VIF Neighborhood News Digest: October 4, 2019

PAKISTAN

Meeting with COAS was cordial: industry leaders: Dawn
October 4, 2019

A number of business leaders who met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Bajwa in Rawalpindi on Wednesday told Dawn that the meeting “was held in a comfortable and cordial atmosphere” and its main purpose was to focus on areas where an economic revival could be brought about, as well as building confidence between the government and the business community. It all began with a dinner which started at 8pm, and the meeting continued till 1:30am. The meal was described as “bland” and “nothing special, basically mess food” by a couple of participants, during which the assembled delegates sat on a number of tables spread across the room. Click here to read... [2]

AFGHANISTAN

Mohib: Many Taliban Not Ready For Peace: Tolo
October 4, 2019

Hamdullah Mohib, the National Security Adviser of Afghanistan, who was sidelined along with the rest of the Afghan government during the recent failed US-Taliban peace talks, said in a recent interview with Fox News that many hardline Taliban fighters will not join a peace process. Further, Mohib claimed that the Taliban is already merging with Al-Qaida, and in the event of a peace deal some members of the Taliban might join Daesh. “We had intelligence that showed they (Taliban commanders) are going to join (Daesh). That threat may increase over a period of time,” said Mohib, “For the time being, (Daesh) is not a strategic threat to us. We have been able to get rid of them in places they have taken hold. But if the peace process goes wrong and doesn’t really integrate all of the Taliban, the hardliners may join (Daesh), which is when it will become a strategic threat to us and our international partners.” Click here to read... [3]

BANGLADESH

Detained Indian fishermen in jail: Dhaka Tribune
October 4, 2019

According to the police, they were arrested by a Bangladesh Navy patrol team upon intruding into Bangladesh territory on Monday. A Bagerhat court sent 15 Indian fishermen to jail on charges of illegal fishing in Bangladesh maritime territory. According to the police, they were arrested by a Bangladesh Navy patrol team upon intruding into Bangladesh territory on Monday. The detained are Babul Sarker, 42, Kartik Dash, 45, Sonaram Dash, 51, Rajesh Dash, 33, Bholanath Dash, 60, Basudev Dash, 30, Pilton Dash, 23, Uttam Dash, 35, Mintu Dash, 25, Bimol Dash, 48, Kiron Dash, 64, Surjo Dash, 25, Nepal Dash, 29, Uttam Dash, 26 and Ananda Dash, 50. Click here to read... [4]

MYANMAR

Japan-Myanmar trade expo set to take place this month: Myanmar Times
October 4, 2019

The Embassy of Japan in Myanmar, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and consultancy company Synergy Focus International will be organizing the Japan-Myanmar Resource, Trade and Investment Expo 2019 for the first time at the Yangon Convention Centre on October 19 and 20. The event will largely cover sectors like real estate, banking, insurance, tourism, and SMEs. The organizers say the event will feature 160 booths by up by large companies from Myanmar and Japan, among them tour, construction, industrial, banking, and insurance companies. Another 60 booths will be occupied by members of SME associations. Click here to read... [5]

SRI LANKA

EC bars polls activities at offices of President, PM, Opp. Leader: Daily Mirror
October 4, 2019

The Elections Commission has barred promotional activities of presidential candidates within the premises of the offices of the President, the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, the Daily Mirror learns. Its Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya informed political party representatives about this move when they called on him on Wednesday. He said these offices could not be used for activities aimed at promoting presidential candidates. He also said all posters and cut-outs put up by the presidential candidates would be removed by October 7 when nominations are accepted. Click here to read... [6]

BHUTAN

MoH to reform procurement system: Kuensel
October 4, 2019

With procurement coming under a lot of questions, the health ministry is exploring to reform the medical procurement system, including buying from manufacturers and doing away with middlemen. Health Minister Dechen Wangmo, at the first high-level committee meeting yesterday, said that quite a significant amount of the health budget is spent on procurement. “About 70 percent of our budget goes into procuring commodities including drugs,” Lyonpo said adding that even health infrastructure is a part of the procurement. “Look at the quality we have. We have some fundamental issues of procurement so we are trying to solve it.” Click here to read... [7]

NEPAL

India agrees to allow Nepal to use three inland waterways: The Kathmandu Post
October 4, 2019

India has agreed in principle to allow landlocked Nepal to use three inland waterways, thus expanding its transit options to the sea. Nepal can even operate its own vessels on the Ganges River that runs parallel to the southern border, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said. India has consented to grant access to the Kolkata-Kalughat, Raxaul; Kolkata-Sahebgunj, Biratnagar and Kolkata-Varanasi-Raxaul routes during the trade talks held recently in New Delhi. Officials of the two countries sat down for the third round of talks to review the bilateral treaty of trade in New Delhi last Thursday and Friday. Click here to read... [8]

CHINA

Russia is helping China build a missile defence system, Putin says: The Guardian
October 4, 2019

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow is helping China build a system to warn of ballistic missile launches. Since the cold war, only the United States and Russia have had such systems, which involve an array of ground-based radars and space satellites. The systems allow for early spotting of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Click here to read... [9]

Pakistan owes China more money than it owes the IMF: The Economic Times
October 4, 2019

Pakistan needs to repay China more than double the amount it owes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the next three years, as loans racked-up to boost foreign exchange reserves and bridge a financing gap become due. The South Asian nation owes $6.7 billion in commercial loans to China over the three years through June 2022, according to the IMF, which this year approved a new program to bail out Pakistan from a crisis. Islamabad needs to pay the multilateral lender $2.8 billion in the same period. Click here to read... [10]