National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon has reached Kabul to review the security of Indians working on several development projects across Afghanistan.
In what highlights the strained relationship between the two neighbouring countries, a top Afghanistan official has urged the United States to impose sanctions on Pakistan and refuse visas to military generals of that country.Afghanistan's National Security Adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta hurled severe accusations on Pakistani generals, saying there are definite reports that they have terror links.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed officials to ensure safe evacuation of all Indian citizens from Afghanistan and to provide refuge to Sikhs and Hindus wanting to come to India from there, as he chaired a crucial high-level meeting in the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country, sources said.
'Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region.' 'It's crucial for the USA to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics.' 'India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone.'
Doval's visit to Moscow comes weeks ahead of the G-20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi.
An ISIS-Khorasan planner was killed in a "counterterrorism" operation conducted by US military forces in the Nangahar province, a day after a terror attack in Kabul killed scores of people including 13 US troops.
Deputy director for the People's Liberation Army Office for International Military Cooperation Major General Huang Xueping held a video conference with his US counterpart Michael Chase last week.
The embassy cited the rescue of the engineers in fresh security advisory while calling upon all Indians in Afghanistan to strictly adhere to the measures advised by it in view of a spike in violence in that country.
A confrontation with the Taliban in Kabul in this fading light of a twilight zone would have been sheer madness, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Contradicting Asif's claim, the office of the Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar issued a statement saying there was no mention or reference of India or an Indian citizen during his meeting with the Pakistani foreign minister on September 21 in New York.
'They are both very individualistic and have similar personalities.'
"The 'red bag' belonged to one of the hijackers, it contained explosives, and possibly, real passports, too.
India is likely to send a high-level delegation, headed by the minister, given the conference's importance.
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
The commander of United States forces in Afghanistan General Scott Miller returned from the country almost winding up the longest American war, even as Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin assured that America's Afghan mission is not yet over and that it would continue to support Kabul.
'Our friends are going to get killed. Taliban are going to kill us. Our women are not going to have any more rights'
'We see India as a cornerstone of our engagement with this hugely important region of the world.'
In the wake of last week's Kabul attack, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon will travel to Kabul on Friday to discuss security of about 4000 Indians working on developmental projects across Afghanistan, for which the government has certain proposals.
A team of Indian investigators is in Kabul, joining a probe being conducted by Afghan authorities into last Friday's terror attack in which Indians associated with reconstruction works were targeted.
'The Indian government is better prepared this time and has reached out to all contenders and not putting all eggs in one basket.'
'This does not appear to be a crash. Had it been one, then the debris would have been found... Al Qaeda today has greater presence around the world... If the West withdraws completely, Afghanistan will rely on Pakistan which in turn will use the situation to pursue its own agenda...' Ajit Doval, former director, Intelligence Bureau, speaks to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
United States special envoy Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday met National Security Adviser M K Narayanan in New Delhi. According to reports, the two discussed how India could help Washington's strategy aimed at ending terror threats emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan.Holbrooke, the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was accompanied by Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.Holbrooke is also meeting Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.
US special forces will soon launch new operations to hunt world's most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden who the Americans believe is holed up in rugged terrain along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
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.
The 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team cites a UN Member State as saying that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Deobandi group ideologically closer to the Taliban "maintains eight training camps in Nangarhar, three of which are directly under Taliban control."
"Ambassador Mittal raised India's concern that Afghanistan's soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner," it added.
United States National Security Adviser James Jones met his Indian counterpart M K Narayanan in New Delhi on Thursday evening and is understood to have shared with him assessment of the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Jones, who arrived in NDelhi on Thursday after a tour of Afghanistan and Pakistan, met Narayanan at his South Block office.
The China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to revive diplomatic ties should not be a matter of concern for India as the pact would provide regional stability and would be beneficial for New Delhi's interests as well, Iranian ambassador Iraj Elahi said on Friday.
He said the tragic incident, however, would not dampen Indo-Afghan relations
'There is an understanding between the people of two countries that violence is not going to solve the Kashmir issue. A final understanding will take time,' says former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra.
Undeterred by last week's attack, India on Saturday declared that it will continue its developmental activities in Afghanistan without scaling down presence even as it suspended operations of its medical mission in Kabul hit by injuries to most of its members.
Denuclearising North Korea and stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons are the goals of the US, said Trump.
In the first preparatory meeting for the November visit of President Barack Obama, India and the US discussed ways to push their ties to match the potential and expectations of the two countries.
In a significant policy shift, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has agreed to send a group of military officers to Pakistan for training, a decision which could raise eyebrows in India.
He said the JeM handler, who is in his late 20s, was in the tribal area of Pakistan when he communicated around 18 times with the terrorists.
President Barack Obama's much respected National Security Adviser, Retd James L Jones made clear that while the President's new comprehensive strategy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan includes encouraging a rapprochement between India and Pakistan, it will absolutely not include any efforts to bring about a resolution of the Kashmir imbroglio.
The Taliban forces operating out of Pakistan's Swat region pose a common threat to India and the United States, besides the host country, America's special envoy Richard Holbrooke suggested in New Delhi on Monday. The envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, said he had sought the Indian leadership's assessment of the situation.
New Delhi should constantly bear in mind that despite Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani's soft-spoken approach, crucial decisions on relations with India, particularly on terrorism-related issues, will remain in the hands of the Punjabi-dominated Pakistani military
Former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra said on Thursday that senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union Home Minister L K Advani was aware of all the key decisions taken with regard to the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar, Afghanistan.
"We've been told every time that... (the phone call) will happen, it's technical reasons or whatever. But frankly, people don't believe it," he said. "If a phone call is a concession, if a security relationship is a concession, Pakistan has options," he added, refusing to elaborate.
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