[ Important Picks of the Day ]

[ NATIONAL ]

China: New airports, routes for PLA to transport personnel to Tibet, Xinjiang (↓)

Among the three new airports to be built in Tibet are those at Lhunze county, Tingri county, and Burang county, close to the border with India.

BRICS leaders urge Afghanistan to refrain from violence, settle crisis by peaceful means (↓)

In the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the end of the BRICS Summit Thursday, the leaders emphasized the need to uphold human rights in Afghanistan, including that of women, children & minorities.

Afghan territory should not be used to attack any country: Tirumurti at UNSC meeting (↓)

India’s Permanent Representative to UN TS Tirumurti on Thursday said that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts by the Taliban.

25 Indian IS sympathizers may sneak into India from Afghanistan: Intel reports (↓)

A group of 25 Indians having allegiance with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are supposed to be a big threat to India.

India asks Canada to protect nationals from ‘hate related’ crime after the murder of a student

The local police had received an emergency call on Sunday, after which Prabhjot Singh Katri was found lying in his apartment with life-threatening injuries, and was rushed to the hospital.

India, US commit to accelerating the development and deployment of clean energy solutions

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri co-chaired the virtual launch of the revamped US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership along with US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

Amit Shah reviews security, developmental issues at a high-level meeting in J-K

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review security situations as well as developmental issues in J&K– a first such meet in the north block after the Taliban took over. LG, Army Chief, NSA, RAW chief, and Director IB also attended the meeting that lasted for more than 2 hours.

Australian FM Payne, Defense Minister Dutton arrived in New Delhi today for 2+2 Dialogue: India is committed to building a robust partnership with Australia for the security and growth of the entire region: Defense Minister Rajnath Singh following a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Dutton

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

UN Envoy Says Afghan Situation ‘Grim,’ Calls for UN Engagement (↓)

Lyons said that although numerous challenges exist, the UN must remain engaged to shape the new reality positively. 

New Afghan govt eyes exchanging visits with China; ETIM has no place in Afghanistan: Taliban

While the Taliban announced an interim govt consisting of important Taliban figures in Afghanistan on Tuesday, which to many is not as inclusive as they once promised, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told the Global Times in an exclusive interview that they are in talks with other Afghan politicians and, if an agreement is reached, other people outside the current cabinet will have the chance to take high-ranking jobs in the new government.

Global Times tweeted after the call, “Xi and Biden’s phone call, which took place at the US’ request, highlighted Washington’s growing anxiety and need for China’s cooperation on key global issues, including climate change, COVID-19 fight, and Afghan issues: analysts”

‘Crushed my face against concrete’: Journalists recount Taliban torture

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an American non-profit promoting press freedom and defending the rights of journalists worldwide, said in a statement at least 14 journalists, including Naqdi and Daryabi, were detained and later released by the Taliban this week.

Is it necessary for Afghan women to be part of the cabinet? Taliban leader replies

The Taliban have said that women cannot be ministers days after the hard-line Islamist group announced an all-male cabinet for its interim government and named hardliners and globally wanted terrorists as key ministers. Taliban spokesperson Sayed Zekrullah Hashimi told Tolo News in an interview that women can’t be ministers and they should give birth.

Panjshir residents say blocked roads may cause starvation-TOLO News

It is reported that roads are closed and both electricity and telecom services were cut off after fighting began in the province. Some families who recently came to Kabul warned that Panjshir residents are facing serious problems and that people will die of hunger if the current conditions continue in the province. 

China: New airports, routes for PLA to transport personnel to Tibet, Xinjiang

The remote Chinese regions of Xinjiang and Tibet bordering India will soon have 30 airports at the disposal of the Western Theatre Command (WTC) to facilitate the movement of army personnel, a state media report said this week.

• The WTC is the largest military command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and oversees the disputed border with India. While some of these airports have been built and are functional, the remaining are under construction.
• Among the 3 new airports to be built in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) are those at Lhunze county, Tingri county, and Burang county, close to the border with India, official media had reported earlier this year.
• Another strategic airport to be opened by the middle of 2022 is the Tashkurgan, the first super-high plateau airport in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) on the Pamir plateau, close to China’s border with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Afghanistan.
• Tiny Tashkurgan is the last important town in China close to PoK and located in the Tajik Autonomous County of the Kashgar prefecture in XUAR.
• Once completed, the new airport will be strategically located close to the Wakhan Corridor, the narrow pass which separates PoK and Tajikistan besides China and Afghanistan.
• Nearly two dozen new air routes have also been inaugurated connecting TAR and XUAR with cities across China this year, the report said.
• The opening of new routes and rapid construction of new airports come in the backdrop of the ongoing Sino-India border tension in eastern Ladakh.
• China is bolstering its presence all along the border with India, fortifying the remote regions by building critical civil-military dual-use infrastructures like airports and railway routes.
• The report published by the official military portal of the Chinese military this week said the development of the airports in border areas is making transportation more convenient.

“A chartered flight carrying 115 veterans took off from the Shigatse Heping Airport in Tibet and headed for Chengdu, Sichuan province, on the morning of September 1, marking the official opening of 23 air routes for transporting recruits and veterans into and out of Xinjiang and Tibet in the second half of this year,” the report said.

The report quoted an officer in charge of a military transportation center under the PLA WTC as saying that there are “…currently nearly 30 civil airports built or under construction in Xinjiang and Tibet.”.

While Yinchuan is in the northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, both Jiayuguan and Zhangye are in Gansu province, also in the northwest of China; Ngari is in TAR. “It is also learned that, in addition, some airlines help to reserve tickets of regular flights to Ngari in response to the troops’ emergency needs. And some urgently needed military supplies could also be delivered free of charge or at preferential rates by the civil airliners,” the report said.

BRICS leaders urge Afghanistan to refrain from violence, settle crisis by peaceful means

Leaders of BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — Thu urged the Taliban caretaker government in Afghanistan to refrain from violence and settle the crisis in the country through peaceful means.

The New Delhi Declaration, adopted at the end of the 13^th BRICS Summit that was hosted by India, said: “We follow with concern the latest developments in Afghanistan. We call for refraining from violence and settling the situation by peaceful means. We stress the need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country.”

The declaration also condemned the terrorist attacks that took place near the Hamid Karzai Kabul International Airport on 26 Aug, which led to the deaths of 95 Afghans and 13 US troops.

They added, “We emphasize the need to address the humanitarian situation and to uphold human rights, including those of women, children, and minorities.”

Bhattacharyya said, “There was a very strong condemnation of terrorism and that the Afghan territory should not be used either for terrorism or drug trafficking and that it should not become a problem in the neighborhood.”

While Afghanistan was mentioned in the declaration, it was only Russian President Vladimir Putin who talked about the situation in the country during the ‘opening remarks’ and slammed the US and its allies for how the withdrawal of troops was undertaken, which ended on Aug 30.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired the summit, underscored the need for BRICS to become more “result-oriented”.

He added that the BRICS agenda now spans culture and communications, sports and space, disaster resilience and digital health, employment and environment, and more.

BRICS on terrorism, Covid

The BRICS Summit also saw the adoption of an agreement on the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan.

According to Sanjay Bhattacharya, secretary (CPV and OIA), Ministry of External Affairs and BRICS Sherpa, said, “There was strong condemnation of terrorism by the leaders during the BRICS Summit and that Afghanistan should not be used for terrorism and drug-trafficking and it should (not) spill over to the neighborhood… The role of UNSC was also referred to in this context.”

• In a media briefing, Bhattacharya added that Putin’s reference to preventing terrorism from Afghanistan is in support of India’s stand on the matter.
• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro also urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to do more in managing the crisis evolving in Afghanistan.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, talked about how the BRICS countries have made progress in terms of cooperation and strategic communication.

“Over the past 15 years, our five countries have enhanced strategic communication and ‘political trust’ in the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and equality and explored a sound path to interact with each other. Our five countries have sought synergy between our development policies and drawn on our complementarities,” said Xi.

The issue of access to Covid vaccines and their equitable distribution was also discussed at the summit.

• “The only way in which we can respond to the coronavirus pandemic is by ensuring equal access to Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
• In a joint statement released after the summit, the leaders said, “We acknowledge that in an interconnected and globalized world, no one is safe until everyone is safe.”

“Recognizing that the production of COVID-19 vaccines has provided the greatest hope to conquer the pandemic and that COVID-19 extensive immunization is a global public good, we regret the glaring inequity in access to vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics, especially for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations.”

Afghan territory should not be used to attack any country: Tirumurti at UNSC meeting

India’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Security Council, TS Tirumurti on Thursday said that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts by the Taliban.

• He also said that Security Council Resolution 2593 has taken note of the Taliban statement that Afghans will be able to travel abroad in an unhindered manner, a statement from United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan informed.
• He also expressed that India has contributed significantly over the last decade to the development of Afghanistan, in critical areas of power, water supply, road connectivity, healthcare, education, agriculture, and capacity building, with emphasis on the welfare and well-being of the people.
• India has undertaken more than 500 development projects in each of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, Tirumurti informed during his address to the United Nations Security Council.
• We also extended humanitarian assistance through the delivery of 75,000 MT of wheat last year to Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Taliban is facing cascading challenges as the outfit announced a caretaker govt in Afghanistan weeks after the takeover of the war-torn country.

• Only a few days after the Taliban named an acting cabinet to lead the nation, tensions flared with neighboring Pakistan while Afghanistan’s longstanding humanitarian crisis has also deepened, The New York Times informed.

The Taliban is facing intense outrage from the people. Journalists, women, and activists including university students, all are holding demonstrations against the outfit while the ‘new government’ is imposing restrictions to curb the voices rising against it.

UN Envoy Says Afghan Situation ‘Grim,’ Calls for UN Engagement

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for countries to continue dialogue with the Taliban. He said this during an interview with AFP on Thu. He expressed fears that hardline Islamists’ return to power in Afghanistan may embolden jihadists in the Sahel region of Africa. However, Guterres said there were “no guarantees” about what might come out of talks but that discussions are a must

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons (a Canadian diplomat, formerly Canada’s ambassador to Israel),  briefed the United Nations Security Council on Thu, and described the situation in Afghanistan as “grim” and called for UN engagement to “shape the new reality.”

What did Lyons say?

• the people of Afghanistan have faced a new and worrying reality since Aug 15^th when the Taliban took control of Kabul.
• the Taliban have taken power, but they have not gained the confidence of the people of Afghanistan, evidenced by thousands trying to flee the country and protests around the country.
• the new cabinet announced by the Taliban is exclusive, contrary to the Taliban’s promises to form an inclusive govt.
• the Taliban should create an Afghanistan where no one will be living in fear and the talented should be allowed to participate in government and women and girls should enjoy their full freedom and inclusion.
• Lyons also referred to some of the members of the cabinet that are on the UN sanction list and urged the UNSC to consider how to deal with the sanction list. All of you will need to decide which steps to take regarding the sanctions list and the impact on future engagement.

The Taliban made a statement about their appointments of acting ministers: “The Islamic Emirate considered it necessary to immediately form a cabinet using the cadres of the Islamic Emirate,” Anaamullah Samangani, a member of Taliban’s cultural commission said.

On Thu, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted a statement referencing the fact that Taliban leaders now appointed to the caretaker govt of Afghanistan were on US blacklists, calling this a violation of the US-Taliban agreement:

Lyons also highlighted that the humanitarian crisis is worsening, saying that millions of Afghans are in desperate need of help and that practical steps should be taken immediately to address the worsening crisis.

She said the freezing of billions of dollars worth of funds intended for the country’s relief and development will take the Afghan economy into a deep crisis.

• She also raised concerns over the growing prices of food and fuel, the inability of private banks to pay out people’s deposits, and the inability of Afghans to finance imports of food, medicine, fuel, electricity, and other essential items.
• Lyons urged that mechanisms be found that would allow money to flow into Afghanistan to prevent a total breakdown of the economy of the country.
• Lyons also said the incidents of harassment and intimidation against the UN Afghan staff are growing and said the UN in Afghanistan will do anything to keep them safe.
• Although the Taliban have announced a general amnesty, Lyons said there have been credible allegations of killings of Afghan forces and civil servants of the former administration by Taliban forces.

She said: “We are also extremely disturbed at the increasing violence used against Afghans who are protesting Taliban rule.”

• Despite this, Lyons said, the UN should become engaged in Afghanistan and positively shape the new reality. According to her, the Taliban needs international assistance and this makes the engagement easier.
• “Al Qaeda members remain in Afghanistan, visibly welcomed and sheltered by the de facto Taliban authorities. Islamic State Khorasan Province remains active and could gain strength,” she added.

She also said the UN will remain in Afghanistan to help the people of Afghanistan and will work with other parties for the resumption of civilian flights from Kabul airport.

25 Indian IS sympathizers may sneak into India from Afghanistan: Intel reports ANI

A group of 25 Indians having allegiance with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) who are supposed to be a big threat to India, may enter into Indian territory from Afghanistan as they broke open various jails when the Taliban took over the country last month, the intelligence inputs are suggesting.

• These 25 Indians are on the wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for having alleged links with the terror group ISIS.
• However, the NIA officials, privy to the ongoing investigation in ISIS cases, said that they were not aware of the present status of these 25 Indians but investigations have established that all of them migrated (hijarat) to Afghanistan and joined ISIS in the Nangarhar province.
• Considering inputs, an alert has already been issued at all Indian airports and seaports, manned by the Bureau of Immigration (BoI), to ensure that these ISIS suspects could not sneak into India from Afghanistan.
• Most of these 25 are belong to the IS-inspired module in Kerala and they fled to Afghanistan on different periods sometime between 2016 and 2018 to join ISIS.
• The NIA got inputs about these ISIS sympathizers during its probe into several IS-inspired modules active in Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
• A senior NIA official told ANI that some of these 25 ISIS sympathizers are believed to have died as per the testimony of their family members here in India but the agency has not yet received any confirmation from foreign agencies.
• A red corner notice (RCN), issued on the request of NIA, already exists against all the 25 suspects that include Abdulla Abdul Rashid, Dr. Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil, who is said to have motivated around two dozen Indian men and women to join ISIS, Nimisha.
• As per intelligence reports, an official said that some of the 25 ISIS supporters were killed in 2019 in a drone attack, and others surrendered to Afghan forces and were imprisoned in Kabul in the reign of the Ghani govt.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been provided with the intelligence input recently those women fighters who migrated to Afghanistan to join ISIS but surrendered later before the Ashraf Ghani govt, have been freed after the Taliban’s took over Kabul.
• They were among the thousands of ISIS fighters freed after the jailbreak in Afghanistan, said another official.
• A physician from Kasargod, Purayil was suspected to be involved in the Jalalabad prison attack in August 2020. Another suspect who traveled with Abdulla and Ijas and later identified as Muhammed Muhsin was said to be part of the Gurudwara attack in Kabul in March last year.
• NIA officials have claimed to have identified some of the ISIS sympathizers who were found active on social media and are believed to be operating from Afghan-Pakistan borders.
• Muhsin is learned to be active on social media and is believed to be involved in online recruitment. Officials said that Munsib is active at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. (ANI)