Afghanistan witnessed a series of terror attacks in the last few weeks as the US aimed to complete the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan by August-end, ending a nearly two-decade of its military presence in the war-ravaged country.
The world is seeing an "explosion" in seizures of power by force and military coups are back, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told world leaders on Tuesday, lamenting that geopolitical divisions are undermining international cooperation as he called for strengthening global governance and re-igniting multilateralism.
'India would not like to see Pakistani domination and tutelage of Afghanistan against Indian security and economic interests.'
Due to political uncertainty following the collapse of the former government to the Taliban, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Saturday estimated that 500,000 Afghans will leave the country in the next four months.
Four Indians and an American, were killed during the five-hour long siege that ended early Thursday morning.
The accused identified as Mohd Mustaqeem, originally from Balarampur, Uttar Pradesh, was also in touch with the IS entities of Kashmir, added sources.
Terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday.
The US has said it will go ahead with its plan to conclude its Afghanistan mission by August 31, even as the evacuation effort, which is now in its "retrograde period", is facing an "ongoing and acute threat" from ISIS-K.
There's no rush to recognition from the United States or any country we have spoken with around the world. It will be very dependent on their behaviour and whether they deliver on what the expectations are of the global community, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
The United States is going to retain a laser focus on its counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said on Friday, and warned the Taliban of a forceful response to any attack on American forces or disruption of its operations at the Kabul airport.
US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he stands "squarely behind his decision" to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan as he blamed the Afghan leadership for giving in to the Taliban without any fight. He also warned the Taliban of swift and forceful response from the US if they attack American personnel or disrupt their operations in Afghanistan.
People familiar with the development said the Indians were flown back to Delhi as part of India's mission to evacuate its citizens and Afghan partners from Kabul following its takeover by the Taliban over a week back.
Trump had a hastily-arranged bilateral meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
Afghan forces ended the assault after 10 hours of gunfire.
Make no mistake, the Bangladeshi and Afghan missions in Chanakyapuri would report verbatim to their capitals the abrasive remarks attributed to the Indian leadership, casting a slur on their countries' political culture and national honour, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Robust military preparedness along the entire perimeter of our nation is the only iron-clad permanent guarantee for our security, asserts Vivek Gumaste.
Five soldiers were killed and 10 wounded, officials said. Two of the attackers blew themselves up, two were killed in fighting and one was captured.
India has not been invited to a crucial meeting being convened by Russia on the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan that is expected to see the participation of Pakistan, China and the US, people familiar with the development said on Thursday.
In a blunt assessment of terrorist safe havens in Pakistan, the Pentagon has told the United States Congress that the country is using militant groups as proxies to counter the superior Indian military.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday discussed issues relating to Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific during his bilateral meetings with global counterparts on the sidelines of the annual high-level UN General Assembly session.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has denied Taliban's claim and said that the resistance forces are present at all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight.
An Indian national, who was kidnapped by militants in Afghanistan nearly a month ago, was freed on Sunday following an operation by the security forces in that country. Muhammad Naeem, 40, who was kidnapped along with a Nepalese citizen on April 21, was in good condition. The men, contracted to supply logistics to Afghan police training camps, were kidnapped by unknown militants, while they were traveling in western Adraskan district bordering Iran.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
All Indians in the mission are safe, said MEA.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, discussed the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan amidst chaotic airlifts of Afghan civilians and diplomats by the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries before the August 31 deadline.
Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar has left for the US on his maiden visit to hold talks with top American officials on regional security, counter terrorism and intelligence issues.
In days of smart, networked technology and no shame over collateral damage, what will blow up next -- cars, mobile phones, TV sets, refrigerators? And where?, asks Shyam G Menon.
An Indian Air Force plane with 120 people on-board, including Indian envoy Rudrendra Tandon, landed on Tuesday at the Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat from Kabul in Afghanistan.
In a significant policy statement on the Taliban which is making big gains in its offensive in Afghanistan, China has asked it to make a "clean break" from all terrorist forces, especially the Al Qaida-backed Uyghur Muslim militant group ETIM fighting for the volatile Xinjiang province's independence.
Pakistan's deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who is in China on a four-day visit, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired the fifth round of the foreign minister-level China-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
President Barack Obama has said that the United States will reduce its troops to 9,800 in Afghanistan by the end of this year before a complete withdrawal takes place by the end of 2016.
This will be probably for the first time since the 9/11 attacks that the representative of a duly elected Afghan government and the Taliban would be meeting face-to-face for peace talks.
'Some Pakistani generals are saying -- a little more so now than before -- that the biggest threat to Pakistan is not external -- not India -- but internal.' 'The proof of that will be their change of policies and that is going to be the challenge,' Rakesh Sood, one of India's most distinguished diplomats, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
India on Tuesday said the evacuation of its embassy staff from Kabul has been completed and the focus now would be to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from the Afghan capital in view of the prevailing situation in the country.
Top security czars of India, Russia, Iran and five central Asian countries on Wednesday pledged to work for ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for global terrorism and called for the formation of an open and truly inclusive government in Kabul.
If New Delhi finds itself out in the cold in Afghanistan, both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have only themselves to blame. Each has been in power for a full decade from 2001, without reaching out to the Taliban, points out Ajai Shukla.
US President Barack Obama has expressed deepest condolences over air strike on a hospital in Afghanistan's Kunduz city that killed 19 people and asked the Pentagon to keep him apprised of the investigation into it.
Pakistan-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the prime minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.
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