VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: 4th October, 2018

PAKISTAN

Kartarpur border cannot be opened till India responds: Foreign Office: Dawn

October 4, 2018

The opening of the Kartarpur border crossing is conditional on India responding to Pakistan, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said on Thursday. Dismissing criticism, Dr Faisal also said that Pakistan was not "pleading" with India to hold talks, but that it was the latter who had initiated contact. Last month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had contacted Prime Minister Imran Khan and had sought "meaningful and constructive" engagement between the neighbouring countries. A few weeks later, Times of India had reported that PM Khan had responded to Modi and had proposed to hold a meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries.Click here to read.... [2]

AFGHANISTAN

Khalilzad Leads Delegation to Afghanistan and Pakistan: Tolo News

October 4, 2018

The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad will lead an interagency delegation to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia from October 4-14, according to a US Department of State’s statement released on Wednesday. Khalilzad’s mission is to coordinate and lead US efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table, the statement said, adding that “He will do so in close coordination with the Afghan government and other stakeholders, exploring how best to reach a negotiated settlement to the conflict.” The trip is his first visit following his appointment as Special Representative and reflects the Administration’s intent to support, facilitate, and participate in a peace process in Afghanistan.Click here to read.... [3]

BANGLADESH

'Floating Schools' Reinvent Education In Disaster-Prone Bangladesh: NDTV

October 4, 2018

Mosammat Rekha's older cousins grew up unable to read and write, their tiny village so frequently cut off from the nearest school by floods that would rise suddenly in their remote corner of disaster-prone Bangladesh But seven-year-old Mosammat is learning her ABCs aboard a boat fitted with a classroom and play equipment that is helping children thrive even as climate change alters the world around them. "We can attend classes even during the rainy season, when our homes are barely above water," the seven-year-old told AFP aboard the vessel in Chalan Beel, some 175 kilometres (around 110 miles) northwest of Dhaka.Click here to read.... [4]

CHINA

China says U.S. proposes postponing diplomatic, security dialogue: Xinhuanet

October 4, 2018

China reiterated Wednesday that it is the United States that had proposed the postponement of the second round of their Diplomatic and Security Dialogue instead of the other way around. Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, refuted recent U.S. media reports that a U.S. official claimed China had proposed putting off the dialogue.Click here to read.... [5]