Gravitas Live With Palki Sharma Upadhyay | The Afghanistan Quagmire

[Music] [Music] good evening and welcome to gravitas and palki sharma padhaya let's get started [Music] it's up to the people of afghanistan to decide on what government they want [Music] [Music] it gives me no joy to say this every day but it must be said the taliban are growing stronger they claim control of 85 percent of afghanistan they're capturing border posts to control trade with neighbors they're hosting press conferences to say that islamic law will be implemented in the country they're also inviting the chinese promising safety and security for their projects where is the afghan government it says the loss of certain territories is by design part of their strategic consolidation it makes little sense where are the americans out biden says they've achieved what they wanted to nation building is not their responsibility well bombing the nation wasn't their right either but they did it now they've lost the war and lost face no matter what they claim what about the others well india for one is engaging with iran and russia foreign minister sj shankar is visiting interestingly at the same time top taliban delegations held talks with both these countries in both these countries rather is this a coincidence or another indication of india's back channel talks with the taliban on gravitas tonight we'll discuss also on the show fresh doubts over chinese vaccines the scientists leading cyanobacter trials dies of suspected cobalt infection in indonesia many medical workers reported dead despite taking chinese shots what's a superhero vaccine based on the dna of olympic athletes it can reportedly offer protection against heart diseases is this advancement of science or humans dangerously playing with nature in their quest for perfection and another factory fire in bangladesh leaves more than 50 workers dead we bring you a special report from dhaka on the world's manufacturing hub and its repeated fire disasters we begin as always with gravitas global headlines indian external affairs minister s j shankar addressed a press conference with his russian counterpart sergey lavrov during his moscow visit and stressed on the immediate need for reduction of violence in afghanistan violence cannot be the solution for for the situation in afghanistan sj shanker said both india and russia are committed to an independent sovereign united and democratic afghanistan the united states is set to widen its economic blacklist as it looks to add 10 chinese companies to the list more beijing-based firms will face a ban over alleged human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in xinjiang beijing has said that it will take all necessary measures to safeguard the interests of chinese companies [Music] a comprehensive joint study from multiple universities in the uk has said that the risk of severe illness or death among children due to covet 19 is extremely low the study says that children suffering from chronic illness and neurodisabilities were under maximum risk the us fda in response to pfizer's application seeking a booster shot for its covet vaccine has said that fully vaccinated americans do not need to get a third jab and that it would need more data on hand for authorization wayne cousins pleaded guilty to the murder of sarah everard all of us in the met are sickened angered and devastated british police officer wayne cousins has admitted to the murder of sarah everard whose disappearance sparked outrage and a nationwide debate on women's safety [Music] [Applause] police clashed with armed bandits in the favelas of caracas in venezuela at least four people have died in the clashes since wednesday a five hundred thousand dollar bounty has been announced to help law enforcement agencies capture the gang leaders india's southern state of kerala has recorded 14 cases of the zika virus a viral infection that is transmitted by mosquitoes health authorities have declared a state of alert in all districts with a central team of experts dispatched to monitor the situation europe's largest active volcano mount aetna in sicily sent an eruptive cloud that reached a height of 11 kilometers above sea level the eruption also caused ash and debris to fall on some villages located on the slopes of the volcano the phoenix suns are just two wins away from winning their first nba title after beating the milwaukee bucks 118 to 108 in game two janis antito compote scored 42 points but he did not get enough support from his buck's teammates all-star devin booker led the suns with 31 points chris paul added 23 while michael bridges bagged a career playoff high 27 points the trilogy fight between tyson fury and deontay wilder in las vegas on the 24th of july has been postponed the britain fury has tested positive for covet 19 alongside a few other members of his training team in america and after medical advice the fight has been called off and is likely to now be held in october fury had beaten wilder in early 2020 to win the wbc world heavyweight title after their first fight in 2018 had ended in a draw afghanistan is falling to the taliban they claim to have 85 percent of the country under their control the focus now is on the border strategic checkpoints that control trade with neighbors the taliban is gaining control of them today they captured the islam kala crossing this is one of the biggest trade routes between afghanistan and iran reports say this route generates a revenue of 20 million dollars every month for the afghan government now it is in the hands of the taliban a big source of money and more fodder for their propaganda machine they've been sharing videos like this one it is believed to be from the islam crossing the taliban can be seen taking down the afghan flag from the roof of the border customs office what's the afghanistan government doing beginning they say beginning efforts to take back this territory it looks like an uphill task for these forces in recent weeks the afghan government has lost several districts near the borders afghanistan shares borders with seven countries in the last one week the taliban has taken control of border areas along at least five of them iran tajikistan turkmenistan china and pakistan look at this map the taliban has captured several districts along the border the aim is clear gaining control of key checkpoints on afghanistan's borders the taliban can do a lot of damage with this they can dictate who or what gets in or out they can control the flow of essentials jokes applies to areas that fall under the civilian government the taliban could potentially use these routes for smuggling with the fall of every district the group is gaining strength the taliban now claims to control 85 percent off afghanistan a claim that is disputed by the afghan government and impossible to verify independently today the taliban's representatives were in moscow the delegation was there to offer assurances that their gains on the battleground do not threaten russia or russian allies in central asia they even held a press conference with momentum on their side the taliban was clearly trying to dictate the terms they said they want every afghan to be a stakeholder in building afghanistan but there won't be any compromise on the implementation of islamic law we have commitment that we will not allow any individual any entity to use the sign of the neighboring country the regional country and uh the world country including the united states allies we want all sections of the afghan society without depending on their size and ethnicity to take part in afghanistan state building we stay at the position of the islamic law a lot of promises were made in this press conference the taliban said they will not allow terrorists to operate coming from what has itself been a terror group humanitarian organizations will be allowed to operate in afghanistan aloud mark the words it said that there will be no military activity in the 34 provinces of afghanistan but it did not explain what is happening right now if there is to be no violence no terrorism then why is the taliban pushing afghanistan towards a civil war now why is it trying to take territory by force as of today their only motive appears to be to control power not share it not to rebuild afghanistan but to recapture it they're also scouting for willing allies those who don't believe in democracy or basic freedoms of power sharing i'll give you an example the taliban says it is ready to welcome china into afghanistan with open arms they see beijing as a friend they want to roll out the red carpet for china they want china to begin reconstruction work in afghanistan quote unquote as soon as possible these are the words of taliban spokesperson suhail shaheen let me quote from what he said he said we welcome them if they have investments of course we'll ensure their safety their safety is very important for us china safety is very important for the taliban they say and there's more we have been to china many times and we have good relations with them china is a friendly country that we welcome them for reconstruction and developing afghanistan beijing saw the writing on the wall for america it knew that american troop withdrawal was only a matter of time so it started working on the taliban it expanded engagements it started calling them to china for a dialogue and now the chinese are ready to swoop upon afghanistan what is america going to do about this well for the moment nothing last night he was president joe biden held a press conference he said the u.s did not come to afghanistan for nation building it's up to the people of afghanistan to decide what they want for their future we did not go to afghanistan to nation build and it's the right and the responsibility of afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country it's up to the people of afghanistan to decide on what government they want not us to impose the government on them to be clear to be clear countries in the region have an essential role to play in supporting a peaceful settlement we'll work with them and they should help step up their efforts as well and they should help step up their efforts as well that was the u.s president shifting the onus on afghanistan's neighbors the message is clear washington is non-committal about a peaceful transition in afghanistan and it's up to afghanistan and its neighbors now to clean up the mess that the american troops are leaving behind thankfully not everyone has left afghanistan to its fate today india and russia held a high level engagement india's external affairs minister ashankar is in moscow for two days earlier this week he was in tehran to discuss the situation in afghanistan after the talks today the russian foreign minister did not mince words in his assessment he said that he was concerned about the rapid capture of territory by the taliban of course the events in afghanistan concern us due to the possibility of these problems spreading on the territory of our allies as to the fact that the talibs have captured the checkpoints on the borders of iran and tajikistan while it is happening on the afghan territory we do not intend to react in any way except for the persistent reiteration of calls for the start of the political process which all the afghans supported with their voices what did india have to say minister jaishankar voiced his concern on the spiraling violence he reaffirmed support to the democratically elected government and he said the quote-unquote legitimacy aspect should not be ignored we believe that the immediate need of the day is really a reduction in violence so the point right now we stress is that we must see a reduction in violence violence cannot be the solution uh for for the situation in afghanistan and at the end of the day who who governs afghanistan has a legitimacy a legit something which cannot and should not be ignored minister jaishankar supported the democratically elected government is welcome but right now we also know that india is hedging its bets in afghanistan and india's external affairs minister could be navigating a major shift one that could define new delhi's future relationship with kabul so here's what we have the taliban is taking territory at lightning speed they're offering protection to chinese assets in afghanistan they're not talking about democracy or power sharing what happens to india then and to indian assets and interests external affairs minister jaishankar has been crisscrossing west asia last month he visited doha twice this week he made a sudden stopover in iran and today he is in russia do you know what's common about all these trips members of the taliban just happened to be in the same city when the indian minister was there at the same time their calendars have been overlapping way too much is this coincidence or by design our next report tries to sift through the clues a week ago a tweet from a journalist in afghanistan created ripples in new delhi he said that the taliban met with india's external affairs minister as jaishankar a claim that was labeled as completely false baseless and mischievous by sources in india's foreign ministry but it hasn't escaped the world's attention that minister jaishankar has been traveling to cities that are frequented by the taliban last month he visited doha not once but twice within a space of seven days doha is the city that hosts the political office of the taliban this week minister shankar was in iran where representatives from the taliban were meeting officials from the afghan government then in russia just before minister jaishankar arrived in moscow taliban's representatives just happened to be there they were meeting russia's special envoy to afghanistan is this too much coincidence or is this by design if the indian minister is going to cities where taliban negotiators also happen to be present at the same time the obvious question is did their paths cross new delhi won't confirm it is back channeling with the taliban but there are now too many telltale signs of engagement the first signal of interest from india's external affairs minister came last year any peace process in september 2020 india decided to participate in the intra afghan peace talks in doha a senior diplomat was sent to attend the meeting in person while minister jaishankar joined via video link representatives from the taliban were also present for the first time high ranking indian officials were sharing the stage with the taliban in their official capacity and now minister shankar is personally leading india's diplomatic response to the situation in afghanistan in iran he met with the foreign minister jawad zarif the man who was sharing the mediation talks between the afghan government and the taliban jaishankar is said to have thanked iran for bringing the two sides closer the taliban has reciprocated the subtle overtails from india recently the group issued a statement a strong rejection of reports that claimed the taliban would support terrorist activities of pakistani groups in kashmir the taliban said kashmir is india's internal matter india's engagement with the taliban may be a necessity but can new delhi trust the taliban the group recently attacked the salma dam in herat province a dam that was built and donated by india to afghanistan it is in india's interest to protect its investments in afghanistan there's little to suggest that the taliban appreciates or shares this concern bureau report beyond world war did america betray afghanistan leave it to fight the taliban alone did americans silently flee another lost war these questions were asked all week it began on the 2nd of july when u.s troops vacated afghanistan's bagram base late in the night without any notice without handing over the base to anyone u.s troops left behind thousands of cars 3.5 million items and 5 000 taliban prisoners and a long list of questions one such question was then put to u.s president joe biden the morning after bagram he evaded it saying he wanted to talk about happy things well seven days later biden walked up to the white house east room and this time with a dispatch this dispassionate speech prepared to silence millions questioning america's actions here's what he said said in april the united states did what we want to do in afghanistan to get the terrorists to attack us on 9 11 and deliver justice to osama bin laden and to degrade the terrorist threat to keep afghanistan from becoming a base from which attacks could be continued against the united states we achieved those objectives that's why we went we did not go to afghanistan to nation build so let me ask those who want us to stay how many more how many thousands more americans daughters and sons are you willing to risk how long would you have them stay i will not send another generation of americans to war in afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome what outcome is biden talking about what did america achieve in afghanistan it sent it spent two trillion dollars 20 years and lost 2 400 men but did america win this war winners don't pull out in the dead of night biden says the u.s has achieved its objectives what were america's objectives what was its mission in afghanistan number one to demolish al-qaeda and the taliban number two to reign in terror and number three to stop the use of afghanistan as a terrorist base have they achieved any of this the taliban is growing stronger the al-qaeda is very much around forget reigning in terror they have legitimized terrorists as stakeholders as for the use of afghanistan as a terrorist base there's every indication that it's still happening so what objectives has the u.s achieved look at what they've been up to 13 days after the 9 11 attacks then president george w bush told the us congress that necessary actions are being taken to quote-unquote counter the terrorist threat to the united states then on the 9th of october 2001 bush said that the u.s military had begun combat action in afghanistan against al-qaeda terrorists and their taliban supporters he said the military action was part of the u.s campaign against terrorism and was quote unquote designed to disrupt the use of afghanistan as a terrorist base of operation on the 7th of october 2001 the u.s began airstrikes in afghanistan by november america had toppled the taliban government in kabul many al qaeda members fled to pakistan ten years after invading afghanistan the u.s finally managed to kill al-qaeda leader osama bin laden he was found in abutabad in pakistan justice has been done barack obama declared on the 1st of may 2011 10 years later from the same east room president biden says america has achieved its objectives in afghanistan sorry it hasn't al-qaeda still has its presence in afghanistan not as powerful perhaps as it was two decades back but ready to rebuild and reintegrate itself you see it doesn't take very long for a terror group to do that the u.s should know this given its experience with the isis in west asia and the isis by the way also operates in afghanistan so much for taking out terrorists what about the taliban it's making global headlines with its conquest as we speak the taliban claims to control 85 percent of afghanistan and it threatens to conquer the rest and the americans couldn't care less they put the taliban on the talking table and now they're telling afghanistan's neighbors to act responsibly to ensure stability the peace deal had little to do with peace it was a botched up exit strategy as much a misadventure as the rest of this american operation two years of peace talks but where is the peace america has always known that the war in afghanistan is doomed it is unwinnable as early as 2009 biden had warned obama against deploying more troops in afghanistan but the u.s chose to stretch the stalemate for another 12 years 12 years hours before biden's speech white house press secretary jensaki said and i'm quoting it's a 20-year war that has not been won militarily and america will have no mission accomplished moment for a terrorist you see surviving is winning the taliban is not just surviving it is thriving so while the u.s lost the war militarily pounded bombs and declared civilian casualties as collateral damage the least it could have done was to bring in a sense of stability to afghanistan train the afghan army help it maintain the status quo america failed in that too as we speak afghan forces are fleeing to tajikistan afghanistan is slipping back to doctrinaire theocracy today an ordinary afghan is 30 percent more insecure than she was in 2001. women may once again be confined to their homes girls may no longer be able to attend school afghanistan is going back in time and this reversal has america's failure written all over it some reports say that americans fled bagram because they had intel that the taliban would attack the air base well so much for reigning in terror so much for a favorable outcome joe biden says america was never in afghanistan for nation building of course it wasn't america invaded afghanistan to show that it was a superpower to show that it could drop bombs anywhere it pleased it dropped what it called the mother of all bombs in afghanistan as recently as 2017. it turned an entire country into its war laboratory and when the experiment kept going wrong it picked up its bags and left saying we've achieved what we wanted to and building your nation is not our responsibility to me it doesn't sound like a victory speech or a declaration in afghanistan america lost not just in face chinese vaccines are quickly becoming the source of national embarrassment for beijing their effectiveness is being questioned thailand bahrain the uae they've all already decided to offer boosters to their citizens who got a chinese shot this week beijing got more bad news from indonesia the scientist who led the trials for the synovac vaccine in indonesia has died reportedly after contracting the wuhan virus our next report tells you more indonesia was among the few countries in the world which kicked off their vaccination program at the beginning of this year but now indonesia is losing its frontline warriors this is despite access to vaccines chinese vaccines to be precise the latest victim is novelia syafri bachchtyar reports say she died of a suspected wuhan virus infection she was the scientist leading the trials of sinovac in indonesia cinovak is a made in china wuhan virus vaccine it's not yet clear if bhajtiyar took the sinovac shot herself but reports say hundreds of health care workers have died in indonesia even after taking the chinese shot going by one claim more than 130 health care workers have died in indonesia since june most of them took the sinovac shot this trend was bad enough now bachetar's death has led to more doubts over the efficacy of chinese vaccines health experts are asking if medics should get other jabs to stay protected other countries in the region too are considering the idea recently in thailand a document from the country's health ministry leaked it said that health workers who have got the sinovac vaccine are worried they want a booster shot of the pfizer vaccine the memo went on to say that such a move would mean admitting that the sinovac vaccine is not effective even in thailand doctors are falling sick after taking the chinese shot earlier this week a hospital admitted five members of its medical staff they tested positive for the wuhan virus two of them are critical yes here at this hospital this means the sinovac vaccine can't protect people from the virus and the symptoms will be severe compared to those who got the astrozenica vaccine which barely has resulted in anyone being admitted to the hospital it shows that people who are infected with the delta variant after receiving the cinnabac vaccine the symptoms are severe and at the same severity level as people who haven't received any vaccine at all this in a back vaccine has been approved by the world health organization its efficacy is 51 barely enough for an approval from the world health body experts believe newer variants of the virus can escape the limited protection of cinevac the spike in new infections and deaths in southeast asian countries confirm these suspicions with both indonesia and thailand now considering booster shots for their citizens chinese vaccines are proving to be as useless as their test kits viewer report we own world is one how far can we humans go in our quest for perfection to me it looks like there is no end yesterday i told you how china is harvesting gene data of pregnant women worldwide simply because it wants to create enhanced soldiers improve quote unquote population quality create superhuman mutations or variants today i have another such story for you and this one's not from china thankfully the west 2 is guilty of trying to play god a professor at the university of stanford is working on a superhero vaccine that's what it's called a superhero vaccine the shot he says will transform the society how by offering long-term protection against multiple problems we're talking about heart diseases stroke alzheimer's disease liver problems you name it this should be great news right except it's not the vaccine will be based on dna of olympic athletes trials for it will begin by 20 26 we're told and once injected the vaccine will rewrite your dna a regular medicine changes a cell signal this jab will change a gene letter basically change your genetic makeup forever your body will become as resilient they say as an athletes but is this desirable i really don't think so it's true that olympians have genetic advantages they have stronger hearts stronger lungs they're resilient to certain conditions and that's good for them it's good for their exceptional performance on field but do you and i really need the same genes just like athletes are good on track and field you and i may be exceptional in our own field of work if usain bolt runs at lighting speed which is great we also had vincent van gogh whose paintings are out of the world if michael phelps swims faster than fish we also had sylvia plath who poured her heart out on pages like no other must we harvest the creative genes of the likes of plath and van gogh too then we should also take some traits from geniuses the likes of newton and einstein we would all be multi-talented and exceptional we would all be superheroes the only problem is we would not be human anymore we might be perfect but not unique it is our frail dainty unhealthy selves that makes us unique that makes us us gene editing changes that and unlike a regular vaccine a gene altering vaccine also changes the genes of our subsequent generations and let me remind you we're talking about humans here not malaria resistant mosquitoes or genetically modified crops we are talking about changing human genes forever this is against nature our world you see is about survival of the fittest we can't cheat by editing our genes but this seems to be the trend now today we have designer babies newborns who are genetically engineered free of medical risks and filled with desirable traits in november 2018 a pair of twins was born in china lulu and nana they were designer babies their genes were modified before birth made hiv resistant was a chinese scientist behind this gene editing he ran a project recruited couples where the man was hiv positive but the woman hiv negative uninfected the scientist performed an ivf in vitro fertilization then introduced a mutation into the genes of the embryo all of this was done secretly by using the crispr technology the experiment was slammed it was called morally and ethically wrong and rightly so the scientist was accused of trying to play god the last we heard he was jailed for three years there were also reports that he'd gone missing in china you never know well three years on the crispr technology has only become cheaper scientists who pioneered it have been awarded the 2020 nobel prize for chemistry our society is opening up to the idea of genetically modifying humans like we're carrots articles are written highlighting its benefits there are laws that now allow gene editing as long as it is restricted to experts well who are experts the future may be different many believe that in future gene editing will become common even laypersons will be using gene editing technology and until then we have instagram its filters edit us change the structure of our nose our cheekbones the color of our hair instagram filters make us look fairer blemish free thinner in short they make us look perfect we all love instagram filters people are now excited about the superhero vaccines you could call them genetic filters china is already making enhanced soldiers or trying to and then there are designer babies being brought to life secretly is being our natural selves so bad in this race for perfection we may lose ourselves completely and end up creating frankenstein's monsters think about it on the 12th of july we mark the fifth anniversary of the landmark international court arbitration that invalidates china's sovereignty claims over disputed islands in the south china sea but five years since the arbitration china has repeatedly rejected the ruling and the dispute over the south china sea only keeps no balling beijing is increasing its military presence around the disputed islands here's a report tensions in the south china sea have been simmering for centuries and over the last few years these have only intensified ten nations lay claim to parts of the south china sea china taiwan the philippines malaysia brunei vietnam indonesia singapore thailand and cambodia the spratly islands and the parcel islands believed to be rich in resources and a crucial point in trade routes have been the main point of contention for many years china has claimed indices some chinese officials even refer to it at the heart of this game is the u-shaped nine dash line it includes 90 of south china waters the line was adopted from chinese maps in the 1940s and represents beijing's claim over the sea and the land contained within in january 2013 philippines took the fight to the united nations the island nation invoked article 287 of the un convention on the law of the sea challenging china's claims to a majority of the south china sea both parties were invited at the permanent court of arbitration to submit briefs on the philippines claims however china refused to recognize the pca authority and opted out of the proceedings after several hearings on 12th of july 2016 the permanent court of arbitration in hague gave a searing verdict on the lawfulness of china's island construction in the region and other actions in the south china sea china however stood by its claims within the so-called nine-dash line on july 12 2021 we observed the fifth anniversary of the award of the south china sea arbitration the award conclusively settled the status of historic rights and maritime entitlements in the south china sea it declared as without legal effect claims that exceed geographic and substantive limits of maritime entitlements under the united nations convention on the law of the sea coming 12th of july will mark the fifth anniversary of a landmark international court arbitration that invalidated china's historical sovereignty claims over disputed islands in the south china sea but five years on china's presence in south china sea and around philippines is only growing chinese boats chinese maritime enforcement vessels are more frequent than ever in march this year the philippines complained of incursions by over 200 chinese militia vessels into its exclusive economic zone in the last five years the philippines had made 128 diplomatic protests over china's activities in the south china sea china has militarized the spratly islands china allegedly has three airfields in the region china's control over the south china sea has geopolitical consequences for the united states the year 2020 saw unprecedented moves by the united states military to deter china last year both the united states and australia rejected large parts of china's maritime claims in the region united states has also been deepening ties with both traditional security allies japan and the philippines and even with vietnam and indonesia the dispute has spanned the flames of the region's military and political rivalry especially between china and the united states will the south china sea spark the next global conflict your report be on world is one [Music] at least 52 people have died and more than 50 others have been injured after a juice factory in bangladesh caught fire the fire broke out last night and continues to rage on there is no word on how many workers are still trapped inside authorities say they could have saved more lives and the factory supervisor not locked the stairwell he locked it this is not the first time workers in bangladesh are losing their lives to negligence corruption and lacks enforcement of safety laws our next report brings you a timeline of bangladesh's factory disasters this is a juice factory in bangladesh it used to be one the building caught fire on the 6th of july the blaze originated on the ground floor travelled all the way up and trapped all of the building's occupants normally there would be over a thousand workers in the factory that many of them had left for the day when the fire broke out some workers jumped off the burning factory muhammad saiful was among them on the third floor gates on both stairwells were closed other colleagues are saying there were 48 people inside if that's true not even their remains could be found narayana ganj is located some 20 kilometers from the capital city of dhaka 18 firefighters were rushed to the area from dakar and nearby towns distraught relatives also arrived at the spot looking for information of their loved ones we came here because my niece was not answering her phone for a while and now the phone is not ringing at all we are worried almost 24 hours on fire fighting units are still struggling to dance the fire so far at least 52 people have died and 50 others have been injured there is no word on how many workers remain trapped and eyewitnesses of the missing workers say none of the workers on the fourth floor of the six-story building could get out because the security in charscope the collapsible gate closed they said 60 to 70 workers worked on that floor and many of them are still missing relatives of the missing workers are now crowding in front of the factory victims family claims that the fire broke out due to the negligence of the factory authorities bangladesh has a history of deadly factory fires 123 people died in the year 2010 when a house illegally storing chemicals caught fire in 2012 a garment factory fire on the outskirts of dhaka killed over 112 people in 2013 1100 people died after a multi-story building called the rana plaza collapsed bangladesh pledged reforms but little changed on the ground in 2019 a fire broke out in old dakar it ripped through shops and warehouses killing at least 67 people another 25 people were killed later in the year when a commercial building caught fire bangladesh is a manufacturing hub for many big western brands but little or no heed is paid to the conditions of the workers here manufacturing facilities often flout safety norms rampant corruption and lacks enforcement add to the misery of the workers and sometimes their colleagues higher up on the ladder seal their fate this time it was the factory supervisor the exit to the third floor stairwell was locked if the workers could have reached the rooftop we could have saved them like the 25 people we rescued with our crane only if they could have reached there we would have been able to save them my son called me and said oh mother a fire broke out after a while his colleague called me and said he is no more how could he survive the supervisor locked the stairwell exit and there was fire reaching the stairs already with inputs from lakhmena jasmi soma sri lanka is struggling it may not have enough money to cover its payments in the next 12 months sri lanka must pay back at least two and a half billion dollars to its creditors the first payment is due this month sri lanka must repay 1 billion dollars to investors the payment is due on the 27th of july ahead of the due date colombo is trying to control the money that leaves the country last week president gotobar rajapaksa issued an order it placed limits on how much foreign currency can leave sri lanka overseas investments by local firms have been suspended for six months already sri lanka has banned imports of luxury goods and cars reports on the import of mobile phones computers and electronic consumer goods sri lanka is short on foreign currency reserves reports say the country's foreign reserves stand at around four billion dollars right now and that's barely enough to cover three months of imports sri lanka has been borrowing more to maintain its reserve in march colombo secured a one and a half billion dollar currency swap from beijing it has a similar arrangement with india for 400 million dollars what's a currency swap it is effectively a loan that sri lanka can repay what happens is that sri lanka will get the funds in american dollar in sri lankan rupees that's a currency swap colombo has sought help from dhaka too bangladesh has extended 200 million loan to sri lanka but borrowing has its limits there is intense speculation that sri lanka may now need help from the international monetary fund or the imf the global lender of last resort last year sri lanka had access to one and a half billion dollars of fund facility from the imf but it was ended prematurely that's because colombo decided to take help from its allies and even with the imf's help sri lanka might need more support from neighbors like india in fact reports say that sri lanka is quote unquote banking on a one billion dollar currency swap from india another one billion dollar loan from china this will be in addition to the 400 million dollar swap from the reserve bank of india that they already have sri lanka will use this funding for its dwindling reserves now reports say india is yet to take a decision on the request should india help sri lanka colombo's total foreign debt stood at around 32 billion dollars in march this year global ratings agencies have dramatically downgraded sri lanka ratings agency fitch has raised doubts over colombo's ability to repay due to its low foreign exchange reserves and rise the question here is would india like to extend another loan time comes to repay chinese debt has already handicapped colombo sri lanka owes more than 5 billion to china from past loans it is now stuck in a debt spiral it is borrowing more money to pay back existing loans in the next six months sri lanka has settled payments worth more than one billion dollars this money is owed to different creditors india's decision could very well decide how easy or difficult it will be for sri lanka to meet these obligations we'll be watching the story it's time to wrap we're leaving you as always with gravitas images thanks for watching have a good weekend [Applause] [Music]

Channel: WION

Views: 95,555

Keywords: gravitas, gravitas live, palki sharma, wion, wion live, wion news, live, gravitas live wion, gravitas today, palki sharma upadhyay, wion live news, world news, english news, gravitas wion, india, afghanistan news, china, india taliban, us troops withdrawal, gravitas live with palki sharma upadhyay, joe biden, us president, taliban, taliban news, taliban afghanistan

Id: JrIcNnLvGv8

Length: 49min 10sec (2950 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 09 2021