Taliban cleric Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani was killed in a blast which occured in Afghanistan's Kabul on Thursday, local media reported.
'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
Special envoys of China, Russia and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban's interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive government, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wednesday.
"China and the Afghan Taliban have unimpeded and effective communication and consultation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing.
'China is a friendly country and we welcome it for reconstruction and developing Afghanistan'
Shaken by the Taliban terror attack in which 148 people, including 132 school children, were killed in Peshawar on Tuesday, Pakistan has pledged to announce a "national plan" to tackle terrorism within a week with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying "this entire region" should be cleaned of terrorism.
It was the latest targeted assault on a place of worship of the Sikh community in Afghanistan.
"In our statement, we have said that we have told them that we want them to be cognisant of the fact that there should be no terrorism that emanates from their territory directed against us, or other countries; that we want them to be mindful of the status of women, minorities and so on so forth. And, and I think they have, also, you know, made reassuring... from their side," foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.
The Taliban will view India through the eyes of the ISI and can be relied upon to undertake hostile actions against this country, warns Virendra Kapoor.
The Border Security Force has been put on high alert along the India-Bangladesh border in Assam and Tripura following intelligence inputs of Islamic terrorists planning to infiltrate the country.
'But an overthrow of the Afghan government would really embolden regional militant groups in a big way.' 'LeT and JeM could be emboldened, and prompted to replicate in Kashmir what the Taliban did in Afghanistan.'
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
The United States officials in Afghanistan naively handed the Taliban a 'kill list' to target Afghans who aided American forces in the country, according to a media report.
If New Delhi finds itself out in the cold in Afghanistan, both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have only themselves to blame. Each has been in power for a full decade from 2001, without reaching out to the Taliban, points out Ajai Shukla.
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.
It seems that the West is sending a signal to India that it can return to old hostilities unless India toes their line on Russia. It is no surprise that India is being compared with Putin's Russia in terms of targeting 'dissidents' as the West calls these Khalistani terrorists, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India will continue to extend all support to the Afghanistan as a contiguous neighbour, in a clear reference that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir belongs to India.
Atmar briefed Jaishankar about the situation in the war-torn country amid growing security concerns over the Taliban fighters rapidly seizing control of a large number of areas, forcing many countries to scale down their presence there.
In a significant policy statement on the Taliban which is making big gains in its offensive in Afghanistan, China has asked it to make a "clean break" from all terrorist forces, especially the Al Qaida-backed Uyghur Muslim militant group ETIM fighting for the volatile Xinjiang province's independence.
Counter-terrorism experts from India, Pakistan and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Monday deliberated on boosting cooperation in combating various regional security challenges at a meeting hosted by New Delhi.
India needs to shed its policy of lethargy and inhibitions to engage the Taliban with an intent to maintain its influence in Afghanistan. This would not just put a spanner in Pakistani designs, but also incentivise the Taliban not to be the puppets of GHQ, Rawalpindi, asserts Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd), who served on the Af-Pak desk at the Military Operations Directorate.
"We want to establish a government that includes all sides," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah said, adding that they want an end to the war.
The pressure on Delhi mellowed Lucknow's ruling dispensation's initial enthusiasm to try and draw electoral mileage from the developments in Afghanistan.
India has sent a team to Kabul to oversee the delivery of India's humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and hold discussions with the Taliban over the aid provided by New Delhi.
Jaishankar, who presided over the UNSC Briefing: Global Counterterrorism Approach: Challenges and Way Forward, described terrorism as an existential threat to international peace and security and said it knows no borders, nationality, or race.
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.
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.
"I have not seen anything to corroborate that report," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at a news conference on Thursday when asked about the reported allegations by former Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani that Pakistan had sent between 10,000 to 15,000 of its men along with the Taliban to capture Kabul and Afghanistan.
Pooja Kataria, a passenger on the IC-814 flight hijacked in 1999, says viewers should approach the recently released web series based on the incident as entertainment rather than sparking controversy.
India, which has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UNSC, began its two-year tenure at the Council on Friday last.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'Women have 100 per cent inclusion in the health sector. They are also teaching in the education sector. They are working in each and every one of those sectors where they are required'
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.
The Taliban in northwest Pakistan have changed their strategy and adopted a new approach of target killings and kidnapping for ransom with a psychiatrist teaching youngsters brainwashed by militants. Among the latest victims of this conspiracy is a relative of a senior Pakistani politician.
The invitation for the meeting to India was extended by Qatari special envoy for conflict resolution Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani during his visit to the national capital last week.
Afghanistan will remain a frontline state for Washington for a foreseeable future in terms of the potential threats to US national security from terrorist groups, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
'India has to ensure its borders are properly sealed and there is no infiltration from PoK.
The Pakistani Taliban have sacked their official spokesman for issuing threats to Afghan Taliban, signalling internal fissures within the ranks of the terror outfit.
"We have had tremendous success in Afghanistan in the killing of terrorists, but it is time, after all these years, to go and bring our people back home. We want to bring our people back home," the President said hours after the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban in Doha, under which it has committed to withdrawing all its troops from Afghanistan in 14 months' time.
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