WORLD

India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are the countries most at risk but least prepared for the coming wave of automation triggered by Covid.

Indian businesses rank fifth among 12 Asia Pacific (APAC) nations for risk of automation and ninth for level of preparedness, a study by Deloitte and global software firm Autodesk showed. India has a greater likelihood of being impacted from automation due to larger employment shares in agriculture, manufacturing and construction, it added. At the same time, industries considered to be at lower risk of automation -namely education, public administration and finance- comprise only 7% of India’s total employment.

India's preparedness score, which measures the ability of countries to capitalise on automation and help disadvantaged workers, stood at 44% compared to the APAC average of 55%. Australia received the highest score at 72%, while Pakistan received the lowest at 40%. India scored 47% in its ability to capitalise on automation compared to advanced tech adopters in APAC such as Singapore that scored 71%.

A three-day conference on peace in Afghanistan, which was to be hosted by Pakistan from Saturday, has been postponed till Eid al-Adha, officials said on Friday, amidst escalating violence in the war-torn country and trading of barbs between Kabul and Islamabad over alleged support to Taliban militants. The conference was originally scheduled from July 17 to 19 in Islamabad and was to be attended by a number of high-ranking Afghan leaders.

Taliban leaders were not invited. “The Afghan Peace Conference scheduled to be held in Islamabad from 17-19 July 2021 has been postponed until after Eid Al-Adha. The new dates of the said Conference will be announced later, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a short statement. This year Eid Al-Adha will be celebrated on July 21.

Afghan vice president Amrullah Saleh on Thursday accused the Pakistan Air Force of warning Afghan security forces that it would retaliate against any move to dislodge Taliban fighters in the strategic border region of Spin Boldak.

Saleh, a former spy chief who has survived more than one assassination attempt by the Taliban and is a trenchant critic of Pakistan, made the accusation in a tweet late on Thursday.

“Breaking: Pakistan air force has issued official warning to the Afghan Army and Air Force that any move to dislodge the Taliban from Spin Boldak area will be faced and repelled by the Pakistan Air Force. Pak air force is now providing close air support to Taliban in certain areas,” he tweeted.

Indian and Chinese foreign ministers agreed to convene an early meeting of military commanders to “seek a mutually acceptable solution” to the outstanding issues on the LAC in the western sector while refraining from any unilateral action that could escalate the military stand-off.

On Wednesday, foreign minister S Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that troops should complete the disengagement at the LAC “at the earliest” and that the unsettled situation has cast a negative light on the entire bilateral relationship.

After an hour-long meeting between Jaishankar and Wang Yi in Dushanbe on the sidelines of an SCO meeting on Afghanistan, the Indian minister tweeted, “Highlighted that unilateral change of status quo is not acceptable. Full restoration and maintenance of peace and tranquility in border areas is essential for development of our ties.”

Describing the situation in Afghanistan as “difficult, dire and problematic”, Farid Mamundzay, the country’s ambassador to India, has said Delhi should convey to the Taliban that if they cut ties with “regional terrorist groups” and give up violence to become part of the “mainstream society”, it will continue to support and assist Afghanistan politically and diplomatically.

Mamundzay said Indian development projects — roads, schools, dams among others — are “at risk” if the security situation deteriorates further. The exit of US troops has had the Taliban overrunning large swathes in Afghanistan, especially in the northern provinces which were never under their control.

India has committed about USD 3 billion towards projects in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan.