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Russian Economy Rises Amidst Global Sanctions
The global sanctions imposed on Russia have hampered the trade process and has impacted it’s economy. However, with the historic grain export agreement from Turkey and the UN, and exports to the countries like India and Pakistan, the Russian economy has seen a significant increase. Russia is the largest fertilizer exporter in the world; however, its conflict with Ukraine has hampered the trade process, which has also driven the price of gas, a natural ingredient in the fertilizing process. Previously, the COVID-19 personnel shortages and factory closures in 2020 had already disrupted and caused instability in the fertilizer market. Furthermore, the international community’s sanctions amid the war have restricted several imports from Russia. Fertilizer costs in the US and around the world surged as a result of shipping companies and insurance companies avoiding Russia. According to a World Bank report, there was an increase in fertilizer prices worldwide by 80% in 2021 and 30% since the beginning of 2022. The historic grain export agreement that was reached between the warring parties with support from Turkey and the UN was unilaterally suspended by the Russian Federation on October 29, 2022, Fortunately, on November 2, 2022, Russia agreed to rejoin the agreement with the help and efforts of the UN and Turkey. One of the countries that also remained neutral and did not join the Western coalition arrayed against Russia was India. According to government and industry sources, Russia captured more than a fifth of the market share in the first half of the 2022–23 fiscal year, becoming India’s largest fertiliser supplier for the first time. During the first half of the year, India’s imports of fertiliser from Russia increased by 371% to a record 2.15 million tonnes, according to a senior government official’s statement to Reuters. Moreover, India’s imports during this period spiked 765% to $1.6 billion. In the last entire fiscal year, India imported 1.26 million tonnes...
Taliban Reject UN Claims Of Human Rights Abuses
A U.N. panel of specialists claimed that the Taliban may have committed a crime against humanity by how it treated women and children in Afghanistan and that this should be looked into and prosecuted per international law. The Taliban denied the UN claims. The Taliban confirmed that three women were among the 12 persons who were beaten on Wednesday in front of a large crowd at a regional sports stadium, prompting the United Nations to assign experts. In front of elders, scholars, and locals at Taloqan’s main mosque during Friday prayers on November 11, ten men and nine women in the northeastern Takhar province were each whipped 39 times. They were charged with fornication, adultery, and running away from home. The latest Taliban measures against women and girls have intensified previously-existing rights breaches, which are already among the “most severe globally,” according to U.N. experts. They also may constitute gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity. In August 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan as American and NATO forces prepared to leave the nation after 20 years of conflict. They first pledged a more liberal administration to protect the rights of women and minorities, but instead, they have curtailed liberties and applied their stringent interpretation of Islamic law. Girls have been barred from attending middle and high school and they are required to dress from head to toe in public. Women are also excluded from most types of employment. Additionally, parks, gyms, and amusement parks do not allow women. During the previous Taliban rule, from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted in a U.S.-led invasion after the September 11 terrorist attacks, public lashings, public executions, and stoning for alleged offenses were commonplace throughout Afghanistan. Although the examples of public beatings were not particularly mentioned in the experts’ statement, they did note that the Taliban had assaulted men who were with women who were...
No Society Can Grow Without Lubricants of Tolerance, Inclusion and Rule of Law: Huma Baqai
The kind of socio-political polarization, toxicity and utter lack of tolerance being witnessed in the society today - where we have stopped listening, rather listen to attack - is increasingly and alarmingly becoming a political and social culture. This deadly mix also takes a devastating toll on the social capital, and has repercussions for the economic output of the country. These remarks were made by Dr. Huma Baqai, Rector, Millennium Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship (MITE), Karachi, during the Sindh Chapter of Paving Pathways to Social Cohesion - Faculty Members Workshop Series, organized by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) at and in collaboration with MITE. She further said that unfortunately, Pakistan today has become a country which is suffering from brain drain, much more than it has ever experienced in the past due to disillusionment among youth so much so that they don’t see a future for themselves in the country. In this entire scenario, there is a huge onus on faculty members - given their youth outreach potential - as nurturers and mentors to sow seeds of peace in the minds of the young people who will become the leaders of tomorrow. In a country like Pakistan where around 65 percent of the overall population is under the age of 30, such an intervention becomes ever more important. While we are teaching skills and technology - as market needs, let us not forget teaching the lubricants as dire needs of the society for cohesion, where the lubricants are tolerance, inclusion, rule of law, equality and equity, and no society can grow without these lubricants. Diversity is an asset the society needs the most. Only by equally accessible justice - to everyone regardless of individual identities/ backgrounds, can rule of law be upheld. In the endeavor to bolster women empowerment, it is extremely important to onboard and sensitize male members of the society. Paving Pathways to Social Cohesion is a great initiative, in fact,...
Would there be any change in Afghan Taliban?
The US and the Afghan Taliban engaged in a series of discussions over a period of eighteen months to reach a consensus on how the US and NATO forces would withdraw peacefully. A wave of jubilation spread all around the region when the US and Taliban signed a peace agreement on 29 February, 2020. However, as the status quo suggests, the Taliban have not complied to any of the international demands made since the initiation of peace negotiations. “In a multi-ethnic and diverse society such as that of Afghanistan, no single group, party, or faction, can claim to hold power by itself alone,” said Amir Saeed Iravani, the permanent representative and ambassador of Iran to the UN. It raises the question of whether all those efforts of the US that it used to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban as a solo group and to sign a peace agreement with them were futile attempts? There are many other reasons that keep leading to this conclusion. The US and the Afghan Taliban engaged in a series of discussions and negotiations over a period of eighteen months to reach a consensus on how the US and NATO forces would withdraw peacefully. Following former US President Donald Trump’s , announcement that the US would be reducing its military presence in Afghanistan, all the regional countries began interacting with the Taliban to discuss regional security issues and play their role in a peaceful exit of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan. In December 2018, the Taliban visited UAE to meet with US, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia as the diplomatic efforts stepped up to end the war. The year 2019 witnessed a flurry of trips by the Taliban from Doha to Moscow to have meetings with foreign diplomats and even rub shoulders with those Afghan leaders who were once their opponents. Iran, an arch enemy of the Taliban because of their anti-Shi’ite stance, invited them in January 2019 to discuss what the Taliban declared as a review of “the post-occupation situation, restoration of peace and...
Delusions, Exclusions from Peace Talks and Corruption caused Fall of Kabul
The biggest reason for the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021 was the Ghani administration’s misplaced delusion that the US would never withdraw from Afghanistan. Government through a small coterie of aides, all-pervasive corruption within governance structures and exclusion from the US-Taliban negotiations that began under President Donald Trump were some of other pressing reasons that precipitated the fall of the Afghan capital to the Taliban. These stark conclusions stand out in the special report that the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has submitted before the Oversight and Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. The committee had asked SIGAR, John Sopko to inform the house on what triggered the fall of Kabul despite a massive security and financial engagement of the US and Allies since 2002.SIGAR also investigated the US role – leadership and management of Afghanistan since 2002 – while assessing the causes of the collapse of the Afghan government and the relative success or failure of the American reconstruction efforts in the conflict-battered country. Below are the Six major elements that SIGAR mentioned as contributing factors to the fall of the Afghan government. The Afghan administration was oblivious to the fact that the US would truly withdraw. The United States had wavered on the subject of military withdrawal for almost 20 years and through three U.S. presidents. Even as the United States formally stated its intention to leave Afghanistan in the years before its departure, inconsistent messaging from American officials undermined efforts to persuade Afghan officials, who had an optimistic outlook on alternative outcomes, of the seriousness of U.S. intentions. As a result, when the US troops and its contractors left, the Afghan government was fundamentally unfit to lead the war against the Taliban. It was weakened and undermined by the Afghan government’s isolation from US-Taliban negotiations. Before...
Why The Afghan Government Collapsed
After the fall of the Republic on August 15, 2021, the Oversight and Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives asked Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to investigate the causes of the collapse of the Afghan government and the relative success or failure of American reconstruction efforts to establish and maintain Afghan governing institutions since 2002. Six elements were noted by SIGAR as contributing to the fall of the Afghan government: 1. First, the Afghan administration was oblivious to the fact that the US would truly withdraw. The United States had wavered on the subject of military withdrawal for almost 20 years and through three U.S. presidents. Even as the United States formally stated its intention to leave Afghanistan in the years before its departure, inconsistent messaging from American officials undermined efforts to persuade Afghan officials, who had an optimistic outlook on alternative outcomes, of the seriousness of U.S. intentions. As a result, when the US troops and its contractors left, the Afghan government was fundamentally unfit to lead the war against the Taliban. 2. Second, it was weakened and undermined by the Afghan government’s isolation from US-Taliban negotiations. Before the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021, a permanent political settlement that would bring about long-term peace and stability was the main objective of the United States in Afghanistan. That objective was hampered by the Taliban’s refusal to communicate with the Afghan government without first engaging in negotiations with the US. By dealing with the Taliban first, the United States attempted to avoid this and lay the way for an intra-Afghan peace process and perhaps an Afghan political settlement. The U.S.-Taliban accord, however, had no such impact. Instead, the Afghan government was weakened by its exclusion from U.S.-Taliban discussions and the belief that the United States was ceasing its support, and the...
Xi confronts Trudeau over alleged leaks in G-20 clash
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Wednesday (16th November 2022) exchanged barbs on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali over the leaked reports of their meeting. Xi confronted Trudeau at the Group of 20 summit, accusing him of disclosing information about a private discussion between the men. In what may have been a very unusual open remark caught on television, an agitated Xi, whose image is carefully curated by Chinese official media, was seen protesting to Trudeau’s claim that whatever they discussed in a prior meeting was leaked to the media. https://matrixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Gt0_1Njp7muxrfbr.mp4 “Everything we discuss has been leaked to the paper, that’s not appropriate,” Xi told Trudeau through a translator. That is not how the conversation was conducted,” he said. “If you are being sincere, we must communicate with mutual respect,” Xi added. “If not, I’m not so sure how it will turn out.” But Trudeau interrupted the translator, saying: “We believe in free, open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have, but there will be things we will disagree on.” Xi was dismissive stating, “Lets put the conditions first,” before shaking the Canadian Prime Ministers hand and turning away. Trudeau held talks with Xi, the first in more than three years, at the G20 summit , according to Canadian officials. Media reports said Trudeau had brought up “serious concerns” about alleged espionage and Chinese “interference” in Canadian elections during the discussion. Asked later at a news conference about the exchange with Xi, Trudeau said “not every conversation is always going to be easy, but it’s extremely important that we continue to stand up for the things that are important for Canadians”. The original meeting on Tuesday lasted for 10 minutes and was an informal chat on the sidelines of the summit, a Canadian government source told the Reuters news agency. China’s state-run Global Times said that the two...
With The U.S. Out Of Afghanistan, China Comes Calling
The first thing you see walking out of Kabul’s airport is a billboard advertising Chinatown, which, if you visit, turns out to be a plain, off-white trio of 10-story towers in the Afghan capital’s Taimani district. On the ground floor are shops selling Chinese products, including lights, office furniture, fans, electric bicycles, kitchen equipment, garden tools, pipe fittings, solar panels, toiletries, clothes, decorations and Clean Laundry detergent, which promises “disintegration of the stain.” Most visitors’ first stop is the office of Yu Minghui, the 51-year-old entrepreneur who started Chinatown in 2019 and who doubles as chairman of the China-Afghanistan Trade Committee, a semiofficial liaison office for Yu’s passion project: bringing Chinese merchants to Afghanistan. The office helps them obtain visas, navigate the market and make connections. Those who like their chances can join Chinatown or rent space in Yu’s newest undertaking, a sprawling 350-acre, $216-million industrial park on Kabul’s northeastern edge — the first infrastructure project signed between a Chinese company and the Taliban government. “They want to help foreigners invest here,” Yu said of Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamic rulers. “The government is now supporting us.” Behind his efforts is at least the tacit support of another government: his own. With the West focused on Ukraine and the U.S. refusing to deal with a Taliban-led state, China sees an opportunity to extend its influence in its backyard, using commercial ties to help forge a stable regional order and demonstrate that its brand of economic diplomacy — buttressed by a steadfast policy of noninterference in domestic affairs — can achieve success where Washington’s 20-year misadventure in Afghanistan could not. The efforts are nothing like the United States’ gargantuan nation-building campaign. Instead, Beijing’s goal is to neutralize the dangers from what has long been a problematic neighbor, while pursuing wider policies such as...
What Afghanistan Needs For Recognition
Afghanistan is facing a governance crisis. The ruling group’s stringent measures and inflexibility have caused public dismay. While the de facto authority implores the world for recognition, they can not have it if the people at home are unhappy and unsatisfied. People’s welfare and local and national reforms should be the priority. Resolving issues with the country fellows is a much better and more respectful procedure to proceed forward – making way for domestic reforms – than begging the international community for legitimacy and recognition. Looking back at the past, one can not afford to commit violence as pressure for reforms as it would not lead to success. There is a need to be more serious and focus on political settlement rather than repeating the pungent past. In addition to the obligatory status of education in the charter of the United Nations and other global organizations, education is considered compulsory for everyone in Islam. Unfortunately, middle and high school female students in Afghanistan are banned from attending schools for more than 400 days. This petrifying act has severely damaged the global image of the Taliban and Afghanistan. Freedom of expression is a vital human right. Islam advocates and appreciates the freedom of expression – given that it is not violating moral and spiritual redlines. The suppression of freedom of expression is a misinterpretation of Islamic values by the kitchen cabinet members of the monarch. On the other hand, it is ironic that though such laws exist in certain Muslim societies, racial discrimination and blasphemy have become the most dangerous and provocative weapon under the title of freedom of expression. Such criminalization is considered to be the root cause of radicalism and fundamentalism. Taking into account the current trend of information technology developments, it looks nearly impossible for a backward country to impose censorship and ban on media. Therefore, in compliance with the principles of...
‘Pakistan’s share in global arms export market growing’
Made-in-Pakistan weapons are so effective that they determine the outcome of war. According to one private-sector arms manufacturer present at the 11th International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2022, his company’s 40mm single-shot grenade launchers played a “key role” in helping Sri Lanka win its war against the Tamil Tigers in the late 2000s. “Their chief of army staff called our CEO to thank him personally,” Daudsons Armoury Ltd General Manager Irfan Ahmed told Dawn on Wednesday. He said about 30 per cent of the company’s total revenue comes from export channels while the rest originates from the domestic market, which consists of the armed forces, law enforcement agencies and private citizens. Most exhibitors that Dawn spoke to were reluctant to go into specifics with regard to the size of their operations, pricing and clientele given the secretive nature of the arms business. But many of them happily stated that foreign business has been flourishing for the last many years. “We export weapons mainly to the Middle Eastern countries. I can say confidently that Pakistani businesses are growing their share in the global arms market. That’s because our quality is a lot better than that of arms manufacturers from other, comparable nations,” he said. According to trade data compiled by the International Trade Centre (ITC), Pakistan exported arms and ammunition worth $3.8 million in 2021. In contrast, imports amounted to $30.1m in the same year. These figures appear understated as the original source of the ITC data is the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Daudsons Armoury makes aircraft bombs weighing from 250 pounds to 2,000 pounds for the Pakistan Air Force and also sells the same to foreign governments. The state-owned ordnance producer has a monopoly over the explosive substance that goes inside a bomb. Daudsons Armoury produces the body of a bomb — a highly precise job in which even a minute inaccuracy can change the projectile’s centre of gravity and...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.