Last month, a group of British lawmakers urged England to boycott the Champions Trophy group stage match against Afghanistan.
Afghanistan had 25 contracted women cricketers in 2020, most of whom have resettled in Australia with humanitarian visas due to restrictions at home under the hardline Taliban government.
'Pakistan has power -- they have the power of terrorism and the reluctance of the world to act against them.'
The Taliban's rise will see an increase in infiltration on India's western border and terrorist groups in Pakistan will get funding from the Taliban, warns Brigadier Rajamani Kannan (retd).
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
At least 30 Afghan Sikhs, including infants and children, flew to India from Kabul on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, after religious persecution escalates in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Army, is the son of a nuclear scientist who was sanctioned by the United Nations and the US for providing information and expertise to al-Qaeda, according to Indian officials. Chaudhry's father, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, allegedly provided insights into nuclear weapons infrastructure and raised funds for a fundamentalist organization linked to the Taliban. Mahmood was arrested in 2001 after admitting to meeting Osama bin Laden but was later released.
The US intends first to cripple the Afghan government financially through sanctions, freezing of assets, denial of access to international banking, etc, and then proceed to do pretty much what it wants to do with scant regard for Afghanistan's sovereignty, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Biden administration expects the Modi government to continue to remain as its loyal camp follower even as Washington continues to act in self-interests, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Taliban rulers on Tuesday banned university education for women nationwide, as they took decisive steps to crush their right to education and freedom.
The Taliban have claimed the seizure of more than 10 out of 34 administrative centers of Afghan provinces.
The Taliban knows that Washington holds the key, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The IP (internet protocol) address of the sender has been traced to Pakistan, said the official.
Trump has partially restricted and limited the entry of nationals from the seven nations: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the humiliation to which the Taliban subjected it in the IC-814 hijack, notes Shekhar Gupta.
England previously faced Afghanistan at the 50-overs Cricket World Cup in 2023, as well as at the Twenty20 World Cup in 2022.
This comes a few days after reports emerged that Amrullah Saleh, who was residing at the Panjshir, has fled to Tajikistan.
The Taliban is showing its strong discontent as the high hopes given to it by the Pakistani military have been dashed, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'We are committed to leveraging our influence constructively to support the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in fostering cricket development and ensuring playing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan'.
'It was always anticipated that the return of the Taliban would embolden armed Islamists including anti-India groups like the Lashkar and Jaish.'
Pakistan, in recent months, has been increasingly frustrated by the Taliban government's reluctance to eliminate the terrorist groups, including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
While talking to mediapersons in Mahbubabad, Sharmila said, "He (KCR) is a dictator, he is a tyrant, there is no Indian Constitution in Telangana, there is only KCR's Constitution. Telangana is the Afghanistan of India and KCR is its Taliban."
After the Taliban ordered lady newscasters to cover their faces when appearing on television, women presenters for Tolo News obeyed the Taliban diktat.
The Taliban's main challenge comes on the financial and economic front and there Pakistan doesn't have the capacity to be of any meaningful help, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The activation of diplomatic channels is likely to yield better results than a simmering hostility, recommends Ajai Shukla.
The Taliban have been forcing women to cover themselves up since returning to power in August.
'The really striking thing is that the Taliban has suo moto presented to us certain firm benchmarks against which it expects us to hold to account the Taliban rulers's actions in the period ahead' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked US President Donald Trump for acknowledging Pakistan's role in counter-terrorism efforts after the country arrested a wanted terrorist. Trump thanked the Pakistani government for helping arrest "Mohammad Shareefullah", also known as Jafar, who supported and conducted activities on behalf of ISIS-K in support of multiple lethal attacks, including the Abbey Gate attack in 2021. Sharif said the terrorist, an Afghan national, had been apprehended in an operation along the border with Afghanistan.
In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals across the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2.
Top military officials from India and Pakistan highlighted their views at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum, amid heightened tensions between the two sides following last month's military confrontation.
Earlier, the Taliban took control over Jawzjan province's capital Sheberghan and Nimroz province's capital Zaranj.
Their shared brief: To assert India's case with clarity, rebut hostile narratives, and secure enduring partnerships for global counter-terror cooperation.
'The Taliban are on the streets due to which there is an atmosphere of fear. The Taliban are constantly appealing to the people of the country that no person should leave Afghanistan and that that they won't let anyone cause any trouble'
The US military efforts in Afghanistan were akin to filling a bucket that had gaping holes, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
There is growing acceptance of the idea in the international community that engaging the Taliban government is a far better approach than ostracising it, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The journalist was covering clashes between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city.
Delhi has come to accept the Taliban takeover in Kabul as a reality and seems increasingly unsure of its dogmatic view of the Taliban as a mere proxy of the Pakistani military and security establishment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Students returned to class in Kabul weeks after the Taliban took over the Afghan capital to find their classrooms divided by a curtain to separate male and female students.
The last 15 days have turned the life of young Afghan television anchor Beheshta Arghand upside down.
