Neighbourhood News Digest – 19 May 2023

Afghanistan

Children bearing the brunt of Afghanistan crisis: UNICEF - UN

This year, some 2.3 million Afghan boys and girls are expected to face acute malnutrition. Of this number, 875,000 will need treatment for severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition. Furthermore, around 840,000 pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are likely to experience acute malnutrition, jeopardising their ability to give their babies the best start in life. Mr. Equiza added that although fighting has mostly stopped, decades of conflict mean that every day, children’s rights are violated “in the most appalling ways”. Click here to read... [2]

Beyond BRI Connectivity: Chinese Access to the Indian Ocean Through Afghanistan and Pakistan – South Asian Voices

The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan signaled a shift in Washington’s priorities with a new focus on China. However, as Washington pivots towards the Indo-Pacific, growing Chinese influence in South and Central Asia stands to undermine U.S. strategic aims in the region. With new economic, diplomatic, and security engagements in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Beijing stands to not only expand its over-land access to Central Asia and European markets, but also gain greater access to the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Click here to read... [3]

Bangladesh

Why Bangladesh should be offered to join BRICS - TBS

BRICS and Bangladesh have an ideal combination for investment and cooperation. A new horizon of cooperation has emerged as a result of the shifting economic characteristics and government approach to sustainable investment policy. Hence, Bangladesh's current position is appropriate for investment and cooperation with the BRICS. Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh envoy in Northeast to leverage cross-border trade, tourism with region – India Narrative

High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, Mustafizur Rahman is on an extensive tour of the Northeast as both countries continue to bolster efforts to promote multimodal connectivity by road, rail, and river in the region. As he met Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma in Shillong on Wednesday, Rahman spotlighted the willingness of the ruling Awami League government led by the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to boost trade ties with the northeastern part of India. Click here to read... [5]

IORA: Strategic relevance and Bangladesh’s prospect in the maritime era – Dhaka Tribune

Bangladesh's strategic location at the apex of the Bay of Bengal brings significant responsibilities as a facilitator and connector between regions and competing powers. The country is the chair from 2021-2023 and is currently hosting the Sixth Edition of the Conference with a vision towards mutual growth, prosperity, and strengthening of the international community under the theme of "Peace, Prosperity, and Partnership" for a resilient future. Click here to read... [6]

Bhutan

Opening access to information: nurturing informed and constructive democracy – Kuensel

In a world where information is power, access to information plays a critical role in determining public policies and encouraging informed and productive debate. Bhutan’s recent drop in press freedom rankings is cause for concern, as it demonstrates the growing limits on information availability and their negative influence on democratic processes. To build a flourishing democracy, citizens must have access to information that allows them to participate actively and responsibly in decision-making. Click here to read... [7]

Three women sentenced to prison for human trafficking – Kuensel

Thimphu Dzongkhag Court sentenced three women to prison with terms ranging from three to five years for trafficking six Bhutanese women to the Middle East in 2019. The court also ordered them to pay restitution to the victims. Kinga Wangmo, a resident of Kawang, Thimphu, received a three-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay Nu 20,000 to one of the victims to cover the visa processing fees. Click here to read... [8]

Nepal

Economic crisis on the rise in Nepal – ORF

Nepal wants to reach middle-income status in the next three years and the government has been projecting the picture of a reviving economy based on certain figures of growing remittances and improvement in the tourism sector. But the economic condition of the country, overall, is deteriorating every day. It is for the first time that the government has accepted that the country is under recession as it is mainly hit by a reduction in industrial production, lower investment, liquidity crisis, high-interest rates, burgeoning trade deficit, lower capital expenditure, and a decline in revenue collection. Click here to read... [9]

Nepal: 1.5 million people with hypertension and diabetes on protocol-based treatment by 2025 – WHO

Nepal has launched the Hypertension Care Cascade Initiative on the World Hypertension Day 2023, to reduce the burden of hypertension in Kavrepalanchowk District. The initiative was supported by the Ministry of Health and Population-Nepal, NOARD, and WHO Country Office for Nepal. The program aims to strengthen the detection and management of hypertension at the Primary Health Care level and improve people-centered care.Click here to read... [10]

Nepal Hajj Committee chief Miya arrested in connection with fake Bhutanese scam – The Kathmandu Post

Police have arrested Nepal Hajj Committee President Shamsher Miya in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. Miya was arrested from Singha Durbar on Thursday. The accused has been taken to the Teku Police Office where he will remain in custody, said Kathmandu Police Circle Chief Senior Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki. Click here to read... [11]

Pakistan

Imran Khan and Lahore police remain in tense standoff – The Guardian

Imran Khan and the police have been locked in a tense standoff in Lahore, with Pakistan’s former prime minister holed up in his residence claiming he was about to be arrested and officers barricading the surrounding roads and accusing him of harbouring “terrorists”. Since Khan was released from police custody on Friday, after his arrest in a corruption case was declared illegal, he has repeatedly expressed his fear of being re-arrested and has only left his residence once, to attend court with his wife on Monday. Click here to read... [12]

Pakistan’s so-called ‘geostrategic location’ now stands as relic of bygone era: Report – The Print

Pakistan’s so-called ‘geostrategic location’ now stands as a relic of a bygone era despite once being considered a gateway between the West and the East, The News International reported. Pakistan has been struggling to keep pace with the shifting tides of global power and influence and Islamabad finds itself isolated from the global arena. Children in Pakistan are taught about Pakistan’s geostrategic position as Islamabad used to get an extraordinary amount of benefits by being located in this specific zone, as per the news report. Click here to read... [13]

‘Cryptocurrency in Pakistan’ will never be legalized: declares Aisha Ghaus Pasha – Samaa

The Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance has decided to ban cryptocurrency services in Pakistan from the country’s Internet. Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that the government will never legalize cryptocurrency in Pakistan. She said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the IT Ministry have started working on banning cryptocurrencies. Click here to read... [14]

Pakistan’s economy caught between the Devil and deep blue sea: Report – The Print

Pakistan’s economy is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea and there does not appear to be the required expertise to think out of the box to address the impasse due to the flawed policies of the past or to negotiate more effectively with the Fund staff, Business Recorder reported. Pakistan instead has been claiming that it has the capacity to meet its external obligations post-July 2023. Click here to read... [15]

1 killed, 3 injured in bomb blast in Pakistan's Peshawar – Deccan Herald

At least one person was killed and three others were injured in a bomb blast in Peshawar city of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said. Senior Superintendent of Peshawar police, Harood Rashid, told local media on Thursday evening that the explosion occurred at a motorcycle workshop near the Ring Road of Peshawar. Police and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the body and injured to Hayatabad Medical Complex hospital, Xinhua news agency reported. Click here to read... [16]

Sri Lanka

Brazil donates medical supplies to Sri Lanka

The Federative Republic of Brazil through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) donated a consignment of medical supplies including 10, 000 vials of regular human insulin and 08 million polypropylene tips to Sri Lanka. Highlighting the longstanding friendly relations between Sri Lanka and Brazil, the State Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed appreciation for this goodwill gesture by the Government of Brazil. Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs O.L. Ameer Ajwad and other officials participated. The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brazil coordinated the donation. Click here to read... [17]

India and Sri Lanka beyond the IMF – Daily FT

Decisive policies by the new Sri Lankan Government led by President Ranil Wickremasinghe6 and timely Indian aid helped to bring Sri Lanka back from the brink of an economic abyss. From late July 2022 onwards, the Wickremesinghe Government began implementing measures to stabilise the economy, intensified talks on an IMF program and sought assurances from Sri Lanka’s creditors on debt restructuring. Concrete economic stabilisation measures included significantly tightening monetary policy to control spiralling inflation, raising taxes, removing fuel and electricity subsidies, and developing a privatisation program for loss-making state-owned enterprises including SriLankan Airlines. Click here to read... [18]