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 2, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Marginalising Women A Major Curb On Afghan Economy: UNDP (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/1/2025 9:26 AM, Staff, 931K]
Restrictions on women and girls imposed since the Taliban authorities took power are projected to cost Afghanistan almost six percent of its GDP over two years, the UN development agency country director said on Thursday.
Taliban authorities have squeezed women out of education, jobs and public life since 2021, creating what the United Nations has called "gender apartheid".
The social and economic exclusion of women and girls is expected to amount to cumulative losses of $920 million -- 5.8 percent of GDP -- between 2024 and 2026, according to a new UN Development Programme (UNDP) report.
"It’s a major hit to the economy," Stephen Rodriques, UNDP representative in Afghanistan, told AFP.
Only seven percent of women in Afghan households are employed, whereas women’s participation in the workforce was around 15 percent before the Taliban takeover, Rodriques said.
Removing restrictions on women’s access to jobs and on their freedom to travel without a male guardian "could see a dramatic increase in women’s employment", he said, as well as likely encouraging donors to "release more funding" to the country.
The issue is part of an overall "very concerning" trajectory for Afghanistan, he added.
The report warned that Afghanistan, facing the world’s second-worst humanitarian crisis after war-torn Sudan, is "sinking deeper into socioeconomic crisis".
Modest economic growth in 2023-2024 hinged on humanitarian and development assistance flowing into the economy such as through cash-for-work projects that gave households spending power.
But aid to Afghanistan has decreased steadily in recent years, with restrictions on women’s rights a major sticking point for donors.
And funding has plummeted further with US President Donald Trump’s decision to slash foreign assistance.
"More people are at a subsistence level in 2024 than they were in 2023 and that’s before these new cuts," Rodriques said.
"Things are reversing." Pakistan
Leaders May Talk Tough, but War Is the Last Thing Pakistanis Want (New York Times)
New York Times [5/2/2025 12:01 AM, Salman Masood, 831K]
Armed convoys are rumbling toward Pakistan’s border with India. Fighter jets are slicing across the sky. Television screens are filled with warnings of impending conflict. National leaders are vowing a decisive response to any military action.
But beneath Pakistan’s drumbeat of defiant declarations as tensions erupt with India, a weary Pakistani public sees war as the last thing the country needs.
The gap between official talk and civilian exhaustion reveals a country grappling with deeper fragilities. Economic hardship and political resignation course through everyday life.
On university campuses and in living rooms, conversations are less about battles and borders and more about inflation, unemployment, a political system that feels unrepresentative and a future clouded by uncertainty.“It makes me feel uneasy,” said Tehseen Zahra, 21, a university student in Islamabad, the capital, a week after a terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir inflamed the longstanding enmity between India and Pakistan.“I get that leaders want to show strength,” she added. “But talking about war feels like too much. We already have too many problems. We need peace, not more trouble.”
Just buying groceries is a strain for her family, she said, after prices have risen by as much as 30 percent annually in recent years. “They talk a lot,” she said, referring to politicians, “but we don’t see much change. It feels like they don’t understand what people are going through.”
Even among those who hold on to patriotism, there is a recognition of the country’s immense challenges.“I feel the country is much weaker today because of economic struggles and political instability,” said Inamullah, 25, a student in Islamabad who goes by one name.
Still, Pakistanis remain resilient. On social media, memes mocking the idea of war — often also poking fun at what many Pakistanis see as Indian warmongering — have circulated widely, a dark form of humor that many see as a coping mechanism.“It’s resilience, yes,” said Javeria Shahzad, a psychotherapist in the eastern city of Lahore. “But it’s also a distraction.”
Ms. Shahzad said that over the past few years, she had seen a grinding despair among her clients as political crackdowns shrink freedoms and the country navigates one of its worst economic crises in decades. “People have become very anxious,” she said.
The military has long held a central role in Pakistani life, not just defending the country’s borders, but also influencing its politics behind the scenes. It has traditionally commanded deep public loyalty, often emerging as the unifying force during national crises, including repeated wars with India.
During the last major flare-up between the two countries, when militants killed dozens of Indian security forces in Kashmir in 2019 and passions surged on both sides of the border, the Pakistani military’s hold on public sentiment remained strong.
Today, such emotions are much more complicated.
While expressions of loyalty to the military persist, they are often tempered by frustration and anger. The political turmoil that followed the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister in 2022 — and the sweeping crackdown on his supporters that followed — has left scars across society.
Mr. Khan, once favored by the military establishment, had a falling-out with the generals and was removed. Since then, thousands of his supporters have been jailed, and many party leaders have been forced to defect or go underground.“The respect, love, ownership by the masses has been dented,” said Mohsin Leghari, who was a minister in a provincial government during Mr. Khan’s time in power. “Everyone knows someone who has been mistreated,” he added.
Aaliya Hamza, a former lawmaker from Mr. Khan’s party who has been jailed and subjected to police torture and house arrest, said the military now risked losing the public support it needed in moments of national crisis.“If you don’t have public support, what will happen?” she asked.
Ms. Hamza argued that Mr. Khan — even while imprisoned — should be included in the national conversation, an idea that current opposition politicians have also floated.
So far, the government has shown little inclination to reach out.
Relations between Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Syed Asim Munir, and Mr. Khan have remained adversarial. During the 2019 crisis between Pakistan and India, General Munir served as director general of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Mr. Khan removed him a few months later and opposed his appointment as army chief.
Analysts describe General Munir as a hard-liner on India, with a leadership style shaped by his background in military intelligence. Critics argue that his tenure has coincided with a deepening of the military’s dominance over Pakistan’s political landscape, limiting avenues for dissent and dialogue.
The political divisions in Pakistan come at a precarious time.
Pakistan’s western border remains volatile, with militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban and Afghan Taliban fighters stepping up attacks. This week, Pakistani security forces said they had killed 54 militants during a two-night operation to repel an infiltration near the Afghan frontier. In the southwest, a low-level separatist insurgency has simmered for years, becoming more lethal recently.
The country’s economic challenges only deepen the anxiety. The government recently secured another bailout from the International Monetary Fund, and officials have been promising relief to a weary public. But for many Pakistanis, the promised economic turnaround feels distant and slow to trickle down.
Pakistan’s finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, has said that the economic fallout from the tensions with India was “not going to be helpful” to the country’s fragile recovery.
For many, the struggle to get by and the fear of armed conflict now feel like parts of the same burden. And the pain is particularly acute in the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan.
In the Neelum Valley, the once-busy tourist resort town of Keran now lies empty. The guesthouses are quiet. Residents say that tourists have stopped coming since the terrorist attack across the border in Indian Kashmir.
Raja Amjad, who runs a tourism business, said that the authorities had not imposed an official ban on tourists but that there was little need.“People don’t want to risk it,” he said. “No one is coming.”
In Athmaqam, a town near the so-called Line of Control dividing Kashmir, Saadia Bibi, 40, has cleared out a bunker behind her home.“The firing hasn’t started yet, but it can come any time,” she said. “I’m getting it ready for my children.”
Across the country, many young Pakistanis see hope only in leaving.“What actually gets to most of us is trying to become independent in a suffocating country like Pakistan,” said Zara Khan, 31, who works in the corporate sector in Islamabad. “We don’t have adequate resources. The job market is pathetic. Raising a family is a distant dream.”“Staying here,” she added, “is utterly bleak.” The threat of a war with India empties a scenic Pakistani valley of summer tourists (AP)
AP [5/2/2025 1:35 AM, Ishfaq Hussain, 456K]
Neelum Valley in northern Pakistan attracts some 300,000 tourists each summer who marvel at its natural beauty. But the threat of war with nearby India has emptied its hotels.
Gunmen last week killed 26 people in the Indian resort town of Pahalgam, fueling tensions between the nuclear-armed nations after India blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge Pakistan denies.
Neelum Valley is less than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, making it vulnerable to any military activity.
Hotel owner Rafaqat Hussain said Thursday the crisis has hit the tourism industry hard. “Most tourists have left and returned to their cities because there is a risk of war.”
Authorities in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir temporarily shuttered dozens of tourist resorts following the attack as a precaution.
No such order has come from Pakistani authorities. Bazaars in the Pakistani border town of Chakothi were open for business, although people were concerned.“First of all, our prayer is for peace, as war always affects civilians first,” shop owner Bashir Mughal told The Associated Press, saying he would fight alongside the army in the event of conflict.
Pakistan used to help residents to build bunkers near their homes during periods of intense cross-border firing. But the population has grown and some homes lack shelters. “Local casualties could be devastating if war breaks out,” Mughal warned.
Saiqa Naseer, also from Chakothi, shuddered at the childhood memories of frequent firing across the border. “Now, as a mother, I find myself facing the same fears,” she said.
She remembered Indian shells striking the picturesque valley when the two countries came close to war in 2019. She has a bunker at her home.“If war comes, we will stay here. We won’t run away,” she said. Pakistani Kashmir closes seminaries fearing Indian military strikes (Reuters)
Reuters [5/1/2025 5:25 PM, Tariq Maqbool, 5.2M]
The government of Pakistan-administered Kashmir has closed all religious seminaries in the region for 10 days, officials said on Thursday, citing fears they would be targeted by Indian strikes following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir.Islamabad says it has credible intelligence that India intends to launch military action soon, with New Delhi alleging that the attack on tourists was carried out by Pakistani nationals with ties to Islamist organisations based there.
The director of Pakistani Kashmir’s Department of Religious Affairs, Hafiz Nazir Ahmad, told Reuters that security officials feared Indian forces may target seminaries and label them as militant training centres.
The notification seen by Reuters, dated April 30, only cited a heatwave as the reason for the closure.
"Right now, we are facing two kinds of heat — one from the weather and the other from (Indian Prime Minister) Modi," Ahmad said of the notification, saying they did not mention the risk of attacks in a bid to avoid panic.
India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. India has previously targeted sites in Pakistan alleging they were bases of Islamist militants close to the Kashmir border.
"We held a meeting yesterday in which it was unanimously decided not to put innocent children at risk," Ahmad said. The President’s Office of Pakistani Kashmir also said the closure was due to "precautionary reasons."
There are 445 registered seminaries with over 26,000 students enrolled in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to the religious affairs department.
The seminaries - locally known as madrasas - are Islamic educational institutions run by religious organisations, providing cheap, often free, alternatives to regular schools.
Pakistan has said it will respond "assuredly and decisively" to any military action from India, raising the spectre of war between the two nuclear-armed countries.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is claimed in full, but ruled in parts by both India and Pakistan, and has been the site of two wars and multiple skirmishes.
Many Muslims in Indian Kashmir have long resented what they see as heavy-handed rule by India. In 1989, an insurgency by Muslim separatists began. India poured troops into the region and tens of thousands of people have been killed.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants, which Islamabad denies, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support. Seminaries have been criticised for radicalising youth towards Islamist extremism. Pakistani Kashmir Orders Stockpiling Of Food As India Tensions Flare (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/2/2025 2:49 AM, Staff, 931K]
Pakistan-administered Kashmir called on residents near the de facto border with the Indian side of the region to stockpile food on Friday as tensions flare between the arch-rivals following a deadly attack last month.
India blames Pakistan for the attack by gunmen on civilians at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 men. Islamabad has rejected the charge.
The two nuclear-armed countries have exchanged gunfire for eight consecutive nights along the militarised Line of Control, the de facto border, according to the Indian army, and the uneasy neighbours have issued a raft of tit-for-tat punitive diplomatic measures.
"Instructions have been issued to stock food supplies for two months in the 13 constituencies along the Line of Control (LoC)," the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq, told the local assembly on Friday.
The regional government has also created an emergency fund of one billion rupees ($3.5 million) to ensure the supply of "food, medicines and all other basic necessities" to the 13 constituencies, he said.
Government and privately owned machinery was also being deployed to maintain roads in the areas along the LoC, he said.
The attack in Indian Kashmir and subsequent tensions, including expulsions and closed border crossings, have raised fears of a conflagration between India and Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gave the military "complete operational freedom" to respond to the attack.
Pakistan has denied any involvement and has said it has "credible evidence" that India is planning an imminent military strike, vowing that any attack would be met with a response.
Fearing a military escalation, authorities in Pakistani Kashmir shut more than 1,000 religious schools for 10 days on Thursday.
India and Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir in full, have fought over the Himalayan territory since the end of British rule in 1947. Fears of attack in Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid acute India tensions (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/1/2025 6:42 AM, Staff, 52868K]
Authorities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir have shut more than 1,000 religious schools over fears of possible retaliatory military action from India over last week’s deadly attack in the disputed region, as tensions soar between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
India blames Pakistan for the gun attack that killed 26 people on April 22 in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi providing his military "complete operational freedom" to deal with it.
Denying any involvement in the attack, Pakistan has said it has "credible evidence" that India is now planning an imminent military strike, promising that "any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response".
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a televised statement early on Wednesday that the attack could take place in the "next 24 to 36 hours".‘Readying underground bunkers’
Fearing a military escalation, authorities have shut more than 1,000 religious schools in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
"We have announced a 10-day break for all madrassas in Kashmir," Hafiz Nazeer Ahmed, head of the local religious affairs department told the AFP news agency.
A department source said it was "due to tensions at the border and the potential for conflict".
About 1.5 million people live near the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where residents are also readying simple, mud-walled underground bunkers – reinforced with concrete if they can afford it.
"For one week we have been living in constant fear, particularly concerning the safety of our children," Iftikhar Ahmad Mir, a 44-year-old shopkeeper in Chakothi near the LoC, told AFP.
"We make sure they don’t roam around after finishing their school and come straight home.".
Emergency services workers in Muzaffarabad, the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, have also begun training schoolchildren on what to do if India attacks.
"We have learned how to dress a wounded person, how to carry someone on a stretcher and how to put out a fire," said 11-year-old Ali Raza.
Will India attack?
On Wednesday, Modi chaired a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting, the second such meeting since the Pahalgam attack, the state-run Doordarshan broadcaster reported.
Meanwhile, as the neighbours continued to exchange gunfire along the LoC dividing Indian and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, other world leaders stepped up diplomacy in an attempt to ease spiralling tensions.
India on Wednesday also closed its airspace to Pakistani planes, after Pakistan banned Indian planes from overflying.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the United States to press India to "dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asked both nations to "de-escalate tensions," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Rubio "urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack", according to White House spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
Also on Tuesday, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he had spoken to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, offering his help in "de-escalation".
While it is unclear what course of action India could take, it has in the past used a range of military tactics like covert military operations, publicised surgical strikes, aerial strikes, attempts at taking over Pakistan-controlled land, naval missions and a full-blown military conflict.
India and Pakistan have fought over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir since the violent end of British rule in 1947.
Rebels in the Indian-run area of Kashmir have waged an armed rebellion since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.
The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 people and wounding 35.
Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later. Pakistan central bank likely to hold policy rate amid geopolitical tension, inflation concern: Reuters poll (Reuters)
Reuters [5/1/2025 10:05 PM, Ariba Shahid, 126906K]
The State Bank of Pakistan is set to hold its key interest rate at 12% on Monday, a Reuters poll showed, having paused a run of cuts at its last policy meeting to the surprise of market watchers due to geopolitical tension and outlook for inflation.
The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet in the shadow of an attack in Kashmir last week in which gunmen that India said were Pakistan-based killed 26 mostly Indian tourists.
Pakistan has said it has "credible intelligence" that India plans to respond with military action. India has said only that it will pursue and punish the attackers.
Since the attack on April 23, the spread between Pakistan and U.S. debt has widened nearly 200 basis points to more than 850 bps, meaning Pakistan’s cost of borrowing has increased.
In a poll of fourteen analysts and investors, nine said they expected the bank to hold its policy rate. Three said they expected a 50 bp cut and two called for a 100 bp cut.
The bank had cut the rate by 1,000 basis points since June from an all-time high of 22% before holding it in March, citing the risk of price rises including from increased U.S. tariffs.
Still, analysts expect the bank to resume cuts this year to encourage lending and stimulate economic growth.
For now, the bank will likely maintain a wait-and-see approach due to a fluid trade picture, persistent core inflation and an upcoming International Monetary Fund review, said S&P Global Market Intelligence senior economist Ahmad Mobeen.
The IMF will review a $7 billion bailout loan programme on May 9 and decide whether to disburse the first $1 billion. It will also discuss a new $1.3 billion climate resilience loan.
The inflation rate fell to 0.7% in March, its lowest in nearly a decade. The Ministry of Finance pegs April inflation at 1.5% to 2% and the central bank forecasts average inflation to be in the range of 5.5% to 7.5% for the fiscal year ending June.
A "measured" cut on Monday could support economic recovery without undermining stability given the large gap between interest rates and inflation, and "improving but vulnerable external accounts", said Sana Tawfik, head of research at brokerage Arif Habib.
Increased foreign exchange reserves - ideally to the central bank target of $14 billion in June - are necessary before resuming monetary easing, said Al Meezan Investments head of research Amreen Soorani. The current $10.5 billion covers imports for less than two months. US-Pakistani Engagement Focuses On Strategic Priority On Strategic Minerals And Security Coordination (Eurasia Review – opinion)
Eurasia Review [5/1/2025 4:14 PM, Umair Khan, 206K]
There has been a deafening commotion of US diplomatic activity in Pakistan in recent weeks, with its strategic minerals sector particularly under the spotlight. Two senior US delegations visited Pakistan in April, an indication of Washington’s increasing desire to deepen economic and strategic relationships.
One of them, whose leader was Eric Meyer of the U.S. Bureau of Central and South Asian Affairs, went to an investment forum designed to promote U.S.-Pakistan collaboration for mineral development. Meyer said that working together on strategic minerals is a shared area of interest of the utmost priority, as the materials have a strategic value to both countries.“President Trump has declared diversifying sources of vital minerals a national security issue,” Meyer was quoted by Pakistani officials as saying in a U.S. Embassy statement. He further added Pakistan’s mineral resources, if harnessed judiciously with transparency and accountability, have the potential of win-win situations.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan Congressional delegation paid their first visit to Pakistan in nearly two years. The politicians and the generals welcomed them to feel the political temperature and gauge the prospects of long-term cooperation. The sessions would be preceded by a session of the Pakistan-U.S. Caucus on April 30 in New York, which would be more of a wide political and government-related issue in Pakistan.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had extended an invitation to Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to talk about potential cooperation in the mineral sector and economic prospects overall.
This swift move has prompted questions whether a strategic long-term shift is on the cards in U.S.-Pakistan relations or short-term interest will be fleeting.Critical minerals, the very foundation of next-generation technologies such as AI, electric cars, and clean energy, are soon to be the subject of global competition for dominance. Copper is especially very sought after. The world AI infrastructure would demand more than 400,000 tons of copper by 2030, according to estimates. The Reko Diq mine, situated in Balochistan province of Pakistan, one of the world’s biggest known deposits of copper and gold, will go into production by 2028.
While China currently is overwhelming mineral marketplaces worldwide—particularly in Africa—by leaps and bounds, the United States also is increasing its own endeavor to secure its supply chains. Washington already is well ahead in negotiations with nations like Congo and Ukraine regarding mineral cooperation, and Pakistan now also is under consideration to be added to that negotiation.
Although formal announcements are yet to be made, Islamabad is said to have already approached Washington with proposals indicating probable terms of cooperation on important minerals. Trends in regional security are also informing these negotiations.
Counterterrorism is also dictating U.S.-Pakistan relations. Soon, in an important security meeting later this month, there will be discussion of the terrorist threats to the region emerging from Afghanistan, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Islamic State Khorasan Province. Part of the larger issue of concern is the projected $7 billion worth of abandoned U.S. arms in Afghanistan, some portion of which, as reported, has been employed by local militant groups.
But to turn this diplomatic push into actual economic benefits, Pakistan will need to clean up shop at home. Safety in provinces as rich as Balochistan must be attended to on a priority basis, and policy changes must be undertaken to attract and retain foreign investment. Legal improprieties and disagreements between the federal government and the provinces over resource access must be resolved.
It is only from a stable, open, and investor-friendly economy that Pakistan will be able to place itself to be a market sure thing when it comes to strategic minerals and ride renewed demand in the U.S. India
Adani Group Gets Modi’s Blessing as It Expands Mega India Port (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/1/2025 7:00 PM, Sanjai P R, 16228K]
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to kick off the second phase of Adani Group’s mega port in Kerala on Friday, showcasing the solid political support for billionaire Gautam Adani amid an ongoing bribery probe in the US.The Vizhinjam transshipment terminal, which began operations in July and has handled about 250 container ships so far, is forecast to attract about 95 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in additional investment that would triple the port’s capacity, according to people familiar with the internal plans who didn’t want to be identified. Modi’s endorsement not only bolsters the port-to-power Adani conglomerate, it also shows that the overhang around the US indictment could be easing for Asia’s second-richest person as his group returns to aggressive growth plans in the domestic market.The Vizhinjam port that will “be dedicated to the nation” by Modi on May 2, is just 10 nautical miles from global shipping routes and will have an annual capacity of up to 5 million TEUs, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. said in a full-page local newspaper advertisement on Thursday. The investment across all phases will be around 180 billion rupees, the advertisement added.Strategically positioned also near key international shipping channels with natural depths of up to 20 meters, Vizhinjam will be able to host the largest container ships, which in the past skipped India and instead docked at ports in Colombo, Dubai and Singapore.“Given the country’s growing trade volumes with the global market, the port will play a critical role in reducing supply chain risks for Indian exports and imports,” said Afaq Hussain, director at New Delhi-based consultancy Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals.For Modi, Adani’s deepwater transshipment terminal has geopolitical significance because it puts India on the global maritime map, which is currently dominated by China. About 75% of India’s transshipped cargo has been being handled by ports overseas.Indian ports have been losing an estimated $220 million in potential revenue annually due to this and businesses are bearing additional costs of $80 to $100 per container, the people said.Major RoutesVizhinjam is expected to facilitate the movement of transshipment traffic into India as well as on the major routes between the US, Europe, Africa and East Asia.Hussain said a significant amount of India’s cargo gets transshipped at the Colombo port. Vizhinjam has the potential to reduce India’s dependence on this port with a significant Chinese presence.Geneva-headquartered Mediterranean Shipping Co. in March included Vizhinjam for its Jade shipping service route from Europe to Asia, connecting ports in China, South Korea, Singapore, Spain and Italy, according to an Adani Group spokesperson.“If full-fledged operations begin as planned by 2028–29, the facility could significantly boost cargo movement across Adani’s wider network of ports and terminals along the east and west coasts” of India, Hussain said. India will include caste details in its next census (AP)
AP [5/1/2025 8:52 PM, Rajesh Roy and Sheikh Saaliq, 10355K]
India will include caste details in its next census, in a move likely to have sweeping socio-economic and political ramifications for the world’s most populous country.
Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw didn’t say when the census would begin when he announced it would include caste information Wednesday. He said the decision demonstrated New Delhi’s commitment to the "values and interests of the society and country.".
The count is likely lead to demands to raise the country’s quotas that reserve government jobs, college admissions and elected offices for some categories of castes, especially for a swathe of lower and intermediate castes that are recognized as Other Backward Classes. India’s current policy caps quotas at 50 percent, with 27 percent reserved for OBCs.
Caste is an ancient system of social hierarchy in India and is critical to Indian life and politics. There are hundreds of caste groups based on occupation and economic status across India, particularly among Hindus, but the country has limited, or outdated data on how many people belong to them.
Successive Indian governments have resisted updating caste data, arguing that it could lead to social unrest. But its supporters say detailed demographic information is necessary to properly implementing India’s many social justice programs.
Colonial ruler Britain began an Indian census in 1872 and counted all castes until 1931. However, independent India since 1951 only counted Dalits and Adivasis, who are referred to as scheduled castes and tribes, respectively. Everyone else’s caste was marked as general.
The next once-in-a-decade population survey was originally due in 2021, but has been delayed mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical hurdles. The last official census in 2011 counted 1.21 billion people, of which 2011 million were scheduled castes and 104 million were scheduled tribes.
The announcement comes months ahead of a crucial election in India’s poorest state of Bihar, where caste is a key issue. Modi’s party runs a coalition government in Bihar.
The opposition and Modi’s partners have pressed the government to count caste in a new census. Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has in the past opposed the idea of counting people by caste, saying it would deepen social divisions in the country.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of the Congress Party wrote on X that "It is clear that the pressure we put on the government for Caste Census has worked.".
Two Indian states, northern Bihar and southern Karnataka, have already released caste surveys, both showing a higher number of backward castes and prompting demands to raise quotas.
Two southern states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, are also planning to undertake similar surveys.
Vaishnaw said including caste details in the national census would improve transparency, while adding that some states ruled by opposition parties have done their own caste surveys for political gain.
Fortunes of many of these political parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, depend on alliance of castes, particularly those in the OBC category.On Wednesday, Amit Shah, India’s powerful home minister, called the move "historic" and said it "will empower all economically and socially backward sections.". Air India sees Pakistan airspace ban costing it $600 million over 12 months, seeks aid (Reuters)
Reuters [5/1/2025 9:59 PM, Aditya Kalra and Abhijith Ganapavaram, 126906K]
Air India expects to face around $600 million in additional costs if a ban from Pakistan’s airspace lasts for a year, and has asked the federal government to compensate it for the hit, a company letter seen by Reuters shows.
Indian airlines are bracing for higher fuel costs and longer journey times after Pakistan shut its airspace to the country’s carriers in a tit-for-tat retaliation following an attack on tourists in Kashmir last week.
Air India on April 27 asked the Indian government for a "subsidy model" proportionate to the economic hit, estimating a loss of more than 50 billion Indian rupees ($591 million) for each year the ban lasts, according to a letter sent by the airline to the Civil Aviation Ministry seen by Reuters.
"Subsidy for affected international flights is a good, verifiable and fair option ... the subsidy can be removed when the situation improves," the letter said.
"The impact on Air India is maximum due to airspace closure, due to additional fuel burn...additional crew.".
Air India declined to comment. India’s Civil Aviation Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Air India’s letter was sent after the government asked its executives to assess the impact of the airspace ban on Indian carriers, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The Tata Group-owned airline is in the midst of a multi-billion dollar turnaround after a period of government ownership, and growth is already constrained by jet delivery delays from Boeing and Airbus. It reported a net loss of $520 million in fiscal 2023-2024, on sales of $4.6 billion.
Air India, which has a 26.5% market share in India, flies to Europe, the United States and Canada, often crossing Pakistan’s airspace. It operates many more long-haul routes than bigger domestic rival IndiGo.
Data from Cirium Ascend shows IndiGo, Air India and its budget unit Air India Express had roughly 1,200 flights combined from New Delhi scheduled for Europe, the Middle East and North America in April.
The Indian government is considering options to reduce the hit to the airline industry from the closure of Pakistan’s airspace, three other people familiar with the matter said.
One of the sources said Indian carriers met with the Civil Aviation Ministry to work on possible solutions, including flying over difficult terrain closer to China, and some tax exemptions.
In its letter, Air India asked the government to liaise with Chinese authorities for certain overflight clearances, without elaborating.
It also asked the government to approve the carrying of extra pilots on flights on the United States and Canada to account for longer travel times. Children fall ill in India ‘after dead snake found in school meal’ (BBC)
BBC [5/1/2025 9:37 PM, George Wright, 52868K]
India’s human rights body is investigating reports that more than 100 children fell ill from eating a school lunch after a dead snake was found in the food.
The cook reportedly still served the lunch despite removing the dead animal from it, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said in a statement.
The commission said about 500 children are believed to have been served the meal in the city of Mokama in Bihar state, eastern India.
After children started falling sick, locals blocked a road in protest, the NHRC said.
"The commission has observed that the contents, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of the human rights of the students," it said.
The statement demanded a "detailed report" within two weeks from senior state officials which will include "the health status of the children".
The free school meals, know as the Mid-Day Meal, were first introduced for children from poor backgrounds in the southern city of Chennai (Madras) in 1925.
One of the biggest such schemes in the world, it was introduced to combat hunger and boost school attendance. However, there have been complaints of poor food hygiene.
In 2013, tainted food was blamed for the deaths of 23 schoolchildren in Bihar state.
Police said "very toxic" levels of a pesticide had been detected by scientific tests. NSB
Bangladesh’s Influential Islamists Promise Sharia As They Ready For Polls (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/2/2025 2:19 AM, Sheikh Sabiha Alam, 931K]
Bangladesh’s Islamists are readying to make political gains after being crushed for years by the government that was overthrown in a mass uprising last year, rallying hardline loyalists for eagerly anticipated elections."We are pretty confident about entering the parliament in the next election," Muhammad Mamunul Haque, joint secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam, an influential coalition of Islamic schools, told AFP in an interview.The coalition will hold a mass rally in the capital Dhaka on Saturday in what is expected to be one of their biggest public shows of strength for years as religiously fuelled activism gains popularity.Haque, 52, said the group will push to implement sharia, or Islamic law, and believes the group’s network of tens of thousands of seminaries -- claiming to have some 500,000 members -- means they will do well if the vote "is free and fair".Hefazat-e-Islam is an alliance of different parties and Muslim organisations, including Haque’s Khilafat-e-Majlish party.A hugely influential pressure group, it has been courted by political parties since it was founded 15 years ago.No date has been set for elections but caretaker leader Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who heads the interim government, has promised polls will be held by June 2026 at the latest.The South Asian nation of some 170 million people last held elections in January 2024, when Sheikh Hasina won a fourth term as prime minister in the absence of genuine opposition parties.Her opponents boycotted the vote after a crackdown.Hasina, who was blamed for extensive human rights abuses, took a tough stand against Islamist movements during her autocratic 15-year rule.Thousands were detained, including Haque, who was arrested in 2021 and spent three years in jail.He faced around a dozen charges after Islamists tried to protest against a visit by Hasina’s key ally Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Hindu-nationalist leader of neighbouring India.Hasina fled to New Delhi in August as crowds stormed her palace.She remains in self-imposed exile in India, infuriating Bangladeshis determined that she face trial for alleged "mass murder".Islamist groups have gained strength with Hasina gone and have increasingly sought to impose their vision on the wider population.That has sparked worries from smaller groups, including Muslim Sufi worshippers and the Hindu minority, who together account for less than a tenth of the population.Women, in particular, have expressed concern.Islamists have demanded an end to a swath of activities, including cultural events deemed "anti-Islamic" -- from music to theatre festivals, women’s football matches and kite-flying celebrations.Mobs have vandalised Sufi shrines. Supporters of Haque’s Khilafat-E-Majlis group stormed a public library last month and carted away hundreds of books before returning them.Golam Rabbani, a leader of Khilafat-E-Majlish’s youth wing, said they had targeted books that "promoted atheism", including Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.Hefazat-e-Islam’s rally on Saturday follows two days of marches by other key parties who are also seeking their support.Those include the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), expected to be the largest political force, and the National Citizens Party (NCP), formed by students who spearheaded the uprising against Hasina.It also includes the largest single Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami.Haque said the group opposed a government women’s commission and its recommendations to end discriminatory provisions, including equal inheritance rights for men and women."The commission is disrespectful to Islamic family traditions," Haque said."It seems they want to destroy the religious values attached to marriage and divorce and want to establish a Western society."Muslim-majority Bangladesh has a constitution based on the four pillars of nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism.However, Haque said his supporters wanted Islamic law."We will implement sharia," Haque said, insisting all would be treated fairly."Everything will be guided by the Koran... under an Islamic welfare state, all, regardless of their faith, will be treated justly."That would include capital punishment for blasphemy against Islam."We demand death sentences for speaking against Allah, tarnishing the image of the Prophet, and offending Muslims," Haque said."There is no room for negotiation in this regard." Sri Lanka vows closer ties with China and India’s left (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/1/2025 10:50 AM, Staff, 62527K]
Sri Lanka’s government pledged closer ties on Thursday with Communist parties in China and India, two regional powers competing for influence in the small but strategically important nation.The leftist government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held its first May Day rally with special guests from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Communist parties in India.CCP official Peng Xiubin told the mass rally in Colombo that his party had been working closely with Dissanayake’s JVP, or People’s Liberation Front."We will make China–Sri Lanka relations even stronger," the Chinese official said.JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said he hoped cooperation with China would help address rural poverty."China has done tremendous work in this area and we want to get their expertise," Silva said.A.R. Sindhu, a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which governs India’s southern Kerala state, said they were drawing inspiration from the JVP’s rapid rise to power."We proudly tell the people that, yes, Kerala will follow the Sri Lankan way. Not only Kerala –- the entire India will be following the Sri Lankan way," Sindhu said.The JVP, which held just three seats in the previous parliament, went on to win 159 -– just over two-thirds –- in the 225-member assembly at the November elections.With the leftist Dissanayake in office, New Delhi has been concerned about Beijing’s growing influence in Sri Lanka, which India considers to be within its sphere of geopolitical influence.Sri Lanka lies just south of India and is located at a halfway point along the main east–west international shipping lane, making it a strategic location in the Indian Ocean.Dissanayake has been trying to balance relations with the two regional super powers.His first overseas visit was to India after coming to power following September presidential election.He then travelled to China, which is also the island’s largest single lender.Beijing was the first to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka after the country declared a sovereign default in April 2022, following an acute shortage of foreign exchange that triggered an unprecedented economic meltdown.India extended credit lines to help salvage the Sri Lankan economy after it declared bankruptcy three years ago. Central Asia
Kazakh central bank to sell up to $1.05 billion in May from national fund (Reuters)
Reuters [5/1/2025 3:05 PM, Mariya Gordeyeva, 5.2M]
Kazakhstan’s central bank plans to sell up to $1.050 billion from the National Fund in May in "mirror" operations related to gold transactions, it said in a statement on Friday.
The mirror mechanism was introduced in January, and involves selling U.S. dollars received from the sale of gold purchased from Kazakh mining companies.
The planned sales figure for May is unchanged from April.
The central bank said it planned to buy up to $250 million for the state pension fund in May, the same as in April.
It said it had not conducted any currency interventions in the month of April, during which the exchange rate weakened by 1.6% to 512.48 tenge per dollar. US deports 131 undocumented Central Asian migrants to Uzbekistan (The Hill)
The Hill [5/1/2025 1:38 PM, Tara Suter, 33298K]
The U.S. said it deported more than 130 Central Asian immigrants without documentation to Uzbekistan, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced.
In a Wednesday press release, the DHS said Uzbekistan’s government has worked alongside the U.S. in the deportation of more than 100 Uzbek, Kazakh and Kyrgyz immigrants. The department also said that the Uzbek immigrants’ deportations were "fully funded" by their government.
"We commend Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his leadership in sending a flight to return 131 illegal aliens back to their home country," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in the release. "We look forward to continuing to work together with Uzbekistan on efforts to enhance our mutual security and uphold the rule of law.".
In the first few months of his second term, President Trump has sought to crack down on immigration. Since the start of the new administration, the U.S. has also deported hundreds of migrants to a large prison in El Salvador.
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted to advance legislation to support a series of Trump’s immigration goals, including increasing fees for those looking for U.S.-based refuge and raising resources to detain and deport a record amount of migrants.
In a recent CNN poll, 52 percent of respondents said Trump had "gone too far" when it has come to deportations, up 7 points from February. Trump’s DHS Gets Uzbekistan to Fund Deportation Flight of Its Own Nationals (Breitbart)
Breitbart [5/1/2025 5:49 PM, John Binder, 2923K]
President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has struck a historic deal, ensuring that Uzbekistan takes back its nationals on deportation flights funded by the Uzbek government.
DHS officials announced this week that more than 100 illegal aliens from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan were deported to Uzbekistan on a deportation flight that did not cost American taxpayers a dime.
Instead, Uzbekistan fully funded the deportation of its own nationals.
"We commend Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his leadership in sending a flight to return 131 illegal aliens back to their home country," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to work together with Uzbekistan on efforts to enhance our mutual security and uphold the rule of law.".
Likewise, reports have circulated that Trump’s DHS is looking to strike deals with Rwanda and Libya that would allow the United States to send illegal aliens on deportation flights to both countries — much like Trump’s deal with El Salvador.
"I say this unapologetically, we are actively searching for other countries to take people from third countries," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the media during a Cabinet meeting at the White House this week.
"We are working with other countries to say, ‘We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries, will you do that as a favor to us?’ And the further away from America, the better, so they can’t come back across the border," Rubio said. US Deports Over 100 Central Asian Nationals With Uzbekistan’s Cooperation (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [5/1/2025 1:03 PM, Staff, 968K]
The United States has deported more than 100 citizens from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to Tashkent in what Uzbek officials said is part of initiative aimed at ensuring the rights of its citizens caught in "difficult situations abroad.".
The flight from New York to Tashkent was reportedly arranged on April 30 and operated by Uzbekistan Airways. A statement released by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that Uzbekistan funded the operation in full.
The deportations appear to mark the first such deal between the United States and a foreign government since the President Donald Trump took office in January.
"We are talking about citizens who have violated visa requirements or have expired their legal stay in the United States," Ahror Burkhanov, a spokesman for the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, wrote in a social media post.
"The repatriation process will be organized on the basis of humanitarian and legal principles, ensuring the dignified and safe return of citizens," he added, though he did not say how many of those deported on April 30 were Uzbek nationals.
Since taking office on January 20, Trump has declared a crackdown on illegal immigration.
Immigration agents have carried out hundreds of raids in various cities with thousands of immigrants arrested.
Many critics say a large number of those deported to third countries are refugees who have been granted protections against returning to their home countries, where they would face persecution or torture.
Demonstrations and pickets have been held against Washington’s anti-immigration policy, and a judge handed down a ruling on April 18 that barred the Trump administration from rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their own without giving them a chance to show they fear being persecuted.
The government has appealed the court ruling.
The DHS said the operation "underscores the deep security cooperation" between the nations and "sets the standard for US alliances.".
"We commend Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his leadership in sending a flight to return 131 illegal aliens to their home country," said US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
She added that the Trump administration will continue to work with Uzbekistan on efforts to "enhance mutual security and uphold the rule of law.".
Uzbek media reported the Kyrgyz and Kazakh nationals who arrived on the flight to Uzbekistan will continue on to their home countries.
Earlier, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said the repatriation process was organized on the basis of "humanitarian and legal principles.".
"It is aimed at ensuring the dignified and safe return of citizens," the ministry said in a statement.
In January this year, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimation showed that 975 Uzbeks living in the US as illegal migrants could be deported from the country in the near future.
Following the reports, the NY Times said in February that US authorities had begun deporting Central Asian migrants to Panama and Costa Rica to speed up the process of their removal from the country.
From September 2023 to September 2024, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 572 people to Uzbekistan.
In August 2024, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service published an investigation detailing the plight of hundreds of Uzbek and Kyrgyz migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally from Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico. After Samarkand summit, Europe’s quest for Central Asian resources meets reality (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/1/2025 4:14 PM, Alexander Thompson, 57.6K]
Prompted by the war in Ukraine and increasingly fraught trade relations with the United States, the European Union is on the hunt for natural resources.
That search is increasingly focused on Central Asia, as the recent European Union-Central Asia summit in Samarkand showed. The summit, at which the EU announced nearly 12 billion euros in investments in Central Asia, opened a “new chapter” in the relationship between the two regions, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
But now that the summit’s heady rhetoric has faded, experts say the EU’s road to Central Asian resources is long and winding. “We’re not talking short-term here for sure,” Aruzhan Meirkhanova, a senior researcher at the Center for Regional Analysis at NazarbayevUniversity in Astana, told Eurasianet in an interview.
Natural gas needed by European economies may never flow in serious volumes westward out of Central Asia on routes bypassing Russia, some observers believe. The primary obstacles are geography and infrastructure.
The cheapest and fastest way to move goods from Central Asia to Europe remains the Northern Corridor, though Russia, which Europe wants to avoid. The recent drone attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s network highlighted European worries. Meanwhile, the southern route passes through sanctioned and underdeveloped Iran.
That is why European hopes are pinned to the much-vaunted Middle Corridor across the Caspian Sea, South Caucasus and Black Sea to Europe. That route is the focus of European investments, with 3 billion euros of the 12 billion announced in Samarkand earmarked for infrastructure development. That is on top of the 10 billion euros pledged to the Middle Corridor last year that von der Leyen told the summit will reduce transit times in half to 15 days.
Despite the hype, the corridor still needs massive investments in road and railway networks and port capacity expansion, especially at Aktau on Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast. “They finally put numbers on the table,” Aliya Tskhay, a Scotland-based expert on Central Asian energy, told Eurasianet in an interview about the EU summit. “In that respect, it is quite a positive.”
But the 12-billion-euro commitment spread across five countries and several initiatives – “that is really, really underwhelming. It is not really enough,” Tskhay said, pointing to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s 2024 estimate that Middle Corridor infrastructure alone needs 18.5 billion euros in upgrades.
In an analysis that focused on the region’s potential to supply the United States, Atlantic Council experts were even more skeptical of whether Central Asia is worth the investment. “In the short and medium term, low export capacity, high transit costs, geopolitical volatility, and a high-risk investment environment significantly reduce the region’s commercial viability,” they wrote.
Slim Chances for Natural Gas
Natural gas imports from Russia to the EU have fallen by two-thirds since the Russia tanks rolled across Ukraine’s borders in 2022, hiking prices and slowing economies across the continent, according to Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank.
That sent Europe searching for new supplies from Algeria to Azerbaijan. Hopes that Turkmenistan, with the world’s 5th largest proven reserves, can help fill the gap were boosted by a swap deal launched in March of this year to eventually send up to 2 billion cubic meters of gas a year to Turkey. Hungary also inked a framework for gas supply with Turkmenistan in 2023.
But swap deals are inherently unwieldy because they require delicate cooperation from the participating countries and are limited by gas reserves of each country in the chain of swaps, Tskhay said.
It is unclear how much gas Turkmenistan has available due to its major and long-standing commitments to China, which are governed by contracts that are not public, Tskhay added.
And, even if all 2 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas in the Turkish swap deal ends up in Europe, which has not yet been seriously discussed, that represents about 2 percent of the supply Europe lost from Russia.
What could really start Turkmen gas flowing to Europe is construction of the Trans-Caspian Pipeline along the Middle Corridor, which has been discussed since the 1990s. But the prospects for that project are vanishingly small, Tskhay said. A 2018 convention on legal status of the Caspian Sea gave each of the littoral states effective veto power over major projects in the sea. Would Russia sign off on a pipeline that would compete with its gas supplies to Europe?
The “more or less obvious answer is a ‘no,’” Tskhay said.
Getting Oil Around Russia Holds Promise
The prospects for oil supply from Central Asia, principally Kazakhstan, are much better. The country currently supplies 13 percent of Europe’s oil, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at the summit. About 80 percent of that supply passes through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium via Russia to the Black Sea.
But Europe wants more of it flowing through the Middle Corridor. Tokayev referenced those efforts in his remarks to the summit, underlining that Kazakhstan is “developing alternative routes to transport raw materials” to Europe.
Though the current flow of oil to Europe through the Middle Corridor by tanker across the Caspian is “a drop in the ocean,” the “tiny, tiny steps” of progress show the route has considerable potential in the coming years, Tskhay said.A Long Game for Critical Minerals
EU attention at the Samarkand summit was fixed mainly on critical minerals, a key to the continent’s clean energy transition. Central Asia’s wealth of critical minerals and rare earths has sparked great-power competition over access, with China, which has been investing in Central Asian mining operations for years, leading the pack.
Kazakhstan has major reserves of lithium, copper, lead and rare earths like neodymium, cerium and lanthanum. Uzbekistan has announced a $2.6 billion drive to develop its critical minerals sector and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have also been promoting recent discoveries.
European leaders made clear in Samarkand that they want to make a major play, pledging $2.5 billion toward the sector’s development, and tried to distinguish themselves from their rivals, with von der Leyen promising Europe would help develop local processing capacity.
That should be music to Central Asian ears, Meirkhanova said. “Very few people, I think, want the situation to repeat like … oil,” she said. “In the sense that [critical minerals] will bring a lot of investment with no development.”
Aside from Kazakhstan’s Ust-Kamenogorsk Titanium and Magnesium Plant, most processing currently takes place in China and Russia, according to the Atlantic Council.
In addition to processing, many of Central Asia’s rare earth deposits must be surveyed. The discovery of potentially massive rare earth mineral deposits near the city of Karaganda in central Kazakhstan that the government publicized in the days leading up to EU summit underscores this point. The chief engineer at a firm that conducted the geological surveys of the area called the eye-popping estimates of 20 million tons of minerals, which would give Kazakhstan the third largest reserves in the world if confirmed, “very approximate” in an interview with RFE/RL.
Exploration of the potential deposits will take “about six years or more,” the engineer told RFE/RL.
Though the EU pledges are not enough to complete the infrastructure work to bring minerals to Europe, the bloc’s focus should be on first steps, like helping Central Asian countries create legal frameworks to extract the minerals, reducing paperwork at borders and funding some of the geological exploration, Mierkhanova said. The EU commitments are “more than enough” to do that, she said.
Once the EU creates a conducive environment, Mierkhanova said, “private investments will come, and you will not even need the EU money.”
That seems to be Europe’s intent. At the summit, von der Leyen announced a European forum for private investors will take place in Uzbekistan in June.
Tskhay estimates it may take 20 years of investment for Central Asia to become a significant mineral supplier to Europe, but the engagement now is necessary for the bloc to get its foot in the door for opportunities many years down the road. “What Europe needs to solidify is that access and kind of commitment that some of those materials will come from Central Asia,” she said. “And that, I think, realistically will happen.” Is the EU Beating the U.S. in Central Asia? (The National Interest – opinion)
The National Interest [5/1/2025 1:23 PM, Mamuka Tsereteli, 126906K]
The recent EU-Central Asia Summit demonstrated how Brussels is paying more attention to the region than Washington.
Central Asia is attracting growing attention from global powers because of its resources and strategic location in the heart of the Eurasian continent. It is no surprise that the EU is taking a proactive position in relationship with Central Asia. On April 4, 2025, the first-ever summit between leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan hosted the summit. António Costa, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, represented the EU. The summit upgraded relations between the European Union and Central Asia to a strategic partnership level and outlined priority directions of the cooperation, with the EU committing significant resources for projects improving connectivity between Central Asia and Europe, as well as for the development of the resources of critical minerals, important for European and global economy.
The gathering covered a range of security, political, and economic issues and opened new opportunities for the EU and countries of Central Asia to deepen partnerships on both the multilateral and bilateral levels. The European interest is multifaceted, but economic interest stands out. Central Asia is important for European energy security. Central Asia is also rich in minerals critical to energy transition and electric vehicles. The region is equally well positioned to be a supplier of critical minerals to the transatlantic markets as it is in oil and gas supply.
The leaders at the Summit supported enhanced cooperation on critical raw materials and endorsed the EU-Central Asia declaration of intent on critical raw materials, which envisages EU commitment of €2.5 billion for critical raw material projects. The declaration on critical raw materials is a part of the €12 billion Global Gateway Investment Package. The EU has committed to Central Asia to concentrate on four priorities, including the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, clean energy, and digital connectivity.
It is important to mention that Central Asian economies are growing fast. The GDP annual growth rates in the region largely exceed the global average. This means that the purchasing power of citizens of Central Asian states is also growing, making it an attractive market for European exports. The EU is already the region’s second-largest trading partner (contributing to 22.6 percent of combined foreign trade in 2023) and the largest investor. Over 40 percent of the region’s foreign direct investment flows from European finance. Growing economies, trade, and investments mean greater inbound and outbound traffic between Central Asia and Europe.
For trade and investments to succeed, it is essential to improve transportation, digital access, and connectivity between Central Asia and Europe. The joint declaration of the EU-Central Asia Summit states that "The EU and Central Asia reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening sustainable transport connectivity as a driver of economic growth and regional integration.".
The summit declaration builds on a 2023 EU Study that investigated sustainable transport connections between Europe and Central Asia and on the Global Gateway Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity that took place in January 2024. The forum had decided to raise €10 billion from the international community in support of sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia.
The Global Gateway Investment package is also meant to help Central Asia become a clean energy hub that generates enough for its economy but also for export. There is a potential to turn part of its energy into clean hydrogen using wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal energy resources. The Summit reiterated support for clean energy development for domestic and export needs.
The parties additionally agreed to support the Coordination Platform for the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor and critical infrastructure projects along the Central Asia-Caucasus-Europe (CACE) corridor, also known as the Middle Corridor, ensuring mutual market access and long-term cooperation. The objective is to establish a modern and efficient transportation route linking Europe and Asia, which delivers goods in fifteen days or less. If this objective is reached, the region will attract significant attention from traders for commodities, as well as finished goods.
In order to attract private investments and promote the potential of the economic corridor, the summit participants agreed to organize the Trans Caspian Transport Corridor (TCTC) Investors’ Forum and the EU-Central Asia Economic Forum in Uzbekistan later this year.
The countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus invested significant resources in their infrastructure development. It is critical now for the EU and European financial institutions—like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB)—to focus on further developments and investments in projects that could eliminate existing bottlenecks and facilitate greater connectivity.
More investments throughout the CACE corridor, including infrastructure in the Caspian and Black Seas, will allow for the meeting of rising needs and facilitate greater trade between the two regions. The EU also needs to consider the integration of this corridor with projects like the Three Seas Initiative in order to achieve the benefits of synergy. It is also important that there is greater coordination with the parallel project with significant European interest, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
It is significant that the joint declaration of the EU-Central Asia Summit also states that parties agreed on the importance of peace and stability in the South Caucasus as a prerequisite to the successful implementation of these projects, which elevates the significance of the South Caucasus for the European strategic calculations.
The elevation of the EU-Central Asia partnership to the strategic level is significant. It will concern both Russia and China, who consider Central Asia to be an area of their vital interests. However, with the absence of a security dimension in this partnership, the level of concern and reaction will be limited.
Another active actor with interests in Central Asia, Turkiye, should welcome growing European investments in Central Asia-The South Caucasus-Europe connectivity because it benefits both directly and indirectly.
The bigger question is whether the United States, in the current geopolitical environment, is interested in having a proactive, complementary role and coordinating its interests and activities in Central with the EU. Or will Washington go alone and focus on its own diplomatic, political, and economic tools to advance its interests in Central Asia?
If the United States chooses the latter path, it has to consider greater diplomatic focus and allocate more financial resources, which will match the investments of other actors. In the era of dominating pragmatism, this will be an important factor in the calculations of Central Asian states, along with strategic considerations.
The EIB is opening its permanent office in Uzbekistan, and the EBRD has a long and successful presence and profitable investments in the region. The United States needs to match the funding opportunities of Europeans and other actors in order to get attention. There is a great opportunity for the upgraded U.S. Development Finance Corporation to make Central Asia one of its priority areas, thus increasing America’s impact on the region.
Nevertheless, at this stage, it looks like the EU is well ahead of the United States in terms of the commitments of public and private investments in the development of Central Asia’s connectivity to the world markets. Indo-Pacific
U.S. and U.N. Urge De-escalation Between India and Pakistan (New York Times)
New York Times [5/1/2025 4:14 PM, Anupreeta Das and Salman Masood, 831K]
A week after a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir, diplomatic efforts to ease rising tensions between India and Pakistan have ramped up, as global jitters grow over the possibility of a military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio held separate conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan and the Indian foreign minister, S. Jaishankar.
In his exchange with Mr. Jaishankar, Mr. Rubio “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism” but also encouraged New Delhi to work with Pakistan to “de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security,” the State Department said in a statement.
Mr. Rubio took a more pointed tack with Mr. Sharif, emphasizing the “need to condemn the terror attack” while urging Pakistan to work with India, according to the State Department.
Shortly before that conversation, senior Pakistani officials condemned the attack during a news conference. But they added that India, which said last week that the attackers had “cross-border linkages,” had provided no credible evidence of Pakistani involvement.
The U.N. secretary-general, António Guterres, also spoke with the Pakistani prime minister and the Indian foreign minister this week. Mr. Guterres underscored the “need to avoid a confrontation that could result in tragic consequences” and offered to help mediate, according to a U.N. statement. Other countries, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, have urged India and Pakistan to use diplomacy to address their issues.
Pakistan has claimed that it has “credible intelligence” that India is planning an imminent attack, and officials said they would forcefully respond to “any military adventurism” by India. The Indian government has appeared to lay out a case to foreign diplomats for a strike against Pakistan.
Talking the two sides down will most likely be difficult. Even before last week’s terrorist attack, Pakistani officials had riled up their Indian counterparts over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
During a mid-April speech to the Pakistani diaspora in the capital, Islamabad, the Army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, said Kashmir was Pakistan’s “jugular vein,” vital to the nation’s survival.
General Munir also declared that “Pakistan would never abandon Kashmiris in their historic struggle.” Many saw that as an effort to lean on a potent nationalist symbol — the military as the protector and defender of Kashmir — while the country deals with unrest in two provinces and political tensions persist nationwide.
India swiftly rejected the remarks, calling them inflammatory and reiterating its claim over Kashmir, according to local media reports. India and Pakistan both control parts of Kashmir but claim the region in whole.
In the days after the April 22 attack near Pahalgam, a town in Kashmir, officials from both countries exchanged harsh words.
Last Wednesday, India’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, said that the Indian government would not only find the perpetrators, but also “reach out to those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to carry out the nefarious act on the soil of India.” The statement appeared to hint at the possibility of a military attack on Pakistan.
India also unleashed several punitive measures against Pakistan, including suspending its participation in a water-sharing treaty that is critical for its smaller neighbor.
Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership called India’s actions “unilateral, politically motivated and legally void” and announced punishing measures of its own. Pakistani officials said they would consider it an “act of war” if India followed through on its plan to restrict the flow of rivers.
Two days after the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India weighed in. India will pursue “every terrorist and their backers to the ends of the earth,” he said. “The time has come to raze whatever is left of the terror haven.”
As India’s armed forces began their search for the attackers, demolishing the homes of people identified as suspects in Kashmir and detaining thousands for questioning, the two countries also exchanged gunfire along their border.Pakistan also ramped up tensions by saying it would pull out of a 1972 agreement that laid out the so-called Line of Control, which divides Kashmir into separate regions controlled by India and Pakistan.
On April 25, Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, called for an international investigation into the terrorist attack. Pakistani officials also asked the U.S. government to mediate.
The tensions are being closely watched by another of India’s neighbors, China, which is friendly with Pakistan. On Thursday, Mr. Sharif met with China’s ambassador to Pakistan and expressed his “sincere thanks” to China for its “strong and steadfast support to Pakistan” over the escalating situation, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
And as the risks of a spiraling conflict grow, the United States has stepped up its involvement. Shortly after the terrorist attack, President Trump seemed inclined to stay out of the dispute: On April 25, Mr. Trump said he was friendly with both countries and noted that they had long been at odds.
Four days later, a State Department spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, told reporters at a news conference that Mr. Rubio was “encouraging other national leaders, other foreign ministers, to also reach out to the countries on this issue.” US Seeks to Stop India-Pakistan Tensions Sparking Wider Conflict (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/2/2025 2:58 AM, Jon Herskovitz, 5.5M]
Vice President JD Vance said the US was working to ensure tensions between India and Pakistan don’t escalate into a broader regional conflict in the wake of an attack last week that killed dozens of people in Indian-controlled Kashmir.“I’m worried about any time you see a hot spot breaking out, especially between two nuclear powers,” Vance said in a podcast interview with Bret Baeir of Fox News.
Relations between the nuclear-armed nations have rapidly deteriorated after the attack, which India and the US have called an act of terrorism. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has accused Pakistan of involvement and vowed to punish those responsible. Pakistan has denied any links to the assault and warned of retaliation if India takes military action.
Vance said the US has been in close contact with officials in India and Pakistan.“Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict,” Vance said in the interview, adding the US wants to see Pakistan cooperate as much as possible with India “to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with top officials from India and Pakistan on Wednesday, asking them to “maintain peace and security in South Asia.” He told Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, of the need to condemn the attack and re-establish direct communications, according to a statement from the State Department.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also spoke to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, saying he supported India’s right to defend itself, New Delhi said in a statement.
Indian officials are pushing for the perpetrators to be punished. After his call with Rubio, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reiterated that the attackers, as well as their “backers and planners” should be brought to justice. Singh singled out Pakistan for blame, saying the country “has been exposed as a rogue state, fueling global terrorism, and destabilizing the region.”
Markets in both countries showed mixed performance on Friday. In India, the rupee climbed to the highest level since September while stocks gave up early gains. Pakistan’s stocks rose 2.4% and the currency remained stable.
Sharif’s adviser on political affairs, Rana Sana Ullah Khan, said Thursday Pakistan is ready to join a probe by Indian officials into the attack. “A war between two nuclear powers doesn’t end in victory or defeat for either side but on destruction of both nations,” he said in an interview with Geo News.
Indian media previously reported that Modi has given his armed forces free rein to decide on the timing, targets and mode of response. Pakistani authorities pledged a “befitting and decisive” response to any military strike.
So far, both sides have restrained themselves to largely diplomatic measures and relatively minor ceasefire violations along their disputed border. Vance says US hopes Pakistan cooperates with India against Pakistan-based militants (Reuters)
Reuters [5/1/2025 9:39 PM, Kanishka Singh, 126906K]
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday Washington hoped Pakistan would cooperate with India to hunt down Pakistan-based militants, and that India’s response to the recent Islamist militant attack in India-administered Kashmir does not lead to a broader regional conflict."Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict," Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ "Special Report with Bret Baier" show."And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they’re responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with," Vance added.Vance’s comments are the closest the U.S government has come since the April 22 attack - in which 26 people were killed - to potentially linking Pakistan to extremism in India.Top U.S. leaders, including President Donald Trump, have condemned the attack, calling it "terror" and "unconscionable," while expressing support for India without directly blaming Pakistan.India is an important U.S. partner as Washington aims to counter China’s rising influence. Pakistan remains Washington’s ally even as its importance diminished after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.In recent days, Washington urged India and Pakistan to work with each other to de-escalate tensions and arrive at a "responsible solution."India has blamed Pakistan for the attack. Islamabad denies responsibility and is calling for a neutral probe.The U.S. State Department has said it was in touch with the nuclear-armed Asian neighbors at multiple levels and Secretary of State Marco Rubio held calls on Wednesday with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.Hindu nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to punish those responsible and Jaishankar has told Rubio that the perpetrators should be brought to justice. Pakistan says military action by India was imminent.Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan, with each controlling only part of it and having fought wars over it.After the attack, India suspended a treaty regulating water-sharing, and both countries closed airspace to each other’s airlines. They also exchanged fire across their border. JD Vance Reacts to India-Pakistan ‘Hotspot’ Amid Nuclear Tension (Newsweek)
Newsweek [5/1/2025 8:08 PM, Peter Aitken and Gabe Whisnant, 52.2M]
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that India should respond carefully to last week’s Islamist militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir to avoid triggering a wider regional conflict.
Why It Matters
Tensions between India and Pakistan have given rise to concerns of a conflict between the two nuclear-armed South Asian nations after an attack on tourists in Kashmir killed 26 people, most of whom were Indian nationals. India accused Pakistan over the attack, but Pakistan has denied any involvement.
Vice President J.D. Vance was in India during the attack in Kashmir, but his trip was part of a previously planned diplomatic mission aimed at strengthening U.S.-India relations. In the aftermath, Vance also reaffirmed U.S. support for India, condemning the attack and emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-India partnership.
What To Know
In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier during Thursday’s episode of Special Report, Vance urged Pakistan to work collaboratively with India to address the threat of extremism.
When asked if he was "worried about India?", Vance replied, "Well, sure, I’m worried about any time you see a hot spot breaking out, especially between two nuclear powers. We’ve obviously been in close contact with our friends in India and Pakistan."
"Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict," the vice president continued. "And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they’re responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with. "
"That’s how we hope this unfolds. We’re obviously in close contact. We’ll see what happens."
The Trump administration has placed an emphasis on its ability to bring an end to the conflicts between Israel and Gaza as well as Russia and Ukraine. The deal brokered between Israel and Hamas ultimately collapsed, and President Donald Trump last week voiced frustration at his Russian counterpart’s seeming lack of urgency to agree a peace deal.
Vance touched on this during his interview, saying that the administration continues seeking the "middle ground" between Russia and Ukraine, and that pulling it off would be "one of the great peace deals" of the 21st century.
What People Are Saying
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce: "What I call tell you – obviously, we’re also monitoring the developments across the board in that region, and we – as you know, at multiple levels, I have to say – are in touch with the governments of India and Pakistan, not just at the foreign minister level, certainly, but at multiple levels. We, of course, are encouraging all parties to work together for a responsible solution."
India’s Foreign Minster Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on X: "Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with US @SecRubio yesterday. Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice."
Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan’s broadcasting and information minister, on Wednesday: "Pakistan reiterates that any such military adventurism by India would be responded to assuredly and decisively. The international community must remain alive to the reality that the onus of escalatory spiral and its ensuing consequences shall squarely lie with India."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun: "We strongly condemn the attack. China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism. We mourn for the lives lost and express sincere sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured."
What Happens Next
Pakistan on Monday warned that an attack by India could be imminent, putting the nation on alert going into the weekend. Rubio calls officials in India, Pakistan in push to defuse crisis (The Hill)
The Hill [5/1/2025 11:29 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 52868K]
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called officials in India and Pakistan in a push to defuse the escalating crisis between the neighboring countries after the deadly attack in Kashmir last week.
Rubio spoke to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and to Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday and urged them to work together to "de-escalate tensions" in order to "maintain peace and security in South Asia," according to both State Department readouts of the phone calls.
The April 22 attack left 26 tourists dead in part of Kashmir controlled by India, which accused Pakistan of endorsing the attack and has vowed to retaliate. India also responded by ending an important water-sharing treaty with Pakistan, while both countries have expelled diplomats and closed their borders.
Indian and Pakistani troops have exchanged fire along the border for the past six nights, according to The Associated Press.
Rubio, in his call with Sharif, stressed the importance of condemning the April 22 attack and urged Pakistani officials to cooperate with the investigation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. The secretary of state also pushed Sharif to re-establish direct communications with India.
Bruce said, in the call, both Rubio and Sharif, "reaffirmed their continued commitment to holding terrorists accountable for their heinous acts of violence.".
In his call with Jaishankar, Rubio "expressed his sorrow for the lives lost" in the attack and "reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism," Bruce said. Rubio plays peacemaker in India-Pakistan tensions after Kashmir attack (Washington Examiner)
Washington Examiner [5/1/2025 4:44 PM, Brady Knox, 2296K]
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called senior officials from India and Pakistan, looking to mediate between the two following a terrorist attack in Kashmir that India blamed on its northwestern neighbor.
Rubio spoke over the phone with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, urging both to ease tensions and pursue a path to peace, according to State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
In his call with Jaishankar, Rubio "reaffirmed the United States’s commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism" but encouraged India to "deescalate tensions and maintain peace and security" with Pakistan.
Rubio also said the "perpetrators, backers and planners" of the April 22 Pahalgam shooting "must be brought to justice.".
In his call with Sharif, Rubio stressed the "need to condemn the terror attack" and co-operate with New Delhi in "investigating this unconscionable attack."."Rubio also encouraged Pakistan to work with India to deescalate tensions, reestablish direct communications, and maintain peace and security in South Asia," according to a State Department statement.
According to a Pakistani statement, Rubio "emphasized the need for both sides to continue working together for peace and stability in South Asia," while Sharif rejected the Indian allegations and "urged the U.S. to impress upon India to dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly.".
After the Wednesday calls, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, on Thursday, offering his condolences and "strong support.".
An Indian readout was much less diplomatic. According to the release, Singh "told the U.S. Secretary of Defense that Pakistan has a history of supporting, training, and funding terrorist organizations. Pakistan has been exposed as a rogue state, fueling global terrorism and destabilizing the region. The world can no longer turn a blind eye to terrorism.".
The diplomatic overtures from the Trump administration come in stark contrast to the president’s dismissive initial reaction to the crisis, when he claimed India and Pakistan had been fighting over the region for over 1,000 years.
"Kashmir has been going on for a thousand years, probably longer than that. That was a bad one (terrorist attack). There have been tensions on that border for 1,500 years. It’s been the same, but I am sure they’ll figure it out one way or the other. I know both leaders. There’s great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been," he told reporters.
The moves by Rubio and Hegseth indicate the growing seriousness of the crisis, which has brought the two nuclear-armed states to the brink of war.
The long-simmering conflict in Kashmir, India, blew up last week when Islamic Kashmir separatists killed 26 tourists and injured over a dozen others. Indian authorities claimed that two of the militants were Pakistani, a charge Pakistani officials deny. New Delhi and Islamabad have since taken escalatory measures against each other.
The simmering conflict over Kashmir has played a central role in sparking the long-lasting rivalry between Pakistan and India since its independence in 1947. The two have fought wars over the region in 1965 and 1999, and there have been several skirmishes or wider conflicts involving the region. The 1999 Kargil War remains the only major war directly fought between two nuclear-armed states. The $10bn India-Pakistan trade secret hidden by official data (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/1/2025 4:14 PM, Priyanka Shankar and Yashraj Sharma, 18.2M]
In the days after gunmen killed at least 26 people in the picturesque tourist resort of Pahalgam in India-administered Kashmir last week, India and Pakistan announced a string of diplomatic moves against each other, including shutting down cross-border trade and suspending visas.
New Delhi accused Islamabad of involvement in the April 22 attack, suspended India’s participation in an Indus River water-sharing agreement that ensures Pakistan’s water supply and trimmed down diplomatic missions.
Islamabad has denied India’s accusations, called for a neutral investigation into the attack and announced it would suspend all trade with India, including through third countries, among other retaliatory measures. India-Pakistan trade relations have been frozen since 2019.
Both countries have also closed the Wagah-Attari crossing, the main land border between India and Pakistan.
But while official figures show minimal trade between the neighbouring countries, experts said billions of dollars of hidden, backdoor trading does continue.
So what is the real scale of trade between these archrivals? And will the suspension of trade and closure of the land border truly impact trading still taking place between the two countries?
Have India and Pakistan traded freely in the past?
Yes. Trade between India and Pakistan began after the two countries were created out of British India in 1947 through partition.
Trading volumes grew when New Delhi bestowed Islamabad with the “most favoured nation” (MFN) status in 1996 – a World Trade Organization rule that ensures a country treats all its trading partners equally with respect to tariffs and trade concessions.
But amid broader bilateral tensions between the nuclear armed neighbours, trade never fully took off. At least officially.
In the financial year 2017-2018, total trade between India and Pakistan stood at $2.41bn, compared with $2.27bn in 2016-2017. India exported goods worth $1.92bn to Pakistan and imported goods valued at $488.5m.
But in 2019, India revoked Pakistan’s MFN status after a suicide bombing in Pulwama in India-administered Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel.
From 2018 to 2024, bilateral trade fell from $2.41bn to $1.2bn. Pakistani exports to India plummeted from $547.5m in 2019 to just $480,000 in 2024.
How much and what do India and Pakistan officially trade now?
According to India’s Ministry of Commerce, the country’s exports to Pakistan from April 2024 to January 2025 amounted to $447.7m. Pakistan’s exports to India during the same time period were just $420,000.
India’s exports include pharmaceuticals, petroleum, plastic, rubber, organic chemicals, dyes, vegetables, spices, coffee, tea, dairy products and cereals.
Pakistan’s main exports include copper, glassware, organic chemicals, sulphur, fruits and nuts, and certain oilseeds.
Shantanu Singh, an international trade lawyer based in India, told Al Jazeera that due to the current trade ban, the immediate impact will be witnessed in Pakistan’s pharma sector: Pharmaceutical products are Islamabad’s main imports from India.
He also noted that the closure of the Wagah-Attari Integrated Check Post (ICP), which was the only land port through which trade was permitted between India and Pakistan, will increase the cost of trade.“So typically, land ports allow for a lower cost and ease of transport, and with the closure of this land port, you would see a rise in costs of any kind of trade. It will also particularly hurt trade from Afghanistan since imports from Afghanistan utilised this land route. The local economy built around the ICP is also likely to be affected,” Singh added.
Is real trade between India and Pakistan higher?
While official figures have pegged Indian exports to Pakistan at $447.65m, the real trade volume is thought to be much higher as traders route goods via third countries to bypass restrictions, avoid scrutiny and command higher prices upon relabelling.
Unofficial Indian exports to Pakistan are in fact believed to stand at $10bn a year, according to the India-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).
How does this unofficial trade work?
GTRI said this has been achieved largely by finding alternate routes through ports in Dubai in the United Aab Emirates; Colombo in Sri Lanka; and Singapore.
Explaining how the system works in a LinkedIn post, GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said: “Indian goods are sent to Dubai, Singapore, and Colombo. The goods are then stored in bonded warehouses in transit hubs. While in storage – still duty-free – the documents and labels are changed. The products are re-exported to Pakistan under a new ‘country of origin’ – say, UAE instead of India.”
Srivastava added that while such trade is not always illegal, “this grey-zone strategy highlights how trade adapts faster than policy.”
He added that such trade, by bypassing formal trade restrictions, “fetches better prices, even after re-export markups and it maintains plausible deniability – no ‘official’ trade, yet commerce continues”.
Does this sort of trade happen elsewhere?
Yes. Foreign trade experts said rerouting goods by taking them to facilities where they are transferred to other ships to avoid international trade restrictions is a common practice.
India, for instance, has been a location for such practices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said Jayati Ghosh, economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They reroute fuel from Russia to European countries, such as Germany, to skirt sanctions, Ghosh said.
Since the Ukraine invasion, India has become one of the largest buyers of Russian crude oil, importing an average of 1.75 million barrels per day in 2023, a 140 percent increase from 2022. Russian oil accounted for about 40 percent of India’s total crude imports in 2024, up from just 2 percent in 2021.
China has been doing the same with India for decades, trade economist Biswajit Dhar said, by routing goods to India via the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Myanmar.“If China brings exports directly to India, they attract higher tariffs. With ASEAN, India has a retail agreement,” Dhar said. “Businesses will do everything possible to meet a demand wherever it exists in whichever country.”
Will informal trade between Pakistan and India continue?
Since the Kashmir attack, government officials in India have been collating data on indirect exports to Pakistan and are reportedly lobbying to curb the practice. Pakistan’s latest trade ban against India includes trading through third countries, which means the authorities in Pakistan are also well aware of this informal trade.
Preventing it could be tricky, however, as rerouting and relabelling goods in third countries are carried out by private entities, including importers, exporters and traders, and not through official government channels, according to Singh.“It is really for the customs agencies in Pakistan to determine whether the relevant nonpreferential rules of origin, if any, in Pakistan are met,” Singh said.“This is usually done through some sort of provision of proof that the importer of the product has to provide to satisfy the requirements that may be there in the law in Pakistan. So this is a question for the authorities in Pakistan to determine whether the good is actually originating in the third country or is it in fact a circumvented good which is coming from India.”
The challenge now is for customs authorities in Pakistan to determine how to tackle this circumvention through third countries, Singh said.“That would require them, to some extent, to increase the scrutiny of the goods which are coming into Pakistan.”
Ultimately, it will be hard to prevent this trade because it meets demand. “This trade is bound to happen because [India and Pakistan] have common cultures. And there is a huge demand for Indian products in Pakistan,” he said. “That demand has to be met from somewhere.”
Traders are unlikely to want to relinquish a business that provides higher profit margins than official trade.“This tactic [banning trade via third countries] works when we believe that the traders will act honestly and that the Indian traders will understand the message that the government of India is trying to convey by these measures,” Singh said.“However, if the traders don’t want to do that, if they want to be unscrupulous, then there is nothing that can be stopped,” Dhar said.
Have India and Pakistan sparred over trade before?
Yes.
The 1965 Indo-Pakistani War severely disrupted trade, leading to a suspension of economic ties, but the Tashkent Agreement in 1966 restored diplomatic and economic relations, allowing trade to resume gradually.
The 1971 war resulting in the creation of Bangladesh further strained relations and trade halted during the conflict. The Simla Agreement in 1972 emphasised peaceful resolution of disputes, indirectly supporting trade normalisation. But trade ties have continued to be on a seesaw for decades.
The 2019 suicide bombing in Pulwama strained bilateral trade further. After the attack, India slapped an import duty of 200 percent on all goods from Pakistan, including fresh fruit, cement and mineral ore.
Six months later, in August 2019, India unilaterally revoked the semiautonomous status of the part of Kashmir it controls and reorganised the erstwhile state into two federally governed territories.
Pakistan, which never gave India MFN status, further downgraded diplomatic relations with India and suspended trade after New Delhi’s Kashmir moves. Since then, talks to resume trade with India have not taken place. Businesses count costs as India and Bangladesh impose trade restrictions (BBC)
BBC [5/1/2025 7:40 PM, Anbarasan Ethirajan, 52868K]
Businesses are bracing for possible impact after neighbours India and Bangladesh recently imposed tit-for-tat trade restrictions after months of verbal sparring.
Last month, Bangladesh restricted land imports of cotton yarn from India to shield local industries from cheaper imports.
Dhaka’s move came days after India abruptly stopped the transhipment facility it had offered Bangladesh to export its cargoes to third countries via its ports and airports, citing "congestion".
Relations between the countries have soured since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August after massive protests. She is currently in exile in India and an interim administration headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is in charge.
Since then Dhaka has demanded Hasina be extradited to face charges of crimes against humanity, money laundering and corruption. Hasina denies the accusations against her, and Delhi has not officially reacted to the demand.
India has also frequently criticised reports of attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. It recently said the alleged killing of a Hindu community leader "reflects a pattern of systematic persecution under the interim government".
Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, denies targeting minorities, calling most incidents politically motivated or ordinary crimes. Hindus make up less than 10% of its 170 million population.
Bangladesh imposed restrictions on import of cotton from India via land [Getty Images].
As the countries spar, firms are counting the cost.
Yarn, vital for Bangladesh’s clothing factories, can still enter by sea and air - but they are slower and costlier routes.
In 2024, India had exported $1.6bn (£1.2bn) worth of cotton yarn to Bangladesh, a third of it via land ports.
The now-halted transhipment facility let Bangladeshi exporters send clothes made for high-end brands by road to Indian cities, from where it would be flown to Europe and the US.
"It’s a blow [to Bangladesh’s fast-fashion export industry]," says Anis Ahmed, head of supply chain firm MGH Group, which ships for brands such as Zara. "The India route got cargo to Western countries in a week. By sea, it takes up to eight weeks.".
Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China, shipped $38bn in clothing last year. Over $1bn of this moved via the India land-air route, which Ahmed says was thriving.
Limited air freight capacity and under-equipped airports hamper direct exports from Bangladesh.
Many see Delhi’s withdrawal of the transhipment facility as a response to remarks by Yunus during a recent China visit.
He had called Bangladesh the "only guardian of the ocean" for India’s landlocked north-east and suggested that the region could become an "extension of the Chinese economy.".
Leaders from India’s north-eastern states called the comments "offensive".
Yunus’s remarks, spotlighting India’s strategic vulnerability in the region to China, raised alarms in Delhi.
India’s north-east is linked to the mainland by the 20km-wide Siliguri Corridor - dubbed the "chicken’s neck" - flanked by Nepal and Bangladesh and close to Tibet’s Chumbi Valley.
With a history of border tensions and having lost a war in 1962, Indian defence planners fear that China could target the corridor to cut off the north-eastern states from the rest of the country in any future conflict.
Bangladeshi analysts say Yunus’s remarks were misinterpreted and aimed at promoting regional connectivity.
During his China visit, Dhaka also welcomed Beijing’s interest in a $1bn Teesta River project in northern Bangladesh.
Indian analysts warn that Chinese involvement in the project, which is not far from the strategic Siliguri Corridor, could unsettle Delhi.
Bangladesh is the world’s second largest exporter of ready-to-wear clothes [Reuters].
But there is concern on both sides over the frosty ties.
Resentment is growing in Bangladesh over tightened Indian visa rules, with approvals plunging since Hasina was driven from power. Previously, two million Bangladeshis visited India yearly for tourism, business, education and medical care. The number of visas issued daily has dropped by over 80% in the past few months according to local media.
Hasina’s stay in India and the extradition demand remains a big irritant.
"They should realise that there is no way that we can just hand Hasina to them. We know what will happen to her if she’s handed over. I think public opinion in India would not countenance that," says Shyam Saran, a former Indian foreign secretary.
Amid rising tensions, India’s clothing manufacturers’ association has called for a ban on Bangladeshi garment imports via land. Bangladeshi analysts warn that more trade barriers would be counter-productive.
"I think there is a strong view nowadays in Bangladesh that we should also reassess the other transit and transhipment facilities given to India [for its north-eastern states] by the earlier [Hasina] government," Debapriya Bhattacharya, a senior economist with the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka, tells the BBC.
India uses Bangladeshi ports, roads and waterways to transport goods to its landlocked north-east, cutting distance, time and costs. However, officials say transit volumes haven’t reached expected levels.
Delhi-Dhaka tensions are rising amid growing ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Bangladesh, once East Pakistan, fought for independence in 1971 with Indian support. Hasina distanced herself from Pakistan during her 15-year rule.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch visited Dhaka last month, the first such visit in 15 years. A planned visit by Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar was postponed due to tensions between Delhi and Islamabad over the deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last week.
"I don’t think there is any concern over Dhaka’s reachout to Pakistan. If there is any suggestion that there is an intent to work together and make things difficult for India, then that will obviously cause concern," says Saran, the former Indian diplomat.
Sharp official reactions from both sides are also influencing public opinion in India and Bangladesh. There is a growing anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh, with Indian media accused of exaggerating the attacks on minorities and Islamist threats.
The people-to-people ties built over years seem to be on the retreat, and analysts point out that if both sides fail to stay calm, their actions could harm trade and economic relations. Twitter
Afghanistan
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/1/2025 11:20 AM, 5.7K followers, 19 retweets, 30 likes]
UNAMA: The Taliban publicly flogged 180 people—incl. 35 women & 3 girls—for alleged “adultery” & “sodomy” in early 2025. These brutal punishments, held in places like Khost & Jawzjan, and other provinces are systematic & violate human rights. #Afghanistan #UNAMA #HumanRights #UN
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/2/2025 12:45 AM, 5.8K followers, 5 retweets, 8 likes]
Richard Bennett marks 3 years as UN Special Rapporteur on #Afghanistan: “To all Afghans standing up for your rights amid repression—I stand with you.” As an Afghan, I’m grateful to you, dear Richard, for standing with Afghan women and people who need freedom in these hard times.
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/2/2025 12:24 AM, 5.8K followers, 37 retweets, 39 likes]
Today in Kabul, women gathered to protest the tragic self-immolation of Abida, a young girl from Ghor forced into marriage by the Taliban. Her death is a cry against a regime that strips women of choice, dignity, and life.—Abida burned, but her voice ignites us. #FreeAfghanWomen Pakistan
India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/1/2025 9:59 AM, 107.9M followers, 6.2K retweets, 40K likes]
When it comes to cinema and creativity, Maharashtra has a pivotal role. The state has nurtured generations of people associated with the world of creativity and cinema. Maharashtra’s cultural depth and artistic energy continue to positively influence the entertainment sector. Visited the Maharashtra Pavilion during the Waves Summit. @WAVESummitIndia
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/1/2025 9:57 AM, 107.9M followers, 7K retweets, 45K likes]
The Bharat Pavilion at Waves showcases our cinematic tradition and the opportunities that await in our country. I call upon the world to come to India and explore the creative opportunities here! @WAVESummitIndia
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/1/2025 9:53 AM, 107.9M followers, 5.5K retweets, 29K likes]
World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit is an outstanding platform that highlights India’s strides in these very important sectors. This Summit beautifully merges culture with creativity. It celebrates India’s creative economy and the skills of 140 crore Indians. Glad to have attended the Summit in Mumbai. @WAVESummitIndia
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/1/2025 3:38 AM, 3.4M followers, 21 retweets, 188 likes]
Good to meet @FMBhutan D N Dhungyel today on the sidelines of #WAVES2025. #WAVESummit
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/2/2025 1:38 AM, 3.4M followers, 134 retweets, 668 likes]
Delighted to co-chair along with my Cabinet colleague @AshwiniVaishnaw and MoS @Murugan_MoS the Global Media Dialogue at #WAVES2025 in Mumbai. #WAVESummit rightly represents a microcosm of the global community including content creators, policy makers, actors, writers, producers & visual artists.
Highlighted that:- World order under transformation today has a strong cultural dimension. Equally essential that we give voice to our traditions, heritage, ideas, practices & creativity.- Technology & tradition must go hand in hand. Technology can strengthen awareness of our vast heritage and deepen consciousness about it, especially for the younger generations.- Innovation is key to the leapfrogging that will build Viksit Bharat. - For a global workplace and global workforce, there is an accompanying need for shifts in mindsets, frameworks, policies and practices. - Crucial that young talent is made ready for an age of creative-coms, creative sports & creative collabs through skills diffusion. - Era of AI holds possibilities beyond imagination. The responsible use of emerging technologies will be an increasing preoccupation. So will be reducing bias, democratizing content & prioritizing its ethics.
Confident that #WAVESummit platform will deliberate on the key issues before the global media, entertainment and creative worlds.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/1/2025 9:33 AM, 3.4M followers, 214 retweets, 1.4K likes]
Good to meet @WIPO DG Daren Tang today in Mumbai. Appreciate WIPO’s partnership in promoting India as an intersection of culture, digital and NextGen technology. #WAVES2025 is such a great platform to bring these domains together. #WAVESummit
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/2/2025 2:25 AM, 273.1K followers, 30 retweets, 103 likes]
JD Vance, for his part, is implying that it is okay for India to respond to the terrorist attack as long as it responds "in a way that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict." https://x.com/GeopolitixM/status/1918136285929091111/video/1 Given the absence of a broad military mobilization in India, with no sign of additional forces or heavy weaponry being moved to the border, it is apparent that Modi is exploring a more surgical option, not starting a war. The terrorist attack occurred while Vance and his family were touring India. In this interview, Vance puts the onus on Pakistan, saying "we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they they’re responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with."
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/2/2025 1:11 AM, 273.1K followers, 49 retweets, 140 likes]
After Rubio drew a false equivalence, equating the victim of Pakistan’s transborder terrorism with the perpetrator and calling for de-escalation, the State Department, in the face of Indian criticism, changes tone, saying "Modi has our full support" and calling, not for de-escalation, but for "a responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and regional stability." This basically aligns with the position of India, which too is seeking a responsible, long-term resolution that ends the scourge of cross-border terrorism.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/1/2025 7:46 AM, 273.1K followers, 440 retweets, 1.4K likes]
Despite the strong U.S.-India strategic partnership, the perception persists of an India-unfriendly bureaucracy in the State Department. Worse still, Rubio’s call for India and Pakistan to "de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security" creates a false equivalence, equating the victim of terrorism with the perpetrator. Seeking to be diplomatically neutral is tantamount to being morally neutral or strategically tone-deaf, especially if the intent is to enable the sponsor of transborder terrorism to avoid facing consequences. The call, even if inadvertently, appears to downplay the severity of the terrorist attack and the need for accountability.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/1/2025 1:21 PM, 220.2K followers, 129 retweets, 746 likes]
There is a significant difference between the current Indo-Pak crisis and the previous one, in 2019. The attack that triggered the earlier crisis was quickly claimed by JeM, a Pakistani terror group listed by the USG. No one formally claimed responsibility for last week’s attack.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/1/2025 1:21 PM, 220.2K followers, 16 retweets, 96 likes]
(The Kashmiri group TRF denied an earlier claim of responsibility.) This difference may be useful context when considering the somewhat different US responses in the two cases-including the US calling for deescalation earlier on in this crisis than it did during the 2019 one.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/1/2025 12:53 PM, 220.2K followers, 89 retweets, 597 likes]
Despite several days of relative calm, it would be premature to suggest the India-Pakistan crisis is subsiding. Domestic pressure on New Delhi to do something kinetic remains strong. Some type of action-limited but visible-still seems a possibility, even if further down the road.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/1/2025 12:53 PM, 220.2K followers, 7 retweets, 41 likes]
The bulk of an Indian response, one presumes, would be a mix of covert kinetic actions and diplomatic steps to try to isolate Pakistan globally. But incentives for an eventual overt action remain strong. And the longer it waits, the more it could leverage the element of surprise. NSB
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[5/1/2025 3:14 PM, 91.8K followers, 335 retweets, 377 likes]
Today, we honor the unwavering contributions of Maldivian workers on #LabourDay. Their dedication drives our economy, strengthens communities, and lays the foundation for a resilient future. This year’s theme for Labour Day in the Maldives, Revolutionizing Skills and Training: Building a Resilient Maldives Workforce for Inclusive Economic Growth, reflects our commitment to empowering every Maldivian with the opportunities they need to thrive in a globalised world. Let’s continue to build a fair and prosperous Maldives together. 🇲🇻 #LabourDay2025 #WorkersDay2025
Abdulla Shahid@abdulla_shahid
[5/1/2025 3:26 PM, 119.7K followers, 212 retweets, 345 likes] Despite clear calls for restraint, the government has escalated its response by arresting demonstration organisers @MahzoomMajidh and @dh0nkeyo These arrests come on the eight day of peaceful protests spearheaded by the youth, demanding judicial accountability and action over a tragic case that has shaken the nation. Reports of excessive force by police are deeply alarming. Silencing peaceful voices will not restore order. It will deepen mistrust and instability. They must be released without delay. #DhulehNukuraanan
Abdulla Shahid@abdulla_shahid
[5/1/2025 11:05 AM, 119.7K followers, 51 retweets, 87 likes]
What we saw today is an abuse of power. The regime used law enforcement to disrupt the peaceful, lawful May Day rally, a clear violation of the Constitution, and every citizen’s right to assembly. I call on every officer to remember your oath: uphold the law, not the will of those in power. Peaceful protest is not a threat. It is a right.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/1/2025 10:21 AM, 721.5K followers, 4 retweets, 48 likes]
Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli today inaugurated the "Shram Sansar Portal" on the occasion of the 136th Int’l Labor Day. Launched at an event organized by the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, this portal aims to enhance worker welfare and employment opportunities.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/1/2025 10:07 AM, 721.5K followers, 4 retweets, 19 likes]
Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli today inaugurated the Koshi Province Investment Summit, 2025 in Biratnagar. Addressing the conference, PM Oli assured investors of Nepal’s conducive investment climate and urged domestic & foreign investors to invest with confidence.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[5/1/2025 10:10 AM, 150.6K followers, 23 retweets, 202 likes]
Heartfelt gratitude to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched with the National People’s Power on May Day — united in the struggle to rebuild our nation!
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal
[5/1/2025 1:51 PM, 436.2K followers, 4 retweets, 26 likes]
We honour the working class, the backbone of our nation. It was under President Mahinda Rajapaksa that dignity and pride were restored to them. We believe in the potential of the Sri Lankan people. With the right leadership, we can once again become South Asia’s strongest nation. They mocked us, lied about us, and rose to power by turning the people against us. This government came to power on the backs of the working class, then abandoned them with taxes, job insecurity, and fear. We are not afraid of this government. But we will hold you accountable for every broken promise. This is a call for a new generation of leadership rooted in vision, values, and the real needs of our people. Thank you to everyone who stood with us at the SLPP May Day rally in Nugegoda. The journey to rebuild Sri Lanka has just begun. #Mayday2025 #SLPP Central Asia
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/1/2025 1:09 PM, 216.4K followers, 5 retweets, 28 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev toured the #ArdaKhiva tourist complex, exploring its construction sites, folk art exhibitions, and traditional bazaar. The complex designed to host up to 3 million visitors annually features 20 hotels in ancient city style, along with water and amusement park, an amphitheater, and a musical fountain. The President also engaged with Khorezm’s youth during his visit.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/1/2025 12:10 PM, 216.4K followers, 4 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev reviewed locally made wagons and the 465-kilometre electrified “Urgench - Khiva” railway. Six high-speed electric trains from Hyundai Rotem will operate on the “Tashkent - Khiva” route starting next year. Additionally the country is actively updating its wagon fleet, with the first 10 wagons built locally this year, set to increase to 70.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/1/2025 10:52 AM, 216.4K followers, 4 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev assessed improvements for public convenience. Eighty new buses, meeting Euro-5 standards, are being acquired, with 50 already delivered. They have low floors for accessibility, Wi-Fi, and video surveillance. Instructions were given to enhance district connectivity, improve routes, repair roads, upgrade driver skills, and boost maintenance quality.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/1/2025 8:58 AM, 216.4K followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev visited the “Sobirjon Yusuf” farm in Khanka district. The farm’s head has dedicated over forty years of her life to this deed, growing and selling over 50,000 seedlings annually. The farm has established a training centre, teaching the effective use of household plots to generate income throughout the year.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/1/2025 7:55 AM, 216.4K followers, 2 retweets, 7 likes]
During his visit to #Khorezm region, President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev toured a newly established small industrial zone for furniture production. The facilities are capable of producing furniture for homes, offices, hotels, restaurants, and export. Importance of leveraging the region’s construction growth to boost demand for local products and introduce new product types was emphasized. A training center for designers and technologists has also been set up in the zone.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/1/2025 6:33 AM, 216.4K followers, 2 retweets, 14 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev visited the Al-Khwarizmi town construction site, spanning over 130 hectares. A monument to the renowned scientist Al-Khwarizmi will be built in the centre. The town will also include a technology park, office buildings, medical and cultural centres, schools, kindergartens, sports complexes, commercial and household facilities.
Saida Mirziyoyeva@SMirziyoyeva
[5/2/2025 1:52 AM, 22.1K followers, 2 retweets, 11 likes]
Honored to meet H.E. Muhammad Abdulsalam, Sec-Gen of @MuslimElders. Grateful for their support in promoting Islam’s core values. Under @president_uz’s leadership, #Uzbekistan is a model of interfaith harmony. Humbled to join the #ZayedAward jury for Human Fraternity.
Saida Mirziyoyeva@SMirziyoyeva
[5/1/2025 1:25 PM, 22.1K followers, 3 retweets, 35 likes]
The “Digital Generation Girls” competition reflects our President’s strong support for women in tech. 7,000+ girls joined the IT world in 5 years—this year, talents came from across borders. Congrats to the winners—your journey is just beginning!{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.