Neighborhood News Digest - 27 June 2024

Afghanistan

Doha Talks 'In No Way' Recognize Afghan Interim Govt: Dujarric- Tolo News

A delegation of the Islamic Emirate, led by Zabihullah Mujahid, will participate in the third Doha meeting, and the United Nations has described this meeting as a process to compel the interim government to adhere to its commitments. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, highlighted at a press briefing that holding the third Doha meeting, and meeting with the Afghan interim government delegation, does not imply formal recognition of them. Click here to read… [2]

Deported Afghans Claim Iranian Forces Seized Their Money by Force-Tolo News

Deported Afghan migrants from Iran claim that the security forces of this country forcibly take their money and belongings. Many of these migrants arrive in Afghanistan with no money and cannot afford transportation to their provinces. Click here to read… [3]

Efforts Being Made to Restore Noh Burja in Chihil Sutun, Kabul-Tolo News

The Noh Burja area of Chihil Sutun is one of the ancient parts of Kabul, with a history spanning nearly 200 years. This historical area was constructed during the reign of Emir Dost Mohammad Khan by his elder brother, Nawab Jabarkhan. Noh Burja of Chihil Sutun covers an area of 20,000 square meters and includes nine towers with tall walls. Click here to read… [4]

Vienna Conference calls for responsible UN action on Afghanistan-The Khaama Press

Participants of the fourth Vienna conference criticized the announcement made today, June 26th, regarding the upcoming Doha conference and urged the United Nations to handle this matter responsibly. They criticized the upcoming third Doha conference, scheduled for June 30th to July 1st, labelling it as a unilateral meeting organized according to the Taliban’s representatives. Click here to read… [5]

Bangladesh

IMF flags nine risks for Bangladesh - The Daily Star

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested greater exchange rate flexibility to preserve reserve adequacy, warning failure to do so may create further imbalances in the currency market. Click here to read… [6]

MoUs signed with India protecting Bangladesh’s interests: foreign minister – The Daily Star

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud yesterday said that the government has signed new MoUs and renewed old MoUs with India protecting the country's interests. He made the remarks while responding to a question regarding BNP's negative comments on the prime minister's recent visit to India. Click here to read… [7]

Bangladesh to sign agreements with India, Myanmar for essential goods import – Dhaka Tribune

State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu has announced that Bangladesh is set to sign an agreement with Myanmar, in addition to one with India, to import essential goods, saying that the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will be signing the agreements on behalf of the government. Click here to read… [8]

Bhutan

Country begins exploring carbon trade market – Kuensel

The Dagachhu Hydropower Project, between 2015 and 2023, generated about 700,000 tonnes of carbon emission credits—tradeable emissions—earning more than Nu 7.77 million, according to Gem Tshering, minister for energy and natural resources. This information was shared by the minister during the question-and-answer session in the National Assembly on June 26. The question was raised by Naiten Wangchuk, MP for Mongar constituency, who inquired about the potential for carbon market trade and the progress of trades from registered hydropower projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Click here to read… [9]

Maldives

FM Zameer assures Maldives is committed to enhance partnership with U.S. – Raajje

Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer has given his assurance that the government of Maldives remain committed to further enhance the partnership with the government of the United States of America. He said this during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held as part of the visit, on June 26. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that FM Zameer’s trip is from June 24 – 27. FM Zameer expressed delight in meeting the U.S. Secretary of State and reaffirmed the island nation’s commitment to further strengthen the partnership between the Maldives and U.S. in tackling climate change, promoting democracy and cooperation in maritime security. Click here to read… [10]

Fitch downgrades Maldives' credit rating – The Edition

One of the largest global credit rating agencies, Fitch Ratings, has downgraded the Maldives' rating this year to CCC+ rating. Earlier, Maldives had been downgraded to CCC rating during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, for the past three years, Maldives has maintained B- rating. The agency decreased the rating due to the downward trend in the Maldives' economy and increase in foreign debts, together with the low foreign reserves. Fitch Ratings project that Maldives will seek foreign assistance in debt repayment owing to the current economic situation. Click here to read… [11]

Maldives and China seek agreement to trade in Rufiyaa and Yuan – Adhadhu

Discussions have taken place on establishing a currency settlement agreement between the Maldives and China for trade with Rufiyaa and Yuan. Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed is currently in China. He met with China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and the meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum ongoing in Beijing. The Economic Ministry signed four agreements with China. Minister Saeed signed the agreements on behalf of the Maldives. However, the agreements have been classified. Click here to read… [12]

Myanmar

In Meeting With Myanmar Counterpart, Jaishankar Discusses Civil War, Narcotics, Arms Smuggling - The Wire

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar met with his Myanmar counterpart Than Swe on Wednesday (June 25) and discussed the impact of the civil war in Myanmar on areas in India near the border between the two countries, he said. Than Swe is also a deputy prime minister of Myanmar, which is ruled by a military government that took over in a coup in 2021. Pro-democracy militias are engaged in a civil war with Myanmar’s military government and the fighting has reached areas close to the country’s border with India. Click here to read… [13]

Arms exports from Singapore-based entities to Myanmar junta ‘dropped dramatically’ in past year: UN envoy - Channel News Asia

The flow of weapons and military supplies from Singapore-based entities to Myanmar has “dropped dramatically” following a government probe, said United Nations rights envoy Tom Andrews in a new report released on Wednesday (Jun 26). The Singapore government began looking into the matter last year when 138 Singapore-based entities were identified by Mr Andrews as being involved in the flow of such supplies to Myanmar’s military junta. Click here to read… [14]

MYANMAR: MSF SUSPENDS MEDICAL ACTIVITIES IN NORTHERN RAKHINE STATE - MSF

The extreme escalation of conflict, indiscriminate violence, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, have forced Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to suspend medical humanitarian activities in the townships of Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw. MSF ran 14 mobile clinics in northern Rakhine providing essential medical services to all communities, including Rakhine, Rohingya and other minority groups who often had no other access to healthcare. Click here to read… [15]

Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Myanmar - ASEAN.ORG

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn today received the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Myanmar Julie Bishop at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. They exchanged views on regional efforts, particularly ASEAN and the UN, in supporting the implementation of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, as well as ASEAN’s efforts in delivering humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar. Click here to read… [16]

Nepal

Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall claim 14 lives in 24 hours - India Today

Nepal has been struck by devastating landslides, flash floods, and lightning in the last 24 hours, resulting in the tragic loss of at least 14 lives. According to reports from news agency ANI, eight fatalities were attributed to landslides, while five people succumbed to lightning strikes. Additionally, one person lost their life in floodwaters caused by torrential rainfall. In Lamjung district, located approximately 125 kilometers west of Kathmandu, landslides overnight swept away three houses, claiming four lives, including two children, as confirmed by district administrator Buddha Bahadur Gurung. Click here to read… [17]

Beijing bets on tourism diplomacy as soft power tool - Kathmandu Post

Nepal received 60,878 Chinese tourists in 2023, a recovery by a third from the pre-pandemic level when Chinese tourists boomed in Nepal. In the first five months (January–May) of this year, Nepal received 46,671 Chinese, with the highest arrival of 12,093 recorded in March. While Chinese arrivals slowed, Indian tourists boomed in Nepal, reaching an all-time high of 319,936 individuals, according to the Department of Immigration. Among Indians, only those who come by air are counted as tourists in Nepal. In the first five months, Nepal has received 148,861 Indian tourists, the highest number of 38,288 recorded in May. Before the pandemic, India and China were competing neck-to-neck. Now, there is a huge imbalance between the south and north. Click here to read… [18]

Why Signing Of Nepal-China BRI Implementation Deal Isn't Working Out - ETV Bharat

Despite high expectations of Nepal signing a Belt and Road Initiative implementation deal with China during Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong's visit to Kathmandu this week, this could not pass muster. Nepal is still wary of falling into a debt trap with China, a fate faced by other South Asian nations like Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It will also be a matter of relief for India. Click here to read… [19]

INDIA AND NEPAL MEET TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES TO CURBING ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE - India Education Diary

To address issues and challenges towards curbing illegal trade in wildlife species in South Asia, enforcement officials from India and Nepal came together for a one-day bilateral meeting in Siliguri, West Bengal today. Thirteen officials from Nepal and twelve officials from India are participating in this meeting that has been organised by TRAFFIC’s India Office and WWF-India, in collaboration with the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the Government of India, under a regional project – Countering wildlife trafficking in South Asia – launched last year with funding support from the US Government. Click here to read… [20]

Pakistan

Govt to abolish tax on banks’ profit-The Express Tribune

Despite severe economic challenges, the government may abolish up to a 15% additional income tax on the profits that banks make by extending loans to the cash-strapped finance ministry. This move could provide approximately Rs 60 billion in benefits to a sector that earned Rs 960 billion in profits last year. Click here to read… [21]

PTI spurns premier’s latest call for dialogue-Dawn

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s fresh offer to the opposition PTI for a dialogue on Wednesday met with a strong rebuke, as the latter made it conditional with the release of the party’s founding chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders and activists. Click here to read… [22]

Captured militant exposes TTP-RAW-BLA nexus-The Express Tribune

The security forces arrested a senior commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the information gleaned from him established a link between the TTP, India’s infamous spy agency and outlawed Baloch militant outfits, the Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove said on Wednesday. Click here to read… [23]

Sri Lanka

International confidence restored in Sri Lanka - President – Daily Mirror

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his televised address to the nation, said International confidence in the country is reaffirmed as bilateral creditors have reached an agreement serving as a kind of international endorsement. Click here to read… [24]

Sri Lanka strikes debt deals with bilateral lenders – Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka yesterday marked a significant milestone in its economic recovery journey as it brought to close more than yearlong talks with the bilateral lenders. The island nation was able to pull off deals for roughly US$ 5.8 billion worth of debt it owed to the lenders in Paris. A similar deal was signed with China’s Export Import Bank to restructure US$ 4.2 billion of its debt. Click here to read… [25]

US welcomes Sri Lanka’s Debt Restructuring agreement – Daily Mirror

The United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie J. Chung, has expressed support for the final agreement on debt restructuring between Sri Lanka and its creditor nations. The agreement was reached today on the sidelines of the Paris Forum 2024. Click here to read… [26]