Asia-Pacific

Elections Pose Yet Another Challenge To Pakistan

By Sajjad Ashraf*

ISLAMABAD (IDN-INPS) – Though some legal challenges on constituency delimitation remain, Pakistan is well on its way to a general election. Caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk took the oath of office at the beginning of June, setting the stage for elections to take place on July 25, 2018.

Punjab province is the main electoral battleground where the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has held power for 30 years, more or less. It is being challenged by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). A substantial win in Punjab is necessary for any party to form government at the national level.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 July 2018

Photo: Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Source: East Asia Forum.

Mahathir Appears To Be Setting The Stage For A New Malaysia

By Shankaran Nambiar*

KUALA LUMPUR (IDN-INPS) – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad appears to be setting the tone for a revision of Malaysia’s geo-economic policy, if the bilateral meetings with his Indian and Japanese counterparts in the early days of his administration are anything to go by.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Mahathir not too long after the latter assumed office. The meeting was significant in so far as Modi is keen on ‘Acting East’ and forging stronger ties with ASEAN. With Mahathir at the helm, Modi may well have an active and influential partner in the region. India is likely to be an economic powerhouse in the coming decade or two, and any long-term economic architecture in the region will have to take this reality into account.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 July 2018

Photo: 2017-18 protests in Tehran. Credit: Fars News Agency | Wikimedia Commons.

Iran Sandwiched Between 'Regime Change' Threat and Menacing Discontent Within

By Mortezagholi Raissi

BERLIN (IDN) – Plagued by domestic turmoil and the Trump Administration threatening regime change, not only the government in Iran but the entire theocratic regime too are faced with a far from envious situation, according to political observers.

What started off as protests spurred on by the deteriorating economic conditions in Iran and the inflation in prices of basic necessities beginning of 2017 partly turned into "riots". These prompted Iran government spokesmen Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht declare that the government recognizes the people's right to protest within the framework of citizens' rights and the Constitution. However "rioters and protestors are not the same".

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 09 July 2018

Photo: India makes voluntary contribution for the second consecutive year to UN Tax Trust Fund. 03 July 2018. Credit: UN DESA

India Supports Sustainable Development Through UN Tax Fund

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – India has provided a voluntary contribution of US $100,000 to encourage the participation of developing countries in the work of a key UN committee on tax matters tasked with finding ways of mobilizing resources for sustainable development.

This is the second year India has contributed to the UN Tax Trust Fund and is still the only country that has funded so far. The Fund aims to support the work of the UN Tax Committee.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 05 July 2018

Photo: A weaver. Credit: Toung Eh Synuanchanh

Lao Women Village Weavers Pursue Moderate Livelihoods

By Toung Eh Synuanchanh

This article is the 24th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BUNGSANTHUENG, Laos (IDN) – The consciousness of finite resource and traditional wisdom are inspiring a group of women in the Southeast Asian country to pursue business practices based on the Buddhist concept of Right Livelihood, the art of responsible and sustainable living.

The women weavers of Ban Bungsanthueng, Nongbok District, Khammouane Province of Laos – about 400 km south of the capital Vientiane – have formed a women handicraft group that draws upon longstanding traditional and cultural knowledge of sard-phue (reed mat) weaving.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 03 July 2018

Photo: Police and stone-throwing demonstrators clash on a street in Srinagar, Kashmir. July 2016. Credit: VOA News | Wikimedia Commons.

UN Report Bashes India and Pakistan for Multiple Human Rights Violations in Kashmir

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – In its first ever report on the human rights situation in Indian- and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir, the UN has listed human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control, and highlighted a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces.

"There is an urgent need to address past and ongoing rights violations and abuses and deliver justice for all people in Kashmir, who for seven decades have suffered a conflict that has claimed or ruined numerous lives," says the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner in a press release issued on June 14.

: Jaya Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 28 June 2018

Photo: Migrant workers in Kerala. Courtesy of firstpost.com

The South Indian State of Kerala Shows the Way By Embracing Migrant Workers

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – By any yardstick of human and social development, Kerala in South India is ahead of most Indian states. It provides social security to all sections of employees and workers through schemes that are superior to what obtains in most other states. Its labour policies are progressive. Minimum wages, especially, for unorganised, and even unskilled workers are higher – perhaps the highest, than in any other state.

Healthcare and education are good, and there is no dearth of opportunities, especially, for low-end work, which pays well and is a sustainable long-term proposition. Yet, the cost of living is not high.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 24 June 2018

Photo: On June 20, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs China.

SPECIAL REPORT: Ten Years After the Abolition of Monarchy, Communists Blaze a New Trail in Nepal

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – The coming together of Nepal’s two communist parties – Unified Marxist-Leninist and Maoist Centre – which are already in office as the Left Alliance is a landmark development signifying a decisive political turn in the Himalayan country. The unified Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is South Asia’s largest communist party and one of the three ruling in Asia – the other two being bigger ones in China and Vietnam.

Unlike the ruling parties of China and Vietnam, the NCP has the unique distinction of rising to office through the parliamentary process by proving its superior credentials as people’s representatives in a free and fair election, which saw discredited mainstream liberal democratic parties bite the dust.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 June 2018

Photo: Kim and Trump before the start of their one-on-one meeting. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Grand Peace with DPRK would be a Victory for the UN Charter

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Give the man a break. Donald Trump found out in Singapore that, as Churchill said, “Jaw-Jaw is better than War-War”. If war can be avoided by a warm, long, very private chat without advisers, with effusive body gestures and promises of a world stage when his opponent, Kim Jong Un, is invited to the White House, then Trump has showed the way.

It was learning the hard way because a few months ago when Trump threatened to incinerate North Korea he met counter threats from North Korea that could have led to the deaths of 30 million people in South Korea alone, never mind what numbers might die in an attack on American troops stationed in Japan and Guam naval base.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 19 June 2018

Photo: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) with Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli (left) at Janakpur, Nepal on May 11, 2018. Credit: pmindia.gov.in

SPECIAL REPORT: India-Nepal Ties on Uncharted Terrain

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – As Nepalese Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli embarks on a six-day visit to China on June 19, his effort to assign the northern neighbour a larger role in Nepal’s infrastructure development would be watched with immense interest in New Delhi and several world capitals. The visit, although it follows Oli’s customary first prime ministerial visit to India after assuming office, comes at a time when India-Nepal relations will never be the same again. It may have changed for all time after the way India has dealt with Nepal under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal under Prime Minister Oli has responded.