Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of most Australian troops from Afghanistan by the middle of next year, while rolling out her future plan of Canberra's role in the war-torn country. In a speech in Canberra, Gillard said Australian troops would begin pulling out this year and most would be home by the end of 2013 -- an election year in the country.
The new partnership on the block doesn't exactly boast novices. Sunish Sharma, managing director at General Atlantic, and another PE veteranManish Kejriwalthe Indian head of the Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings (who is also married into the super rich Bajaj family) have come together to raise an independent private equity fund.
Strongly condemning the Mumbai serial blasts, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has expressed his outrage at the killing of innocent civilians in the terror strike. "These attacks against innocent civilians are outrageous and on behalf of the Alliance, I want to express my sincere condolences to the Indian authorities and especially to the families of the victims," Rasmussen said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said his government is in no hurry to reopen the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation supply routes that were closed after a cross-border air strike last year and that a decision on the issue will be made only after evolving consensus among political parties.
Launching another broadside against Pakistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday said the Taliban, that has launched some audacious attacks in his country will not be able to "move a finger without Pakistani support."
Pakistan on Thursday said that the United States probe report on the last month's North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers is "not based on facts".
If the US were to look from the east coast across the Atlantic for a country with which it could collaborate, then India would be that country for reasons more than one, Minister for HRD and Communications and IT Kapil Sibal.
A Turkish military helicopter on a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation mission crashed into a house outside the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, killing at least 15 people -- 12 soldiers on board and three civilians on the ground.
The United States Army continues to investigate the tragic killing of 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar, the Pentagon has said but remained unclear as to when the suspected American soldier would be charged.
Rao asserted that India has been transparent on this issue with international partners given its enormous energy security needs.
Making sure nothing sensitive is left behind, American forces set on fire all their redundant and useless equipment before abandoning the Shamsi airbase in Pakistan's southwest.
The Pakistani military will shoot down any United States drone that intrudes the country's airspace under a new defence policy in which troops have been given greater liberty to respond to incursions by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and allied forces in Afghanistan, according to a media report.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday said having a large footprint in Afghanistan can be "counter-productive" in the long run and that it was time to pull back troops and turn attention to domestic woes, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance agreed on a 2014 end to the Afghan mission.
As United States finalises its plan to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, Indian authorities are getting ready to train nearly 30,000 Afghan troops in the next three years. The US has urged other countries to join hands with it to train Afghan troops, which will take over the duties of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's forces after they leave in 2014. Incidentally, the Pakistan government had expressed its interest in training Afghan troops.
Asserting that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers was a "military engagement", the United States has said it is carrying out a crucial investigation to determine the circumstances that led to the tragic incident but Islamabad has refused to participate in the probe.
With a deadly North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air raid sparking outrage in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said it was time for the country "to review its relations" while demanding "complete clarity" from the international community on Islamabad's sovereignty.
Islamabad's cooperation is crucial to ongoing American successes in the Pak-Afghan border region, but the fragile bilateral ties don't leave much room to be undermined by disruptive developments such as the latest NATO attack, says Amir Mir.
Pakistan has formally communicated to the United Nations its protest and condemnation of the air-strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation that killed 24 soldiers and has strained ties between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Hussain Haroon has written a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, informing him of the NATO attack of November 26 "on Pakistan's border posts (that) resulted in the martyrdom of 24 officers".
Pakistan on Saturday claimed that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation helicopters from Afghanistan fired on a military check post in northwest tribal region, killing eight soldiers and wounding four others.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is being allowed to use Pakistani airspace to fly food supplies to troops in Afghanistan though land routes have been closed since a cross-border air strike last year, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said on Tuesday.
The singer has opened up about her pregnancy, the pressure to lose weight, and learning to appreciate her natural body.
Ticket refunds remain a challenge, though Jet claims the amount would be credited in 7 to 10 working days after the request is processed.
Terrorists torched 10 tankers carrying oil for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan in southern Pakistan, injuring five persons including the vehicles' drivers, police and witnesses said on Monday.
Slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam has offered to 'surrender' to the International Criminal Court in return for a guarantee of his safety.
Trump Administration has "already wisely restricted assistance to Pakistan, but there is much more to be done
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US President Barack Obama has made an aggressive case for imposing more taxes on the rich and criticised those opposing his 'Buffet Rule'.
A collection of some of the best photos from around the world in the last 24 hours.
LeBron James delivered a season-high 41 points in the absence of injured sidekick Dwyane Wade as the Miami Heat clinched a playoff berth with their 99-93 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
The temporary suspension of the crucial North Atlantic Treaty Organisation supply route to Afghanistan by Islamabad last year in response to incursions by allied forces and the Davis Raymond episode reflects the fragile nature of the United States-Pakistan relationship, the Obama administration said in a new report.
Rejecting General David Petraeus' claim that thousands of Afghan Taliban have either 'laid down' their arms or moving towards doing so, Mullah Omer-led Taliban vowed continuing their war until the establishment of Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Army on Friday rejected a United States-led inquiry report into a cross-border North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, saying it is "short on facts." "The Pakistan Army does not agree with the findings of the US/NATO inquiry as is being reported in the media. The inquiry report is short on facts," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.
Struggling to restore its flagging ties with Pakistan in the aftermath of the deadly strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Obama administration has said it has not cut any civilian aid to the country, noting the move in this regard was part of a defence bill in the Congress. "Well, first of all, just to clarify what has and hasn't happened here in our understanding. We have not cut $700 million in aid to Pakistan," State Department spokesperson said.
As Pakistan brainstorms to revamp its foreign policy after last month's deadly strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the country will retaliate against all future attacks, but also made it clear that Islamabad is not taking its ties with the United States to a point of no return. Khar made the remarks as she presided over a session of the two-day meeting of envoys convened to frame recommendations for a foreign policy revamp
A coordinated Taliban assault on the Afghan capital was quelled on Wednesday after raging for 19 hours in a hail of rockets, grenades and suicide blasts that left 14 dead and six foreign troops wounded.
Pakistan continues to be a safe haven for terrorists and its influence in Afghanistan needs to be tackled, US military chief Gen Martin Dempsey has said, while acknowledging that his country's ties with Islamabad are in a state of mess.
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