COUNTRY REVIEW

South Asia

Afghanistan

• Reports indicate Pak military threatening to cancel a $400 million COIN training programme; Afghan, Canadian and NATO forces launch major operations near Kandahar; 5 coalition soldiers killed in roadside bombs

Pakistan

• Defence budget debated in the Parliament; Stalemate between PPP and PML-N over judiciary continues; Taliban threatens to scrap the peace deal in Swat; Bush backs Karzai’s threat to pursue Taliban inside Pakistan

bangladesh

• EC announces dates for local polls, AL and BNP term it conspiratorial and farcical; UK, WB, ADB announce aid worth millions of dollars

Sri Lanka

• Bill on human rights in Sri Lanka introduced; Lanka ready to revive talks with LTTE; Colombo welcomes Canada’s WTM ban

Maldives

• Constitutional Draft Committee rejects proposal to extend date of presidential elections

East Asia

Myanmar

• 13 pro-democracy activists detained, UNHCR urges authorities not to make politically-motivated arrests

West Asia

Iraq

• Apprehensions about security pact aired by Iraqi political leaders; Bush: US respects Iraq’s sovereignty; Crackdown in Amara launched; Deadly suicide attack in Baghdad

Iran

• Larijani criticizes government’s economic policies; Government bans Tehran Emrouz

US ELECTION REVIEW

• Obama trumps his proposals for the American economy in Michigan; Obama criticizes ‘Absentee fathers’ phenomenon among black families; Reports highlight Obama’s links with ethanol lobby

PAKISTAN-OCUPIED KASHMIR REVIEW

• Annual Budget presented in the POK Legislative Assembly; BNF accuses Pakistan government of ‘double standards’; glacial outburst cause agricultural damage; APHC calls Pakistan to renew its Kashmir policy

INTERNAL SECURITY REVIEW

Jammu and Kashmir

• V.P. Malik: Kargil war happened due to lack of ‘visualisation of security threats’; 5 soldiers gunned down in Kishtwar district

Maosit Insurgency

• Three SPOs killed in Chhattisgarh; Parihar: Naxal activity spreading in Goa

NorthEast Insurgency

• Report: Militants extort roughly Rs. 160 crore annually in Manipur; MEA’s branch secretariat in Northeast inaugurated

Other Development

• George C. Francis Committee report: ISI working actively in Kashmir, Northeast

• PM to IFS Probationers: External support to terrorists and to non-state actors being provided

ENERGY SECURITY REVIEW

Fule Price Rise

• Truckers strike in Europe continues unabated, hits France; China increases fuel prices, US welcomes decision

Exploration and Production

• Bush urges congress to end federal ban on offshore drilling; Iraqi government in no-bid contract negotiations with foreign oil companies; Militants mount their first attack on an offshore facility in Nigeria

GeoPlitics/h3

• Japan PM: Tokyo-Beijing nearing an agreement on the contentious East China sea dispute