Neighbourhood News Digest – 08 May 2023

Afghanistan

China’s Belt and Road to enter Afghanistan in Taliban’s victory – Economic Times

The Taliban agreed with China and Pakistan to extend the Belt and Road Initiative to Afghanistan, potentially drawing in billions of dollars to fund infrastructure projects in the sanctions-hit country. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met in Islamabad on Saturday and pledged to work together on Afghanistan’s reconstruction process including taking the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to the Taliban-ruled nation. Click here to read... [2]

Pakistan, China and Afghanistan agree to combat terrorism at Islamabad meeting – The Hindu

Pakistan, China and Afghanistan have agreed to combat terrorism and enhance cooperation in different economic fields, the Foreign Office in Islamabad said on May 7. The Foreign Ministers of the three countries participated in the 5th China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue held in Islamabad on Saturday, it said in a statement. "The three sides agreed to advance political engagement, counterterrorism cooperation and enhance trade, investments and connectivity under the trilateral framework,” it said. Click here to read... [3]

China, Pakistan and Afghanistan FMs hold talks in Islamabad – Al Jazeera

China, Afghanistan and Pakistan have pledged to further strengthen trilateral cooperation on security and counterterrorism at a meeting of the three nations’ foreign ministers in Islamabad. The ministers agreed on Sunday to uphold good relations, deepen political mutual trust, respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and properly address differences and disputes through equal consultation. Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh

Why Myanmar’s Rakhine and Bangladesh getting closer day by day? - Organiser

Bangladesh’s ‘Great Independence and National Day’ was celebrated enthusiastically at the Bangladesh Consulate at Sitte in Myanmar. A grand reception was organised at Sittwe on April 30, evening to mark the day. At the beginning of the event, Bangladesh Consulate Mission Chief Zakir Ahmed and Rakhine Chief Minister U Thein Lin laid wreaths at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Corner installed at the venue. They inspected the various indigenous handicrafts displayed at the Bangladesh Corner. Click here to read... [5]

The strategic importance of India-Bangladesh’s recent ‘military diplomacy’ – Kashmir Images

Defense cooperation between India and Bangladesh has made significant progress in the last few years. It is depicted in the exchange of visits between the leaders of the two countries, as well as the conduct of training programs, joint exercises, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). India has always cherished its close ties with Bangladesh and at the same time works to strengthen its ties while contributing to Bangladesh’s development agenda. Bangladesh is an important partner under India’s flagship ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. Cooperation between the two countries is extensive in all areas including trade and commerce, power and energy, transport and connectivity, science and technology, defense and security, maritime affairs, climate change and sustainable development. Click here to read... [6]

West Bengal farmer ‘mistakenly’ crosses into Bangladesh, returns home after 15 months – Hindustan Times

Nasir Seikh, a resident of Brahmanagar in Chapra police station area, entered the Bangladeshi territory by mistake while working on farmland, and was apprehended by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), they said. Many areas at the international border between the two countries do not have fencing, and people of both sides often crossover into each other's territory unintentionally, they added. Click here to read... [7]

Bhutan

Bhutan: King Should Free Political Prisoners – Human Rights Watch

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck should use his authority to release political prisoners held in poor conditions for decades following unfair trials in Bhutan, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. King Jigme will visit London to attend the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023. Bhutanese law defines those imprisoned for “offenses against the Tsa-Wa-Sum (king, country and people)” as “political prisoners.” Of the 37 known cases, the longest-serving have been in prison since 1990 and many were sentenced to life without parole. Click here to read... [8]

Bhutanese contemporary art now finding place on international stage: Report

Bhutanese contemporary art is now finding a place on the international stage with exhibitions of several Bhutanese artists being held in Europe last year and in Taiwan, this year, The Bhutan Live reported. According to The Bhutan Live, the three Bhutanese artists, including Bhutan’s foremost contemporary artist, Kama Wangdi, who is popularly known as Asha Kama, opened their solo exhibitions in Taiwan recently. Click here to read... [9]

Maldives

Why the recent Maldives Coast Guard Harbour project is yet another milestone in India-Maldives ties - Indian Express

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Maldivian counterpart, Mariya Didi earlier this week laid the foundation stone for the Coast Guard ‘Ekatha Harbour’ at Sifavaru in Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) atoll. The development marked a significant milestone in the growing defence ties between the two countries. The project is among the biggest Indian grant-in-aid projects in the Maldives. The UTF project was announced during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit in February 2021. Click here to read... [10]

Rwanda, Maldives ink visa exemption deal - New Times

Rwanda and Maldives, on Friday, May 5, signed a deal that will see their citizens enjoy visa exemption when traveling to the two countries. “Pleased to sign the Agreement on Mutual Visa Exemption between Maldives and Rwanda. Look forward to increased people-to-people contact and bilateral cooperation between Maldives and Rwanda,” tweeted Abdulla Shahid, Maldives’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, after signing the agreement with his Rwandan counterpart, Vincent Biruta. Click here to read... [11]

Myanmar

Asean push for Myanmar peace continues as it ropes in ‘quiet’ partners China, India, Japan - SCMP

As Asean leaders prepare to meet to discuss regional issues, analysts say the inclusion earlier this year of China, India and Japan as “quiet” partners in resolving the Myanmar crisis may be a step forward in the bloc’s bid to push the junta to see through a peace plan. Click here to read... [12]

Worsening blackouts in junta-led Myanmar put economy at risk - Japan Times

Myanmar’s crippling power outages are threatening the economic recovery of the conflict-ridden Southeast Asian nation, where a military coup in 2021 left the country struggling to source fuel for gas-fired electricity plants. Click here to read... [13]

Indian State-Owned Oil Firm Announces Expansion To Myanmar Resistance Stronghold - Stratnews Global

India’s state-owned Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) plans to enter Myanmar by setting up retail fuel outlets in strife-torn Sagaing region, according to Indian media reports. NRL has been exporting oil to Myanmar via the 421-kilometre road linking Numaligarh in Assam state to Moreah on the border with Sagaing, NRL chairman and managing director Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan told a media event organised by NRL and Oil India Ltd. Click here to read... [14]

State govt sees role of Myanmar-based militants in violence - Economic Times

The Manipur government has found the involvement of militant outfits in igniting the violence in the state since May 3 that has left several people dead and thousands displaced, said senior officials. Most of the militant outfits operating in Manipur have their base in Myanmar. The state has around 400 km of unfenced border, spread across five districts, with the neighbouring country. The state government has been advocating that the free movement regime with Myanmar be reviewed. Click here to read... [15]

Nepal

Nepal: One dead and two missing in avalanche - DeviDiscourse

AYarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis, a type of caterpillar fungus) picker died while two others went missing in an avalanche in the Mugu district of Nepal, Kathmandu Post reported. The avalanche struck a group of 15 locals who were on their way to the highlands in Mugu on Friday to collect the caterpillar fungus. According to the District Police Office in Mugu, Purna Singh Sarki died while Tara Singh Sarki and Bir Bahadur Bohora went missing in the incident. Purna and Tara are siblings. Click here to read... [16]

Indian Ambassador Inaugurated Nepal Rashtriya Secondary School In Surkhet Today - India Education Diary

Report by Ranjana Niraula; Kathmandu: Ambassador of India along with Mr. Khadga Bahadur Pokharel, Minister for Social Development of Karnali Province, Chief of DCC Surkhet & Mayor, Bheri Ganga Municipality inaugurated Nepal Rashtriya Secondary School in Surkhet today that has been built by Indian grant assistance. Click here to read... [17]

Dry port in Dodhara Chadani: 4-track access road to Nepal border from India - Business Standard

To boost trade and transport services between the two countries, India has opened a four-lane track for road access up to the Nepal border. Nepal-based online magazine e-Pardafas reported. The road access would create a connection between the Nepali territory of Gadigoth and Chakarpur in the Chambawat district of Uttarakhand, India. Click here to read... [18]

Pakistan

Pakistani man lynched over ‘blasphemy’ after Imran Khan Party rally – Hindustan Times

A man was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of blasphemy at a rally for former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party, officials said Sunday. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can stir mobs and violence. Video of the lynching has been shared widely on social media, with police seen vainly trying to stop a frenzied mob from beating the alleged blasphemer. Click here to read... [19]

Bilawal’s India visit is Pakistan’s royal coronation moment. It’s equally fruitless – The Print

Ghulam Ali’s Hungama hai kion barpa is one way of re-counting the India versus Pakistan saga of the last weekend. All fight and no talk “with each other” being the order of the day. While revelling in the home-grown courtroom drama for the last several weeks, we Pakistanis never had to worry about what happens across our border. Taking a day off the judicial soap and coming back to nowhere with more hungama or ruckus. Click here to read... [20]

S Jaishankar Calls Pak's Bilawal Bhutto "Spokesperson for Terror Industry" - NDTV

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has called his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari the "promoter, justifier and spokesperson of a terrorism industry". "Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism," Mr Jaishankar said after a meeting of foreign ministers of the member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa. "Bhutto Zardari came as Foreign Minister of a SCO member state; that's part of multilateral diplomacy and we don't see anything more than that," Mr Jaishankar said. The two foreign ministers did not hold a bilateral at the SCO meeting. Click here to read... [21]

Sri Lanka

India steps up rupee's internationalisation for Sri Lanka's economic recovery – Wion

India and Sri Lanka stepped up their talks to proceed with trade in Indian Rupee as New Delhi and Colombo look set to expand their bilateral cooperation in "power and energy sector as well as aspects relating to Rupee trade"…Several banks in Sri Lanka have opened special rupee trading accounts, called Vostro accounts. This means that Sri Lankan citizens can now hold $10,000 (₹8,26,823) in physical form and for transactions with their Indian counterparts, they can use Indian rupees instead of US dollars. Click here to read... [22]

A year after uprising, Rajapaksas are in rebuild mode, but is Sri Lanka the same? – The Federal

On May 1, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa took the stage at the Campbell Park Ground in Colombo to address his party’s May Day rally to loud cheers from the crowd. The 77-year-old Rajapaksa, the chairman of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), told the assembled crowd that he acknowledges that the party could not do justice to the overwhelming mandate people gave them at the last presidential and parliamentary elections. He said this was partly because they made certain “wrong decisions,” but insisted that they had recognised where they went wrong. He urged working people to “unite to overcome challenges and take the country towards victory.” Click here to read... [23]