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Posts tagged as “foreign”

Foreign Ministry under pressure for appointments to politicos’ relatives

by Kelum Bandara in Daily Mirror, Mar 6,2023The Foreign Ministry is once again under pressure for the appointment of various ruling party politicians’ relatives to diplomatic posts, Daily Mirror learns. In the foreign service, there are 98 vacancies to be filled, both at 55 Sri Lankan missions abroad and the Ministry in Colombo. Daily Mirror learns that the politicians with links to the government had sought to secure posts for their relatives, including children. The…

Prime minister stops foreign minister from flying to Geneva

report in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 27, 2023On Sunday, just hours before Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal was scheduled to fly to Geneva to attend a high-level session of the UN Human Rights Council, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal asked her to cancel the visit. The development comes as a new ruling coalition minus the CPN-UML is in the making in Kathmandu just ahead of the presidential election next month. Foreign Minister Paudyal, who is…

Qatar sends envoy to Kabul for talks with Taliban

Reuters in Dawn, February 6th, 2023KABUL: An envoy for Qatar’s foreign affairs minister visited the Afghan capital on Sunday and met the Taliban administration’s acting foreign minister, according to an Afghan foreign ministry statement. The visit comes after the Taliban administration placed restrictions on women’s education and NGO work, which Qatar labelled “deeply concerning” amid widespread international criticism. Mutlaq Bin Majed Al-Qahtani, the special envoy of Qatar’s foreign minister, took part in meetings with acting…

Muttaqi Asks Uzbekistan to Stay Committed to Power Supply Pact

By Bibi Amina Hakimi in ToloNews, Jan 22, 2023 at 9:25 PMThe acting minister of foreign affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, on Sunday called on Uzbekistan to provide the amount of electricity mentioned in an agreement signed between Kabul and Tashkent. Muttaqi criticized Uzbekistan for cutting the power supply to Afghanistan amidst a freezing winter in the country. “They should stay committed to their promise that they have committed to Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat that they…

Government reintroduces diplomatic code of conduct

report in The Kathmandu Post, Jan 19, 2023The Pushpa Kamal Dahal government has reintroduced the diplomatic code of conduct that was unveiled in 2011.A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday decided to enforce the diplomatic code of conduct and make it mandatory for all ministers to follow while meeting with foreign diplomats and representatives of foreign governments, should invite the officials of the foreign ministry, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Poudel. The…

‘Appeasement’ of militants created problems: Bilawal

Report inDawn, January 19th, 2023KARACHI: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has accused the previous government of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of adopting an appeasement policy towards the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP), saying that it has created problems for the people of Pakistan. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Mr Bhutto-Zardari stated that the current coalition government has ended the ‘wrong’ approach, which was initiated by the previous [PTI) government. Earlier this month, the top military and political leadership…

In Kabul, Taliban rulers are changing the face of the capital

By Pamela Constable in The Washington Post, Jan 7, 2023 at 2:00 a.m. ESTKABUL — Taliban authorities have embarked on an ambitious project to change the face of the Afghan capital, a crowded metropolis of 5 million that still displays the scars, monuments and fads of periods of civil conflict, foreign invasion and new-money opulence. The Kabul municipal government, which provides utility services to homes and businesses and then collects fees to support its budget,…

Afghanistan War Commission to Formally Convene in Early 2023

By Nizamuddin Rezahi in Khaama Press, Dec 13, 2022The Afghanistan War Commission was established by the U.S. Congress in December 2021 to conduct a comprehensive review of key decisions related to U.S. military, intelligence, foreign assistance, and diplomatic involvement in Afghanistan from June 2001 to August 2021. The Afghanistan War Commission is composed of 16 commissioners, eight appointed by Democratic members of Congress and eight appointed by Republican members of Congress. These bipartisan commissioners will…