Neighborhood News Digest- 12 June 2024

Afghanistan

Nadim in Russia: Afghanistan Demands Non-Interference from Other Nations-Tolo News

Nada Mohammad Nadim, Acting Minister of Higher Education, criticized foreign interference in Afghanistan's affairs during the Second International Forum of Education Ministers in Kazan, Russia, stating that the Islamic Emirate does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and expects the same from them. Click here to read… [2]

Human Rights Watch: Doha meeting an opportunity to support women-The Khaama Press

Human Rights Watch, referencing the 1,000 days that girls in Afghanistan have been deprived of education, stated that the Doha meeting is an opportunity to support women. The human rights organization wrote in a report released on June 11, stated that the third Doha meeting is an opportunity to support women and girls in Afghanistan. Click here to read… [3]

BRICS Ministers Advocate Peaceful Resolution in Afghanistan-Tolo News

The BRICS foreign ministers emphasized the peaceful resolution of Afghanistan's challenges in a joint statement. The statement also stressed ensuring that terrorists do not use Afghan soil. They supported Afghanistan as an independent, peaceful country free from war, terrorism, and drugs. The joint statement of the foreign ministers of BRICS member countries states: "stressed the need to provide urgent and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and to safeguard the fundamental rights of all Afghans including women, girls and different ethnic groups." Click here to read… [4]

Education, Vocational Training Offered in Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers- Tolo News

The Prisons Administration said that currently 1,500 children in the country's Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers are engaged in both religious and modern education. According to statistics from the Prisons Administration, alongside religious and modern education, detainees in these centers also receive vocational training in five areas. Out of the 1,500 children, 333 are in the Juvenile Rehabilitation Center. Click here to read… [5]

Bangladesh

Fear forced Hindus to sell their land to ex-IGP Benazir - The Daily Star

Benazir, who faces a US sanction for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings when he was Rab chief, allegedly employed two tactics to acquire land: direct intimidation and indirect pressure. Click here to read… [6]

Matarbari power plant: Coal supply deal raises eyebrows – Dhaka Tribune

The Coal Power Generation Company (CPGCBL) has been accused of violating policy by assigning the responsibility of supplying coal to a company that had been disqualified during the tender process for the supply of coal to the Matarbari power plant in Cox's Bazar. Click here to read… [7]

President Wickremesinghe: PM Hasina pledges support for Sri Lanka's agri modernization – Dhaka Tribune

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghen has said that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged support for the modernization of the agriculture sector of his country and will direct private investors from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka. Click here to read… [8]

India-Bangladesh bridge to get operational by September, giving NE access to Bay of Bengal – Economic Times

The bridge was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina virtually in March 2021. Modi and Hasina had a brief interaction at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Sunday night after the swearing-in ceremony of Modi 3.0. Click here to read… [9]

Bhutan

‘Difficult To Accept’ Free Flow Of People, Vehicles In Bhutan Under BBIN: Bhutan PM – ABP News

Bhutan has once again made it clear that the country will not be able to join the pending Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN MVA) as the Bhutanese are “concerned” and against free flow of vehicles and people, Prime Minister of Bhutan Dasho Tshering Tobgay has told ABP Live. Click here to read… [10]

For regional peace and glory – Kuensel

The recent electoral victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India marks a significant moment not just for India, but for the entire South Asian region. As the world’s largest democracy, India stands as a beacon of hope and progress for many neighbouring countries. Click here to read… [11]

Maldives

Maldives will benefit more than before through close ties with India: President – Adhadhu

In an interview in India, after traveling to the country to attend the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third term, President Muizzu said his government will act in a manner that would be the most beneficial for the Maldivian people through the ‘close friendly relationship’. Ties between India and the Maldives deteriorated shortly after President Muizzu assumed office. President Muizzu came to power with a pledge to remove Indian soldiers based in the Maldives to operate two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft. Click here to read… [12]

Discussions held on collaboration between UK, Maldives parliaments – Raajje

Discussions have been held on enhancing collaborations between the parliaments of Maldives and the United Kingdom. The discussions were held between Speaker of the People’s Majlis Abdul Raheem Abdulla and British High Commissioner to the Maldives Caron Röhsler, during a courtesy call the latter paid on the parliament speaker on June 9. Media and Communications Director of the People’s Majlis, Hassan Ziyau revealed that Röhsler had introduced herself to the newly-elected Parliament Speaker. Ziyau added that discussions at the meeting revolved around ways to deepen the relations enjoyed between the two countries. Click here to read… [13]

Vice Chairman of political advisory body of China; CPPCC arrives in Maldives – The Edition

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Vice Chairman Bater arrived in Maldives on June 11 for an official trip. Bater, who also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, was welcomed at Velana International Airport by Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Ahmed Nazim. Parliament Secretariat Media and Communication Director Hassan Ziyau stated that Bater arrived in Maldives for a three-day official trip. Bater is scheduled to meet with Parliament Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla and Vice Speaker Nazim on June 12. Additionally, he will pay a courtesy call on President Dr Mohamed Muizzu on June 13 and meet with some government officials. Click here to read… [14]

Myanmar

Myanmar Junta Repatriates at Least 134 Defeated Troops from Bangladesh – The Irrawaddy

At least 134 members of Myanmar junta’s security forces and their families who fled fighting with the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhine State were handed back from Bangladesh on June 9. Myanmar’s naval vessel UMS Chin Dwin ferried 45 Bangladeshis from different jails in Myanmar to Bangladesh via the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, and carried back its personnel. Click here to read… [15]

38 Myanmar nationals deported from Manipur – The Economic Times

The Manipur government, in coordination with the Government of India, deported 38 Myanmar nationals through the Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Moreh. Chief Minister N Biren Singh reiterated the commitment to identifying and deporting illegal immigrants to safeguard border security and protect indigenous people. In Kamjong district, efforts are underway to manage the accommodation and maintenance of 5457 illegal Myanmar migrants in designated camps, with concerns arising from recent bombings by the Myanmar army amidst the cultivation season. Click here to read… [16]

Nepal

Nepal to seek action on Chinese pledges at bilateral meeting- The Kathmandu Post

Nepal and China are set to hold the 16th round of Diplomatic Consultation Mechanism talks in Kathmandu later this month. The meeting will likely take place on June 25. Vice foreign minister of China, Sun Weidong, will visit Kathmandu for the meeting. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha said that the meeting will discuss all regular issues between Nepal and China. Click here to read… [17]

Nepal’s export of high-value goods grows at snail’s pace- The Kathmandu Post

Nepal's export of high-value products grew at a snail's pace in the first ten months of the current fiscal year. According to the statistics from the Trade and Export Promotion Center, the export of high-value goods increased by 5.64 percent in the review period, which experts say is not a good sign for a country preparing to graduate from the “least developed” status by 2026. Click here to read… [18]

Pakistan

Rs18 trillion federal budget today-The Express Tribune

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is set to unveil Rs18 trillion federal budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 in the National Assembly on Wednesday (today), which would focus on fiscal consolidation to contain budget deficit, official sources said on Tuesday. According to sources, the main targets of the budget would be mitigating people’s problems, transforming agriculture sector, promoting information technology (IT), boosting exports, promoting industrial growth and bolstering businesses. Click here to read… [19]

Economic Survey 2023-24: Aurangzeb highlights GDP contraction, urgent need for IMF programme-The Express Tribune

The Economic Survey of Pakistan 2023-24, a pre-budget document detailing the country's major socio-economic achievements during the outgoing fiscal year, has been launched. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the survey. Aurangzeb highlighted that during the financial year 2022-23, Pakistan's GDP contracted, and the rupee depreciated by 29%. He stressed the necessity of entering the IMF programme, describing it as the lender of last resort. "We must go with IMF as there is no plan B," he said. Click here to read… [20]

On eve of budget, PPP calls out govt for not taking its input-Dawn

Just a day before the announcement of the federal budget 2024-25, Pakistan Peoples Party — a major partner in the ruling coalition — has blamed the PML-N government for not taking PPP’s input at all while preparing the annual budget and wondered if it still wanted the ally’s support. The PPP expressed its reservations in its parliamentary comm¬i¬ttee meeting, which was presided over by Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in the meeting room of the National Assembly, on Tuesday. Click here to read… [21]

PTI changes its mind on parleys with govt-Dawn

In an apparent U-turn from its earlier assertions that the former ruling party would only talk to ‘empowered’ stakeholders and not the ‘toothless ruling’ coalition, PTI founder Imran Khan on Tuesday ordered the party’s top brass to reach out to the government for a dialogue to end the political impasse. Click here to read… [22]

Sri Lanka

Undecided voters to seal the poll? – Daily Mirror

The Daily Mirror reliably learns that a company run by Indian Americans have been invited here by some organizations and have begun conducting their survey in Sri Lanka by studying the social media accounts of an estimated 9.3 million citizens, and are providing updates to the relevant authorities on their predictions. Click here to read… [23]

Ferry service between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the offing – Daily Mirror

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and President Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka have initiated discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA) and the potential launch of a passenger ferry service between the two countries. Click here to read… [24]

Anura Kumara meets TNA representatives in Jaffna – Daily Mirror

Nationals People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake today met people's representatives of the North including TNA MP M.A Sumanthiran and Mavai Senadirajah at the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) office in Jaffna. Click here to read… [25]