India, along with some other members, objected to the proposal and due to lack of consensus or concurrence, the meet has been cancelled.
If the Taliban have proved one thing over these two decades, it is that they are way smarter than their big brother, observes Shekhar Gupta.
China on Monday expressed the hope that the Taliban will stand by its commitment of establishing an "open and inclusive" Islamic government in Afghanistan and will ensure a peaceful transition of power without violence and terrorism.
China may accord recognition to the new government in Kabul at an early opportunity, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
'Whatever comes in the minds of the Pakistani generals and Pakistan military, they just go for it.' 'They do not care about the consequences for their country or the consequences to the people of Pakistan.'
'India is threatened much more than the US by the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan.'
Images that capture what it was like living through 2021.
'India has to ensure its borders are properly sealed and there is no infiltration from PoK.
"Not only this, but we also helped the citizens of our neighbouring countries to return to their country when the COVID-19 pandemic had struck, irrespective of caste, religion, class, area etc," said minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt.
'It was a mission undertaken in darkness in every sense -- literally, because Afghanistan had no electricity at that time; and, metaphorically because Delhi historically dealt only with the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and the foreign ministry's vast archives had nothing to offer on the culture and politics of the northern tribes in the Hindu Kush.'
An opinion is steadily gaining ground in Muslim countries in India's 'extended neighbourhood' that the Modi government is adopting State policies that are decidedly 'anti-Muslim', warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the humiliation to which the Taliban subjected it in the IC-814 hijack, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The announcement follows Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh's brief stopover in Kabul earlier today en-route to Islamabad.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's low-key visit to Kabul on Thursday is a visit for "reassurance", said a diplomat who is one of the most well informed officials on Afghanistan in New Delhi. "When PM Singh will meet Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai he is likely to say that India is a friend of Afghanistan and Indians are standing shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghan's endeavour for peace and development."
'India should not be taken by surprise if the Biden administration seeks China's cooperation at some point,' alerts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, and the two leaders had a detailed discussion on the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
Heading G20 will give India a foreign affairs year like it has never had in history. You can trust Narendra Modi to exploit this to India's benefit. And, of course, to his own in his election year, explains Shekhar Gupta.
A full-fledged training, intelligence and combat module on Taliban, its leadership and their modus operandi is being prepared apart from specific case studies that have taken place in that country and the region, he said.
In a tweet on Sunday, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said, 'Recent developments in our volatile neighbourhood & the way Sikhs & Hindus are going through a harrowing time are precisely why it was necessary to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act.'
The US has the distinction of destroying a flawed but functioning State thrice since 1979. Pakistan has been their constant accomplice, explains Shekhar Gupta.
'The danger today is that out of sheer fatigue and exasperation, the US might cut loose and exit from Afghanistan leaving it to the region to cope with the debris, which it is ill-equipped to handle,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The hardliners in Delhi are in for a big disappointment,' predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
All things taken into consideration, the Taliban statement on Kashmir portends trouble ahead. The Taliban is notorious for doublespeak and when it says there is no link between the Kashmir issue and the Afghan settlement, the opposite must be taken into account as well, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Our societies and people have had age old ties and links, says Modi.
'Pakistan has worsted India in the Afghan proxy war and the defeat becomes a template of regional politics,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The flawed Indian policy toward Afghanistan is missing the woods for the trees. The Modi government doesn't have a 'big picture', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
The US should make it clear to Pakistan that Indian support for Afghanistan's stability poses no threat to its interests
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."
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh issued a statement in New Delhi on Thursday morning, before his departure for Kabul, on India completing the process of ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has met top Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, and held substantive discussions with them on the strategic bilateral ties and regional and global issues like the current situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized Kabul.
The NSA particularly highlighted the need for resolving outstanding issues as quickly as possible and talked about the need for maturity and sincerity in dealing with the issue.
New Delhi has consigned to itself the role of the underdog, says Ajai Shukla
Biden's lengthy remarks on Afghanistan contained no condemnatory references to the Taliban, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
This is the time to show the international community that contra Pakistan, it is India that remains a major partner of Afghanistan and therefore, India's concerns should not be ignored, says Harsh V Pant.
Facing intense pressure from the United States to act against militants thriving in its restive tribal region, Pakistani has blamed India and Afghanistan for stirring trouble in its northwestern areas and Balochistan province.Ruling Pakistan People's Party leader Rehman Malik, who functions as the interior minister and is a confidant of party chief Asif Ali Zardari, appealed to Pakistan's western allies, including the US, to stop India and Afghanistan's alleged activities.
Washington wants to extend the newly built Kabul-Kandahar highway.
More than anything else, Pathaan is a silent and subtle statement of Shah Rukh Khan about his place, his commitment to cinema and, if one can say, his politics, observes Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
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