Pakistani Prime Minister meets IMF chief

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday briefed International Monetary Fund's managing director Kristalina Georgieva on the economic outlook of the cash-strapped South Asian nation, hoping for the release of critical stalled funds.

The meeting on the sidelines of the Global Financing Summit in Paris came with about a week left before the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed in 2019 expires on June 30, 2023.

Under the US$6.5 billion EFF's 9th review, concluded earlier this year, Pakistan has been trying to secure US$1.1 billion of funding that has been stalled since November 2022.

"The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the funds allocated under the IMF's EFF would be released as soon as possible," said a statement from his office.

It said Sharif outlined the steps Pakistan had taken for economic growth and stability, adding that his country had already completed all the IMF's conditions to meet the 9th review.

With central bank foreign exchange reserves barely enough to cover one month of controlled imports, Pakistan is facing an acute balance of payment crisis, which analysts say could spiral into a debt default if the IMF money doesn't come through.

The IMF funding is critical to unlock other bilateral and multilateral financing.

Islamabad has expressed its frustration over the delay. It argues it has met all the painful fiscal measures the lender requested.

The IMF still has concerns over Pakistan's external financing gap, foreign exchange market operations and the budget presented earlier this month which it said violated the program's objective.

Pakistan has defended the budget, but at the same time offered to review it in any further talks with the IMF.

  

Biden welcomes Modi with splashy White House ceremony

President Joe Biden rolled out the White House red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday as part of his effort to jump start a stronger US-India relationship and counter China's global influence with a series of defense and trade agreements.

Biden treated Modi to a colorful White House South Lawn arrival ceremony before some 7,000 people in the morning, followed by Oval Office talks and a glittering state dinner in the evening. The two leaders held a private, intimate dinner at the White House on Wednesday night.

"The challenges and opportunities facing the world in this century require that India and the United States work and lead together, and we are," Biden said.

Modi said the visit honored the people of his country and the entire Indian diaspora.

"This grand welcome ceremony at the White House today is an honor and pride for the 1.4 billion people of India," he said, speaking partly in English and partly in Hindi. "This is also an honor for more than 4 million people of Indian origin living in the US. For this honor, I express my heartfelt gratitude."

The festival-like opening ceremony featured violinist Vibha Janakiraman and a cappella group Penn Masala performing renditions of songs by the American group Maroon 5 as well as from movies by the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

In a rare gesture, Modi has agreed to take questions from reporters with Biden at the White House on Thursday. Modi has not conducted a news conference since becoming prime minister nine years ago and his visit has drawn attention to concerns over human rights in India.

Washington wants India to be a strategic counterweight to China and sees India as a critical partnership, although some analysts and former officials question India's willingness to stand up collectively to Beijing over issues such as Taiwan. Modi is seeking to raise the influence that India, the world's most populous country at 1.4 billion, has on the world stage in the wake of strained ties with neighboring China.

Senior Biden administration officials said the sweeping agreements to be announced on semiconductors, critical minerals, technology, space cooperation and defense cooperation and sales will ring in a new era in relations between the two countries.

Some of the deals are aimed at diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on China. The United States has also sought to address China's rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region by bolstering defense ties with countries like India and Australia.

The two leaders will sign off on what one official called a "trailblazing" deal to allow General Electric to produce jet engines in India to power Indian military aircraft. GE said on Thursday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Hindustan Aeronautics to produce the engines.

In addition, US Navy ships in the region will be able to stop in Indian shipyards for repairs under a maritime agreement reached between the two governments.

The leaders will also announce India's plan to procure US-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, the US officials said. "We have now entered really a 'next generation' defense partnership," said one US official.

The agreements will include US chipmaker Micron Technology's US$2.7 billion plan for a new semiconductor testing and packaging unit, to be built in Modi's home state of Gujarat. The US will also make it easier for skilled Indian workers to get and renew US visas.

India also agreed to join the US-led Artemis Accords on space exploration and to work with NASA on a joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024.

The flurry of agreements comes as some lawmakers have raised serious concerns about democratic backsliding in India.

Biden is under pressure from his fellow Democrats to discuss human rights with Modi. Three progressive Democrats - US Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib - have said they would boycott Modi's address to Congress on Thursday.

"I encourage my colleagues who stand for pluralism, tolerance and freedom of the press to join me in doing the same," Ocasio-Cortez said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

Biden will bring up concerns about press freedoms, religious freedoms and other issues in a respectful way without "hectoring, lecturing or scolding," one U.S. official who briefed reporters said.

Rights advocates, who plan to protest during Modi’s visit, on Wednesday said Biden should publicly call out the prime minister's rights record. They say the approach of US administrations of raising issues in private with the Indian leader has not stemmed what they described as deteriorating human rights in India.

Meanwhile, Republican US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters he and the chamber's Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, would lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to India in October, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday.

Modi has been to the United States five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit.

Biden and his wife Jill were set to give Modi gifts including a vintage American camera, a print of George Eastman's patent of the first Kodak camera, a book of American wildlife photography and a signed first edition of Robert Frost poems.

Modi will address US CEOs at a reception on Friday, as American companies plan new investments in India.

On Tuesday, he met with Tesla chief Elon Musk in New York. Musk said afterwards he plans to make the vehicles available in India as soon as possible.

Musk said Modi was pushing the car maker to make a "significant investment" in the country, adding that such an announcement was expected soon.

 

 

United States to ease visas for skilled Indian workers

The Biden administration will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the United States, using this week's state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help some skilled workers enter or remain in the country, according to a Reuters report.

The State Department could announce as soon as Thursday that a small number of Indians and other foreign workers on H-1B visas will be able to renew those visas in the US, without having to travel abroad, part of a pilot program that could be expanded in coming years.

Indian citizens are by far the most active users of the US H-1B program and made up 73% of the nearly 442,000 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2022.

"We all recognize that mobility of our people is a huge asset to us," said another US official. "And so our goal is to approach that in a sort of multifaceted way. The State Department already has been working very hard to find creative ways to make changes to things."

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on questions about which visa types would qualify or the timing of the pilot launch. Plans for a pilot program were first reported by Bloomberg Law in February.

"The pilot would begin with a small number of cases with the intention to scale the initiative over the following one to two years," the spokesperson said, while declining to define small.

The steps could change and are not finalized until they are announced. The White House declined to comment.

Each year, the US government makes 65,000 H-1B visas available to companies seeking skilled foreign workers, along with an additional 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. The visas last for three years and can be renewed for another three years.

The companies using the most H-1B workers in recent years include the Indian-based Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services as well as Amazon, Alphabet and Meta in the US, according to US government data.

The ability for some of the temporary foreign workers to renew visas in the US would free up resources for visa interviews in consulates abroad, the spokesperson said.

The pilot program would also include some workers with L-1 visas, which are available to people transferring within a company to a position in the US, one of the sources said.

A separate initiative to clear a backlog of visa applications at US embassies in India is finally showing signs of progress, according to another one of those sources, and is expected to be figure into the discussions between the delegations of two countries in Washington this week.

India has long had concerns with the difficulty its citizens face in receiving visas to live in the United States, including technology industry workers. More than 10 million jobs stood open in the United States at the end of April, according to the Labor Department.

Some H-1B visa holders in the US have been among the thousands of tech workers laid off this year, sending them scrambling to find new employers within a 60-day grace period or return to their home country.

The Biden administration has spent months working to improve visa access for Indians, trying to get around the lack of political will in Congress to comprehensively reform US immigration policy. President Joe Biden wants to knit together the world's two largest democracies, partly in a bid to better compete with China.

US visa services are still attempting to clear a backlog after Washington halted almost all visa processing worldwide in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The visa backlog has led to some families being separated for extended periods of time, with some taking to social media to lament their situation.

 

Palestinian attacked by Israeli settlers

Dozens of Palestinian villagers were attacked by Israeli settlers overnight in the wake of the killing of four settlers in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a Palestinian official who monitors settler violence told CNN Wednesday.

At least 37 villagers were injured by live or rubber-coated bullets, stones, or tear gas according to the official, Ghassan Douglas.

He said 147 vehicles were damaged with stones or set on fire, including an ambulance, and 23 houses and 16 shops were damaged, and crops set on fire in fields.

The violence was reminiscent of settler attacks in and around the village of Huwara in February in response to the killing of two Israeli settler brothers in the village.

February’s violence was so severe that the commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank called it a “pogrom,” evoking historic memories of ethnic violence targeting Jews.

The attacks overnight on Tuesday took place over a wide area of the northern West Bank, from Turmus’ayya east of Ramallah to Deir Sharaf west of Nablus, he said. The area is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north from Jerusalem.

Different Israeli officials sent different messages in the wake of Tuesday’s shooting of the settlers which included two teenagers, a man in his 20s and a man in his 60s.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari urged people not to take the law into their own hands.

But far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, speaking at the scene of the killings near Eli, called on settlers to arm themselves to avoid becoming sitting ducks for Palestinian attacks.

Israel's military called the settler attack on this Palestinian town a 'pogrom.' Videos show soldiers did little to stop it

The IDF, which boosted its troop numbers in the area in the wake of the February attacks, did not immediately respond to CNN request for comment on the overnight violence.

On Monday, an Israeli raid in Jenin, one of the tensest cities in the occupied West Bank, erupted into a massive firefight that left at least seven Palestinians dead and dozens wounded.

The following day, two Palestinian gunmen shot dead four Israelis near the settlement of Eli in the West Bank. Both gunmen were subsequently killed by Israeli forces.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement, claimed the two gunmen as members. It said the attack was “a natural response” to the Israeli raid on Jenin a day earlier. 

Iranian naval chief visits Pakistan

Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, Commander Iranian Navy, reached Islamabad on Monday for a three-day visit to discuss methods to strengthen bilateral collaboration in a number of military domains with top military commanders of Pakistan.

Irani visited Islamabad at the request of his Pakistani counterpart Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi’s request.

Irani, who is accompanied by a senior military team, visited naval headquarters in Islamabad, where he was greeted by his Pakistani counterpart and witnessed a guard of honor, according to a Pakistan Navy press release.

The Iranian and Pakistani navy commanders met to discuss common interests such as bilateral marine, defense, and educational cooperation, as well as the exchange of naval delegations.

Additionally, Irani and Niazi discussed regional partnerships and marine security in the region.

Niazi briefed Irani and his accompanying team on the professional activities of Pakistani naval forces to maintain maritime security and bolster bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Irani’s current trip to Islamabad, in the opinion of Pakistan’s Navy, will be a significant step in fostering closer naval cooperation between the two nations.

In the meanwhile, Irani and Pakistani Air Force Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu met. They emphasized the value of strengthening military, educational, and aviation cooperation.

In a statement, Pakistan’s Air Force said, “The meeting between Irani and Baber Sidhu is a testament to the deep-rooted friendship and unwavering commitment of the two nations to work towards a peaceful and stable region.”

The Pakistani marshal also underscored on the advancement in space, electronic warfare, cyber and niche technologies coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) which have profoundly affected the traditional environment of national security.

He gave the dignitary a briefing on the numerous initiatives the Pakistan Air Force is working on, paying particular attention to modernization and the growth of indigenous capabilities.

“Tehran and Islamabad enjoy longstanding religious, cultural, and historical bonds which are manifested through strong ties between both sides,” the Pakistani air chief noted.

The commander of the Iranian Navy praised the professionalism of the Pakistan Air Force troops and the extraordinary advancements made by the PAF on its path to modernization.

Irani further commended Pakistan for its ongoing efforts to maintain security in the region and emphasized the significance of strengthening military-to-military cooperation, particularly in the areas of operations, training, and the aviation sector.

Irani stated earlier this month that the Islamic Republic intends to create new intra- and extra-regional partnerships to improve security.

Along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Iraq, he also mentioned Pakistan as a nation that is in earnest for international naval cooperation.

He said that almost all of the nations in the northern parts of the Indian Ocean have decided to support Iran and work together more effectively to build security.

A number of Persian Gulf Arab nations, led by Saudi Arabia, realigned their coalition and resumed their relations with Iran, shattering the Israeli regime’s and its old partner, the United States, dreams of a “NATO-like” anti-Iran alliance in the region.

 

Iran produced over 112,000 tons of aluminum ingots in 2 month

According to the data released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), the country has produced 112,767 tons of aluminum ingots during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year.

Based on the IMIDRO’s data, the country’s two-month aluminum ingot production fell 2% from 114,850 tons in the same time span of the previous year.

Among the country’s four major producers, South Aluminum Corporation (SALCO) had the best performance in the two-month period, producing 49,220 tons of aluminum ingots, followed by Iranian Aluminum Company (IRALCO) producing 31,067 tons, Almahdi Aluminum Company producing 26,155 tons, and Iran Alumina Company producing 6,325 tons of the product.

As previously reported, production of aluminum ingot stood at 632,166 tons in Iran during the past Iranian calendar year 1401.

Among the country’s four major producers, South Aluminum Corporation (SALCO) had the best performance in the past year, producing 270,185 tons of aluminum ingots, followed by Iranian Aluminum Company (IRALCO) producing 178,077 tons, Almahdi Aluminum Company producing 147,749 tons, and Iran Alumina Company producing 36,155 tons.

According to the data previously released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, production of aluminum ingot in Iran rose 20% in Iranian calendar year 1400, as compared to the preceding year.

The IMIDRO’s data put the annual production of aluminum ingot at 538,633 tons in 1400, while the figure was 446,836 tons in 1399, and 278,318 tons in 1398.

Among the country’s four major producers, Iranian Aluminum Company (IRALCO) had the best performance in 1400, producing 177,058 tons of aluminum ingots, although the figure was 185,000 tons in the preceding year.

South Aluminum Corporation (SALCO) produced 173,594 tons, production by Almahdi Aluminum Company stood at 150,738 tons, and Iran Alumina Company produced 37,243 tons of aluminum ingots in the mentioned year, the IMIDRO’s data indicated.

Iranian officials estimate the country’s aluminum sector has a value of US$22 billion, which is sufficient to meet the country’s aluminum needs.

At present, Iran is the 18th biggest aluminum-producing country in the world.

The country plans to reach the annual production of 1.5 million tons of aluminum ingot by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

 

Israeli troops kill five Palestinians in West Bank

Israeli commandos backed by helicopter gunships killed five Palestinians including a teenager and wounded as many as 66 others as a raid in the West Bank led to an hours-long gun battle with armed fighters, the military and health officials said.

Seven Israeli personnel were wounded after troops came under fire during an operation in the flashpoint town of Jenin to arrest two Palestinians suspected in attacks, the military said. At least two of the Palestinians killed in the fighting belonged to the armed Islamic Jihad group.

With US-sponsored peacemaking stalled for almost a decade, Jenin and other areas of the northern West Bank have been a focus of months of stepped-up sweeps by Israel amid a spate of Palestinian street rampages in its cities.

As troops faced heavy fire and a rain of explosive devices from gunmen in the town, the army was forced to mount an extraction mission to pull out a number of its vehicles blocked in the fighting.

"So that's why you saw also our forces in a very problematic area and we had to bring in a helicopter," an army spokesman told reporters.

Video obtained by Reuters showed an explosion enveloping an armored troop transport as shots ring out. Other clips showed a military helicopter launching a missile and releasing flares.

A military spokesperson said an Apache helicopter fired on an open area in order to drive back gunmen as casualties were extricated from the troop transport.

"We're aware Palestinians are hit, quite a big number. We'll know more about it in the next few hours," the spokesman said. "It will take a few hours. It's going to be pretty harsh."

There was no immediate confirmation the helicopter also released flares - an apparent precaution against launches of shoulder-fired missiles at it.

An official from the Fatah party said fighters from the nearby cities of Nablus and Tulkarem had arrived in Jenin to support the local fighters.

"We tell this occupation that all their operations are a failure, our people will win, and the dialogue between us will only be the battlefield," Atta Abu Rmeileh said.

The unusual use of helicopter gunships in the operation underlined the severity of the fighting in Jenin, where armed militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have long had a strong presence in the adjoining refugee camp.

An Islamic Jihad official said the use of aircraft will push our fighters to use tools that will surprise the enemy.

However, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would employ whatever means it thought necessary.

"There are no compromises in the fight against terrorism; we will continue to take an offensive approach. We will use all the means at our disposal," he said on Twitter.

The Palestinian health ministry said the dead included a 15 year old. Islamic Jihad claimed two of them as members. Another 66 Palestinians were wounded, the ministry said.

Another such group, Hamas, said its fighters also took part in the clashes. At least one Palestinian was detained during Monday's raid, witnesses in Jenin said.