IS it a repair job or recognition that an important relationship needs to be reset somehow amidst continuing and serious differences? Several US senators and the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan shuttled between Islamabad and Rawalpindi over the weekend, but only the most perfunctory of details have been offered so far by Pakistani officials. Perhaps once the Senate delegation returns to the US, there will be some comment from the American side that may…
Posts published in “Day: July 5, 2016”
It is gratifying, for once, to have US officials visit Pakistan and have something to say other than admonish us to ‘do more’ in the fight against militancy. It may be a truism to say the region is complex and has many actors of ambivalent motivations and so no one country can be blamed for all the problems. A delegation of visiting US senators, including former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, met with Army Chief…
As the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson and US Senator John McCain on Saturday met the Army Chief at GHQ Rawalpindi, border management with Afghanistan remained the most important issue under discussion. The deadly clashes at Torkham border have taught us one thing; building a border fence is not going to be an easy task.The idea of erecting fences along the Durand Line is not an unnecessary one, as…
Security forces re-took the control of an outpost in Wardak province that was fallen to Taliban two days ago, local officials said on Sunday. Abdul Rahman Mangal, a spokesman for Wardak governor said the security forces launched a military operation in Jalrez district and re-took the outpost that collapsed to insurgents on Friday night. The officials said that 15 Taliban militants were killed and injured in Jalrez clashes over the past two days, adding that…
Top Afghan security officials in the Ministry of Interior were investigated for a deadly attack in capital Kabul that targeted a convoy of the Afghan police cadets. Sources in the Ministry of Interior (MoI) have said at least 10 senior officials have been investigated, apparently for any negligence that led to the death of at least 33 police cadets. The incident in Kabul took place on Thursday after a suicide bomber targeted the convoy of…
KABUL – A number of international relations experts and political commentators on Saturday slammed the appointment of relatives of high ranking government officials to Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions abroad. They said the practice was unprofessional, and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has changed into a collection of family members and relatives of government officials. President Ashraf Ghani during his election campaign pledged to appoint qualified individuals regardless of their political affiliation to government institutions…
Iranian media reported on Sunday that a series of negotiations are underway between Iranian officials and Afghan private sector to increase export of gas to Afghanistan. “There are two initiatives to export the strategic commodity to the neighboring country, one of which is through extending pipelines. Moreover, natural gas can be transferred to Afghanistan in the form of compressed natural gas,” Alireza Kameli, the chief executive of National Iranian Gas Export Company said as he…
Afghanistan received military equipment from China on Sunday months after Beijing announced expanded military aid to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). The Office of the National Security Adviser said the military aid by China was received by National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar. A cargo plane loaded with the military aid including transport vehicles and other military equipment landed in Kabul’s Military Airport today. China’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Yao Jing was also…
KABUL – Afghanistan on Saturday warned that any country that pursues a double game on the issue of insurgency will face negative consequences. “Afghan government pursues a clear policy on terrorism and it doesn’t believe in the perception of good and bad terrorists, countries that continue a double standard policy on terrorism or classify them bad and good will pay the price of their job,” presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor…
ISLAMABAD – A Pakistan-led tripartite commission comprising the United States and Afghanistan on the management of Pak-Afghan border is on the cards after Senator John McCain, Chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, committed to support the proposal. Credible sources told The Nation on Sunday that Senator John McCain who is currently heading a four-member bipartisan US Senate delegation to Pakistan held out the categorical assurance to Pakistani leadership after his visit to the…
ISLAMABAD: So impressed was US Senator John McCain, Chairman Senate Armed Services Committee, after his visit to the North Waziristan Agency on Sunday that he assured Pakistan that on his return he would “brief the US Congress appropriately for continued (US) support to Pakistan in its efforts towards economic development and the complete eradication of terrorism from the country.” Also reassuring for Pakistan was the US assertion that India-US bilateral ties did not in any…