The Taliban government in Afghanistan is not going anywhere. That being the case, why is the hesitation to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
"Our role (in the Afghan peace process) will remain that of a facilitator and not a leader... allowing the Taliban to open an office in Pakistan will be contrary to our principled position," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying by an unnamed aide.
Simultaneously more than 60 countries led by the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement urging those in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan to bear responsibility and accountability for the protection of human life and property, and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order.
As tensions mounted in the Persian Gulf, Pakistan on Thursday assured Iran that it will not provide any assistance to American forces in the event of a United States attack on Tehran.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday condemned what he described as India's 'brutal' handling of protests in Jammu and Kashmir.
"That has its own significance of resolving our problems between Pakistan and Afghanistan, misunderstanding between Pakistan and Afghanistan," Musharraf said.
'The curtain is coming down on India's leadership role as a regional power even before the drama of the Asian Century truly began,' warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
All the four gunmen, who had stormed the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Herat province early on Friday, have been gunned down, Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief Subhas Goswami said.
Strongly condemning the terrorist strikes in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, India has told the United Nations Security Council that these attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists.
Taliban also blamed the US for encouraging the Afghan elite to leave the country, Tolo News reported.
Afghan presidential run-off candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday alleged massive election fraud and demanded an immediate halt to vote-counting amid reports that his rival had a million-vote lead, plunging the war-torn country's first democratic transition of power into question.
'The really striking thing is that the Taliban has suo moto presented to us certain firm benchmarks against which it expects us to hold to account the Taliban rulers's actions in the period ahead' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan tried to undermine the Afghan government led by ex-president Hamid Karzai for helping "India stab Pakistan in the back".
Aziz Haniffa reports from Washignton, DC, on Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh's three-day visit to the US capital.
Pakistan on Saturday released former Afghan Taliban deputy chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, meeting a long-standing demand of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to advance peace efforts in the war-ravaged country.
As the western forces prepare to leave Afghanistan in the coming year, India stands at a crossroads where it remains keen to preserve its interests in Afghanistan but has refused to step up its role as a regional security provider. New Delhi needs to recognise that there is no short-cut to major power status, says Harsh V Pant
Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani -- the two presidential candidates in Afghanistan -- are good friends of India and the country will work very closely with whoever wins the election, a top Indian diplomat said.
Britain on Thursday warned that there was a 'very credible' report of an 'imminent' terrorist attack by the Islamic State terrorists targeting those gathering at Kabul airport in an attempt to flee war-torn Afghanistan.
India on Friday sought resolute and comprehensive global action against terror infrastructure, saying the challenge must be taken seriously as different "theatres" are getting interconnected through terror networks as well as globalisation of the "supply chain of ideology".
Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba was responsible for the terror attack at the Indian Consulate in Afghanistan's Herat province last month, the US said on Wednesday.
The president said the ISIS-K was behind the gruesome attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and at a hotel nearby.
The Council adopted the resolution proposed by France, the United Kingdom and the United States with 13 Council members voting in favour and Russia and China abstaining.
P B Chandra reports from Kabul on the Afghan presidential election, that has entered a run-off stage for the first time. The battle now is between the two frontrunners Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, with Abdullah holding the edge.
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday promised to "stand together" with Pakistan in the war against terrorism and nudged his counterpart Nawaz Sharif to help clinch a peace deal with Afghanistan before NATO's withdrawal from the war-torn nation next year.
Describing India's concerns as legitimate, a top United States official has said that there is no immediate danger of foreign fighters from Afghanistan moving towards the Indian border after 2014, when American troops leave the country.
A special Indian Air Force repatriation flight ferrying 168 evacuees from Kabul landed at the Hindon air base in Ghaziabad on Sunday.
The terrorist attack was carried out by ISIS gunmen, General Kenneth Franklin McKenzie, Commander of the United States Central Command, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday, hours after the terrorists opened gunfire at American soldiers standing outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Much has been said about Friday's attack on the Indian consulate in Heart and the connection it has with the invitation sent out to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. While a few believe that the two could be connected, officers who have worked in Afghanistan-Pakistan say the issues are completely different. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins is stepping down, Secretary of State John Kerry today said amid a political crisis in the war-torn country.
The US military efforts in Afghanistan were akin to filling a bucket that had gaping holes, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
"Op Devi Shakti in action! @IAF_MC flight with 24 Indian and 11 Nepalese evacuees from Kabul is on its way to Delhi. #DeviShakti," external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted in the morning.
"They advised the President and Vice President that another terror attack in Kabul is likely, but that they are taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul Airport," a White House official said.
"The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA. They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step," Emily Horne, Spokesperson of the National Security Council, the White House said.
India has sought access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley, the Mumbai terror attack convict now lodged in a US prison, as it insisted on bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 assault.
The US has the distinction of destroying a flawed but functioning State thrice since 1979. Pakistan has been their constant accomplice, explains Shekhar Gupta.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India will continue to extend all support to the Afghanistan as a contiguous neighbour, in a clear reference that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir belongs to India.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
India's immediate priorities have been the safe return of the Indians still in Afghanistan, bringing back the Afghan nationals who stood by New Delhi, and ensuring that Afghan soil is not used for terrorism directed at India
'We had a long chat here on the boundary talking about it and he's worried: he can't get his family out of Afghanistan and there's a lot of things happening for him.'
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