SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Wednesday, May 28, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Afghan refugee Tased by ICE in CT claims arrest was retaliatory. He’s moved, wife can’t find him (Hartford Courant)
Hartford Courant [5/27/2025 6:41 PM, Edmund H. Mahony, 47007K]
A judge early Tuesday ordered the release on bond of an Afghan refugee living in New Haven who was arrested and taken into custody when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot him seven times with Tasers inside the federal court building in Hartford, according to information presented in court.
However, Saifullah Khan’s wife, a U.S. citizen, said he was still in custody Tuesday evening and and there were indications he may have been transferred to some other institution from the state jail in Plymouth, Mass. where he was being held earn when his family learned of the bond decision. At 6 p.m., she said she had been unable to learn where Khan was being held.
In a related matter, Saifullah Khan’s lawyers argued in new papers filed in U.S. District Court that his arrest on May 9 was in retaliation for a suit he filed just weeks earlier that names top Trump administration security officials and demands that they be compelled to finally act on an asylum application he filed nine years ago.
Khan, who was arrested in Hartford, was being held for two weeks at Plymouth and his bond hearing took place in Chelmsford, Mass. According to online ICE records, he remains in the Plymouth facility.
U.S. Immigration Judge Donald Ostrom heard argument for and against bond during a hearing in Chelmsford last week and, at the time, said he would issue a written decision at a later date. On Tuesday, the U.S. immigration court in Massachusetts issued a two page form with a box checked next to "released from custody under bond of $7,500.00.".
The Department of Justice can appeal the decision.
Khan, 32, was confronted by five ICE agents earlier this month after he and his wife walked to an elevator at the conclusion of an immigration hearing on the sixth floor of the federal building, according to information presented in court.
When the plain clothes agents did not identify themselves, Khan called out for the immigration judge and tried to re-enter the courtroom. Khan required medical attention for a possible concussion after being immobilized by the Taser fire and falling, according to the information presented in court.
Hartford immigration Judge Theodore Doolittle was rebuked for interfering by the ICE agents when he intervened in the commotion outside his courtroom, according to information presented at the bond hearing and other witnesses.
Khan, who was born in a Pakistani refugee camp after his family was forced by the Taliban to flee Afghanistan, entered the U.S. to study at Yale in 2012 and applied for asylum in 2016 when he lost his student visa.
In late March, after 9 years of what Khan’s lawyers characterized as "inaction on his asylum application," he filed what is known as a mandamus action in an effort to compel U.S. immigration officials to settle the question. The suit names the five ICE agents who detained Khan, as well as five senior Trump administration figures, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
"Prior to filing this lawsuit, Plaintiff made numerous inquiries about the status of his applications through proper channels, including case inquiries and requests to expedite, all of which were either ignored or met with form responses indicating the cases remained under review," Khan’s lawyers wrote in a court filing.
Within weeks of naming Noem and the others in the suit, Khan received a notice that ICE had begun proceedings to deport him and he was ordered to appear at the hearing after which he was hit with the Tasers and taken into custody, according to the court filing.
The Justice Department opposed releasing Khan bond, arguing among other things that they had been unable to locate him for the seven years preceding his arrest on May 9. According to statements made in court, immigration officials had Khan’s address and regularly mailed him notices, including the order to appear in court in Hartford on the day he was arrested.
Federal immigration officials have not responded to requests to discuss the case.
Khan has no criminal record, but was accused by a Yale classmate of sexually assaulting her after a date in 2015. He was acquitted of all charges after a trial in criminal court. When Yale expelled him in spite of the acquittal, he sued the school for defamation and related rights violations.
The state Supreme Court has ruled that the Yale internal disciplinary process that resulted in the expulsion was unfair and a federal appeals court has refused to dismiss the defamation suit. Pakistan
Gunmen shoot and kill policeman assigned to protect polio workers in southwestern Pakistan (AP)
AP [5/27/2025 7:33 AM, Staff, 31733K]
Gunmen shot and killed a policeman assigned to protect polio workers in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday before fleeing the scene, police and officials said.
The attack occurred in Noshki, a district in Balochistan province, local police official Mohammad Hassan said, adding that the polio workers escaped unharmed in the attack.
The female health workers were administering oral polio vaccine drops to children inside a house when the assailants opened fire on the police officer, Abdul Waheed, who died on the way to the hospital, Hassan said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatist groups and Pakistani Taliban that have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in recent months.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in separate statements denounced the assault and vowed stern action against those behind the attack, which came a day after Pakistan launched the nationwide campaign to vaccinate 45 million children from polio.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus hasn’t been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa.
Since January, Pakistan has reported 10 polio cases from various parts of the country despite the launch of immunization drives. Last year, the South Asian country witnessed a surge in polio cases, which jumped to 74, though it reported only one polio case in 2021.
Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to protect them have been killed in attacks. Pakistani Police Officer Killed In Attack On Polio Vaccine Team (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [5/27/2025 1:04 PM, Staff, 235K]
A Pakistani police officer was killed when gunmen opened fire on a delegation of health workers carrying out a polio vaccination drive in the volatile Balochistan Province.
Police said the officer, who was part of the security detail escorting the health workers on the second day of a door-to-door campaign, died in the town of Nushki on May 27, local media reported.
No health workers were harmed and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Polio teams have frequently been targeted by insurgent groups. Both the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State militias are active in the region.The Dawn newspaper quoted President Asif Ali Zardari as saying he condemned the attack and saluted polio vaccine officials who “[inspire] us all to save our children from this crippling disease.”
Pakistan is one of two countries in the world -- Afghanistan is the other -- where the deadly polio virus has not been eradicated. Balochistan Province borders Afghanistan and Iran in southwestern Pakistan.
The World Health Organization’s Pakistan office is overseeing the drive, which runs until June 1 and will target 45 million children. The organization said 400,000 health workers will go door-to-door to administer the vaccines.
The Pakistan Polio Control Agency said that during the campaign, 23.3 million children will be vaccinated in Punjab, 10.6 million in Sindh, 7.3 million in Khyber Balochistan, 2.66 million in Balochistan, 740,000 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, 280,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 460,000 in Islamabad.
The oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but also least populated province. It is also a hub for the country’s ethnic Baluch minority who have long accused the central authorities of discrimination and exploitation.
A roadside bomb targeting a van that was transporting the police guarding polio vaccination teams killed four children and a police officer in the province in November.
For more than a decade, Pakistan’s hard-line extremist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has sustained a violent campaign against polio vaccinators and security forces guarding polio team workers in the country.
Militants often spread false claims that polio vaccines are part of a Western agenda to sterilize Muslim children. Also, militants target polio teams suspected of being government spies.
In addition, Baluch separatist groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States, are engaged in fighting against the Pakistani government. Violent Storms Kill 10 In Pakistan: Officials (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/28/2025 3:55 AM, Staff, 931K]
At least 10 people were killed and 43 injured as strong winds and thunderstorms triggered flash floods and landslides in central and northern parts of Pakistan, officials said Wednesday.
Four women and a man died in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and three in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the State Disaster Management Authority said, while other officials said two died in Punjab. Pakistan: What’s next for ex-PM Imran Khan? (Deutsche Welle)
Deutsche Welle [5/27/2025 10:54 AM, Haroon Janjua, 14.5M]
Imran Khan, a former star athlete and popular conservative politician, is still behind bars in Pakistan due to what many of his supporters believe to be politically motivated charges. He was sentenced to a 14-year prison term this January, which led him to quit reconciliation talks that he and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were conducting with the government at the time.
Khan was removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, and subsequently arrested in August 2023.
Authorities are pursuing numerous cases against him, including allegations of corruption, abuse of power, and inciting violence against the state.
The PTI claims all the cases against Khan are politically motivated. Khan himself has accused military leaders and a "foreign conspiracy" of pushing him out of office.
He has embarked on an unprecedented campaign since his ouster, openly criticizing Pakistan’s powerful generals — although they deny interfering in politics.
Khan overshadowed by rivals?
The 72-year-old politician still hopes to leave jail and eventually return to power. Despite being locked up, Khan has millions of supporters across Pakistan and can still rely on his personal charisma to incite them to action.
But the recent clashes with India over Kashmir seem to have tipped the scales.
According to public perception, Pakistan’s military mounted a competent response to India’s missile and drone attacks — and a survey by Gallup Pakistan found that 93% of respondents had a more favorable view of the military after the conflict.
The brief confrontation also prompted the government of Shehbaz Sharif to promote General Asim Munir, the chief of Pakistan’s army and Khan’s alleged rival. Munir was named field marshal "in recognition of the strategic brilliance and courageous leadership that ensured national security and decisively defeated the enemy."
PTI holds out hope for Khan
With the military enjoying a boost in popularity, Khan’s hopes to regain his freedom seem to be growing ever more remote.
"Khan’s short-term future is bleak. The military leadership is not incentivized or compelled to offer him a deal that paves the way for him to return to power," Najam Sethi, a veteran analyst, told DW.
In turn, voices from within Khan’s PTI party say that he may yet be released from prison — either by getting acquitted in the courts or via potential negotiations and backdoor discussions with the military leaders.
"Imran Khan’s future, beyond any iota of doubt, is bright and linked with the future of Pakistan and its 240 million people who time and again have reposed their unwavering trust and confidence in his leadership as well as policies to steer Pakistan out of multi-pronged crisis," senior PTI official Sheikh Waqas Akram told DW.
Khan denies talks with government, military
An online post on Khan’s X account last week denied Khan was approached for any negotiations. Khan dismissed the reports of talks as "entirely false."
According to political commentator Asma Shirazi, Khan’s future mostly hinges on his own behavior.
"Khan currently is not in a position of strength to negotiate his release as he was months ago, and there is very unlikely that he will come out of the jail due to several other pending cases against him," said Shirazi.
Politicians to step in and negotiate Khan’s release
Pakistan’s military is seen as having an oversized political influence and has claimed direct control of the country multiple times since the end of British colonial rule in 1947.
But Akram, who serves as the secretary of information in Khan’s PTI party, points out that Pakistan’s armed forces are non-partisan and apolitical under the constitution.
"Linking popularity of the military after recent conflict with India to Chairman Imran Khan’s release from illegal incarceration, to our view lacks any correlation," according to Akram.
This sentiment is echoed by Minister of State for Interior, Talal Chaudhry.
"Military leadership has made it clear that negotiations will take place with politicians and within the parliamentary forum," he told DW.
PTI faces leadership crisis
But Khan’s push to return to power has to account for more than just the military and the current government of PM Sharif. With the former prime minister in jail, cracks within the PTI have grown increasingly visible, with factions within the party pursuing conflicting agendas.
"Khan’s party is riven by internal disputes; his supporters are fearful of crackdown by the establishment, hence unable to launch and sustain meaningful street protests," said analyst Sethi.
Despite persistent rumors that the PTI is looking for backdoor negotiations with both the military and the government, PTI spokesperson Akrem said there are "no negotiations going on... for now" with the Sharif government, decrying it as a "non-elected, non-representative and fraudulent regime" in reference to the February 2024 election, which is disputed by the PTI. India
India Sees US Trade Deal as Key to Lowering External Risks (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/27/2025 10:36 AM, Satviki Sanjay, 88K]
A successful trade deal with the US could help India mitigate external risks and boost its exports, the South Asian country said, as its government seeks to speed up talks and reach an interim agreement.“A successful US-India trade agreement could flip current headwinds into tailwinds,” India’s finance ministry said in its monthly economic review Tuesday. “The risk of renewed trade barriers remains a key external vulnerability.”External risks for India persist, primarily from the 26% US tariff on Indian imports even as a temporary suspension is in place, it said.India is currently discussing a US trade deal structured in three tranches, Bloomberg News reported, with an interim agreement expected by July. India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in Washington on a four-day trip last week and said in a post on X he had “good discussions” with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.India said its economic activity as well as external sector performance appear to remain resilient in April. The government’s income tax exemptions announced in its annual budget, along with a 50 basis point cut in interest rates by the central bank, should also further stimulate consumption and accelerate recovery. It could lift growth toward the upper end of forecasts of 6.3% to 6.8%, the ministry said. The country also expects its food inflation outlook to be “benign” due to a good crop harvest and a healthy procurement of food grains, along with a forecast for an above-normal monsoon. India offers US ‘deep’ tariff cuts, but shields grain and dairy markets (Financial Times)
Financial Times [5/27/2025 8:53 PM, John Reed and Andres Schipani, 16.3M]
India has offered “deep” cuts to its import tariffs on a swath of goods in talks with the US, but is seeking to retain its high levies on sensitive agricultural commodities such as foodgrains and dairy products, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is racing to secure a preliminary trade agreement with the US to forestall President Donald Trump’s threatened imposition of a 26 per cent “reciprocal tariff” on all Indian goods from July 9. “There is a possibility of a very deep tariff reduction from India under the bilateral trade agreement,” said one of the people familiar with India’s stance on the talks, who asked not to be identified because they were confidential. “But this is subject to a very balanced outcome for both sides.”
The people with knowledge of the talks declined to give details of the range of US goods on which New Delhi had offered to substantially cut tariffs because the negotiations were at an “early stage” and might be complicated by any backlash from affected industries.
But they said India’s trade negotiators had signalled flexibility on less sensitive farm products such as almonds, which are currently subject to tariffs of up to 120 per cent, and New Delhi might also cut its tariffs of 2.5 to 3 per cent on imported oil and gas.
Indian trade officials have privately said any opening to the US would in large part mirror that seen in other recent trade pacts. In a deal with the UK agreed this month, India agreed to cut tariffs on alcoholic spirits, cars including electric vehicles and car parts, and engineering goods.
The descriptions of India’s offer so far suggest it will fall far short of expectations voiced by Trump last month, when he said: “They’ve offered us a deal where basically they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff.”
India’s trade negotiators were taking a firm line on retaining its hefty duties on core agricultural commodities such as wheat, rice and maize and on dairy products, sectors that employ millions of Indians, the two people said.
India currently imposes tariffs of 70-80 per cent on US rice and of 30-60 per cent on American dairy products.
For its part, New Delhi has pushed Washington to cut US tariffs for goods made by labour-intensive industries including gems and jewellery, textiles, footwear, leather and handicrafts, the people said.
Modi’s government would also push for social security payment exemptions for Indian workers posted to the US on short-term visas. India has asked Washington to grant this before and won a similar concession from the UK in the agreement announced this month.
India’s commerce ministry declined to comment. The White House, US commerce department and office of the US trade representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump in early April paused for 90 days the “reciprocal tariffs” he imposed on India and scores of other countries, but retained a blanket import duty of 10 per cent.
India, which has some of the world’s highest average tariffs, is now rushing to secure a framework agreement with the US. Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal met US counterpart Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer in Washington last week.
The two countries say they plan to agree the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement by the autumn and to more than double bilateral trade to $500bn by 2030.
India, the world’s largest milk producer, has successfully pushed to protect big, politically sensitive sectors such as dairy in other recent trade pacts, including one with Australia in 2022. India has almost 200,000 dairy co-operative societies totalling about 15mn members, mainly small herding families.
India and the US have two of the world’s three largest farming sectors, but New Delhi has since independence in 1947 kept high tariff walls around agriculture, which employs nearly half of the workforce of the world’s most populous country. Agriculture is a sensitive topic for the Modi government, which was in 2021 forced to abandon legislation reforming the sector after mass farmer protests.India has made similar demands to protect dairy and other sensitive farming sectors in trade talks with the EU, according to senior European diplomats and Indian officials in New Delhi. However, the negotiations with Washington are particularly challenging as the US is India’s largest trading partner, and Trump has frequently criticised its high import levies, once even calling it a “tariff king”.
Trump last week criticised iPhone maker Apple’s plans to expand manufacturing in India, which has already helped make mobile phones one of the country’s biggest exports to the US. US-Sanctioned Tankers Seen in Russia-to-India Crude Oil Trade (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/28/2025 11:07 AM, Weilun Soon and Rakesh Sharma, 5.5M]
US-sanctioned tankers have emerged in the complex maritime supply chain that ferries Russian oil to India, raising questions about the Asian nation’s stance toward the flows just as imports hit a record.
Last week, about 1 million barrels barrels of Sokol crude from Russia’s Far East were delivered to an Indian refinery. Half of that volume was loaded after two ship-to-ship transfers, one of which involved a US-sanctioned tanker, data from Kpler and Vortexa Ltd. show. Other US-sanctioned vessels have transferred cargoes of Sokol that are due to be delivered next month, according to Kpler.
Oil traders closely monitor purchases by India — which became the biggest importer of Russian seaborne barrels after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine — as well as US-led efforts to frustrate those flows. The western-led curbs, which were reinforced in January, are broadly designed both to keep oil flowing to avoid a vicious price spike, yet also restrict the benefits for Moscow.
India has previously said US-sanctioned vessels won’t be allowed to discharge their cargoes in the country, although Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has also maintained it abides only by UN restrictions, and doesn’t follow curbs imposed by any individual country or a bloc. The oil ministry didn’t reply to an email seeking comment for this story.“There will always be an element of calculated risk in Indian imports of Russian crude, but the refiners have mostly played it safe,” said Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights in Singapore. “Essentially, they can’t be held accountable for how the crude is transported.”
In late March, Viktor Titov, an Aframax that was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in January as part of a broad wave of curbs, picked up about 500,000 barrels of Sokol from Russia’s De-Kastri terminal, data show. After sailing toward Nakhodka Bay near Russia’s Kozmino, Viktor Titov performed a ship-to-ship transfer with Night Glory a week later.
That vessel, an Aframax, then sailed to the waters off Malaysia, where it transfered the cargo to a Suezmax, Cordelia Moon, which discharged at the Jamnagar refinery in west India in late May. The Night Glory and Cordelia Moon are both sanctioned by the UK, but not by the US.
Reliance Industries Ltd., which owns the Jamnagar refinery, didn’t reply to an email seeking comment. Calls made to the United Arab Emirates-based owner of Viktor Titov, and the China-based owner of Night Glory didn’t go through. The safety manager of Cordelia Moon didn’t respond to an email.
Other US-sanctioned tankers have also been involved in the trade, including Captain Kostichev and Victor Konetsky, Kpler data show. Captain Kostichev loaded 699,000 barrels of Sokol from Sakhalin 1 in late April, then transferred it to Monte 1, which is expected to discharge at Jamnagar in early June. Victor Konetsky did a ship-to-ship transfer to Night Glory in Nakhodka Bay in mid-May. Tankers may switch destinations.
Owners of Captain Kostichev and Victor Konetsky, which share the same contact details as Viktor Titov’s owner, didn’t answer calls seeking comment. Emails to the owner of Monte 1 were unanswered.
India became Russia’s main seaborne crude market following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine as Western buyers shunned the flows. Imports are set to hit a record 2.196 million barrels a day this month, as new tankers joined the trade following the wave of US sanctions that were announced in January.“At this moment, the US does not seem to be tightening enforcement or ramping up its Russia oil sanctions,” said Hari. “If and when that changes, you will probably see the refiners retreat for a while, play it safe. They have now become adept at riding these waves.” Indian Man in U.S. on Student Visa Arrested for $50k Elder Scam (Breitbart)
Breitbart [5/27/2025 7:23 PM, Paul Bois, 3077K]
An Indian man living in Toledo, Ohio, on a student visa was arrested for scamming $50,000 from an elderly couple.
Vedantkumar Bhupenbhai Patel, age 25, had been studying mechanical engineering technology at the University of Toledo when he allegedly committed the scam, per WTVG:
Patel had allegedly emailed a Michigan couple falsely informing they had pending fraudulent charges on their credit card for purchasing child pornography, "and that they’d need to withdraw $50,000 from their bank to prevent the charges from going through, according to the Shelby Township Police Department in Michigan.".
Patel allegedly told the couple to put the cash in a box for an employee with the Treasury Department to pick up — then told the couple not to tell anyone. Two days later, police said Patel drove from Toledo to Shelby Township where the couple gave him the box of cash.
Detectives later learned Patel "likely" already sent the stolen money back to his hometown in India. Authorities believe he was trying to scam others out of thousands of dollars. He’s under investigation in at least two other elder scams.
After police arrested him, he was extradited to Michigan on charges of larceny and false pretenses. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have placed a detainer on him while a judge set him under a $100,000 cash surety bond.
"People that prey on the elderly are the most despicable type of criminals that I have dealt with in my 38+ years of law enforcement experience, and our department will use every available resource to identify and arrest these types of evil criminals," Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide said in a statement. "The investigative work by Detective Thomas Verdura was extraordinary. He was determined and persistent throughout, always looking for the next clue or fact.". India’s alarm over Chinese spying rocks the surveillance industry (Reuters)
Reuters [5/27/2025 11:56 PM, Aditya Kalra, 2923K]
Global makers of surveillance gear have clashed with Indian regulators in recent weeks over contentious new security rules that require manufacturers of CCTV cameras to submit hardware, software and source code for assessment in government labs, official documents and company emails show.
The security-testing policy has sparked industry warnings of supply disruptions and added to a string of disputes between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration and foreign companies over regulatory issues and what some perceive as protectionism.
New Delhi’s approach is driven in part by its alarm about China’s sophisticated surveillance capabilities, according to a top Indian official involved in the policymaking. In 2021, Modi’s then-junior IT minister told parliament that 1 million cameras in government institutions were from Chinese companies and there were vulnerabilities with video data transferred to servers abroad.
Under the new requirements applicable from April, manufacturers such as China’s Hikvision, Xiaomi and Dahua, South Korea’s Hanwha, and Motorola Solutions of the U.S. must submit cameras for testing by Indian government labs before they can sell them in the world’s most populous nation. The policy applies to all internet-connected CCTV models made or imported since April 9.
"There’s always an espionage risk," Gulshan Rai, India’s cybersecurity chief from 2015 to 2019, told Reuters. "Anyone can operate and control internet-connected CCTV cameras sitting in an adverse location. They need to be robust and secure.".
Indian officials met on April 3 with executives of 17 foreign and domestic makers of surveillance gear, including Hanwha, Motorola, Bosch, Honeywell and Xiaomi, where many of the manufacturers said they weren’t ready to meet the certification rules and lobbied unsuccessfully for a delay, according to the official minutes.
In rejecting the request, the government said India’s policy "addresses a genuine security issue" and must be enforced, the minutes show.
India said in December the CCTV rules, which do not single out any country by name, aimed to "enhance the quality and cybersecurity of surveillance systems in the country.".
This report is based on a Reuters review of dozens of documents, including records of meetings and emails between manufacturers and Indian IT ministry officials, and interviews with six people familiar with India’s drive to scrutinize the technology. The interactions haven’t been previously reported.
Insufficient testing capacity, drawn-out factory inspections and government scrutiny of sensitive source code were among key issues camera makers said had delayed approvals and risked disrupting unspecified infrastructure and commercial projects.
"Millions of dollars will be lost from the industry, sending tremors through the market," Ajay Dubey, Hanwha’s director for South Asia, told India’s IT ministry in an email on April 9.
The IT ministry and most of the companies identified by Reuters didn’t respond to requests for comment about the discussions and the impact of the testing policy. The ministry told the executives on April 3 that it may consider accrediting more testing labs.
Millions of CCTV cameras have been installed across Indian cities, offices and residential complexes in recent years to enhance security monitoring. New Delhi has more than 250,000 cameras, according to official data, mostly mounted on poles in key locations.
The rapid take-up is set to bolster India’s surveillance camera market to $7 billion by 2030, from $3.5 billion last year, Counterpoint Research analyst Varun Gupta told Reuters.
China’s Hikvision and Dahua account for 30% of the market, while India’s CP Plus has a 48% share, Gupta said, adding that some 80% of all CCTV components are from China.
Hanwha, Motorola Solutions and Britain’s Norden Communication told officials by email in April that just a fraction of the industry’s 6,000 camera models had approvals under the new rules.
CHINA CONCERN
The U.S. in 2022 banned sales of Hikvision and Dahua equipment, citing national security risks. Britain and Australia have also restricted China-made devices.
Likewise, with CCTV cameras, India "has to ensure there are checks on what is used in these devices, what chips are going in," the senior Indian official told Reuters. "China is part of the concern.".
China’s state security laws require organizations to cooperate with intelligence work.
Reuters reported this month that unexplained communications equipment had been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S. experts who examined the products.
Since 2020, when Indian and Chinese forces clashed at their border, India has banned dozens of Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok, on national security grounds. India also tightened foreign investment rules for countries with which it shares a land border.
The remote detonation of pagers in Lebanon last year, which Reuters reported was executed by Israeli operatives targeting Hezbollah, further galvanized Indian concerns about the potential abuse of tech devices and the need to quickly enforce testing of CCTV equipment, the senior Indian official said.
The camera-testing rules don’t contain a clause about land borders.
But last month, China’s Xiaomi said that when it applied for testing of CCTV devices, Indian officials told the company the assessment couldn’t proceed because "internal guidelines" required Xiaomi to supply more registration details of two of its China-based contract manufacturers.
"The testing lab indicated that this requirement applies to applications originating from countries that share a land border with India," the company wrote in an April 24 email to the Indian agency that oversees lab testing.
Xiaomi didn’t respond to Reuters queries, and the IT ministry didn’t address questions about the company’s account.
China’s foreign ministry told Reuters it opposes the "generalization of the concept of national security to smear and suppress Chinese companies," and hoped India would provide a non-discriminatory environment for Chinese firms.
LAB TESTING, FACTORY VISITS
While CCTV equipment supplied to India’s government has had to undergo testing since June 2024, the widening of the rules to all devices has raised the stakes.
The public sector accounts for 27% of CCTV demand in India, and enterprise clients, industry, hospitality firms and homes the remaining 73%, according to Counterpoint.
The rules require CCTV cameras to have tamper-proof enclosures, strong malware detection and encryption.
Companies need to run software tools to test source code and provide reports to government labs, two camera industry executives said.
The rules allow labs to ask for source code if companies are using proprietary communication protocols in devices, rather than standard ones like Wi-Fi. They also enable Indian officials to visit device makers abroad and inspect facilities for cyber vulnerabilities.
The Indian unit of China’s Infinova told IT ministry officials last month the requirements were creating challenges.
"Expectations such as source code sharing, retesting post firmware upgrades, and multiple factory audits significantly impact internal timelines," Infinova sales executive Sumeet Chanana said in an email on April 10. Infinova didn’t respond to Reuters questions.
The same day, Sanjeev Gulati, India director for Taiwan-based Vivotek, warned Indian officials that "All ongoing projects will go on halt." He told Reuters this month that Vivotek had submitted product applications and hoped "to get clearance soon.".
The body that examines surveillance gear is India’s Standardization Testing and Quality Certification Directorate, which comes under the IT ministry. The agency has 15 labs that can review 28 applications concurrently, according to data on its website that was removed after Reuters sent questions. Each application can include up to 10 models.
As of May 28, 342 applications for hundreds of models from various manufacturers were pending, official data showed. Of those, 237 were classified as new, with 142 lodged since the April 9 deadline.
Testing had been completed on 35 of those applications, including just one from a foreign company.
India’s CP Plus told Reuters it had received clearance for its flagship cameras but several more models were awaiting certification.
Bosch said it too had submitted devices for testing, but asked that Indian authorities "allow business continuity" for those products until the process is completed.
When Reuters visited New Delhi’s bustling Nehru Place electronics market last week, shelves were stacked with popular CCTV cameras from Hikvision, Dahua and CP Plus.
But Sagar Sharma said revenue at his CCTV retail shop had plunged about 50% this month from April because of the slow pace of government approvals for security cameras.
"It is not possible right now to cater to big orders," he said. "We have to survive with the stock we have.". India approves new fighter jet as arms race with Pakistan escalates after short-lived conflict (Washington Examiner)
Washington Examiner [5/27/2025 11:29 AM, Brady Knox, 1934K]
India moved to fast-track the development of an advanced new stealth jet on Tuesday after suffering embarrassing losses in air combat with Pakistan during the recent flare-up in tensions.
While both sides claimed victory in the brief conflict earlier this month, a massive air battle ended with Pakistan as the clear victor, downing at least three Indian jets at the cost of none of its own. This included at least one French-made Rafale jet, a plane considered one of the best in the world with a previous reputation for invulnerability. Unsatisfied with these results, New Delhi is now seeking to develop its own fifth-generation stealth fighter.
India’s state-run Aeronautical Development Agency announced it will shortly invite defense firms to develop prototypes for the new twin-engine stealth fighter.
So far, only the world’s three major powers have developed and possess fifth-generation fighters — the United States, which operates the F-22 and F-35; China, which operates the J-20; and Russia, which operates the Su-57. All have banned the export of these aircraft to safeguard their technologies.
Other countries, including Turkey, South Korea, Japan, and Sweden, have their own fifth-generation programs, but they are still in the development stage.If India were to succeed in developing its own fifth-generation fighter, motivated by its recent combat losses, it would serve as a major boost for Indian military prestige. The majority of Indian Air Force aircraft are still aging Russian and ex-Soviet fighters, with its most advanced fighters being Western imports such as the Rafale.
India is hoping to harness the full capabilities of the public and private sectors to develop its new fighter, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.
"The execution model approach provides equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on a competitive basis," reads a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense, obtained by the Tribune. "They can bid either independently or as joint venture or as consortia. The bidder should be an Indian company compliant with the laws and regulations of the country.".
Even with the added urgency due to the recent conflict, it will take a great deal of effort to boost the program. The first prototype was originally scheduled to fly in 2017 — it’s now expected to fly by 2028. Experts speaking with the outlet estimated it will be 10 years before the AMCA enters service, and even longer before the planned 125 aircraft are fully integrated into the Indian Air Force.
The aircraft arms race is paired with a drone arms race. Reuters’s interviews with 15 security officials, industry executives, and analysts suggested the effectiveness of drones during the recent conflict has triggered heavy local investment as Islamabad and New Delhi seek to gain the upper hand in the next generation of warfare.
Scant confirmed details remain regarding the air battle earlier this month, but one senior Pakistani security source told CNN that the dogfight was the "largest and longest in recent aviation history," involving roughly 125 aircraft over an hour. Opposing aircraft fired missiles at targets sometimes over 100 miles away.
U.S. officials told Reuters that Chinese-made Pakistani J-10 aircraft shot down French-made Indian Rafale jets with Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles. The incident is the first time a Rafale has been shot down and the first time a J-10 has downed another aircraft.
The J-10 and Rafale are considered Generation 4.5 fighters, equivalent to the U.S. F-16 and F/A-18.
As New Delhi looks to make up for its technological deficiencies, it is also cracking down on security breaches. Indian police arrested Moti Ram Jat of the Central Reserve Police Force for "espionage activities" and allegedly "sharing classified information relating to national security" with Pakistani intelligence officers, according to the Telegraph.
India’s National Investigation Agency claimed Jat was approached by a Pakistani official posing as a woman over social media. He began receiving funds from Pakistan beginning in 2023 and had worked in Pahalgam in Kashmir, the site of last month’s deadly terrorist attack that sparked the latest round of hostilities.
At least 13 people have been arrested on espionage charges since the attack, including popular video blogger Jyoti Malhotra. India Approves Development Of Prototype Advanced Fighter Jet (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/27/2025 9:06 AM, Staff, 931K]
India’s defence minister approved on Tuesday a programme to develop an advanced fighter jet prototype, the latest push to boost local arms production, nearly three weeks after a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan.
India, one of the world’s largest arms importers, has made the modernisation of its forces a top priority in the face of tensions with nuclear-armed Pakistan and China.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the prototype of a 5th generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the ministry said in a statement, calling it a "significant push towards enhancing India’s indigenous defence capabilities".
India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) -- a government agency under the Ministry of Defence responsible for aircraft design -- is "set to execute the programme through industry partnership", it added.
"This is an important step...which will be a major milestone towards aatmanirbharta ("self-reliance") in the aerospace sector".
India’s arms purchases have steadily risen to account for nearly 10 percent of all imports globally in 2019-23, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said last year.
The world’s most populous nation has deepened defence cooperation with Western countries in recent years, including the Quad alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia, as it slowly shifts away from its longstanding reliance on Russian military hardware.
India signed in April a multi-billion-dollar deal to purchase 26 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation, adding to 36 already acquired, and replacing Russian MiG-29K jets.
But Singh has also promised at least $100 billion in fresh domestic military hardware contracts by 2033 to spur local arms production.
This decade India has opened an expansive new helicopter factory, launched its first homemade aircraft carrier, warships and submarines, and conducted a successful long-range hypersonic missile test.
New Delhi eyes threats from multiple nations, especially Islamabad.
India and Pakistan were engaged in a four-day conflict this month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.
More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides.
Pakistan claimed its Chinese-supplied jets had shot down six Indian aircraft -- including three French-made Rafale fighters.
India has not officially confirmed any of its aircraft were lost, although a senior security source told AFP three jets had crashed on home soil without giving the make or cause.
The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge Pakistan denies.
India is also wary of northern neighbour China, especially since a deadly 2020 clash between their troops. Indian police chief accused of spying for Pakistan before terror attack (The Telegraph)
The Telegraph [5/27/2025 8:59 AM, Samaan Lateef, 27190K]
An Indian police inspector has been arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan before a deadly terror attack.Moti Ram Jat of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was detained for “espionage activities” and allegedly “sharing classified information relating to national security” with Pakistani intelligence officers.Mr Jat worked at Pahalgam in Kashmir, where gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists, on April 22.The attack sparked a brief military confrontation between India and Pakistan, the neighbouring nuclear-armed states that contest Kashmir.A security official speaking anonymously told The Telegraph that Mr Jat was based at Pahalgam until six days before the incident.The official said: “The site of the terror attack falls under his battalion’s area of responsibility. An ASI [assistant sub inspector] rank official plays a significant role in operations and internal security.”Mr Jat was charged with a slew of terror and conspiracy offences and dismissed from CRPF after his arrest.India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed that he had been spying for, and receiving funds from, Pakistan since 2023.A Pakistani official was reported to have approached Mr Jat via social media posing as a woman and later extracted information, including on the movements of Indian security forces and the locations of key military bases.Social media activityDuring internal monitoring, Mr Jat was found to have been receiving 3,000 rupees monthly into his bank account from abroad, which raised suspicions, an NIA spokesman said.Mr Jat was found to have “acted in violation of established norms and protocols” in regard to his social media activity, a CRPF spokesperson said.The CRPF is an armed police force that uses military-style tactics and training, and often supports the Indian army during counter-insurgency and internal security operations.Indian security agencies have recently intensified anti-espionage operations and arrested 13 people from across the country for allegedly working with Pakistan’s spy agencies.Among these was Jyoti Malhotra, a popular video blogger who posted multiple videos on her social media accounts about a trip to Pakistan and meetings with Pakistani diplomats.Pakistan has denied having any role in the April 22 attack, which was the worst terror incident in Kashmir in decades.The massacre led to India launching aerial strikes on Pakistan, and Islamabad retaliating in kind, before the two sides were pulled back from the brink by a US-brokered ceasefire on May 10.Between May 7 and the ceasefire, both sides fired missiles and drones into each other’s territories, killing dozens of civilians.Pakistan claimed it shot down six Indian warplanes including three French-made Rafale jets, which India has not yet confirmed. After decades of bloodshed, is India winning its war against Maoists? (BBC)
BBC [5/27/2025 6:11 PM, Suvojit Bagchi, 47007K]
Could India’s decades-long jungle insurgency finally be approaching its end?
Last week, the country’s most-wanted Maoist, Nambala Keshava Rao - popularly known as Basavaraju - was killed along with 26 others in a major security operation in the central state of Chhattisgarh. Home Minister Amit Shah called it "the most decisive strike" against the insurgency in three decades. One police officer also died in the encounter.
Basavaraju’s death marks more than a tactical victory - it signals a breach in the Maoists’ last line of defence in Bastar, the forested heartland where the group carved out its fiercest stronghold since the 1980s.
Maoists, also known as "Naxalites" after the 1967 uprising in Naxalbari village in West Bengal, have regrouped over the decades to carve out a "red corridor" across central and eastern India - stretching from Jharkhand in the east to Maharashtra in the west and spanning more than a third of the country’s districts. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh had described the insurgency as India’s "greatest internal security threat".
The armed struggle for Communist rule has claimed nearly 12,000 lives since 2000, according to the South Asian Terrorism Portal. The rebels say they fight for the rights of indigenous tribes and the rural poor, citing decades of state neglect and land dispossession.
The Maoist movement - officially known as Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) - took formal shape in 2004 with the merger of key Marxist-Leninist groups into the CPI (Maoist). This party traces its ideological roots to a 1946 peasant uprising in the southern state of Telangana.In 2023, Chhattisgarh saw the majority of Maoist violence, making it the worst-hit state [AFP via Getty Images].
Now, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government pledging to end Maoism by March 2026, the battle-hardened rebellion stands at a crossroads: could this truly be the end - or just another pause in its long, bloody arc?
"There will be a lull. But Marxist-Leninist movements have transcended such challenges when the top leadership of the Naxalites were killed in the 70s and yet we are talking about Naxalism," said N Venugopal, a journalist, social scientist and long-time observer of the movement, who is both a critic and sympathiser of the Maoists.
One of the senior-most officials in India’s home ministry who oversaw anti-Maoist operations, MA Ganapathy, holds a different view.
"At its core, the Maoist movement was an ideological struggle - but that ideology has lost traction, especially among the younger generation. Educated youth aren’t interested anymore," says Mr Ganapathy.
"With Basavaraju neutralised, morale is low. They’re on their last leg.".
The federal home ministry’s latest report notes a 48% drop in violent incidents in Maoist-related violence - from 1,136 in 2013 to 594 in 2023 - and a 65% decline in related deaths, from 397 to 138.
However, it acknowledges a slight rise in security force casualties in 2023 compared to 2022, attributed to intensified operations in core Maoist areas.
The report says Chhattisgarh remained the worst-affected state in 2023, accounting for 63% of all Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) incidents and 66% of the related deaths.
Jharkhand followed, with 27% of the violence and 23% of the deaths. The remaining incidents were reported from Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
The collapse of Maoism in Chhattisgarh, a stronghold of the insurgency, offers key clues to the movement’s broader decline.
A decade ago, the state’s police were seen as weak, according to Mr Ganapathy.
"Today, precise state-led strikes, backed by central paramilitary forces, have changed the game. While paramilitary held the ground, state forces gathered intelligence and launched targeted operations. It was clear role delineation and coordination," he said.
Mr Ganapathy adds that access to mobile phones, social media, roads and connectivity have made people more aware and less inclined to support an armed underground movement.
"People have become aspirational, mobile phones and social media have become widespread and people are exposed to the outside world. Maoists also cannot operate in hiding in remote jungles while being out of sync with new social realities.
"Without mass support, no insurgency can survive," he says.
A former Maoist sympathiser, who did not want to be named, pointed to a deeper flaw behind the movement’s collapse: a political disconnect.
"They delivered real change - social justice in Telangana, uniting tribespeople in Chhattisgarh - but failed to forge it into a cohesive political force," he said.
At the heart of the failure, he argued, was a dated revolutionary vision: building isolated "liberated zones" beyond the state’s reach and "a theory to strike the state through a protracted people’s war".
"These pockets work only until the state pushes back. Then the zones collapse, and thousands die. It’s time to ask - can a revolution really be led from cut-off forestlands in today’s India?".
The CPI (Maoist)’s 2007 political document clings to a Mao-era strategy: of creating a "liberated zone" and "encircling the cities from the countryside." But the sympathiser was blunt: "That doesn’t work anymore.".
The party still retains some popular support in a few isolated pockets, primarily in the tribal regions of eastern Maharashtra, southern Chhattisgarh and parts of Odisha and Jharkhand - but without a strong military base.
Ongoing operations by state forces have significantly weakened the Maoist military infrastructure in their strongholds in southern Chhattisgarh. Cadres and leaders are now being killed regularly, reflecting the rebels’ growing inability to defend themselves.
Mr Venugopal believes the strategy needs rethinking - not abandonment.
The underground struggle has its place, he said, but "the real challenge is blending it with electoral politics".
In contrast, Mr Ganapathy sees little hope for the Maoists to mount a meaningful fightback in the near future and argues that the time has come for a different approach - dialogue.
"It would be wise for them to go for talks now and perhaps unconditionally or even lay down the conditions and let the government consider them. This is the time to approach the government instead of unnecessarily sacrificing their own cadres, without a purpose," he said.
Maoists enjoy support in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana from mainstream political parties. In Telangana, both the ruling Congress and the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have backed calls for a ceasefire, along with 10 smaller Left parties - an effort widely seen as aimed at protecting the group’s remaining leaders and cadres.
The Maoist movement, rooted in past struggles against caste oppression, still carries social legitimacy in parts of these states. Civil society activists have also joined the push for a truce.
"We, along with other civil rights groups, demanded a two-step process - an immediate ceasefire followed by peace talks," said Ranjit Sur, general secretary of the Kolkata-based group Association for Protection of Democratic Rights.
Maoist-affected states remain resilient strongholds in part because they are rich in minerals - making them sites of intense resource battles. Mr Venugopal believes this is key to the CPI (Maoist’s) enduring presence.
Chhattisgarh, for instance, is India’s sole producer of tin concentrates and moulding sand, and a leading source of coal, dolomite, bauxite and high-grade iron ore, according to the ministry of mines.
It accounts for 36% of the country’s tin, 20% iron ore, 18% coal, 11% dolomite and 4% of diamond and marble reserves. Yet, despite strong interest, mining companies - both global and national - have long struggled to access these resources.
"Multinational companies couldn’t enter because the Maoist movement, built on the slogan ‘Jal, Jangal, Jameen (Water, Forest, Land),’ asserted that forests belong to tribespeople - not corporations," Mr Venugopal said.
But with the Maoists now weakened, at least four Chhattisgarh mines are set to go to "preferred bidders" after successful auctions in May, according to an official notification.
Mr Venugopal believes that the resistance won’t die with the death of Maoist leaders.
"Leaders may fall, but the anger remains. Wherever injustice exists, there will be movements. We may not call them Maoism anymore - but they’ll be there.". Has India really overtaken Japan to become world’s 4th largest economy? (The Independent)
The Independent [5/28/2025 1:56 AM, Shweta Sharma, 48.5M]
Atop Indian official claims the country has overtaken Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, in what would be a significant symbolic milestone. But while the comment has been seized upon with glee in India, experts say the celebrations may be premature.
The claim came from BVR Subrahmanyam, chief of the Indian government’s public policy think-tank Niti Aayog. He told a televised press briefing on Sunday: “We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a $4tn economy as I speak, and this is not my data. This is IMF data,” he said. “India today is larger than Japan.”
He went on to claim that India was on course to displace Germany as the third largest economy, placing it behind only the US and China, in about three years.“It is only the US, China and Germany which are larger than India and if we stick to what is being planned and what is being thought through, in 2.5-3 years, we will be the third largest economy," Subrahmanyam said.Many reports in India have taken the claims at face value, but analysts who spoke to The Independent urged caution, pointing out that they appear to be based on projections from the IMF, not current data. Even if this milestone is reached, they say, it should not distract from the fact that there are deep-rooted socioeconomic issues and gaping disparities in the country.
India, which aspires to be a superpower by 2050, is projected by the IMF to overtake Japan in 2026 and Germany the following year. Subrahmanyam’s claim that it is already the fourth-largest economy isn’t accurate, however, at least according to the body’ current figures. For now, India remains the world’s fifth-largest economy by GDP.
The day after Subrahmanyam’s press briefing, economist and Niti Aayog member Arvind Virmani walked back the statement and clarified that India was on course to become the fourth-largest economy in the financial year 2025-26.“Many have estimated that when the 2025 data is released, it will show that India’s GDP has surpassed that of Japan, placing us in the fourth position globally,” he said. “So, we can say that by 2025, India will become the fourth-largest economy, and by 2027 or 2028, we will become the third-largest country by GDP.”
According to the IMF World Economic Outlook 2025, India’s GDP, a metric for determining the value of a nation’s economy, is around $3.909tn as compared to Japan’s $4.026tn.
Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region at investment bank Natixis in Hong Kong, tells The Independent that IMF data indicates India is yet to overtake Japan as of May 2025.“The confusion likely stems from Subrahmanyam’s reference to IMF projections for 2025-26, which may have been misinterpreted as reflecting the current situation.”
India’s GDP is projected to be $4.187tn for the 2026 financial year and Japan’s $4.186tn for the 2025 calendar year, according to the IMF outlook.
This means India is expected to marginally overtake Japan by the end of 2025 but data to establish this will not be clear until May 2026 when India’s GDP estimates for the fiscal year 2025-26 are published, Rajeswari Sengupta, an associate professor of economics at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai, tells The Independent.
Garcia-Herrero says if India does overtake Japan, it’ll be by $0.001tn, an extremely narrow margin in the context of national GDP.“Only GDP size is not a good enough measure of how India is doing. More focus on GDP per capita and income distribution should be a priority,” she says.
There are other caveats. For one, senior economist Rafiq Dossani notes, India manages its currency more tightly than Japan does. If the yen happens to appreciate against the rupee by even 1 per cent between now and 31 March 2026, all else being equal, Japan’s GDP will still be higher.“It’s probably better to state India’s achievement as saying that it is expected to catch up with industrial powerhouse Japan but still has a long way to go to achieve the same living standards as [those] enjoyed by the Japanese,” he tells The Independent.
By IMF projections, India’s economy is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent in the year 2026 and 6.3 per cent in 2027. The Reserve Bank of India estimates India’s GDP will grow by 6.5 per cent in 2026, down from the previous expectation of 6.7 per cent.
Sengupta says it is “indeed commendable” that India’s GDP continues to grow after increasing by an average of 6-6.5 per cent over the last three decades. She also notes, however, that India surpassing Japan has as much to do with Japan’s economic slowdown as with India growing.“Over the last 10-15 years the Japanese economy has shrunk owing to slowing productivity and a rapidly ageing population,” she says. “Between the mid-1990s and 2023, Japan’s nominal GDP declined from $5.3tn to $4.2tn. During this time the Indian economy was growing rapidly and the nominal GDP more than doubled. Hence, it’s not a fair comparison between two growing economies. It is a comparison between a growing and a stagnating economy.”
In the 1980s, Japan was tipped to become the world’s largest economy as it experienced a remarkable economic boom. Instead, it entered a prolonged period of stagnation known as the "Lost Decade” in the 1990s, when Japan’s economy grew slowly and was beset by deflation and a rapidly ageing population. It soon fell behind the new economic powerhouse China.
In the case of India, which surpassed the UK as the fifth-largest economy in 2023, the socioeconomic picture is complex as the vast majority of the population lives on the margins of sustenance.
Garcia-Herrero says the reality is that “India is still poor”. Its per capita nominal GDP is projected to be $2,880 in 2025 compared to $33,960 in Japan.
Per capita GDP is a measure of national economic output per person. When average incomes are adjusted for purchasing power parity, the scale of the gulf between the two countries reduces slightly – according to IMF estimates, India’s per capita income on this measure is projected to be $11,228 for 2025.
But that still compares to $52,712 for Japan, and even China – with a population roughly as big as India’s, has a significantly higher per capita income of $27,093.“This shows Japan is still far ahead in terms of living standards, even if the overall size of the two economies is now similar,” Sengupta says.“Human Development Indicators are still poor for India with challenges in education, healthcare, and poverty reduction.” Garcia-Herrero says. “Inequality is also an issue, certainly compared to Japan.”
Sengupta says more attention needs to be paid to the quality of growth and raising living standards for the majority of the country’s 1.4 billion people. Focusing on the absolute size of the country’s GDP, she argues, ultimately isn’t particularly helpful. NSB
Nepal vows to keep Himalayas safe and clean as it hosts conference for Everest climbers (AP)
AP [5/28/2025 1:10 AM, Binaj Gurubacharya, 456K]
Nepal’s government said on Tuesday it has a “duty to protect” the Himalayas from the risks presented by climate change and the growing numbers of climbers attempting to scale the region’s summits, especially Everest.“The government is strongly committed to support mountaineering in every possible way by keeping climbers safe, by protecting the natural beauty of our peaks and by helping local communities grow alongside the spirit of adventure,” Nepal’s tourism minister Badri Prasad Pandey said.
He was speaking in Kathmandu at a gathering of about 100 climbers from around the world who have successfully tackled Mount Everest. The one-day conference, dubbed the Everest Summiteers Summit, involved discussions on how to protect climbers and the environment.
Attendees expressed concern on the rising numbers of people who crowd Everest to try to scale the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak. Veterans have complained how the mountain is becoming crowded and dirty.
Climbers normally spend weeks at base camp to acclimatize to the higher altitude. They make practice runs to the lower camps on Everest before beginning their final attempt on the peak.
Nepal’s government last year funded a team of soldiers and Sherpas to remove 11 tons (24,000 pounds) of garbage, four dead bodies and a skeleton from Everest during the climbing season.“Today, climate change and global warming are putting this future at risk. That is why we must act with care, with wisdom and with a deep sense of respect,” Pandey said. “These mountains are sacred, and it is our duty to protect them for the generations yet to come.”
Nepal doesn’t have rules on how many days climbers must spend acclimatizing or making practice climbs. The permits to climb Everest, which cost $11,000 each, are valid for 90 days. Climbing season normally wraps up by the end of May, when the weather deteriorates and monsoon season begins.
Mount Everest was conquered in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay. Since then it has been climbed thousands of times and every year hundreds more attempt to reach the summit.
The popularity of the challenge means climbers face increased risks as queues form on the routes to the summit during the short windows of good weather. crowding the narrow and dangerous path to the summit though icy ridges and steep slopes.
There is also concern over the levels of experience of some climbers, who put themselves at risk as well as making climbs dangerous for others.“The biggest issue and concern at the moment is overcrowding,” said Adriana Brownlee, the youngest woman to climb the world’s 14 highest peaks. “We need to make sure that those (people on the mountain) are all experienced in the mountaineering world. So that if they are struggling (or) they are on their own and something happens, they know how to save themselves.”
Nepalese climber Purnima Shrestha said attempts to climb Mount Everest has become too commercialized.“But not all the people there are physical and emotionally ready to climb the peak, that is being disrespectful to Everest,” she said. “This is the reason why there’s all the traffic jams on the way to the peak.” Sri Lanka’s Leftist Government Begins Privatisation (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/27/2025 8:34 AM, Staff, 931K]
Sri Lanka’s leftist government said Tuesday it was selling a failed hotel project, marking its first privatisation move in line with an IMF bailout.
Government spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa said the cabinet had agreed to revive the previous administration’s stalled process "of disposing of shares in Canwill", a fully state-owned company established in 2011 to operate hotels.
The sale of Canwill marks the first major privatisation under the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a self-avowed Marxist.
Jayatissa told reporters the government had decided to retain Deloitte, a leading professional services firm, to manage the sale.
The government said Canwill, with an issued capital of $61 million, needed at least another $120 million to complete its 47-storey, partially built, 458-room beachfront hotel in Colombo.
With no prospect of raising the capital to complete the project, the new administration decided to divest the asset instead.
The company also owns another beach property in the south of the island.
The International Monetary Fund, which extended Sri Lanka a $2.9 billion loan in early 2023 after the country defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in April 2022, had urged reforms of loss-making state-owned enterprises.
Dissanayake had previously been reluctant to sell state assets, instead promising to revive unprofitable government-owned firms through improved management.
However, since winning the presidency in September, Dissanayake has made a U-turn on his pledge to renegotiate the terms of the unpopular IMF bailout agreed by his predecessor.
He has retained the high taxes imposed by the previous administration and agreed to remove subsidies on fuel and electricity.
The IMF bailout programme requires the government to reform 52 state-owned enterprises that are straining the national budget.Sri Lanka’s leftist government said Tuesday it was selling a failed hotel project, marking its first privatisation move in line with an IMF bailout.
Government spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa said the cabinet had agreed to revive the previous administration’s stalled process "of disposing of shares in Canwill", a fully state-owned company established in 2011 to operate hotels.
The sale of Canwill marks the first major privatisation under the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a self-avowed Marxist.
Jayatissa told reporters the government had decided to retain Deloitte, a leading professional services firm, to manage the sale.
The government said Canwill, with an issued capital of $61 million, needed at least another $120 million to complete its 47-storey, partially built, 458-room beachfront hotel in Colombo.
With no prospect of raising the capital to complete the project, the new administration decided to divest the asset instead.
The company also owns another beach property in the south of the island.
The International Monetary Fund, which extended Sri Lanka a $2.9 billion loan in early 2023 after the country defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in April 2022, had urged reforms of loss-making state-owned enterprises.
Dissanayake had previously been reluctant to sell state assets, instead promising to revive unprofitable government-owned firms through improved management.
However, since winning the presidency in September, Dissanayake has made a U-turn on his pledge to renegotiate the terms of the unpopular IMF bailout agreed by his predecessor.
He has retained the high taxes imposed by the previous administration and agreed to remove subsidies on fuel and electricity.
The IMF bailout programme requires the government to reform 52 state-owned enterprises that are straining the national budget. Ex-flight attendant allegedly caught with 101 pounds of synthetic drug in her suitcases at Sri Lanka airport, reports say (CBS News)
CBS News [5/27/2025 6:12 AM, Staff, 51860K]
Sri Lankan authorities have seized nearly 60 kilograms of potent synthetic cannabis that foreigners tried to smuggle in this month in three separate cases, a customs official said Saturday. The majority of the drugs were reportedly seized from a former flight attendant from England who authorties say had over 100 pounds of the drug in her suitcases.
The South Asian island has long been considered a transit point for international drug smugglers, and all three suspects — from Britain, India and Thailand — could face life imprisonment if convicted.
The 21-year-old British woman was arrested on May 12, with customs officers saying she was stopped with 46 kilograms (101 pounds) of kush — a synthetic drug containing powerful opioids — packed in two suitcases.
"This could be the biggest drug bust at the Colombo airport in recent times," said Customs Additional Director General Seevali Arukgoda.
British media, including the BBC, have identified the woman as Charlotte May Lee, a former cabin crew member from London, who had flown to Sri Lanka from Thailand.
She is being held in detention at a prison near Colombo airport and is in contact with her family, her lawyer told the BBC.
The BBC reported that she denied knowledge of drugs in her luggage, and claimed they were planted at her hotel in Bangkok.
Her legal representative, Sampath Perera, told the BBC that his team was visiting her daily in prison to provide support and monitor her wellbeing.
"I had never seen them [the drugs] before. I didn’t expect it all when they pulled me over at the airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff," Lee told the Daily Mail from prison.
On May 16, a 33-year-old Indian man was arrested at the northern seaport of Kankesanthurai.
Arukgoda said that he had been carrying four kilograms of kush.
He too has been handed over to the anti-narcotics police for further investigations.
On May 18, a 21-year-old Thai man was stopped at Colombo airport. He is accused of attempting to smuggle in nearly eight kilograms of kush.
The drug has wreaked havoc in West African countries in recent years, especially in Sierra Leone, The Associated Press reported. In 2014, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio declared a war on kush, calling it an epidemic and a national threat.
Sri Lankan authorities have previously seized large quantities of heroin off its shores, saying it suggested the island is being used as a transit hub for narcotics being reshipped onward.
In October, a Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to smuggling more than 111 kilograms of heroin.
The men were among 17 arrested in Sri Lankan waters in April 2016 while transporting narcotics aboard an Iranian trawler.
In 2023, nine Iranians received life sentences in a separate drug smuggling case. Central Asia
Central Asian states ready to meet rising global demand for critical minerals (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/27/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
The global appetite for critical minerals and rare earths is skyrocketing, according to a report issued by the International Energy Agency. China is the dominant player in terms of mining and refining, but Kazakhstan is the world’s leading producer of uranium, while Uzbekistan is expanding exports of uranium, copper and other rare earths.
The IEA’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 notes that global demand for lithium increased by 30 percent in 2024 over the previous year’s total. Other minerals used in the production of electric vehicles, batteries and renewables, including cobalt, nickel and rare earths, also registered strong growth in demand.
The report indicated that the Russia-Ukraine war, namely the ongoing “geopolitical tension” clouding Russian trade, helped Kazakhstan boost uranium exports despite “operational hurdles.” Meanwhile, the IEA touted an Uzbek deal with the United States covering critical minerals, even though details of the arrangement have not been released.
Kazakhstan could significantly increase its earnings in coming years, if claims made by Astana in April about the discovery of major rare earths deposits prove accurate.
Over the past two years, China has been “the single largest contributor to demand growth,” according to the IEA. At the same time, Beijing is the world’s foremost supplier of rare earths. The report states that China is the leading refiner for 19 out of 20 strategic minerals examined in the report.
China’s market dominance could have potentially troubling ramifications for the global economy as technologies evolve, the IEA report indicates.“Emerging battery technologies are challenging the incumbent nickel-based lithium-ion batteries, and these are not immune to high supply concentration and volume risks,” the report cautions.“The supply chains for these [emerging] technologies are significantly more concentrated than those for nickel-based batteries,” it adds. “China produces 75 percent of the world’s purified phosphoric acid, essential for lithium iron phosphate batteries, and 95 percent of high-purity manganese sulphate, a key input for manganese-rich and sodium-ion battery chemistries.” Kazakhstan’s Role in Shaping Regional Security in Central Asia (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [5/27/2025 10:05 AM, Zhansaya Sembayeva and Zhanat Makasheva, 555K]
In the context of contemporary international relations, Kazakhstan occupies a pivotal position in ensuring stability in Central Asia. It is the region’s largest country in terms of both territory and economic heft and pursues a multivector foreign policy aimed at minimizing risks and strengthening regional security.
Central Asia – comprising Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – has long attracted the strategic interest of major global powers due to its pivotal location and abundant natural resources.
The countries of Central Asia represent one of the key priorities in Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. As the geographical and political center of the region, Kazakhstan seeks to maintain a balance of interests by employing diplomatic instruments, participating in international organizations and fostering multilateral relations.
It is important to consider not only external influences but also the internal dynamics among the countries of the region when assessing regional security. In this context, the regional security complex theory is applicable, as it posits that security is shaped not only at the global and at the national levels, but also through interactions among neighboring states.
Historically, conflicts most often arise within regional environments, as neighboring states tend to share similar challenges in areas such as the economy, environment, and defense. A core concept of the regional security complex theory is mutual vulnerability. A country’s neighbors may perceive the strengthening of that country’s position as a potential threat, even if the country’s intentions are peaceful. This creates a mirror effect, where one state’s consolidation prompts reciprocal actions from others. In the absence of a trusted institutional framework among regional countries, every move can be interpreted ambiguously. Such reactions are not limited to the military sphere.
Security in a given region is not an absolute, but a relative concept. As long as countries view one another as potential rivals, neither stable alliances nor effective collective defense can be achieved. As some scholars note, when there is a chronic deficit of mutual trust between states, they tend to interpret each other’s intentions with suspicion, maintain distance, and remain unable to act in a coordinated manner.
Against this backdrop, it becomes clear why issues such as migration, epidemics, and the environment often fall into the realm of securitization – that is, they are treated as threats requiring strict control. Rather than being openly discussed, these topics become taboo. However, there is a growing call for desecuritization, bringing such issues back into the realm of public policy. In particular, the call to desecuritize migration has intensified in recent years; there is a need to shift from viewing migration as a security threat toward supporting mobility and mutual benefit.
Kazakhstan is already implementing a policy of desecuritization in practice by creating conditions for the comfortable integration of migrants and promoting cross-border exchange within Central Asia. The new Migration Policy Concept (2023–2027) marks a shift from strict control toward managed attractiveness: long-term visas have been introduced for investors and skilled professionals, a unified digital portal for tracking movement was launched, and social protections for labor migrants have been expanded.
By the end of 2023, Kazakhstan recorded its first positive migration balance in a decade: over 25,000 arrivals versus 16,000 departures, with the majority of new entrants coming from CIS countries. The country has also expanded its participation in the DAFI scholarship program, enabling young refugees to pursue higher education at Kazakhstan’s universities. This approach reduces marginalization risks and contributes to the accumulation of human capital.These measures collectively enhance regional security. Legalizing migrant flows curbs the shadow economy and limits the space for extremism. Education and integration of refugees prevent the radicalization of vulnerable groups and strengthen the human capital of host societies. Digitalized logistics and infrastructure investments increase economic interdependence among Central Asian states, raising the cost of conflict and creating incentives for cooperation.
By integrating migration and borders into its sustainable development agenda, Kazakhstan demonstrates that soft governance of human and trade flows is an effective tool for regional stability. Legalization, education, and accelerated commerce contribute to a more resilient and mutually beneficial Central Asia.
The countries of Central Asia are increasingly seeking to conduct independent foreign policies – to diversify their international partnerships and assert greater agency in shaping their own geopolitical agendas. This includes engaging with a variety of global actors such as China, Russia, the United States and the European Union.
The geography of Central Asia is not merely a backdrop, but a key to understanding the entire logic of regional security. Its landlocked position, lack of access to maritime routes, and the absence of a unified transport network create unique conditions. Effective regional cooperation and security can only be achieved through collective effort; no single state or external actor can shoulder this responsibility alone.
Central Asia’s landlocked position, affects virtually all spheres of life, including foreign policy, national security, and the economy. The region shares a border with Afghanistan, which has long raised concerns about the potential spillover of instability across the frontier. This reinforces the need for coordination and mutual trust, but due to the securitization of cross-border issues broadly this has long been lacking.
A positive trend is emerging as countries in the region begin to recognize the importance of internal dialogue and overcoming barriers of mistrust. This shift toward shared responsibility marks an important step toward sustainable peace. For instance, the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of Central Asian states launched in 2018 and leaders meetings have been held regularly since. These summits have provided a platform for the five Central Asian presidents to discuss regional challenges – such as border disputes, water management, and trade – in an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competition. Notably, the March 2025 trilateral agreement between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan on the demarcation of their mutual borders illustrates how long-standing territorial issues can be addressed through regional dialogue and consensus-building.
Regional security in Central Asia can only be sustainable if it is shaped from within the region itself. Kazakhstan is already playing an active role in this process, acting as an initiator of dialogue and cooperation. Uzbekistan, particularly under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has also emerged as a key proponent of regional engagement, prioritizing good-neighborly relations, border resolution, and multilateral cooperation.
However, there is a pressing need to move from individual initiatives toward mature forms of collective responsibility. Today, Central Asia has a genuine opportunity to move beyond the role of a buffer zone and emerge as an independent strategic actor. To achieve this, the countries of the region must learn to view one another not as competitors, but as partners. Russia and Kazakhstan’s Growing Lists of Undesirables (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [5/27/2025 8:22 AM, Albert Otkjær, 555K]
On May 17, Kazakh journalist Irina Mednikova was unexpectedly barred from boarding a flight to Russia at Almaty airport. At the counter, she was informed she had been declared "undesirable" by Russian authorities and was no longer allowed to enter the country. "Today I learned that I have been recognized as an undesirable person in the Russian Federation," she wrote on social media.
Just days earlier, Kazakh anti-corruption activist Didar Smagulov reported a similar experience. Like Mednikova, he was denied entry without any explanation from Russian authorities. When questioned in parliament, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Akan Rakhmetullin stated, "The reasons [for an entry ban] may vary, and usually the country has full sovereign rights not to disclose them. Apparently, there are internal considerations.".
While the Russian government has not provided reasons for these bans, many observers see them as retaliatory, coming in the wake of Kazakhstan’s own decision to deny entry to Russian historian Andrei Grozin. Although Grozin had multiple events scheduled in Kazakhstan, his previous critical comments about Kazakh politics are widely believed to have prompted the decision, despite no official explanation being given.
These incidents appear to be part of a broader pattern. Deutsche Welle recently reported that a growing number of Kazakh politicians, journalists, and academics have been denied entry to Russia. Many of those targeted said they were given no justification and were simply informed of their status as "undesirable.".
Importantly, not all those affected are politically active. According to an investigation by Radio Azattyk, around 70 Kazakh scholars have been banned from entering Russia, including historians who have not publicly commented on contemporary politics. A common theme among many of them is their academic focus on Stalin-era repression in Kazakhstan, a sensitive topic in Moscow. Russia has offered no confirmation or comment on the matter.
Kazakhstan, for its part, has also issued bans against prominent Russian figures. Director Tigran Keosayan and journalist Tina Kandelaki were denied entry following public statements that questioned Kazakh independence. The Kazakh list of "undesirable persons" was recently revealed to be more extensive than previously known, with inclusions such as philosopher Alexander Dugin and the late Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who was born in Almaty but reportedly topped the list until his death in 2022.
One of the events Grozin had planned to attend in Kazakhstan aimed to "take stock of problems in Russian-Kazakh relations." Ironically, the travel ban imposed on him may itself be among the most visible symptoms of those problems.
While neither country publishes a comprehensive list of those banned, the emerging pattern is difficult to ignore. Many Russian nationals barred from Kazakhstan have made statements that challenge Kazakhstan’s sovereignty or territorial integrity. Conversely, many of the Kazakhs banned from Russia have voiced support for Ukraine or engaged in academic inquiry into Soviet repression, topics that increasingly provoke sensitivities in Moscow.
With travel bans continuing to surface almost weekly, this "eye for an eye" dynamic could become a new arena for geopolitical signaling. While the long-term consequences for Kazakhstan-Russia relations remain uncertain, what is clear is that border restrictions are no longer just administrative matters – they are now tools of diplomacy. Indo-Pacific
US official claims Trump tariffs brought China to table and halted India-Pakistan conflict (The Independent)
The Independent [5/28/2025 3:36 AM, Maroosha Muzaffar, 48.5M]
A top aide to Donald Trump claimed the US president’s tariffs helped broker a fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan earlier this month by offering trade incentives and warned that limiting executive power could jeopardise regional security.White House officials told the US Court of International Trade to uphold Mr Trump’s import tariffs on almost all major countries, arguing that overturning the levies would weaken Washington’s ability to negotiate trade deals globally and undermine their strategic use as diplomatic tools.Trade representative Jamieson Greer, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, treasury secretary Scott Bessent and secretary of state Marco Rubio told the court in statements submitted late last week they supported the tariffs, imposed by Mr Trump under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.They were responding to a lawsuit brought by small businesses claiming losses from Mr Trump’s trade policies.Mr Lutnick claimed that Mr Trump’s power to impose tariffs had helped broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after four days of fighting earlier this month. “A ruling that narrows IEEPA would have ripple effects across every domain in which economic instruments are used for strategic effect,” Mr Lutnick said, according to Friday’s court filing.“This ceasefire was only achieved after President Trump interceded and offered both nations trading access with the United States to avert a full-scale war,” Mr Lutnick argued. “An adverse ruling that constrains presidential power in this case could lead India and Pakistan to question the validity of President Trump’s offer, threatening the security of an entire region and the lives of millions.”While Pakistan had acknowledged Washington’s role in brokering the ceasefire, Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar had maintained the truce was agreed after direct talks initiated by the Pakistani army, firmly rejecting claims of international mediation. The Independent has contacted the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson for comment.The commerce secretary also claimed that Mr Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs on China persuaded Beijing to lower levies on US goods, marking a diplomatic win. “The increased tariff rate against China applied additional pressure to achieve the foreign policy objective of bringing China - the greatest contributor to the national emergency and a well-known strategic adversary - to the negotiating table,” he said.An invalidation of the president’s ability to use IEEPA would “dismantle a cornerstone” of his national security architecture, Mr Lutnick said, “irreparably harm the government’s ability to respond to evolving foreign threats” and severely disrupt the commerce department “coordination of foreign policy-related economic actions on behalf of the president”.“The imposition of IEEPA tariffs signals to foreign governments that certain conduct, whether economic predation, trade manipulation, or narcotics trafficking, will incur serious consequences. Diluting this authority would not only unravel the current IEEPA actions but also would undermine future deterrence,” he said.Noting that “allies and adversaries alike monitor US courts for signs of constraint on presidential power”, Mr Lutnick claimed that “a ruling that narrows IEEPA would have ripple effects across every domain in which economic instruments are used for strategic effect”.The Independent has contacted Mr Lutnick’s office for comment.In April, Mr Trump imposed heavy tariffs on almost all US trade partners but paused enforcement for 90 days to allow time for negotiations. The president made an exception for China, however, slapping it with levies exceeding 100 per cent. China responded in kind.The commerce secretary told the court that Mr Trump’s tariff strategy rewarded non-retaliating nations with negotiations, resulting in a trade deal with the UK.In his statement, Mr Greer said that IEEPA was a “crucial tool” that the president must retain to confront extraordinary threats. He warned that stripping Mr Trump of the authority to invoke the measure would unravel agreements with the United Kingdom and China on delaying or reducing tariffs and derail ongoing talks with other nations.“A decision enjoining the president from imposing tariffs under IEEPA would create a foreign policy disaster scenario,” he said, according to Politico.The lawsuit argues that IEEPA doesn’t authorise tariffs and should only apply to “unusual and extraordinary threats”, not routine trade.Mr Rubio argued that the court was not “appropriately situated to handle and intervene in matters of foreign policy and national security”.He cautioned that a ruling against the administration could “lead to embarrassment of the United States on a global stage”, according to the South China Morning Post. Such an outcome could be “dangerous” as it would embolden America’s allies and adversaries alike. Trump tariffs brought China to table, halted India-Pakistan conflict, officials tell court (South China Morning Post)
South China Morning Post [5/28/2025 4:56 AM, Khushboo Razdan, 7.7M]
The Trump administration’s top officials have urged a US court to uphold the president’s sweeping tariff powers, warning that a legal setback could upend an “asymmetric” trade truce with China, embarrass Washington and reignite conflict between India and Pakistan.
The officials claimed that Trump used his tariff power to broker a ceasefire between New Delhi and Islamabad earlier this month and bring about a fragile peace. They further cautioned that trade negotiations with dozens of countries remained in a “delicate state”, with a July 7 deadline to finalise deals fast approaching.
Trump’s use of tariffs as a policy tool has elicited criticism from his opponents over unclear goals and inconsistent messaging in a vaguely defined push to restore American manufacturing.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio submitted their statements on Friday to the New York-based Court of International Trade, in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of small American businesses challenging US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
A three-judge panel at the court is considering whether Trump’s use of a “national emergency” was legally justified to support the tariffs.
If the court limited Trump’s authority, Lutnick argued, “foreign counterparts will have reduced incentives to reach meaningful agreements” and it would “destroy the carefully crafted China trade agreement, which is asymmetric in America’s favour, in order to address the emergency of our persistent goods trade deficit”.
The commerce chief touted higher tariffs as exerting “additional pressure to achieve the foreign-policy objective of bringing China – the greatest contributor to the national emergency and a well-known strategic adversary – to the negotiating table”.
Lutnick said it was “because of the IEEPA tariffs” that China reduced levies on US exports while “the Trump administration works to address long-standing disputes with China”, referring to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 that the president invoked.“Under that asymmetrical agreement, reached because of the pressures of the IEEPA tariffs, China lowered its universal tariff rate on US goods to 10 per cent, while the United States maintained a higher rate of 30 per cent,” the commerce chief added.
In the early weeks of his second presidential term, Trump reignited a tariff war with China, triggering swift retaliation from Beijing, disrupting global supply chains and stoking fears of inflation and a global economic slowdown.
In February, Trump imposed a 20 per cent tariff on imports from China, Mexico and Canada, citing efforts to curb fentanyl production and trafficking.
By April, he escalated the pressure with an additional 34 per cent tariff on Chinese goods. Within days, the tit-for-tat measures pushed US tariffs on Chinese imports to a lofty 145 per cent, while Chinese tariffs on American goods surged to 125 per cent.
After a two-day meeting in Geneva earlier this month, both sides agreed to a 90-day halt on the tariffs. As part of the truce, the US reduced its levies to 30 per cent, and China lowered its own to 10 per cent, though Beijing maintained restrictions on exports of certain critical minerals.
Lutnick told the court that if the judges decided to issue an injunction against the tariffs, it would “collapse ongoing negotiations, allow for Chinese aggression during a period of strategic competition, leave the American people exposed to predatory economic practices by foreign actors and threaten national security”.
Beyond trade negotiations with China, Lutnick said the tariff powers enabled Trump to help broker a ceasefire between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan earlier this month.“Allies and adversaries alike monitor US courts for signs of constraint on presidential power,” the commerce secretary said, citing the India-Pakistan ceasefire as a direct result of the American president’s intervention.
According to Lutnick, the three-day armed conflict between the South Asian neighbours ended on May 10 only after Trump offered both countries expanded trade access to the US in exchange for pausing hostilities. He described the agreement as a “tenuous ceasefire”.“An adverse ruling that constrains presidential power in this case could lead India and Pakistan to question the validity of President Trump’s offer, threatening the security of an entire region and the lives of millions”, Lutnick said.
Bessent, who led the most recent trade negotiations with China, made no mention of Trump’s purported use to tariffs for peace but gave an update on the state of ongoing negotiations with “dozens of countries”.
After announcing hefty tariffs on all trading partners on April 2, Trump halted them within days of that “Liberation Day” for 90 days to allow time to reach new deals.“Those negotiations are presently in a delicate state, with discussions ongoing and formal, final deals not yet reached,” Bessent told the court.
So far, only a deal with Britain has been announced, although details have yet to be hammered out. Talks with India, Japan and South Korea are described as in advanced stages, while progress with Mexico, Canada and China is said to be in the early stages.
In each case, Bessent said, negotiations are premised on Trump’s tariffs and if the court struck them down, countries “may feel a renewed boldness to take advantage of that new vulnerability by retaliating” against the US.
On this point, Greer in his statement argued that enjoining Trump from imposing tariffs would signal to America’s trading partners that he “lacks power to promptly respond to future emergencies” and they “may feel emboldened to further distort the conditions of competition for US exporters”.
Rubio, Trump’s top diplomat and long an outspoken China hawk, told the court it was not “appropriately situated to handle and intervene in matters of foreign policy and national security”.
The former Republican senator warned that a conflicting ruling from the court would “lead to embarrassment of the United States on a global stage” and called such an outcome “dangerous, as it emboldens allies and adversaries alike” and would “perpetuate the United States’ industrial decline and unsustainable trade deficits”.
But according to Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor who is co-counsel in a similar tariffs case brought by another set of small businesses before the Court of International Trade, Trump’s tariffs policy cannot be justified.
Speaking on Tuesday at an event hosted by the Cato Insitute, a Washington-based think tank, Somin said no precedent existed “at least in the last century or more for using a declaration of emergencies to claim such vast and sweeping powers”.
The Trump administration, Somin said, “certainly can’t justify ignoring the separate requirement [under the IEEPA] that there must be an extraordinary and unusual threat and not just [a national] emergency”.
Somin described tariffs now as being “used as a pretext for something the president wants to do for other reasons”. China is the unlikely winner of the Indo-Pakistan conflict (Nikkei Asia – opinion)
Nikkei Asia [5/28/2025 1:05 AM, Farhan Bokhari, 1.1M]
When Indian and Pakistani militaries clashed in early May, few foresaw China’s rise as the key winner from the four-day conflict.
Hours after the tit-for-tat offensives began, Pakistan’s claim of using its Chinese J-10 C "Vigorous Dragon" fighter planes to successfully target six Indian fighter jets including three French Rafale planes, immediately lifted the share price of the company that manufactures the Chinese aircraft.
While Western officials have conceded the loss of at least one Indian-flown Rafale, they have yet to back Pakistan’s subsequent claim of downing six fighter planes.
But irrespective of the final count, the first ever successful targeting of a French Rafale by a Chinese fighter plane has lifted global interest in China’s expansion of its air power. The J-10 Cs flown by Pakistan were reportedly armed with Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles, which are also now at the center of interest from global defense experts.
For the moment, Pakistan remains the only international customer for the J-10 C. But, observers say, May’s Indo-Pakistan clash has lifted the image of the jets -- long considered among China’s front-line fighters -- and raised the prospect for international sales. Along with the JF-17 "Thunder" fighters that Pakistan co-produces with China, the two platforms together present prospective customers with at least two advantages.
First, the price tag is significantly lower than comparable fighter planes on sale from U.S. or European manufacturers. The second, relates to the continuity of supplies once contracts are signed. This is a lesson Pakistan learnt the hard way from its own experience with the U.S.
In 1990, Washington suspended sales of F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan on the grounds that the country had acquired the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Those sanctions prompted Pakistan to expand its defense cooperation with China by launching a plan to build fighter planes that led to the successful production of the JF-17. The U.S. refusal to sell more F-16s to Pakistan after selling an initial batch of 40 planes in the early 1980s, came after the former Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, ending Pakistan’s status as a U.S.-backed front-line state in the campaign against Moscow’s expansionism.
More recently in the past decade, Pakistan was let down once again by the U.S. on two occasions. First, a contract signed by America to sell advanced military helicopters to Pakistan in 2015 was eventually withdrawn. Then, Washington after 2018 refused to allow Turkey to export a U.S.-manufactured engine that equipped a batch of its advanced military helicopters offered for sale to Pakistan.
Observers have also noted linkages by western suppliers to political conditions and human rights status of importing countries, unlike China which remains ready to sell its hardware to prospective customers irrespective of their internal political situation.
Meanwhile, the capabilities of the J-10 Cs are indicative of Beijing’s success in manufacturing top-of-the-line defense equipment. Observers of China’s development of fighter aircraft manufactured in the 1960s still remember Beijing’s technology back then that lagged Western-manufactured systems.
Pakistan Air Force fighter pilots who flew the F-6, the Chinese equivalent of the MiG-19 manufactured by the former Soviet Union, quickly learnt to be skeptical over its performance. Some nicknamed the F-6 a "flying coffin," having witnessed terrible accidents such as the pilot seat failing to eject in an emergency, or a sudden drop of air supply for pilots at high altitudes as the fighters endured challenging journeys over the Himalayas enroute to Pakistan from China.
But with China’s economic reforms that began in the late 1970s under the late leader Deng Xiaoping, Beijing vigorously acquired new technologies. The changes in China led to vast improvements in the manufacturing of military equipment that demonstrated a narrowing of the gap with advanced technologies produced by Beijing’s rivals, notably the U.S.
Going forward, Pakistan has reportedly reached an agreement for the purchase of a batch of China’s advanced J-35 A fighter planes, equipping the country with its first-ever fighter with stealth capabilities. Though critics often lament a buildup of arms for the military of the already nuclearized region, others say it is essential for Pakistan to sustain a credible defense in order to maintain peace with its neighbor.
While the world watches South Asia’s tensions with concern, it is China’s defense industry that may emerge as the most unexpected beneficiary of the rising military stakes in the region. Developing nations face ‘tidal wave’ of debt repayments to China in 2025: report (Radio Free Asia)
Radio Free Asia [5/27/2025 5:44 PM, Tenzin Pema, 1158K]
China’s role in developing countries’ finances has transformed from capital provider to chief debt collector as a "tidal wave" of repayments due on loans Beijing extended under its Belt and Road Initiative far outstrip new disbursements, a new report by an Australian think tank showed.
Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing has disbursed over $1 trillion in loans to more than 150 countries to build a network of roads, airports, railways, telecommunication networks, and seaports to connect China to the rest of the world. Critics have accused China of setting up debt traps and expanding geopolitical and economic influence through BRI.
According to the report by the Lowy Institute, developing countries owe a record $35 billion in debt repayments to China in 2025, with debt servicing costs on projects financed by BRI – which Chinese President Xi Jinping launched with great fanfare in 2013 – set to remain elevated for the rest of the decade.
Around $22 billion, or about two-thirds of the total $35 billion in debt repayments due in 2025, will be made by 75 of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries, threatening critical spending for health, education, poverty reduction and climate adaptation efforts, the report said.
"China’s role as a lender has passed a watershed," wrote Riley Duke, the author of the report titled "Peak Repayment: China’s Global Lending".
"The nation that was once the developing world’s largest source of new finance has now wholly transitioned to being the world’s largest single destination for developing country debt service payments," added Duke, research fellow on the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map.
New Chinese loan commitments have also remained at around $7 billion per year since 2023, shifting from being a net provider of financing – where it lent more than it received in repayments – to a "net drain," as repayments now exceed loan disbursements, the report said.
In 2012, China was a net drain on the finances of only 18 developing nations; by 2023, that number has more than tripled to 60.
"China is grappling with a dilemma of its own making: it faces growing diplomatic pressure to restructure unsustainable debt, and mounting domestic pressure to recover outstanding debts, particularly from its quasi-commercial institutions," wrote Duke.
Geopolitical leverage
Despite the broader decline in global lending, China continues to finance strategic or "politically significant borrowers," and remains the largest bilateral lender in seven out of its nine land neighbors. These include Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
The report said that new loans also feature as a diplomatic dealmaking tool, particularly in getting other countries to adopt Beijing’s "One China" policy, which states that the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government of China, including self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory.
For example, China announced new financing for several countries, including Honduras, Nicaragua, and Solomon Islands, just months after they officially declared that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory" and switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
In June 2023, Honduras became the latest Central American country to join BRI, reducing Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the region to just two – Guatemala and Belize – amid China’s growing economic influence through investments, loans, and trade.
New loan deals have been resilient also for developing countries that are exporters of critical mineral resources or battery metal, such as Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, receiving more than $8 billion in disbursements in 2023, or over a third of China’s total loan outflows for that year, the report said.
"Rising debt-service costs raise questions about whether China could use the repayments for geopolitical leverage," wrote Duke. "Some argue that China’s lending boom in the 2010s reflected an intentional effort at ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ aimed at pushing countries into debt problems so that geopolitical concessions could later be extracted," he added.
On Tuesday, in response to a query about the key findings in the Lowy Institute report, Chinese government spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that China’s cooperation on investment and financing with developing countries follows international practice, market principles, and the principle of debt sustainability.
"A handful of countries are spreading the narrative that China is responsible for these countries’ debt," Mao said. "They ignore the fact that multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors from developed countries are the main creditors of developing countries and the primary source of debt repayment pressure. Lies cannot cover the truth and people can tell right from wrong," she added.
Impact of debt burden
Today, China is the largest source of bilateral debt service for developing countries, accounting for more than 30% of all such payments in 2025, according to data reported by debtor governments to the World Bank.
As of 2023, some 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on health or education, the report said.
"The high debt burden facing developing countries will hamper poverty reduction and slow development progress while stoking economic and political instability risks," Duke wrote in the report.
In 54 out of 120 developing countries with available data, debt service payments to China exceed the combined payments owed to the Paris Club — a bloc that includes all major Western bilateral lenders, the report said.
Chinese debt servicing is particularly dominant in Africa but also equals or exceeds that owed to Paris Club members by a majority of countries in South America, the Pacific Islands, South Asia, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, the report said.
"As Beijing shifts into the role of debt collector, Western governments remain internally focused, with aid declining and multilateral support waning. Without fresh concessional financing or coordinated relief, the squeeze on budgets will tighten further, deepening development setbacks and heightening instability risks," Duke added. Twitter
Afghanistan
Muhammad Jalal@MJalalAf
[5/27/2025 9:15 AM, 126.1K followers, 24 retweets, 127 likes]
H.E. Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, Acting Minister of Interior Affairs-IEA, addressed a seminar for directors of several ministries, stressing reform, public service & integrity. He urged officials to serve with sincerity & prioritize the Islamic system over personal interests.
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[5/27/2025 9:20 PM, 8.5K followers, 15 retweets, 44 likes]
As a journalist, I’ve been at the intersection of many groups helping Afghan allies, Afghan women, U.S. veterans, and others impacted by the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan over the past 3.5 years. Right now, they all are scrambling to assist their people. It’s painful to witness.
Jahanzeb@JahanzebWe
[5/27/2025 2:32 PM, 5.8K followers, 64 retweets, 120 likes]
1448 days. That’s how long Afghan girls have been locked out of their schools. Not because they failed — but because they are girls. This is not tradition. This is systematic erasure. Education is a right, not a crime. Speak out. Act now. #LetAfghanGirlsLearn #EndGenderApartheid Pakistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[5/27/2025 11:01 PM, 497.1K followers, 83 retweets, 117 likes]
Today, on Youm-e-Takbeer, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to stand united in safeguarding Pakistan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence against any threat or act of aggression. We remain resolute in our dedication to promoting peace and stability—both in the region and beyond—through collective strength and unity.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[5/28/2025 2:49 PM, 6.8M followers, 127 retweets, 488 likes]
On behalf of the people and Government of Pakistan, and on my own behalf, I extend our heartfelt felicitations to President Aliyev @presidentaz and the brotherly people of Azerbaijan on the joyous occasion of Azerbaijan’s Independence Day. Pakistan deeply values its close fraternal bonds with Azerbaijan—rooted in shared history, mutual trust, and unwavering support for each other. This year, it gives me great pleasure to be able to celebrate this historic day in Azerbaijan, alongside President Aliyev and our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters. I am confident that under President Aliyev’s wise and sagacious leadership, our multi-dimensional partnership will continue to grow from strength to strength.
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[5/28/2025 1:31 AM, 6.8M followers, 345 retweets, 1.3K likes]
As the nation celebrates Youm-e-Takbeer, we thank Allah Almighty for His countless blessings and for granting us yet another glorious victory in the face of recent Indian aggression. Twenty-seven years ago, on this historic day, PM Mian Nawaz Sharif made Pakistan’s defence invincible with his bold and courageous decision in 1998 to go ahead with a peaceful nuclear test, in the face of strong opposition from many powerful countries. Thus this historic decision gave Pakistan the status of a nuclear power. I join the nation in paying tribute to Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for his visionary leadership. We also honour our brilliant scientists and engineers who turned the vision and aspirations of the entire nation into reality. We commend our valiant armed forces for their unwavering resolve and determination to defend the nation’s frontiers against all external and internal threats. In the same spirit of unity and resolve, we pledge to build Pakistan into a strong economic power that would become the envy of the world. InshaAllah!
Imran Khan@ImranKhanPTI
[5/27/2025 3:05 PM, 21.2M followers, 8.1K retweets, 14K likes]
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in conversation with lawyers, media representatives, and party workers during trial proceedings in a makeshift courtroom inside Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi - May 26, 2025 "I am prepared to spend my entire life behind bars, but I will never bow down to tyranny and oppression. The cornerstone of my movement is the rule of law, and through it, we will abolish the law of the jungle. Peaceful protest is the only viable path when all doors are closed to a political party — when it is subjected to oppression, and the judiciary is no longer independent. I instruct my party, its workers, and supporters to prepare for a decisive nationwide movement. This time, the call will not be limited to Islamabad—it will echo across all of Pakistan. To every member of the party, I say this: none of you are here because of your ‘electability’. You were elected on the strength of your ideology. I am fully aware of who is playing both sides. Anyone who does not follow party directives will have no place in this party. When given the opportunity, I will ensure internal party elections are held. Elections within the party are imperative in order to ensure grassroots workers have the opportunity to climb up the ranks. The May 9th (2023) case can be concluded in no more than half an hour. Those responsible are the ones who stole the CCTV footage. If they truly believe Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was behind the events of May 9th, they should release the footage to the public.
It is Shehbaz Sharif who should undergo a polygraph test. He should be asked whether he came to power legitimately, through Form 45, or through Form 47 fraud. I am a former Prime Minister of Pakistan, entitled to certain facilities in prison, yet I have not even been granted the basic rights afforded to ordinary inmates. For the past 22 months, I have been confined in a cell that is no less than a death-row cell. Meanwhile, criminals were housed in VVIP cells that are more akin to hotel suites.
The law of the jungle is prevalent here — court orders are openly defied upon instructions from a Colonel. I am not allowed to speak with my children, and my sisters are denied visitation rights. Even my books are restricted — none have been delivered to me for two and a half months, except the ones I have already read. I am the head of a political party, yet my own party members are barred from meeting me, despite court orders permitting such meetings.
They have stooped so low as to sentence my wife on baseless and unproven charges, merely to inflict pain on me. What could be more disgraceful? I am allowed only 30 minutes per week to meet my family or legal counsel. The false accusation against my wife was merely of facilitation, and even that remains unproven. I call upon all members of the opposition to be present at tomorrow’s protest outside the High Court. The judiciary has been rendered completely paralyzed and ineffective since the 26th (constitutional) amendment. Despite repeated assurances, the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court has failed to even list our cases for a hearing.
The Supreme Court has expressed a lack of faith in its own judicial system by endorsing military trials of civilians. Our forces — especially the Pakistan Air Force — responded remarkably well to India’s aggression, and the entire nation supported them. There was joy and celebrations for Pakistan’s response even in the prison I am incarcerated in.”
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/28/2025 2:38 AM, 294.1K followers, 23 retweets, 62 likes]
As the new @DefenseIntel report highlights, China’s “military largesse” to Pakistan includes ongoing WMD assistance. Beijing has effectively turned Pakistan into a nuclear-armed existential threat to India. Yet such is New Delhi’s pusillanimity that it remains unwilling to develop tangible counter-leverage against China. Consider Taiwan — one of the few countries that openly backed India’s recent military operation against Pakistan. Taiwan’s continued autonomy is not just a democratic concern; it is strategically vital for India’s own security. And yet, India hesitates to help bolster Taiwan’s defenses. At a minimum, India should consider exporting its latest 800-km-range BrahMos-LR supersonic cruise missile to Taiwan for anti-ship missions. With speeds reaching Mach 3, the BrahMos is notoriously hard to intercept — a fact Pakistan recently learned to its chagrin. India has already supplied BrahMos missiles to the Philippines and is nearing a $700 million deal with Vietnam. But Taiwan faces a far more immediate and potent threat from China — and merits urgent Indian support.
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/27/2025 8:43 AM, 294.1K followers, 333 retweets, 1K likes]
My op-ed: While India and Pakistan were the primary belligerents, a third power, China, played a pivotal, if indirect, role. Chinese satellite reconnaissance aided Pakistani targeting, with Beijing even re-tasking satellites to enhance coverage over India. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/05/27/world/chinas-arms-pakistans-war-lessons/
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[5/27/2025 8:56 AM, 294.1K followers, 37 retweets, 192 likes]
Chinese platforms like the J-10C “Vigorous Dragon” fighter jets armed with PL-15E air-to-air missiles and HQ-9 long-range surface-to-air missile systems were tested in actual combat for the first time. The conflict exposed the vulnerabilities of some PRC platforms including HQ-9.
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[5/27/2025 5:42 AM, 100.3K followers, 62 retweets, 219 likes]
PAKISTAN: "While Pakistan bears little responsibility for global climate change, it has a duty to protect citizens from its devastating consequences," @amnesty writes in an op-ed for The News. "Climate change is not an issue for the future, it is an issue impacting Pakistanis with greater frequency and intensity today. If we want to live in a world where older people’s lives are respected and protected, the government needs to act now to make that a reality." Read the op-ed: https://thenews.com.pk/print/1315056-invisible-deaths #TraceTheErased #Pakistan #ClimateChange India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/27/2025 12:51 PM, 108.7M followers, 4.8K retweets, 33K likes]
Attended the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II, where the Padma Awards were presented. The Padma awardees have made notable contributions to our society. The life journeys of those who were conferred the Padma are deeply motivating.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/27/2025 7:16 AM, 3.8M followers, 276 retweets, 2K likes]
Delighted to interact with participants of 72nd Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats at @SSIFS_MEA. Spoke about the growing public interest in international relations and changes underway in the global order. And how both have transformed the way diplomacy is conducted.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/27/2025 7:06 AM, 3.8M followers, 415 retweets, 3K likes]
Had a warm interaction with parliamentary colleagues from Sri Lanka visiting India for the PRIDE Capacity Building Program. Appreciate their condemnation of terrorism and expressions of sympathy on the Pahalgam attack. Discussed our Neighbourhood First policy, underpinned by strong people to people ties. Reiterated our commitment to Sri Lanka’s development and progress. NSB
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[5/27/2025 5:21 AM, 167.6K followers, 9 retweets, 160 likes]
Chief Adviser Urges Accelerated Development of MIDI Infrastructures DHAKA, May 27, 2025 — Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has called for the expedited development of key infrastructure in the Matarbari region, aiming to transform the coastal area into Bangladesh’s premier manufacturing and export-orientated free trade zone. During a high-level meeting on Monday at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka, Professor Yunus reviewed the progress of the Moheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development Initiative (MIDI).
The session was chaired by Principal Secretary Md. Siraj Uddin Miah and attended by SDG Coordinator Lamiya Morshed, along with secretaries from the Road Transport, Shipping, Energy, Power, and Local Government ministries. Sarwar Alam, Director General of the MIDI Cell, presented a comprehensive review of ongoing MIDI projects.
Emphasising the strategic importance of the region, Professor Yunus stated, "We envision Matarbari as the nation’s largest hub for ports, logistics, manufacturing, and energy. To realise this vision, we must attract substantial foreign investment." He highlighted the interest of international investors in these sectors and underscored the necessity of a master plan to facilitate such investments.
The Chief Adviser directed the Road Transport and Shipping Secretaries to accelerate the construction of roads connecting the MIDI region to the rest of the country and to develop terminals capable of accommodating large ocean-going container vessels. He also stressed the importance of urban development in the area, including building a planned city to support the anticipated influx of workers in the free trade zone and associated industries.
Professor Yunus announced that the development of the MIDI region would be a focal point during his upcoming two and a half days of official visit to Japan, commencing on May 28. He is scheduled to attend the 30th Nikkei Future of Asia conference in Tokyo and hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on May 30, aiming to secure funding for key projects. The meeting also revealed Japan’s intention to establish its second exclusive Japanese economic zone within the MIDI region. Araihazar, Narayanganj, is the site of the first Japanese Economic Zone. It has already attracted sizeable foreign investments.
Additionally, several international companies, including Saudi Arabian petrochemical giant Aramco, Abu Dhabi Ports, Saudi Arabian port operator Red Sea Gateway, Japanese power producer JERA, and Malaysian petrochemical company Petronas, have expressed interest in investing in the area. Dhaka has recently signed an agreement with Japanese firms Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd. and TOA Corporation to construct the country’s first deep-sea port at Matarbari.
This project, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is a cornerstone of the MIDI initiative and is expected to enhance the region’s connectivity and economic potential. The MIDI initiative represents a collaborative effort between Bangladesh and Japan to transform the Moheshkhali-Matarbari region into a strategic economic corridor, integrating logistics, energy, and industrial development.
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[5/27/2025 5:35 AM, 167.6K followers, 613 retweets, 2.9K likes]
Recently, several Indian mainstream media outlets have been persistently spreading false and misleading propaganda involving the Bangladesh Army and the Chief Advisor of the interim government. This disinformation campaign has also proliferated widely on social media platforms, especially X (formerly Twitter). These fabricated stories rely heavily on anonymous sources and lack any credible evidence or verifiable attribution.
On May 26, CNN News18 published an article falsely alleging that the Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman, is exploring all possible options to remove Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus from power. This baseless claim was later republished by First Post. According to these reports, citing unnamed sources, the Army Chief is purportedly considering constitutional loopholes to challenge Yunus’s interim government.
The articles further claim that if transition of power from Yunus fails, the Army Chief might push for a soft takeover of Bangladesh’s politics, potentially pressuring President Mohammed Shahabuddin to declare a state of emergency, dissolve the interim government, and expedite elections.
Read The Article: CNN-News 18: https://news18.com/world/bangladesh-army-chief-exploring-all-options-to-remove-muhammad-yunus-from-power-sources-ws-dl-9352595.html First Post: https://firstpost.com/world/countdown-for-yunus-bangladesh-army-chief-not-ready-to-wait-until-june-for-election-decision-report-13891772.html
Earlier on May 23, India Today report that the rift between the army chief and Dr Yunus widening. https://indiatoday.in/opinion/story/is-yunus-flexing-street-power-to-counter-bangladesh-army-chief-ultimatum-2729607-2025-05-23
Other Indian media outlets, including NDTV, Mint, Northeast News, News18, Northeast Live, Telegraph India, Money Control, The Week, Swarajya, and Business Today, have also echoed these unsubstantiated reports about a supposed discord between the Army Chief and the interim government—again without presenting any concrete evidence or named sources.
However, these claims are wholly inaccurate and irresponsible. The media outlets have failed to produce any credible evidence or official statements to substantiate their allegations. The narrative is entirely fictional and divorced from reality.
It is crucial to stress that no conflict exists between Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman. The Bangladesh Army has officially stated that there is no disagreement or division between the military and the interim government led by Professor Yunus. Brigadier General Md. Nazim-ud-Doula, Director of Military Operations at the Army Headquarters, affirmed that army personnel are dutifully working to safeguard the nation’s security and sovereignty in strict accordance with government directives. https://bbc.com/bengali/live/c9vg7j4wxpwt?post=asset%3A6727505f-b959-46c1-b718-83109a486ad7&fbclid=IwY2xjawKhNVFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFFOWNxWUpBSmE0SFJrVVo4AR6htGDx2_60vnqdM5153d8iHsggzB3mVecvGzqclhCP8p2eNcRg252u93iEHw_aem_uTuMn_v0uDHkcfaTi1BVKQ#asset:6727505f-b959-46c1-b718-83109a486ad7
On May 20, 2025, the Bangladesh Army officially denied all rumors regarding a coup, and on May 23 reiterated the importance of rejecting misinformation circulating in the public domain. Furthermore, according to a Prothom Alo report, during a high-level ‘Darbar’ meeting on May 21, Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman declared, “We are cooperating with the interim government. We will continue to cooperate.” These articles are part of a coordinated disinformation campaign propagated by segments of the Indian right-wing media aiming to delegitimise Bangladesh’s transitional leadership.
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[5/27/2025 7:11 AM, 100.3K followers, 1 retweet, 3 likes]
Read the op-ed by @MahamoorR on the importance of the National Human Rights Commission in Bangladesh: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/bangladesh-legal-and-institutional-reforms/
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[5/27/2025 11:32 PM, 113.3K followers, 66 retweets, 69 likes]
Vice President Uz @HucenSembe arrives in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to attend the High-level International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation. As head of the Maldives’ delegation, the Vice President will deliver the country’s statement during the plenary segment.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[5/27/2025 8:21 AM, 113.3K followers, 110 retweets, 98 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu inaugurates the Multi-Speciality Surgical Wing at @igmhmv. Following the inauguration, the President toured the facility and inquired about the services provided. Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital operates under the Malé City Group of Hospitals’ Governing Board.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/27/2025 10:55 AM, 721.3K followers, 8 likes]
The 63rd meeting of the Investment Board was held today under the chairmanship of the Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli.The meeting reviewed and approved the final detailed feasibility study for establishing a chemical fertilizer plant in Nepal, along with other key decisions.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/27/2025 6:49 AM, 721.3K followers, 4 likes]
Secretary Sarju Kumar Vaidya of the National Vigilance Centre today presented its 22nd Annual Report to Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli. Emphasizing good governance and development as key priorities, the Prime Minister urged the Centre to enhance its effectiveness.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/27/2025 10:37 AM, 721.3K followers, 2 likes]
The Rt. Hon. PM KP Sharma Oli visited the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology today and received updates on monsoon forecasts and disaster management. He underlined the importance of reliable weather forecasts and swift communication to help prevent loss of life and property.
MFA SriLanka@MFA_SriLanka
[5/27/2025 11:47 PM, 39.2K followers, 1 like]
During her official visit to Thimphu for the second round of Sri Lanka-Bhutan Bilateral Political Consultations, Foreign Secretary Aruni Ranaraja paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister of Bhutan D.N.Dhungyel @FMBhutan. (1/2)
MFA SriLanka@MFA_SriLanka[5/27/2025 11:47 PM, 39.2K followers, 1 like]
The discussion focused on ways and means to further enhance relations between the two countries. (2/2) @MFABhutan #DiplomacyLK #Lka #bhutan
MFA SriLanka@MFA_SriLanka
[5/27/2025 11:13 PM, 39.2K followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
Foreign Secretary Aruni Ranaraja called on the Helath Minister of Bhutan Tamdin Wangchuck on 27 May 2025 during her official visit to Thimphu. The meeting primarily focused on expanding health sector cooperation between the two countries. @MFABhutan #bhutan #DiplomacyLk
MFA SriLanka@MFA_SriLanka
[5/27/2025 11:02 PM, 39.2K followers, 1 retweet, 2 likes]
The second round of Bilateral Political Consultations between Sri Lanka and Bhutan at the level of Foreign Secretaries successfully concluded on 27 May 2025, in Thimphu. (1/2)
MFA SriLanka@MFA_SriLanka
[5/27/2025 11:02 PM, 39.2K followers, 1 retweet]
The consultations were co-chaired by the Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka, Aruni Ranaraja, and the Foreign Secretary of Bhutan, Pema Choden. @MFABhutan (2/2) #DiplomacyLK #Lka Central Asia
MFA Kazakhstan@MFA_KZ
[5/27/2025 10:16 AM, 55.8K followers, 5 likes]
Support for Stability and Sustainable Development in Afghanistan were Discussed at the Kazakh Foreign Ministry
MFA Tajikistan@MOFA_Tajikistan
[5/28/2025 3:06 AM, 5.3K followers, 2 likes]
Meeting with the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization Ms. Celeste Saulo https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/17087/meeting-with-the-secretary-general-of-the-world-meteorological-organization-ms-celeste-saulo
Emomali Rahmon@EmomaliRahmonTJ
[5/27/2025 2:55 AM, 3.5K followers, 1 retweet, 4 likes]
On May 28, President Emomali Rahmon met with #WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in Dushanbe during the 1st International High-Level Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation. #CҶМ #ВМО #ICGP2025 #Glaciers2025 #DushanbeGlaciersConference
Emomali Rahmon@EmomaliRahmonTJ
[5/27/2025 2:55 AM, 3.5K followers, 1 retweet, 4 likes] The meeting focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation and advancing the agenda of glacier conservation — a crucial issue for Tajikistan and the region. #CҶМ @WMO #ВМО #ICGP2025 #Glaciers2025 #DushanbeGlaciersConference
Emomali Rahmon@EmomaliRahmonTJ
[5/27/2025 2:56 AM, 3.5K followers, 1 retweet, 4 likes]
President Rahmon expressed deep gratitude for the @WMO’s support of Tajikistan’s global initiatives, especially in the field of glacier and cryosphere protection. #CҶМ #ВМО #ICGP2025 #Glaciers2025 #DushanbeGlaciersConference
Emomali Rahmon@EmomaliRahmonTJ
[5/27/2025 2:56 AM, 3.5K followers, 1 retweet, 3 likes]
Ms. Saulo praised Tajikistan’s leadership in promoting water as a driver of peace and cooperation, and emphasized @WMO commitment to joint action.#CҶМ #ВМО #ICGP2025 #Glaciers2025 #DushanbeGlaciersConference
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/27/2025 12:30 PM, 217K followers, 3 retweets, 28 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev reviewed measures on developing the railway industry. Plans include increasing the capacity of the railroad infrastructure, developing freight stations outside the capital, and constructing a new “Samarkand-Urgut” railroad line.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/27/2025 11:35 AM, 217K followers, 4 retweets, 16 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev was briefed on the current work to expand the drinking water supply and sewerage networks. A range of projects on modernizing infrastructure and digitalizing the system will be implemented, including with the participation of IFI’s.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/27/2025 9:05 AM, 217K followers, 5 retweets, 13 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev met with the executive director of @UNICEF @unicefchief Appreciating the current cooperation level, they agreed to implement new initiatives in legislation, children support, social services and other areas, as well as adopt a new Country Program until 2030.{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.