A high-level group of Afghan, Pakistani and American officials will meet on Thursday for the first time since September last year for talks on the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, including efforts to involve the Taliban in negotiations.
US Central Command commander General Joseph Votel conveyed this to Islamabad during a visit last week.
No tears are shed for the thousands of American soldiers killed in Afghanistan by Pakistan's proxies such as the Afghan Taliban, says South Asia expert Professor C Christine Fair. Aziz Haniffa reports.
The agreement would divert China's attention and keep them busy in the Pacific theatre, probably resulting in a reduction in threat perception in our area of interest in the Indian Ocean, notes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Through the different ups and downs of my country, India has played a great positive role. The Afghan and Indian people should know this,' says Afghan Ambassador Masood Khalili.
United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday said that the killing of innocent Afghan civilians is outrageous and unacceptable, but asserted he would continue with the strategy to responsibly drawdown troops from Afghanistan.
"Unless Pakistan demonstrates a willingness to actively squeeze Taliban insurgents on its soil and use its leverage to bring them to compromise with the US and Afghan authorities, the US should consider alternative policy options to stem terrorism in the region," Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation, said.
The Afghanistan ministers of defence and interior have cancelled their scheduled visit to the United States this week to focus on controlling the spiralling tensions back home in the wake of the burning of Qurans at a US-run military base.
After accusing Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence of supporting the Haqqani terror network, the Obama administration is now relying on the spy agency to help it organise and begin "reconciliation talks" aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, a media report said in New York.
The United States has the right to target the Haqqani network that not only kills American troops in Afghanistan, but also sponsors Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, said Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
American drones regularly target terrorists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said in a first such acknowledgment by the top US leadership on its highly successful but secretive programme.
A top American Senator has warned Pakistan that the US would have no other option but to resort to "self-help" if Islamabad does not become more cooperative in the war against terrorism.
Pakistani forces are combing its northwestern regions for Al Qaeda members near the Afghan border.
Here's why Rajeev Srinivasan believes there will be nothing particularly positive about the prime minister's US visit.
As Pakistan continues to block the NATO supply routes to Afghanistan after deadly November 24 incident and no change seen in its policies with regard to its links with extremist groups, America's patience with Pakistan is growing thinner, US officials feel.
'Should the new ISIS leadership opt for a consolidation, the Afghan-Pakistan border would be an attractive place,' warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The Defa-e-Pakistan Council, a grouping of 40 radical groups cobbled together by LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, has warned that it will not allow even food supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan to pass through the country.
United States special envoy Marc Grossman on Thursday met Pakistan's top civil and military leadership as part of efforts to salvage bilateral relations following the covert American operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden.
The Obama administration on Thursday said that there is no bearing on the current aid structure to the House bill that freezes $ 700 million aid to Pakistan; which a United States State Department spokesperson argued only requires a certification and that too has a waiver clause.
Saying that the branch along with counter-terrorism section were critical wings of the ISI, Ijaz has alleged that the S Branch conspires intervention in other countries like Afghanistan as well as manipulate elections, politicians and groups within Pakistan.
Both the meetings with the leaders of India and Pakistan would be held in New York on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, a senior administration official told reporters on Friday in a preview of Trump's engagements in the Big Apple next week.
The United States Army continues to investigate the tragic killing of 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar, the Pentagon has said but remained unclear as to when the suspected American soldier would be charged.
The US president said America's foreign policy must be focused on the threat from IS and Al Qaeda.
A group of prominent United States lawmakers have urged the Pentagon to end the presumptive ban on Sikh Americans serving in the United States military.
The United States has asked Pakistan to make sure that intelligence information does not flow to the Haqqani network as part of efforts to squeeze the dreaded terror group that has attacked American interests in Afghanistan. A senior administration official said that there were a range of issues that could help to facilitate in squeezing the Haqqani network from the Pakistani side, and would be complementary to US efforts on the Afghan side of the border.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday gave a stern warning to Pakistan that the country will pay a "very big price" if it continued to allow its territories to be used as safe havens for terrorists who have crossed the border to attack Americans and Afghans.
Army chief General V K Singh has spoken recently of Chinese troops in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The impending American withdrawal from Afghanistan and the US-Pakistan divorce has the potential to destabilise the region. China may become more assertive in South Asia, feels Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
Pakistan's deteriorating security situation, its connection with Islamist militancy, and the implications for the United States and India relations came under focus during a lecture by American Foreign Policy Council Fellow Jeff M Smith, at the Indian consulate in New York recently.
The State Department and the White House too said that the US expects Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorists operating from its soil.
'US counter-terrorism policy was encouraging and emboldening the Indians to deal with the problem of Pakistani-supported terrorism once and for all.' 'The US had been trying to browbeat Pakistan into doing what it wants, with very limited success.'
United States President Barack Obama on Wednesday vowed to relentlessly hunt down terrorists from Pakistan to the streets of Paris and called on Congress to approve new war powers against Islamic State militants.
Donald Trump and General H R McMaster: It is almost like the Chinese monarch Helü with Sun Tzu at his side.
A rights group has said that the US-run detention system in Afghanistan operates entirely outside the rule of law.
An American national, working on a development project in Pakistan's restive tribal region, was kidnapped from his home here early this morning by a group of unidentified men.
'The problem with India and Pakistan can be solved by Pakistan by ceasing its support for Islamist terrorists operating in India, letting go of its baseless demands upon Kashmir, ceasing its support for terrorists attacking India assets in Afghanistan.'
Tillerson said the US will provide India with best technologies for its military modernisation which include offers to supply F-16 and F-18 fighter jets.
Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has "learned the lesson" of his predecessor General Pervez Musharraf and prefers staying behind the scene while manipulating the government's decision-making on key issues, according to secret American documents released by WikiLeaks.
FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Department on today's phone call between Prime Minister Khan and Secretary Pompeo".
If the wars continue, they are on track to require at least another $450 billion in Pentagon spending by 2020.
Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has not ruled out the possibility of an American ground offensive in North Waziristan, but told parliamentarians at a briefing that Washington will have to think many times before launching such an attack.
