The writer is a former ambassador. For some time now, Pak-Afghan relations are in reverse gear. The newly announced tripartite talks to be initiated shortly among Afghanistan, India and US have further exacerbated the situation. The initial two years of the presidency of Ashraf Ghani witnessed a qualitative change in the fractured bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He took bold decisions to undo Karzai’s pro-India policies. He turned down the Indian offer to supply…
Posts published in “Day: September 16, 2016”
Afghan President Ahraf Ghani seems to be becoming more anti-Pakistan by the day. His latest outburst was threatening to cut off Pakistan from Central Asia should Pakistan not allow Afghanistan to use the Wagah border to trade with India. Pakistan has responded by saying that Afghanistan is still allowed to use the Wagah border to send goods to India; under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement it is only India which is not allowed to use…
The provincial police chief of southern Kandahar General Abdul Raziq has said he will not return to Kandahar until Tarinkot city is fully cleared of Taliban insurgents. Tarinkot city is the provincial capital of southern Uruzgan province which witnessed heavy clashes last week as the Taliban insurgents launched a coordinated to capture its control. According to reports, sporadic clashes still continue in parts of Tarinkot city despite the local officials said the Taliban insurgents were…
The provincial police chief of Nangarhar province General Zarawar Zahid was killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion. this afternoon. Provincial governor’s spokesman Ataullah Khogyani confirmed the incident took place earlier this evening after the IED planted near a check post was detonated. The Taliban militants group claimed responsibility behind the incident and said Gen. Zahid was killed along with several other policemen in the attack. Gen. Zahid is the second senior police official…
The signing of peace deal with Hezb-e-Islami led by Gulbuddi Hekmatyar has been delayed due to technical issues, the Afghan High Peace Council (AHPC) said Monday. According to a statement by AHPC, the signing of the peace agreement was postponed due to Eid holidays but a final agreement has been concluded between the Afghan government and the party. The statement further added that recently emerged rumors on certain media and social media are baseless, emphasizing…
At least 22 Indian nationals who went missing earlier this year have reportedly joined the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group. According to local media reports citing security sources the 22 individuals joined the loyalists of the terror group in the first of July. The sources further added that the revelation was made during the interrogation of an Indian woman, 29-year-old Yasmin, who was arrested by the authorities from…
Frost has been quite visibly setting in into the Pak-US relationship for quite a while now. The highest point post Nine-Eleven was just that – the time that immediately followed the attack. Pakistan became the ‘front-line state’ and ‘major non-nato ally’, etc, and quickly came the Paris Club rescheduling and IMF sweeteners. The ’98 ‘upset’ (Pakistan’s nuclear tests) was conveniently forgotten, to say the least. But then, just as quickly, came Pakistan’s ‘duplicity’, its ‘good…
The author is director of Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. Myanmese President U Htin Kyaw paid a visit to New Delhi late last month, the first time a top-level official from the country has visited India since the National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in Myanmar. Quite a number of agreements in many fields were inked during his tour and India promised whole-hearted support for Nay Pyi Taw in…
“How can China develop its diplomacy when some of the country’s diplomatic personnel face safety threats every day?” is a question being asked more and more as the risks faced by Chinese embassies grow, with some experts saying the government has been too lax in establishing security safeguards. China last week strongly condemned the alleged organizers and perpetrators of a terrorist attack on its embassy in Kyrgyzstan on September 6, one of whom was apparently…
The balance of power between capital and labour is shifting back towards the former in China’s troubled manufacturing heartland as the economic slowdown wipes out jobs faster than the labour supply falls. Many factories in the Pearl River Delta are reverting to past practice of hiring only young, preferably female, workers, a different approach from China’s post-stimulus years when even men in their 40s or 50s were in demand. In many recruitment flyers posted on…
China’s top legislature on Tuesday confirmed the disqualification of 45 deputies from Liaoning Province for electoral fraud. A National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee session on Tuesday voted to unseat the 45 NPC deputies, who were elected from the Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress, for vote buying and bribery during the 2013 election. Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the meeting. A report by the NPC credentials committee said it believes that…