NEW DELHI, 13 April 2022, (TON): People with the knowledge of the matter said “India is planning to boost shipments to Russia by an additional $2 billion as the two nations work out a payment system in local currencies to continue bilateral trade amid sweeping international sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine.”

The people said “to do this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration is in talks with Moscow to liberalize market access for several Indian-made products.”

They asking not to be identified as the talks are private. This comes as the two governments work toward a proposal to settle trade in rupees and rubles and look for ways to balance the trade given that India is a net importer of Russian goods.

They said “India is looking to export products supplied by countries who have halted shipments after U.S. and its allies imposed sanctions.”

On the list are pharmaceutical products, plastics, organic and inorganic chemicals, home furnishings, rice, beverages such as tea and coffee, milk products, and bovine products.

KABUL, 13 April 2022, (TON): While majority of the European countries continue to struggle with a rise on fuel prices since beginning of the war in Ukraine, Kabul witnesses a significant hike on its coal exports to the nearby country.

Coal exports to neighboring Pakistan have increased significantly comparing last year amidst a rise in fuel prices in the international market, said the Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines.

According to ACIM members “the increase in coal exports to Pakistan is due to a rising coal value in local markets, triggering overwhelming concern for factory owners in the country.”

Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, head of the Chamber of Industries and Mines said “while the increase on coal export seems promising as far as trade is concern, majority predicts an unprecedent price hike within the local market that could cost resident a lot more money than it did a few months ago. “Rising fuel prices in world markets have significantly increased the exports of Afghanistan’s coal to Pakistan in the last three to four months.”

Comparing last year’s average coal price per ton, local business owners called it a significant hike, showing an increase of about 6,000Afs ($67) for the same amount of coal.

Jalil, a local coal seller said “based on the contract, all of Afghanistan’s coal is sent to Pakistan, that is why the coal prices have increased in the country.”

KABUL, 13 April 2022, (TON): Tehran has sought protection of its diplomatic missions in Afghanistan and necessary guarantees for the safe operation of its diplomatic offices in the country.

According to a statement by Iranian Foreign Ministry “the call was made by the Iran Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, at a press conference.”

The statement read “referring to the deep historical and multi-layered relations between Iranian and Afghan nations and the decades of respectful hospitality of the Iranian people and government to the people of Afghanistan, he warned against the plans of conspirators and ill-wishers between Iran and Afghanistan.”

the statement added “Unfortunately, some clips and comments are being published with the aim of creating phobia of Iran or Afghanistan, which targets the emotions of the people and demands more vigilance from the people and officials of the two countries.”

This comes as the Afghans set rallies in several provinces where they criticized the reported incidents of Iranian forces mistreatment with Afghan migrants in Iran.

NEW DELHI, 13 April 2022, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “the United States was monitoring what he described as a rise in human rights abuses in India by some officials, in a rare direct rebuke by Washington of the Asian nation's rights record.”

Blinken said on Monday in a joint press briefing “we regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values (of human rights) and to that end, we are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police and prison officials.”

Blinken did not elaborate. Singh and Jaishankar, who spoke after Blinken at the briefing, did not comment on the human rights issue.

Blinken's remarks came days after US Representative Ilhan Omar questioned the alleged reluctance of the US government to criticise Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on human rights.

DHAKA, 13 April 2022, (TON): Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres phoned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and invited  her to join the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance.

According to a press release signed by PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim “in reply to the invitation, the Prime Minister thanked the UN Secretary and  gave her consent to join the GCRG during talks between the two leaders that lasted for 12 minutes.”

The release said "Sheikh Hasina accepted his  invitation with great happiness.”

António Guterres released the initial recommendations of his GCRG, set up in response to the hunger crisis triggered by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the world’s supply of sunflower oil and about 30 percent of the world’s wheat.

DHAKA, 13 April 2022, (TON): Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar lauded Japan's role as a friend in the overall development of Bangladesh.

Jabbar said while Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki paying a courtesy call on him "Japan is a genuine friend and major partner of Bangladesh in socio-economic and infrastructure development.”

Contrary to the notion of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Minister described the concept of the 'Society 5.0' in Japan as very humane, saying "Japan valued man first and then the machine. We also think that technology cannot be a substitute for human beings."

During the meeting, they exchanged views on various issues of mutual interest, especially in the field of digital technology including 5G technology.

Jabbar said "Japan has introduced 5G to the world, Bangladesh has also entered the era of 5G. The ITU standardization of 5G will play a crucial role in changing the whole world."

WASHINGTON, 12 April 2022, (TON): The United States has said “it believes Russia is reinforcing and repositioning its troops in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, where Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh offensive.”

In a news conference, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said a convoy of Russian vehicles had been observed heading towards the town of Izyum, about 180km (112 miles) north of the city of Donetsk.

Kirby told reporters “But it’s not clear to us how many vehicles are in this convoy and what exactly they’re bringing.”

He added that it appeared to be a mix of personnel-carrying vehicles as well as armoured vehicles “and maybe some artillery”.

He said “they’re repositioning, they’re refocusing on the Donbas.”

STOCKHOLM, 12 April 2022, (TON):  Sweden’s ruling Social Democrat party, which has until now rejected membership in NATO, has said it is reviewing its international security policy in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Comprising the biggest party in parliament and forming a single-party, minority government, the Social -Democratic party has consistently rejected calls to join NATO, arguing that military non-alignment has served the country well.

But an increasingly belligerent Russia has forced a rethink across the political spectrum in both Sweden and neighbouring Finland, which is also outside the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance.

The Social Democrats said in a statement “when Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden’s security position changed fundamentally.”

Daily DN quoted Social Democrat Secretary-General Tobias Baudin saying the review would be complete before the summer.

ISTANBUL, 12 April 2022, (TON): Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “they (Russians) are afraid to admit that Russia's entire policy toward Ukraine has been erroneous for decades and has only ruined everything Russia had in its relations with Ukraine since previous times.”

Pointing out that Moscow is trying to blame Kyiv for its own aggression, Zelenskyy recalled that Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia.

Zelenskyy also said “Russia destroyed normal life in Donbas.”

He said “they have been killing people and children on our land for eight years and we are allegedly to blame. They destroyed the most powerful industrial region in Eastern Europe and we are allegedly to blame. They ruined the lives of millions of people and we are allegedly to blame.”

He added “they started a full- scale war against us and we are allegedly to blame.”

PARIS, 12 April 2022, (TON): France’s far-right Rally Nati-onal candidate Marine Le Pen has said her goal is not to leave the EU.

Le Pen, who is on a trip to the Yonne department in eastern France , told “I don’t want to leave the European Union . This is not my goal.”

She said “but at the same time, I want this European structure to evolve. I have been talking about this for several years. I spoke about this during the last European elections. We want to create a European alliance of nations, free and sovereign.”

Le Pen, along with the current French President Emmanuel Macron , advanced to the second round of the presidential elections, which will be held on April 24.