'India could help in Afghanistan, but if it does too much, it will stoke Pakistan's paranoia and risk making the situation worse,' Michael O'Hanlon, one of America's leading experts on international security, tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
Joe Biden, seeking a second term in the White House, stumbled in his first televised presidential debate with his predecessor Donald Trump, setting off alarm bells among top Democrats about whether the incumbent President can stay atop in the gruelling months ahead of the elections.
'In the West, the Taliban is known for its medieval barbarism, public executions, stoning of women for adultery. But for many Afghans now, they are respectable -- as the Taliban provides security,' says noted writer William Dalrymple in a two part interview with rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.
To ensure safe passage of its supply convoys throughout Afghanistan, warlords in the country are getting tens of millions of dollars of American money, some of which may be reaching the Taliban as well, a new report has said.
Pakistan's powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif has asked the United States to target the hideouts of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan terrorists and their chief Mullah Fazlullah in Afghanistan.
With the gradual withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan, time has now come for India to send its military inside that country, a top American lawmaker has said. "It makes sense for the two largest democracies to be military allies. On Afghanistan, India, as you know, as a security establishment, is already fighting over 30 insurgencies or guerilla operations," Senator Mark Kirk said at a discussion forum organised by a Washington-based think tank.
The nature of war and its purpose remains unchanged. The change is in the character of war in terms of a man-machine mix, domination of sensors and certain automation of the tactics and methods of war, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Noting that the American counter-terrorism strategy against Al Qaeda has been "extremely successful", United States President Barack Obama has said India and Pakistan have an interest in ensuring Afghanistan is "not engulfed in constant strife".
Rajeev Srinivasan on India's reduced options in Afghanistan, now that it seems like the Americans have finally lost the war
In a daring rescue operation, elite American commandos have rescued an Indian-American doctor who was in the custody of the Taliban in Afghanistan, losing one Navy SEAL and killing seven insurgents.
The US President said that justice has been delivered.
Frank Ruggiero, a career civil servant who served under late United States diplomat Richard Holbrooke, has been made the acting US special representative to the Af-Pak region and will be assisted by two deputies, one of them an Indian-American named Vikram Singh.
Ambassador Chinmaya Gharekhan explains the situation in Iraq and Syria in this interview to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Pakistan and the United States on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding on transporting supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan through Pakistani territory after weeks of intense negotiations.
The United States will withdraw 33,000 Americans troops from Afghanistan by the summer of 2012, beginning with an initial drawdown of 10,000 surge forces by this year-end, President Barack Obama has said.
American military commanders operating with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation led mission in Afghanistan have informed US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, that they do not have enough troops to do their job, and are being pushed past their limit by Taliban rebels who operate across borders.
Big test for India, Eng; minnows likely to shake applecart
James F Dobbins, a veteran United States diplomat, has been named as the new special American envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, at a time when both countries are going through "a pivotal moment". Announcing his appointment, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "He has a deep and longstanding relationships in the region and I couldn't be more grateful that Jim has agreed to take on this assignment."
A US drone killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri at a house in Kabul, where he had been living with his family, on Saturday.
According to a New York Times report, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade is leading the operation, which has been described as the first major push in southern Afghanistan by the newly bolstered American force.
Dilip Joseph's employers, Colorado-based Morning Star Development, insisted that it did not pay any ransom to the Taliban for the release of the doctor, who worked with it for the last three years and has been a frequent traveller to Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama has issued orders to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan, the White House said without specifying the exact numbers.
'This award is funded by American money so I took this decision.'
Shrugging of the volley of criticism against him for listing conspiracy theories behind 9/11 attacks at the United Nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad underlined that his remarks were meant to help Americans.
The two countries that will be most affected by the internal developments in Pakistan are India and the United States, says Bob Blackwill. Aziz Haniffa reports
The already strained Washington-Kabul ties took a further jolt after recent photographs showed American soldiers posing with the mangled remains of suspected Taliban suicide bombers.
It seems Pakistani military was caught off guard not once but twice by the Americans who not only breached its airspace during the May 2 raid to kill Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, but also flew in back from Afghanistan hours later with his body on way to his sea burial.
Taliban militants have regrouped in Afghanistan turning it into a hot bed of insurgency, with the result that the strife-torn country now rivals Iraq as the biggest concern for American policymakers, a media report said on Saturday. Pentagon's first assessment of conditions in Afghanistan since the invasion began in 2001, in the form of a new defence report, reveals that fundamentalists have 'coalesced into a resilient insurgency' in the country.
India needs to shed its policy of lethargy and inhibitions to engage the Taliban with an intent to maintain its influence in Afghanistan. This would not just put a spanner in Pakistani designs, but also incentivise the Taliban not to be the puppets of GHQ, Rawalpindi, asserts Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd), who served on the Af-Pak desk at the Military Operations Directorate.
Senior United States lawmakers told a Capitol Hill conference that India was crucial for stability in Afghanistan and the region as US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces prepare to withdraw from that war ravaged country.
New Delhi has reached out to Moscow while waiting for a new president in Washington. New Delhi knows well that in international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes, only permanent national interests, points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Member-States must ensure that measures taken to counter terrorism comply with their obligations under international law, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general has said, asserting that the global body had "no information" about the whereabouts of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri killed by a US drone strike in Kabul.
Foreign policy is always a work in progress and ups and downs are built into foreign policy process. What is permanent is national interest. Hopefully, this year, which will also witness general elections in the country, will also clear clouds in the foreign policy horizon, observes Rup Narayan Das.
Pakistan is and will remain a major player in the final outcome in Afghanistan, an American think-tank has said, asserting that economic incentives can be given to Islamabad if it takes steps to restrain the Taliban operating from sanctuaries on its soil.
Indian-American doctor Dilip Joseph, who was rescued from Taliban's captivity in a daring operation in Afghanistan has thanked the US and Afghan forces for saving his life, after the physician returned home in Colorado.
