India Overtakes China in U.S. Direct Investment; 84 Pakistanis to Be Deported from Russia; Amnesty International Says 30 Afghans Refused Asylum in Turkey

India

India overtakes China in U.S. direct investment

On Wednesday, data released by the U.S. Treasury Department indicated that as of December 2015, 1.8 percent of U.S. foreign equity holdings are in India, increasing from $7 billion in September 2013 to $12 billion in December 2015 (ET). U.S. interests in China stand at 1.6 percent of total American foreign equity holdings, and during the same period direct American investment in Chinese equities has declined from $12.8 billion to $11.1 billion. The average U.S. investor’s equity allocation to emerging markets is also substantially lower than in December 2009.

Indians celebrate festival of colors

The festival of colors, Holi, is being celebrated in most parts of India on Thursday (BBC). The holiday marks the arrival of spring and is officially celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Phalguna, the twelfth month of the year in the Hindu calendar. The celebrations often involve people throwing colored powder at each other as a part of the festivities, in accordance with popular tradition.

Uber sues Ola for fake accounts

According to local media reports on Wednesday, Uber Technologies Inc. in India filed a lawsuit against rival taxi service OlaCabs (commonly known as Ola) this month in New Delhi High Court, saying the competitor is creating fake accounts and making false bookings to interfere with its business (Reuters). Uber claims Ola created more than 90,000 Uber accounts using fake phone numbers, through which it then made over 400,000 false bookings that were ultimately cancelled. Ola has denied the accusations.

Pakistan

84 Pakistanis to be deported from Russia

Pakistan’s Foreign Office stated on Wednesday that 84 Pakistani nationals currently detained at the Moscow airport will likely be deported by Thursday evening (Dawn). Yesterday, Russia deported 48 Pakistanis after a similar airport detention who were part of a group that was held after landing in the country for a business trip, but did not give any reason for detaining them, according to Pakistani Foreign Affairs spokesperson Nafees Zakaria. “The Foreign office is in touch with Russian embassy in Islamabad on the matter,” Zakaria stated.

Dissident Taliban deputy denies leader detained in Pakistan

Mullah Mohammad Rasoul, the leader of a breakaway faction of the Afghan Taliban, is leading his fighters in Afghanistan, his deputy said on Tuesday, contradicting three senior Taliban members who spoke to Reuters and two unnamed Taliban leaders quoted in Pakistan’s Express Tribune on Monday (NYT, Reuters). “Mullah Rasoul is in Afghanistan and leading his fighters,” said Rasoul’s deputy, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, dismissing the reports as “propaganda of our enemies.” Two senior Pakistani security officials also denied Rasoul was in Pakistani custody. “Our last information is that he fled in-fighting in Afghanistan,” according to one unnamed official.

Tainted liquor kills 40 in Pakistan

At least 40 people, primarily from Pakistan’s Hindu Kohli minority community, have died and dozens were injured after consuming tainted liquor days ahead of a major festival, police said on Wednesday (NYT). Deaths from home-brewed liquor have occurred periodically in Pakistan, where it is illegal for Muslims to buy or consume alcohol. Minorities need permits to buy alcohol in restricted quantities.

Afghanistan

Bonus Read: “China: Peacemaker in South Asia?” by Najma Minhas (Foreign Policy)

Amnesty International says 30 Afghans refused asylum in Turkey

On Wednesday, Amnesty International accused Turkey of forcibly returning approximately 30 asylum seekers to Afghanistan (Reuters). Last week, the European Union and Turkey signed a controversial migration agreement that was intended to halt illegal migration flows to Europe in return for financial compensation to Turkey. “Turkey’s forcible return of around 30 Afghan asylum seekers just hours after the European Union-Turkey refugee deal came into force shows that implementing the deal would risk refugees’ lives from the word go,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Director for Europe and Central Asia.

–Alyssa Sims and Shuja Malik

Edited by Peter Bergen

INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images