The days of a thousand cuts are over. These mini wars will remain under the threshold of undeniable war, but will escalate closer to that threshold when their big brother pushes in. Chinese aggression has changed the matrix, the strategies, and surely the objectives too, warns David Devadas.
India on Monday hit out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for its criticism of the country in the wake of the alleged derogatory remarks made against Prophet Mohammed by two Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries.
"The war in Afghanistan is over, now we will work together to rebuild this country," said Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid at a press conference in Kabul.
United States President Barack Obama will announce in a nationally televised speech on Wednesday, plans to draw down the 30,000 additional American troops that were pumped into Afghanistan as part of a surge last year.
United States officials have identified Pakistan as a base of operations or target for numerous armed and non state militant groups, some of which have existed since the 1980s, the independent Congressional Research Service said in the report.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be on a two-day official visit to India from Thursday, his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last month.
Russia and China are tight-fisted and Iran is broke and none of them has the political will or capacity to bankroll the Afghan economy, which only the US can, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
After two decades, the SCO appears to be at a cross-roads with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the 2020 Country Reports on Terrorism issued on Thursday, said that regionally, terrorist groups continued to operate from Pakistan.
With no Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian line-up, the 'Men In Blue' are missing a trick. And despite Mohammed Shami's brilliance in the warm-up game against Australia on the other day in Brisbane, the bowling unit doesn't inspire much confidence.
According to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent, think tank dedicated to shifting the world's focus to peace as a positive and tangible measure of progress, India ranks 143rd
"The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA. They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step," Emily Horne, Spokesperson of the National Security Council, the White House said.
The award-winning journalist was killed in July last while covering clashes between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city.
The man said he and his family was in a panic after the Taliban entered Kabul and his daughter was running a high fever.
'No one in this administration, not the President nor anyone on the national security team, would suggest that the Taliban are respected and valued members of the global community'
The Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate in New Delhi was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial on Friday.
In a significant policy shift, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has agreed to send a group of military officers to Pakistan for training, a decision which could raise eyebrows in India.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation and denunciation of the statements made by the BJP spokesperson, saying it insulted Prophet Muhammad.
As uncertainty looms large in Afghanistan, Indian pharma exporters are apprehensive to send goods to the war-torn country and the target of exporting $126 million worth of pharmaceutical goods to the Taliban-ruling nation now depends on the future outcome. Udaya Bhaskar, director general of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) body under the Department of Commerce on Tuesday said as the situation is grim over there and India pharma exporters have cordial relations with Afghanistan. "The projected target for 2021-22 is $126.22 million.
Pakistani security agencies on Thursday arrested two suspects involved in the car bomb blast outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and chief of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, an official said.
Colonel Anil Athale (retd) recalls how the Battle of Panipat, 258 years ago, changed the history of India for the next century and half.
Afghanistan have high expectations of achieving success on the cricket pitch and despite being relatively new to the sport, their breakthrough 50-over victory against a Test-playing nation was met with only muted celebrations among the players.
The incident happened in Bagh-e-Shamal village of the provincial capital Pul-e-Khomre, TOLOnews reported, citing local officials.
The Taliban will view India through the eyes of the ISI and can be relied upon to undertake hostile actions against this country, warns Virendra Kapoor.
'The Afghans used to say that if there is any person whose name should be taken after Allah, it is Hindustani.'
The Taliban has its backers, notably Pakistan and China. Their purpose is to have a monstrous entity near India's northern borders to keep democratic, secular India off-guard, observes Amulya Ganguli.
"Due to scheduling reasons, it is inconvenient for China to attend the meeting," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told mediapersons.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chose Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new Army chief to replace incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Heading G20 will give India a foreign affairs year like it has never had in history. You can trust Narendra Modi to exploit this to India's benefit. And, of course, to his own in his election year, explains Shekhar Gupta.
Taliban failed to honour Doha accord, never renounced Al-Qaeda: US general Mark Milley
'We can't be outliers. We can't be bystanders. We have to be players.' 'The Taliban also need India to balance the winners in this game.'
'When the Taliban took over there was a genuine fear that they will harm me, but right now that fear is not there.'
Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin have quietly exchanged letters to strengthen bilateral relations, a media report said on Sunday, amidst allegations by Imran Khan that his maiden visit to Moscow, much against Washington's wishes, led to his ouster.
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
The 34 surviving Sikhs from Afghanistan, who were rescued from an airtight shipping container in the UK after an 18-hour ordeal, have sought asylum in the country.
A Pakistani court on Monday barred the government from booking Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind, in any other case without its permission after his counsel argued that "false" cases might be slapped against him to keep him in jail.
'Afghanistan could once again become a failed state, posing threat to its own people as also the international community', says a UNDP report.
Does Reuters want to cover news at 'all costs' -- even at the cost of human lives? asks Sudhir Bisht.
As United States President Barack Obama is about to finalise his new policy on Afghanistan, his envoy to the country has expressed his misgivings about sending more troops to the war-torn nation and raised questions on the capability of Hamid Karzai as head of the state.The two strongly worded classified cables, sent to Obama last week, were believed to have been discussed by Obama with his key national security and defence aides at the White House on Wednesday.
Our societies and people have had age old ties and links, says Modi.
