Let's face it. When it comes to the Pentagon, the Pakistani military can do no wrong. Even if it's going after only the Pakistani Taliban and not the Afghan Taliban, which it apparently continues to promote for strategic depth against India and as a hedge in case the US decides to cut and run.
There have been conflicting reports about whether Taliban's supreme council was consulted or not on the election
Mullah Akhtar, a close aide of Mullah Omar who served as his deputy for the past three years, was chosen as the new leader.
The Pakistan government is supporting Islamist groups close to the Taliban in its attempt to suppress tribal insurgency in Balochistan, a leading international think tank has alleged. In its report Pakistan: The Forgotten Conflict in Balochistan, the International Crisis Group said that the Musharraf regime relies on divide-and-rule policies. It supports Pashtun Islamist parties like the JUI-F, a key patron of the Afghan Taliban, in a bid to counter secular Baloch forces.
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.
Addressing the 76th UNGA session in New York, Modi called for ensuring that no country 'tries to take advantage of the delicate situation in Afghanistan and use it for its own selfish interests'.
"The FATF plenary decided continuation of Pakistan in 'Grey List' till its next meeting to be held in October," an official privy to the development told PTI.
A shocked Pakistan on Wednesday began observing 3 days of national mourning for the 141 people, mostly children, massacred by the Taliban suicide attackers in horrendous terror attack in northwestern city of Peshawar.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official asserted that US President Donald Trump, during his presidency, has really strengthened all aspects of the US-India security and defence cooperation to build a comprehensive, enduring and mutually beneficial defence partnership.
There is no better way to address the security threat emanating from ISIS and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan than by co-opting the Taliban, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China may accord recognition to the new government in Kabul at an early opportunity, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Pakistan is making efforts at multiple levels for the Taliban government to have a soft landing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
WWhat Pakistan faces in the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is virulent insurgency and terrorism, fuelled by its association with Al Qaeda
Pakistani security agencies on Thursday arrested two suspects involved in the car bomb blast outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and chief of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, an official said.
The world's attention is on the new Taliban and the imminent announcement of an inclusive government in Kabul, observes 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 official in question has not served in India before.
Beijing's growing assertiveness as kingmaker in Kabul has suffered a setback with Washington quietly moving in, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan, the report said, has played an active, and by many accounts, a negative role in Afghan affairs for decades.
The billions India invested in dams, schools, etc in Afghanistan will be gone. The Hindu and Sikh population of Afghanistan has already shrunk from some 200,000 to about 500, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
However, the US praises India for its significant counter-terrorism actions.
What does the Taliban chief's death means for various stakeholders?
'Jihadi outfits backed by the ISI are now prepared to attack targets not just in J&K, but also in Punjab. This signals an escalation in the range and scope of cross-border terrorism, which cannot be ignored,' says Ambassador G Parthasarthy, former high commissioner to Pakistan.
Amid efforts by the concerned governments to hold peace talks with them, the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban have said they would continue their "struggle" till "the Western inspired systems" of governance in both countries are overthrown.
Interrelations of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday took centre stage at the Jaipur LitFest where panelists discussed the upswing in talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan besides India's ties with its neighbour.
With this, the DoD has reprogrammed USD 800 million CSF destined for Pakistan.
Pak-US ties are sliding down the hill due to difference over handling of peace issue in Afghanistan and US' growing defence tie with India.
Acknowledging the killing of its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the Afghan Taliban have announced Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as his successor.
'Whatever comes in the minds of the Pakistani generals and Pakistan military, they just go for it.' 'They do not care about the consequences for their country or the consequences to the people of Pakistan.'
Pakistan's army chief General Raheel Sharif will visit Afghanistan tomorrow to meet the new leaders there and discuss security issues, including the thorny one of Pakistani Taliban militants hiding there.
The TTP, however, did not confirm the death of its chief in the drone strike.
India on Thursday strongly condemned the Taliban attack on a guesthouse in the Afghan capital that killed 14 people, including four Indians.
General Bajwa and the outgoing DG, ISI Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar, had a long meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The Afghan Taliban is struggling to find a successor to slain chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
Dreaded Islamic State militant group has appointed a breakaway Taliban commander as its chief in Khurasan, a historic name used by militants for an area covering Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India.
"Every action we take will be designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future," Mattis said on Friday in a message to department of defense soon after he was being sworn in as head of the Pentagon by Vice President Mike Pence at the White House.
Nawaz Sharif was the last Pakistani prime minister to visit the US on an official trip in October 2015.
'Just this week, the Indians killed a Kashmiri terrorist, who is a member of Hizbul Mujahideen.' 'This is a nasty terrorist organisation, and did Pakistan welcome this killing?' 'No, in fact, they denounced it and referred to him as a Kashmiri separatist.' 'These Kashmiri terrorist groups have been aided by the Pakistani State.'
Khan had said in January 2018 that meeting Trump would be a 'bitter pill' to swallow.
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.
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