Afghan women have launched a social media campaign sharing their photos in traditional Afghan dresses to protest what they call the Taliban’s new dress code. Farkhunda Paimani reports.

Producer: Farkhunda Paimani
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Afghanistan, climate action and the COVID-19 pandemic will be front and center next week when large numbers of world leaders return to New York for their first in-person meetings at the United Nations in more than a year.     

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed in-person diplomacy at the United Nations, and last September it was still considered too unsafe to hold the annual gathering that draws nearly 200 presidents and prime ministers and their large delegations in person, so it was all virtual.  

Vaccines have made it safer to hold a scaled-down gathering, although the rampant spread of the delta variant left decisions for many about coming until the last minute. Leaders also have the option to stay home and send a video message, which about 50 of them plan to do. Many of those leaders are from lower income countries where vaccines have been in short supply, highlighting the imbalance in vaccine access.    

“What we need is a global vaccination plan, and we need those that have power in the world to put their power at the service of vaccine equity,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters recently.   

The World Health Organization has set a global target of vaccinating at least 40% of the population of every country against COVID-19 by the end of this year, and 70% of the world’s population by the middle of next year.   

More than 5.7 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, about 260 million of them through COVAX, a multilateral effort for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. But lower-income countries are still lagging far behind wealthy ones, particularly in Africa, where only 2% of the world’s vaccine doses have been administered.   

U.S. President Joe Biden is convening a virtual summit on Wednesday that will urge commitments from both the public and private sectors to work to end the pandemic by next year.   

“We are building a coalition of governments, businesses, international institutions and civil society to expand vaccine production, accelerate access to vaccines and life-saving treatment, and strengthen health systems around the globe,”  U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on Friday.  

Climate emergency  

Guterres has encouraged leaders to build back better from the pandemic, and a large part of that is focused on a greener recovery.     

The world is not on track to meet pledges made in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to slow global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and as low as 1.5 degrees, above pre-industrial levels.   

“We really are out of time,” Guterres said Thursday in a video message marking a grim U.N. climate report. “We must act now to prevent further irreversible damage.”  

In November, nations will meet in Glasgow, Scotland, to try to remove some of the obstacles to achieving the Paris goals.   

“It has to be a turning point where action on mitigation, adaptation and finance happen,” a senior U.N. official said of the Glasgow conference, known as COP26. 

On Monday, Guterres will co-host a private summit with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a small group of leaders to try to advance some of the priorities for Glasgow to be a success.  

“As the [British] prime minister has said, we need urgent progress on cash, cars, coal and trees,” British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said. “That means raising the $100 billion to fund adaptation and resilience for climate-vulnerable countries. It means getting ambitious plans from countries who have not set out how they will cut emissions, particularly phasing out coal, and revitalizing and protecting nature.” 

Geopolitical crises  

There will be no shortage of political and humanitarian problems to discuss.  

Conflict and famine in Ethiopia and a military coup in Myanmar were already in the international spotlight this year. Millions of Yemenis are near starving. The war in Syria has dragged on for more than a decade, and neighboring Lebanon is plunging into an economic abyss.   

Haiti was rocked by an earthquake one month ago just weeks after its president was assassinated. Earlier this month, Guinea’s military staged a coup and jailed the president. And not to be ignored, North Korea has resumed test-firing ballistic missiles. 

But in recent weeks, the situation in Afghanistan has seized international attention as the government collapsed, the Taliban swept into power in Kabul, and the United States military departed the country ending its 20-year military presence. 

Chaos ensued as thousands of terrified Afghans who had worked for the U.S. military and other NATO countries or worked in other sensitive positions, sought to leave the country to avoid Taliban reprisals. The situation has been seen as a foreign policy disaster for the Biden administration, which as Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, inherited a withdrawal deadline but no plan from the former Trump administration.  

Now the United Nations finds itself in a difficult situation, trying to assist nearly 18 million Afghans who are in dire need of assistance after years of conflict, drought and now COVID-19.  

“Afghanistan represents an enormous humanitarian challenge for the United Nations, and it’s going to be U.N. agencies responsible for keeping Afghans alive during a period of hunger and political chaos,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group.  

The concern with which wealthy countries view the situation was evident on Monday, when they pledged more than $1.2 billon to provide humanitarian and regional assistance to try to prevent a new refugee crisis.  

Western governments are especially worried that the Taliban will impose repressive restrictions on women and girls, jeopardizing 20 years of hard-won gains.  

“We’re going to hear European leaders in particular talk about the need to protect women’s rights and human rights in Afghanistan,” Gowan said. “There’s not very much the General Assembly can do to force the Taliban to protect those.”  

G-20 foreign ministers will discuss the situation on Wednesday, and it is likely to be a dominant topic in bilateral meetings.  

Diplomats say nations need to coordinate a united approach to how they will deal with the Taliban going forward.   

The foreign ministers of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) are also planning a meeting, and diplomats say Afghanistan will certainly be on the agenda. 

Biden debut

The U.N. secretary-general’s spokesman said Guterres and President Biden will meet in person Monday in New York.   

The U.S. president’s speech always draws a full General Assembly. This year, due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place at the U.N., delegations will be allowed to have only their leader plus three other people seated in the hall.  

Biden will make his debut address to the assembly Tuesday morning as the annual debate gets under way.

“I think Biden will have a message for the leaders, which is that they shouldn’t let China gain too much power in the U.N. system,” said International Crisis Group’s Gowan. “The Biden administration, just like the Trump administration before it, is concerned that the Chinese are gaining influence rapidly in multilateral institutions, and Biden will want to send the message that the U.S. is still the natural leader here.”    

Thomas-Greenfield said the president will deliver his speech in person and then return to Washington where he will continue to participate in U.N. meetings virtually.  

“President Biden will speak to our top priorities: ending the COVID-19 pandemic, combatting the climate crisis and defending human rights, democracy and the international rules-based order,” she said Friday. “All three are challenges that stretch across borders. They involve every single country on earth.” 

Secretary of State Blinken will be in New York Monday through Thursday to engage with international officials. Special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, will also be in New York.  

COVID-19 precautions

The Biden administration, New York City officials and the U.N. are eager to keep this gathering healthy. 

Inside the General Assembly hall, everyone is expected to be vaccinated, although an honor system is in place and delegates will not have to show proof. If they want to sit down and eat in a U.N. cafeteria, they will have to show their vaccination status, as that is required in all city restaurants now.  

The U.N. will also have a reduced number of staff in the building, and the hundreds of foreign and visiting journalists who cover the annual meeting have not been granted access this year.  

The city will be providing a mobile COVID-19 testing unit outside U.N. headquarters all week, where delegates can also get vaccinated with the single-dose Johnson and Johnson shot.  

Thomas-Greenfield said she would be having a COVID-19 test Monday morning before meeting other officials.  

“Stopping the spread of COVID is our top priority, both here next week and everywhere going forward,” she said. 
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The U.N. Security Council extended its political mission in Afghanistan for six months in a unanimous vote Friday. 

In essence, the resolution, which was drafted by Norway and Estonia, gives members time to assess how the Taliban will rule. 

Over the coming months, the resolution will ensure that the U.N. mission can carry on its work in Afghanistan monitoring human rights, protecting children and civilians against abuses, and supporting “the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all levels of decision-making.” 

The resolution “sends a unified message that we stand behind the U.N.’s efforts in Afghanistan going forward,” Norway and Estonia said in a statement to the Security Council. 

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield called the U.N.’s work in Afghanistan important, adding that the U.N. should continue “to serve Afghans and advance their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

When the Taliban swept into power after a chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country last month, they promised to form a more inclusive government, but when they announced an interim government, women and minorities were not included. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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Thousands of Afghans, after undergoing traumatic experiences leaving their home country, are relieved to be safe in the United States. But many find the U.S. immigration system confusing and hard to decipher on their own. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti takes a look at how evacuees are coping with starting the next chapter of their lives in a foreign country.
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Leaders at a meeting of the China- and Russia-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization emphasized Friday the need for engaging with Taliban-led Afghanistan to prevent a looming humanitarian crisis and an economic collapse in the war-torn country.

The SCO summit in Tajikistan came a month after the Islamist Taliban swept back to power in Kabul as the United States-led Western troops withdrew, ending nearly two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.  

China’s President Xi Jinping, speaking via video link to the security bloc, renewed his call for the Taliban to eradicate terrorism, while promising to provide more assistance to the neighboring country and calling on others to do so.

Chinese media quoted Xi as urging the participants “to promote the peaceful transition in Afghanistan, guide it to build an inclusive political structure, adopt prudent and moderate domestic and foreign policies, resolutely fight all forms of terrorism, live in amity with its neighbors.”

China and other neighbors of Afghanistan have been pressing the United States and its allies to supply the war-torn nation with economic and humanitarian aid rather than abandoning it.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin also addressed the SCO summit via video link, stressing the need for working with the Taliban and for world powers to consider unfreezing Afghanistan’s assets kept in foreign banks. 

The U.S. and other Western countries have pledged immediate humanitarian aid of more than $1.2 billion, but they are waiting to see whether the Taliban will uphold human rights, especially those of women, and stem terrorism before diplomatically engaging with the group.  

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have said Afghanistan will not have access to the lender’s resources, halting developmental projects in the country.  

The Taliban announced an all-male 33-member caretaker cabinet last week, which drew strong criticism at home and internationally for not being an inclusive political setup as has been promised by the Islamist movement.  

“For their part, the Taliban must fulfill the pledges made above all for inclusive political structure where all ethnic groups are represented,” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose country shares a long border with Afghanistan, told Friday’s summit.

“This is vital for Afghanistan’s stability. Also, it is important to ensure respect for the rights of all Afghans and ensure that Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terrorists,” emphasized Khan, who personally attended the SCO meeting.

The Pakistani leader said it was “a matter of relief” for neighboring countries, in particular that the power transition in Kabul happened without significant bloodshed, without civil war and without a mass exodus of refugees.

The Russian president echoed Khan’s words while addressing the event.

“Indeed, the change of power took place almost bloodlessly, and this is undoubtedly a positive moment. The Taliban currently controls almost the entire territory of Afghanistan, and the new Afghan authorities should be encouraged to deliver on their own promises to make peace, normalize public life, and ensure security for all,” Russian media quoted Putin as saying.  

The SCO comprises China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan is an observer state, but it was not invited to Friday’s meeting because member nations have not recognized the Taliban government.

“The interim government named by the Taliban falls very short of the mark that was set by the international community for inclusivity, a government that was broadly representative of the Afghan people, not just the Taliban and its constituency, and to include women. It includes many key members who have very challenging track records,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a U.S. Congressional hearing Monday.

Several members in the Taliban cabinet are blacklisted by the United States and the United Nations.  

But the Taliban interim foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, rejected the criticism as politically motivated, claiming they have installed a “fully inclusive government” and promising to uphold human rights of all Afghans and prevent the use of Afghanistan for terrorist attacks against other countries.

On the margins of the SCO meeting, foreign ministers of China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan met for further discussions on the situation in Afghanistan.  

“They stressed the importance of engaging those states, which should bear primary responsibility for post-conflict social-economic reconstruction in Afghanistan and should provide Afghanistan with urgently needed economic, livelihood and humanitarian assistance,” said a post-meeting joint statement.

 
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Hoping to meet green energy goals and cut down on Indian cities’ air pollution while boosting its flagging auto industry, the Indian government Wednesday announced a $3.5 billion push for electric and hydrogen-fuel powered vehicles.

The plan, which includes incentives for automakers to invest in clean technology cars, will allow India to “leapfrog” to environmentally cleaner vehicles, the cabinet said in a statement while announcing the effort.

“It will herald a new age in higher technology, more efficient and green automotive manufacturing,” the statement said.

Clean fuel vehicles so far make up a fraction of the country’s vehicles, despite ambitious goals announced four years ago for a 100% transition to electric cars by 2030.

This move could, however, give India a head start in an industry that is emerging globally by providing an impetus to manufacturers, according to auto analysts.

“The government is looking more serious and its focus is clearly on green energy. That is why the support it is extending is not for the entire auto industry, but only for those who invest in technological advancement in the sector,” said Awanish Chandra, an auto analyst at Mumbai-based wealth equities firm SMIFS Limited.

The push toward electric vehicles will also contribute significantly to the country’s goal of cutting down carbon emissions — India is the world’s third-biggest carbon emitter.

At the same time, its cities have some of the world’s dirtiest air — India is home to 22 out of 30 cites in the world with the worst air pollution, according to a Greenpeace analysis.

Environmental experts have long said the country’s huge transport sector is a major contributor to the hazardous air in a country where a grossly inadequate public transport infrastructure has increased reliance on private vehicles — Delhi’s roads, for example, are crammed with more than 12 million vehicles.

Along with its big push toward solar energy, the latest initiative will help, according to Amit Kumar, a former senior director with The Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi.

“Definitely this is the right direction to go. We have to focus on cutting down vehicle emissions whether with electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles to meet our green energy goals,” he said.

India is on track to achieve its Paris Agreement targets to cut carbon emissions well before the target date of 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier this year.

However, auto analyst Chandra said he does not expect the transition to electric vehicles to happen in a big way for several years. 

“Petrol and diesel cars are here to stay for at least 10 years, but the world is moving towards electric vehicles, so we should not be lagging. The support from the government will incentivize companies to make the investment,” he said.

The government says it expects to generate about $5.8 billion in new investment and create 750,000 jobs in a sector that contributes about $100 billion to the country’s gross domestic product.

There have been reports that electric car pioneer Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. plans to enter India, while domestic manufacturers have also said they plan to make big investments to make the shift to electric cars.

India has emerged as one of the world’s major automobile manufacturing hubs in recent decades but the sector has struggled in recent years as an economy that was faltering even before the pandemic depressed demand.

 
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Afghan women have launched a social media campaign sharing their photos in traditional Afghan dresses to protest what they call the Taliban’s new dress code. Farkhunda Paimani reports.

Producer: Bezhan Hamdard
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Armenia filed a case at the world court asserting that Azerbaijan has violated an international treaty on racial discrimination, the court said Thursday. 

A spokesperson for the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Azerbaijan would defend itself “robustly” and planned to file a countersuit accusing Armenia of the same thing. 

In fighting last September to November, Azeri troops drove ethnic Armenian forces out of swaths of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, before Russia brokered a cease-fire.

In the filing, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of subjecting Armenians to racial discrimination “for decades” in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both states are signatories, the court said. 

Since the November 10 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has “continued to engage in the murder, torture and other abuse of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons,” the court cited the suit as saying. 

“Armenia therefore requests the Court to hold Azerbaijan responsible for its violations … to prevent future harm, and to redress the harm that has already been caused,” it said. 

The Azerbaijan spokesperson said that the country had been compiling evidence of Armenian human rights abuses against Azerbaijanis and that it would file its own suit at the court in “days.” 

The world court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, is the U.N. court for resolving disputes between countries. The court has yet to determine whether it has jurisdiction in this case.
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During their two-decade-long insurgency, the Taliban cast aspersions on democratic elections, describing them as un-Islamic, and frequently attacked Afghan election workers and rallies.

But a top Taliban spokesman now says the group is not ruling out holding elections as it moves to establish a permanent government based on Islamic law, or Shariah.

In an interview with VOA’s Urdu Service, Suhail Shaheen, the top spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Qatar, said the issue would be determined by a future constitution.

“About election or no election, let’s wait,” Shaheen said. “We have a constitution [planned] in the future, so we would have deliberation about that in the future, about when we are drafting the constitution, so that would be seen there at that time, not now.” 

Shaheen’s comments came in response to a question about Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s recent call for elections in Afghanistan to determine the country’s future. Conducting elections has been a huge concern for many ethnic minorities and anti-Taliban groups in the country.

At a Tuesday news conference in Kabul, the Taliban’s new interim foreign minister, Amir Khan Mutaqi, dodged a question about elections, saying foreign countries should not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

Taliban forces seized power on August 15 after then-President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, sparking the collapse of his government and the evacuation of more than 100,000 Afghan civilians by the U.S. and its allies.

Last week, the newly empowered Taliban announced a caretaker government largely made up of hardliners, naming Mohammad Hassan Akhund as interim prime minister. Akhund and several others in the Taliban government are on a U.N. sanctions list.

Conspicuously absent from the government were ethnic minorities and women who served in parliament or held senior government posts under the country’s nascent democracy over the past 20 years.

But the Taliban have stressed that the appointments are not permanent, indicating that women would be allowed to serve, though not in ministerial positions.

“Our leadership had to appoint some ministers in order to start the economic movement in the country and to provide the essential services to the people,” Shaheen said. “But this Cabinet is called a tentative Cabinet, not a full Cabinet or permanent Cabinet.” 

Although the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan said no law would contravene Shariah, the Taliban have said they want to rewrite or amend the charter to bring it more into line with Islamic law.

The Taliban did not hold any elections the last time they ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001.

During their insurgency, they were accused of using violence to disrupt elections, viewing them as a Western tradition at odds with Islam. In 2019, the militants attacked political rallies and other election-related activities, killing or injuring scores of civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.

In March, the Taliban rejected a proposal by Ghani to hold early elections, insisting that he step down as part of a peaceful transfer of power.
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Security forces in Istanbul detain unregistered Afghans as Turkey’s government faces growing public pressure to not accept any more refugees
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From a new rail and road link that gives China overland access for the first time to the Indian Ocean via Myanmar to infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka’s east and north, concerns are running high in India as its rival, China, edges closer to its coast, analysts have told VOA.

While India has long confronted China along their rugged Himalayan borders, the maritime challenge is also growing as relations with its Asian neighbor have worsened.

Last month, Beijing transported a test cargo by road from Myanmar’s Yangon port on the Indian Ocean to the Chinese border province of Yunnan and by rail onto Chengdu in Sichuan province in southwestern China.

As the new trade route opened, China’s special envoy for Asian affairs Sun Guoxiang visited Myanmar for talks with its military rulers, who ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February.

Beijing, which has not condemned the army coup in Myanmar, is pressing ahead with bilateral projects that include a deep seaport in Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu along the Bay of Bengal.

It would be the third Chinese-developed port in India’s vicinity after Gwadar in Pakistan and Hambantota in Sri Lanka.

“Clearly they are coming closer and closer to India and that is extremely worrying given its adversarial, hostile relations with China,” said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, director for the Center for Security, Strategy and Technology at New Delhi’s Observer Research Foundation.

“Although these are civil projects, the overall worry is that these countries are falling more and more into Chinese influence,” he told VOA.

China has been building infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka and Myanmar — countries that provide access to the Indian Ocean, the vital sea lanes that ferry Beijing’s oil imports and carry its exports to the Africa, Middle East and Europe.

In Sri Lanka, India’s latest worries center on the Colombo Port City project being built by a Chinese state-owned firm adjacent to the strategic Colombo Port, just 300 kilometers from India. Those concerns intensified after the island country passed controversial legislation in May that critics say will give China virtual control over the approximately 62-hectare reclaimed land that is to be developed as a special economic zone.

Colombo hopes the Chinese development will turn into a financial hub between Singapore and Dubai, create hundreds of jobs and boost its struggling economy.

Sri Lankan geopolitics and foreign policy analyst Asanga Abeyagoonasekera described it to VOA as a “strategic trap.”

“Once you give these on a 99-year-lease, what kind of hold does the Sri Lankan government maintain? The danger is the that these could easily be turned into Chinese colonies or Chinese zones of activity,” he said.

“The hybrid nature of Chinese projects such as the 5G network is a question everywhere in the world,” he said, noting that there are suspicions of expansion of Chinese projects beyond their initial purpose. And that, he added, “represents a serious security threat.”

A $12 million renewable energy project awarded to a Chinese firm to be built on Sri Lankan islands off the northern Jaffna peninsula that lie barely 50 kilometers from India’s coast earlier this year is also causing concern in New Delhi.

While Beijing’s presence has loomed in big infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka such as the Hambantota port, an airport and highways for years, the Chinese footprint has grown since the return to power of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa – the brothers have long been friendly to China.

“The leaders in Sri Lanka have amplified the pro-China tilt that began during their previous term,” according to Abeyagoonasekera.

Although built as trade routes as part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative, these projects give significant potential military advantages, analysts said.

“It is not simply about protecting their commerce. This is part of China’s broader expansionism and the Chinese vision is of dominating the high seas and being a great maritime power,” Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the School of International Affairs of O.P. Jindal University, said.

Deepening distrust about Beijing in New Delhi following last year’s bruising, nine-month standoff along their Himalayan borders has made India more alert to the maritime threat it faces as it feels increasingly squeezed in the Indian Ocean, analysts say.

It is pushing back by accelerating its naval engagement with other countries also seeking to counter China. Once hesitant, India has now embraced the Quad, the informal alliance of India, the United States, Japan and Australia.

“India will need to step up its own naval capabilities but even if you make the investments today, developing these takes a very long time. So, India is building up its diplomatic muscle by increasing naval partnerships with countries,” Rajagopalan said.

Most recently those efforts were demonstrated during a visit last week to New Delhi by the Australian defense and foreign ministers.

Stating that both countries are working to enhance Australia’s “posture” in the Indian Ocean region, Australian Defense Minister Peter Sutton said that “It is in the sovereign interests of us both to align our strategy, our capability and our resources.”

Since last month, four Indian warships have also been engaged in exercises and port visits with the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia in the Indo-Pacific.

However, analysts say despite efforts, India and its allies like Japan have been less successful in helping countries in the South Asian region develop the infrastructure for which they have turned to China.

“They need to do more on this front,” Chaulia said, adding, “If we wait for another five or 10 years, then China would already be in all the prime spots in this littoral region.” 

 
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India’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved an incentive plan for the automobile sector aimed at boosting production of electric and hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles and promoting the manufacture of drones.

The government will give about $3.5 billion in incentives to auto companies and drone manufacturers over a five-year period, Anurag Thakur, minister of information and broadcasting, told reporters.

“The incentive scheme has been designed to help India become a global player in the automobile sector,” Thakur said, adding it would also boost local manufacturing.

The proposal comes at a time when annual car sales in India have fallen to their lowest in a decade due to the pandemic, which followed an economic slowdown in 2019. Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) make up a fraction of the total.

Several years ago, India was tipped to become the world’s third-largest car market by 2020, after China and the United States, with sales of 5 million a year. Instead, car sales stagnated at around 3 million a year even before the pandemic.

Ford Motor Co. last week joined General Motors and Harley Davidson in retreating from India, where it has accumulated losses of $2 billion. The U.S. automaker said it would stop making cars in India, taking a further $2 billion hit.

The government said in a statement the incentive plan was expected to help attract new investment of about $5.8 billion in the auto sector.

The incentives will range from 8% to 18% of the sales value of the vehicles or components and will be given to companies if they meet certain conditions such as a minimum investment over five years and 10% growth in sales each year.

Carmakers, for instance, would need to invest $272 million over the period, while auto parts companies must invest $34 million, the government said.

The original plan was to spend $8 billion to incentivize auto and auto part makers to build mainly gasoline vehicles and their components for domestic sale and export, with some added benefit for EVs.

However, the scheme’s focus was redrawn to incentivize clean fuel vehicles as Tesla Inc. gears up to enter India.

Auto parts makers will get incentives to produce components for clean cars as well as for investing in advanced technologies like sensors and radars used in connected cars, automatic transmission, cruise control and other electronics.

Sunjay Kapur, president of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), said that with global economies de-risking their supply chains, the scheme will help develop the country into “an attractive alternative source of high-end auto components.”

India sees clean auto technology as central to its strategy to reduce oil dependence and cut debilitating air pollution in its major cities, while also meeting its emissions commitment under the Paris Climate Accord.

Domestic automaker Tata Motors is the largest seller of electric cars in India, with rival Mahindra & Mahindra and motor-bike maker TVS Motor firming up their EV plans. India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, however, has no near-term plan to launch EVs.

Girish Wagh, executive director at Tata Motors, said in a statement the scheme would accelerate “the country’s progress toward green mobility” and help attract foreign investment. 
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With the U.S. out of Afghanistan after 20 years, some experts say China and Pakistan are stepping in to provide both immediate support and the prospect of long-term investment for the Taliban acting government in Kabul. VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine reports on what this could mean for the region and for U.S. security interests.
Producer: Jesse Oni
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The Biden administration began notifying governors and state refugee coordinators across the country Wednesday about how many Afghan evacuees from among the first group of nearly 37,000 arrivals are slated to be resettled in their states.
 
California is projected to take more arrivals than any other — more than 5,200 people, according to State Department data for the Afghan Placement and Assistance program obtained by The Associated Press.
 
Alabama and Mississippi are each slated to welcome 10, according to U.S. officials. Hawaii, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia are not expected to resettle anyone from the first group of evacuees who fled during the final days of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last month.
 
The administration has requested funding from Congress to help resettle 65,000 Afghans in the United States by the end of this month and 95,000 by September 2022. President Joe Biden tapped the former governor of his home state of Delaware, Jack Markell, to temporarily serve as his point person on resettling Afghan evacuees in the United States.
 
States with a historically large number of Afghans who resettled in the U.S. over the last 20 years — including California, Maryland, Texas and Virginia — are again welcoming a disproportionate number of evacuees, according to the data. Many gravitate to northern Virginia, the Maryland suburbs of D.C. and northern California — some of the most expensive housing markets in the country.
 
Many of the new evacuees requested to be resettled in those states because they already have family and close friends living in those states, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the calls to state government officials. Resettlement agencies also have a large presence and capacity in many of those states.
 
The State Department resettled evacuees based on the advice of local affiliates of nine national resettlement agencies the U.S. government is working with, the officials said.
 
The officials said Afghan evacuees are advised that other parts of the country — including areas with plentiful job openings and cheaper housing — could be good places to begin their new lives in the U.S.
 
The Afghan evacuees go through a Department of Homeland Security-coordinated process of security vetting before being admitted. And every evacuee who comes into the United States also goes through health screening. Evacuees who are 12 and older are required to get the COVID-19 vaccination as a term of their humanitarian parolee status after entering the country.
 
Still, there have been unexpected complications.
 
U.S.-bound flights for evacuees who had been staying temporarily in third-country processing sites were halted last week after measles cases were discovered among several Afghans who had recently arrived in the U.S.
 
Some of the recent Afghan arrivals also could face a tough road ahead if Congress doesn’t take action to treat them as refugees arriving in the U.S.
 
The Afghan evacuees are not currently eligible for food stamps, cash assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program for low-income families, Medicaid or other traditional refugee services that are funded through the Health and Human Services Department.
 
Currently, each Afghan evacuee is slated to get a one-time direct payment of $1,225. Biden has called on Congress to take action to ensure that the recent arrivals have access to the same benefits as refugees.
  
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The U.S. peace envoy for Afghanistan says he secured a last-minute deal with the Taliban in mid-August to keep the insurgents outside Kabul while they negotiated a political transition. But, he says, President Ashraf Ghani’s decision to flee the country scuttled that plan.Afghan-born envoy Zalmay Khalilzad made the disclosure in an interview with the Financial Times, saying he had negotiated a two-week grace period hours before the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15. He said Ghani’s escape left a security vacuum in the city, however, which prompted the Islamist group to march into the city that day.Khalilzad explained that the deal would have allowed Ghani to remain in his post until a settlement was reached in Doha on a future government, even as the Taliban stood at Kabul’s gates.FILE – Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. special representative on Afghan reconciliation, speaks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the U.S.-Afghanistan relationship, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 18, 2021.Taliban confirmationA Taliban official Wednesday confirmed details of the understanding they had reached with Khalilzad in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where the insurgents run their political office.“Yes, there was a gentleman word from our side that our forces will not enter Kabul city, and we will talk about a peaceful transfer of power,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told VOA from Doha.Khalilzad told the Financial Times he had no clue that Ghani was intending to flee into exile in the United Arab Emirates.“There were questions of law and order in Kabul after Ghani fled. … The Talibs [then] … say: ‘Are you going to take responsibility for security of Kabul now?’ And then you know what happened, we weren’t going to take responsibility,” the U.S. envoy said.Khalilzad negotiated an agreement with the Taliban in February 2020, paving the way for the United States to bring home all American troops from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of involvement in the Afghan war.FILE- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani makes an address about the latest developments in the country from exile in United Arab Emirates, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video on Aug. 18, 2021.Secretary of State Antony Blinken also has repeatedly stated in recent days he had received assurances from Ghani on the eve of his escape that the Afghan president was on board with Washington’s plan.“What he [Ghani] told me in that conversation the night before he fled is that, as he put it, he was prepared to ‘fight to the death,’ ” Blinken told Afghan-based Tolo News earlier this month.Ghani has issued statements in recent days from the UAE apologizing for “abandoning” Afghans and saying he acted on the advice of the presidential palace security. The former president also dismissed allegations of taking off with tens of millions of stolen dollars.Caretaker governmentThe Taliban announced a caretaker government last week in Afghanistan, 20 years after they were ousted from power by the U.S.-led international military invasion for harboring al-Qaida leaders.The Taliban introduced strict Islamic laws when they were previously in control of the country from 1996 to 2001. A brutal justice system, mistreatment of Afghan minorities, the barring of women from public life and banning of girls from receiving an education marked the Taliban rule at the time, leading to Afghanistan’s global isolation.The U.S. and many other countries now are pressuring the Taliban not to bring back their hardline governance system if they want their country to remain part of the international community and win diplomatic recognition for any Taliban-led government in Kabul.
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Pakistan military officials on Wednesday said at least seven soldiers were killed in a gunfight with militants in a remote district bordering Afghanistan.
 
An army statement said security forces, acting on intelligence, raided a suspected terrorist hideout in South Waziristan and suffered the casualties in the ensuing “intense exchange of fire.”
 
At least five “terrorists” were also killed and a “cordon and search operation” was underway to clear the area of any remaining militants, the statement added.
 
The outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) confirmed the overnight raid of one of its bases in the border district.
 
The militant group, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed the firefight had killed nine Pakistani soldiers and injured several others while all TTP fighters managed to escape the area. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the group’s claims, which are often exaggerated.
 
The Pakistani Taliban is designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States.
 
Pakistan says the TTP uses sanctuaries in Afghanistan to orchestrate cross-border terrorist attacks.
 
The country’s military in recent years has conducted major offensives, backed by air power, in a bid to secure districts along the Afghan border, which have historically served as strongholds for local and foreign militant groups.
 
The security operations have forced TTP fighters to flee into Afghanistan and organize deadly attacks against Pakistan from that side of the border.Last week, the TTP claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Pakistan that killed at least three people and left 20 wounded. That latest attack came a month after the Afghan Taliban, to whom the TTP has vowed allegiance, seized power in Afghanistan by toppling the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.
 
Top Pakistani security officials say Islamabad is in contact with the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, pressing the Islamist group to prevent TTP members from using Afghan soil to attack Pakistan.
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The European Union’s chief executive called on member nations to develop its defense capabilities without U.S. support, an appeal that came after the Taliban’s recent seizure of Afghanistan.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s remarks came a month after the Afghan army’s swift collapse and the messy evacuation of thousands of people fleeing the country after the Taliban’s seizure of Kabul.“Europe can and clearly should be able and willing to do more on its own,” von der Leyen said during her annual state of the union speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “What has held us back until now is not just shortfalls of capacity, it is a lack of political will,” said von der Leyen, a former German defense minister whose country is among the most hesitant EU member countries to send troops into combat around the world.She called on the EU to create a “defense union,” a development that would complement the bloc’s traditional soft power approach.The EU president proposed tax incentives to encourage the development and sale of weapons within the EU, improving intelligence-sharing programs and bolstering defenses against cyberattacks. The proposal to establish a 5,000-member force was first raised in May during a review of the bloc’s overall strategy. EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell said at the meeting he hoped a plan would be finalized by November.The EU currently has a system of combat troops to deploy to areas of unrest, but they have never been used. Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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The United States says it will not lift existing sanctions on the Taliban, but it will ensure lifesaving humanitarian aid to vulnerable Afghans amid what the United Nations describes as “a looming crisis” in the country.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged to continue humanitarian aid to the Afghan people through United Nations agencies and nongovernmental organizations, a day after the United States said it would provide nearly $64 million in new humanitarian assistance.  The top U.S. diplomat, during testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, faced another round of tough questioning from lawmakers over last month’s withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. He testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee the day before. During the 3½-hour hearing Tuesday, Blinken said the additional funding will ”meet critical health and nutrition needs, address the protection concerns of women, children, and minorities to help more children — including girls — go back to school.”  Blinken also told senators that he would name a senior State Department official to focus on support for Afghan women, girls and minorities. FILE – Afghan women’s rights defenders and civil activists protest to call on the Taliban for the preservation of their achievements and education, in front of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 3, 2021.The FILE – U.S. soldier holds a “Gate Closed” sign as hundreds of people gather near an evacuation checkpoint on the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 26, 2021.Taliban insurgents took over the country in mid-August as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled to exile in the United Arab Emirates. The United States evacuated 124,000 people — most of them Afghans, and including more than 6,000 Americans — from the Kabul airport, most of them during a chaotic withdrawal in the last two weeks of August, leaving behind about 100 Americans.  Some Americans have subsequently been able to leave the country through overland exits or on a handful of flights with the Taliban’s acquiescence. But Blinken said that as of the end of last week, about 100 Americans still remain. He also mentioned the journalists who had been left behind in Afghanistan following the chaotic evacuation. The ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Representative Michael McCaul, said it was a “disgrace” that the U.S. government had failed to evacuate U.S. Agency for Global Media journalists from Afghanistan before officially ending military operations in the country on August 31. USAGM is the government-funded agency that oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which between them have an estimated 550 Afghan employees and their families still in the country. Under questioning Tuesday, Blinken responded “yes” when asked by Senator Chris Coons whether evacuating the USAGM employees is a U.S. priority. He also affirmed that the State Department is committed to evacuating employees of other U.S.-funded organizations and “our partners” from the American University in Afghanistan. He did not give further details. Opposition Republican lawmakers and some Democratic colleagues of Biden have criticized the president’s handling of the withdrawal of troops, American citizens and the thousands of Afghans who worked for U.S. forces as interpreters and advisers during the war.  The criticism of Biden’s withdrawal was especially pronounced after 13 U.S. service members died in a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport in the waning days of the exit. Islamic State-Khorasan, an Afghan offshoot of the terrorist group operating in the Middle East, claimed responsibility.  National polls of U.S. voters show wide support for Biden’s decision to end what he has called a “forever war” in Afghanistan, but not for the way the withdrawal unfolded.  VOA’s Wayne Lee and Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.
 
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There are growing indications that supporters of both the al-Qaida and Islamic State terror groups have their sights set on Afghanistan, emboldened by the Taliban takeover of the country late last month. Initial reports over the past week or so have highlighted an uptick in chatter among terrorists, expressing a desire to go to Afghanistan, but a top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday that some already have begun the journey. “We are already beginning to see some of the indications of some potential movement of al-Qaida to Afghanistan,” Central Intelligence Agency Deputy Director David Cohen said during a panel discussion at an intelligence summit outside of Washington. FILE – Then-U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen speaks during a press conference in Rome, October 3, 2012.”But it’s early days,” he said, warning that al-Qaida could reconstitute in as little as a year. “We will obviously keep a very close eye on that.” U.S. intelligence officials declined to share specifics on the identities of the al-Qaida members making their way back to Afghanistan, or about where they were coming from, though a recent video posted online showed Amin al-Haq, who served with al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden during the battle of Tora Bora, returning to his native Nangarhar province. There also have been lingering doubts from other intelligence agencies that some key al-Qaida leaders currently in Iran, like Saif al-Adel, the group’s second-in-command, will head back to Afghanistan given they have stronger connections elsewhere.US Warns Iran Fueling Potential al-Qaida ResurgenceSecretary of State Mike Pompeo called on U.S. allies Tuesday to help fight the new axis of terror, calling it a ‘massive force for evil’Still, the CIA warning follows concerns from international counterterrorism officials and analysts about Afghanistan reemerging as a terrorist safe haven.Would-be Foreign Fighters Dreaming of AfghanistanOfficials, analysts point to terrorist ‘chatter’ about heading to the place where the US, West was defeated”There’s no doubt that the chatter is about this,” Edmund Fitton-Brown, coordinator of the United Nations team that monitors the Islamic State group, al-Qaida and the Taliban, told an online forum Friday. “There is definitely a very strong sort of sense of enthusiasm out there for Afghanistan,” he added. Analysts, like Charles Lister at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, also have raised concerns, noting growing interest in Afghanistan from supporters of al-Qaida’s main rival, the Islamic State (IS). When asked about the threat, U.S. officials who spoke to VOA last week on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, admitted there was reason for concern. And even before the U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence agencies were warning of a “trickle” of incoming foreign fighters. Complicating matters for the U.S. and its allies is the newfound lack of visibility into developments on the ground due to the withdrawal. “Our current capability in Afghanistan is not what it was six months ago or a year ago,” said the CIA’s Cohen, though he cautioned it was not an unsurmountable obstacle. “We with the agency and with our partners have experience in collecting intelligence in in areas that are non-permissive and doing so without a physical presence on the ground,” he said. “We will be using many of those same techniques in Afghanistan as we work from over-the-horizon principally, although I think we will also look for ways to work from within the horizon to the extent that is possible.” So far, the intelligence suggests both al-Qaida and IS-Khorasan are well on their way to reestablishing their capabilities. “The current assessment, probably conservatively, is one to two years for al-Qaida to build some capability to at least threaten the homeland,” said Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Scott Berrier. Other Western counterterrorism officials and aid workers in the region have warned that while al-Qaida is likely to keep a low profile for the foreseeable future, IS-Khorasan has for months been building up its infrastructure in Afghanistan and in neighboring countries. Al-Qaida, IS Set to Reconstitute in Afghanistan, BeyondFear of terror revival grows as US troop withdraw 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to continue humanitarian aid to the Afghan people through United Nations agencies and nongovernment organizations, a day after the United States said it would provide nearly $64 million in new humanitarian assistance.The top U.S. diplomat faced another round of tough questioning Tuesday from lawmakers over last month’s withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan during testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Blinken said the additional funding will “meet critical health and nutrition needs, address the protection concerns of women, children, and minorities, to help more children – including girls – go back to school.”The U.S. assistance, which would bypass the Taliban and distribute directly to Afghans, means the U.S. has provided nearly $330 million in assistance to the Afghan people this fiscal year.The U.N. is appealing for $606 million for the remainder of this year for food, health care, shelter and other vital needs to assist 11 million people. As this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) officially opens Tuesday, whether or not the Taliban leadership will represent Afghanistan at this year’s international gathering also remains to be seen.Senate committee chair Bob Menendez said the idea that the Taliban would abide by its commitments and the U.S. would expect a different result “is somewhat absurd.” He asked other countries not to recognize the Taliban bilaterally.   “We know now that the Taliban had no intention of pursuing a political path,” said Senator Menendez. “They had no intention of breaking ties with al-Qaida. And it clearly had no intention of allowing women to have their rightful seat at the table and to participate fully in society.”Senator James Risch of Idaho, the Senate panel’s lead Republican, said “any country that offered support to the Taliban in the recent offensive should risk a strategic downgrade in their relationship with the United States.”In testimony Monday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Blinken said he had not spoken personally to members of the Taliban leadership.  He added on Tuesday that the legitimacy and support the Taliban seeks from the international community will depend on its conduct.The chief U.S. diplomat also staunchly defended the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan after 20 years, during questioning from some lawmakers.“Conversely, there is nothing that strategic competitors like China and Russia – or adversaries like Iran and North Korea – would have liked more than for the United States to re-up a 20-year war and remain bogged down in Afghanistan for another decade,” the secretary of state said Tuesday.Taliban insurgents took over the country in mid-August as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled to exile in the United Arab Emirates. The United States evacuated 124,000 people, most of them Afghans, along with about 5,500 Americans, from the Kabul airport in the last days of August, leaving behind about 100 Americans.FILE – Evacuees wait to board a C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2021. (Credit: U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Nicholas Guevara/Handout)Some Americans have subsequently been able to leave the country, through overland exits or on a handful of flights, with the Taliban’s acquiescence. But Blinken said that as of the end of last week, about 100 Americans still remain.In Monday’s five-hour testimony, the secretary of state said U.S. officials did not foresee the downfall of the Afghan government so quickly, even as the Taliban advanced throughout the country.“Even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that government forces in Kabul would collapse while U.S. forces remained,” he said.Even though the main evacuation has ended, the top U.S. diplomat said, “We’re continuing our relentless efforts to help any remaining Americans, as well as Afghans and citizens of allied and partner nations, leave Afghanistan if they choose.”“As we’ve done throughout our history, Americans are now welcoming families from Afghanistan into our communities and helping them resettle as they start their new lives,” Blinken said. “That’s something to be proud of, too.”   Opposition Republican lawmakers and some Democratic colleagues of Biden have criticized the president’s handling of the withdrawal of troops, American citizens and thousands of Afghans who worked for U.S. forces as interpreters and advisers during the war.Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at the perimeter of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 16, 2021.The House committee chairman, Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York, said, “Disengaging from Afghanistan was never going to be easy.”But he added, “This war should have ended 19 years ago,” after the United States successfully ousted the Taliban from power then and overran training grounds for al-Qaida terrorists who attacked the U.S. in 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, the House panel’s lead Republican, characterized the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan “an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions” and “a betrayal” and noted that many interim officials now controlling Afghanistan were once terrorists the United States held at its Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.Republican Congressman Steve Chabot of Ohio said Afghanistan was “once again a haven for terrorists.”“Yes, the majority of Americans wanted to leave Afghanistan, but not like this,” Chabot said, adding that the administration’s actions were “a disgrace.”South Carolina’s Joe Wilson was one of a handful of Republicans who demanded Blinken’s resignation. Another Republican member of the panel, Florida’s Bryan Mast, even went so far as to accuse Blinken of lying when he alleged the administration had manipulated intelligence, which Blinken strongly denied.   One Democratic congressman, Brad Sherman of California, cast blame on former President Donald Trump for agreeing last year to a May 1, 2021, deadline for ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan without sufficient planning. Sherman asked Blinken whether the previous U.S. administration left details about how to carry out the withdrawal.“We inherited a deadline,” Blinken replied. “We did not inherit a plan” for a withdrawal.Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois placed the blame for the chaotic withdrawal on both Trump and Biden. “The Trump administration failed in the setup and the Biden administration failed in the execution,” Kinzinger said.The criticism of Biden’s withdrawal was especially pronounced after 13 U.S. service members died in a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport in the waning days of the exit. Islamic State-Khorasan, an Afghan offshoot of the terrorist group operating in the Middle East, claimed responsibility.National polls of U.S. voters show wide support for Biden’s decision to end what he has called a “forever war” in Afghanistan, but not the way the withdrawal unfolded.(Ken Bredemeier, Richard Green  contributed to this story.)
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Turkey is calling for collective international action to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The call comes as Turkey, already hosting the largest number of refugees globally, warns it cannot take any more.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, addressing a high-level United Nations meeting on Afghanistan Monday, warned that with millions of Afghans displaced and facing a humanitarian crisis, now is the time for collective action.A humanitarian and security crisis in Afghanistan would have direct implications across the globe. So, we should take the collective action now.  Turkish leaders fear an Afghan exodus through its territory as refugees flee Afghanistan and head for Europe.  Last week, the UN High Commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, paid a four-day visit to Turkey and praised the country for receiving nearly four million refugees who fled the Syrian civil war. Under a deal with the European Union, Turkey gets billions of dollars in aid to host the Syrians.  Some EU leaders are already suggesting the agreement be extended to include Afghans, claiming refugees should be hosted in locations closest to their places of origin.  But Turkey’s main opposition CHP party is strongly critical of the government’s refugee policy.”It is a record of serious mismanagement. It was simply a transactional relationship between Turkey and the European Union,” said Unal Cevikoz is a CHP parliamentary deputy. “And they simply wanted to stop the flow of refugees by giving some financial assistance to Turkey. A majority of the Turkish population thinks that burden-sharing is not fairly distributed in the international community, and we are also scared the same mismanagement will continue in the case of Afghanistan.”Senior EU officials visited Ankara last week to talk about the refugee deal with Turkey. Ankara insists it cannot take any more refugees and calls for the EU to share the burden.  Some analysts say Ankara needs the money from Europe, but international relations expert Sol Ozel says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will need more than monetary incentives to convince his people.  “He will have to show to the country something more than just money, and that is visa liberalization, which I don’t [think] the Europeans are capable of delivering on,” said Ozel.Visa-free travel for Turks in the European Union was part of the original Syrian refugee deal, but until now has been blocked by some EU members.  With Erdogan’s ratings languishing at record lows in opinion polls and the same polls indicating strong public opposition to receiving Afghan refugees, analysts predict any new EU refugee deal with Turkey will be difficult and fraught with political risk for the Turkish leader.
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged nations on Monday to show their solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and contribute hundreds of millions of dollars for an urgent and expansive humanitarian response in the country.“The people of Afghanistan need a lifeline,” Guterres told nations gathered in Geneva.“This conference is not simply about what we will give to the people of Afghanistan, it is about what we owe,” he added.  The U.N. is appealing for $606 million for the remainder of this year for food, health care, shelter and other vital needs to assist 11 million people.Initial contributions were generous and exceeded $1 billion, but the U.N. chief said that a full tally of what pledges are specifically for the flash appeal and what is designated for other purposes was yet to come.Guterres said that in addition to immediate funding, humanitarians need safe and unimpeded access across the country. He also appealed for the safeguarding of the rights of women and girls and the protection of people’s livelihoods in order to prevent a total collapse of the economy.Marching to the Brink of StarvationAfghanistan was already in a dire humanitarian situation before the Taliban swept into the capital, Kabul, on August 15, and took control of the government. Years of conflict, severe drought and COVID-19 have pushed the country to the brink.  The poverty rate is spiraling, public services are close to collapse, and the U.N. says many people could run out of food by the end of this month as prices climb and salaries and savings dry up. With winter approaching, humanitarians urgently need to preposition food and other supplies in areas where access will become difficult due to bad weather.“Fourteen million people — one out of three — are marching to the brink of starvation,” World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley told the conference. “They don’t know where their next meal is.”He said that an additional 14 million people are a step behind them “knocking on that same door.”“If we are not very careful, we could truly, truly enter into the abyss into catastrophic conditions  — worse than what we see now,” Beasley warned.The situation of children is especially grim.“Nearly 10 million girls and boys depend on humanitarian assistance just to survive,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore told the meeting. “At least one million children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year and could die without treatment.”The United Nations announced that it is releasing $20 million from its own emergency fund.The U.N. also fears a growing displacement crisis in the country. There are already 3.5 million internally displaced persons  — including a half a million people who have moved from their homes in recent months. Neighbors fear an exodus out of Afghanistan. The U.N. high commissioner for refugees landed in Kabul on Monday to assess the situation.“I fear that the collapse of services and the economy — that has already been described as a risk — coupled perhaps with increased violence and tension  could lead to a much greater displacement — internal and external — and this may happen very soon,” Filippo Grandi told the conference via a video link.This morning I have landed in Kabul. During my visit I will assess the country’s acute humanitarian needs and the situation of 3.5 million displaced Afghans.I am grateful to all UN, NGO and other humanitarian workers who are working hard on the ground to meet those needs. pic.twitter.com/8i8FDuVHoa— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) September 13, 2021Despite an uncertain operating environment, humanitarian assistance is continuing and is being scaled up. On Sunday, the essential U.N.-run humanitarian air service, which moves aid workers and cargo — resumed flights from neighboring Islamabad, Pakistan into Kabul. Flights into Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat have been running since the end of August.Taliban assurancesU.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths traveled to Kabul last week and met with Taliban leadership. He said they pledged to cooperate to ensure aid deliveries and protect humanitarian workers. On Monday, he read from a letter they subsequently sent him, laying out their assurances in writing.“We assure you that we will remove previous and current impediments in front of your assistance and all related projects working under supervision of U.N. and other international organizations in Afghanistan, and all partners will be fully allowed to help the vulnerable people in Afghanistan in the current situation,” Griffiths quoted from the letter.The letter included guarantees from the Taliban, reiterating their public commitments on the rights of women and minorities.Griffiths said the Taliban asked for international support in reconstruction, countering narcotics, economic assistance, and in helping Afghans safely return home.Some donors expressed skepticism about dealing with the new authorities in Kabul.“We will not give aid directly to the Taliban, and therefore, it is going to be absolutely crucial that aid agencies are going to be able to operate securely and freely in Afghanistan,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the meeting.
Members of the Taliban’s Haqqani network are designated as terrorists on U.N. sanctions lists, worrying humanitarians that many in the international community may not be eager to be perceived as dealing with or supporting the new government.“The lives of millions of Afghan civilians are at stake, so any sanctions or counter-terrorism measures applied by member states must always exclude, exempt impartial humanitarian activities from their scope,” Griffiths reminded participants.
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A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) commercial flight from Islamabad has touched down in Kabul on Monday, a spokesman for the airline said. The flight of the Pakistani state airline will carry people from Kabul to Islamabad holding valid travel documents – though it was not immediately clear if it was classified as a regular commercial flight or a special commercial charter. This is the first PIA flight to touch down in Kabul after the end of the foreign troop withdrawal and large-scale evacuation of people from Afghanistan earlier this Month. 
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Some Afghan pilots who have been held in Uzbekistan for about a month began leaving Sunday for the United Arab Emirate, Reuters reported.A U.S.-trained Afghan pilot told Reuters that one group would depart Uzbekistan on Sunday for the UAE under a U.S.-brokered deal, despite Taliban demands that they return to Afghanistan.The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that pilots would go to the U.S. military base in Doha, Qatar, before being relocated to third countries.It was not immediately clear what would happen to the 46 aircraft in Uzbekistan, which included A-29 light attack planes and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, according to Reuters.Hours before the fall of Kabul on August 15, a total of 585 Afghan military personnel and their families flew to Uzbekistan aboard 22 military aircraft and 24 helicopters. They were intercepted by Uzbek military aircraft and forced to land at an international airport in Termez, just across the border from Afghanistan.The Taliban pressured the Uzbek government to hand over the aircraft and the pilots, current and former U.S. officials told Reuters. The Taliban seized aircraft including helicopters and drones late last month and have demanded that any vehicles taken before they declared their takeover of Kabul be returned.Uzbekistan, which supported the Taliban before last month’s takeover, had urged the United States to take action because they feared increased tensions with their neighbors around the pilots.Neither the U.S. State Department, the United Nations nor the Taliban have publicly commented on Sunday’s reported development. Pilots at the Uzbek camp near the city of Termez described tense situations, restrictions on movement and a lack of medicine and food, prompting outrage from international rights groups.  Rights Groups Fear for Safety of Defecting Afghan Pilots Hundreds who flew to Uzbekistan as Kabul fell are waiting to learn if they will be handed back to the Taliban About a week ago, according to Reuters, U.S. officials arrived in the camp to screen the Afghans using biometrics since many fled with just what they wore. John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan, praised the evacuation, telling Reuters, “I hope we have plans under way to make sure the aircraft they got out get back to the United States and certainly do not return to the Taliban.”
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