Former champions Kolkata Knight Riders will look to strike a perfect balance under the astute leadership of Eoin Morgan when they open their IPL campaign against a consistent Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on Sunday.
'If Islamic extremists regain power in Afghanistan, Pakistan will lead them to Kashmir as a fighting arena again. India needs to fortify Kashmir and prepare against these Islamic extremists before they come again.'
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting of top security and civil officials ahead of holding talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of a regional conference in Islamabad.
Specially designated global terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who carries a reward of $10 million US bounty on his head, is the acting interior minister while his uncle -- Khalil Haqqani -- has been named as acting minister for refugees.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday held a meeting with the army chief and other top civil and military leadership where he discussed the security situation and his upcoming US visit during.
'Should the new ISIS leadership opt for a consolidation, the Afghan-Pakistan border would be an attractive place,' warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz brings to New Delhi a newfound Pakistani confidence, stemming from its leverage in Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
Shaken by the Taliban terror attack in which 148 people, including 132 school children, were killed in Peshawar on Tuesday, Pakistan has pledged to announce a "national plan" to tackle terrorism within a week with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying "this entire region" should be cleaned of terrorism.
The reduction of tension on the Chinese border may have reduced the urgency of a Biden-Modi meeting, but the sooner Modi starts a bromance with Biden the better as he had done with Obama and Trump, suggests Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
September 12 marked the 122th anniversary of one of the most incredible battles in Indian history.
'We are the first government that has started disarming militant groups. This is the first time it's happening. We've taken over their institutes, their seminaries. We have administrators there'
The ineptness of successive American presidents, from Bush the Younger to Joe Biden the Old, combined with the cluelessness that Americans demonstrate in foreign lands, contrasts with the Chinese leadership's seemingly singular focus on the accumulation of wealth and power, asserts T N Ninan.
Trump suggested a stronger military response is imminent.
Khan in his message on Pakistan's Defence and Martyrs Day said his government has launched a proactive diplomatic campaign in the world capitals and at the United Nations to apprise the world community about Kashmir after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5.
'What should worry India and which needs to be expressed is Russia's simultaneous proximity to both China and Pakistan from a strategic angle. That hasn't happened ever before,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The number of people killed in acts of terror reached a record high last year, with almost four in five of these deaths occurring in just five countries, new research shows.
'Pakistan's provision of safe haven to the LeT a will probably continue to be a key irritant in relations with India'
But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the humiliation to which the Taliban subjected it in the IC-814 hijack, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Nawaz Sharif was the last Pakistani prime minister to visit the US on an official trip in October 2015.
'China's growing nexus with Pakistan and the two countries' unresolved territorial disputes with India continue to pose a formidable national security threat to India,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The Modi government would chaff at the very idea of holding talks with Pakistan, facilitated by Washington and under close US monitoring, when the 2019 poll is sailing into view.' 'But in politics and diplomacy, there may be moments when drinking from the chalice of poison is necessary,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A controversy has erupted over the portrayal of the Jat king of Bharatpur in the movie.
In a blunt message, the United States has asked Pakistan to intensify efforts to counter terrorist sanctuaries inside its borders and take concrete steps against the dreaded Haqqani network responsible for major attacks on American installations in Afghanistan.
'Any 'de-escalation' that brings down tensions will deprive the BJP of a plank with seamless possibilities to project PM Modi as the 'Iron prime minister' and hype up jingoism in the upcoming election campaign,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad launched to fight terrorism across country.
Foreign Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif claimed that he received received a proposal to swap Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav for a terrorist who carried out the horrific 2014 Peshawar school attack and is now jailed in Afghanistan.
Pakistan received a proposal to swap Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav for a terrorist who carried out the horrific 2014 Peshawar school attack and is now jailed in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif has claimed.
"The FATF plenary decided continuation of Pakistan in 'Grey List' till its next meeting to be held in October," an official privy to the development told PTI.
'The Pakistan army is trying to mainstream the LeT.'
Many world leaders on Monday condoled the death of former president Pranab Mukherjee, saying they have lost a true friend who made immense contributions to the strengthening of India's relations with their countries.
'Jaish aided by LeT attacked Parliament knowing mobilisation of Indian military assets would be the consequence.' 'That mobilisation happened, necessitating a military response from Musharraf who moved troops guarding back doors out of Tora Bora, facilitating Osama's escape.'
'The ISI has given a stunning display of its capacity to do with impunity what it likes within Kabul. Incensed over the triumphalism of the hardliners in Kabul, the ISI has hit out; it is a typical ISI reflex action that Indians are familiar with,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The greatest threat faced by India does not come from Pakistan, it comes from terrorism... It is easier to secure the borders of the US; it is not so easy to make India's borders secure,' Pulizer Prize-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti tells Rediff.com's Sanchari Bhattacharya.
India offers $1 billion towards Afghanistan's development during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's visit.
'History will repeat itself after a decade or so and historians will point to the folly of May 2017 as the event that sowed the seeds of another 9/11,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Alam Khattak told the Senate Standing Committee on Defence on Wednesday that RAW had set up a 'special cell' to sabotage the ambitious CPEC.
'Modi's decision to hold out an olive branch to Sharif within 48 hours of the 'surgical strikes' has been a timely move as it helps tensions to 'de-escalate',' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan, which has propped up the new Taliban leadership, would be keen to use its influence over the group to neutralise India's presence in the region.
Beijing's political risks are also escalating because of a renewed wave of public anger in many parts of Balochistan against human rights abuses by Pakistani troops deployed to crush the low-intensity insurgency in the province, the report said.
Rediff.com takes a look at the joint operation Shakti that focused on physical fitness, tactical drills, techniques and procedure.
