The Taliban government in Afghanistan is not going anywhere. That being the case, why is the hesitation to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Then 18, Talash crossed the border into Pakistan after Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 before settling in Spain as a refugee the following year. The International Olympics Committee changed break-dancer Talash's life forever by including her in its refugee squad for the Paris Games.
'Shock, confusion, and paralysis reigned.' 'Pakistan was caught in a most embarrassing situation. It could neither claim credit for the operation nor admit to a dismal intelligence failure and lack of army preparedness.'
India reasserted that Pakistan requested a cessation of firing via DGMO contact and addressed concerns about Pakistan's roles in UNSC committees.
The columnist said that Munir was reported as saying on stage at a Brussels gathering that: "God has made me protector of the country. I do not desire any position other than that."
The US intelligence assessment highlights Pakistan's near-certain procurement of weapons of mass destruction-applicable goods from foreign suppliers, primarily through Chinese support.
The announcement on expansion of CPEC was made following a meeting among Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Beijing, according to a Pakistani readout.
'For the region and for the world, the US working with both those nations is good news.'
'The background for the Saudi-Pakistan agreement is the fact that the regional security order has collapsed due to the Israeli attack on Doha.' 'The Americans have largely abandoned their security guarantee for West Asia and the region has no choice but to look at alternatives.'
Ahead of the second anniversary of its grabbing power in Afghanistan, the Taliban has banned women's beauty salons in the country.
India-US relations, like Rome, were not built in a day, nor can they be demolished in a day.
All said and done, when the new global order emerges, India can only remain with the democracies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Among the 24 injured are 14 civilians, including women and children, with several said to be in critical condition.
Sections in the US State Department and Pentagon have always felt more comfortable dealing with all powerful Pakistani generals instead of elected civilians, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
'We need to be very vigilant as we are passing through some fraught times.'
A UN Security Council report states that The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack and published a photograph of the attack site. The report also cites assertions that the attack could not have happened without the support of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT).
August 15, 2023 marked two years since the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan and Talibs celebrated the fall of Kabul on the street near the US embassy on Tuesday.
Singh, the joint secretary heading the division for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the ministry of external affairs, held talks with Taliban's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday.
'If there is one thing that I would request from the athletes all around the world, it would be it is time that we unite together. And it's time that women support other women.'
Pakistan is "in an active counterterrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world", the general said.
'I can see the world's concern. I am concerned. I have daughters who play cricket.'
We have nothing to gain by raising our concerns internationally as our narrative has got entangled with several controversial concepts in the United Nations, asserts Ambassador T N Sreenivasan.
England captain Jos Buttler says he and his team-mates are saddened by the plight of women in 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.
A group of British lawmakers had also reportedly urged the England cricket team to boycott the Champions Trophy fixture against Afghanistan, a request the ECB denied.
Trump has partially restricted and limited the entry of nationals from the seven nations: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
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.
Last month, a group of British lawmakers urged England to boycott the Champions Trophy group stage match against Afghanistan.
Present at the signing ceremony was the Taliban's rarely seen Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who lost out in a power struggle last year to be prime minister.
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.
"If they are a terror organisation, why are you (GoI) talking to them? If they are not a terror organisation, why are you banning their bank accounts. Why are you not recognizing their government? Make up your mind," he said.
Their shared brief: To assert India's case with clarity, rebut hostile narratives, and secure enduring partnerships for global counter-terror cooperation.
Mamundzay was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government and he has been operating as the Afghan envoy even after the Taliban came to power in August 2021.
The Taliban's remarks came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a $25 million development aid package for Afghanistan in the Union Budget.
England previously faced Afghanistan at the 50-overs Cricket World Cup in 2023, as well as at the Twenty20 World Cup in 2022.
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.
'We've moved from thousands killed yearly in Jammu and Kashmir to 127 last year.' 'Cross-border terrorism in Kashmir is being solved. We are winning it.'
'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'.
A delegation led by J P Singh, joint secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) at the ministry of external affairs, visited Kabul on Thursday, June 2, 2022, to to survey Indian developmental projects in Afghanistan.
'This strike has certainly enhanced your image.' 'Otherwise, people would have called you a damp squib, capable of doing nothing except talking big.'
