The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
Virtually putting Pakistan on notice, the United States has said it is looking for concrete action by the government there to destroy the Taliban operating out of its territory in the next two weeks, before determining its next course of action. General David Petraeus, the Commander of US Central Command, has told US officials that the next two weeks are critical to determining whether the Pakistani government will survive, Fox News reported.
Despite the killing of Pakistan's enemy number one Baitullah Mehsud in a United States drone strike, Islamabad has a long way to go in fighting terrorism, Pakistan's Information Minister Kamran Zaman Qaira has said."We have a long way to go. Only killing one leader doesn't mean the other miscreants will go away," he said. A senior Pakistani counter-terrorism official told the paper that Pak-Taliban chief's death may give Pakistan an opportunity to exploit the power vacuum.
Here are the top 10 quotes from the speech to a gathering of around 50,000 Indians at the Dubai International Cricket stadium
Addressing New Delhi's concerns about peace talks with Taliban, the United States told India that it will not let the rebels enter a power sharing agreement in Afghanistan, according to leaked US cables by Wikileaks.
The United States on Tuesday said that it would welcome any move resulting in political reconciliation in the war-torn Afghanistan, hours after Taliban announced plans to open its first political overseas office.
Pakistan is making efforts at multiple levels for the Taliban government to have a soft landing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Member-States must ensure that measures taken to counter terrorism comply with their obligations under international law, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general has said, asserting that the global body had "no information" about the whereabouts of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri killed by a US drone strike in Kabul.
In a bid to end the anti-jihad war, the United States has asked Saudi Arabia to secretly negotiate with the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and persuade them to part ways with the Al-Qaeda so as to deny the jihadis their last safe havens in those two countries.
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.
Afghanistan and the US have criticised Pakistan in the past for allowing Taliban fighters to cross into Pakistan where they are provided safe havens and also receive medical treatment.
In a stinging letter, the three wrote, 'We cannot be mouthpiece of such a government which has unleashed oppression on student community'.
The team's remarkable rise has been cricket's biggest fairytale story in recent times but Afghanistan risk isolation following the country's takeover by the Taliban in August.
Beijing's growing assertiveness as kingmaker in Kabul has suffered a setback with Washington quietly moving in, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sources stated that a discussion is likely on the changed geopolitical situation in wake of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan and the drawdown of the US forces from the region.
America's relationship with Pakistan has 'not served' either of the two countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday raising questions on the Biden administration's approval of a $450-million sustenance package for F-16 fleet.
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.
However, Biden expressed his sympathy for the crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the nation in mid-August.
India's immediate priorities have been the safe return of the Indians still in Afghanistan, bringing back the Afghan nationals who stood by New Delhi, and ensuring that Afghan soil is not used for terrorism directed at India
By creating mayhem, Hamas aims to force the Arab States to give up their plans of reconciliation with Israel, explains Colonel Anil A Athale.
The United States has begun a new diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as the US withdrew its last troops from the country ending the 20-year war in the South Asian nation.
Asim said 53 injured were currently being treated while seven had been admitted to the intensive care unit.
The Biden administration has reaffirmed its commitment to support India's permanent membership in a reformed UN Security Council and New Delhi's entry to the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.
'If the new regime in Kabul wants diplomatic recognition, or to unlock the billions that are currently frozen, they will have to ensure safe passage for those who wish to leave the country, to respect the rights of women and girls, to prevent Afghanistan from, again, becoming an incubator for global terror, because that would be disastrous for Afghanistan'
The Taliban have the ISIS in its crosshairs. The Taliban has shown the skill to assimilate extremist elements if they are reconcilable as well as the ruthlessness to eliminate troublemakers, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
China on Monday expressed the hope that the Taliban will stand by its commitment of establishing an "open and inclusive" Islamic government in Afghanistan and will ensure a peaceful transition of power without violence and terrorism.
From now on, the Taliban will be responsible for the "honour, wealth and preservation" of Afghanistan's people, Ghani said.
Russia and China are tight-fisted and Iran is broke and none of them has the political will or capacity to bankroll the Afghan economy, which only the US can, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The United States, Blinken said, is committed to looking at everything done from day one through the present and draw lessons from it.
At a time when the United States is supporting a reconciliation effort in Afghanistan, Pakistan needs to focus on the Taliban on its side of the border by both signaling its support to the talks and squeezing down the militants, the US state department has said.
'This funding provides support directly to some of the more than 18 million vulnerable Afghans in need in the region'
The key is to act and not wait and watch before the limited window of opportunity shuts, argues Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
Danish Siddiqui, in his early 40s, was killed during clashes in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar, Tolo News quoted sources as saying.
A Royal Air Force plane left Kabul airport on Saturday night and arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, including with British ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Laurie Bristow who had been assisting the evacuation process.
The world today sees them (Pakistan) as the epicentre of terrorism, Jaishankar said.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
The incident happened after thousands of Afghans gathered at the Kabul airport to seek an evacuation flight amid Taliban's takeover of the country, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled to the United Arab Emirates before the Taliban seized power last month, on Wednesday apologised to the people for leaving the country abruptly, saying he believed it was the 'only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her six million people'.
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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