from 2013 to 2021, she was senior fellow for india, pakistan and south asia where she remains a senior fellow. from 2010-2016 she served as deputy assistant secretary of state, work focuses on us relations with south asia. from harvard college and from the university of chicago. is a member of the council on foreign relations to national security forum's agenda group, served on the board of directors and woman's foreign policy group. in 2021-22, the washington opinion, one of the most influential people shaping policy. and introduce tonight's speaker. and i want to apologize it is really hot in the room. really apologize for that. >> thank you, i want to echo our apology and explanation, the university has switched over from ac to heat mode. it happened over the weekend and here we aren't it is kind of warm and cozy. let me just echo, welcome to the elliott school and gw, my pleasure to welcome all of you tonight. we have a great honor this evening of hosting ambassador richard verma for our fall lecture this evening, he served as deputy secretary of state for management and resources.

relations with south asia, and the larger in the pacific. -- larger indo-pacific. she served on the board of -- in 2021, the what -- the washingtonian include her as an influential person checking politics. she will introduce the speaker tonight and moderate the q&a. dean ayres, pleasure to welcome you to the podium. i apologize, it is very hot. we have cold drinks outside. >> i want to echo our apology, the university switched from a/c to heat mode over the weekend and here we are, it is warm and toasty. let me echo, welcome to the elliott school and gw, a pleasure to welcome you to our lecture where we honor richard verma for our fall lecture this evening. he served as the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, in this role, he serves as chief operating officer of the u.s. department of state and leads the department efforts on modernization, foreign assistance, and a wide range of workforce and strategic issues you will hear about tonight. the deputy secretary previously served as u.s. ambassador to india where he led one of the largest u.s. dip

director of south asia initiatives at the asia society policy institute.orjoining us on the programme, bangladesh has asked india to send back sheikh hasina, it is a very important relationship for bangladesh, do you see it improving? figs relationship for bangladesh, do you see it improving?— you see it improving? as you ointed you see it improving? as you pointed out _ you see it improving? as you pointed out the _ you see it improving? as you pointed out the relationship l pointed out the relationship has been an extremely important one and especially during years of sheikh hasina the relationship was flourishing but ever since august five has been a strain and it is quite evident through the kind of concerns that have erupted throughout the last few months and its relationship with india including the attacks on him minorities and concerns that have risen in india and reciprocal attacks on bangladeshi diplomatic missions in india and now with this extradition request, which has beenin extradition request, which has been in the making has been expecting,

let's speak to anbarasan ethirajan, the bbc�*s south asia regional editor.mous change particularly economically in india, he was very much behind that.- economically in india, he was very much behind that. when he took over in _ very much behind that. when he took over in 1991, _ very much behind that. when he took over in 1991, the _ very much behind that. when he took over in 1991, the foreign . took over in 1991, the foreign exchange reserves of india was hovering around $1.5 billion and within three weeks of imports the country was going through a severe economic crisis and he realised what the challenge was at that time. in fact today we are talking about india having $600 billion in reserve and one of the top economies in the world. it is mainly due to the policies taken by a manmohan singh in the early 905. so what he called the liberalisation proce55 called the liberalisation process where he allowed foreign investments and then privatisation of public sector undertakings and big companies and boosted growth and all of this economic growth really hel

forced labour and the type of forced labour that has emerged in south asia where quite highly educatedills are coerced into working for organised crime gangs, and they are then coerced into putting into action online fraud and cyber scams, and this is something that the un odc scams, and this is something that the un 0dc says has been emerging in recent years as a trend. people are kept in detention and some of these areas and forced to do this criminal work.— areas and forced to do this criminal work. farmers have been protesting _ criminal work. farmers have been protesting across - criminal work. farmers have been protesting across the l criminal work. farmers have i been protesting across the uk as rural communities continue to express anger over changes to express anger over changes to inheritance tax. the national farmers' union has accused the chancellor of refusing to engage but the government insists support for the sector is steadfast. stopping traffic in london. tractors and farmers gathering on whitehall to protest against planned changes to inheritance tax. throughout the

of course, in particular right now the situation and south asia. and we discussed the this with the program director of the valve di discussion cloud. but to me, if i go to that will be highlighted with the rise of bricks and is now established . multi po, the world most goes cooperation with nations in the region are only set to remain friendly for decades to come. the main thing to use the. busy seen so many asian countries and malaysia 1st showing a great injury as to breaks. ready ready or in other institutions which form the changing international order and. ready genuinely just international multiple order, we can discuss the practical things we should all connect. ready with their contribution of the agent, especially in this case, malaysia to briggs and see what she needs and multiple mod order. so it's not a feel ready. many or discussions before have mature where they go. not anymore. was has changed to join the last 2 years in the house, east asia, a southeast asia, china or russia. many other changes for our external change which has be

days after kabul said 46 people were killed in pakistani air strikes inside afghan territory. 0ur south asiaor anbarasan ethirajan gave us this update. crashes were reported on the border. the defence ministry spokesman, this is the defence ministry, said they had launched what they called retaliatory attacks. so far, we haven't heard any confirmation about casualties but one source reported is saying that there was one soldier killed and six others injured. it has triggered tensions between the two forces across the border, particularly in the province. as said, what happened was that 46 people were killed when they carried out air strikes. the militants who had been targeting it insecurity in the province so that has resulted in a war of wills between the two sides because kabul always denied the accusations that it was harbouring any insurgents carrying out attacks on pakistani security forces. this is also led to people fleeing because of this escalating tensions in the province. here in the uk, airline passengers across the country are facing delays of up to several hours as thick fog w

that's our south east asia correspondent.me of the day's other news 110w. president biden has called russia's christmas day airstrikes on ukraine outrageous and a deliberate attempt to cut access to electricity during the cold winter months. moscow fired more than 170 missiles and drones, killing one person and causing widespread black outs. japan airlines says a cyberattack has briefly disrupted some of its flights. the attack affected the airline's baggage check—in system. more than a dozen flights were delayed at several airports before engineers identified and isolated the target of the attack. officials in mozambique say 1,500 inmates have escaped from prisons after a riot in maputo which left more than 30 people dead. they said 150 had been recaptured. there's been civil unrest since the disputed election in october. russia has blamed terrorism for one of its cargo ships sinking off the coast of spain. the ursa major began taking on water on monday, while on a journey from st petersburg to vladivostock. it's owned by ru

left afghanistan in that very chaotic withdrawal in 2021, and as a result, al qaeda and isis and south asia and afghanistan and pakistan enjoy a lot of open field running, and have the capability from there to plan attacks against us here in the west. >> martha: i want to talk about potentially some other avenues that may be worth pursuing here on potential suspects in this case, but just sticking with what you mentioned for a moment here, dan, give us a sense of what has been broken down in the past year plus, after the withdrawal from afghanistan. we always were told, you know, there will be sort of eyes on the horizon. we have plenty of intelligence agencies in the area that can keep a close eye on some of these very militant and terrorist groups. but what has really happened to the breakdown in intelligence region? >> yeah, well, the biden administration talked about an over the horizon capability. that's a sweet sounding phrase, but there is nothing to see over the horizon. all of the intelligence professionals, even in the biden administration, admitted when they were testifying on ca

singh's premiership, especially given the concern about south asia as a potential nuclear flashpoint,h india and pakistan carried out underground tests in 1998. but the gun and grenade attack on luxury hotels and other targets in mumbai, which killed around 170 people, not only demonstrated india's vulnerability, it revives the historic mutual suspicion between india and pakistan. leader, traditionally carefu with his words, was explicit and lay blame for an attack he believed was to damage india's reputation as a rising world power. >> given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, and must had support official agencies in pakistan. sophie: although he became caught up and political challenges that have tested every indian prime minister, and when singh -- manmohan singh's particular place in the country was to better embrace globalization. he always hoped that would show not having to leave the poor behind. sarah: manmohan singh has died at age 92. commemorations have been taking place in countries around the indian ocean to mark the 20 than the rest of the tsunami t

the hell that was out in south asia with the good news is that the skies have a logic here to cause the south of india, but the grounds remain very wet. that's after a fly code lost its way across from east to west. it's not pulled out to see while the remains of that system have behind that we've got a legacy of showers with the rain is an as heavy the wrong a warnings out at least was at the end of the week for much of india and sure lanka there's a lot of rooms lingering around the west coast with them by se temperatures pushed towards the mid keys. it's also room for the north of this for southern pops of pockets. don, hello, but cooler, however, across the north of pakistan and into northern india was some improvements to the quality in new delhi was the a rash or shower is a kickoff in the northeast for baton, and the pool with the temperature coming down and kept my do 19 degrees that on friday. now temperatures will push up slightly across the north of china as we move to east asia and the korean peninsula as well on thursday, but they'll be dipping right back down on friday as

are south asia editor explains how significant he was to the indian film industry. >> very renowned andand highly respected. he changed the way people looked at cinema. he was one of the pioneers, at the forefront of what people call new wave cinema in the 1970's. india has a very vibrant and huge film industry from bollywood to other regional languages. he came with a different genre differing from the usual romantic comedies or action thrillers where he was reflecting the society, giving voice to the distant franchised indians, holding a marriage of the indian society of what was happening in the country. his first film was seen as a searing criticism of india's caste system and the feudal system and what kind of impact. people have woken up to the holding this mirror reality and he gave an interview to the bbc years ago. let us hear what he talks about his creations. >> i would think a lot of filmmakers like myself were concerned about this. and who have been making films dealing with the subjects over a time. it has been going on for a long time. they will always be somewhat margina

stay with us for that the the had a lot of that the weather is looking very settled across much of south asia at the moment, which is good news and southern parts of india that sort tropical cycling. earlier in the week, we still got a few showers here and there, but the west of the rain is lingering out to see some of that pushing into the adamant and nickel by islands. we could also see a few showers, the cool southern pots of sri lanka, but sunshine is largely the order of the day across much of the region. now the width of whether it will develop across most central eastern areas on sunday, but it remains a launch the dry across the north of india into bungler dash and further afield. we are expecting some thunderstorms to develop a cruise to the renewals of india as we go into sundays with those touching into pockets done as well. a chance for those thunderstorms in the hold, the spiteful, we conditions on fact today. it's really going to be hazy, sunshine for much over the weekend into the new week, monday. seeing temperature dip down slightly. it will get a little bit cooler. it's also

i've been speaking to farwa aamer, director of south asia initiatives at the asia society policy institutebangladesh, do you see it improving? as you pointed out the relationship has been an extremely important one and especially during years of sheikh hasina the relationship was flourishing but ever since august 05, there has been a strain and it is quite evident through the kind of concerns that have erupted throughout the last few months and its relationship with india including the attacks on hindu minorities and concerns that have risen in india and reciprocal attacks seen on bangladeshi diplomatic missions in india and now with this extradition request, which has been in the making and india has been expecting, india has been expecting it. it is very important going into 2025 for india and bangladesh also to navigate this relationship and make sure they reach, its a very delicate balance, they reached some kind of understanding that the relationship is stabilised for the sake of their very long border their economic ties and their historical ties. i mean, we have seen some attacks on

for more than 14 months, the risk asia region, especially garza and the south led on. and now this i'm a country of syria have been subjected to massive attacks by the user being is riley regime. the merciless killing of the civilians and the blood shed. and as slaughtering the women and children, and the people affected by war and widespread terror have revealed new dimensions of these regimes, legitimate goals in a spreading and security. oh so, so the joys is the lie from damascus and it does seem that the noise is that are coming out of cairo. i'll be coming quite significant statement. so i'm, we're waiting again for most statements that would have an impact for syria on the ground. hello so can you hear me? yes. well, let me do. yeah, great. so i have that communication can be a little bit dodgy. sometimes. obviously as an interesting statements coming out of cairo right now, we're waiting, waiting for bull statements that might have an impact on syria as well. and indeed, so these are the major countries in the region around turkey and send an agent now of the d

and that's not the case in south asia has been exceptionally wes, thanks that fly clone. it fell apart as it smashed into the south of india. its cause widespread flooding here. and we still have that rain on choose day. we'll see the rain come back in on wednesday, but the remains of that system pull out to see it's not stria across the north of india, bangladesh as well as me and ma y as well for pockets down. but we still have those folks in small issues and also be affecting in new delhi. if we have a look at the 3 day, they'll be some improvement on wednesday, but it looks pretty unhealthy again. on friday, the lightning offensive by opposition flight is in syria. sweeps on woods often and that po fools, president bush out, a side vows they'll be defeated despite little resistance with his forces. so what's next with syria and the other countries involved in the war? this is inside store, the .

anbarasan ethirajan, the bbc�*s south asia regional editor, took us through his legacy.k over in 1991, india's foreign exchange reserves was hovering around $1.5 billion, enough for only three weeks of imports. the country was going through a severe economic crisis. and he realised what the challenge was at that time. in fact, today we are talking about india having $600 billion in reserve and one of the top economies in the world. it is mainly due to the policies taken by manmohan singh in the early 905. so what he did, what he called liberalisation process, where he allowed foreign investments, and then privatisation of public sector undertakings and big companies, and he boosted growth. and all this economic growth really helped india to come out of the woods in the 90s, early 905. and then he came back in 200a as the prime minister. in fact, he was a surprise choice when the congress party won the power, the then leader, sonia gandhi did not take up the job. so it came up to him. and from 200a until 201a, mr manmohan singh wa5 the prime minister. once again, india wi

the united states was a landmark of mr singh�*s premiership, especially given the concern about south asiand tests in 1998. but the gun and grenade attack on luxury hotels and other targets in mumbai, which killed around 170 people, not only demonstrated india's vulnerability, it also revived the historic mutual suspicion between india and pakistan. a leader traditionally careful with his words, the prime minister was explicit in laying blame for an attack which he believed was meant to damage india's reputation as a rising world power. there is enough evidence to show that, given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had the support of some official agencies in pakistan. although he became caught up in political challenges that have tested every indian prime minister, manmohan singh�*s particular place in the country's history was equipping it to better embrace globalisation, but he always hoped india would show that doesn't have to mean leaving the poor behind. the former indian prime minister who has died at the age of 92. commemorations have been taking

everything a can to fight these rallies off into the last airport to the last of city and or the last south asia. and even sometimes, but, you know, making a mistake, those are, are, are words that have less significant amounts of eggs on the faces of these revolutionary leads because they have lost that goal to break. israel's defense minister cots says that iran not only has itself to blame for the fall of a side what. what do you make of that? as indeed it does is fundamentally this read the situation. i would say both regionally visa via more empower turkey, as well as locally with developments going on in northwest syria, a since that turkish broker of us a stale major ceasefire or deacon collection agreement. also from about 4 years ago, the russians had a role in that as well. and so because the actual resistance and fundamentally running forward and security policy under these non public is that about building a better order is not about stabilized states. it's actually that creating instability of managing chaos that comes from that instability. they were fundamentally unprepared for wh

but hong kong, a very settled picture with sunshine and sunshine is a dominant feature across a south asia. it's looking very settled across the north of the likes of pockets on northern india, with some improvement to the quality, which is good news for new delhi. not so great to full bangladesh, they have got the worst air quality in the world the moment. but some rain is expected to slip its way for the south, across internet pool, dropping temperatures down for the likes of top mine to, for the south. so this remains rada, showering across much of southern parts of india, also for sure lanka. but so t one in columbia on friday as a full me, you can't. and so i of, so to stand trial at the international criminal court for his actions, his lawyer adamant to acquit 10 fights, a case of plus the lines between victim and pat to try to on questions whether the i c. c is but a new form of colonialism. we are talking about. maybe judges will belong to the industrialized gloves, theater of violence, witness on out his era. no less off in the daily cycle of death, destruction and displacement in

one of the most, if you could see is that the, well, many of them are in south asia and medical studies show that the region has highest rates of pregnancy last global exports. see, there's a link in india come back to us. believe the health guys is on the lack of political will to balance rapid, double up, and then with and what i meant of protection or pointing out that there are some who suffered more than others. kind of speaking to the adults like smoke. smoke is effecting every everyone in the city is not going to sped anybody, but it's still, it's still under privilege. the who are the most wonderful meet little thought, the daily wage. labor working in construction. she's one of the many invisible hands that followed in jessica nomic group. she is due to gilbert in a few months and has no way to predict scottsdale from toxic to home in the slums . offers no installation. and she has to go out on money. the pin number, i have 3 children to feed. we're poor people. if we don't go out to work, how will we survive if they can just few store one out of house but i know sometimes i co

so on the up here that it was also quiet across the south asia, at least on choose day. we still got those fog and small issues across the north of india, if you showers to the very north of that they might defend south over the next few days. but the west of the wet weather is thanks to a circulation that's in the bay of bengal. that's going to bring some very heavy rain to shore line cut to tumble. now do as well on wednesday. we'll eventually see that push its way further east. so chan i seen some very wet weather on wednesday. not sure whether the humanitarian crisis and 11 and calls for immediate and sustained action. ok, foundations, less than an emergency response, serves as a vital lifeline for many in desperate need. your donations can play a crucial role in alleviating suffering. promoting community wellbeing and contributing to the recovery joint ok. foundation in its mission to support 11 and during this critical time. full now or visit. okay. adult tool. i own the, the many stations you have have you gotta be named from troubled childhood to show my foot. oh,

as he fights to hold onto the you have a lot of that remains a split picture. weatherwise across south asia, we've got dry conditions across and we'll put down in the south. well as more heavy rain to come for southern parts of india and tra, lanka will see those thunder storms in colombo on saturday. the rain is not as heavy as close southern areas, but still some showers coming in that west to for sure, lanka across the north of india. well, it is a launch the dry picture for central areas as well. and towards the ne, a, we are still seeing those watches out for cold watches attempt just slightly below the average and the fog and smoke issues it continue across the north of india. and full park has done things remain largely cold across much of east asia. we've seen those when to re features a blow from northern china or across the korean peninsula with more rain, sleet, and snow coming into japan, snow showers are expected in the north. you can see the west to weather, however, by saturday, pulling largely out to sea will still have those wintery features for western areas of horseshoe,

the united states was a landmark of mr singh's premiership, especially given the concern about south asiaarried out underground tests in 1998. but the gun and grenade attack on luxury hotels and other targets in mumbai, which killed around 170 people, not only demonstrated india's vulnerability, it also revived the historic mutual suspicion between india and pakistan. a leader traditionally careful with his words, the prime minister was explicit in laying blame for an attack which he believed was meant to damage india's reputation as a rising world power. there is enough evidence to show that, given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had the support of some official agencies in pakistan. although he became caught up in political challenges that have tested every indian prime minister, manmohan singh's particular place in the country's history was equipping it to better embrace globalisation, but he always hoped india would show that doesn't have to mean leaving the poor behind. commemorations have been held across countries in the indian ocean on thursda

in fiji, like alcohol or fake alcohol isn't as big an issue as it is in south—east asia.le and that's because it makes up about 40% of their gdp. it's their largest industry. there are a lot of questions at the moment as to how and why this happened at a 5—star luxury resort. the investigation is in its early stages at the moment and people —— police have been on—site at the resort. the ministry of health has issued an advice to the public to be careful about what they are consuming over this festive period and the australian authorities have also issued a warning to travellers to fiji during this easy summer period. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. you are live with bbc news. to syria, where a week after dictator bashar al—assad, was ousted by islamist rebels, other countries are starting to think about how they will deal with the new interim regime. on his first visit to damascus since mr assad fled, the un envoy for syria said he supports lifting sanctions on the country. he urged justice, not revenge, and he called for increased and immediate aid.

sawyer one on one with supermodel petra nemcova 20 years after surviving the historic tsunami in south asia idea of the terror to come. they look up and see a towering white wall of water. someone on shore seems frozen in place, but it's too late to run. in this horror is a 25-year-old woman. i first met her right after the nightmare, petra nemcova. a beautiful small-town girl communist communist czech. she and her boyfriend simon were on vacation in taiwan in their bungalow. >> it pulled us out and we were outside. >> as she's carried away, the final thing she sees and hears is simon. >> he can scream, petra, that's the last time i saw him. >> that was petra when i first met her. this is petra today. all the time that's traveled between this. >> almost 20 years. >> yeah. did you dread coming to talk again? >> no. i was excited to see you. it's always difficult to go back in that moment when my life changed. >> in the deadly chaos she holds onto the top of a tree for nearly eight hours, every bone in her pelvis is crushed and she's completely naked. the water has torn off her clothes. 20 ye

coming up with several quite also the the hello, that is a big contrast to the weather across the south. asia is very dry and settled across the north, down in the south with his more heavy rain pouring in. to places like shore line could tumble not do and caroline in india we are expecting some stormy conditions at sunset area of low pressure that pulled out from the bay of bengal. so very wet picture as we end the week of march to wire across the northeast, a few showers coming to the very north of india and pakistan. the dries up there. it is a little bit colder across the north with fog and smoke issues persisting and it's very cold across much of east asia. we'll see temperatures continue to push down over the next few days, and wintery features creeping across from the north of china towards the korean peninsula with renewed snow showers for northern areas of japan took care, sees at 11 degrees celsius on friday. we're expecting cloudy skies here, cloudy as well in shanghai at just 10 degrees as that west to weather loading across a tie. one once again, it's much dryer because moving an

kong hold on the sunshine and the above average. temperature is nothing but a settled across a south asia, certainly across more northern areas has still got some showers coming into the south and not a heavy rain that we saw from the side closed earlier in the week remains largely sunny in shank of the west to weather lingering out to southern pots, the bay of bengal for new daily. we all seem more in the way of hazy sunshine. we'll see some fog kitchen here on saturday. not sure whether. the political showdown in south korea president used to appeal is under pressure to resign off to his failed attempt to impose marshall opposition. m. p. 's of served a notice to impeach him. i will look, come see whether this test of its democracy. this is inside still the .

and princess the the, the had a lot of that was stopped by looking at the satellite image of full south asia. and you can see the remnants of a tropical f, i kind of smashed into the very south causing widespread flooding in sri lanka and tumbling i do in india when it's not moved its way further. west options via re b and c was still got a legacy of showers behind that. but no warnings as of now. the shot was extend down into shoreline cut off along the east coast of india as well. so the north of this, it is a laundry. fine and dry picture with good news for new delhi, as the quality is set to improve slightly through is the latter part of the week. lots of several weather with sunshine for pakistan, extending across the nose of india into bangladesh and nipple. but we will see things get slightly cooler and cut them on to as the cold air bloss and will be down to 17 degrees celsius on sunday. with hazy sunshine, there's also set of weather and sunshine to be found close to knolls of east asia. we still got for wintery weather pushing into the very north of japan, some winter weather slipp

but at least we've got settled conditions here and is looking locksley settled across much of south asia. yes, there are rach of showers extending from most central to southern parts of india. a few of those coming into shore line. but this move in the way is sunshine, saturday into sunday will see the development of some west of weather across northern parts of pakistan and india. with a chance of those showers coming in to new delhi. we'll see the fall, the conditions extend across the north of india with some of those reported in new delhi to start the new week. the latest news, as it breaks the market, not even have the most basic goods. and if they do, they're often sunset for many families with the type of coverage, low code gain weight here, knowing that trucks carrying like saving supplies will pass for gallons of civilly . this row has become a symbol of stolen hope from the heart of the story. 1000 of hungry this way as people are in front of a baker here, just to get one part of the brand new laptop in the daily cycle of death, destruction and displacement in gaza. palestinian

so on the up here that was also quiet across the south asia, at least on choose day. we still got those fog and small issues across the north of india, a few showers to the very north of that. they might defend south over the next few days, but the west of the wet weather is thanks to a circulation that's in the bay of bengal. that's going to bring some very heavy rain to shore line cut to tom will not do as well on wednesday. we'll eventually see that pushes way further east. so chan icing some very wet weather on wedding stay that you well, the a full me you can't and i have sold the stance trial at the international criminal court for his actions. his lawyer, adamant to acquit 10 fights, the case of plus the lines between victim and path to try to on questions whether the i c. c is but a new form of colonialism. we are talking about maybe judges who belong to the industrialized world. fair to of violence. witness on alex's era. as the assad government falls, israel seizes more territory in syria's goal on heights that moves tears up. a 15 year old agreement is reall