He will visit Kabul on February 15 before flying the same day to Islamabad for talks with Pakistani leaders.
The chief of the Islamic State militant group in Af-Pak region has been killed in a US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan, three days after another top leader of the terror outfit died in a similar American air assault, a media report said on Saturday.
James F Dobbins, a veteran United States diplomat, has been named as the new special American envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, at a time when both countries are going through "a pivotal moment". Announcing his appointment, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "He has a deep and longstanding relationships in the region and I couldn't be more grateful that Jim has agreed to take on this assignment."
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated two veteran diplomats to be the US ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan.Almost two months after the incumbents resigned, Obama nominated James B Cunningham as the new US Ambassador to Afghanistan and Richard G Olson as the new envoy to Pakistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to form a Joint Reconciliation Commission comprising the Foreign Ministers and military and intelligence officials as part of enhanced bilateral consultations in the run-up to the reduction US troops in the war-torn country.
'Worshippers weren't killed during prayers even in India or Israel but it happened in Pakistan'
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has conveyed to her German counterpart Guido Westerwelle Pakistan's decision not to participate in the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan to protest against a cross-border North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Khar informed Westerwelle of the Pakistan government's decision during a phone conversation on Friday night. She conveyed her appreciation for Germany's commitment to peace and stability in Afghan
'I also wish he would lead a spiritual life, confessing his past involvement in criminal activities'
Billed as an indication of the country's gradual return to normality after decades of war and violence, the 6,000-seater stadium was sold out and the jubilant crowd cheered at every pass, erupting into a frenzy when game ended 3-0 to Afghanistan.
"History is full of examples where we didn't focus too much on exit strategy. A good exit strategy is one which leaves that country, that area, peaceful, economically and politically empowered," Shaukat Aziz said.
His release from the central prison on Thursday was delayed by a day as the Department of Immigration, where Sobhraj was to be sent for deportation, did not have a separate room ready for him.
'How can any religion have anything to do with terrorism? How was Islam equated with terrorism? And once that happens, how does a man in the western country differentiate between a moderate Muslim and a radical Muslim'
India is placed in Group B alongside debutants Uganda, South Africa and Ireland for the ICC Under-19 men's cricket World Cup, to be held in the West Indies across four countries from January 14 to February 5 2022.
Two days later, Afghanistan and Pakistan are still trying to dig out people from the rubble, even as panic spreads across the region.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
The US drone strike that killed Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri on the balcony of a safe house in downtown Kabul points to the use of secret Hellfire missiles by the CIA as there was no explosion and, according to American President Joe Biden, "no civilian casualties" either.
Pakistan's efforts for the peace process in Afghanistan would be remembered for long, he said.
Al Qaeda's reclusive chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who played a central role in the 9/11 terror attacks and later created the group's regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent, was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan's Kabul, in the biggest blow to the global terror network since killing of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011 in Pakistan.
Ramiz Raja part of ICC working group formed to review cricket in Afghanistan
Reigning champions Bangladesh bounce back against Canada.
The 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team cites a UN Member State as saying that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Deobandi group ideologically closer to the Taliban "maintains eight training camps in Nangarhar, three of which are directly under Taliban control."
The confirmation of Hamza's death has come more than a month after the US media reported that he was killed, citing the US intelligence officials.
Even though the Taliban has managed to capture Afghanistan and form a government, an internal rift between the faction has started emerging, according to media reports.
General Bipin Rawat was given the guideline by the prime minister to achieve the integration of the three forces by the 75th year of India's Independence. This should be carried forward with utmost speed.
'It will remain hostile to Indian interests owing to its close proximity to China.'
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.
Special envoys of China, Russia and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban's interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive government, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wednesday.
After a decade spent trying to woo back cricket's international elite, Pakistan is facing the prospect of being declared the game's no-go area again, and the anger is palpable.
Pakistan, the report said, has played an active, and by many accounts, a negative role in Afghan affairs for decades.
'Since many people are vaccinated, this virus is now concentrating on the throat and the nose and replicating fast and transmitting also very fast.' 'That's because the current vaccines will not be able to fight it when it is in the throat, nose or the mouth.'
Speaking at an event in Mumbai organised by Pune-based Global Strategic Policy Foundation, he said 'sane' Muslim leaders should stand firmly against fundamentalists and added the minority community does not have to fear anything in India as Hindus don't hold enmity towards anyone.
China on Monday expressed the hope that the Taliban will stand by its commitment of establishing an "open and inclusive" Islamic government in Afghanistan and will ensure a peaceful transition of power without violence and terrorism.
India are 2nd in ICC T20 rankings after annual update.
"In our statement, we have said that we have told them that we want them to be cognisant of the fact that there should be no terrorism that emanates from their territory directed against us, or other countries; that we want them to be mindful of the status of women, minorities and so on so forth. And, and I think they have, also, you know, made reassuring... from their side," foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.
In the petition, the government stated that the act violates "Articles 14, 21, and 25 of the Constitution of India" and is violative of the basic structure principle of secularism as well.
The terrible beauty of Doval's initiative is that it is all about a new journey rather than about a set compass pointing toward a pre-determined destination, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The remarks by China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, came during an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday after the sudden and rapid takeover of the Afghanistan government by the Taliban insurgents.
'By killing innocent people, they are using Sun Tzu's tactics of 'kill one, terrify thousands.'
In India, the anniversary of 26/11 comes and goes with only the bare minimum of remembrance. We don't even bother very much about honouring those who acted with great bravery that day, rues Vir Sanghvi.
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