"But the completion by August 31 depends on the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those who were transporting out and no disruptions to our operations," US President Joe Biden said.
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.
Six days after former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated, authorities in Kabul have arrested a prominent Afghan connected to the Taliban militants as a suspect.
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.
United States Vice President Joe Biden on Monday made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan to have an on ground assessment of the situation in the war-torn country, less than six months before the scheduled start of drawdown of American troops.
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.
The war-ravaged nation of Afghanistan has offered to try and help bring about a rapprochement between the United States and Iran, even as Washington continues its campaign to isolate Teheran over its alleged nuclear weapons programme in violation of its nonproliferation obligations.
The national men's team beat India 2-0 to win the South Asian Football Federation championship in Kathmandu late on Tuesday, Afghanistan's first international football title, sending tens of thousands of joyous Afghans into the streets. Fans in cars and on motorbikes joined others on foot, cheering, blowing horns and waving Afghan flags throughout the night.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with officials on Monday night soon after taking over.
New Delhi has consigned to itself the role of the underdog, says Ajai Shukla
Less than a week after they met in Washington, DC, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday called Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and discussed his administration's Af-Pak policy and climate change with him.
India has turned down Afghanistan's request for the supply of lethal weapons, saying it was not "either in a position or willing" to contribute lethal weapons right now, days after Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai raised the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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.
Tahir Ali examines the consequences of the assassination of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani on attempts to broker peace in Afghanistan
India's post 2014 Afghanistan policy appears to be glued to the best-case scenarios of a successful democratic transition. New Delhi hopes that it would remain 'business as usual' and would not necessitate a drastic revisiting of its continuing strategy. This, in short, is a strategy of convenience, says Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
Taliban failed to honour Doha accord, never renounced Al-Qaeda: US general Mark Milley
US President Barack Obama will brief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with other world leaders about his new policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, the White House said on Tuesday.
The terrorist attack was carried out by ISIS gunmen, General Kenneth Franklin McKenzie, Commander of the United States Central Command, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday, hours after the terrorists opened gunfire at American soldiers standing outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
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.
A closure of the Indian mission in Kabul will be a Himalayan blunder at this historic juncture when the wheels of diplomacy and politics are set to accelerate in Afghanistan, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
The long awaited strategic partnership agreement signed by United States President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Kabul reflects the common vision for a strong relationship between the two countries, a top American official has said.
A large explosion rocked Kabul's main diplomatic and government residential district on Tuesday morning killing at least four civilians and injuring several others.
Making an aggressive move on its foreign policy front, the new United States administration has reached out to key world leaders, with President Barack Obama himself calling heads of the states of Canada, Saudi Arabia and Britain, besides United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached out to as many as 21 foreign leaders including Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Ashraf, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik, said he would raise the issue of cross-border attacks from Afghanistan on Pakistan with the Afghan leadership
India on Thursday approved small-scale projects worth $100 million for implementation in strife-torn Afghanistan.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was obviously so impressed by her meetings with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari that she ventured into the White House briefing room after sitting in on the meetings between President Barack Obama and the two leaders, to express her optimism that a solid alliance had been formed committed to crushing the Taliban and other extremist elements destabilising the region.
"Our role (in the Afghan peace process) will remain that of a facilitator and not a leader... allowing the Taliban to open an office in Pakistan will be contrary to our principled position," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying by an unnamed aide.
Diplomatic observers and South Asia experts in the US do not believe that two of India's major concerns that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh brought up with President Obama on Afghanistan, during his state visit in November and again recently on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit have been alleviated during the summit between Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
India on Tuesday assured that its assistance was neither "transitory" nor in "transition" to Afghanistan, which said it was looking forward to increasing training and capacity building of its security forces apart from equipping them with Indian help. The two countries also set in motion the implementation of the Strategic Partnership Agreement, inked last year during Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to Delhi, by launching the Partnership Council.
Amid a series of anti-US rhetorics coming from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the White House showed signs of "frustration" on Monday with regard to this war-torn country, where its forces have been engaged in war against terrorism for the past eight years.
Sixteen Afghans were killed by a 'rogue' United States soldier who walked off his base and opened fire on them in their homes in the early hours of Sunday morning. The dead include nine children and three women, plus five wounded.
A high-ranking Pentagon official on apologised to the Afghan leadership for the burning of the Quran by United States military personnel and also discussed the reconciliation process in the war-torn country.
New Delhi must indicate to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that it has a long-term strategy for his country. It should point out that Pakistan's present Afgan policy will destabilise Afghanistan and help Islamic State, says Gautam Sen.
United States efforts to seek an end to the war in Afghanistan has reached a "critical juncture", American officials have said indicating that Obama's pointman Marc Grossman is rushing to the region to resume preliminary talks with the Taliban.
The German government has approved a substantial USD 190 million (Rs 1,007 crore) contribution annually to bankroll an Afghan army, post withdrawal of foreign forces in 2014 from the war-torn country.
The United States is set to give control of a controversial prison having nearly 3,000 Taliban rebels and terror suspects to the Afghan authorities.
Images that capture what it was like living through 2021.
The ability of President Hamid Karzai to maintain inter-ethnic unity will determine whether history will be repeated in Afghanistan, says B Raman
The Taliban were ready to start formal talks with NATO after the Bonn conference. Taliban representatives were given an assurance that they would be permitted to establish a diplomatic office in a Muslim country other than Pakistan.
A feisty Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari says there is no likelihood of his being deposed in a military coup, but if it does happen it will be because the United States along with other democratic countries has had a hand in it.
