The United States conducted an airstrike on Wednesday against the Taliban in Nahr-e Saraj of Helmand district of Afghanistan, the US military spokesperson said on Wednesday. This was a "defensive strike" to disrupt the attacks by Taliban, the Pajhowk Afghan News reported citing the spokesperson.
Vikram J Singh, who was the senior defense adviser to Richard Holbrooke, the erstwhile United States special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been appointed to a key Pentagon post -- deputy assistant secretary of defense for south and Southeast Asia.
Continuation of drone strikes and US's reluctance to tender an apology over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers proved to be stumbling blocks in the talks between United States and Pakistan, reports Tahir Ali
Pakistan will not cooperate with the US in Afghanistan unless and until the latter accepts its central role in the search for a settlement and accommodates its 'legitimate interests'. This is the crux of the matter, says MK Bhadrakumar.
The Pakistan government has announced it would posthumously confer the Hilal-i-Pakistan, one of the country's highest civilian honours, on late United States Special Representative Richard Holbrooke.
The Pakistan government is reported to have raised the issue of its agrarian lands drying up due to India's water conspiracy with visiting United States Special Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke.
'We are very grateful that the US takes the trouble to keep us informed and to consult with us as this situation is being managed by them,' Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor tells rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa.
A top official of the Barack Obama administration on Saturday said that Indian Muslims are not terrorists, though many of them are increasingly tired of being defined as such. "I talk about the bloggers that I meet in India who are tired of Muslims being defined as terrorists," Farah Pandith, the United States Special Representative to the Muslim Community, said. "They're getting out there and talking about what's happening in India," she said.
On the eve of US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's visit to the South Asia, The Guardian newspaper has said Pakistan is the greatest foreign policy challenge for the Barack Obama administration.
Richard Holbrooke, the United States Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has asserted that the Obama administration "believes that what happens in Afghanistan and Pakistan is of vital interest to our national security and that India is a country that we must keep in the closest consultations with."
United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday said that Pakistani leaders brought up the issue of India's alleged involvement in Balochistan, but did not give any credible evidence to support their claim.
Kashmir-born Farah Pandith, who was recently appointed the United States' Special Representative to the Muslim world by the Obama administration, has said that she is overwhelmed with the response from India, over her new job. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had last week appointed Pandith for this first-of-its-kind position in the US government as part of President Barack Obama's effort to start a new beginning with the Muslim world and improve America's image.
Holbrooke declared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, "We do not think that Pakistan is a failed State. We think it's a State under extreme test from the enemies who are also our enemies and who have the same common enemy -- the United States and Pakistan. It just isn't (a failed State). But it is a State under enormous social, political and economic pressure. And India is always a factor."
'Americans, after 18 years of war in Afghanistan, have got tired and they want to withdraw for their domestic reasons'
The officials said the freed Taliban leaders include Sheikh Abdur Rahim and Mawlawi Abdur Rashid, who had served as the insurgent group's governors of Kunar and Nimroz provinces respectively during the Taliban administration before it was deposed by the US-led forces in 2001.
As Afghanistan gradually realises that there can be no long-term stability in the country as long as Pakistan is involved, the time has come for India to register its solidarity when it would be most appreciated, says former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins, who was in New Delhi on Thursday said in an interaction with the press that improvement in Indo-Pak ties will automatically improve the situation in Afghanistan, even as he discussed the current state of play in US-Afghan relations and attempts to work towards reconciliation with top officials.
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