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Biz community set to host global tycoons at APEC summit in S. Korea

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Biz community set to host global tycoons at APEC summit in S. Korea

Seoul, Sep 21 (IANS) The government and the South Korean business community are making a final push to invite global tycoons to business events to be held on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, industry sources here said on Sunday.

Co-hosted by the industry ministry and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the APEC CEO Summit will be held from October 28 to 31 in Gyeongju, about 275 kilometers southeast of Seoul, bringing together 1,700 participants from APEC member economies and global companies, reports Yonhap news agency.

Market watchers are paying close attention to the possible attendance of Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of global chip giant Nvidia Corp., after sources said he reacted positively to an invitation delivered by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also heads the KCCI.

Another industry source said Huang is expected to hold a special session on Oct. 31 when a separate event on the artificial intelligence industry will be held.

If Huang visits South Korea next month, he could also meet APEC member leaders and possibly visit the production lines of South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc.

Nvidia, a leading player in the AI chip industry, has been emerging as a key partner for major countries and businesses amid the AI boom.

Other business leaders who may visit South Korea for the APEC-related events include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company operates one of the world’s most popular generative AI models, ChatGPT, and launched its Seoul office this month.

OpenAI Korea is the firm’s 12th office worldwide and its third in Asia.

South Korea is also making efforts to host Chinese business leaders, including Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu, as Beijing is set to host the APEC meeting next year, according to the report.

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ISI-backed Kashmir Study Group shifts terror strategy to south India amid intensified security in north New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has expanded its tactical focus toward south India on the recommendation of the Kashmir Study Group (KSG), seeking to exploit pre-existing radicalised networks in states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu as security grids tighten across north India, including Jammu and Kashmir, intelligence officials have revealed. The ISI’s internal study group KSG was set up after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and is now led by high-ranking military officers in the ranks of a Brigadier and a Colonel. Initially tasked with advising the Pakistani establishment on Jammu and Kashmir, its brief is said to have expanded over the past two to three years to cover other parts of India. In its latest assessment, the KSG is understood to have advised the ISI to explore recruiting radicalised individuals in southern states. An official said the proposed shift followed increased security pressure in Jammu and Kashmir and disruption of networks in northern India. Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir remain on high alert, making it harder for terror groups to operate, the official said. “The KSG had earlier recommended proxy organisations, including The Resistance Front (TRF), the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), Kashmir Tigers and Allah Tigers. These groups were created to provide both the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with a degree of deniability,” the official said. In the north, after the Red Fort car bomb blast in Delhi last year, the ISI, on the advice of the KSG, recruited Shahzad Bhatti to carry out recruitments through social media. This network, which was busted recently, recruited across North India. Those recruited were assigned tasks including drug smuggling, installing surveillance cameras at sensitive locations, and carrying out targeted attacks, the official said. The recruits were paid to smuggle drugs, install surveillance cameras at sensitive and crowded locations, and also carry out hit jobs. Another official said that with these modules failing, the KSG has advised the ISI to shift its focus to south India. “Shifting attention to the south could divert the focus of security agencies from Jammu and Kashmir and northern India. It would also give the ISI time to review and reorganise its operations in those regions,” the official said. An Intelligence Bureau official said Al Qaeda and the Islamic State had, over the years, sought to expand their influence in parts of southern India, particularly Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been hot hubs for these terror outfits. The radicalisation is so deep in south India that the KSG felt that it would be fit to tap these individuals and get them to carry out terror acts for the ISI,” the official said. The ISI has agents in several countries and has relied on overseas contacts for recruitment in India, officials alleged. They said Pakistan-based handlers sought to avoid direct contact with recruits, making it harder for investigators to establish links to the Pakistani establishment. Officials said such precautions had become more important after Operation Sindoor, when India declared that future acts of terrorism would be treated as acts of war, not merely as cross-border terrorism. They said this had increased pressure on Pakistan-based networks to conceal their involvement. The KSG, during recent interactions with the top brass of the ISI, has advised tapping into the radicalised youth in the Southern states. There is not much for the ISI agents to do where radicalisation is concerned, as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State have already undertaken that exercise. This means the ISI could tap into the already existing pool of talent and then pick them up for subversive activities, officials say. The very fact that this pool from south India has exposure to radical Islamic ideologies in West Asia makes them easy prey for the ISI’s recruiters. This change in strategy is not only a stop-gap arrangement until the ISI recalibrates in north India and Jammu and Kashmir. This is also a part of the strategy whereby the Pakistan spy agency taps into radicalised individuals across the country in a bid to run a pan-India operation. Officials explain that those radicalised by the Islamic State or Al Qaeda do not have an exclusive affiliation. These persons have been radicalised by violent ideology and not based on a particular group. The idea of both these groups was to create a completely radicalised society, with violent Jihad being the primary goal. Al Qaeda or the Islamic State would not necessarily oppose the ISI approaching this pool of individuals, as their objective is the destruction of India and they would welcome an ISI intervention in it, another official said.
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India hosts maiden BIMSTEC maritime security exercise in Andaman and Nicobar Islands New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) India is hosting the maiden BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise in Sri Vijaya Puram, the capital of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to strengthen maritime cooperation, enhance operational coordination and interoperability among member countries, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday. The exercise, which commenced on Friday and will continue until November 3, is among the key initiatives announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand last year. It features three days of Tabletop Exercises followed by a two-day Harbour Phase, with ships from BIMSTEC member countries participating. In a post on X, the MEA said, “The exercise translates the shared vision of BIMSTEC leaders into action, reinforcing maritime cooperation, enhancing operational coordination and interoperability, and contributing towards a safe, secure and stable maritime environment in the Bay of Bengal.” According to Andaman and Nicobar Command, the maiden BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise was inaugurated at Sri Vijaya Puram on Friday by Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command. The ceremony was attended by Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, National Maritime Security Coordinator, along with senior delegations from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. “Anchored in the Delhi Declaration, the exercise marks a significant step towards translating shared maritime security commitments into coordinated action at sea. It aims to enhance interoperability, strengthen information sharing and promote collective responses to maritime threats and transnational challenges, including terrorism,” Andaman & Nicobar Command posted on X on Saturday. The exercise aims to enhance maritime domain awareness (MDA), build operational coordination across the Bay of Bengal, strengthen regional security cooperation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and responses to cross-border maritime crimes as well as marine pollution due to oil and hazardous material spills. BIMSTEC (the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) is a regional organisation comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Over the years, BIMSTEC has emerged as a vibrant and dynamic regional organisation. Member states share the vision of a free, peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indian Ocean Region (IOR). –IANS scor/sd/
October 31, 2026
China’s cyber espionage becomes harder to contain due to AI-enabled scale, speed New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) China-linked cyber operations, particularly by state-aligned hacking groups, are becoming harder to contain as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation allow attackers to conduct credential attacks and access attempts at unprecedented speed and scale, a new report has said. The report from Colombo-based publication Asian News Post also pointed to a pattern of attack that can create risks across a much broader network of organisations unlike traditional attacks that targeted a single organisation. The report mentioned the 2026 breach of US software provider ConnectWise– a trusted technology supplier done by a China state-aligned group tracked using an AI-enabled penetration-testing framework that automated parts of its campaign. The campaign targeted organisations across the defence, energy, finance, government and technology sectors creating concerns of access that persisted even after the initial breach was contained. ConnectWise’s software has trusted connections to other organisations, using which the attackers could reach multiple customers without breaking into each organisation independently. The publication alleged that Chinese state-linked cyber actors repeatedly target suppliers, service providers on which many organisations depend while their intended victims could be government communications, political dissidents, critical infrastructure and private companies. It cites previous campaigns including Salt Typhoon, which US authorities said compromised telecommunications networks. “The campaign also extended beyond the United States, prompting warnings about the security of global telecommunications infrastructure. Telecommunications networks are particularly valuable because they carry enormous amounts of information about how people communicate,” the report noted. Even without intercepting every conversation, the campaign can gain access to call records and related data to reveal parties in communication and their location. “In March 2025, the US Justice Department charged 10 Chinese nationals in connection with hacking activities conducted through i-Soon, a China-based cybersecurity company,” the report said. The indictment said the company collaborated with Chinese public security and state security agencies from 2016-2023 to compromise email accounts, mobile phones, servers and website
October 31, 2026
Renewed Bangladesh-Pakistan relations face hard economic realities: Report New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) As Bangladesh and Pakistan deepen engagement after years of limited contact, questions are emerging over what tangible benefits Dhaka stands to gain from the renewed relationship particularly amid a persistent trade imbalance and unresolved historical issues, a report has said. As per analysis by Daily Waadaa, recent months have seen increased exchanges between the two countries. Pakistan’s national carrier-linked connectivity has expanded, ships from Karachi are regularly arriving at Chattogram, scholarship programmes have been announced and official, private-sector delegations have travelled in both directions, it added. However, trade figures underscore a stark imbalance. The report also highlighted that Pakistan’s exports to Bangladesh stood at $67.2 million in fiscal year 2025–26, which reflects an approximately 11-to-1 trade ratio in favour of Pakistan based on State Bank of Pakistan data (compared to $71.6 million out in the preceding year). Much of Pakistan’s exports to Bangladesh comprise cotton and textile raw materials that have become more competitive due to the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee, it added. Bangladesh has repeatedly sought tariff concessions for jute and jute products, a sector in which it enjoys a dominant supplier position. While Pakistan imports nearly all of its raw jute and jute yarn from Bangladesh, significantly higher duties are imposed on value-added jute products, limiting Bangladeshi access to the market. Industry representatives say the tariff structure has contributed to a sharp decline in Bangladesh’s jute earnings from Pakistan in recent years. The report also noted that Pakistan has publicly discussed raising exports to Bangladesh substantially, while no comparable target has been articulated for Bangladeshi exports to Pakistan. While Bangladesh performs strongly on several international digital indicators, Pakistan has made notable progress in connecting financial institutions, digital wallets and government services through shared platforms. According to the report, such institutional and technological cooperation may ultimately offer greater value than trade alone. However, it cautions that Dhaka will need to balance those potential benefits against unresolved historical disputes, market access concerns and the domestic political sensitivities that continue to shape relations between the two countries. –IANS ag/
October 31, 2026
Nepal PM Balendra Shah’s expected India visit offers chance to reshape bilateral ties Kathmandu/New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s expected visit to India in the coming weeks could offer an opportunity for the two countries to establish a new bilateral framework, a report said. It noted that rather than treating it as another high-level interaction or a symbolic celebration of friendship, both sides should consider a phased five-year agenda built around six key priorities. These included Himalayan disaster resilience; secure and humane border governance; youth skills, employment and educational exchanges; digital and financial connectivity; trade and transit facilitation; and faster implementation of existing agreements. “The next chapter in India-Nepal relations should be built around a more practical question: can the two countries create institutions capable of protecting their citizens from insecurity, disasters, economic shocks and the pressures of a rapidly changing region? That question is particularly relevant as Nepal’s Prime Minister is expected to visit India in the coming weeks,” a report in India Narrative detailed. “The visit would follow recent engagements involving Nepal’s Home Minister and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal’s emphasis on making bilateral economic relations more ambitious and implementation-oriented. The timing offers both countries an opportunity for a relationship facing new challenges,” it added. India and Nepal are often regarded as close neighbours due to their shared geography, cultural traditions, religious ties and strong people-to-people connections. However, the defining aspect of their relationship today extends beyond these historical and cultural bonds to the everyday interdependence between the two countries, the report mentioned. “People cross the border for employment, education, healthcare, trade and family obligations. Nepal depends significantly on access to Indian transport networks, markets and ports. India, in turn, benefits from economic links with Nepal, hydropower potential, regional connectivity and a stable Himalayan neighbourhood,” it stated. The report noted that Sudhakar Dalela’s appointment as India’s next Ambassador to Nepal is particularly significant, as he brings with him valuable diplomatic experience, having previously served as India’s envoy to Bhutan. “His Bhutan experience could be particularly useful in Nepal, although the two relationships are distinct and should not be treated as identical. Bhutan and Nepal have different political systems, economic structures, historical experiences and foreign-policy priorities. Yet Dalela’s work in Bhutan would have exposed him to several issues that are also relevant to India-Nepal relations: Himalayan geography, hydropower, environmental vulnerability, connectivity, development partnerships and the sensitivities of relations between a large neighbouring state and a smaller Himalayan country,” it mentioned. According to the report, the traditional vocabulary used to describe India-Nepal relations — friendship, special ties, misunderstandings and interference — is no longer sufficient. The relationship, it said, needs a new framework centred on resilience, co-production, transparency and shared public goods. “India and Nepal do not need to rediscover their historical closeness. They need to modernise the institutions that govern their interdependence. The success of the next phase will be determined by- whether a trader crosses the border more efficiently, whether a flood warning reaches a vulnerable village in time, whether electricity projects are delivered, and whether young people find more opportunities on both sides,” India Narrative mentioned. –IANS scor/as
October 31, 2026
More pacts than results: Pakistan’s expanding defence partnerships under scrutiny Jerusalem, Oct 31 (IANS) Pakistan’s efforts to establish a central role in an emerging network of defence partnerships among Muslim-majority nations, stretching from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia, have brought its strategic ambitions under scrutiny, a report has stated. It noted that Islamabad faces questions over how it will accommodate competing ideological influences, navigate the conflicting interests of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and sustain its expanding commitments with limited economic, industrial and military resources. “Pakistan has discovered a new enthusiasm for defence alliances. On October 21, Islamabad joined Turkey, Qatar and Indonesia in signing the Badr Memorandum of Understanding in Doha, an agreement intended to strengthen military production, technological cooperation, training and defence industrial capabilities. The announcement follows the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed in August between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which established a considerably more ambitious framework for mutual military assistance,” Sergio Restelli, an Italian political advisor, author and geopolitical expert, wrote in ‘The Times of Israel’. According to Restelli, the primary concern is not that defence ties inevitably lead to ideological alignment, but that an expanding web of military partnerships could open the door to political influence, institutional infiltration and the gradual legitimisation of actors whose agendas may undermine regional stability. “The distinction between legitimate defence industrial cooperation and political alignment must therefore remain central to any assessment of the Badr agreement,” he stated. Highlighting the more immediate nature of the challenge, Restelli noted that Pakistan is seeking to strengthen its defence ties with Qatar while positioning itself as a key pillar of the Saudi-led security framework established under the Mecca agreement. “Saudi Arabia and Qatar have a long history of strategic rivalry. The 2017 Gulf crisis, when Riyadh and its allies imposed a blockade on Doha, exposed profound disagreements over political Islam, relations with Iran and the regional role of the Muslim Brotherhood. Although the Al-Ula reconciliation of 2021 restored diplomatic relations, it did not eliminate the underlying differences in their foreign policy outlooks,” the expert mentioned. “For Pakistan, this creates an obvious contradiction. The Mecca agreement is intended to establish a credible framework of collective deterrence. Its provisions contemplate military assistance in the event of an attack on a member, although the nature and extent of that assistance remain subject to national decisions. Yet Islamabad is simultaneously strengthening another defence arrangement with Qatar, whose strategic calculations have not always coincided with those of Riyadh,” he added. Pakistan is seeking to position itself at the crossroads of all these interests while portraying the resulting network of partnerships as evidence of its growing strategic importance. However, alliances are not accomplishments in themselves; their significance depends on the security they provide, the threats they deter and the capabilities they help develop, Restelli argued. “For now, Islamabad has considerably more agreements to display than results to demonstrate. And in its eagerness to appear indispensable to everyone, Pakistan may be stretching itself too thin to be genuinely indispensable to anyone,” he noted. –IANS scor/as
October 31, 2026

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ISI-backed Kashmir Study Group shifts terror strategy to south India amid intensified security in north New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has expanded its tactical focus toward south India on the recommendation of the Kashmir Study Group (KSG), seeking to exploit pre-existing radicalised networks in states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu as security grids tighten across north India, including Jammu and Kashmir, intelligence officials have revealed. The ISI’s internal study group KSG was set up after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and is now led by high-ranking military officers in the ranks of a Brigadier and a Colonel. Initially tasked with advising the Pakistani establishment on Jammu and Kashmir, its brief is said to have expanded over the past two to three years to cover other parts of India. In its latest assessment, the KSG is understood to have advised the ISI to explore recruiting radicalised individuals in southern states. An official said the proposed shift followed increased security pressure in Jammu and Kashmir and disruption of networks in northern India. Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir remain on high alert, making it harder for terror groups to operate, the official said. “The KSG had earlier recommended proxy organisations, including The Resistance Front (TRF), the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), Kashmir Tigers and Allah Tigers. These groups were created to provide both the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with a degree of deniability,” the official said. In the north, after the Red Fort car bomb blast in Delhi last year, the ISI, on the advice of the KSG, recruited Shahzad Bhatti to carry out recruitments through social media. This network, which was busted recently, recruited across North India. Those recruited were assigned tasks including drug smuggling, installing surveillance cameras at sensitive locations, and carrying out targeted attacks, the official said. The recruits were paid to smuggle drugs, install surveillance cameras at sensitive and crowded locations, and also carry out hit jobs. Another official said that with these modules failing, the KSG has advised the ISI to shift its focus to south India. “Shifting attention to the south could divert the focus of security agencies from Jammu and Kashmir and northern India. It would also give the ISI time to review and reorganise its operations in those regions,” the official said. An Intelligence Bureau official said Al Qaeda and the Islamic State had, over the years, sought to expand their influence in parts of southern India, particularly Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been hot hubs for these terror outfits. The radicalisation is so deep in south India that the KSG felt that it would be fit to tap these individuals and get them to carry out terror acts for the ISI,” the official said. The ISI has agents in several countries and has relied on overseas contacts for recruitment in India, officials alleged. They said Pakistan-based handlers sought to avoid direct contact with recruits, making it harder for investigators to establish links to the Pakistani establishment. Officials said such precautions had become more important after Operation Sindoor, when India declared that future acts of terrorism would be treated as acts of war, not merely as cross-border terrorism. They said this had increased pressure on Pakistan-based networks to conceal their involvement. The KSG, during recent interactions with the top brass of the ISI, has advised tapping into the radicalised youth in the Southern states. There is not much for the ISI agents to do where radicalisation is concerned, as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State have already undertaken that exercise. This means the ISI could tap into the already existing pool of talent and then pick them up for subversive activities, officials say. The very fact that this pool from south India has exposure to radical Islamic ideologies in West Asia makes them easy prey for the ISI’s recruiters. This change in strategy is not only a stop-gap arrangement until the ISI recalibrates in north India and Jammu and Kashmir. This is also a part of the strategy whereby the Pakistan spy agency taps into radicalised individuals across the country in a bid to run a pan-India operation. Officials explain that those radicalised by the Islamic State or Al Qaeda do not have an exclusive affiliation. These persons have been radicalised by violent ideology and not based on a particular group. The idea of both these groups was to create a completely radicalised society, with violent Jihad being the primary goal. Al Qaeda or the Islamic State would not necessarily oppose the ISI approaching this pool of individuals, as their objective is the destruction of India and they would welcome an ISI intervention in it, another official said.
India hosts maiden BIMSTEC maritime security exercise in Andaman and Nicobar Islands New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) India is hosting the maiden BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise in Sri Vijaya Puram, the capital of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to strengthen maritime cooperation, enhance operational coordination and interoperability among member countries, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday. The exercise, which commenced on Friday and will continue until November 3, is among the key initiatives announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand last year. It features three days of Tabletop Exercises followed by a two-day Harbour Phase, with ships from BIMSTEC member countries participating. In a post on X, the MEA said, “The exercise translates the shared vision of BIMSTEC leaders into action, reinforcing maritime cooperation, enhancing operational coordination and interoperability, and contributing towards a safe, secure and stable maritime environment in the Bay of Bengal.” According to Andaman and Nicobar Command, the maiden BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise was inaugurated at Sri Vijaya Puram on Friday by Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command. The ceremony was attended by Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, National Maritime Security Coordinator, along with senior delegations from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. “Anchored in the Delhi Declaration, the exercise marks a significant step towards translating shared maritime security commitments into coordinated action at sea. It aims to enhance interoperability, strengthen information sharing and promote collective responses to maritime threats and transnational challenges, including terrorism,” Andaman & Nicobar Command posted on X on Saturday. The exercise aims to enhance maritime domain awareness (MDA), build operational coordination across the Bay of Bengal, strengthen regional security cooperation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and responses to cross-border maritime crimes as well as marine pollution due to oil and hazardous material spills. BIMSTEC (the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) is a regional organisation comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Over the years, BIMSTEC has emerged as a vibrant and dynamic regional organisation. Member states share the vision of a free, peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indian Ocean Region (IOR). –IANS scor/sd/
,
China’s cyber espionage becomes harder to contain due to AI-enabled scale, speed New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) China-linked cyber operations, particularly by state-aligned hacking groups, are becoming harder to contain as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation allow attackers to conduct credential attacks and access attempts at unprecedented speed and scale, a new report has said. The report from Colombo-based publication Asian News Post also pointed to a pattern of attack that can create risks across a much broader network of organisations unlike traditional attacks that targeted a single organisation. The report mentioned the 2026 breach of US software provider ConnectWise– a trusted technology supplier done by a China state-aligned group tracked using an AI-enabled penetration-testing framework that automated parts of its campaign. The campaign targeted organisations across the defence, energy, finance, government and technology sectors creating concerns of access that persisted even after the initial breach was contained. ConnectWise’s software has trusted connections to other organisations, using which the attackers could reach multiple customers without breaking into each organisation independently. The publication alleged that Chinese state-linked cyber actors repeatedly target suppliers, service providers on which many organisations depend while their intended victims could be government communications, political dissidents, critical infrastructure and private companies. It cites previous campaigns including Salt Typhoon, which US authorities said compromised telecommunications networks. “The campaign also extended beyond the United States, prompting warnings about the security of global telecommunications infrastructure. Telecommunications networks are particularly valuable because they carry enormous amounts of information about how people communicate,” the report noted. Even without intercepting every conversation, the campaign can gain access to call records and related data to reveal parties in communication and their location. “In March 2025, the US Justice Department charged 10 Chinese nationals in connection with hacking activities conducted through i-Soon, a China-based cybersecurity company,” the report said. The indictment said the company collaborated with Chinese public security and state security agencies from 2016-2023 to compromise email accounts, mobile phones, servers and website
Renewed Bangladesh-Pakistan relations face hard economic realities: Report New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) As Bangladesh and Pakistan deepen engagement after years of limited contact, questions are emerging over what tangible benefits Dhaka stands to gain from the renewed relationship particularly amid a persistent trade imbalance and unresolved historical issues, a report has said. As per analysis by Daily Waadaa, recent months have seen increased exchanges between the two countries. Pakistan’s national carrier-linked connectivity has expanded, ships from Karachi are regularly arriving at Chattogram, scholarship programmes have been announced and official, private-sector delegations have travelled in both directions, it added. However, trade figures underscore a stark imbalance. The report also highlighted that Pakistan’s exports to Bangladesh stood at $67.2 million in fiscal year 2025–26, which reflects an approximately 11-to-1 trade ratio in favour of Pakistan based on State Bank of Pakistan data (compared to $71.6 million out in the preceding year). Much of Pakistan’s exports to Bangladesh comprise cotton and textile raw materials that have become more competitive due to the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee, it added. Bangladesh has repeatedly sought tariff concessions for jute and jute products, a sector in which it enjoys a dominant supplier position. While Pakistan imports nearly all of its raw jute and jute yarn from Bangladesh, significantly higher duties are imposed on value-added jute products, limiting Bangladeshi access to the market. Industry representatives say the tariff structure has contributed to a sharp decline in Bangladesh’s jute earnings from Pakistan in recent years. The report also noted that Pakistan has publicly discussed raising exports to Bangladesh substantially, while no comparable target has been articulated for Bangladeshi exports to Pakistan. While Bangladesh performs strongly on several international digital indicators, Pakistan has made notable progress in connecting financial institutions, digital wallets and government services through shared platforms. According to the report, such institutional and technological cooperation may ultimately offer greater value than trade alone. However, it cautions that Dhaka will need to balance those potential benefits against unresolved historical disputes, market access concerns and the domestic political sensitivities that continue to shape relations between the two countries. –IANS ag/
Nepal PM Balendra Shah’s expected India visit offers chance to reshape bilateral ties Kathmandu/New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s expected visit to India in the coming weeks could offer an opportunity for the two countries to establish a new bilateral framework, a report said. It noted that rather than treating it as another high-level interaction or a symbolic celebration of friendship, both sides should consider a phased five-year agenda built around six key priorities. These included Himalayan disaster resilience; secure and humane border governance; youth skills, employment and educational exchanges; digital and financial connectivity; trade and transit facilitation; and faster implementation of existing agreements. “The next chapter in India-Nepal relations should be built around a more practical question: can the two countries create institutions capable of protecting their citizens from insecurity, disasters, economic shocks and the pressures of a rapidly changing region? That question is particularly relevant as Nepal’s Prime Minister is expected to visit India in the coming weeks,” a report in India Narrative detailed. “The visit would follow recent engagements involving Nepal’s Home Minister and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal’s emphasis on making bilateral economic relations more ambitious and implementation-oriented. The timing offers both countries an opportunity for a relationship facing new challenges,” it added. India and Nepal are often regarded as close neighbours due to their shared geography, cultural traditions, religious ties and strong people-to-people connections. However, the defining aspect of their relationship today extends beyond these historical and cultural bonds to the everyday interdependence between the two countries, the report mentioned. “People cross the border for employment, education, healthcare, trade and family obligations. Nepal depends significantly on access to Indian transport networks, markets and ports. India, in turn, benefits from economic links with Nepal, hydropower potential, regional connectivity and a stable Himalayan neighbourhood,” it stated. The report noted that Sudhakar Dalela’s appointment as India’s next Ambassador to Nepal is particularly significant, as he brings with him valuable diplomatic experience, having previously served as India’s envoy to Bhutan. “His Bhutan experience could be particularly useful in Nepal, although the two relationships are distinct and should not be treated as identical. Bhutan and Nepal have different political systems, economic structures, historical experiences and foreign-policy priorities. Yet Dalela’s work in Bhutan would have exposed him to several issues that are also relevant to India-Nepal relations: Himalayan geography, hydropower, environmental vulnerability, connectivity, development partnerships and the sensitivities of relations between a large neighbouring state and a smaller Himalayan country,” it mentioned. According to the report, the traditional vocabulary used to describe India-Nepal relations — friendship, special ties, misunderstandings and interference — is no longer sufficient. The relationship, it said, needs a new framework centred on resilience, co-production, transparency and shared public goods. “India and Nepal do not need to rediscover their historical closeness. They need to modernise the institutions that govern their interdependence. The success of the next phase will be determined by- whether a trader crosses the border more efficiently, whether a flood warning reaches a vulnerable village in time, whether electricity projects are delivered, and whether young people find more opportunities on both sides,” India Narrative mentioned. –IANS scor/as
More pacts than results: Pakistan’s expanding defence partnerships under scrutiny Jerusalem, Oct 31 (IANS) Pakistan’s efforts to establish a central role in an emerging network of defence partnerships among Muslim-majority nations, stretching from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia, have brought its strategic ambitions under scrutiny, a report has stated. It noted that Islamabad faces questions over how it will accommodate competing ideological influences, navigate the conflicting interests of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and sustain its expanding commitments with limited economic, industrial and military resources. “Pakistan has discovered a new enthusiasm for defence alliances. On October 21, Islamabad joined Turkey, Qatar and Indonesia in signing the Badr Memorandum of Understanding in Doha, an agreement intended to strengthen military production, technological cooperation, training and defence industrial capabilities. The announcement follows the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed in August between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which established a considerably more ambitious framework for mutual military assistance,” Sergio Restelli, an Italian political advisor, author and geopolitical expert, wrote in ‘The Times of Israel’. According to Restelli, the primary concern is not that defence ties inevitably lead to ideological alignment, but that an expanding web of military partnerships could open the door to political influence, institutional infiltration and the gradual legitimisation of actors whose agendas may undermine regional stability. “The distinction between legitimate defence industrial cooperation and political alignment must therefore remain central to any assessment of the Badr agreement,” he stated. Highlighting the more immediate nature of the challenge, Restelli noted that Pakistan is seeking to strengthen its defence ties with Qatar while positioning itself as a key pillar of the Saudi-led security framework established under the Mecca agreement. “Saudi Arabia and Qatar have a long history of strategic rivalry. The 2017 Gulf crisis, when Riyadh and its allies imposed a blockade on Doha, exposed profound disagreements over political Islam, relations with Iran and the regional role of the Muslim Brotherhood. Although the Al-Ula reconciliation of 2021 restored diplomatic relations, it did not eliminate the underlying differences in their foreign policy outlooks,” the expert mentioned. “For Pakistan, this creates an obvious contradiction. The Mecca agreement is intended to establish a credible framework of collective deterrence. Its provisions contemplate military assistance in the event of an attack on a member, although the nature and extent of that assistance remain subject to national decisions. Yet Islamabad is simultaneously strengthening another defence arrangement with Qatar, whose strategic calculations have not always coincided with those of Riyadh,” he added. Pakistan is seeking to position itself at the crossroads of all these interests while portraying the resulting network of partnerships as evidence of its growing strategic importance. However, alliances are not accomplishments in themselves; their significance depends on the security they provide, the threats they deter and the capabilities they help develop, Restelli argued. “For now, Islamabad has considerably more agreements to display than results to demonstrate. And in its eagerness to appear indispensable to everyone, Pakistan may be stretching itself too thin to be genuinely indispensable to anyone,” he noted. –IANS scor/as