ISLAMABAD, 23 December 2021, (TON): Pakistan said “it was ready to host the long-delayed summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) when what it said “artificial obstacles” in its way were removed.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to host the SAARC leaders during the meeting with the group’s secretary general Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, who is currently on a visit to Islamabad.

Pakistan was supposed to host the summit in 2016 but India boycotted the gathering of SAARC leaders and also persuaded some other member states to do the same. Under the SAARC charter, the summit cannot take place if any of the member countries stays out.

Since then India consistently has been staying away from the summit thus delaying the gathering of leaders of eight nations of South Asia.

However, it is unlikely the organisation will realise its full potential in the foreseeable future given the deep divisions between Pakistan and India and also new alignments in the region.

KABUL, 23 December 2021, (TON): Afghanistan´s national museum is once again welcoming visitors and exhibiting pre-Islamic artefacts with the Taliban´s blessing, a stark contrast to when the group ransacked and shuttered the facility during their last stint in power.

A trickle of citizens made their way around the sprawling exhibit rooms in Kabul when AFP recently visited, marvelling at treasures ranging from painted Stone Age pottery to ancient coins and religious items.

Rahmatullah said, after intently examining a collection of 2,000-year-old swords “it´s inborn in humans that they attach value to their history.”

“I wanted to know more about the history of my country. It has a special place in my heart”.

The museum reopened in late November with permission from the Taliban´s new ministry of information and culture, around three months after the group retook power and ended their two-decade insurgency.

Some artefacts on open display are fundamentally at odds with the Taliban´s radical ideology, including pottery collections featuring images of animals and humans.

NAYPYITAW, 23 December 2021, (TON): According to a statement issued by the MNDAA’s information department “a military offensive against the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in the Mongko area resulted in the death of around 100 of the junta’s own troops in a battle over the weekend.”

The coup regime’s armed forces reportedly used fighter jets and heavy artillery to attack the Mang Yang base of the MNDAA, located nine miles east of Mongko town in northern Shan State’s Muse Township.

According to the Kokang armed group “the shelling began, and was followed by a ground attack hours later.”

A Mongko local told media “they were firing the shells from within the township. The shells hit the town.”

He added that the shells appeared to have been fired from the sixth ward where the military held a tactical outpost on a hill.

Around 100 Myanmar army soldiers were killed in the clash, the MNDAA said, and more than 80 injured.

NAYPYITAW, 23 December 2021, (TON): According to a civil society group and media reports “dozens of people are feared missing after a landslide early today at a jade mine in northern Myanmar.”

An official at the Kachin Network Development Foundation said “the landslide in the Hpakant area of Kachin State happened at around 4am (2130 GMT on Tuesday) and there were fears that about 80 people had been swept into a lake by mining waste.”

Dashi Naw Lawn, an official at the civil society group said by telephone "authorities arrived at the site around 7 am and are conducting the search.”

He added that no dead bodies had been found up to now.

 Local media also reported dozens appeared to be missing in the incident in Hpakant, which is the centre of Myanmar's secretive jade industry. In another landslide last weekend, media reported at least six people died.

Deadly landslides and other accidents are common in the poorly regulated mines of Hpakant, which draw impoverished workers from across Myanmar in search of gems mostly for export to China.

NEW DELHI, 23 December 2021, (TON): India conducted a maiden flight test of its indigenously developed surface-to-surface ballistic missile "Pralay" off the coast of Odisha.

According to an official announcement released by the Defence Research and Development Organisation “Pralay was launched from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in the eastern state of Odisha.”

It added “the mission has met all its objectives.”

It stated “the new missile followed the desired quasi-ballistic trajectory and reached the designated target with high degree accuracy, validating the control, guidance and mission algorithms. All the sub-systems performed satisfactorily. All the sensors deployed near the impact point across the eastern coast, including the downrange ships, tracked the missile trajectory and captured all the events.”

The statement said “the missile is powered by a solid-propellant rocket motor and many new technologies. The missile has a range of 150-500 kilometres and can be launched from a mobile launcher. The missile guidance system includes a state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics.”

DHAKA, 23 December 2021, (TON): The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has gunned down a Bangladeshi national on the Indian side of the Bagichapara border in Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj upazila.

Ibrahim Ali, 25, a resident of the upazila’s Shahbazpur union, was killed, confirmed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) 59 Battalion chief Lieutenant Colonel Amir Hossain Mollah.

The youth was taken to a hospital on the Indian side where he died while undergoing treatment.

A BGB official said “the body will be handed over to BGB on Wednesday afternoon.”

Amir Hossain added that the BSF would hand over the body on Wednesday afternoon. 

Border killings have continued despite repeated assurances from the Indian that the number would be brought down to zero.

NEW DELHI, 23 December 2021, (TON): According to The New York Times report on India’s persecution of minorities particularly of Christians, Hindu extremists, shouting supremacist slogans, attacked a Church in the city of Indore in the recent past.

The attackers punched the pastors in the head, threw women to the ground as the terrified children scuttling under their chairs

Manish David, one of the pastors who was assaulted said “they kept beating us, pulling out hair.”

“They yelled: ‘What are you doing here? What songs are you singing? What are you trying to do?’”

The attack, the report said, unfolded on the morning of January 26 at the Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra Christian centre in Indore.

It said that the police soon arrived, but the officers did not touch the aggressors.

DHAKA, 23 December 2021, (TON): Switzerland will invest around CHF 119 million or Tk1,100 crore to implement its program in the country over the next four years.

It is a part of the country’s newly launched Cooperation Program for Bangladesh 2022-2025.

As Switzerland and Bangladesh are about to celebrate 50 years of bilateral relations, Switzerland officially launched its Cooperation Program for Bangladesh 2022-2025 at a ceremony held in Dhaka.

Patricia Danzi, director general of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), presented the program on the last day of her five-day visit to Bangladesh.

Planning Minister MA Mannan attended the event as the chief guest.

DHAKA, 23 December 2021, (TON): A red carpet was rolled out as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached Male on Wednesday afternoon on a six-day official visit at the invitation of Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

This is the prime minister’s first-ever bilateral official visit to the Maldives.

A smartly turned out contingent of the Maldivian forces presented a static guard of honour to the prime minister on her maiden bilateral visit to the island country.

Later, she was escorted to the place of residence.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be formally received by Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Thursday, while a guard of honour and other ceremonial will be accorded to her.

NEW DELHI, 22 December 2021, (TON): Senior Indian diplomat Pradeep Kumar Rawat, who is well-versed in negotiating with Chinese diplomats, was appointed as India’s next Ambassador to China. Rawat will succeed Vikram Misri.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a brief statement “he is expected to take up the assignment shortly.”

Rawat’s appointment comes amid the lingering border stand-off in eastern Ladakh.

An Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1990 batch, Rawat is currently the country’s envoy to the Netherlands. He was joint secretary (East Asia) in the MEA when the Doklam border stand-off took place in 2017.

He was involved in the negotiations during the early days before he moved to Indonesia as ambassador.