To step up pace of reconciliation talks, the Afghanistan government has opened direct contacts with the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani faction of Taliban, which is believed to have close ties to Pakistan's military intelligence. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's government has been in direct contact with Jalaludin Haqqani, the ageing leader of the Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan and run by his eldest son Sirajudin.
India's voting pattern in the United Nations with regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict is lately marked by a calibrated distancing from Israel, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Americans want to have a good relationship with India. They see it as a counterweight to China. And also American businesses are all trying to get out of China and go to India and Vietnam as well, but India largely.'
In a damaging report ahead of the November 5 polls, a special United States counsel has said that President Joe Biden 'willfully' mishandled classified documents as a private citizen but concluded that it would be difficult to convict him as he comes across as an 'elderly man with a poor memory'.
Pakistan slammed Afghan National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta for alleging that the country and its military intelligence were linked to terrorists, saying it would not be "distracted by such unfair remarks".
Keeping trusted men in key positions at Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar has become vital for Bajwa, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Making it clear that Malegaon blast accused Colonel Srikant Purohit has no links with it, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up an independent commission to probe an alleged plot to assassinate its chief Mohan Bhagwat by the former military intelligence officer and efforts to 'malign' the image of the Sangh.
In a sensational case, defence ministry authorities have detected alleged bugging of the office room of Defence Minister A K Antony and Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been asked to probe the matter.
Israeli jets carried out "intense" airstrikes on targets in Gaza on Sunday afternoon.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon, said to be the size of three buses, was spotted over the United States' airspace, the Pentagon has said, a development that has further strained the already tense bilateral ties as Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday abruptly postponed his key visit to Beijing.
Taking advantage of the Russia-Ukraine war, China has been conducting military drills on its far north-eastern border, raising expert concerns that Beijing could be considering a push into Russian territory.
A sense of pride was discernible among the hundreds who thronged to witness the annual martial and cultural extravaganza on a sunny morning, brushing aside intelligence reports of possible terrorist strikes.
The United States has said that it is undertaking a major build-up of forces in eastern Afghanistan -- a stronghold of the Haqqani faction -- for a decisive push against terrorists' safe havens close to the borders of Pakistan. Disclosing this, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates hinted that the operation could be one 'on both sides of the border.'
His disqualification to participate in future elections may follow, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
Pakistani authorities have arrested 20 people for their alleged links with the mastermind of the terror attack on army headquarters in Rawalpindi and formed a high-level police team to probe the audacious strike.
Besides being the President, 62-year-old Xi is already General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
That does not mean it cannot and will not happen, General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Friday.
'Here in Delhi, the Modi government is supposedly looking at 'options' to hit back at Pakistan in any whichever way it can, while in Washington, the Obama administration is looking for ways to strengthen US military cooperation with Pakistan,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan's military courts have gained a disrepute for not being transparent and violating all provisions of a fair trial.
The ISI was taking no chances and wanted no repeat of Pulwama; it wanted to make it clear at a political level it was not involved with the revenge attack being planned, but was only giving India a friendly tip-off. A stunning excerpt from Ambassador Ajay Bisaria's Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan.
China has operated a fleet of spy balloons targeting several countries including India and Japan, a media report has said, days after the United States military shot down a Chinese surveillance craft floating over sensitive installations in the country.
For someone like me who studied Sam so intently, if a lump could form in the throat during the emotive scenes, I think the cast did a superb job, notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Ties between the United States and Pakistan will soon be back to how they used to be before Osama bin Laden's killing. Knowing this, India should let a message radiate that we want peace with Pakistan, but we are prepared to act on our own in our own way and through our own capabilities should covert action on the ground become necessary, says security expert B Raman
A large number of secret documents related to the Iraq war will be released in the next anticipated spill by WikiLeaks, many times more than the 90,000 documents concerning the Afghan war made public by the online organisation in July.
However, the Pune ATS moved an application seeking the army officer's custody in another case registered with them. Purohit was arrested earlier this month in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blast that killed six and injured 80. He is among ten, including sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, arrested for their alleged role in the blast.
France will deploy 35,000 security agents and the military to secure the 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony, a river parade through the heart of Paris, from security threats including drone strikes.
Another extension for General Bajwa in office at this juncture looks unlikely at this juncture, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence was planning recruitment of retired Indian military personnel to penetrate into the system and then use them for its anti-India activities, according to Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley.
Major General Asif Ghafoor's transfer indicates General Qamar Bajwa is well in control once more, pushing behind the discontent among the peer group of senior generals over extension of his tenure, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
An Indian man who managed to board an Air India flight at Medina in Saudi Arabia without ticket or passport and hid in the toilet to travel Jaipur, has been booked under the Passport Act even as his interrogation so far has not revealed any intention to cause any harm.
There is a congruence of interests between Ukrainian intelligence and its Western mentors to destroy Wagner and eliminate it from the geopolitical chessboard altogether, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A 20-year-old Sikh-American student has won a significant legal battle in the United States with a court allowing him to enrol in an army programme without removing his articles of faith like the beard and turban.
The Bangladesh army was ready to storm the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles in Dhaka soon after the mutiny erupted, but heeded to Premier Sheikh Hasina's advice at the last minute to resolve the issue politically, a top officer has revealed.
The Centre has convened a three-day conference of directors general of police from December 19 to draw a road map for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The annual threat assessment of the US Intelligence Community released by the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) also said that the 'expanded military posture by both India and China along the disputed border elevates the risk of armed confrontation between two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests and calls for US intervention'.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official asserted that it is known that China used these balloons for surveillance.
A 31-year-old Indian engineer has been sentenced to three years in prison for espionage by a Pakistani military court over three years after he went missing when he illegally entered the country from Afghanistan reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.
In a press briefing, Air Force General Glen VanHerck, who safeguards United States airspace as head of North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) and Northern Command, said, "We're calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason."
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