Sections in the US State Department and Pentagon have always felt more comfortable dealing with all powerful Pakistani generals instead of elected civilians, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
'With the US having entered the war, raising the risks of a wider conflict, those impacts could be even more damaging.'
'Trump is likely being purposefully vague, hoping that this lack of clarity will pressure India, fearing the worst, to agree to scale back its imports of Russian oil.'
'Trump's sons, and the son of Trump's Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff, are in the crypto business and recently signed deals with Pakistan's crypto council.' 'It may not be coincidental that not long before the Trump-Munir meeting, the head of Pakistan's crypto council met with Trump's White House crypto policy czar.'
'Munir hopes to solidify his hold on power.'
'Surgical strikes or air strikes, or both, are likely on the table.'
'...without massive amounts of force.'
'He is intrigued by the intractability of Kashmir issue. With his interest in dealmaking and peacebrokering, he sees it as an exciting challenge to tackle.'
'A less tense US-China relationship would make Beijing less likely to provoke India -- including on the border -- in retaliation for its close defence ties with the US.'
'Trump administration wanted a positive tone at this summit, but there was still some anxiety that there could be some awkward moments -- and there were not.'
While Canada denies harbouring extremists or terrorists, Kugelman pointed out that India remains firm in its disagreement.
'The border deal offers a hedge for India against Trump's unpredictability when it comes to his approach to competition with China.'
'Trump will absolutely back New Delhi on its position that Pakistan must do more to crack down on terrorists that threaten India.'
Experts say Canada's allegations regarding the Indian government's involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada 'could be most significant test of strength of US-India partnership since early 2000s'.
'He's charismatic, a populist, very popular, and indeed a cult of personality.' 'That ensures a powerful reaction from his support base -- even if it's not sustained, it will be quite intense, and that's worrisome for stability.'
'US officials must grapple with the possibility that one of its closest partners attempted an extrajudicial killing on its soil.' 'This is not something that friends typically do to friends.'
'If Trudeau chooses to repeat his allegations in his UN speech on Friday, it would create a whole new escalation.'
The US drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri has raised questions over Pakistan's possible role in the raid amid reports suggesting that the country's airspace could have been used for carrying out the precision strike on the Al Qaeda chief's safe house in Kabul.
'Abstaining from the UN vote would not have sent a strong enough message to register the great concern India has about the plight of Palestinian civilians,' Michael Kugelman tells Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com
'Modi would not restrain himself if India suffered a major terror attack traced back to Pakistani terrorists. He has suggested this; his aides have suggested this; and the BJP's election manifesto has suggested this.' 'Modi would simply not be as restrained as his predecessor,' Michael Kugelman, an Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson Centre think-tank in Washington, DC, tells Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com
'The senior army leadership has no interest in reconciling with Imran Khan, and no interest in seeing him return to power.'
The full-court press on India over Ukraine, the BBC 'documentary', the Oxfam report, the Hindenburg attack on Adani and obliquely on the Indian economy, and any number of other acts are signs that India is a target, warns Rajeev Srinivasan.
'While the US-Pakistan relationship has been stabilised, it's still mired in uncertainty.'
'The last thing he would want is new tensions with India.'
'Many senior officers are unhappy with him, but many lower level officers are still supportive.' 'This is also not something that has happened for a long time. So this is certainly a milestone.'
'Washington appears to be playing the long game, and making the argument to India that over the longer term, Russia -- sanctioned, cash-strapped, isolated by the West -- will no longer be a viable defence partner for India'
'Forget about sending in troops or raining down missiles, but don't rule out occasional covert operations that target specific terrorist leaders.'
'He could indeed survive [the no confidence vote] even as he faces his biggest political test.'
'Throughout the nearly 20-year US-led war, State sponsorship from Pakistan has been a constant.'
Scholar Michael Kugelman said that until Pakistan is willing to target extremists operating within the country, ordinary Pakistanis will continue to suffer.
'The India-Pakistan relationship is in a deep freeze, though it could be a lot worse had there not been a new LoC ceasefire a year ago.' 'The India-Pakistan relationship will only start to thaw if the Pakistani military decides it's prepared to push for detente.'
United States President Barack Obama's proposed visit to India in January next year is a great opportunity to strengthen and expand bilateral strategic partnership, top American administration officials and experts have said.
'The killings are a worrisome escalation of tensions, but little is known about the immediate causes or results of the fight in Galwan and it is not possible, at this point, to assign blame'
'The worst case scenario for Pakistan is a full-scale Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.' 'Pakistani militants would be inspired and emboldened and seek to replicate the Taliban's successes in Pakistan.'
To mark Prime Minister Modi's seventh meeting with Obama and his historic joint address to US Congress -- the sixth Indian PM to do so -- India Abroad, the newspaper published from New York and owned by rediff.com, reached out to diplomats and strategic thinkers in New Delhi and Washington, DC, to assess the current state of the US-India relationship and suggest a road map for the future.
'But an overthrow of the Afghan government would really embolden regional militant groups in a big way.' 'LeT and JeM could be emboldened, and prompted to replicate in Kashmir what the Taliban did in Afghanistan.'
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
'Pakistan has robust incentive to turn heat on LoC.'
The relations between Pakistan and the US nosedived this January after US President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists.
They warned that Islamabad wants to send a 'strong message' to India against isolating it on the world stage.
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