China says deployment of an advanced missile system to a disputed island in the South China Sea would be its right under international law. At what point does a lonely rock in a vast ocean become an island? Just how much land is needed to sustain human life? And when China dredges thousands of tonnes of sand from the sea floor to build a runway, is Beijing right to claim the waters surrounding an artificial…
Posts published in “Day: July 12, 2016”
At the heart of the South China Sea dispute is the “nine-dash line”, Beijing’s claim that encircles as much as 90 per cent of the contested waters. The line runs as far as 2,000km from the Chinese mainland to within a few hundred kilometres of the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing maintains it owns any land or features contained within the line, which confers vaguely defined “historical maritime rights”. The Philippines is contesting the claims…
The writer is a former caretaker finance minister and served as vice-president at the World Bank In less than a century and a half Afghanistan has fought six wars. It has neither totally won nor totally lost any of these. But each one of them changed the country and the neighbourhood in which it is situated. The first two were fought with the British who by then had occupied the Indian sub-continent by defeating the…
A few weeks ago, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s armed forces stood across each other on the Durand line exchanging gunfire and artillery, while heavier weaponry still was moving into position.It was termed the lowest point in the neighboring countries’ relationship with each other – and with soldiers dying on both sides, few would have disagreed.Yet Ashraf Ghani’s bitter address at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Warsaw on Saturday, and Pakistan Foreign office’s equally acidic…
US President Barack Obama came into power promising to end his country’s two unwinnable wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Even though he had pulled out most troops in both countries with much fanfare, it seems the US no longer believes in the quaint notion that a country should stop fighting once it has declared a war over. First, in Iraq, the US used the excuse of the Islamic State threat to carry out regular bombings…
Speaking at the NATO summit on Saturday, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani blamed Pakistan on the failure of Afghanistan peace process, and alleged that this was due to Pakistan differentiating between good and bad terrorists “in practice.” This comes amidst heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, particularly in the aftermath of the clashes at the Torkham border. However, President Ghani’s allegations would further exacerbate the issue, and add to the hostilities between the two countries.…
The Taliban insurgents are making massive amounts of money through illicit drug trafficking and a range of other illicit dealings, says Mohammad Karim Atal, the head of Helmand provincial council. The insurgent group was also involved in illegal mining, smuggling of precious stones, imposing illegal taxes on the people and by smuggling marble. In addition, the Taliban collects illegal revenue from the Kajaki hydro-electrical dam in the southern province of Helmand, members of the provincial…
At least 12 loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed during the latest air and ground operations in eastern Nangarhar province. According to the local government officials, the raids were conducted in Achin and Kot districts, involving ground forces of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and US drone strikes. The provincial government media office in a statement said at least 7 of the militants were…
Analysts Skeptical Over Kabul’s Promises to NATO: by Abdul Wali Arian in Tolo News.com, 10 July 2016
President Ashraf Ghani and his CEO Abdullah Abdullah have pledged to NATO leaders that the Afghan government will take measures to increase national revenues to self-fund the Afghan security forces by the end of 2024. They also pledged to NATO that the Afghan government will boost the capacity of the conventional forces and their leadership. Reforms in government institutions will be completed and firm steps taken to eliminate corruption. Meanwhile, a number of political commentators…
Warsaw: NATO allies have agreed to help fund Afghan security forces to the tune of around $US1 billion ($1.3 billion) annually over the next three years, despite public fatigue in Western countries about their involvement in the long-running conflict. Fifteen years since the United States invaded to topple the Taliban rulers who had harboured al-Qaeda militants behind attacks on the United States, the West remains entangled in a costly effort to stabilise a country facing…
ISLAMABAD: Slain Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor “was about to make an announcement to join peace talks” when a US pilotless aircraft targeted him in May, a Taliban leader claimed on Sunday. The Taliban believe Mansoor’s killing was a part of a conspiracy to scupper peace talks. “Mansoor had wrapped up a series of discussions with the Qatar-based representatives in April and May and was planning to unveil his policy about peace negotiations, but…