The Taliban government will follow the pattern of the Iranian leadership.
"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.
'Afghanistan is a beautiful country but has no luck as far as lasting peace is concerned'
The strike by a Hellfire missile in Kabul on August 29, which was launched in an effort to kill ISIS-K planners, instead killed 10 civilians, he said.
Pakistan is making efforts at multiple levels for the Taliban government to have a soft landing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants the United States to reduce the visibility and intensity of its "intrusive" military operations, saying people of the war-torn nation have lost patience with the presence of American troops in their homes that could exacerbate Taliban insurgency.
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
All hopes of a breakthrough between the Afghan Taliban and the Hamid Karzai administration came to an end when Mulla Umar refused 35,000 government jobs for his fighters, the News International, Pakistan reported.
The Biden administration expects the Modi government to continue to remain as its loyal camp follower even as Washington continues to act in self-interests, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"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.
A few days before her assassination, Benazir Bhutto told journalist Hamid Mir that she was aware of the threats to her life but she believed that 'there is a difference between a politician and a leader. A politician always asks for sacrifices and a leader always sacrifices.' She said she was ready to sacrifice her life for Pakistan.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai might have described Pakistan and Afghanistan as 'co-joined' twins, but experts believe that there is underlying tension simmering between both nations.
The road ahead will be long and winding and much resistance can be expected from the high-flying 'hawks' in our skies. But that should not deter the policymakers from planning a road map with the 'big picture' in mind, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"You can change friends but not neighbours," Atal Bihari Vajpayee famously said this 15 years ago.
'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.
Terming reports of a rift between Washington and Kabul as "overstated", US President Barack Obama has moved to mend fences with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai stating that America will not cut out and run from the war-torn nation.
China's Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Acting Minister of Refugee Affairs of the Afghan caretaker government Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani attended the handover ceremony at the airport.
Even though the Taliban has managed to capture Afghanistan and form a government, an internal rift between the faction has started emerging, according to media reports.
For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan's president -- courtesy of the CIA, a media report on Monday said.
Musharraf also demanded that coalition fighting Taliban help spread economic development in Pashtun areas to wean them away from the Taliban and ensure that they do not join them.
Afghanistan is ripe and ready for more investments from India and offers a lot of opportunities.
"Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended," he said, thanking armed forces for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled -- in the early hours of Tuesday (August 31) -- with no further loss of American lives.
The US is not in a forgiving mood for being humiliated in such a manner by an insurgent force and made to look 'loser' internationally, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
United States President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai Friday agreed to speed up plans for moving Afghan forces into the security lead, while shifting American troops into a support role.
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.
China on Friday expressed shock at the deadly suicide attacks at Kabul airport, saying the security situation in Afghanistan remained "complicated and severe" and that Beijing will work with the international community to cope with terrorist threats and prevent the war-ravaged country from becoming a hotbed of terrorism.
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.
'It appears on the face of it that the Taliban of 2021 is not the same Taliban of 2001. There appears to be some difference. They are making mature statements. That is something we have to take note of,' former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha said
Imran Khan knows Pakistan is holding a strong hand and doesn't have to flaunt it while claiming victory. But Pakistan has learned from the experience of the 1990s -- high risk of going out on a limb, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'No other military in the world could accomplish what we and our allies and partners did in such a short span of time. That is a testament not only to our forces' capabilities and courage but also to our relationships and the capabilities of our allies and partners,' Austin said in a statement at the conclusion of the American mission in Afghanistan.
Pakistan on Friday said Afghanistan should properly check its facts before making allegations that a plot to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai was hatched on its soil. The Afghan intelligence agency said on Thursday that it had thwarted a plot to assassinate Karzai by arresting a bodyguard and five persons with links to the Haqqani network and the Al Qaeda. Officials said the plot had its origins in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal region.
China is a big country with a huge economy and capacity. They can play a big role in rebuilding, reconstruction of Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said.
Delving into implications of the latest developments in Afghanistan, Russian Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev said that there is a danger of the possible spread of terror into Russian territory as well as Kashmir, noting that India and Russia will continue to work together to counter any threat of terrorism.
'I have never been afraid of death or threats, and I have never wanted to give up and silence my voice.'
According to The Washington Post, the CIA is making secret payments to multiple members of the Afghan administration to maintain sources of information in a government in which the Afghan leader is often seen as having a limited grasp of developments.
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.
In a US-India Joint Leaders' Statement issued after the first in-person bilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Friday, the two leaders underscored the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan.
The runoff election will be held on November 7
For two decades the US paid in blood and blood money for dependence on Pakistan to carry out one president's boast. Now, having been defeated by its proxies, another president will go into Rawalpindi's embrace to satisfy his constituents, predicts Shekhar Gupta.
Reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar has reemerged to reassert direct control over the militant group, ordering attacks and shuffling field commanders in Afghanistan, as his group faces an offensive from the US troops and Pakistani military in Waziristan.
