The acrimony over the disputed results of the Afghan presidential election notwithstanding, there has been a consensus within Afghanistan for the “reduction in violence” plan negotiated by the US and the Taliban, which commenced at midnight Friday. Hope has replaced despondency. President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai (who is …
Continue reading “Pakistan’s triumphalist moment in regional security”
A soldier deployed to NATO base in Kabul posing for a picture with a Santa in the base cafeteria, December 24 2019 The Modi government’s approach to the transition in Afghanistan bears an uncanny resemblance to the situation thirty years ago, in end-1989. A great power that intervened in Afghanistan was retreating after a bloody …
Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah casts vote in presidential election, Kabul, September 28, 2019 India is probably the only country to hail the “successful conduct of Presidential elections” in Afghanistan on September 28. Everyone else is holding breath. Curiously, the unusually muted campaign highlighted that candidates themselves seemed uninterested in spending money on an election …
The site of a suicide attack by Taliban in Parwan province, Sept. 17, 2019, targetting a campaign rally by President Ghani, killing over 20 people. Ghani escaped unharmed. During an exclusive interview with the Associated Press this week, the former Afghan president Hamid Karzai severely questioned the rationale behind the presidential election which is due to …
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) received US National Security Advisor John Bolton (R), Moscow, Oct. 23, 2018 At a press briefing Tuesday afternoon in Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned against any rushed estimation that the exit of National Security Advisor John Bolton signalled a seismic shift in the Trump administration’s foreign policy. …
Continue reading “Bolton’s exit impacts US foreign policy. This is how”
The site where a Taliban car bomb detonated in Kabul on Aug 7, 2019, killing 14 people and wounding 145. The statement issued by the Taliban on Thursday regarding the situation surrounding the state of Jammu & Kashmir merits serious attention. The statement recalls media reports on the abrogation of the special status of J&K …
Continue reading “India’s move on Article 370 came six months late”
President Donald Trump (R) speaks during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Washington, July 22, 2019 The US State Department chose Friday to announce the decision to approve a $125 million aid package providing technical support to Pakistan’s fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft. Ironically, the news reached Delhi on the 20th anniversary of …
Continue reading “US, Pakistan move in tandem to end Afghan war”
The Four-Party Meeting on the Afghan Peace Process, held in Beijing last Thursday and Friday, comprising China, the US, Russia and Pakistan, is a dramatic development auguring a peace settlement in Afghanistan. In a regional setting, it also signifies that Pakistan has inflicted a heavy defeat on India in the decade-old proxy war in Afghanistan. …
A Taliban delegation led by Abdul Ghani Baradar (centre) visited China recently, according to Beijing. The announcement in Washington on Wednesday regarding Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’ visit to the United States cannot but be noted as a watershed event in regional politics. At its most obvious level, the announcement coincides with the news coming out …
Continue reading “Trump’s volte-face on Pakistan is a moment of truth for India”
US soldiers like these deployed to Afghanistan have been in the landlocked mountainous country since late 2001 (AFP Photo) There could be several ways of interpreting the US State Department’s decision on Tuesday to designate the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, which imposes economic sanctions on the group and anyone affiliated …
