'...The more the Pakistan army becomes weaker, then there is every possibility that terrorist groups may create more anarchy in Pakistan.'
As the United States grapples with the Af-Pak problem, eight Indian-American organisations on Wednesday appealed to the Barack Obama administration to make military aid to Pakistan conditional and ensure that it is not used against India.In an unanimous resolution, passed after a Capitol Hill briefing on 'Cross-Border Terrorism in Kashmir and the Hindu (Pandit) Victims: Challenges and Solutions', they urged Obama to make sure that the aid is not used against India.
India is one of the few countries in the region that enjoys good relations with both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and IMEC would allow it to recreate the old Spice Route to Europe. All this is in jeopardy now, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
'The Trump administration is on the same page as India that Pakistan is not the solution, but the problem itself,' says Rajeev Sharma.
Brushing aside Islamabad's rebuttal, United States has fired fresh salvos charging Pakistan's military-run Inter Services Intelligence of not only supporting the Haqqani terror network but also 'encouraging' it to launch more brazen strikes on American installations in Afghanistan.
In a tweet, Pakistani military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said, "Repetitions don't make truth of a lie. Despite claiming possession of evidence on shooting F16, IAF still short of presenting it."
"China creeps towards hegemony in Asia, threatens India's borders, and treats other countries as junior partners, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said.
'As one might expect, he believed the Indians were preparing their nuclear weapons for deployment. It took us a few hours - and remarkably good work by our teams on the ground in New Delhi and Islamabad - to convince each side that the other was not preparing for nuclear war'
A soldier of the Pakistan Army was beheaded in the restive North Waziristan tribal region by suspected Taliban militants, who put a note on his body saying that he was killed for being a 'American spy'. Feroz Khan, who hailed from Mir Ali town of North Waziristan, was kidnapped on April 23 and found dead 15 km east of Miranshah. Witnesses said that the soldier was beheaded by the local Taliban. No group has claimed responsibility for his death.
Pakistan has taken too much of a chance with Pulwama - with the wrong government in India, and at the wrong time.
Close on the heels of the killing of top Al Qaida leader Abu Laith al-Libi in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, an American Al Qaida militant has been killed in the same region, media reports said.
'India serves itself poorly with its latter-day discovery of Pakistan as an instrument in domestic politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'Pakistan's main objective will be to shepherd India toward resumption of talks, preferably with American monitoring.'
It also noted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force to Pakistani provocations.
'The sooner Pakistan and India face these geopolitical realities, the better it will be for their own security and prosperity,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
We must heed what the CJI has said. Challenging every judgment of the central government is inviting chaos, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
According to the report, Russia tops the table with 6,375 warheads, followed by the United States with 5,800, and the United Kingdom with 215 warheads.
As the United States celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden, many American Indians have objected to use of 'Geronimo', an Apache leader in the 19th century, as the codename for mission to capture or kill the Al Qaeda leader.
Kunal Kamran participated in the Geeta Asharam movement.
"We believe our assistance to Pakistan still continues to provide dividends for the American people in trying to grow and strengthen Pakistan's democratic institutions, boost its economy," said spokesman Mark Toner.
American nationals and relatives of those killed in Mumbai terror attacks want the confessed Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley to take the stand in a New York law suit they have filed against Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence for plotting the attack.
"The government's position for bilateral redressal of all India-Pakistan issues in an environment free of terror and violence hasn't changed."
India was one of the very few countries where applications for US visas saw a major upswing after coronavirus-related travel restrictions were lifted.
Vikram J Singh, the highest-ranking Indian American at the Pentagon is quitting his administration job to head up the national security division at the Center for American Progess -- a Washington, DC progressive think tank with close links to President Obama -- which has at its helm another Indian American, Neera Tanden.
Braving freezing cold, the protesters also brought along sandals to give them to the Pakistani embassy officials.
For the first time in our political history, Pakistan has become centre stage of the incumbent's campaign, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Pakistan did not submit any dossier on the alleged Indian activities inside the country during its foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's meetings with top US officials in Washington this month, a top American official has said.
If the FATF lets Pakistan off the hook, which is to be expected, it would signify a big boost to Pakistan's standing in the fight against terrorism. Delhi, on the other hand, loses the propaganda advantage, states Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Here is how the two countries stack up militarily, according to a report in AlJazeera.com.
Tired of the alleged "double game" being played by Islamabad, American lawmakers have announced to hold a Congressional hearing next week to discuss whether Pakistan is a "friend or foe" of the US in the war on terror.
'At this point, neither the army or the IAF has that immediate, punitive deterrent power against Pakistan.' 'Forget a three-week war; on the LoC, where the action is, Pakistan has until now fielded better infantry weapons, body armour, sniper rifles, and matching artillery' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Pervez Musharraf is contemplating a political front with jihadi groups to contest Pakistan's next election. Should the jihadi groups win a few seats, terrorist outfits will gain legitimacy in Pakistan, warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'If Indian armed forces entered Pakistan and succeeded in inflicting major damage on the Pakistani army and occupied territory in the Pakistani heartland, there is reason to think the Pakistani military would use some nuclear weapons against the incoming Indian forces to compel India to stop.'
According to one American analyst, the "house that was struck was owned by a top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani," who is now the interior minister in the Taliban government in Kabul.
In an address on advancing India-US relations, she said neither of the two nations can afford to turn a blind eye to the regimes that produce, harbour, and support terrorists, and in this context, the US is approaching its "relationship with Pakistan differently than in the past".
'Imran Khan would only have spoken with the full awareness of Modi's complex political personality.' 'He has the great advantage of being privy to the confidential exchanges between then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Modi during the latter's celebrated surprise visit to Lahore in December 2015 as well as the 'back channel' conversations between the national security advisors of the two countries,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On Thursday, November 6, the Washington Post newspaper reported that controversial American diplomat, Ambassador Robin Raphel, had her office and home searched by the FBI. This most unusual development likely raised much cheer at India's ministry of external affairs, in whose flesh Raphel had been a thorn through much of her tenure in the first Bill Clinton administration in the early and mid-1990s by her anti-India and pro-Pakistan stand. Seventeen years ago, as she was about to step down as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Raphel granted an exclusive interview to Aziz Haniffa and India Abroad, the leading Indian-American weekly newspaper, which is now owned by Rediff.com The July 1997 interview, which provoked a raging controversy in both capitals, Washington, DC and New Delhi, is reproduced here...
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was on a visit to the US last month, said that America's relationship with Pakistan has "not served" either of the two countries and raised questions on the Biden administration's approval of a USD 450-million sustenance package for the F-16 fleet.
