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Niger Reopens Borders with Several Neighbors a Week after Coup

French and other nationals gather at the international Airport to be airlifted back to France on a French military aircraft, in Niamey, Niger, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
French and other nationals gather at the international Airport to be airlifted back to France on a French military aircraft, in Niamey, Niger, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
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Niger Reopens Borders with Several Neighbors a Week after Coup

French and other nationals gather at the international Airport to be airlifted back to France on a French military aircraft, in Niamey, Niger, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
French and other nationals gather at the international Airport to be airlifted back to France on a French military aircraft, in Niamey, Niger, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Niger announced overnight that it was reopening its borders with several of its neighbors, a week after a coup.

Defense chiefs from regional bloc ECOWAS will start a two-day meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Niger, where ECOWAS has threatened to use force if soldiers do not reinstate the elected president.

A delegation from the regional bloc is also expected to arrive in Niger's capital Niamey on Wednesday to start talks with the junta, led by General Abdourahmane Tiani.

"The land and air borders with Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya and Chad are re-opened from today, August 1, 2023," junta spokesperson Colonel Amadou Abdramane said in a televised address.

The junta closed the borders last Wednesday, at the same time that it announced that it had removed democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum from power.

The borders that have reopened are mainly in remote desert areas. Niger's key entryways for trade and commerce remain closed due to sanctions imposed by the regional bloc.

European countries started evacuating their citizens on Tuesday after Mali and Burkina Faso said they would consider any regional intervention in Niger to be a declaration of war and would come to its defenae.

The first military planes carrying mostly European nationals landed in Paris and Rome on Wednesday.

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Taliban Say India Is a ‘Significant Regional Partner’ after Meeting

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP
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Taliban Say India Is a ‘Significant Regional Partner’ after Meeting

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP

The Taliban's foreign office said they saw India as a "significant regional and economic partner" after meeting with its most senior foreign ministry official, the highest level talks with Delhi since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on Wednesday.
Afghanistan's foreign ministry said in a statement that they had discussed expanding relations with Afghanistan and to boost trade through Chabahar Port in Iran, which India has been developing for goods to bypass the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan, Reuters reported.
"In line with Afghanistan's balanced and economy-focused foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate aims to strengthen political and economic ties with India as a significant regional and economic partner," the statement from Afghanistan's foreign ministry said late on Wednesday.
India's foreign ministry said after the Delhi meeting that India was considering engaging in development projects in Afghanistan and looking to boost trade ties.
No foreign government, including India, officially recognizes the Taliban administration.
However, India is one of several countries with a small mission in Kabul to facilitate trade, aid and medical support and has sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Regional players including China and Russia have signaled they are willing to boost trade and investment in Afghanistan.
The Delhi meeting could ruffle Pakistan, which borders both countries and has fought three wars in the past against India.
Pakistan and Afghanistan also have a strained relationship, with Pakistan saying that several militant attacks that have occurred in its country have been launched from Afghan soil - a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.
Earlier this week India's foreign office told journalists they condemned airstrikes conducted late last year by Pakistan on Afghan soil.