Neighborhood News Digest – 11 August 2023

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Blames Pakistani Origin IS Militants For Increasing Terror Attacks - Swarajya

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have escalated as Kabul's Taliban authorities accused dozens of Islamic State (IS) group militants from Pakistan of being killed or captured in Afghanistan over the past year. The response comes in the wake of Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir's recent remarks highlighting the involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist incidents within Pakistan, emphasising its impact on regional peace and stability. Click here to read... [2]

Delegation from Iran visits Afghanistan to discuss water rights issue with Taliban - The Print

An Iranian delegation is on a visit to Kabul to speak with Taliban representatives about a variety of topics, including water rights, reported Khaama Press on Tuesday citing an official. The spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, Naser Kenani, reportedly stated in a press conference on Monday that various topics, including water rights, were discussed. Click here to read... [3]

Pakistan FM Urges Kabul to Address Genuine Concerns of Islamabad and Others – Tolo News

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at a press conference said that Pakistan’s approach to Afghanistan has been "quite clear, saying that Islamabad "maintained robust practical engagement with the Afghan interim government working on areas such as security, border control, and markets, commerce, health, education, transit trade, and ... bilateral cooperation.” Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh

Will trade in rupees with India benefit Bangladesh - Aljazeera

Early last month, Bangladesh and India rolled out bilateral trade in Indian rupees, which was billed by the two countries’ governments as a “landmark” settlement. They said it would not only boost their trade volume with each other, but also help them skirt the global dominance of the US dollar. Click here to read... [5]

PM Hasina has prevented return of religious extremists, says Bangladesh Minister Razzaque - The Hindu

Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh has maintained a tight leash on religious extremism, said Mohammed Abdur Razzaque, Agriculture Minister of Bangladesh. He was speaking to The Hindu over the telephone from Dhaka. He led an Awami League delegation visit to India from August 6-9 which he described as satisfactory. He said the hospitality displayed by the Bharatiya Janata Party showed the convergence of views between the two sides. Click here to read... [6]

Bhutan

PSA oxygen-generating plants for enhanced medical services – Kuensel

The first-of-its-kind pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen-generating plants were inaugurated at the National Referral Hospital in Thimphu and Mongar Regional Referral Hospital yesterday. PSA oxygen generators are the equipment that produce oxygen at 90 percent to 93 percent purity using adsorbents to remove nitrogen gas from the air. Click here to read... [7]

India Trails Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh On Internet Resilience: Report – Outlook

India trails neighbours like Bhutan, Bangladesh and even Nepal on internet resilience, a report by a global non-profit said on Tuesday. A resilient internet connection is one that maintains an acceptable level of service in the face of faults and challenges to normal operation, the Internet Society said, adding connectivity is essential for a country's economy. Click here to read... [8]

Maldives

Political instability will hinder development: Pres Solih - Avas

Speaking at a campaign rally held at Gaafu Alif Nilandhoo today, President Solih said the Maldives is now transitioning towards a modern democracy. He noted freedom of expression, assembly, and press as key democratic values, emphasizing the importance of allowing space for political differences while simultaneously meeting the needs of the people. Click here to read... [9]

Myanmar

Chinese tourists spurn Cambodia and Myanmar due to fears of human trafficking - The China Project

On August 4, Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism announced the launch of “China Ready,” a nationwide program that aims to improve Chinese-language services across seven business categories related to tourism, including hotel, restaurant, travel guidance, resort, and souvenir shop. The end goal, according to the Cambodian government, is to ensure that “customer-facing workers can speak Mandarin” and “provide standardized services to Chinese travelers.” Click here to read... [10]

Sanctioned Myanmar Minister Visited India to Study Aadhaar - The Wire

In a sign of India’s increasing engagement with the Myanmar junta, the Myanmar minister for immigration and population, U Myint Kyaing, sanctioned by the US, EU and other countries, paid a quiet visit to Delhi and Bengaluru last month to acquaint himself with the Aadhaar Unique Identity system. Click here to read... [11]

Nepal

Six years after signing up for BRI, Nepal still struggling to comprehend what China wants – The Hindu

Nepal has completed six years since it signed up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but it still appears to be at a loss — failing not only to acquire even a single project under the scheme but also to comprehend what exactly Beijing wants. Confusion exacerbated after China labelled a project, which was started before Nepal signed up to the BRI, as one under the initiative. Click here to read... [12]

India to import tomatoes from Nepal amid surge in price, says Nirmala Sitharaman – The Economic Times

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that India will be importing tomatoes from Nepal, amid a record high surge in prices in the country. During her speech in Parliament, Sitharaman informed that the first lot of imports are likely to reach in Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur cities in northern India by Friday. Click here to read... [13]

Nepal’s Supreme Court paves way for investigation against two former Prime Ministers – The Indian Express

In a verdict that effectively opens up policy decisions to scrutiny by government agencies, Nepal’s Supreme Court has directed the anti-graft authority to begin investigating a land “scam” in which the cabinets of two former prime ministers are allegedly involved. On Sunday, a Division Bench of Justices Anil Sinha and Kumar Chudal said the case — involving the allocation of government land — must be investigated thoroughly. Click here to read... [14]

Pakistan

Pakistan President Alvi dissolves Parliament at PM Shehbaz Sharif’s advice – The Hindu

Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on August 9 at outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice, marking an end to the current government’s tenure and paving the way for next general elections. The notification for the dissolution of the Parliament was issued by the Aiwan-i-Sadr, which said the National Assembly was dissolved under Article 58 of the Constitution. Click here to read... [15]

Delimitation to have little impact on NA seats – Dawn

Although three districts should see the number of their National Assembly seats rise, it is unlikely that the fresh delimitation exercise would make any significant changes to the number of National Asse­mbly seats in most districts throughout the country, a thorough examination of the official results of the first-ever digital census reveals. Since it was not possible to amend articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution to allocate more seats in the national and provincial legislatures, the yet-to-begin delimitation exercise is expected to be confined to intra-provincial changes, according to those privy to developments. Click here to read... [16]

Pakistan witnesses downfall in productive, services sectors – Telangana Today

Pakistan, a cash-strapped country is witnessing a downfall in the productive and services sectors as the companies are scrambling to cut expenses and weighing the option of job cuts, salary freeze or reduction in salaries, The News International reported. Pakistan is already struggling to keep up with IMF policies and these losses in production and services sectors are like an additional issue for the country, the report said. Click here to read... [17]

Premier, opposition leader keep ‘interim card’ close to chest – Dawn

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and National Assembly Opposition Leader Raja Riaz appeared in no hurry to finalise the name of the caretaker prime minister, with an insider claiming the decision on the name for the interim premier would likely be made by Saturday. A day after the premature dissolution of the National Assembly, PM Shehbaz met Raja Riaz to exchange a list of probable candidates for the coveted slot as formal consultations on the matter kicked off. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s House, said a statement. It was followed by a media talk by Mr Riaz at Parliament House wherein he asserted that they were in no hurry to decide the name for the caretaker PM. Click here to read... [18]

Sri Lanka

India-Japan look to restart trilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka, but with caution - The Hindu

More than two years after Sri Lanka cancelled a joint India-Japan MoU for the East Container Terminal (ECT) project in Colombo, the three countries are studying ways of restarting trilateral cooperation, said envoys at a conference in Delhi on Thursday. The cancellation of the MoU, worth about $500 million as well as the suspension of the Japanese-funded light rail transit (LRT) project by the previous Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, had led to a freeze in ties between Tokyo and Colombo. With India and Japan coming to Sri Lanka’s rescue during last year’s economic crisis, and offering assistance with Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process, the Ranil Wickremesinghe government has also sought the return of infrastructure project plans as well as investment from both countries. This was the message sent during President Wickremesinghe’s visit to Delhi last month, and to Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi, who visited Delhi and Colombo last week. Click here to read... [19]