Civil society

Dhaka has for decades pressed Islamabad for three key steps: a formal apology for the atrocities committed by the Pakistani military during the 1971 war, repayment of an estimated USD 4.5 billion owed to Bangladesh since independence, and the repatriation of thousands of Pakistanis stranded in the country.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, 76, was arrested on August 22, ushering in the highest-profile detention amid President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign.

Nepal’s brick industry – valued at several million dollars and employing approximately 300,000 workers – thrives during its limited work season.

Women farmers were trained in better feeding, mineral mixes, housing, and preventive healthcare, along with support to access finance and markets. Gradually, goat mortality dropped from 53 percent in 2022 to just 9.6 percent in 2025.

In 2023 alone, roughly 260,000 women worldwide died during or shortly after childbirth, with 22 per cent (about 58,000 maternal deaths) occurring in the Asia-Pacific – many of which were preventable with timely midwife-led care.

In the quiet classrooms of Pakistani universities, thousands of Afghan students – many in the last stretch of their advanced degrees – are living with an unrelenting countdown. On 31 August 2025, Pakistan’s government has ordered that all Afghan nationals must leave the country or face arrest and deportation.

The report says that in India, sectors such as manufacturing, customer service, clerical roles, and routine administration are projected to witness the steepest job declines.

The risk of second-order effects from existing tariffs is also rising. A US-India trade deal, if secured, would reduce these risks, Fitch says.