SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Monday, May 5, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Russia says it will help Taliban fight Islamic State in Afghanistan (Reuters)
Reuters [5/2/2025 7:45 AM, Lucy Papachristou, 5.2M]
Russia will help the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan fight against the Afghan branch of Islamic State, Moscow’s special representative for the country was quoted as saying on Friday.
Zamir Kabulov, a former Russian ambassador to Afghanistan, referred to Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) as the "common enemy" of Moscow and Kabul.
"We see and appreciate the efforts that the Taliban are making in the fight against the Afghan wing of ISIS," Kabulov told the RIA state news agency in an interview.
"We will provide our best assistance to the authorities of (Afghanistan) through specialised structures."
No country currently recognises the Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
But in a step towards recognition, Russia last month formally removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organisations, to which it had been added in 2003.
Kabulov’s comments underscore the dramatic rapprochement in recent years between Moscow and Kabul, which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now Russia’s "ally" in combating terrorism.
Russia has been left reeling from multiple Islamic State (ISIS)-linked attacks, including the shooting of 145 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in March 2024 which was claimed by ISIS. U.S. officials said they had intelligence indicating ISIS-K was responsible.The Taliban says it is working to wipe out the group’s presence in Afghanistan.
Kabulov said Moscow and Kabul were building up ties in multiple spheres and told RIA that Russia had offered to accredit an Afghan ambassador in Moscow and was waiting for Kabul’s response.
He said Moscow’s suspension of the ban on the Taliban "finally removes all obstacles to full cooperation between our countries in various fields".
"The arrival of the Afghan ambassador in Moscow will put a final end to this issue."
Russia said last month it aims to strengthen trade, business and investment ties with Kabul, leveraging Afghanistan’s strategic position for future energy and infrastructure projects.
Kabulov said joint economic projects would be discussed at a Russia-Afghan business forum later this month in the Russian city of Kazan, naming mineral development and gas pipeline projects as possible areas of cooperation. These brave Afghans helped the U.S. after 9/11. Now the U.S. wants to deport them. (MSNBC – opinion)
MSNBC [5/3/2025 8:54 AM, Muhammad Tahir, 52868K]
It was a bitterly cold evening when I arrived in Kabul on a U.N.-chartered flight in early 2002. The city, like much of Afghanistan, was in turmoil. The trauma of Al Qaeda’s deadly Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the United States was still raw, U.S. forces were advancing from the north, the Taliban was retreating south, and ordinary Afghans in the middle were torn between fear and the first flickers of hope.
U.S. airstrikes lit up the sky, but it was Afghans opposed to the Taliban who moved on the ground — risking everything to help the U.S. pursue justice for 9/11. Armed with little more than battered rifles and unshakable hope, they stepped into the fight, driven by a belief in a future they were told the U.S. would help them build.
"You’re finally here," an old man outside Bagram Airfield told me. "Maybe now my grandchildren will have a future.".
In the weeks that followed, I reported from the front lines as Kabul bureau chief for Turkey’s Ihlas News Agency. Embedded with U.S. troops, I watched Afghan civilians — students, farmers, former resistance fighters — step forward to support the U.S. mission.
Now, the United States is telling Afghans who resettled in the U.S. after helping it fight the Taliban that they’ve got to self-deport by May 20 — back to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. "If America can’t honor its word to those who bled for it," a retired U.S. colonel told me, "why would anyone trust us again? This isn’t just immigration policy — it’s a test of our moral credibility. And we’re failing.".
The Afghans who aided the U.S. during its war in Afghanistan weren’t just interpreters or cultural advisers; they were bridge builders in every sense. They helped restore America’s credibility, one act of courage at a time. With their support, the Taliban was driven out — temporarily, at least — and a U.S.-backed government took root.
"Ahmad" (not his real name) was one of them. Now living in the U.S. under temporary protected status (TPS), he spent years serving in nearly every role imaginable — interpreter, logistics officer, project coordinator — all under the U.S. flag.
"It felt like our chance to shape a better future," he told me. But that future came at a steep cost. "As the Taliban turned to guerrilla tactics, we were constantly on the move — new cities, new homes. I tried to stay invisible, but the threats never left.".
Another Afghan — I’ll call him Murtaza — was a former English teacher I met in 2002 who stepped up. He used his language skills as an interpreter, serving alongside U.S. forces in some of Afghanistan’s most dangerous terrain.
Murtaza and Ahmad survived countless attacks — but more than 241,000 others didn’t, including 71,000 civilians and 2,442 U.S. troops. Still, like many Afghans, they remained committed to the U.S. mission.
That loyalty was shattered on Aug. 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized Kabul and U.S. forces withdrew in chaos, leaving thousands of allies behind. Branded as traitors, many Afghan partners went into hiding before eventually making it to third countries — holding on to the promise of U.S. resettlement.
Murtaza, like thousands of others, has spent three and a half years stranded in a third country. His special immigrant visa (SIV) — once a lifeline to safety in the U.S. — remains stalled, and the State Department’s recent decision to suspend the refugee admissions program has indefinitely blocked his path.
That decision now leaves him — and thousands like him — facing imminent deportation, as their stay in their host countries was based on the promise that they’d eventually resettle in the U.S.
With the SIV pipeline already clogged, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced April 11 that it’s terminating TPS for more than 9,000 Afghans like Ahmad who are in the U.S. They’ve been given that May 20 deadline to leave or face removal. Some were coldly notified of their fate by email.
Both men — one stuck abroad, the other inside the U.S. — face the same looming betrayal.
These aren’t undocumented migrants. They were vetted and approved for resettlement after risking their lives alongside American forces in our longest war. Now, with the deadline fast approaching, they’re being told: Get out — or face consequences.
In doing so, we’re not just abandoning them; we’re throwing them to the wolves.
"TPS exists for moments like this," said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, a refugee rights group. "It’s designed to protect people whose return would place them in serious danger." She added, "Make no mistake: Afghanistan remains under Taliban control, gripped by humanitarian crisis, economic collapse and brutal extremism.".
The latest situation update from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), covers January to March 2025 and delivers the grim assessment that the Taliban continues to hunt, torture and execute former government officials and military personnel.
Women are completely erased from public life, and girls remain barred from school beyond sixth grade. LGBTQ Afghans face public floggings, and religious minorities endure constant persecution.
On Jan. 23, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and his chief justice for alleged crimes against humanity, specifically gender persecution.
Is this the regime the U.S. expects our Afghan allies to return to?
Ahmad, who’s still in the U.S. but is staring down the May 20 deportation deadline, is terrified. "It’s not just about me," he said. "If I’m forced to leave, my family loses our only income — and given our political background, my entire extended family could be in danger.".
The Trump administration claims Afghans in the U.S. under TPS no longer meet the threshold for protection. But Ahmad firmly rejects that. "Safety isn’t just about bullets," he said. "It’s the right to live with freedom and dignity, the right to learn, to travel, to speak. I invite President Trump to see what life actually looks like on the ground.".
This isn’t just about Afghans — it’s about every partner we’ll need tomorrow. If we abandon them today, future allies in Ukraine, Taiwan or anywhere else in the world will think twice about cooperating with the U.S.
"This is cruel and chaotic," Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, a nonprofit supporting the resettlement of Afghan allies in the U.S., told NPR. VanDiver, a military veteran, said, "It shatters everything America claimed to stand for when we promised not to abandon our allies.".
There’s still time to do the right thing.
Congress must reinstate TPS, clear the SIV backlog and pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would give Afghans who helped the U.S. in Afghanistan a path to permanent, legal residency. People like Ahmad and Murtaza didn’t just work for us; they fought for us, bled for us, believed in us.
We owe them more than empty promises. We owe them protection. We owe them our word.
Because if we fail them now, we’re not just abandoning Ahmad, Murtaza and thousands like them — we’re telling the world that America’s word means nothing. Pakistan
Pakistan’s Most Powerful Man Steps Out of the Shadows to Confront India (New York Times)
New York Times [5/5/2025 2:34 AM, Salman Masood, 831K]
Until recently, Pakistan’s most powerful man preferred to stay behind the scenes, tightly controlling his public profile and limiting his pronouncements mostly to choreographed addresses at set-piece military events.
But after the deadly terrorist attack nearly two weeks ago in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Syed Asim Munir, has stepped to the center of sharpening tensions between Pakistan and India.
As pressure has built in India for a forceful response to the attack, which killed more than two dozen Hindu tourists near the town of Pahalgam, General Munir has increasingly shaped Pakistan’s tone with his own tough talk.
On Thursday, standing atop a tank during a military exercise, General Munir addressed troops in the field. “Let there be no ambiguity,” he said. “Any military misadventure by India will be met with a swift, resolute and notch-up response.” That was a reference to Pakistan’s vow to match or exceed any Indian strike.
General Munir’s comments have been seen in India and Pakistan as reflecting his need to project strength and rally public support after his country has struggled for years with political divisions and economic hardship. Those troubles have dented the steadfast loyalty that Pakistanis had felt for decades toward the military establishment, which has long had a hidden hand in guiding the country’s politics.
But General Munir’s response appears to be more than a political calculation. Analysts describe him as a hard-liner on India, with views shaped by his time leading Pakistan’s two premier military intelligence agencies and by his belief that the long-running conflict with India is at heart a religious one.
Many in India have seized on remarks that General Munir made six days before the terrorist attack. In front of an audience of overseas Pakistanis in the capital, Islamabad, General Munir described Kashmir — which is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed in whole by each — as the country’s “jugular vein.”
That phrase, which is deeply woven into the country’s nationalist vocabulary, signifies how Pakistan sees Kashmir as vital to its national identity. The Indian foreign ministry denounced the comment as inflammatory and called Kashmir an “integral part” of India.
Whether the current crisis escalates or gives way to restraint will depend as much on international diplomacy as domestic politics.
The United States and the United Nations have called on India and Pakistan, both of which have nuclear weapons, to work toward de-escalation. In addition, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Asim Ahmad, said on Friday that Pakistani diplomats and government ministers had spoken with their Chinese counterparts about the tensions with India. China is an ally of Pakistan and has economic interests there.
But diplomacy may not be enough. India’s strongman prime minister, Narendra Modi, whose brand of Hindu nationalism paints Muslims at home and in Pakistan as a threat, has promised that India will pursue “every terrorist and their backers to the ends of the earth.”
After attacks on Indian security forces in Kashmir in 2016 and 2019, India responded by striking what it said were terrorist camps inside Pakistan. This time, with 26 innocent people killed by attackers at a tourist destination — the deadliest such assault in the region in decades — “a mere cross-border airstrike on presumed camps is not going to satisfy the right-wing supporters’ blood lust,” said Aditya Sinha, an author and journalist based in Delhi.
For his part, General Munir has spoken since the Pahalgam attack in explicitly ideological terms that indicate he is disinclined to believe that long-term peace with India is possible.
On April 26, he addressed cadets at a graduation ceremony for the country’s premier military academy. He invoked the “two-nation theory” — the framework behind Pakistan’s founding in 1947, which asserts that Hindus and Muslims are separate nations needing separate homelands.
The theory has long underpinned Pakistan’s national identity and foreign policy. In the past, Pakistan’s generals embraced this ideological rhetoric during moments of tension with India and dialed it back when diplomacy beckoned. General Munir’s revival of the theory and other comments have been interpreted by many Indians as a pronounced shift in Pakistan’s stance toward India.
His framing of Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein” has particularly struck a nerve in India. In the same speech, General Munir said, “We will not leave our Kashmiri brethren in their heroic struggle that they are waging against Indian occupation.”
Shekhar Gupta, editor in chief of ThePrint, an Indian online newspaper, said the timing and animus of the comments would be hard for India to ignore.“The Pahalgam outrage followed just after General Munir’s speech,” Mr. Gupta, said. “India would have to be frightfully complacent not to draw the connection, especially as he had raked up hostility to Hindus, which no Pakistani leader — civil or military — had done for a long time.”
Pakistani officials have rejected any connection between General Munir’s remarks and the attack in Kashmir. Mr. Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative at the United Nations, dismissed India’s claim of Pakistani links to the attack and said that the “root cause” of instability in South Asia remained the unresolved dispute over Kashmir.
The region has been at the heart of the India-Pakistan rivalry since the partition in 1947 that created the two nations out of British India. Kashmir has witnessed wars, insurgencies and prolonged military deployments, making it one of the world’s most volatile flash points.
The current face-off is not General Munir’s first brush with a regional crisis.
In 2019, when a suicide bombing in Kashmir triggered Indian airstrikes and a brief military escalation, General Munir was the leader of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, or I.S.I. His tenure ended just months later when Prime Minister Imran Khan removed him.
Mr. Khan would later oppose General Munir’s elevation to army chief, and their relationship has remained hostile. After falling out with the military leadership, Mr. Khan was ousted in April 2022. General Munir assumed his command as army chief seven months later. Mr. Khan, who retains widespread support among the Pakistani public, has been in prison for two years.
As General Munir works to keep control of his public image, he avoids unscripted remarks. His speeches are forceful and devoid of ambiguity, often drawing on religious themes.
General Munir is “steeped in religion,” and that colors his view of relations with India, said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States. “At best,” Mr. Haqqani said, “he would look for managing tensions — and score as many points as he can along the way.”
In this way, General Munir seems to reflect the turn toward a more Islamist Pakistani armed forces that the military dictator Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq set in motion in the 1980s. General Zia did so in coordination with the United States as it courted jihadists to wage war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
General Munir has also presided over growing military control of Pakistani politics and society, restricting dissent, critics say.“He appears to want being in control more than wanting to be liked,” Mr. Haqqani said. “That has been his approach in domestic politics and will be his likely approach in dealing with India.”
The military has appeared to take a stronger hand in relations with India, moving to consolidate institutional control over any future talks by appointing the country’s spy chief as national security adviser. That role had historically been held by retired generals and civilians.
For now, diplomatic relations between the two countries remain frozen. Aggressive public messaging, rather than quiet diplomacy, has become the primary channel of communication. In such a climate, the risk of miscalculation is acute.
Zahid Hussain, a political and security analyst in Islamabad, said Pakistan would feel compelled to respond if India launched military strikes.“The question is whether Mr. Modi can choose to stop at this point,” he said. “Even limited Indian strikes could spiral into a broader conflict.” Pakistan asks Gulf allies to help ease India tensions following Kashmir attack (AP)
AP [5/2/2025 1:10 PM, Munir Ahmed and Aijaz Hussain, 456K]
Pakistan’s prime minister met Friday with envoys from Gulf allies, seeking to defuse tensions with India following last week’s deadly attack on tourists in the disputed Kashmir region, his office said.
In separate meetings with the Saudi, Kuwait and UAE ambassadors, Shehbaz Sharif briefed them on Islamabad’s stance regarding the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, where 26 people, mostly Hindus, were killed.
India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge Islamabad strongly rejects.
Following “credible intelligence” from a Pakistani minster that India intended military action over Pakistan’s alleged role in the Pahalgam tourist attack, Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar have received calls from the United States and other nations’ diplomats, according to Sharif’s office and Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.
The international community has encouraged both sides to exercise restraint.
Sharif’s office stated Friday that he had urged “brotherly countries, including Saudi Arabia, to press India for de-escalation and the defusal of tensions,” reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to peace and stability in South Asia.
Tensions have been high in the South Asian region since last week’s attack in Kashmir, a situation exacerbated by retaliatory actions between the two nuclear-armed rivals, including the expulsion of diplomats and citizens, border closures and airspace shutdowns.
India has also suspended a critical water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.
Sharif told UAE’s ambassador Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi that Pakistan had no involvement in the attack on tourists and said he offered to join a credible, transparent and neutral international investigation, according to Sharif’s office.
In a meeting with the Saudi ambassador, Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliky, the prime minister briefed him about the latest situation. In response, the Saudi envoy said the Kingdom wanted to work with Pakistan for peace and security in the region, the statement said.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations.
They have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a region split between them, since gaining independence from the former British colonial rule in 1947.
The Indian army said Friday in a statement it responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from Pakistan for the eighth consecutive night in the Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Naushera, and Akhnoor areas of Indian-controlled Kashmir. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan.
No casualties were reported in the latest exchange of fire in Kashmir.
Also on Friday, more than 200 members of civil society and political parties rallied in Muzaffarabad, the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, denouncing India’s steps against Pakistan. Iran’s top diplomat is in Pakistan to mediate in escalation with India over Kashmir attack (AP)
AP [5/5/2025 4:23 AM, Munirb Ahmed and Muhammad Yousaf, 456K]
Iran’s foreign minister was in Pakistan on Monday to try and mediate in the escalation between Islamabad and New Delhi after last month’s deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.
Abbas Araghchi’s visit was the first by a foreign dignitary since tensions flared in the wake of the April 22 massacre of 26 tourists, which India blames on Pakistan. Tehran has offered to help ease tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan’s military has been on high alert after Cabinet Minister Attaullah Tarar cited credible intelligence indicating that India could attack. Pakistan has denied any role in the massacre of mostly Indian tourists, and offered to cooperate with a credible international investigation. India has so far not accepted the offer and several world leaders have urged both sides to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who is due to meet with Araghchi, welcomed mediation to defuse the tensions with India. Since last week, Dar said he’d spoken to over a dozen foreign dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.“We will not be the first to take any escalatory step,” Dar said in Islamabad, but added that he had warned the international community that should there be “any act of aggression by India, Pakistan will resolutely defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
He accused the Indian air force of attempting to breach Pakistani airspace on April 28. Pakistan scrambled aircraft and forced Indian jets to turn back, he said. There was no immediate comment from India on those claims.
Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. The two countries have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region and their ties have been shaped by conflict, aggressive diplomacy and mutual suspicion, mostly due to their competing claims over Kashmir.
The latest flare-up led the two countries to expel each other’s diplomats and nationals, as well as the shuttering of airspace.
On Monday, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar led a group of journalists to the mountain village of Bella Noor Shah, near Muzaffarabad — the main city in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir — where he said New Delhi had falsely claimed the presence of a militant training camp.
Residents of the village told reporters they had never seen any such camp in the area.“It is clear there is no truth to the Indian claim,” Tarar said.
Also Monday, Pakistan’s military said it test-fired a short-range missile, the second such test launch after a medium-range missile on Saturday.
The military said that the Fatah surface-to-surface missile has a range of 120 kilometers (75 miles) and was launched from an undisclosed location. Such missiles are never fired toward India, and usually end up reaching the Arabian Sea or the deserts of southern Balochistan province. Head of Pakistan-administered Kashmir calls for international mediation (Reuters)
Reuters [5/4/2025 12:16 PM, Charlotte Greenfield, 1191K]
The head of the Pakistan-administered region of Kashmir called for international mediation and said on Wednesday that his administration was preparing a humanitarian response in case of any further escalation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.Pakistan’s government has said it has ‘credible intelligence’ that India intends to launch military action soon after days of escalating tensions following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 attack, which left 26 people dead, which Islamabad has denied."There is a lot of activity going on and anything could happen so we have to prepare for it. These few days are very important," president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry told Reuters in an interview, calling for rapid international diplomacy to de-escalate the situation."We expect some mediation at this time from some friendly countries and we hope that that mediation must take place, otherwise India would do anything this time," he said. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates could be in a position to mediate, he added.Chaudhry also said he hoped major players like the United States and Britain might also get involved.He said activity along the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the two portions of Kashmir was "hot" and that Pakistan had shot down two Indian drones in the last few days.There had been regular firing by Pakistani and Indian soldiers day and night, though so far there had been no casualties, he said.Pakistan had also detected Indian Rafale fighter jets flying near the LoC, though they had not crossed, he added.The Indian Air Force did not respond to a request for comment, though an Indian military official said Rafale jets were doing their usual training and drills along the LoC.Chaudhry said he had not received intelligence on when and where India was expected to strike, but his administration was working with groups such as the Red Crescent Society to prepare extra medical and food supplies in case of any conflict."Red Crescent are working on it and we are working on displaced people in affected areas," he said.He said that the international community also needed to pay more attention to Kashmir’s long-term future."I think this is the right time for the international community as a whole and the U.N. to play some mediating role in Kashmir," he said."It’s been a very long time and the people of Kashmir have suffered a lot."Pakistan-administered Kashmir has its own elected government but Pakistan handles major issues like defence and its residents hold many of the rights of Pakistani citizens.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to Pakistan and India on Tuesday, stressing the need to avoid confrontation. The U.S. and Britain have also called for calm. Pakistan warns of a ‘nuclear flashpoint,’ urges Trump to step in amid rising tensions with India over Kashmir (FOX News)
FOX News [5/2/2025 3:28 PM, Morgan Phillips]
Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S. is warning of potentially catastrophic consequences if India follows through with what Islamabad claims could be an imminent military strike in response to a recent attack in the disputed Kashmir region.
War between the two nuclear-armed states could get ugly quickly, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. Rizwan Saeed Sheikh is calling on President Donald Trump to leverage his self-professed dealmaker credentials to hammer out an agreement with India.
"This is one nuclear flashpoint," the ambassador said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. "It could be an important part of President Trump’s legacy to attend to this situation — not with a Band-Aid solution, but by addressing the core issue: the Kashmir dispute."
Saeed described India’s response to the attack in Pahalgam — which left several Indian security forces dead — as dangerously premature and inflammatory. "Within minutes of the attack, India began leveling accusations against Pakistan," he said, noting that a post-investigation report was filed just 10 minutes after the incident occurred, despite the remote and rugged terrain near the scene.
Pakistan claimed this week to have "credible intelligence" that an Indian counter-attack on its territory is imminent. The Indian Embassy in the U.S. did not respond to requests for comment on this story before publication time.
The dust-up began with a tourist massacre on April 22 in Belgaum, Kashmir. All but one of the victims were Indian citizens, and India swiftly pointed the finger at Pakistan, which rejected the charge.
The attack occurred in a remote valley only accessible on foot or by horse, and survivors claimed after the attack that the gunmen had accused some of the victims of supporting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The ambassador warned that the region, home to over 1.5 billion people, is once again being held "hostage to the war of hysteria" by India’s government and media, who immediately "began beating war drums." The pair of rivals have exchanged gunfire across their heavily militarized borders since the attack.
He cited Pakistan’s request for evidence linking it to the attack and Islamabad’s offer to participate in a neutral, transparent inquiry — both of which he said have gone unanswered.
"Any misadventure or miscalculation can lead to a nuclear interface," the ambassador said. "That is certainly not desirable in such a densely populated region."
While Pakistan denies any involvement in the attack, the ambassador said those suspected are reportedly Indian nationals whose homes have already been raided. He questioned why India is looking outside its borders rather than addressing what he characterized as "administrative inadequacies" in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory he repeatedly referred to as "illegally occupied."
He also criticized India’s broader policies in Kashmir, including the alleged settlement of non-residents into the region, and what he called threats to unilaterally block water flows from Pakistan’s rivers — a move he said violates the long-standing Indus Waters Treaty.
"That is as grossly illegal as it can get," said Saeed. "This is one treaty that has withstood wars between India and Pakistan." Pakistan has said they would consider the cutting off of water supplies an act of war — and made pleas to The Hague, accusing New Delhi of water terrorism.
The ambassador called on nations around the globe to help with a lasting settlement.
"Previously, when the situation has been at this level or the tensions have escalated, the international community has attended to the situation, but taken their eyes, their attention away, even before the situation could fully diffuse," said Saeed. "This time, perhaps it would be… timely in terms of the situation elsewhere on the globe, with similar instances, which one can note and see and are being attended to to perhaps not afford a Band-Aid solution, but to address the broader problem."
India and Pakistan each control parts of the Kashmir region, but both claim it in full. They have fought three wars over the territory.
In 2019, a cross-border attack carried out by militants killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in Kashmir. India responded by bombing targets inside Pakistan.
Modi’s government revoked Muslim-majority Kashmir’s autonomy in 2019, bringing it back under Indian control and prompting protests.
Kashmir has been a disputed region since both India and Pakistan gained their autonomy from Britain in 1947. The region is now one of the most militarized in the world. Violence by regional militant groups has left tens of thousands dead.
But Modi’s aggressive stance in Kashmir has precipitated relative peace over the past five years, boosting his popularity domestically. He may feel political pressure to respond with force to the most recent dust-up.
Pakistan has been ravaged by terrorism for decades, and Saeed said the nation has lost anywhere between 70,000 and 90,000 lives over the past 20 years to terror attacks.
"We cannot afford any instability in the neighborhood," said Saeed. "We want a peaceful neighborhood. But as we have been repeatedly mentioning at all levels, leadership level and all the other levels, that we want peace, but that should not in any way be misconstrued as a sign of weakness. We want peace with dignity." ‘Don’t see a major war with India, but have to be ready’: Pakistan ex-NSA (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [5/3/2025 12:59 AM, Abid Hussain, 52868K]
Eleven days after gunmen shot 26 people dead in the scenic valley of Baisaran in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam, India and Pakistan stand on the brink of a military standoff.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have each announced a series of tit-for-tat steps against the other since the attack on April 22, which India has implicitly blamed Pakistan for, even as Islamabad has denied any role in the killings.
India has suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty that enforces a water-sharing mechanism Pakistan depends on. Pakistan has threatened to walk away from the 1972 Simla Agreement that committed both nations to recognising a previous ceasefire line as a Line of Control (LoC) – a de-facto border – between them in Kashmir, a disputed region that they each partly control but that they both claim in its entirety. Both nations have also expelled each other’s citizens and scaled back their diplomatic missions.
Despite a ceasefire agreement being in place since 2021, the current escalation is the most serious since 2019, when India launched air strikes on Pakistani soil following an attack on Indian soldiers in Pulwama, in Indian-administered Kashmir, that killed 40 troops. In recent days, they have traded fire across the LoC.
And the region is now on edge, amid growing expectations that India might launch a military operation against Pakistan this time too.
Yet, both countries have also engaged their diplomatic partners. On Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, urging both sides to find a path to de-escalation. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, on Thursday to condemn the attack and offered "strong support" to India.
Sharif met envoys from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, three of Pakistan’s closest allies, to seek their support, and urged the ambassadors of the two Gulf nations to "impress upon India to de-escalate and defuse tensions".
To understand how Pakistani strategists who have worked on ties with India view what might happen next, Al Jazeera spoke with Moeed Yusuf, who served as Pakistan’s national security adviser (NSA) between May 2021 and April 2022 under former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Prior to his role as NSA, Yusuf also worked as a special adviser to Khan on matters related to national security starting in December 2019, four months after the Indian government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, revoked the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir.
Based in Lahore, Yusuf is currently the vice chancellor of a private university and has authored and edited several books on South Asia and regional security. His most recent book, Brokering Peace in Nuclear Environments: US Crisis Management in South Asia, was published in 2018.
Al Jazeera: How do you assess moves made by both sides so far in the crisis?
Moeed Yusuf: India and Pakistan have for long struggled in terms of crisis management. They don’t have a bilateral crisis management mechanism, which is the fundamental concern.
The number one crisis management tool used by both sides has been the reliance on third parties, with the idea being that they would try and restrain them both and help de-escalate the crisis.
This time, I feel the problem India has run into is that they followed the old playbook, but the leader of the most important third party, the United States, didn’t show up to support India.
It appears that they have so far taken a neutral and a hands-off position, as indicated by President Donald Trump few days ago. (Trump said that he knew the leaders of both India and Pakistan, and believed that they could resolve the crisis on their own.).
Pakistan’s response is directly linked to the Indian response, and that is historically how it has been, with both countries going tit-for-tat with each other. This time too, a number of punitive steps have been announced.
The problem is that these are easy to set into motion but very difficult to reverse, even when things get better, and they may wish to do so.
Unfortunately, in every crisis between them, the retaliatory steps are becoming more and more substantive, as in this case, India has decided to hold Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, which is illegal as the treaty provides no such provision.
Al Jazeera: Do you believe a strike is imminent and if both sides are indicating preparedness for a showdown?
Yusuf: In such moments, it is impossible to say. Action from India remains plausible and possible, but the window where imminence was a real concern has passed.
What usually happens in crises is that countries pick up troop or logistics movements, or their allies inform them, or they rely on ground intelligence to determine what might happen. Sometimes, these can be misread and can lead the offensive side to see an opportunity to act where none exists or the defensive side to believe an attack may be coming when it isn’t the case.
Pakistan naturally has to show commitment to prepare for any eventuality. You don’t know what will come next, so you have to be ready.
Having said that, I don’t think we are going to see a major war, but in these circumstances, you can never predict, and one little misunderstanding or miscalculation can lead to something major.
Al Jazeera: How do you see the role of third parties such as the US, China and Gulf States in this crisis, and how would you compare it with previous instances?
Yusuf: My last book, Brokering Peace (2018) was on the third-party management in Pakistan-India context, and this is such a vital element for both as they have internalised and built it into their calculus that a third-party country will inevitably come in.
The idea is that a third-party mediator will step in, and the two nations will agree to stop because that is what they really want, instead of escalating further.
And the leader of the pack of third-party countries is the United States since the Kargil war of 1999. (Pakistani forces crossed the LoC to try to take control of strategic heights in Ladakh’s Kargil, but India eventually managed to take back the territory. Then-US President Bill Clinton is credited with helping end that conflict.).
Everybody else, including China, ultimately backs the US position, which prioritises immediate de-escalation above all else during the crisis.
This changed somewhat in the 2016 surgical strikes and 2019 Pulwama crisis when the US leaned heavily on India’s side, perhaps unwittingly even emboldening them to act in 2019.
(In 2016, Indian troops launched a cross-border "surgical strike" that New Delhi said targeted armed fighters planning to attack India, after gunmen killed 19 Indian soldiers in an attack on an army base in Uri, Indian-administered Kashmir. Three years later, Indian fighter jets bombed what New Delhi said were bases of "terrorists" in Balakot, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after the attack on the Indian military convoy in which 40 soldiers were killed. India and Pakistan then engaged in an aerial dogfight, and an Indian pilot was captured and subsequently returned.).
However, this time, you have a president in the White House who turned around and told both Pakistan and India to figure it out themselves.
This, I think, has hurt India more than Pakistan, because for Pakistan, they had discounted the possibility of significant US support in recent years, thinking they have gotten too close to India due to their strategic relationship.
But India would have been hoping for the Americans to put their foot down and pressure Pakistan, which did not exactly materialise. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s phone call again is playing down the middle, where they are telling both the countries to get out of war.
So, what they have done has, oddly enough, still played a role in holding India back so far, since India didn’t (so far) feel as emboldened to take action as they may have during Pulwama in 2019.
Gulf countries have played a more active role than before. China, too, has made a statement of restraint.
Al Jazeera: How has Pakistan’s relationship with India evolved in recent years?
Yusuf: There has been a sea change in the relationship between the two countries. When I was in office, despite serious problems and India’s unilateral moves in Kashmir in 2019, we saw a ceasefire agreement on the Line of Control as well as back-channel talks.
We have tried to move ahead and reduce India’s incentive to destabilise Pakistan, but I think India has lost that opportunity due to its own intransigence, hubris and an ideological bent that continues to force them to demean and threaten Pakistan.
That has led to a change in Pakistan as well, where the leadership is now convinced that the policy of restraint did not deliver, and India has misused and abused Pakistan’s offers for dialogue.
The view now is that if India doesn’t want to talk, Pakistan shouldn’t be pleading either. If India does reach out, we will likely respond, but there isn’t any desperation in Pakistan at all.
This is not a good place to be for either country. I have long believed and argued that ultimately for Pakistan to get to where we want to go economically, and for India to get to where it says it wants to go regionally, it cannot happen unless both improve their relationship. For now, though, with the current Indian attitude, unfortunately, I see little hope.
Al Jazeera: Do you anticipate any direct India-Pakistan talks at any level during or after this crisis?
Yes – I don’t know when it will be, or who will it be through or with, but I think one of the key lessons Indians could probably walk away with once all this is over is that attempting to isolate Pakistan isn’t working.
Indus Water Treaty in abeyance? Simla Agreement’s potential suspension? These are major decisions, and the two countries will need to talk to sort these out, and I think at some point in future they will engage.
But I also don’t think that Pakistan will make a move towards rapprochement, as we have offered opportunities for dialogues so many times recently to no avail. As I said, the mood in Pakistan has also firmed up on this question.
Ultimately, the Indians need to basically decide if they want to talk or not. If they come forth, I think Pakistan will still respond positively to it. Pakistan conducts missile test as tensions flare with India (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/3/2025 6:20 AM, Kamran Haider and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 3973K]
Pakistan’s military said it tested a long-range missile amid rising tensions with neighbor India following an attack that killed more than two dozen people, mainly tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir.
The launch of the surface-to-surface Abdali missile was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, the Pakistan military’s media wing said in a statement Saturday. The exercise was to test the weapon’s navigation system and maneuverability features, it added.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t comment immediately on the missile test by Pakistan. It comes days after Indian navy ships test-fired missiles showcasing their capability to hit distant targets.
The test of a long-range missile by Pakistan is provocative and will escalate tensions, Indian officials said, asking not to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. Pakistan has issued naval warnings, carried out military drills in the Arabian Sea and continued firing small arms across the disputed boundary, they said.
The two nuclear-armed nations have been ratcheting up pressure and levying tit-for-tat measures after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government vowed to punish those responsible for the attack, which it’s called an act of terrorism.
While India has accused Pakistan of involvement in this incident, Pakistan has denied any links to the assault and warned of retaliation if India takes military action. The U.S. has been urging a de-escalation to avoid a broader regional conflict.
India banned the import of all goods originating from or transiting through Pakistan with immediate effect, its Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a May 2 notification.
Punitive Measures
On Saturday, India’s Directorate General of Shipping said in an order that ships bearing the Pakistan flag were not to visit Indian ports while no ship with an Indian flag were to dock anywhere in Pakistan. This was to "ensure safety of Indian assets, cargo and connected infrastructure," according to the order.
Since the attack in Kashmir, India’s punitive measures to cut ties with Pakistan included suspending the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, canceling visas of Pakistanis living in India, forcing Pakistani diplomats out of the country and restricting its airspace.
Pakistan too has announced retaliatory measures against India, such as halting all trade, closing its airspace and expelling Indian diplomats. It has warned that any attempt to prevent the flow of water promised under the decades-old treaty would be seen an act of war.
Islamabad has, however, offered to join a probe either by Indian officials or an independent agency to find facts and avoid conflict.
Dwindling TradeTrade between the two nations has dwindled over the last few years. India imported $420,000 worth of goods from Pakistan between April 2024 and January 2025, a sharp plunge from $2.86 million of imports over the same period in the previous year, data from India’s commerce ministry shows.
Exports from India to Pakistan also dropped to $447.7 million between April 2024 and January 2025 from $1.1 billion the year before, according to the ministry data.
While U.S. officials including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been urging both the South Asian nations to de-escalate, India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reiterated this week that the attack’s "perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice.". Pakistan test fires ballistic missile amid high tensions with India after Kashmir gun massacre (AP)
AP [5/3/2025 6:50 PM, Munir Ahmed, 10355K]
Pakistan test fired a ballistic missile Saturday as tensions with India spiked over last month’s deadly attack on tourists in the disputed Kashmir region.
The surface-to-surface missile has a range of 450 kilometers (about 280 miles), the Pakistani military said. There was no immediate comment about the launch from India, which blames Pakistan for the April 22 gun massacre in the resort town of Pahalgam, a charge Pakistan denies.
Pakistan’s military said the launch of the Abdali Weapon System was aimed at ensuring the "operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters," including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced maneuverability features.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated those behind the successful test. Missiles are not fired toward the border area with India; they are normally fired into the Arabian Sea or the deserts of southwest Balochistan province.
Islamabad-based security analyst Syed Muhammad Ali said Saturday’s missile was named after a prominent Muslim conqueror of India, underlining its symbolic significance.
"The timing of this launch is critical in the current geopolitical context," Ali told The Associated Press. He said the test was intended as a strategic signal to India after it had threatened to suspend a crucial water-sharing treaty.
India’s navy said on April 27 that its vessels had successfully undertaken anti-ship firings to "revalidate and demonstrate readiness of platforms, systems and crew for long-range precision offensive strike.".
Ashok Malik, a former policy adviser in India’s Foreign Ministry, said there was anger across the country following the gun attack. The 26 victims came from 13 different states.
"Internationally, there is enormous sympathy for India and little patience with Pakistan," said Malik. "I don’t believe anybody in India wants a full-fledged war. Even so, there is domestic pressure and diplomatic space for a sharp, targeted, and limited response.".
The ongoing "muscle flexing" by both countries’ troops was reflective of the tense mood and also apparent in the "unremitting hostilities" on the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir, he said.
Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.
They have fought two of their three wars over the stunning Himalayan region and their ties have been shaped by conflict, aggressive diplomacy and mutual suspicion, mostly due to their competing claims over Kashmir.
The latest flare-up led the two countries to expel each other’s diplomats and nationals, as well as the shuttering of airspace.
On Saturday, India suspended the exchange of all mail from Pakistan through air and surface routes and slapped an immediate ban on the direct and indirect import of all goods from its neighbor.
India has also banned Pakistani-flagged ships from entering its ports and prohibited Indian-flagged vessels from visiting Pakistani ports.
India’s military said Saturday that Pakistani troops had fired at positions across the border for a ninth consecutive night. The statement called the firing unprovoked and said Indian troops "responded promptly and proportionately.".
Pakistan did not confirm the exchange of fire at the Line of Control.
The incident could not be independently verified. In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes.
Passions ran high among the Pakistanis who traveled to the Wagah crossing with India to see the famous flag-lowering ceremony.
The spectacle involves Pakistan’s Rangers and India’s border Security Force in a dramatic parade on either side of the crossing, with just a gate between them, their high kicks stretching skyward.
Shoaib-ur-Rehman said no other experience stirred such powerful feelings of patriotism in him and that he witnessed "extraordinary emotions" during Saturday’s ceremony.
Rehman expressed his opposition to a war with India, but said he would fight alongside Pakistan’s military if one broke out.
Sundas Batool wanted India to provide evidence about Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam attack.
"The other side must have seen our energy, our spirit," said Batool, referring to the crowds on the other side of the border. "My message to India is: We are ready for anything.". Pakistan Tests Missile Weapons System Amid India Standoff (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/3/2025 4:42 AM, Staff, 62527K]
Pakistan’s military said it carried out a "training launch" of a surface-to-surface missile weapons system on Saturday, further heightening tensions with India after last month’s deadly attack in disputed Kashmir.
New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists last month in Indian-administered Kashmir, sparking a fresh stand-off between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan’s military said Saturday it conducted a "successful training launch of the Abdali Weapon System", a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometres (279 miles).
"The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced manoeuvrability features," Pakistan’s military said in a statement.
It did not say where the test took place.
The missile training launch comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has given his military "full operational freedom" to respond to the attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists.
Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack and called for an independent probe.
This week Islamabad warned of an imminent air strike from its neighbour, and has repeatedly made clear it will respond with force to any aggression by India.
International pressure has been piled on both New Delhi and Islamabad -- who have fought several wars over the disputed Kashmir region -- to de-escalate.
Neighbouring China has urged "restraint", with the European Union warning Friday that the situation was "alarming.
In an interview with Fox News, US Vice President JD Vance called on India to respond to the attack in a way "that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict".
He also urged Pakistan to "make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with".- ‘Message to the world’ -
Analysts in Pakistan told AFP the missile launch was a warning shot.
"It clearly indicates that we have resources to counter India. This is not a message only for India but the rest of the world that we are well-prepared," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a military analyst.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir presided over a meeting of his top commanders about the "current Pakistan-India standoff", a military statement said.
Munir "underscored the critical importance of heightened vigilance and proactive readiness across all fronts".
Since the attack -- the deadliest in Kashmir on civilians in years -- India and Pakistan have exchanged tit-for-tat diplomatic barbs and expulsions, and shut border crossings.
The two sides have exchanged gunfire for nine consecutive nights along the militarised Line of Control, the de facto border, according to Indian defence sources.
Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region of around 15 million people, is divided but claimed in full between Pakistan and India.
Rebels on the Indian side have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.
India regularly blames its neighbour for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.
Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination and regularly denounces rights abuses in the region. India
The U.S. welcomed Indian students. Under Trump, they fear for their future. (Washington Post)
Washington Post [5/5/2025 1:00 AM, Karishma Mehrotra, 6.9M]
In 2023, a recent college graduate from India was pulled over by police for driving without a license. It could now cost him his future in America.
He had just earned his master’s degree from Lindsey Wilson College, in Kentucky, and was enrolled in the federal Optional Practical Training program (OPT), which allows international graduates to work in the United States. After paying a $1,200 fine for the infraction, he thought the matter was behind him.
Two years later, the former student, now 28 and working as an engineer in Atlanta, was informed that his visa had been revoked and he could no longer stay in the country.“I came here legally and made one small mistake, but I am not a criminal,” said the engineer, who is from Hyderabad, a technology hub in southern India. Like others in this report, he spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing legal retaliation from U.S. authorities.“This government has really scared us,” he said. “We have no idea what they will do next.”
As President Donald Trump has moved quickly to overhaul America’s immigration system, his administration terminated the legal status of thousands of international students — known as SEVIS records — and in some cases revoked their visas. In certain instances, the government has cited students’ past legal violations, some as minor as parking tickets, while in other cases no reason has been provided.
After a wave of legal challenges, the Department of Homeland Security reversed course last month, saying it would restore SEVIS records. But the engineer, and others who have already lost their visas, say they remain in limbo.“Whenever an individual’s visa is revoked, he or she may reapply at one of our consulates or embassies overseas at any time,” the State Department press office said in a statement to The Washington Post.
The United States hosts more than 300,000 students from India, more than from any other country; nearly 100,000 Indians are employed through the OPT program. Half of the 327 visa revocation cases tracked by the American Immigration Lawyers Association involved Indian nationals. The Post spoke to 10 Indian students who are studying in the United States or applying to American universities about how the crackdown has upended their lives and changed their plans.“The message from the government was ‘We don’t want your best and brightest,’” said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer representing 133 international students who have had their legal status revoked, roughly a third of whom are from India.
Ravi Lothumalla, an educational consultant in Dallas, is part of three WhatsApp groups, each with at least 200 Indian students, where members share updates on their cases and compare legal advice.“Trump is clearly taking this very seriously,” Lothumalla said.
International students also have been targeted for their political views. About a dozen so far have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, an activity the administration says is tantamount to supporting terrorism.“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “When you break our laws and advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country.”
The arrest of Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University accused of spreading “Hamas propaganda,” and the visa revocation of Columbia University graduate student Ranjani Srinivasan after pro-Palestinian posts on social media have also sent a chill through Indian student communities.
Many who came to study and stayed to work now wonder if they have a future here.“It is still a lot of chaos,” said the engineer in Atlanta, who lost his job when he lost his immigration status. “Every day is a nightmare.”
Living in fearAmerica’s world-class university system has long made it a destination for ambitious students from around the world. More than 1 million international students contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy in the past academic year, according to NAFSA (formerly the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers).
Kuck, the immigration lawyer, said the administration’s policies could rapidly erode the country’s competitive advantage: “Indian students are going to start saying, ‘You know what, I think I am going to learn German.’”
An Indian graduate student at an Ivy League institution said she and others had begun drafting contingency plans — finishing degrees abroad or applying for jobs in Europe. In April, her university said in a campuswide email that at least three students had their SEVIS records terminated.“I don’t want to live in fear,” she said, “where you have to watch and think about every little thing you do.”“We used to think of America as a place where we could build a career,” said another Indian student, 31, who is pursuing a graduate degree in New York. “That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.”
She said she was reminded of a 2016 crackdown at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in New Delhi, where student leaders were arrested and branded as “anti-nationals” by the government for demonstrating against death sentences for accused Kashmiri separatists. “This is a copy-paste of that,” she said.
As pro-Palestinian protests swept across the country last year, the student at the Ivy League college said, she and her classmates had expected that administrators would defend their right to free speech. “We were really, really wrong,” she said.
Another 31-year-old Indian student at a Northeastern university has canceled a trip home this summer, fearing he might not be allowed to return. He is now expanding his academic network to Canada and South Africa.“There’s no desire on my part to continue an intellectual relationship with this country after I leave,” he said. “The anti-intellectual force of this administration has hollowed out what used to be the center of academic life.”
Legal limbo
Some students targeted for deportation have lived in the United States for many years and are now struggling to navigate the complexities of the immigration system.
Another engineer from Hyderabad, 27, had worked for Google, Cognizant and a federal consulting firm after graduating from Kent State University in 2022. In January, while out socializing in Fredericksburg, Texas, he agreed to drive home a friend who had injured his leg, despite being “slightly tipsy.” He was pulled over, arrested for driving under the influence and released the next day on bail.
His visa was revoked in March; in April, he received an email directing him to “self-deport.”“I can’t stay in the country because of the visa revocation, but I can’t leave the country because I need to appear in court,” the former Google employee said. “No one knows what to do.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs in March urged citizens abroad to comply with local laws and asked host countries to ensure due process. But officials in New Delhi have made no public comment about U.S. efforts to revoke the immigration status of Indian students.“Why hasn’t my country responded?” the former Google employee wondered. “It’s affecting so many of us.”
Anthony Renzulli, a former director for India at the National Security Council, warned that the crackdown could fundamentally alter the relationship between the two countries.“The number of Indian foreign students is inevitably going to decline,” he said. “It cuts into the very foundation of the U.S.-India partnership — the people-to-people ties.”
January saw a 50 percent drop in visas issued to Indian students as compared with the previous year, according to State Department figures.“The loss to the U.S. is incalculable,” said Renzulli.
Many students said their belief in the United States has been deeply, and irreversibly, shaken.“Even if one saw problems in America, there was always a faith in the institutional and legal mechanisms,” said the graduate student in the Northeast. “That is now gone.” India Removes Top Envoy to IMF Who Criticized Fund’s Analysis (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/5/2025 12:05 AM, Ruchi Bhatia and Eric Martin, 5.5M]
India recalled its top representative to the International Monetary Fund, a former adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who publicly criticized the fund’s analysis.
Modi’s office terminated KV Subramanian’s appointment as executive director to the board effective April 30, six months before his three-year term would expire, according to people familiar with the situation.
He was warned by Modi’s office over some of his criticisms and disagreements with the IMF, which were seen as a breach of protocol, according to the people, who asked not to be identified describing internal issues.
Subramanian didn’t respond to requests for comment. Modi’s office and India’s Ministry of Finance didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking further information. Local media had earlier reported on Subramanian’s dismissal.“The termination of ED Subramanian is a decision by the Government of India,” the IMF said in a response to questions. “We wish him well in his future endeavors and look forward to working with his successor.”
Subramanian, who had previously served as Modi’s chief economic adviser from 2018 to 2021, fell out of favor with the prime minister’s office over his public criticism and internal quarrels over the IMF staff’s economic analysis, especially about India, according to the people.
In one public instance, he said on X that his own forecasts for India’s economic growth were more accurate than the IMF’s, which he called “consistently inaccurate” and undershot by “huge” margins.
Subramanian leveled other criticisms through official channels as well. In December, he rejected the fund’s assessment that the central bank’s foreign-exchange interventions were “excessive,” while also calling out its growth estimates. Such responses to IMF forecasts are a routine part of annual economic analysis for most counties, known as Article IV assessments.
Other Indian officials have also been critical of the IMF’s analysis. In February, a deputy central bank governor disputed its forecast for debt-to-GDP as too high.
Parameswaran Iyer, India’s representative to the World Bank in Washington, will be interim director while New Delhi decides on a replacement, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified. The position represents India as well as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Removing Subramanian is unrelated to India’s recent efforts to convince the IMF and other multilateral lenders to halt loans to Pakistan, part of its wider push to isolate Pakistan after blaming it for last month’s deadly attacks in Kashmir. However, it’s unlikely any funds will be withheld as long as Pakistan meets the terms of the loans.
The IMF’s board is scheduled to approve its next disbursement to Pakistan on May 9. India asks IMF to review loans to Pakistan, Indian government source says (Reuters)
Reuters [5/2/2025 6:42 AM, Sarita Chaganti Singh and Ariba Shahid, 5.2M]
India has asked the International Monetary Fund to review loans disbursed to Pakistan, an Indian government source told Reuters on Friday, as tensions between the South Asian neighbours escalated following a deadly attack in Kashmir.
India and Pakistan have announced a raft of measures after an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last week killed 26 men and there is a fear that the latest crisis between the nuclear-armed rivals could spiral into a military conflict.
New Delhi has identified the three attackers, including two it says are Pakistani nationals, as "terrorists". Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.
India suspended a critical river water sharing treaty and the two countries have closed their airspace to each other’s airlines.
Pakistan secured a $7 billion bailout programme from the IMF last year and was granted a new $1.3 billion climate resilience loan in March.
The programme is critical to the $350 billion economy and Pakistan said it has stabilized under the bailout that helped it stave off a default threat.
India raised concerns with the IMF on its loans to Pakistan, asking for a review, a government source told Reuters without elaborating.
The IMF and India’s finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The advisor to Pakistan’s finance minister said the IMF programme is "well on track".
"The latest review has been done well and we are completely on track," advisor Khurram Schehzad, told Reuters, adding that Pakistan had very productive spring meetings with financial institutions in Washington.
"We did about 70 meetings ... interest has been very high for investing and supporting Pakistan as the economy turns around," Schehzad said.
The soaring tensions between the two countries has drawn global attention and calls for cooling tempers.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that Washington hoped Pakistan would cooperate with India to hunt down Pakistan-based assailants.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan, but each rules it in parts.
While New Delhi accuses Pakistan of backing an uprising in Indian Kashmir since 1989, Pakistan says it only offers diplomatic and moral support to a Kashmiri demand for self-determination. India starts work on hydro projects after suspending treaty with Pakistan, sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [5/5/2025 1:33 AM, Aftab Ahmed, Sarita Chaganti Singh and Krishna N. Das, 5.2M]
India has begun work to boost reservoir holding capacity at two hydroelectric projects in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, after fresh tension with Pakistan led it to suspend a water-sharing pact.
The work represents the first tangible step by India to operate outside agreements covered by the Indus Waters Treaty, unbroken since 1960 despite three wars and several other conflicts between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Last month, however, New Delhi suspended the pact that ensures supply to 80% of Pakistani farms after an attack in Kashmir killed 26, and it identified two of the three assailants as Pakistani.
Islamabad has threatened international legal action over the suspension and denied any role in the attack, warning, "Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan ... will be considered as an act of war".
A "reservoir flushing" process to remove sediment began on Thursday, carried out by India’s biggest hydropower company, state-run NHPC Ltd (NHPC.NS), and authorities in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the three sources said.
The work may not immediately threaten supply to Pakistan, which depends on rivers flowing through India for much of its irrigation and hydropower, but it could eventually be affected if other projects launch similar efforts.
There are more than half a dozen such projects in the region.
India did not inform Pakistan about the work at the Salal and Baglihar projects, which is being done for the first time since they were built in 1987 and 2008/09, respectively, as the treaty had blocked such work, the sources added.
They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media.
India’s NHPC and the neighbouring governments did not reply to emails from Reuters to seek comment.
Since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, in addition to numerous short conflicts.
The flushing operation ran for three days from May 1, the sources said.
"This is the first time such an exercise has taken place and will help in more efficient power generation and prevent damage to turbines," one of the sources told Reuters.
"We were also asked to open the adjustable gates for cleaning, which we did from May 1," the source said, adding that the effort aimed to free dam operation from any restrictions.
People living on the banks of the Chenab river on the Indian side of Kashmir said they noticed water had been released from both Salal and Baglihar dams from Thursday to Saturday.‘FREE WILL’
The flushing of hydropower projects requires nearly emptying a reservoir to force out sediments whose build-up is a major cause of decline in output.
For example, two of the sources said, power delivered by the 690-MegaWatt Salal project was far below its capacity, because Pakistan had prevented such flushing, while silting also hit output at the 900-MW Baglihar project.
"Flushing is not a common thing because it leads to a lot of water wastage," said one of the sources. "Downstream countries are expected to be informed in case it leads to any inundation."
Building both projects had required extensive back and forth with Pakistan, which worries about losing out on its share of water.
Under the 1960 treaty, which split the Indus and its tributaries between the neighbours, India had also shared data such as hydrological flows at various spots on the rivers flowing through India and issued flood warnings.
India’s water minister has vowed to "ensure no drop of the Indus river’s water reaches Pakistan".
Government officials and experts on both sides say India cannot stop water flows immediately, however, as the treaty has allowed it only to build hydropower plants without significant storage dams on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan.
The suspension means India "can now pursue our projects at free will", said Kushvinder Vohra, a recently retired head of India’s Central Water Commission who worked extensively on Indus disputes with Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has sought to renegotiate the treaty in recent years and the archfoes have tried to settle some of their differences at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.
These concerns related to the size of the water storage area at the region’s Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric plants. India and UK look to clinch trade deal in new London meeting (Reuters)
Reuters [5/2/2025 11:06 AM, Alistair Smout, 5.2M]
British trade minister Jonathan Reynolds met his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal in London on Friday in an unscheduled resumption of talks as the countries seek to clinch a free trade deal in the shadow of U.S. tariffs.
Goyal returned to London for the talks, a British government spokesperson said, after a two-day visit earlier in the week ended without a final agreement.
Talks between Britain and India on a trade deal started in January 2022, as Britain sought to forge an independent trade policy after leaving the European Union.
After talks were delayed by a churn in British politics - with four different prime ministers in office since negotiations began - the Labour government that took power last year looked set to clinch a deal imminently.
Separately, both countries are also seeking bilateral deals with the United States to remove some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Those levies have upended the global trade system, and the resulting turmoil has sharpened focus in both London and New Delhi on the need to clinch a UK-India trade deal.
The British and Indian governments each said that talks earlier in the week had been constructive.
"We have been clear we will only sign a deal that is fair, balanced and ultimately in the best interests of the British people," a British trade ministry spokesperson said.
Businesses briefed on the outline of a deal on Tuesday said only a few issues remained outstanding, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Areas such as the reduction of tariffs on whisky and autos had been finalised, they added.
Britain and India are also looking to conclude separate treaties on investment and social security, negotiated alongside the free trade agreement.
Under the proposed investment treaty, companies will have protections that allow them to sue either government if they believe policy changes unfairly harm their investments, two sources told Reuters. Worshipers stampede at a temple in western India, killing 6 and injuring dozens (AP)
AP [5/3/2025 4:03 AM, Staff, 52868K]
At least six people are dead and dozens injured after a stampede at a religious gathering in the western Indian state of Goa early Saturday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.The stampede broke out as thousands of devotees thronged narrow lanes leading to a temple in Shirgao village, some 40 kilometers from the state capital of Panaji, the agency quoted police as saying.Tens of thousands of devotees from Goa and neighboring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka attended the annual Hindu festival at Sree Lairai Devi temple.The stampede was caused as people standing on a slope near the temple fell over, pushing more people to fall onto each other, Director General of Police Alok Kumar said, according to the news agency.The injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. Authorities ordered a probe into the incident.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by the loss of lives and expressed condolences to the victims’ families.“The local administration is assisting those affected,” Modi said on social media.Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds often gather in small areas.In January, at least 30 people died and many more were injured in a stampede as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river at India’s massive Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering.In July, at least 116 people died, most of them women and children, when thousands at a religious gathering in northern India stampeded at a tent camp in Hathras town. ‘They threatened to bulldoze my house’: fear and violence stalk journalists in Modi’s India (The Guardian)
The Guardian [5/4/2025 1:00 AM, Staff, 78938K]
At her home in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Harleen Kapoor* reflects with melancholy on how, since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, she has spent a lot of time in the office instead of out on the powerful human rights exposés she used to work on.
Stories from some of the most deprived areas in the country were her forte. But, she says, in the climate of fear that has built up in India in the past decade, her media outlet has made it clear that her reports on topics such as sexual violence against lower-caste women and the harassment of Muslims are no longer welcome.
When the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which rules nationally, won power in Uttar Pradesh for a second term in 2022, the outlet told her to stop travelling altogether. Its finances were already fragile, and it feared losing government advertising.
In theory, the press in India enjoys freedom. Anyone looking at the media landscape would find it vibrant, with about 20,000 daily newspapers and about 450 privately owned news channels. No minister has ordered any curtailment of press freedom or freedom of expression. No formal policy of shutting down newspapers or channels has been announced. Reporters are, for the most part, free to travel.
But because of violence against journalists and highly concentrated media ownership, India is ranked among the worst countries in the world for press freedom– 151st out of 180 countries – according to the annual index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.
"There is no holding anyone accountable any more if you don’t report on such stories," says Kapoor, who says she held off reporting on the many cases of severe gastrointestinal illnesses among devotees at the world’s largest religious gathering, Kumbh Mela, this year.
She feared being detained for challenging the official narrative that the festival had been a consummate masterclass in crowd management.
"My children said, ‘how will you cope in a cell in the summer without air conditioning and sharing one toilet with 40 other people?’ People like me in small towns don’t have the resources to survive an onslaught by the police," she says.
Today, in Modi’s India, many journalists say they fear being framed under draconian anti-terrorism laws, or the arrival of pro-Modi gangs at their front door.
Arjun Menon*, also based in Uttar Pradesh, says he received death threats after writing a piece critical of Modi’s leadership two years ago.
"Modi supporters threatened to bulldoze my house. I was trolled viciously for being unpatriotic. It’s made me meticulous about recording all my conversations and keeping detailed notes just in case I end up in court," Menon says.
At least 15 journalists have been charged under the anti-terrorism law, the 1967 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, since Modi came to power, according to the International Journalists’ Network (IJN). Thirty-six journalists have been detained.
Siddique Kappan was jailed for two years without trial after being arrested on his way to Uttar Pradesh to report on the high-profile case of a Dalit girl who was gang-raped and later died in 2020. He had been picked up by Uttar Pradesh police and accused of belonging to an Islamist fundamentalist group and conspiring to incite violence among Muslims.
India’s laws, says the IJN, have been "weaponised" to silence and intimidate journalists, with the 1967 security law amended in 2019 to allow the authorities to declare an individual a "terrorist" before any crime is proved in court.
The Delhi-based independent journalist Aakash Hassan, a regular contributor to the Guardian, says he has been visited at home by police and intelligence officials for his coverage of the restive Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is claimed by both Pakistan and India. He has now been banned from travelling outside India, he says, and has had his phone confiscated by police, who demanded his password.
"There are many important stories I have wanted to do, and I should be doing, but fears for my safety and that of my family have stopped me. It’s very scary to know that any number of draconian laws can be used to jail journalists. Then you can wait years for a verdict," says Hassan.
Modi and the BJP are not the first in India to try to suppress media freedom, says the journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. Earlier governments also tried, including the Congress party, now the main opposition. Under a Congress government in 2012, the cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested for depicting parliament as a toilet.
The difference, says Thakurta, is that the Modi regime has "weaponised law-enforcing agencies to target not only its political opponents but several independent journalists who have not kowtowed to the right wing".
Large sections of the mainstream media appear to have been turned into subservient mouthpieces. Modi himself has never exposed himself to a press conference to answer difficult questions, not even during the Covid pandemic.
"Never since 1975-77, when former prime minister Indira Gandhi imposed an ‘emergency’, has media freedom been so shackled and constricted in the country," says Thakurta.
While dismayed at the suppression of freedom of expression and the fear inhibiting reporters, N Ram, director of the Hindu Publishing Group, says critical voices remain. Stories that embarrass the government do still get published. Independent news websites such as the Wire and Newslaundry continue to criticise the government, along with magazines such as the Caravan.
For a non-official perspective, Indians have started turning to independent YouTube channels and popular podcasters such as Ravish Kumar, Dhruv Rathee and Akash Banerjee, who are all critical of the Modi regime. And in southern India, where the BJP is not in power in any of the five states, there is less fear among journalists.
Last month, Vikatan, a news website in the southernmost state of Tamil Nadu, managed to get a court to overturn the government’s move to block it after it published a cartoon showing a handcuffed Modi sitting next to Donald Trump following news of the deportation of Indian immigrants from the US. The Modi government’s lawyer had argued that the cartoon was "detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India" and its "friendly relations with foreign states".
Ram says independent journalism is not dead. "There remain spaces and voices that resist suppression and I think we will see more people standing up to pressure.". Four dead, one injured as heavy rains and gusty winds batter Indian capital (Reuters)
Reuters [5/2/2025 3:44 PM, Surbhi Misra, 5.2M]
Four members of a family were killed during a thunderstorm in New Delhi on Friday after a tree collapsed on top of the room in which they were sleeping, and one person was injured, the capital territory’s chief minister said.
The city experienced wind speeds ranging between 70-100 kph, along with lightning and its heaviest May downpour since 2021, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
"Instructions have been given to the district administration to provide all necessary assistance (to the affected family) immediately," Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said in a post on X.
Flight operations at the city’s airport were also disrupted due to low visibility and waterlogging, while metro services were delayed and traffic snarls reported in several places.
A study commissioned by charity WaterAid last month pointed to a trend of weather in some of the world’s most densely populated cities swinging from droughts to floods and back again, as rising temperatures wreak havoc on the global water cycle.
Unseasonable heavy rain also swept across eastern and central India and parts of Nepal last month, killing more than 100 people. NSB
Thousands of Islamists rally in Bangladesh against proposed changes to women’s rights (AP)
AP [5/3/2025 7:18 AM, Staff, 456K]
Thousands of supporters of an Islamist group rallied in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday to denounce proposed recommendations for ensuring equal rights, including ones related to property, for mainly Muslim women.
Leaders of the Hefazat-e-Islam group said the proposed legal reforms are contradictory to the Sharia law. More than 20,000 followers of the group rallied near the Dhaka University, some carrying banners and placards reading “Say no to Western laws on our women, rise up Bangladesh.”The group threatened to organize rallies on May 23 across the country if the government didn’t meet their demands.
Mamunul Haque, a leader of the group, demanded that the interim government’s reforms commission be abolished and its members punished for the proposed changes. He said they hurt “the sentiments of the majority of the people of this country” by labeling the religious laws of inheritance as the main cause of inequality between men and women.
The group’s leaders also demanded that the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad punus ban the Awami League party led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August. Hasina’s opponents accuse her government of killing hundreds of students and others during the uprising that ended her 15-year rule. Hasina has been in exile in India since her ouster.
Islamist groups in Bangladesh have increased their visibility since Hasina’s ouster, and minority groups have complained of being intimidated. Bangladesh Islamists Rally In Show Of Force (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/3/2025 6:44 AM, Staff, 931K]
Thousands of Bangladeshi Islamists rallied in Dhaka on Saturday, one of their biggest public shows of strength in years as religious activism surges.
Islamist groups have gained strength after the toppling of the iron-fisted regime of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, opposing attempts at reforms they say are un-Islamic.
Hefazat-e-Islam -- an influential pressure group made up of multiple political parties, Muslim organisations and religious schools -- issued a string of demands at Saturday’s rally, including the abolishment of a government women’s commission seeking equality.
"Men and women can never be equal: the Koran outlines specific codes of life for both genders," said Mohammad Shihab Uddin, 53, leader of a women’s madrassa, a religious school.
"There is no way we can go beyond that."
The rally on Saturday came after two days of demonstrations by political parties, drumming up support ahead of much-anticipated elections, including by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), widely tipped to win the poll.
No date has been set for elections but caretaker leader Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who heads the interim government, has promised polls will be held by June 2026 at the latest.
Muhammad Umar Faruq, 30, another teacher at a seminary, said they helped the interim government run the country.
"If a government attempts anything anti-Islamic in a country where 92 percent of the population is Muslim, we will reject it immediately," Umar Faruq said.Hasina, who was blamed for extensive human rights abuses, took a tough stand against Islamist movements during her autocratic 15-year rule.
Since she fled to India -- where she has defied extradition orders to face charges of crimes against humanity -- Islamist groups have become emboldened.
That has sparked worries from smaller groups, including Muslim Sufi worshippers and the Hindu minority, who together account for less than a 10th of the population.
Women, in particular, have expressed concern.
Islamists have demanded an end to a swath of activities, including cultural events deemed "anti-Islamic" -- from music to theatre festivals, women’s football matches and kite-flying celebrations. Maldives Plans $8.8 Billion Financial Hub Backed by Qatari Royal (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/4/2025 2:14 PM, Isabella Farr, 5.5M]
The government of Maldives said it plans to build an $8.8 billion financial hub backed by Dubai-based MBS Global Investments as the country seeks to address a debt crisis.
The Maldives International Finance Centre, to be built in the capital Malé over the next five years, will have no corporate taxes or residency requirements and offer tax-free inheritance, MBS said in a statement.
MBS, the family office of Qatari royal Sheikh Nayef Bin Eid Al Thani, is backing the project, according to the statement, which didn’t disclose financial terms. The Financial Times reported earlier on the project.
The hub is designed to be a “freezone” for blockchain and digital assets, according to a website for the MIFC. Plans include a 3,500-capacity conference center and three residential and office towers. Residents will have access to multicurrency and private offshore banking.
The Maldives, located in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka and India, is grappling with a debt crisis and has struggled to shore up cash to address upcoming maturities.
Moody’s Ratings has estimated the country’s external debt obligations will total about $600 million to $700 million this year and more than $1 billion by 2026. The country avoided a potential default on an Islamic bond payment last year after India extended a $50 million interest-free loan.“Maldives’ fragile external liquidity position will likely worsen further without near-term financing,” Moody’s said in a report in September, when the ratings firm downgraded the country’s credit rating deeper into junk territory. Cash-strapped Maldives to build $9bn blockchain hub in bid to lure investors (Financial Times)
Financial Times [5/4/2025 9:57 AM, Andres Schipani and Chloe Cornish]
A Dubai-based family office has announced plans to invest $8.8bn to build a “blockchain and digital assets” financial hub in the Maldives, a scheme the cash-strapped Indian Ocean archipelago hopes will help it through a looming debt crunch.
The planned investment led by family office MBS Global Investments over five years would exceed the Maldives’ annual GDP of around $7bn, but Moosa Zameer, finance minister, said the country needed to “take the leap” to diversify away from tourism and fisheries.
Debt coming due in the next two years was “the biggest challenge that we have”, Zameer told the Financial Times in a video interview, adding that the deal was “something we see as a potential contributor to bring us out of certain difficulties that we are in”.
MBS, which says it manages assets worth approximately $14bn, is the family office of a wealthy Qatari, Sheikh Nayef bin Eid Al Thani. It plans to finance the Maldives investment by tapping its network of family offices and high net worth individuals to form a consortium.
MBS’s chief executive Nadeem Hussain said the phased project could be funded through equity and debt and that firm commitments “north of” $4bn-$5bn had already been secured.“We appreciated right from the offset what was involved in terms of funding and we’ve made the necessary alliances and brought in the necessary partners to ensure we have that,” said Hussain. “It is a large sum of money.”
MBS and the Maldives government signed a joint venture agreement on the project on Sunday.
According to the project masterplan, the Maldives International Financial Centre will be a 830,000 sq m hub able to host 6,500 people and provide employment for 16,000 in the capital Malé.
A “financial freezone for blockchain and digital assets globally”, it would aim to triple the Maldives’ GDP within four years and generate revenue of “well over $1bn by the fifth year”, the masterplan said.
The announced investment comes only months after India unveiled a $760mn bailout for the Maldives to stave off a possible sovereign default.
In December, rating agency Moody’s noted Maldives’ “external liquidity pressures remain heightened given substantial external debt obligations”, including $600-700mn due this year and around $1bn in 2026, including a $500mn sukuk, a form of debt that follows Islamic strictures against interest.
Zameer acknowledged the role India and China had played as “development partners” to his country, but said the financial centre deal offered a new model.“With MBS we are getting into business, it’s going to be a business which is totally different from the traditional models of borrowings that we do,” the finance minister said.
The archipelago’s advantages include political stability, good connectivity and proximity to big markets such as India and the Gulf countries. But one senior Indian businessperson said it “won’t be easy” for Malé to become a regional financial centre, particularly given the competition from established hubs such as Dubai and Mauritius. Maldives president holds record 15-hour press conference (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [5/4/2025 1:12 AM, Staff, 62527K]
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu addressed a press conference for nearly 15 hours, his office said on Sunday, claiming it broke a previous record held by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Muizzu, 46, began the marathon press conference at 10:00 am (0500 GMT) on Saturday, and it continued for 14 hours and 54 minutes with brief pauses for prayers, his office said in a statement.
"The conference extended past midnight -- a new world record by a president -- with President Muizzu continuously responding to questions from journalists," the statement said.
In October 2019, Ukraine’s National Records Agency claimed that Zelensky’s 14-hour press conference had broken an earlier record of over seven hours held by Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko.
The government of the Indian Ocean archipelago said Muizzu’s extended session was also intended to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on Saturday.
"He acknowledged the crucial role of the press in society and emphasised the importance of factual, balanced, and impartial reporting," the statement added.
During the lengthy session, Muizzu also responded to questions submitted by members of the public via journalists.
The statement said Muizzu, who came to power in 2023, was also marking his island nation’s rise by two places to 104th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
During Saturday’s session, he answered a wide range of questions, the statement said.
Around two dozen reporters attended and were served food.
A predecessor of Muizzu set another world record by holding the first-ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009, to highlight the threat of rising sea levels that could swamp the low-lying nation.
Former president Mohamed Nasheed plunged into the Indian Ocean followed by his ministers, all in scuba gear, for a nationally televised meeting.
The Maldives is on the frontline of the battle against global warming, which could raise sea levels and swamp the nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered across the equator. Central Asia
Great-Power Jostling In Central Asia Centering On Uzbekistan (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [5/4/2025 7:38 PM, Staff, 206K]
Uzbekistan is playing the field amid intensifying great-power interest in trade and investment opportunities.
Central Asia’s most populous nation has been the center of great-power attention of late, underscored by an "unprecedented level" of diplomatic contacts with the United States, the hosting of a regional summit with the European Union leadership and a just-concluded visitby hundreds of Russian officials and executives who participated in a Tashkent trade fair. Western interest centers on Uzbekistan’s abundant reserves of critical minerals and desire to develop clean energy sources, including nuclear power; Russia, along with China, has broader trade interests, including developing manufacturing capacity.
So far, all the discussions have generated lots of optimistic jargon about the future potential of expanding trade, but few tangible results. EU officials did announce a €12 billion investment package, but it was skimpy on details. The Russian delegation visit, meanwhile, yielded no substantive announcements.
"The importance of enhancing trade and economic cooperation, promoting cooperation projects and programs, including through the development of coordinated solutions on the platform of the ‘Innoprom’ trade fair has been noted," read a statement issued by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s office in late April following talks with Kremlin representatives.
Deals or no deals, the maneuvering shows no signs of letting up. According to Uzbek media reports, Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov during an early April trip to Washington extended an official invitation for President Trump to visit Uzbekistan. Speaking to journalists in Tashkent, US envoy to Tashkent, Jonathan Henick, indicated that the invitation is under serious consideration by the White House.
"Taking into account that more than 30 years have passed since independence, I believe that now is the right time for a visit by a US president to the region," the Kun.uz news outlet quoted Henick as saying. The US ambassador suggested that any Trump trip would occur within the C5+1 format, a US initiative to strengthen ties with all five Central Asian states.
Henick praised Uzbekistan’s cooperation with the Trump administration on the issue of illegal migration, while framing the president’s "American First" outlook as a win-win approach for bilateral trade relations. "Our work in Uzbekistan is not a relationship based on charity or humanitarian aid. This is a relationship based on partnership and mutual benefit," the Gazeta.uz outlet quoted Henick as saying.
Perhaps the most spirited great-power jockeying at present centers on nuclear power. Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear energy agency, has an agreement in place to build a reactor, but Uzbek officials have expressed a desire to diversify the operation of a nuclear plant to prevent any single outside power from having a controlling interest, and, therefore, possessing the ability to apply political pressure on Tashkent.Judging by Mirziyoyev’s statement, there was no change in the Uzbek position arising out of his late April meeting with Rosatom’s chief, Alexey Likhachev.
Financing remains a major issue for the construction of a nuclear power plant, and it is evident Tashkent does not hold all the cards in trying to strike the best deal. On April 25, top officials from Uzbekistan’s nuclear energy agency, Uzatom, sought funding from China’s Eximbank, apparently only to be told by bank representatives that financing would be contingent on the participation of Chinese companies in the implementation of nuclear projects in Uzbekistan. Indo-Pacific
India and Pakistan Edge Toward a Conflict Neither Can Afford (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [5/5/2025 4:16 AM, Dan Strumpf, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, and Faseeh Mangi, 5.5M]
India and Pakistan are the closest they’ve been to military conflict in years following last month’s devastating attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir. The turmoil couldn’t come at a worse time for the economies of the two nuclear-armed nations.
For India, the crisis has struck in the middle of intense negotiations over a trade deal with the US that New Delhi hopes will spare it from President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been counting on the pact to bolster India’s pitch to global investors that it is a haven from Trump’s trade war.
Pakistan, for its part, is pulling itself out of an economic crisis that brought it close to bankruptcy — helped by a $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan program. The government is pushing ahead with its most serious economic reforms in decades to secure more relief.
The attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which Modi’s government has labeled an act of terrorism, is now forcing both countries to shift their attention away from these economic priorities and back to their decades-long rivalry over the disputed Himalayan region.“That this happened at this very moment — it’s very unfortunate,” said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. For New Delhi, in particular, “all of this massive global allure for India will be, in a way, postponed,” she said.
Relations between the two countries have reached a low point since the April 22 attack on the Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir, which left 26 civilians dead. India has blamed the massacre on Pakistan, which denies involvement.
On Sunday, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said India would give a “befitting” reply to the carnage. Pakistan has vowed to respond to any attack, and on Monday tested a surface-to-surface missile for the second time in recent days. It said it would formally apprise the United Nations Security Council of the situation.
Risks of Conflict
For India, the potential hazards of a military conflict are high. Modi is pitching India as an investor-friendly destination and a bastion of stability in Asia as it topples longstanding trade barriers. Early signs are emerging that India could be a major beneficiary of Trump’s trade war, with multinational firms like UBS AG and Apple Inc. shifting more of their operations to the South Asian country.
A drawn-out conflict could also distract from New Delhi’s efforts to secure a bilateral trade deal with the US — an outcome that’s “very close,” according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. If India comes across as the aggressor, it could throw up hurdles in talks over separate pacts that India wants to strike with the European Union and the UK, said Garcia-Herrero.
Military conflict also risks involving China, India’s chief regional rival and Pakistan’s longtime backer. After the attack, Beijing said it was “Pakistan’s ironclad friend and all-weather strategic cooperative partner” and “fully understands Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns.”
For India, there’s little upside to a protracted conflict, said Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies. “They know once they get into an arms escalation it will create uncertainty and they wouldn’t risk their economy even for a day,” he said.
The long-term risks of military escalation for Pakistan are also severe. The country is trying to rebuild its tattered economy after coming close to a default in 2023. Islamabad is working to secure a reprieve from pending 29% reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
The country has said it will send a trade delegation to Washington in the coming months to bridge its trade gap with the US, Pakistan’s largest export market. The economy has stabilized — inflation is low — but only after the fastest wave of price gains in its history. Pakistan’s debt, only borderline manageable, is contingent on regular relief from loans by China, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.“From a market standpoint, Pakistan looks the more vulnerable,” said Philip McNicholas, an Asia sovereign strategist at asset manager Robeco.
Markets Recover
Even with tensions high, stock markets in India have shown resilience after the Kashmir attack. India’s benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed to a new high for the year on Friday, while the Indian rupee reached a seven-month peak. Pakistan’s main benchmark has also pared losses from a post-attack dip.“There is a lot of jingoism between both sides,” said Suleman Rafiq Maniya, an independent wealth manager in Karachi. While limited military strikes remain a possibility, neither country wants a drawn-out conflict, he said, adding that none of his clients are exiting from their domestic stocks.“I feel there will be a dial-down very significantly in the next few weeks,” he said.
In the end, however, India may feel it has little choice but to retaliate, despite the economic risks, said Indrani Bagchi, chief executive of the Ananta Aspen Centre, a think tank in New Delhi.“The attack is a strike at the very core of what is India. Therefore not responding is not an option,” she said. “India cannot be seen as putting the economy ahead of its national security concerns.” Russia says willing to help resolve India-Pakistan differences over Kashmir (Reuters)
Reuters [5/4/2025 3:57 PM, Staff, 1191K]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to his Pakistani counterpart on Sunday and offered Russia’s help in resolving tensions between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, the Foreign Ministry said.
"Particular attention was paid to the significant rise in tension between New Delhi and Islamabad," the ministry said in a statement, referring to Lavrov’s conversation with Ishaq Dar, who is also Pakistan’s deputy prime minister."It was stressed that Russia is ready to act for a political settlement of the situation resulting from the act of terrorism of April 22 in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley, in the event of a mutual desire on the part of Islamabad and New Delhi," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram.Lavrov’s conversation with Dar took place two days after he spoke with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and also called for a settlement of differences between the two neighbouring countries.Suspected militants killed at least 26 people in last week’s attack on a mountain tourist destination in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley.Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed by both countries and has been the focus of several wars, an insurgency and diplomatic standoffs.Russia has been India’s largest weapons provider for decades and New Delhi and Moscow have had close ties since Soviet times. How the India-Pakistan Crisis Could Spiral (TIME – opinion)
TIME [5/3/2025 6:00 AM, Michael Kugelman]
India and Pakistan are in their worst crisis in years after last week’s deadly attack in the disputed Kashmir region. The heightened tensions are unlikely to lead to war, but the world should be worried about the serious escalation risks posed by two nuclear-armed foes.
On Apr. 22, militants attacked tourists picnicking in a picturesque meadow near the town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Some 26 people—25 Indians and one Nepali—were gunned down. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for sponsoring the massacre. Islamabad has denied any involvement. The Resistance Front, an outfit that New Delhi views as a proxy of Pakistani jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, initially claimed responsibility on Telegram, before retracting the claim.
Both India and Pakistan are on edge over the flare up in the Muslim-majority region, which is controlled in part by India and Pakistan, but both claim it in its entirety.On Sunday, the Indian Express quoted an anonymous “top source” in the Indian government who warned “there will be military retaliation.” On Wednesday, Pakistan’s information minister wrote on X in a rare late-night post that his government had “credible intelligence” that India would take military action within 24 to 36 hours.
That deadline passed without incident. Senior Indian and Pakistani military officials have also reportedly communicated via hotline, suggesting that channels of communication are open. Meanwhile, key global capitals, including Washington and Beijing, have called for de-escalation. It’s a posture that puts India, which wants a free hand to respond to the attack as it wishes, on the back foot.
Yet it would be a mistake to conclude the worst is over. The Pahalgam attack was exceptionally brutal, with many people shot in the head, execution-style. Civilians (much less tourists) are rarely targeted in Kashmir, and the Hindu victims were reportedly singled out for their religion. The tragedy has struck a nerve across India, from the general public to military officers and government officials.
For these reasons, Indian military action remains a strong possibility. India’s Hindu nationalist government could suffer major political damage if it sits on its hands, especially after having repeatedly telegraphed its determination to strike back.
If India does pull the trigger, a Pakistani response is all but assured. Pakistanis are furious for being blamed for something horrific they believe their country had nothing to do with. (Pakistan has historically backed extremist actors in Kashmir, but New Delhi hasn’t provided evidence of Pakistani complicity in the recent attack). The country would view any Indian strike as an unwarranted provocation. Also, Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership is unpopular at home; an attack would give Islamabad an additional incentive to strike back, and rally citizens around the flag.
And diplomatic space between the two countries is shrinking. India and Pakistan have suspended two key bilateral agreements: the Indus Waters Treaty, a transboundary water accord; and the Simla Agreement, which calls for the peaceful resolution of disputes.
Fortunately, nuclear weapons still remain a deterrent. India and Pakistan fought all their hot wars before they became formal nuclear powers in 1998. But they’ve been perfectly comfortable using increasing levels of limited force against each other in recent years. In 2016, Indian commandos crossed into Pakistan-administered Kashmir to conduct “surgical strikes” on militant targets. In 2019, after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir claimed by the Pakistani jihadist group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 Indian security forces, India carried out air strikes in Pakistani territory—a first since 1971. Pakistan scrambled fighter jets, and the two air forces engaged in a dogfight before the crisis ended.
Faced with these realities, New Delhi may choose to scale up covert activities—like targeted assassinations of militants in Pakistan—that enable it to achieve tactical objectives with plausible deniability. India may also take the stronger step of striking militant groups in Pakistan to satisfy the public’s demand for action.New Delhi certainly has no intention of sparking a hot war. But any missteps or miscalculations by either side could mean that all bets are off. Twitter
Afghanistan
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/4/2025 4:27 PM, 5.8K followers, 10 retweets, 16 likes]
Human rights activists, journalists & Afghan people are strongly oppose UNAMA reportedly lobbying for a UN seat for Taliban rep Suhail Shaheen. The “Mosaic” initiative, excluding Afghan women & civil society, risks legitimizing the Taliban. Video: Marghalai Faqirzai speaks out.
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/3/2025 6:15 AM, 5.8K followers, 77 retweets, 141 likes]
The “Voice of Afghan Women” protest movement in Tehran calls forced marriages & gender-based violence by Taliban “crimes against humanity.” In statement, they highlight the Taliban’s violations of international law and Islamic principles, urging global legal action and sanctions. https://x.com/i/status/1918610391464329660
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[5/3/2025 5:41 AM, 5.8K followers, 57 retweets, 115 likes]
Global Citizen warns that Taliban’s policies against girls’ education threaten Afghanistan’s future. Over 2.2 million girls are out of school. Ruqia Mansoor, a 17-year-old from Ghazni, studies secretly despite threats. “I want to become a lawyer to fight for justice,” she says.
Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office@amnestysasia
[5/3/2025 6:37 AM, 100.2K followers, 16 retweets, 18 likes]
Why is Afghanistan ranked among the worst countries for media freedom? On #WorldPressFreedomDay read our brief analysis here: https://amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2025/05/what-is-the-state-of-global-press-freedom-in-2025/
Mariam Solaimankhil@Mariamistan
[5/1/2025 10:14 PM, 96.6K followers, 15 retweets, 43 likes]
As an Afghan, thank you @elonmusk @DOGE @POTUS for ripping the mask off:- USAID funneled cash to Taliban-linked scams- USIP wiped 1TB of data to hide the money trail- U.S. taxpayers unknowingly funded extremists- Women were sacrificed for backdoor deals
Afghanistan wasn’t a failure- it was a setup. Now the truth is out. Pakistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[5/4/2025 5:37 PM, 483.4K followers, 10 retweets, 29 likes]
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on an official visit. He was received by Additional Secretary West Asia , Syed Asad Gillani, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan and other senior officials. He will hold important meetings with the Pakistani leadership including the President, Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[5/4/2025 10:52 AM, 483.4K followers, 87 retweets, 329 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, today held a telephonic conversation with the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov. DPM/FM apprised FM Lavrov of recent regional developments. He rejected India’s baseless allegations and inflammatory rhetoric against Pakistan, and condemned India’s unilateral & illegal move to hold the IWT in abeyance which is a violation of its international obligations. Reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace, DPM/FM emphasized that Pakistan would resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and national interests. He also conveyed Pakistan’s offer for an international , transparent and independent investigation. FM Lavrov expressed concern over the situation and stressed the importance of diplomacy to resolve issues. He emphasised that both sides should exercise restraint and avoid escalation. The two leaders also discussed the positive trajectory of Pak-Russia relations and reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation across all sectors. @mfa_russia
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[5/4/2025 3:04 AM, 483.4K followers, 30 retweets, 112 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 chaired a high-level meeting at the Foreign Ministry to follow- up on the outcomes of his visit to Kabul, Afghanistan on 19 April 2025. During the meeting, officials from MOFA & relevant line Ministries were briefed on progress in implementation of earlier decisions. DPM/ FM reaffirmed Pakistan’s vision for a peaceful neighborhood, enhanced trade and connectivity, sustainable development and prosperity.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[5/3/2025 9:45 AM, 483.4K followers, 32 retweets, 154 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of investment initiatives by friendly countries across various sectors. The meeting was attended by SAPM Tariq Bajwa, Chairman SECP, and Secretaries of Petroleum & Finance, along with other senior officials from MoFA & relevant departments. Discussions focused on foreign investments in infrastructure, energy, petroleum, and economic development. DPM emphasized the need for streamlined processes, enhanced institutional coordination, and fast-tracked implementation of investment projects. He reiterated the government’s commitment to providing all necessary facilitation to translate these investments into tangible outcomes for economic growth and prosperity. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/2/2025 9:33 AM, 108M followers, 9.2K retweets, 43K likes]
It’s a delight to be among my sisters and brothers of Andhra Pradesh as we begin a new and historic chapter in Amaravati’s growth. I am confident Amaravati will emerge as a futuristic urban centre, which will enhance the development trajectory of AP. I would like to compliment my good friend, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu Garu for his vision for Amaravati and his commitment towards the welfare of AP’s people.@ncbn
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[5/4/2025 9:41 AM, 108M followers, 5.1K retweets, 23K likes]
Best wishes to the athletes participating in the Khelo India Youth Games being held in Bihar. May this platform bring out your best and promote true sporting excellence. @kheloindia
Narendra Modi@Chellaney
[5/3/2025 8:04 AM, 273.4K followers, 126 retweets, 408 likes]
Pakistanization of Bangladesh since last August’s regime change: With Yunus releasing terrorists and Islamists, Bangladesh’s descent into Islamist violence has shaken up even the army chief, who earlier admitted, "We are going through a chaotic situation." https://www.yahoo.com/news/bangladeshs-influential-islamists-promise-sharia-081923933.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJT6phvGTmqhII5jBOGF1fNEOTryiGudm3_-Wl0oeBee5OK4b6Mcs4q5K7uOqq5nF-zQ0Hq2Z8NgUNqzRn-oXbE-hukXFRBeG5kb7eWN67dboptAe4Xdf7RM1THb5FBpnLIZVV_gWZEFBMz53uV8YZEyYdVIvRGDB4wligFQzb95
Narendra Modi@Chellaney
[5/3/2025 3:05 AM, 273.4K followers, 954 retweets, 3.2K likes]
Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism has plagued India for years, yet the Pahalgam attack once again highlights India’s reactive, ad hoc response. Rather than keeping contingency plans ready to execute swift, surprise retaliation, Modi has convened endless meetings — giving Pakistan ample time to heighten military alertness and prepare countermeasures with newly received Chinese and Turkish weapons, including missiles and drones.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/5/2025 2:43 AM, 3.4M followers, 51 retweets, 333 likes]
Pleased to join @swapan55 for an interaction with scholars of 4th Kautilya Fellows Program 2025. Spoke about IN’s rising capabilities and our deepening contribution to the world - as an economic player, a development partner, a talent hub and a first responder. And how the world’s perception of IN has evolved over the years.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar[5/4/2025 2:45 AM, 3.4M followers, 250 retweets, 1.4K likes]
Pleased to join @ORGrimsson and @samirsaran for a conversation at the #ArcticCircleIndiaForum2025. Spoke about the global consequences of developments in the Arctic. And how the changing world order impacts the region. Underlined IN’s growing responsibilities in the Arctic, recognising opportunities in connectivity, technology, resources, research and space. While also seeking greater understanding of the risks of global warming. Do watch. https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1lPKqMRwLQbKb
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[5/3/2025 12:17 PM, 3.4M followers, 1.6K retweets, 13K likes]
Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with FM Lavrov of Russia yesterday. Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice. Also spoke about our bilateral cooperation activities.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/4/2025 11:32 AM, 220.3K followers, 75 retweets, 537 likes]
Unlike those merely calling for deescalation, Tehran has quickly and publicly taken on the role of Indo-Pak mediator. High-level trips planned to India & Pak. Chabahar, rivalry w/KSA, regional stability concerns are likely drivers. But Iran’s ties are tenuous w/both India & Pak.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/4/2025 4:14 PM, 220.3K followers, 46 retweets, 128 likes]
In this new @TIME essay, I argue that even after a relatively calm few days, it would be a mistake to conclude the worst of the crisis is over. Escalation risks remain considerable. And domestic political factors in both countries are one reason why. https://time.com/7282263/india-pakistan-crisis-pahalgam-attack/ Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/4/2025 1:21 PM, 220.3K followers, 56 retweets, 406 likes]
India is poised to be one of the first to reach a tariff deal with Washington. Bessent, Navarro, and Trump himself have all said one is close. Delhi had an advantage because it had a head start-Trump and Modi agreed back in Feb to pursue a trade deal. Lots of movement since then.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/4/2025 10:23 AM, 220.3K followers, 152 retweets, 767 likes]
VP Vance has brought some clarity to the US position on the India-Pakistan crisis. In his latest comments, he appears to be acknowledging Indian counterterrorism imperatives, and suggesting the US won’t oppose an Indian response so long as it’s not overly escalatory. NSB
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[5/3/2025 9:07 AM, 220.3K followers, 19 retweets, 191 likes] One of the most intriguing questions in post-Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh is when will Tarique Rahman (son of Khaleda Zia) return home after years in London? He’s acting BNP chair. Zia is returning from London after getting medical care. With her will be…Rahman’s wife. Interesting.
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[5/4/2025 1:17 PM, 91.8K followers, 396 retweets, 414 likes]
Maldives International Financial Centre is more than infrastructure. It is a national commitment. A commitment to diversify our economy beyond our traditional boundaries. A commitment to our people with opportunity, resilience and pride. And a commitment to the world - that the Maldives is ready to lead in reimagining the future of finance, sustainability and urban living. This will be our legacy. A legacy of not only brick and steel, but of bold decisions, courageous partnerships and national purpose. http://mifc.gov.mv
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[5/4/2025 4:03 AM, 91.8K followers, 339 retweets, 376 likes]
Maldives 2.0 (@digitalgovmv) is our vision for the future—a Digital-First Maldives built for every citizen, every island, and every generation to come. These 8 Pillars shape how we build, connect, govern, protect rights, promote transparency, and restore trust in public institutions. Learn more at: https://digital.gov.mv #DigitalGovMv #Maldives
Dr Mohamed Muizzu@MMuizzu
[5/2/2025 3:06 PM, 91.8K followers, 379 retweets, 399 likes]
This year’s #WorldPressFreedomDay and its theme, “Reporting in the Brave New World: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Press Freedom and the Media”, firstly reminds us of the integral role a free and credible press plays in disseminating truthful information to the public. Let us take a moment on this day to fully appreciate that AI, when used responsibly, is a force for the common good. We know that it is an effective counter to disinformation and misinformation that often cause mistrust and discord in our societies, and we must strive to develop this positive aspect of AI. Here in the Maldives, we remain resolute to guarantee free, independent, and responsible media. I wish to use this occasion to commend journalists worldwide for their tenacity and courage to produce valid and reliable reports consistently. Their efforts go a long way in ensuring the health of our democratic societies, safeguarding human dignity and promoting justice.
Abdulla Khaleel@abkhaleel
[5/4/2025 4:03 PM, 34K followers, 68 retweets, 101 likes]
Today, on #WorldPressFreedomDay President Dr. @MMuizzu wrapped up an unprecedented 14 hour 55 minutes press conference, sharing a detailed updates on key Government’s projects, priorities and fielding a wide range of media questions. Throughout the press conference, President remained composed, confident, and transparent, reinforcing the administrations commitment to accountability, open communication and respect for a free press.
Abdulla Shahid@abdulla_shahid[5/3/2025 10:53 AM, 119.8K followers, 278 retweets, 751 likes]
After years of false claims, President Muizzu has now confirmed there are no “serious concerns” with the bilateral agreements between Maldives and India. He won the 2023 presidential election on the back of a campaign that claimed these agreements threatened our sovereignty and territorial integrity. That narrative has now collapsed under his own words. It spread fear, broke trust, and damaged Maldives’ reputation globally. The people of Maldives and India deserve an apology and a serious accounting for the harm caused.
PMO Nepal@PM_nepal_
[5/3/2025 4:17 AM, 721.6K followers, 5 retweets, 63 likes]
Hon. Kham Bahadur Garbuja, the newly appointed Minister of State for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation took the oath of office and secrecy today before the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal
[5/3/2025 2:24 PM, 436.1K followers, 11 retweets, 153 likes]
After weeks on the road through #GaminGamata, one thing is clear. Our people are not asking for miracles. They want honesty, stability, and leadership that does not vanish after elections. This campaign was never just about votes. It was about listening, rebuilding trust, and proving that politics can still be driven by principles. As our campaign for the 2025 Local Government Elections comes to an end today, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all our candidates, supporters, and grassroots teams across the country. I am grateful to every SLPP candidate who stood tall in the face of doubt. I wish you all the very best. On April 6th, let us give our people a reason to believe again. #LGE2025 #NRWayForward #SLPP #NRGaminGamata
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal
[5/3/2025 6:48 AM, 436.1K followers, 10 likes]
Rallies were held yesterday by SLPP candidates contesting the 2025 local government elections from the local council electoral areas of Rambukkana and Ruwanwella in the Kegalle District. Proud to stand with our grassroots leaders as we strengthen our movement across the country. #LGE2025 #Kegalle #NRWayForward #SLPP #NRGaminGamata
Harsha de Silva@HarshadeSilvaMP
[5/4/2025 2:25 AM, 361K followers, 4 retweets, 13 likes]
1. Electricity tariff increase wrt the @IMFNews agreement must be done according to laws and regulations of #SriLanka and accepted fairness principles. For @anuradisanayake gov (himself) to meekly agree to wrong figure when they were totally opposed to IMF is more than laughable
Harsha de Silva@HarshadeSilvaMP
[5/4/2025 2:27 AM, 361K followers, 2 retweets, 1 like]
2. I explain why starting from 1:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=9KuWBMdI1fM Central Asia
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/2/2025 11:10 AM, 216.5K followers, 5 retweets, 24 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev visited the Regional Skills Development Center in #Urgench, established with #KOICA and equipped with modern training tools for in-demand professions. It offers training in 10 areas, including in cooperation with the Labor Migration Agency, as well as the #SouthKorean company @Hyundai_Global and the #German SBH West. With this, the President concluded his trip to Khorezm and returned to Tashkent.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[5/2/2025 9:28 AM, 216.5K followers, 5 retweets, 11 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting on #Khorezm region’s socio-economic growth. Plans include expanding tourism exports by building new facilities and promoting Uzbek cuisine internationally. Economic initiatives involve supporting the furniture industry, opening an #Uzbek-#Chinese technopark, building a gas-chemical complex, launching joint industrial projects with foreign partners, and enhancing agriculture.
Uzbekistan MFA@uzbekmfa
[5/3/2025 5:52 AM, 9K followers, 3 retweets, 10 likes]
On 2 May, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bobur Usmanov met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Uzbekistan Oleg Malginov. https://gov.uz/en/mfa/news/view/51446
Saida Mirziyoyeva@SMirziyoyeva
[5/2/2025 1:09 PM, 22.2K followers, 1 retweet, 29 likes]
I was pleased to attend today’s official reception dedicated to the United States’ Independence Day. I am confident that our countries’ friendship and partnership will continue to strengthen, grounded in mutual respect and shared interests.
Navbahor Imamova@Navbahor
[5/3/2025 10:40 AM, 24.3K followers, 3 likes]
What fuels authoritarianism? What are the roots and persistent factors that sustain such governance? Why is it so difficult for a society to break free from the vicious cycle of one-man rule and nepotism—and how can it be done? Without pointing fingers—unnecessarily or otherwise—this panel on Vatandosh TV, an independent youth-led media outlet in Tashkent, offered one of the most relevant, critical, and balanced discussions for Uzbekistan. It brought in fresh perspectives, including those of an ethno-psychologist, a writer and literature expert, and a political scholar. A solid example of solutions journalism, this panel reflects the kind of reporting we’ve (USAGM/VOA) spent the past year training Uzbek journalists and bloggers to pursue—including the very producers behind this program. https://youtu.be/MLHX4juoEtc {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.