'Obama's decision to end the US military involvement in the Afghan civil war needs to be welcomed as a positive development for regional security and stability. India, too, has a great opportunity opening up here if it plays its cards in sync with the spirit of the times rather than continuing to view the Afghan problem in zero-sum terms,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Foreign Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif claimed that he received received a proposal to swap Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav for a terrorist who carried out the horrific 2014 Peshawar school attack and is now jailed in Afghanistan.
Pakistan received a proposal to swap Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav for a terrorist who carried out the horrific 2014 Peshawar school attack and is now jailed in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif has claimed.
PM Modi's assurance came against the backdrop of violent protests against the CAB.
Possibility of yet another Mumbai-style attack in India cannot be ruled out and such a threat will arise if the Taliban or Haqqani network succeed in seizing large parts of Southern Afghanistan, a veteran Indian diplomat has said.
The US will not be delivering military equipment or transfer security-related funds to Pakistan unless it is required by law.
'All societies possess conservatives and India can't be an exception. The difference is that when upper castes display their conservatism, they turn into a Taliban. Anna has come to harvest that social constituency,' says Chandrabhan Prasad.
Kutty's wife, two children and aged parents have been in prayers since they come to know two days back about the kidnapping of Kutty.
A realistic assessment will tell us that not much has changed between India and Pakistan; the relationship remains as fraught as before with little prospect of reconciliation, notes Ajai Shukla.
'If push comes to shove, Pakistan does have the capability to make it difficult for the US and NATO forces to make even a withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan in orderly fashion,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.
'A resurgent Jaish could be a reflection of the Pakistani security establishment's view that with the region moving ever closer to a post-US Afghanistan, it is time to redirect attention to Kashmir.'
'Another rejection of mediation between India and Pakistan will leave Mr Trump disappointed.' 'In that case, he is likely to point out the war-like situation on the border and press for direct talks which have been stalled on account of continuing terrorism from Pakistan,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Through its early days to the 1980s, Pakistan sought to expand its sphere of Islamic influence through Afghanistan to Central Asia and got Pakistani citizens recruited in the Afghan government institutions in the 1990s when the Taliban were power. Now, it is looking eastward through India to Bangladesh and Myanmar to establish an imaginary caliphate.
Modi on Thursday spoke to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and offered his condolences over the loss of lives in the Kabul guesthouse sieg
A wave of suicide attacks in Kabul, which left 18 people dead -- half of them Indians, once again highlighted the bloody wrestle between India and Pakistan for influence in Afghanistan.
'Some Pakistani generals are saying -- a little more so now than before -- that the biggest threat to Pakistan is not external -- not India -- but internal.' 'The proof of that will be their change of policies and that is going to be the challenge,' Rakesh Sood, one of India's most distinguished diplomats, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
Friday is a national holiday in Afghanistan, marking the country's independence from Great Britain in 1919.
Most Indian serials are about traditional North Indian families, and do tend to celebrate Hindu festivals with more gusto than any other festival. Do you think Indian telly soaps promote the Hindu way of life? Was the Afghan government right in banning them? Have your say!
'At the very end of his speech, he dealt with the 'small problems' of Indian workers. But these measures did not seem to satisfy those who had expected the prime minister to find solutions for their problems. That the prime minister generally focused on broad policy issues and not on matters of detail left them bewildered,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claims that ISI got hold of bin Laden in 2006 after paying bribes to some of the tribal leaders
Security Expert Bruce Riedel, who in an interview with rediff.com shortly after the Pathankot terror attacks began said that the attack underscored the determination of jihadist groups in Pakistan to sabotage any attempt at detente with India, writes in the Daily Beast that despite the US putting the Jaish-e-Mohammad on the terrorist sanctions list years ago, the outfit continues to coddle the Pakistani army.
People in his hometown claim that Ahmed Siddibappa, alias Yaseen, had joined the Taliban in Afghanistan and had died five years ago. The police, however, are certain that the man is responsible for several terror attacks in India. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
There is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in Kashmir, Rahul said.
India must watch for signs after Peshawar that Pakistan is waking up to the dangers of Islamism, muses Ajai Shukla
According to the reports, America's Defence Intelligence Agency was aware that Pakistan's ISI was sponsoring the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz brings to New Delhi a newfound Pakistani confidence, stemming from its leverage in Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
The latest Taliban suicide attacks in Kabul that killed up to nine Indians could be an attempt to "provoke" India into some kind of response in Afghanistan, which may "complicate" Pakistan's strategy on the war-torn country, according to a leading US think tank.
India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim was in Pakistan but has been chased out of the country, claimed Pakistan's former foreign secretary and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special envoy to India, Shahryar Khan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's phone call to Trump will help restore a degree of sanity to Indian statecraft and diplomacy, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
New Delhi and Beijing are the only two regional capitals that have commented on US President Donald Trump's speech on August 21 outlining the way forward in Afghanistan. The Indian foreign ministry statement was effusive in praise, while the Chinese statement has been one of cautious and guarded hope. Delhi has identified itself with Trump's Afghan strategy, whereas the Chinese stance is calibrated -- observant and objective, keeping a distance, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'With the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Hindus from Pakistan can come to India. They have got a way,' says Gurumukh Jagwani who came to India on his honeymoon, loved the country so much that he stayed back and got Indian citizenship.
Pakistan believes Afghanistan is developing into an Indian garrison and has been nurturing groups like the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Tayiba over the years to counter it, a key United States Senate Committee has been told. "I am not making any accusations against any given country in the region. All of them are looking out for their vital interests. But India is becoming involved in Afghanistan and Pakistanis consider Afghanistan as developing into an Indian garrison," he said.
Amid threats of fresh attacks on Indian assets in Afghanistan following the deadly suicide bombing at its embassy, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon arrived in Kabul on Sunday to discuss ways to revamp security to thwart designs of the Taliban and its mentor Inter Services Intelligence.
Bilawal Bhutto's political inheritance is his biggest asset as well as the biggest liability as he tries to make his mark in Pakistan politics. Challenging the Taliban militants is part of that strategy, though it matches with his political ideology. Shahzad Raza profiles the son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
'India, which climbed the escalation ladder first, has climbed down.'
'It remains unclear what Indian objectives have been realised in precipitating the crisis in the first instance last Tuesday,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's "proactive operation" against terrorists in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir should be "commended" and supported by the international community, a top European Parliament official has said, underlining that New Delhi deserves global support in its fight against terror.
Hein Kiessling has the kind of access in Pakistan that journalists (and spies) would die for, says Kanika Datta.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Friday assured India that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the suicide bomb attack near the Indian embassy in Kabul to ascertain who was behind it.
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