KABUL (TCA) — Former Indian ambassador to Afghanistan, Amar Sinha, says that Daesh (Islamic State or IS) in Afghanistan is a tool of the Pakistani army which has been fabricated to put pressure on the Afghan government and on the Taliban if the group eventually gets reintegrated and mainstreamed in the structure of the Afghan government, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported.

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KABUL (TCA) — The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban has said Washington is seeking a “comprehensive peace agreement, not a withdrawal agreement” in its talks with the Taliban, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan reported.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could speed up economic development and reduce poverty for dozens of developing countries, including in Central Asia — but it must be accompanied by deep policy reforms that increase transparency, improve debt sustainability, and mitigate environmental, social, and corruption risks, a new World Bank Group study on the BRI transportation corridors has found.

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URUMQI (TCA) — Frozen fish imports from Kazakhstan through the port of Horgos in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region saw a dramatic increase in the first five months of the year, Xinhua news agency reported on June 18.

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TASHKENT (TCA) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on June 18 gathered more than 40 representatives from Uzbekistan’s central bank and 12 local banks to discuss recent developments in international trade finance. The ADB Trade Finance Program’s (TFP) experts updated the gathering on how trade finance is evolving in the region and globally, and shared recent case studies to support efforts by local banks to improve their trade finance products, ADB’s Country Office reported.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President Mr. Shixin Chen met with the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and senior government officials during his first official visit to the Central Asian country on 17–18 June. Mr. Chen reiterated ADB’s support for Tajikistan’s development priorities through the country partnership strategy (CPS) and national development programs, ADB’s country office reported.

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