The Taliban has its backers, notably Pakistan and China. Their purpose is to have a monstrous entity near India's northern borders to keep democratic, secular India off-guard, observes Amulya Ganguli.
The billions India invested in dams, schools, etc in Afghanistan will be gone. The Hindu and Sikh population of Afghanistan has already shrunk from some 200,000 to about 500, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
The Taliban is showing its strong discontent as the high hopes given to it by the Pakistani military have been dashed, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Israel is counting on the United States to enter the fray on their behalf and perform destructive strikes against these targets that are beyond Israel's conventional capabilities.' 'They may well get their way if they start a war, because the United States is still committed to Israel's security, and it won't matter whether it is Trump or Harris in the White House.'
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
'USA Cricket continues its instrumental work in supporting our national players and equipping youth and local communities with the tools they need to succeed in this sport.'
An alliance of religious and extremist groups on Saturday said Pakistan should settle the Kashmir issue and differences over sharing river water before it normalises trade relations with India and gives it Most Favoured Nation-status. The Defence of Pakistan Council, which includes the Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, made the demand in a joint declaration adopted at a meeting of the top leaders of the various groups.
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).
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.
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.
'I owe India an apology, as when she suffered the Mumbai Terror attack on November 26, 2008, when Jews and Americans were singled out for death by Pakistan based Terrorists, I joined in arguing for restraint. I was wrong'
AQ Khan, a controversial scientist known as the father of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear programme, passed away here on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 85.
'Congrats to our team @USUN for their work in negotiating JEM's Masood Azhar's #UN designation as a terrorist,' Pompeo tweeted.
Pakistan is trying to get more F-16s from the US as well as looking towards countries like Russia and France for new aircraft to replace old ones to match India's defence purchases.
Indian policymakers must realise that in buying small quantities of equipment, it becomes hard to start manufacturing them in India, explains Ajai Shukla.
'Nobody wants him to gain power.' 'But saying that all these players together conspired against Imran Khan and had him arrested would be in the realm of conjecture but possibilities cannot be ruled out.'
Sharif, 73, returned home on a special flight from Dubai, ending a four-year self-imposed exile in the UK, to head his party and try to secure a record fourth term in the general elections expected to be held in January.
Rejecting the criticism of the CAA, Jaishankar said, "There are people who publicly said on record that because of CAA, a million Muslims will lose their citizenship in this country."
'All propaganda is going on (against India). Certain sections of the Western media also. They joined this propaganda about India, about the security and safety of minorities'
'India would not like to see Pakistani domination and tutelage of Afghanistan against Indian security and economic interests.'
During his nearly 25-minute speech, Trump praised Modi's economic reforms and said these reforms have lifted more than three million people out of poverty. "And that is an incredible number," he added.
In the shock after Nathuram Godse murdered Mahatma Gandhi that January evening 72 years ago today, a young American diplomat rushed to capture the assassin. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel traces the memorable life of Herbert Reiner, who History has sadly relegated to a footnote.
It comes as no surprise when the world's fastest man Usain Bolt says that the fastest form of cricket is his favourite one and feels more fans in the Caribbean and world over will choose the T20 format over Tests going forward.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the army, the terrorists attacked the security post in Dera Ismail Khan's Daraban area bordering the South Waziristan tribal district in the early morning hours.
Balaji also showed that he can quickly adapt to conditions when he was asked to do the singles duty during the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan on grass. The rival was not of the highest quality but Balaji showed that he was willing to come out of his comfort zone if the team demands.
We all know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will turn 74 on September 17, but do you know how old these leaders are?
The US intelligence community has begun to look for linguists and analysts from the Pakistani-American community to meet its national security challenges, especially after Pakistani Americans were in Pakistan trying to join Al Qaeda.Pakistan is often viewed as the epicentre of international terrorism.
India is taking the allegations regarding the assassination plot of Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States seriously, the White House has said but refrained from commenting on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe into the matter and the criminal case filed by the Department of Justice.
'Bolstering India's conventional military capability against China is in America's strategic interest,' says military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
'Fearful of losing strategic advantage, the only option for Pakistan is to rattle its nuclear sabre!' 'Pakistan thereby hopes to play on the worldwide fear of an outbreak of nuclear war in South Asia,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
A step away from nuclear weapons being used in conflicts, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Virat Kohli's string of low scores would be a concern for India when they play against Canada in their final group match of the T20 World Cup.
The ICC is unlikely to take any action on Pakistan Cricket Board's complaint for alleged boorish crowd behaviour during their World Cup game against India in Ahmedabad on October 14,
The start of Indian lobbying in the US can be traced back to Pakistan's anti-India lobbying. Policy wonk Ashok Sharma documents this journey and its catalytic role in transforming the US-India relationship.
It is well known that Israel would welcome a diplomatic relationship with Pakistan and feelings of a section of the Pakistani military were likewise.
'Throughout the nearly 20-year US-led war, State sponsorship from Pakistan has been a constant.'
According to Haley, the Biden administration resumed military aid to Pakistan, though it's home to at least a dozen terrorist organisations and its government is deeply in hock to China.
Sukanya Verma lists her this week's OTT recommendations.
