INDIA AND CHINA SEEK MORE COOPERATION
During a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICs summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend a summit of the APEC trade group this fall. India has never attended an APEC summit, but has long expressed interest in membership. However, the two sides were unable to reach agreement on which nation should host the BRICS new development bank headquarters. President Xi also called for negotiations over the disputed Himalayan border with “a positive forward-looking attitude” to “find fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solutions”. Modi responded by seeking stronger trade relations, especially in Indian infrastructure projects. (Reuters July, 15, 2014)
TALIBAN ABANDONS KEY STRONGHOLD
As the Pakistani military continues its long-awaited military offensive into North Waziristan, its greatest challenge may come in the form of booby traps and explosives left behind by the Taliban, who have almost completely abandoned their most prominent stronghold in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. So far the Pakistani army has uncovered explosive factories littered with huge piles of metal cylinders and other containers used to make bombs. The army has also discovered a sophisticated network of tunnels used to smuggle militants and weapons, exposing just how tight a hold the Taliban had over the tribal agency. In an area nicknamed the Cannibal Market, the army discovered a wooden platform that served as the Taliban’s favorite site for public be-headings. Pakistan is now demanding a "fixed annual sum" from the U.S. to maintain 150,000 troops in North Waziristan through 2017. The U.S. has given Pakistan $28 billion in aid over the past 12 years. (Voice of America July 11, 2014; Bloomberg July 15, 2014)
US WON’T SELL PAKISTAN LNG
The United States has refused to enter into a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) supply deal with Pakistan, and instead has suggested Islamabad seeks an agreement with Qatar for gas imports. Islamabad is crying foul as LNG imports from Qatar would cost the Pakistani government a great deal more. The US has also withheld support for an Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline that Islamabad has been pushing for the better part of a decade. Washington has supported a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline as an alternative, but turmoil in Afghanistan has put plans on hold. (Natural Gas Asia July 10, 2014)
INDIA, NEPAL WORK TOWARDS RESOLVING BORDER ISSUES
India and Nepal have set up a boundary working group (BWG) to renovate
damaged pillars along their shared and porous border and work to resolve other problems like security and illegal immigration. Officials from Nepal and India will each make field visits to the border and have agreed to follow strip maps produced during a 2007 joint survey in which 182 maps were prepared. The two sides are likely to announce more details during the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s to Nepal on July 25. (DNA India, July 15, 2014)
AFGHANISTAN AVERTS ELECTORAL DISASTER
Earlier this month Afghanistan was on the brink of collapse when supporters of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah – who has charged that the recent election was marred with rampant voter fraud -- seemed poised to create a shadow government and seize key government installations by force. A trip to Afghanistan by Secretary of State John Kerry was able to temporarily diffuse the crisis by shepherding an accord to arbitrate the dispute with a full audit of all votes cast and a commitment by both sides to respect the results of the audit. Abdullah’s opponent and seeming winner of the controversial ballot, agreed to the terms of the deal, which will also fundamentally alter the structure of the Afghan government, creating a powerful post of prime minister, which the loser of the election is likely to occupy. (The Washington Post, July 14, 2014)