Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz brings to New Delhi a newfound Pakistani confidence, stemming from its leverage in Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
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.
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.
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.
'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'
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.
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.
Trump suggested a stronger military response is imminent.
'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.
Nawaz Sharif was the last Pakistani prime minister to visit the US on an official trip in October 2015.
A controversy has erupted over the portrayal of the Jat king of Bharatpur in the movie.
'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).
'Pakistan's provision of safe haven to the LeT a will probably continue to be a key irritant in relations with India'
'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.
"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.
'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.
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.
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.
Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad launched to fight terrorism across country.
'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.
India offers $1 billion towards Afghanistan's development during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's visit.
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.
'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.
'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.
Rediff.com takes a look at the joint operation Shakti that focused on physical fitness, tactical drills, techniques and procedure.
The outcome of the Bangkok NSA-level talks underscores that Pakistan has got exactly what it wanted -- talks at different levels, talks on Kashmir, talks on mutual concerns regarding terrorism, talks on ceasefire on the border. What if any has been India's gains remains unexplained, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan faces a challenge largely of its own creation and only political processes can correct it, argues Raza Rumi.
India must watch for signs after Peshawar that Pakistan is waking up to the dangers of Islamism, muses Ajai Shukla
Barack Obama has said that he had ruled out involving Pakistan in the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout because it was an "open secret" that certain elements inside Pakistan's military, and especially its intelligence services, maintained links to the Taliban and perhaps even al-Qaeda, sometimes using them as strategic assets against Afghanistan and India.
'Perhaps the biggest indication was its striking decision in November to delink LeT from its aid certification process.' 'The administration decided that the US, in order to send military aid to Pakistan, would not need to certify that Pakistan is cracking down on LeT.' 'Perhaps the administration was trying to offer a carrot -- in effect, we're backing off on LeT, but in return we expect you (Pakistan) to go after the Haqqanis.' 'Either way, the optics were dreadful for the US given that Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest a few days after the US move.' 'The US reacted angrily, but eventually it moved on, and refocused on its core concern: The Afghan-focused terror groups.'
'India serves itself poorly with its latter-day discovery of Pakistan as an instrument in domestic politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
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