneficial. “Until that is done, I think any judgment on it would be premature,” he said.
India’s trade minister, Piyush Goyal, has been hopping back and forth between New Delhi and Washington almost nonstop since Mr. Trump took office in January in an effort to reach a tariff-related agreement by the fall. Mr. Goyal was leading a team headed back to the United States for another round of talks on Friday, the Reuters news agency reported.
India is hoping to reach a deal with the United States before Mr. Trump’s 90-day exemptions for reciprocal tariffs on most countries expire in July. Some Indian industries, like pharmaceutical firms and auto-parts makers, are eager to zero out tariffs with their American suppliers. Others, especially in agriculture, are heavily opposed to tariff-free American imports.
Mr. Trump on Thursday also knocked Apple’s efforts to move more of its iPhone production to India from China. He claimed he told Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, “I don’t want you building in India.”
This is not the effect of the U.S. trade war with China that India was hoping to see. Opponents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked his closeness with an American president who boasts of directing high-tech production out of India.
Some Indian officials and commentators were still smarting from Mr. Trump’s freewheeling claims about the role that his administration played in brokering a truce between India and Pakistan after their most expansive military conflict in decades — comments that Indian officials flatly disputed.
Brahma Chellaney, a former adviser to India’s National Security Council and a commentator on foreign relations, thundered in a social media post on Thursday: “After bailing out Pakistan from the consequences of its export of Islamist terrorism, Trump rebukes Tim Cook for building iPhones in India.”
India has been fighting hard to expand manufacturing’s role in its economy, with not much to show for it. The iPhone has been a rare bright example, with perhaps 20 percent of its global production now finished in India, including millions of units assembled in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu alone. Trump: India has offered US a trade deal with no tariffs (Reuters)
Reuters [5/15/2025 6:43 AM, Nayera Abdallah and Ahmed Alimam, 1191K]
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that India had offered a trade deal that proposed "no tariffs" for American goods, while expressing his dissatisfaction with Apple’s (AAPL.O) plans to invest in India.New Delhi is seeking to clinch a trade deal with the U.S. within the 90-day pause announced by Trump on April 9 on tariff hikes for major trading partners."It is very hard to sell in India, and they are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs," Trump said in a meeting with executives in the Qatari capital Doha.Reuters has reported that New Delhi has offered to reduce duties to zero on 60% of tariff lines in a first phase of the deal under negotiation with Washington, while offering preferential access to nearly 90% of the merchandise India imports from the U.S.India’s equity benchmarks jumped to a seven-month high after Trump’s comment on the deal with India.The Indian trade ministry did not reply to a mail seeking comments on the proposed deal.Trump in Doha said he had confronted Apple’s CEO Tim Cook about shifting production to India, as the American company moves to make most of its iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India by the end of 2026, and is speeding up those plans to navigate potentially higher tariffs in China."Tim, we treated you very good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years ... we are not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves, they are doing very well, we want you to build here", Trump recalled himself telling Cook, who was not in the Doha meeting.India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in recent years promoted India as a smartphone manufacturing hub and Apple’s suppliers have ramped up production in the country.In March, Apple’s main India suppliers Foxconn and Tata shipped nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones to the U.S., an all-time high, to bypass Trump’s impending tariffs.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 trade minister Piyush Goyal will lead a trade delegation to the United States starting May 16 to advance trade negotiations, two government officials told Reuters on Tuesday.India has some of the world’s highest tariffs on imports, and Trump has previously called India a "tariff abuser". India Examining US Request to Abolish Curbs on Ethanol Imports (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/15/2025 11:57 PM, Pratik Parija, Rakesh Sharma, and Shruti Srivastava, 5.5M]
India is reviewing a US request to lift restrictions on ethanol imports as it negotiates a wider trade deal with Washington to avoid punitive tariffs.
US negotiators want the South Asian country to allow shipments of the biofuel for blending with gasoline, according to people familiar with the matter, a change from current rules that promote domestic supply and permit overseas purchases of ethanol only for non-fuel use.
India, one of the first countries to begin trade negotiations with the US, has been pushing for an early deal. President Donald Trump said in Qatar on Thursday that New Delhi had offered to abolish all tariffs on US goods — comments that were walked back only hours later by India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, who said talks were ongoing. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is set to arrive in the US this weekend for further negotiations.
India’s commerce ministry did not reply to a request for comment. The oil ministry, which is responsible for regulations around biofuels, also did not respond to emailed questions.
American farmers have been lobbying for access to the world’s most populous nation, and high-profile figures like Vice President JD Vance have bemoaned trading conditions that have left India “effectively closed off”. The National Corn Growers Association has called on the Trump administration to include corn and corn-based products, such as ethanol and distillers dried grains, in any trade deal with India.
Bloomberg reported last month that trade discussions are likely to cover 19 areas, including farm goods and e-commerce and data storage.
Any relaxation of rules by India, however, could undermine the country’s efforts to cut a huge energy import bill that leaves it heavily dependent on outside nations and at the mercy of fluctuating markets, the people said. They asked not to be named as the discussions are not public.
India has been aggressively promoting biofuels in large part to reduce this vulnerability. The world’s third-largest oil buyer achieved almost 20% blending in gasoline in February, five years ahead of its 2030 target. It’s pushing for the use of raw materials like sugar cane juice, corn, rotten potatoes and damaged food grains to make ethanol.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is also likely to worry about the impact on farmers of unlimited imports of green fuel, the people said. The government has been encouraging producers, a powerful voting bloc, to a shift away from water-intensive crops and toward alternatives like corn, a key ethanol feedstock.
State-owned oil refiners, meanwhile, are concerned that the US may sell ethanol at low rates to capture the market, only to later raise prices, two of the people said, a move that would hurt their business. According to the oil ministry, these processors plan to lift ethanol purchases by almost 50% from a year earlier to 10 billion liters in the current supply year, which began in November. GOP lawmaker says India, Saudi Arabia most vital for US security interests over next decade (Politico)
Politico [5/15/2025 11:30 AM, Robbie Gramer, 52868K]
A leading Republican lawmaker said Thursday that India and Saudi Arabia are the two countries that are most vital to U.S. interests in the coming decade as geopolitical competition against Western rivals heats up.
"If you look at the threats from China, Iran, Russia, North Korea and the unholy alliance that they have formed, Saudi Arabia and India are paramount," said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said at the POLITICO Security Summit.
"Saudi Arabia and India are the two countries that I think are most vital to U.S. interests over the next decade when it comes to bringing about peace and prosperity around the world," he said.
Lawler, who has branded himself as independent, has emerged as a leading Republican voice on foreign policy issues as the party wrestles over the future of its platform on global issues in the MAGA era.
His comments offer fresh insights into how the Republican party is seeking to court rising powers in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific as a hedge against growing cooperation between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
"We don’t want India, for instance, continuing to buy weapons from Russia. We obviously want to end the illicit oil trade between China and Iran," he said. "We don’t want Iran sending drones to Russia. There’s a lot of moving parts here, but if you want stability, you need to have stronger ties with some of our partners.".
If the Republican party is grappling with internal clashes between the new MAGA right and more traditional Republicans over foreign policy issues from Ukraine to Iran, there is still widespread agreement on deepening ties with India and Saudi Arabia.
"Strengthening the economic relationships between the U.S. and those two countries, strengthening the military relationships between those two countries, is paramount," Lawler said.
Lawler has secured a reelection endorsement from President Donald Trump, while openly clashing with other MAGA acolytes such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), showcasing how he bridges both flanks of the party. He currently sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he chairs the subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
Vice President JD Vance last month visited India to court stronger ties with the country following Trump’s pledge to boost defense cooperation with India, including providing New Delhi with F-35 fighter jets. (India’s Air Force emerged battered from its recent clash with neighbor and rival Pakistan, with several of its advanced fighter jets reportedly shot down.).
India has been historically nonaligned and maintained close ties with Russia, but in recent years it has boosted political and military cooperation with the United States as it grows uneasy about China’s emergence as a world superpower.
Trump made Saudi Arabia his first foreign visit after reentering the White House and has announced some $600 billion in investment commitments with Saudi Arabia — including $142 billion in potential arms deals with Riyadh. Trump asks Apple to stop moving iPhone production to India (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/15/2025 7:46 AM, Jordan Fabian and Sankalp Phartiyal, 336K]
President Donald Trump said he’s asked Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook to stop building plants in India to make devices for the US, pushing the iPhone maker to add domestic production as it pivots away from China.
"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said of his conversation with Apple’s chief executive officer in Qatar, where he’s on a state visit. "He is building all over India. I don’t want you building in India." As a result of their discussion, Trump said Apple will be "upping their production in the United States.".
Apple representatives in India did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s comments threaten to throw a wrench into Apple’s plan to import most of the iPhones it sells in the US from India by the end of next year, accelerating a shift beyond China to mitigate risks related to tariffs and geopolitical tensions. Apple makes most of its iPhones in China and has no smartphone production in the US — though it’s promised to hire more workers at home and pledged to spend $500 billion domestically over the next four years.
Building iPhones from scratch in the US will be extremely difficult even for cash-rich Apple. The supply chain for iPhones and skilled labor for a such a precisely engineered product have been concentrated in China for years, and Apple’s only just started forging local partnerships in India. Expensive American labor and manufacturing also makes iPhone production in the US untenable. India, on the other hand, is one of Apple’s fastest-growing markets with a vast customer base that aspires to buy its iconic products. The country also has state subsidies to help it expand assembly.
"This is a familiar Trump tactic: He wants to push Apple to localize more and build a supply chain in the US, which is not going to happen overnight," said Tarun Pathak, research director at tech analytics firm Counterpoint. "Making in the US will also be much more expensive than assembling iPhones in India.".
Apple and its suppliers have accelerated a shift away from the world’s No. 2 economy, a process that began when harsh Covid lockdowns hurt production at its largest plant. Tariffs introduced by Trump as well as Beijing-Washington tensions prompted Apple to amplify that effort.
The iPhone facilities in India produce more than 40 million units per year, about 20% of Apple’s annual output. While Trump has pushed Apple to make iPhones in the US, the lack of domestic engineering and manufacturing talent will make that nearly impossible in the short run.
Apple "has one of the most sophisticated supply chains built out over years," Pathak said. "To disrupt that or to completely move out of India or China will be extremely difficult.".
Trump’s comments suggest he’s fine with Apple building its products in India for that market. "You can build in India if you want, to take care of India," he said.
Trump also discussed tariff negotiations with India, saying the South Asian country has made an offer to drop import taxes on US goods. India has one of the highest tariff barriers in the world and it’s very hard to sell American products in the planet’s most populous country, Trump said.
The bulk of India-made iPhones are assembled at Foxconn Technology Group’s factory in southern India. Tata Group’s electronics manufacturing arm, which bought Wistron Corp.’s local business and runs Pegatron Corp.’s operations in India, is another key supplier. Tata and Foxconn are also building new plants and adding production capacity in southern India, Bloomberg News reported previously.
Apple assembled $22 billion worth of iPhones in India in the 12 months through March, increasing production by nearly 60% over the previous year. Trump says he has a ‘little problem’ with Tim Cook over Apple’s India production (The Guardian)
The Guardian [5/15/2025 9:25 AM, Dan Milmo, 78938K]
Donald Trump has admonished Apple and its chief executive over the tech firm’s reported plans to source production of US-bound iPhones from India.
The US president said he had a "little problem" with Apple’s Tim Cook, after reports that the company is planning to switch assembly of handsets for the US market from China to India.
"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," said Trump, speaking in Qatar on Thursday. Referring to Apple’s recent promise to spend $500bn (£375bn) in the US, he added: "I said to him: ‘Tim, you’re my friend. You’re coming here with 500bn but now you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.’".
The complex manufacturing process behind iPhones involves more than 1,000 components sourced from all over the world, which are largely put together in China. Apple is secretive about details of its production processes but analysts estimate about 90% of iPhones are assembled in the country.
However, production in India has reportedly increased due to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing."I said to Tim … we’ve treated you really good, we’ve put up with all the plants that you’ve built in China for years, now you got to build [for] us," Trump said. "We’re not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves ... we want you to build here.".
Trump then said Apple was "going to be upping their production in the United States", although he did not provide further details to back up the claim.
No iPhones are currently made in the US and experts have warned that moving assembly of Apple’s top-selling product to its home country would be impractical and costly. The US financial firm Wedbush Securities has estimated that the cost of an iPhone would treble if assembly were to be shifted to the US.
Apple was approached for comment.
The US president also said on Thursday that India had offered a trade deal that proposed "no tariffs" for American goods.
New Delhi is seeking to clinch a trade deal with the US within the 90-day pause announced by Trump on 9 April on tariff hikes for trading partners.
"It is very hard to sell in India, and they are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs," Trump said.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has in recent years promoted his country as a smartphone manufacturing hub.
In March, Apple’s main India suppliers, Foxconn and Tata, shipped nearly $2bn of iPhones to the US, an all-time high, to bypass Trump’s impending tariffs. India weighs plan to slash Pakistan water supply with new Indus river project (Reuters)
Reuters [5/16/2025 3:28 AM, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Krishna N. Das, Aftab Ahmed, Charlotte Greenfield and Ariba Shahid, 5.2M]
India is considering plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of retaliatory action for a deadly April attack on tourists that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Delhi suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which governs usage of the Indus river system, shortly after 26 civilians in Indian Kashmir were killed in what India called an act of terror. Pakistan has denied involvement in the incident, but the accord has not been revived despite the two nuclear-armed neighbours agreeing a ceasefire last week following the worst fighting between them in decades.
After the April 22 attack, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered officials to expedite planning and execution of projects on the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus rivers, three bodies of water in the Indus system that are designated primarily for Pakistan’s use, six people told Reuters.
One of the key plans under discussion involves doubling to 120km the length of the Ranbir canal on the Chenab, which runs through India to Pakistan’s agricultural powerhouse of Punjab, two of the people said. The canal was built in the 19th century, long before the treaty was signed.
India is permitted to draw a limited amount of water from the Chenab for irrigation, but an expanded canal - which experts said could take years to construct - would allow it to divert 150 cubic meters of water per second, up from about 40 cubic meters currently, the four people said, citing official discussions and documents they had seen.
Details of the Indian government’s deliberations on expanding Ranbir have not previously been reported. The discussions started last month and continue even after the ceasefire, one of the people said.
The Indian ministries responsible for water and foreign affairs, as well as Modi’s office, did not respond to Reuters’ questions. Indian hydropower giant NHPC, which operates many projects in the Indus system, also did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Modi said in a fiery speech this week that "water and blood cannot flow together," though he didn’t refer to the treaty. Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters Tuesday that India "will keep the treaty in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism".
The water and foreign ministries of Pakistan did not respond to requests for comment. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers this week that the government had written to India arguing that suspending the treaty was unlawful and that Islamabad regarded it as remaining in force.
Islamabad said after India suspended the treaty in April that it considered "any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan" to be an "act of war."
About 80% of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.
Any efforts by Delhi to build dams, canals or other infrastructure that would withhold or divert significant amount of flow from the Indus system to India "would take years to realize," said water security expert David Michel of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
But Pakistan has had a preview of the kind of pressure it could face from India: Water at a key receiving point in Pakistan briefly fell by as much as 90% in early May after India started maintenance work on some Indus projects.
SUCCESS THREATENED
The Indus system runs through some of the world’s most geopolitically tense areas, originating near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet and snaking through India’s north and Pakistan’s east and southeast, before emptying into the Arabian Sea.
The treaty is widely seen as one of the world’s most successful water-sharing accords, having survived several major wars and longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan.Islamabad has previously opposed many Indian projects in the Indus system, while Delhi said after the Kashmir attack that it had been trying to renegotiate the treaty since 2023 to account for population increases and its rising need for clean hydroenergy.
The treaty restricts India largely to setting up low-impact hydropower projects on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan. Delhi has freedom to utilize the waters of three other rivers - the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi tributaries - as it sees fit.
Alongside the plans to expand Ranbir canal, India is also considering projects that would likely reduce the flow of water into Pakistan from rivers allocated to that country, according to two government documents seen by Reuters and interviews with five people familiar with the matter.
One document, an undated note prepared by a government company for officials considering irrigation plans, suggests that water from the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum "potentially be distributed into rivers" in three northern Indian states.
One of the people said the document, the details of which haven’t been previously reported, was created for discussions with power ministry officials after the April 22 attack.
Delhi has also created a list of hydropower projects in its Jammu and Kashmir territory that it hopes will expand capacity to 12,000 megawatts, up from the current 3,360 MW.
The list, which was created by the power ministry and seen by Reuters, was not dated. A person familiar with the document said it was created before the Kashmir incident but is actively being discussed by government officials.
The prospective projects also include dams that can store large volumes of water, in what would be a first for India in the Indus river system, according to two people familiar with the matter.
India has identified at least five possible storage projects, four of which are on tributaries of the Chenab and Jhelum, according to the power ministry document.
POLITICAL WRANGLING
The Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan, though each controls only parts of the area.
The region has been ravaged by an anti-India insurgency for decades, which Delhi has accused Islamabad of fuelling and funding. Pakistan denies the charges.
International relations expert Happymon Jacob at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University said that India’s new focus on the Indus Waters Treaty reflected an attempt to pressure Pakistan over Kashmir.
"With the latest conflict, Delhi may refuse to discuss Kashmir with Pakistan in any format," he said. "Delhi has not only progressively narrowed the scope of bilateral talks but has also curtailed the agenda, focusing only on specific issues like the IWT."Pakistan has said that it is preparing legal action in several international forums, including the World Bank, which facilitated the treaty, as well as the Permanent Court of Arbitration or the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
"Water should not be weaponised," Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters on Monday. "We don’t even want to consider any scenario which ... does not take into account the reinstatement of this treaty."
Michel, the U.S.-based expert, said that concern over the treaty’s suspension was not limited to Islamabad.
"As geopolitical competition across the region deepens, more than a few Indian observers fear that Delhi’s use of water against Islamabad risks licensing Beijing to adopt the same strategy against India," he said. India Says Afghan Taliban Denounced Kashmir Attack During Talks (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/16/2025 3:32 AM, Staff, 931K]
India’s foreign minister has said his counterpart in Afghanistan’s Taliban government condemned a deadly April 22 attack in Kashmir which sparked a brief conflict between New Delhi and Islamabad last week.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that he had a "good conversation" with acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday evening.
"Deeply appreciate his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack," Jaishankar said in a post on social media platform X.
Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal said Muttaqi had "expressed hope for further strengthening relations, reiterating Afghanistan’s commitment to a balanced foreign policy and constructive engagement with all sides".
His statement did not mention the attack in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in Indian-administered Kashmir.
India has accused Pakistan of backing the Pahalgam attackers who killed 26 civilians, mostly Hindu men. Islamabad has denied the charge and called for an independent probe.
Last week, India and Pakistan fought a four-day conflict, which sparked global concerns that it could spiral into a full-blown war before a ceasefire was brokered on Saturday.
Military exchanges from May 7 left nearly 70 people, including dozens of civilians, dead on both sides.
Afghanistan last week warned India and Pakistan that escalation was not "in the interest of the region" after the nuclear-armed rivals exchanged artillery fire. India revokes Celebi security clearance over Turkish support for Pakistan (Reuters)
Reuters [5/15/2025 12:11 PM, Abhijith Ganapavaram, 62527K]
India revoked the security clearance of Celebi Airport Services India, a unit of Turkey’s Celebi, with immediate effect, citing national security concerns, the country’s civil aviation ministry said in an order on Thursday.
New Delhi’s decision came a day after travel booking firms said Indians were cancelling holidays in popular resorts in Turkey and Azerbaijan following the countries’ support for Pakistan during the recent conflict with India.
Celebi Aviation Holding, the parent of Celebi Airport Services, whose website says it operates ground handling services at nine airports in India including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, was not immediately available for a comment.
The operator of Delhi International Airport said it was working with existing airport ground handling service providers AISATS and Brid Group after it cut ties with Celebi.
Murlidhar Mohol, India’s deputy civil aviation minister, said the government had received requests from across India to ban Celebi Airport Services without providing details.
"Recognising the seriousness of the issue and the call to protect national interests, we have taken cognizance of these requests and Ministry of Civil Aviation has revoked security clearance of the said company," Mohol said on X.
The Shiv Sena party, a key ally in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, had held protests against Celebi in Mumbai this week, demanding the city’s airport sever ties with the Turkish company.
Deadly fighting broke out between India and Pakistan last week after New Delhi struck what it said were "terrorist camps" in Pakistan in retaliation for an attack in Indian Kashmir last month that killed 26 men, which it said was backed by Islamabad.
Pakistan denied involvement, but both countries sent missiles and drones targeting each other’s military installations in the days that followed. The nuclear-armed neighbours reached a truce on Saturday that has largely held.
Turkey and Azerbaijan, popular budget holiday destinations for Indians, issued statements backing Islamabad after India’s strikes.
A top Indian university, the Jawaharlal Nehru University in the capital New Delhi, said it has suspended an academic agreement with a Turkish university.
"Due to national security considerations, the MoU (memorandum of understanding) between JNU and Inonu University, Turkiye stands suspended until further notice," JNU said on X.
Separately, Adani Airport Holdings said it was terminating its arrangement with Chinese lounge access provider DragonPass, announced last week, without specifying the reason. India says its troops killed 31 Maoist rebels in weeks-long battle (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/15/2025 7:20 AM, Staff, 52868K]
Indian security forces have killed 31 Maoist rebels in what the country’s home minister called the "biggest operation against Naxalism".
Amit Shah said on social media on Wednesday that the operation took place on Karreguttalu Hill on the border of Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
"The hill on which the red terror once reigned, today the tricolour is flying proudly … Our security forces completed this biggest anti-Naxal operation in just 21 days and I am extremely happy that there was not a single casualty in the security forces in this operation," he wrote on X.
India has been waging an offensive against the last remaining groups of the Naxalite rebellion, a far-left Maoist-inspired fighter movement that began in 1967.
The Karreguttalu Hills used to be the unified headquarters of several Naxalite organisations, where rebels were provided weapons and strategic training.
But the Naxalites have been fighting for what they say is the defence of the rights of the tribal people in the region.
At the group’s peak in the mid-2000s, they controlled nearly a third of the country with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fighters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the news of the success of the operation.
"This success of the security forces shows that our campaign towards rooting out Naxalism is moving in the right direction," Modi wrote on X.
"We are fully committed to establishing peace in the Naxal-affected areas and connecting them with the mainstream of development.".
Director General Central Reserve Police Force GP Singh also said on Wednesday that the government is "committed to eliminate" Naxalism by March 31, 2026 "through relentless and ruthless operations".
According to government data, since last year, Indian soldiers have killed at least 400 rebels.
More recently, 11 rebels were killed by Indian troops in the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
In February, security forces killed 11 fighters and killed a further 30 in March.
Moreover, according to a news release by the Foreign Office, 718 Naxalites have so far surrendered in the first four months of 2025. NSB
Nepal hosts environment conference as Himalayan glaciers melt (AP)
AP [5/16/2025 3:40 AM, Binaj Gurubacharya, 456K]
An environment conference opened in Nepal on Friday to discuss global climate change, including the impact on the highest Himalayan peaks where snow and ice are melting.The three-day conference in Kathmandu titled, “Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity,” is expected to include discussions of critical climate issues.“From the lap of Sagarmatha (Everest), the world’s highest peak, we send this message loud and clear that to protect the mountains is to protect the planet. To protect the mountains is to protect our seas. To protect the mountains is to protect humanity itself,” Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli told participants at the opening meeting.Nepal is home to eight of the tallest mountains in the world including Mount Everest. A high level of glaciers melting in the Himalayan mountains because of global warming has raised signficant concerns. Melting snow and ice have exposed the mountains and increased the risk of rock slides, landslides and avalanches.Scientists have warned the Himalayan mountains could lose up to 80% of their glaciers if the Earth warms in coming decades or centuries. They say flash floods and avalanches also could become more likely in coming years, in part because of climate change.“The tragedy is that the Himalayas are facing an unprecedented stress test in real time today, exposing not only the fragile nature of our mountain ecosystems but also a glaring evidence of the lack of meaningful global climate action,” Nepal Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba said. “As a mountainous country with high disaster risk vulnerability, Nepal faces a stark predicament.”Nepal has experienced a series of severe weather events in the recent past with devastating impacts on people and their livelihoods, Deuba said.“Floods and glacial lake outbursts have caused large-scale destruction and damage, and droughts, water scarcity and forest fires have brought untold suffering to the people across the country,” she saidMinisters from neighboring India, Bhutan and Maldives are attending the conference.Organizers have said they intend to publish a Kathmandu declaration after the discussions end Sunday. Sri Lanka restructures nearly $931 million in credit lines with India (Reuters)
Reuters [5/15/2025 3:55 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe, 62527K]
Sri Lanka has restructured nearly $931 million in lines of credit and buyers’ credit facility agreements with the Indian government, the island nation’s finance ministry said on Thursday.The deal between the two countries will facilitate deeper cooperation on multiple projects including an energy hub agreed to during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.The debt restructuring covers seven line of credit and four buyers credit facility agreements that were made available to Sri Lanka by the Export- Import Bank (EXIM) of India, the finance ministry statement said.New Delhi and Colombo have worked to deepen ties as India’s southern neighbour recovers after plunging into financial crisis in 2022. India provided $4 billion in assistance to Sri Lanka to help it weather the tumult including a swap arrangement and other emergency assistance.The crisis left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for fuel, medicine and cooking gas. A $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which approved the fourth review of its program last month, has played a critical role in Sri Lanka’s post-crisis recovery.Sri Lanka finalised a deal with Japan, another key creditor in March to restructure $2.5 billion in debt after entering into a preliminary deal with key bilateral lenders last June.It still needs to sign similar agreements with China for about $4.75 billion in debt.Colombo also secured a deal to restructure $12.5 billion of its debt with international bondholders last December. Sri Lanka’s Tamil Women Await Justice 16 Years Since War’s End (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [5/16/2025 12:01 AM, Stacey-Leigh Manuel, 456K]This Sunday, May 18, marks 16 years since the Sri Lankan government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending an armed conflict that had raged for 26 years. But while the fighting has long been over, the battle for justice for Tamil women victims continues.Both sides in the conflict committed countless atrocities. Among the victims were female LTTE fighters and other Tamil women captured by government soldiers before being stripped, sexually mutilated, and killed in the conflict’s final weeks. The soldiers even took and kept photos and videos as war trophies. These included prominent images of the LTTE newspresenter Isaipriya, whose body was found having apparently been raped before she was killed.This kind of state-perpetrated sexual violence against Tamils was not uncommon. During and following the war, security forces sexually tortured numerous Tamil detainees, both men and women.Successive Sri Lankan governments have failed to hold security force members accountable for wartime sexual violence or for other serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances.Nor has sexual violence against Tamil women been consigned to the history books. Ongoing militarization across the conflict-affected north and east has again put former LTTE female fighters at risk of sexual abuse and extortion. The wives and mothers of the disappeared, who have led yearslong continual protests for truth and international justice, have faced threats, violence, and sexual harassment. Due to decades of impunity in Sri Lanka, Tamil victims and advocates have lost faith in the domestic justice system and started looking for justice elsewhere. The United Nations human rights chief has noted the importance of states “using all potential forms of jurisdiction,” including extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction, to investigate and prosecute international crimes committed in Sri Lanka to end “systematic impunity.”One remaining vehicle is the UN human rights office’s “Sri Lanka Accountability Project,” which gathers evidence for potential prosecutions and other accountability processes. It is due for renewal by the UN Human Rights Council in September, which the Sri Lankan government should support. Its continuation is vital to ensure justice for Sri Lanka’s Tamil victims, including women like Isaipriya and the suffering wives and mothers of the disappeared. Central Asia
United States has image problem in Central Asia (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/15/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Among Central Asian citizens, China now has a better image than the United States, according to a comprehensive survey of political attitudes.
The Democracy Perception Index bills itself as the “world’s largest annual study on how people perceive democracy.” The 2025 edition features data collected from over 111,000 respondents in 100 countries worldwide, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The results show that belief in democracy’s potential to ensure stability and prosperity remains strong, but public confidence in governments to build or maintain successful democratic frameworks is flagging. “Citizens are particularly dissatisfied with government performance on the cost of living, poverty reduction, and affordable housing—issues that directly impact their daily lives,” according to an analysis accompanying the index. “The widespread perception of underperformance highlights a growing gap between democratic ideals and the practical outcomes many citizens expect, but feel are not being met.”
Central Asian respondents are clear-eyed in measuring the state of democratic practices in their respective countries, which registered the lowest democratization scores in the Asia-Pacific region among participating nations. Respondents in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan gave their governments poor evaluations in terms of upholding basic freedoms. They also offered critical assessments of government policies in the rule of law category, as well as transparency, separation of powers and freedom of speech.
Central Asian survey-takers found themselves in the mainstream of a trend that has seen China eclipse the United States in terms of public perception. “Global perceptions of the world’s major powers are shifting,” the index states. “In 2022 and 2023, the average perception of the United States was more positive than negative, and significantly more positive than either Russia or China. But by 2025, global opinion has flipped.”
The 2025 survey shows China as the only global power with a net positive image. In a head-to-head comparison of perceptions, Central Asian respondents held a significantly more favorable view of China than the United States. Even a very slight majority of respondents from some US allies and neighbors – including Canada, Mexico, France, Germany and Italy – expressed a preference for China.
The United States’ “global net perception rating” has nosedived, plummeting from +22 percent in 2024 to -5 percent early this year. Canada and many European Union states had the largest “net perception” swings from positive to negative. A slight majority of Kazakhs and Kyrgyz expressed a positive view toward the United States in the 2025 survey, while Uzbekistan had a net negative view.
A slight majority of US citizens had a negative view of the US government’s ability “to deliver on democratic principles.”
In ranking world leaders, 82 of the 100 countries participating in the survey had a net negative view of President Trump, markedly higher than Russia’s Vladimir Putin at 61 percent, or China’s Xi Jinping at 44 percent.
The survey also found that people around the world define democracy in sharply different terms. In 52 countries, a majority of respondents said the main purpose of a democratic system was to improve living standards. Only 35 countries had majorities that prioritized free elections and the protection of individual liberties, while in 13 states, respondents felt democracy’s chief responsibility was facilitating peace and social justice. Kazakhstan Denies Reports Russia To Leave Baikonur Spaceport (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/15/2025 5:36 AM, Staff, 931K]
Kazakhstan said Thursday there were no talks on Russia giving up its lease on the Baikonur spaceport before it runs out in 2050, amid reports Moscow is looking to ditch the ageing cosmodrome.
The spaceport is used by Russia to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
But Moscow has signalled it aims to pull out of the ISS -- one of the rare projects where Russian cooperation continues with Western countries -- as early as 2028.
That has put the status of Baikonur at risk, with Kazakh media reporting that Russia could give up renting the facility sometime between 2026 and 2028.
"The question of early termination of the lease, or transfer of the city of Baikonur to the full control of the Kazakh side, is not being considered at this time," the Kazakh aerospace industry ministry told AFP.
Russia is looking to accelerate the development of other spaceports located on its own territory, including the more modern Vostochny Cosmodrome in its Far East.
Moscow has not commented on any possible withdrawal.
Baikonur was set-up in the 1950s and has a pivotal place in the Soviet Union’s space history.
Yuri Gagarin -- the first man in space -- blasted off from there in 1961, as did Valentina Tereshkova in 1963, becoming the first woman to be sent into orbit.
Moscow pays Kazakhstan $115 million a year for the site.
The current lease is set to run until 2050.
A modernisation project launched in 2004 to refresh the ageing facility is behind schedule due to a lack of funding and uncertainty over its future following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. UN expert alarmed over prosecution of Tajikistan journalist and rights defender (Jurist)
Jurist [5/15/2025 11:58 AM, Darina Boykova, 105K]
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor expressed concern Wednesday over the conviction of journalist Rukhshona Khakimova, calling on the government of Tajikistan to release her and grant a fair retrial.
Lawlor said: "Rukhshona Khakimova’s trial appears to have fallen short of international fair trial standards." The special rapporteur argued the possibility of Khakimova being targeted for her work as a human rights defender rather than under proper charges. The special rapporteur claimed: "Without taking a position on the charges, I stress that if they are valid, they must be supported by clear evidence and tested in a fair and transparent trial, in line with international standards.".
Earlier this year, Khakimova, an investigative journalist and member of the National Association of Independent Mass Media of Tajikistan, was sentenced by the Supreme Court of Tajikistan to eight years in prison. The state brought treason charges against Khakimova. During her detention, there was no public record of what she was accused of or convicted of, as secrecy surrounded the case. The charges, which were issued in July 2024, are allegedly connected to the public survey she conducted on China’s influence in Tajikistan.
In January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for Tajik authorities the drop charges against Khakimova. Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at HRW, insisted that "journalists should not face criminal charges for doing their work" and that Tajik authorities should guarantee a fair trial if they have credible evidence. The arrest of Khakimova separated her from two young children, leaving her family in a vulnerable financial situation. The journalist is currently in isolation, as she is denied parcels and visits.
Lawlor expressed serious concerns, as treatment similar to the one received by Khakimova might deter women from pursuing journalistic and human rights work.
The sentencing of Khakimova is the latest incident in a long line of systematic legal actions taken by Tajik authorities against journalists. In 2018, HRW reported on a "draconian" sentencing of a journalist to 12 years in prison on "bogus" charges. HRW also shared in 2018 that over 150 political activists remained unjustly jailed and that at least 20 journalists fled the country at the time. Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Tajik authorities to drop bribery charges against the chief editor of an independent newspaper, Ahmad Ibrohim. CPJ reported that in 2022 and 2023, Tajik authorities sentenced seven journalists for their work to prison terms from 7 to 20 years, leading to criticism and concern among UN experts. Indo-Pacific
Trump says Pakistan-India dispute is settled (Reuters)
Reuters [5/15/2025 6:28 AM, Nayera Abdallah and Gram Slattery, 5.2M]
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that hostilities between Pakistan and India were settled, after he urged the two countries to focus on trade instead of war.
He told U.S. troops at a base in Qatar during a Gulf tour that Pakistan and India were happy with that.
The nuclear-armed neighbours halted their worst fighting in nearly three decades after agreeing to a ceasefire on Saturday, following diplomacy and pressure from the United States. Pakistan Says Ceasefire With India to Be Extended to May 18 as Truce Holds (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/15/2025 10:37 PM, Khalid Qayum and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 5.5M]
The ceasefire between Pakistan and India will be extended to May 18, a top official in Islamabad said, indicating the respite in fighting is holding after clashes this month brought the two nuclear-armed nations close to a full-blown war.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar added in a speech to parliament on Thursday that his country would not violate the truce, which will “ultimately go to a dialog and it will be a composite dialog.”
The Indian Army said in a statement on the same day that it would continue to work on confidence-building measures with Pakistan “so as to reduce the alertness level.”
The two nations, which have clashed on many occasions over the disputed territory of Kashmir, conducted tit-for-tat military strikes for several days from May 7, accusing each other of escalating the conflict.
Both sides agreed to halt firing at each other on May 10. While there were reports of the neighbors violating the truce in the hours after it was called, the agreement has appeared to be holding since then.
Tensions first erupted on April 22, when gunmen killed 26 civilians — mainly tourists — in India’s Jammu and Kashmir region. India called the attack an act of terrorism and accused Pakistan of involvement, allegations Islamabad has denied.
India and Pakistan have a history of bitter relations over the disputed land of Jammu and Kashmir, which they both rule in part but claim in full. The neighbors have fought two wars over it since 1947 and accused each other of sponsoring militancy. Islamabad Says Pakistan And India Agree Ceasefire Until Sunday (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/15/2025 9:00 AM, Staff, 931K]
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the country’s military had agreed to extend a ceasefire with India until Sunday during a phone call between the two armies on Thursday.
He told parliament that both sides had "military to military communications" on Wednesday and Thursday and "today we had a conversation and it is a ceasefire until May 18". India calls for IAEA oversight of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons (Reuters)
Reuters [5/15/2025 1:32 PM, Surbhi Misra, Tanvi Mehta, and Shivam Patel, 126906K]
India’s defence minister said on Thursday that the International Atomic Energy Agency should take charge of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, days after the nuclear-armed neighbours ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades.Fighting broke out last week after India struck what it called "terrorist camps" in Pakistan in retaliation for an attack it said was backed by Pakistan in Indian Kashmir last month that killed 26 people.Islamabad has denied the allegations and both countries sent missiles and drones into each other’s airspace before they reached a truce on Saturday."Are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of such an irresponsible and rogue nation?" Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said while addressing soldiers in Indian Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar. "I believe that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons should be taken under the supervision of IAEA."Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the remarks.They show India’s "insecurity and frustration" about Pakistan’s "effective defence and deterrence against Indian aggression through conventional means," the ministry said in a social media post.The IAEA is a Vienna-based U.N. watchdog that monitors nuclear programmes to ensure they are peaceful.India and Pakistan became nuclear powers after they conducted tit-for-tat nuclear tests in 1998 and their decades-old animosity has made the world’s most populous region one of its most dangerous nuclear flashpoints.The latest military conflict between the South Asian neighbours spiralled on Saturday and there were fears that nuclear arsenals might come into play as Pakistan’s military said a top body overseeing its nuclear weapons would meet.But the Pakistani defence minister said no such meeting was scheduled.Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was ready to engage in peace talks with India."Now let us talk about peace," he said, addressing cadets and pilots of the Pakistan Air Force at an air base in Kamra. "We are ready for that.""If terrorism has to end in the region, let us sit and talk and see who is a terrorist and who is a target of terrorism."DISPUTE SETTLEDU.S. President Donald Trump said the dispute had settled, after he urged the two countries to focus on trade instead of war."I hope I don’t walk out of here in two days ... to find out that is not settled, but I think it is settled and we talked to them about trade, let’s do trade instead of doing war," Trump told U.S. troops at a base in Qatar.Trump was the first to announce the ceasefire on Saturday, indicating it was clinched due to Washington’s diplomacy and pressure.Pakistan has thanked Washington for its involvement but the Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his latest statement.There was no response from New Delhi on Thursday either. The Indian Foreign Ministry said this week the issue of trade did not come up in talks with Washington and that the understanding to stop fighting was reached directly with Islamabad.During a phone call between the armed forces of Pakistan and India on Thursday, both sides agreed to extend the ceasefire until Sunday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told the upper house of parliament.The Indian Army said in a statement that both India and Pakistan had decided to continue confidence-building measures to lower the alert level.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India would strike at terrorist hideouts across the border again if there were new attacks on India and would not be deterred by what he called Islamabad’s "nuclear blackmail."Pakistan rejected Modi’s statements as being "provocative and inflammatory assertions," saying they represented a dangerous escalation. India and Pakistan trade accusations of nuclear weapons mismanagement (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/15/2025 10:20 AM, Staff, 52868K]
India and Pakistan have traded accusations of nuclear weapons mismanagement, days after reaching a truce following four days of cross-border fighting.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh questioned the safety of nuclear weapons in Pakistan on Thursday at an army base in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, calling the neighbouring country an "irresponsible and rogue nation".
"I believe that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons should be taken under the supervision of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," Singh said.
In response to the minister’s comments, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Singh had revealed his "profound insecurity and frustration regarding Pakistan’s effective defence and deterrence".
"The comments of India’s Defence Minister also show his sheer ignorance of the mandate and responsibilities of a specialised agency of the United Nations like the IAEA," it read.
"If anything, the IAEA and the international community should be worried about the repeated theft and illicit trafficking incidents involving nuclear and radioactive material in India," the statement added.
The UN nuclear watchdog monitors countries that have nuclear weapons to ensure that they are peaceful.
Under a 2008 agreement, the IAEA monitors several Indian civilian nuclear facilities.‘Nuclear blackmail’
After conducting tit-for-tat nuclear tests in 1998, India and Pakistan became nuclear powers, making the region one of the world’s dangerous nuclear flashpoints.
Last week, the two countries traded intense missile and drone attacks, leaving nearly 70 people dead.
The fighting followed an April 22 rebel attack on Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir, that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan – an accusation Islamabad denied.
On Saturday, United States President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire agreement as world powers urged the two nuclear powers to avoid escalating tensions.
While the ceasefire is currently holding, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India would strike at militant hideouts across the border again if there were new attacks on India and would not be deterred by what he referred to as Islamabad’s "nuclear blackmail".
However, Pakistan rejected Modi’s statements as being "provocative and inflammatory assertions", saying they represents a dangerous escalation.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, police in Indian-administered Kashmir said they killed three suspected fighters in the town of Tral, in Pulwama district south of Srinagar.
Police also said three other suspected fighters died in a gun battle with soldiers on Tuesday in the southern Kashmir valley. India Asks IMF To Reconsider Pakistan Programme Over ‘Terror Funding’ (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/16/2025 5:43 AM, Parvaiz Bukhari and Zain Zaman Janjua, 931K]
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Friday the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should reconsider a one billion dollar loan to Pakistan, alleging Islamabad was "funding terror".India and Pakistan last week clashed in the worst military violence in decades, killing around 70 people before agreeing a ceasefire that began Saturday.The confrontations were sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge it denies."I believe a big portion of the $1 billion coming from IMF will be used for funding terror infrastructure," Singh told troops at an air force base in western India."I believe any economic assistance to Pakistan is nothing less than funding terror."Despite India’s objections, the IMF last week approved a loan programme review for Pakistan, unlocking a $1 billion payment which the state bank said has already been received.A fresh $1.4 billion loan was also approved under the IMF’s climate resilience fund.India -- which also represents Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh on the IMF board -- abstained on the review vote, a statement from its finance ministry voicing "concerns over the efficacy of IMF programmes in case of Pakistan given its poor track record".Pakistan came to the brink of default in 2023, as a political crisis compounded an economic downturn and drove the nation’s debt burden to terminal levels before being saved by a $7 billion bailout from the IMF which sparked further crucial loans from friendly nations.Pakistan, which has long battled militancy within its borders, has faced scrutiny over its ability to combat illicit financing, including to militant organisations and in 2022 was put on an international money-laundering watchlist.However, the Financial Action Task Force removed Pakistan from it so-called grey-list in 2022 after "significant progress" which included charges being filed against suspected militants accused of being involved in the 2008 attacks in India’s Mumbai.Singh claimed it was "clear that in Pakistan, terrorism and their government are hand in glove with each other."In this situation there is a possibility that their nuclear weapons could get their way into the hands of terrorists. This is a danger not just for Pakistan but the entire world," he said.Singh on Thursday called for Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to be put under the surveillance of the UN’s atomic energy agency, with Islamabad firing back that the international community should investigate a nuclear "black market" in India.Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Friday, where the two discussed the ceasefire, according to a statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry.It came as the government also held ceremonies across the country to celebrate the military."Pakistan’s Armed Forces remain fully prepared and resolutely committed to defending every inch of our territory. Any aggression will be countered," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said while visiting troops on Thursday.The disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir has been at the heart of several wars between the two neighbours, who administer separate portions of the divided territory.Militants stepped up operations on the Indian side of Kashmir from 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and imposed direct rule from New Delhi. Twitter
Afghanistan
Hafiz Zia Ahmad@HafizZiaAhmad
[5/15/2025 4:24 PM, 112.3K followers, 27 retweets, 142 likes]
IEA-Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi held a telephonic conversation with the Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar. The discussion focused on enhancing bilateral relations, promoting trade, and upgrading diplomatic engagement...
Hafiz Zia Ahmad@HafizZiaAhmad
[5/15/2025 4:24 PM, 112.3K followers, 8 likes]
between the two countries. Calling India a key regional country with historical relation with Afghanistan, FM Muttaqi expressed hope for further strengthening relations, reiterating Afghanistan’s commitment to a balanced foreign policy and constructive engagement with all sides.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad@HafizZiaAhmad
[5/15/2025 4:24 PM, 112.3K followers, 4 likes]
Furthermore, he urged for streamlining the issuance of visas for Afghan businessmen and patients, as well as the release and repatriation of Afghan prisoners in India. Recognizing the longstanding relations between India and Afghanistan, Dr. Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s ongoing
Hafiz Zia Ahmad@HafizZiaAhmad
[5/15/2025 4:24 PM, 112.3K followers, 10 likes]
support for Afghanistan, highlighting joint efforts in the political and economic spheres. He also pledged to accelerate the resolution of Afghan prisoners’ cases and enhance the visa issuance process.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad@HafizZiaAhmad
[5/15/2025 4:24 PM, 112.3K followers, 10 likes]
To end, both sides underscored the importance of further developing the Chabahar Port.
Mariam Solaimankhil@Mariamistan
[5/15/2025 10:28 PM, 100.8K followers, 6 retweets, 18 likes]
The Taliban are trying to get closer to India- but nothing has changed. Their wives and children still live in Pakistan. They still take orders from ISI advisors. They’ve only now realized Pakistan used them for decades to destabilize the region- and it’s happening again. They’re fools, not partners.
Lynne O’Donnell@lynnekodonnell
[5/15/2025 11:56 AM, 27.4K followers, 17 retweets, 39 likes]
The Indian govt is playing footsie with the Taliban. We know what’s in it for the jihadist drug dealers: tacit recognition. What’s in it for India? A deal on terrorism? Pushback on Pakistan & China? Access to minerals deals? Diplomacy is self-interest after all...
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[5/15/2025 7:54 PM, 33.4K followers, 10 retweets, 42 likes]
#BREAKING: A federal judge just rescinded protections for thousands of refugees, including Afghans, in @IRAP’s PacitovTrump case. Here’s what you need to know in another #AfghanEvac
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[5/15/2025 7:54 PM, 33.4K followers, 3 retweets, 4 likes]
On May 5, the court ordered protections for ~12,000 refugees under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). You can see the timeline we prepared for that at http://afghanevac.org/timeline.
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[5/15/2025 7:54 PM, 33.4K followers, 3 retweets, 6 likes]
That order was JUST rescinded—after the Ninth Circuit narrowed its interpretation of who is covered by the court’s injunction. This is a major setback for refugees and a profound disappointment to #AfghanEvac and anyone involved in these efforts.
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[5/15/2025 7:54 PM, 33.4K followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes]
Only 160 refugees are now presumed protected. The court recommends a special master be appointed for the thousands of others who must now be evaluated individually—a process that slows everything down and leaves vulnerable people in limbo.
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[5/15/2025 7:54 PM, 33.4K followers, 3 retweets, 10 likes]
Many of those still stranded are family members of U.S. troops, faith leaders, women’s rights defenders, and people who risked their lives to support America’s mission.
Shawn VanDiver@shawnjvandiver
[5/15/2025 7:54 PM, 33.4K followers, 7 retweets, 13 likes]
This is a humanitarian crisis. It’s also a betrayal. We will keep fighting to protect every refugee this administration left behind. Read the order here.
Sara Wahedi@SaraWahedi
[5/15/2025 9:41 AM, 96.1K followers, 7 retweets, 64 likes]
Earlier this May, the Taliban’s leader made it clear: education only matters if it’s religious. Sharia is the standard for all learning. No sign of change for girls - paranoia and control still shape the regime’s view of education.
Sara Wahedi@SaraWahedi
[5/15/2025 9:43 AM, 96.1K followers, 7 likes]
The Taliban leader warned against “enemy propaganda,” praised obedience, and demanded loyalty to Sharia as the only legal system. He framed dissent as sin, sidelined scholars, and made no mention of women - cementing a vision rooted in fear and control.
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/15/2025 4:49 PM, 5.8K followers, 7 retweets, 9 likes]
Exiled human—women rights activists have launched a campaign demanding the release of journalists imprisoned by the Taliban. Silencing the free press is a clear violation of human rights and an attack on truth. Journalists are not safe in Afghanistan. #JournalismIsNotCrime
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/15/2025 12:19 PM, 5.8K followers, 20 retweets, 28 likes]
The UN warns that over 6 million Afghans will lose access to life-saving healthcare after major U.S. funding cuts. Every two hours, an Afghan mother dies from preventable pregnancy complications. UNFPA says it will cut half of its supported health centers. #Afghanistan
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/15/2025 12:04 PM, 5.8K followers, 14 retweets, 26 likes]
During Trump’s visit to Arab countries, women danced to welcome him. But in Afghanistan, women with rich culture are banned from basic rights & imprisoned by Taliban. Arab countries remain silent. This silence is complicity with Taliban & clear injustice against Afghan women.
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[5/15/2025 8:03 PM, 8.5K followers, 1 retweet, 9 likes]
Someone should ask George Glezmann about the tourism industry in Afghanistan. Pakistan
Dr. Arif Alvi@ArifAlvi
[5/15/2025 3:07 PM, 4.4M followers, 354 retweets, 853 likes]
Very interesting poll data An outstanding social media sentiment analysis below offers valuable insights into public opinion trends in Pakistan, especially in the absence of traditional opinion polls, which have been restricted since the regime change. Advanced AI algorithms, including those powered by models like ChatGPT, analyze vast amounts of data from platforms such as X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. These tools evaluate the emotional tone and opinions expressed in posts, providing a comprehensive and nuanced view of public sentiment. Compared to conventional polls, this method processes significantly larger datasets, incorporates diverse variables, and delivers greater accuracy. The resulting data paints a clear picture of ground realities. I urge decision-makers to consider these findings when assessing Pakistan’s political future and popularity of @ImranKhanPTI Suppressing this reality is unsustainable—truth cannot be ignored.
Dr. Arif Alvi@ArifAlvi
[5/15/2025 5:10 AM, 4.4M followers, 1.1K retweets, 2.5K likes]
Oh, look who’s back with a fresh coat of audacity! QFI, the grand puppeteer of Pakistan’s Democracy Demolition Derby, has the gall to pen this gem in his article today: "In our courts, like in the courts of every law-abiding country, there is a rebuttable presumption of innocence. Crimes are first investigated and evidence collected, then the prosecution proceeds to establish guilt before a neutral arbiter, the judge. Investigators, prosecutors and judges dispassionately consider the evidence and the motive; guilt is not to be assumed, nor should preconceived notions sway one."
This from the person who turned his grudge against @ImranKhanPTI into a vendetta & treated democracy like his indentured servant! Who smashed electoral mandates, karate-chopped justice, made the judiciary a predator, turned accountability into a bad joke, muzzled the media, and tap-danced all over human rights with the finesse of a bulldozer in a china shop. And now, like a villain in a cheap soap opera, he’s trying to reinvent himself as Captain Fairness with this shameless, side-splitting hypocrisy. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/16/2025 12:19 AM, 108.6M followers, 3.9K retweets, 30K likes]
Warm greetings to the people of Sikkim on their Statehood Day! This year, the occasion is even more special as we mark the 50th anniversary of Sikkim’s statehood! Sikkim is associated with serene beauty, rich cultural traditions and industrious people. It has made strides in diverse sectors. May the people of this beautiful state continue to prosper.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/15/2025 9:14 AM, 108.6M followers, 7.7K retweets, 54K likes]
Chaired a meeting on ways to further strengthen the fisheries sector. We attach great importance to this area and have worked extensively to improve infrastructure relating to the sector and also ensure greater access to credit as well as markets for our fishermen. Today’s meeting included brainstorming on how to improve exports and increase the focus on deep sea fishing.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/15/2025 11:22 AM, 3.8M followers, 5.8K retweets, 37K likes]
Good conversation with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi this evening. Deeply appreciate his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Welcomed his firm rejection of recent attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan through false and baseless reports. Underlined our traditional friendship with the Afghan people and continuing support for their development needs. Discussed ways and means of taking cooperation forward.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/15/2025 1:15 PM, 225.5K followers, 280 retweets, 2.2K likes]
There’ve been times over the last 2 decades when in India, public trust in US as a partner is called into question & contrasted w/India’s reliable, no-drama relationships w/Russia, France etc. Khobragade affair, late US response to India COVID crisis, Pannun. And right now.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/15/2025 1:15 PM, 225.5K followers, 11 retweets, 221 likes]
In each case, these moments have been smoothed over on policy levels. But public perceptions of the US and its reliability as evinced by some key Indian constituencies continues to be an issue that flares up periodically. Properly addressing this remains a work in progress.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/15/2025 8:54 AM, 225.5K followers, 128 retweets, 631 likes]
A day after India announces a deal for Foxconn to build a plant, Trump says Apple shouldn’t bring production to India. Since so much of Trump’s thinking revolves around trade, this could be another pressure tactic related to US-India trade talks (which he’d said are going well).
Mariam Solaimankhil@Mariamistan
[5/15/2025 11:16 AM, 100.8K followers, 11 retweets, 82 likes]
When a nuclear-armed state sponsors terrorism, harbors fugitives, and threatens global annihilation—calls for denuclearization aren’t radical. They’re rational. India’s Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh just said what needed to be said about Pakistan.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/15/2025 11:47 AM, 290.9K followers, 837 retweets, 3.1K likes]
Rather than reacting with indignation, India should take Trump’s statements at face value, especially his claim that he threatened trade sanctions to halt India’s military campaign against Pakistan. If true, this is not a gaffe; it’s a revelation. New Delhi should thank Trump not for his intervention, but for exposing a hard truth: the U.S., under his leadership, is an unreliable partner in matters of strategic security and counterterrorism. That awareness is a gift, however unintentional, and should guide India’s future geopolitical calculations.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/15/2025 10:17 AM, 290.9K followers, 386 retweets, 1.3K likes]
India’s military operation against Pakistan lasting just three days from May 7 to 10 was one of the shortest military campaigns any country has launched in a long time. But, contrary to what @NYT claims was "limited damage" (https://nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/14/world/asia/india-pakistan-attack-damage-satellite-images.html ), its significance and impact was substantial, with India quickly seizing the upper hand by degrading or disabling Pakistan’s air defenses and key air bases. Despite launching more drones and missiles than India, Pakistan was unable to inflict significant damage at any site inside India.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/15/2025 4:14 PM, 290.9K followers, 540 retweets, 2.1K likes]
India’s friend and counterterrorism partner Donald Trump. After bailing out Pakistan from the consequences of its export of Islamist terrorism, Trump rebukes Tim Cook for building iPhones in India, telling him, "I don’t want you building in India." A chastened Cook then agrees, in Trump’s words, to Apple “upping their production in the United States.” NSB
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[5/15/2025 2:32 PM, 113.2K followers, 72 retweets, 72 likes]
The Vice President departs for Hawaii on special invitation from the Blue Planet Alliance https://presidency.gov.mv/Press/Article/33730?term=0
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[5/15/2025 2:29 PM, 113.2K followers, 104 retweets, 106 likes]
Vice President Uz @HucenSembe departs on an official visit to Hawaii, USA, following a special invitation from the Blue Planet Alliance. During the visit, the Maldives is set to join the alliance. The Vice President will deliver remarks at the Blue Planet Alliance Fellowship Programme ceremony and participate in a range of events held on the sidelines of the programme.President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[5/15/2025 1:33 PM, 113.2K followers, 110 retweets, 110 likes]First Lady Madam @sajidhaamohamed attends the opening ceremony of the ‘Ufakaara’ training program in Fuvahmulah City, today. This programme teaches food vendors and producers how to improve food quality and ensure food safety. This edition of the training programme is a collaboration between @MFDA_mv and @FVMCouncil. #Foodsafety
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[5/15/2025 11:59 PM, 91.8K followers, 136 retweets, 142 likes]
As we celebrate the International Day of Living Together in Peace, let us embrace the diversity and differences in our societies as a source of strength for our development. We must come together more strongly than ever to foster a culture of tolerance and inclusion where we all live and prosper in peace.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/16/2025 1:58 AM, 721.1K followers, 2 likes]
Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli, in his address to the Sagarmatha Sambaad, stressed the need to preserve mountains for the protection of Earth, oceans, and humanity. He also highlighted that named after Mt. Everest, the event fosters dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collective action.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/16/2025 1:17 AM, 721.1K followers, 4 retweets, 14 likes]
The Rt.Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli officially inaugurated the ‘Sagarmatha Sambaad’ today —a high level forum aimed at raising global awareness about climate change and exploring sustainable solutions. The event, which is being attended by 175 foreign delegates, will run for three days.
MOFA of Nepal@MofaNepal
[5/15/2025 7:39 AM, 263.4K followers, 4 retweets, 12 likes]
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP H.E. Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana called on Hon. Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba today afternoon at the Ministry. During the meeting, issues pertaining to Nepal’s LDC graduation, sustainable development and climate-resilient growth, among others, were discussed. H.E. Alisjahbana is in Nepal to attend the Sagarmatha Sambaad that is being held on 16-18 May, 2025 in Kathmandu. @Arzuranadeuba @amritrai555 @krishnadhakal07
Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba@Arzuranadeuba
[5/16/2025 12:49 AM, 5.7K followers, 8 retweets, 36 likes]
Honored to address the inaugural session of the maiden Sagarmatha Sambaad themed ‘Climate change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity.’ As a country deeply committed to climate justice and action, Nepal is honored to host this dialogue. We sincerely appreciate the distinguished dignitaries and guests who have travelled from all over the world to be here. We hope the next 3 days spark fresh ideas, foster greater cooperation and political will, and result in impactful action for combating the specter of climate change. #SagarmathaSambaad2025Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba@Arzuranadeuba
[5/15/2025 11:42 AM, 5.7K followers, 5 retweets, 10 likes]
Courtesy call by H.E. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). I thanked H.E. Alisjahbana for inviting Nepal to chair the recent 81st session of the ESCAP in Bangkok, Thailand. ESCAP plays an important role in fostering dialogue on inclusive and sustainable development – a key objective of the upcoming Sagarmatha Sambaad. I look forward to ESCAP’s meaningful participation in the Sagarmatha Sambaad.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[5/15/2025 5:47 AM, 151.5K followers, 9 retweets, 96 likes]
I met with our newly appointed diplomats today and emphasized their vital role in representing Sri Lanka’s political transformation abroad. They must protect the dignity of our missions, support our people overseas and help drive investment, tourism and global trust.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[5/15/2025 9:21 AM, 151.5K followers, 15 retweets, 109 likes]
I’ve approved the establishment of anti-corruption investigation units in provincial councils to ensure transparency, accountability and efficient use of public funds. Every rupee must serve the people, not bureaucracy or misuse. We owe that to our citizens.
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal
[5/15/2025 3:48 AM, 435.1K followers, 14 likes]
Met with the SLPP candidates who secured wins in their electorates in the 2025 Local Government Elections. Encouraged by their commitment and the growing support across the country. #SLPP #SriLanka #LocalElections2025 Central Asia
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/15/2025 12:30 PM, 216.6K followers, 1 retweet, 9 likes]
Today, President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev held a meeting on improving the effectiveness of school education reforms. Plans include enhancing teacher training through local and international programs, regular assessments, and qualification upgrades. Talented students will receive special preparation for top global universities, and early education programs will be aligned with international standards.{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.