In the last year since the Indian embassy in Kabul was bombed on July 7, allegedly by the Sirajuddin Haqqani faction of the Taliban based in Pakistan's North Waziristan province, India has well and truly joined in United States president Barack Obama's 'AfPak strategy' that is aimed at jointly looking at Afghanistan and Pakistan as the expanded theatre of war against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Amid growing perception that he is batting for the Pakistani Taliban, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has said he is neither anti-US nor anti-India but was against "their policies".
Pakistan-based terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed were named on Monday in the Summit declaration of the BRICS countries.
The apex human rights body in the country had taken cognisance of the encounter killings, saying it was a matter of concern and needed to be investigated carefully.
Schools across the country observed a two-minute silence on Wednesday in a show of solidarity with Pakistan following an appeal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the dastardly terror attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.
Family members of author Sushmita Banerjee, who was shot dead by masked gunmen in Afghanistan, on Friday claimed that they had asked her not to return to the troubled country, but she did not listen insisting that the situation had changed there.
While confirming that the voice in the slideshow was that of Moosa, senior police officials did not rule out the possibility that the banned IS terror group was trying to create a base in the Valley.
Prime Minister Modi is visiting Palestine, UAE and Oman from February 9 to February 12.
Ambassador Chinmaya Gharekhan explains the situation in Iraq and Syria in this interview to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
'Even as discord over US-India trade and commerce colours diplomatic relations, defence relations between the two countries remain on a firm footing,' points out Ajai Shukla.
Top Indian policymakers tell Business Standard that the Obama administration's goal is clear: rather than trying to win the war in Afghanistan, simply aim at bottling terrorism inside the Pakistan-Afghanistan area, and monitor the borders electronically to prevent any "leakage" of jihadis.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday pitched for a coherent regional strategy to deal with terrorism
Modi may take satisfaction from his display of considerable political skill in managing a mercurial, temperamental and unpredictable US president and nudging him into uncharacteristic restraint and even carefully orchestrated remarks. This personal chemistry will come in handy if Trump returns as president in the November elections, says former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
A proposed nuclear deal aims to stop Pakistan from building small tactical nuclear weapons that could fall into terrorist hands.
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'Perhaps the biggest indication was its striking decision in November to delink LeT from its aid certification process.' 'The administration decided that the US, in order to send military aid to Pakistan, would not need to certify that Pakistan is cracking down on LeT.' 'Perhaps the administration was trying to offer a carrot -- in effect, we're backing off on LeT, but in return we expect you (Pakistan) to go after the Haqqanis.' 'Either way, the optics were dreadful for the US given that Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest a few days after the US move.' 'The US reacted angrily, but eventually it moved on, and refocused on its core concern: The Afghan-focused terror groups.'
India despatches high level team to Afghanistan on kidnapping
Tuesday's talks between Modi and Trump are likely to send across a clear message of growing congruence of interests between India and the US on major geopolitical developments in the region and beyond, particularly when China has been expanding its military and economic clout.
Jammu and Kashmir is most impacted by terrorism in 2018, with 321 attacks, resulting in 123 deaths while Chhattisgarh suffered 138 attacks in 2018, resulting in 123 deaths, reports Ajai Shukla.
Terming Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's recent India visit as highly successful, the Pentagon on Monday refuted the Taliban statement that New Delhi resisted his call for greater Indian involvement in Afghanistan.
Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal wanted to fight North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan as an 18-year-old when the US launched its campaign against Taliban following the 9/11 attacks, investigators have said.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh, while keynoting a Capitol Hill conference on the topic of India, Afghanistan and Regional Security, has said that as long as Pakistan offers safe havens to the Taliban and terrorist groups within its territory, the United States-led war on terrorism would be a failure.
India has been discomfited by signs that the United States and its allies are preparing to leave Afghanistan.
'The curtain is coming down on India's leadership role as a regional power even before the drama of the Asian Century truly began,' warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'It is highly doubtful that the Trump administration will consider inserting itself into the volatile India-Pakistan dispute.'
The Pak PM said he told the UN that it was its resolution on Kashmir and not that of Pakistan therefore it was the body's duty to implement it.
The issue of the United States pullout from Afghanistan next year and the likely scenario of re-emergence of Taliban dominated the talks between India and China as part of their two-day annual counter-terrorism dialogue in Beijing on Thursday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Pakistan addressed the issue of terrorism and also called on both - India and Pakistan to find a diplomatic solution to the violence at the border issue.
India should not have a large bilateral military training program in Afghanistan in the future because that would predictably exacerbate tensions, says Director of research, Brookings Institution Michael O'Hanlon.
India has been maintaining that China has no locus standi in commenting on Jammu and Kashmir.
'Certainly if Advani had agreed to Vajpayee in sacking Modi, then we would never have been talking of Modi today.'
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Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi condemned the attack and revealed that three of his cousin's children were inside the school when the attack took place.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai left India with an honorary doctorate from LovelyProfessionalUniversity, but his "wish list" for the Indian government remained unfulfilled.
'In terms of sheer incompetence, this government has rivaled the Rajiv Gandhi-led government that was derisively called the 'Baba-log' government for its naive handling of many issues,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Prime Minister Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan.
'The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment.'
The Jesuit priest thanked the government for its efforts to secure his release
'US counter-terrorism policy was encouraging and emboldening the Indians to deal with the problem of Pakistani-supported terrorism once and for all.' 'The US had been trying to browbeat Pakistan into doing what it wants, with very limited success.'
'India-US relations seem to have soured when the US expected India to not only balance China in the Asia-Pacific, but also make concessions to Pakistan as a price for US technological help,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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