New Delhi: Indian government officials pressured the US to soften its criticism of Sheikh Hasina before the Bangladesh elections in January when she claimed victory in a one-sided election with many of her opponents in jail or hiding, reports The Washington Post.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions on a Bangladeshi police unit accused of extrajudicial abductions and killings and also threatened visa restrictions but toned down its rhetoric after Indian lobbying, reports journalists Gerry Shih, Ellen Nakashima and John Hudson.
India saw an ally in Hasina and was concerned about the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or Jamaat-e-Islami assuming power, they report. However, with Hasina’s ouster in a popular uprising, both countries are now mulling over whether they mishandled Bangladesh, they write.
In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for replacing religion-based laws with a uniform civil code, but after the June election setback, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needs the support of regional allies for any such move, reports Bloomberg.
Modi said religion-based laws are “communal” and “promoting discrimination” and his party has long been campaigning for a uniform civil code, writes journalist Swati Gupta. However, critics see it as a “majoritarian social push” to erase independent religious practices among Indian Muslims, she adds.
In a Financial Times opinion piece, ‘Five undervalued qualities of the Indian economy‘, Writer Tej Parikh pitches “an emerging services power”, “a talented workforce”, “entrepreneurial spirit”, “maturing capital markets”, and “resilience” as alternative drivers of India’s economic potential.
Parikh writes that the country’s share of world services exports has grown steadily. “Exposure to the growing, high-value-added global services trade, is promising for India’s economic trajectory,” Rohit Lamba, an assistant professor of economics at Cornell University, tells him.
Parikh also suggests that as more highly-skilled Indian workers enter higher-income services abroad, more service sector roles will open up in India. The jugaad culture, he adds, can lead to more innovation, bring more investments, and accelerate growth.
Moreover, the National Stock Exchange of India’s market capitalisation has more than doubled since 2020, Parikh writes. He adds that India’s “emerging strength in services makes its growth more robust” and that the country is “well-aligned to benefit from digital and green growth”.
Discussing Hindenburg Research’s latest Adani report, involving SEBI chairwoman Madhabi Puri Buch’s conflict of interest in investigating the offshore funds allegedly used to manipulate the Adani Group shares, an Economist report says, “India has never seen a fight quite like this.”
Buch and SEBI have denied the allegations, and the Indian government has not ousted Buch. However, the controversy highlights deeper issues within India’s financial system and could prompt regulatory reforms, says The Economist.
Pakistan logs monkeypox cases, Thailand gets its youngest PM
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded three cases of monkeypox, prompting the National Command and Operation Centre to issue an advisory on how to deal with the disease. To know more, read the Dawn report.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of billionaire tycoon Thaksin, has become the Thailand PM after a constitutional court dismissed former Thailand PM Srettha Thavisin. Shinawatra, at 37, will be the youngest PM, and the second woman, after her aunt Yingluck, to lead the country. For more, read this BBC report.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)