Pakistan Ratifies WTO Pact on Border Trade; Dostum in Faryab to Mobilize Forces; Protesters Block Indian Highway

Pakistan

Bonus Read: “The Ties that Bind,” by Shamila N. Chaudhary (South Asia)

Pakistan ratifies WTO pact on border trade

Pakistan ratified the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s approval before he left for an official visit to the United States on Tuesday (Dawn). The agreement helps facilitate border trade, and Pakistan is the 51st state to ratify it. India has not ratified the agreement continuing to bargain over protections for its agricultural sector.

Pakistan refuses to play in Asia Cup for the Blind in India

On Wednesday, Pakistan Blind Cricket Council announced that it would not participate in the Asia Cup for the Blind to be held in India on Jan. 17-24 as a result of recent attacks by the far-right Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena in India (ET, Dawn). The council’s general manager of cricket operations, Maher M. Yousaf Haroon, stated: “Shiv Sena’s attack on Indian cricket’s headquarters in Mumbai, cancellation of [the Pakistan Cricket Board] chairman’s meeting with [the Board of Control for Cricket in India] president, threats to Aleem Dar from officiating matches, and [the International Cricket Council] decision to send him back compelled us to consider the matter of Pakistan’s team security seriously.”

— David Sterman

Afghanistan

Afghan First Vice-President in Faryab to mobilize security forces

Afghanistan’s First Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum travelled to Ghormach district of northern Faryab province on Tuesday to coordinate with security forces and mobilize them against insurgents (Pajhwok). The district was overrun three days ago, with armed forces retreating to hills surrounding the district center. The Taliban captured District Police Chief Abdul Majeed Gilimbafi in the attack, along with 17 of his men, but as many as 22 police officers were killed in the initial ambush, according to officials (NYT). Local officials fear that two besieged security bases in Ghormach could be overrun, but Mohammad Reza Rezai, a spokesman for the Afghan military in the north, said the army units are equipped to repel the attacks. The fate of the Ghormach district police chief and his 17 men remain unclear.

U.S. imposes sanctions on Taliban leader

The United States imposed sanctions on senior Taliban leader and fundraiser Torek Agha on Tuesday following the Treasury Department’s decision to name him a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” (Reuters, Pajhwok). Adam Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence explained, “Torek Agha, a longstanding Taliban member, has been central to spearheading brutal military attacks and raising millions of dollars to support the Taliban’s ruthless acts of terrorism.” According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Agha serves on the Taliban’s Quetta Shura, a leadership council that oversees Taliban activities in southern and western Afghanistan (Treasury). Agha has allocated funds for Taliban operations for a number of years and has been involved in authorizing the assassination of several Afghan government officials.

— Alyssa Sims

India

Bonus Read: “Why are Indian Sikhs angry?” (BBC).

Protesters block highway over child killings

Protesters have blocked a major highway in the northern state of Haryana, about 25 miles from the Indian capital, the BBC reported on Wednesday (BBC). A group of men have blocked the road in protest over the killing of a toddler and a nine-month old infant on Tuesday. The two children, who belonged to a lower-caste family, died when their home was set on fire, allegedly by upper-caste men. Their parents were also injured, with their mother reportedly still in critical condition. A local police commissioner told the press that the attack seems to be a part of a long-running feud between the area’s lower-caste Dalit and upper-caste Rajput communities. The caste system is illegal in India, but discrimination based on caste remains widespread.

Uranium in transit from Canada

India’s first uranium shipment from Canada in about four decades has been shipped, reported Bloomberg on Tuesday (Bloomberg). The twenty-container shipment of nuclear fuel from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corp. is set to arrive in December, according to unnamed sources familiar with the shipment. Cameco signed a deal with India in April, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Canada, to sell the country 7.1 million pounds of uranium concentrate. India is planning on increasing its nuclear power generation capacity by 74 percent by 2019, as it seeks to satisfy its rapidly growing energy needs.

Delhi court finds Uber driver guilty of rape

On Tuesday, a court in Delhi found an Uber taxi driver, Shiv Kumar Yadav, guilty of raping a 26-year-old female passenger in December last year (Guardian, BBC). Delhi government banned the service in response to reports of the incident, arguing that the service does not do enough background checks on their drivers. In this instance Uber also settled outside the court when the victim brought charges against the firm in a U.S. court. Sexual violence in the Indian capital has sparked national outrage on a number of occasions in the past couple of years and induced stronger laws but many say tougher laws have failed to bring down the number of rape cases.

— Udit Banerjea and Shuja Malik

— Edited by Peter Bergen

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