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As the reality of the U.S. withdrawal takes hold, the future will depend on Taliban-Kabul dynamics and Pakistan’s role

US President Donald Trump’s new Afghanistan strategy for America’s longest war has potential to drastically alter existing regional relations. The policy, announced after an exhaustive eight-month-long review process, attempts to give a new direction for future US involvement in Afghanistan. Becoming president at a time when old alignments are undergoing transition, Trump’s task has not been easy. Given the constraints, however, Trump’s A

In recent years, China has been expanding its diplomatic and economic profile in Afghanistan, with its policy evolving from being premised on ‘calculated indifference’, to strategic engagement. Although China’s actions may be predicated on domestic compulsions, Afghanistan could also benefit in the process, especially in relation to China’s transcontinental connectivity ventures. Other considerations like China’s geographical proximity

To understand the different perspectives of the UK and India on the evolving situation in Afghanistan and the implications of the Arab Spring, Observer Research Foundation organised an interaction with experts from the Foreign Commonwealth Office on March 21, 2013.

Neither Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel nor John Kerry, the new Secretary of State, will find it easy to sketch a credible exit strategy from the Afghan war which according to Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz has already cost $700 billion. Surely this vast expenditure has to be explained in terms of some gains for Washington.

US President Barak Obama's latest "surge" in Af-Pak policy is unlikely to succeed largely because of huge challenges imposed by geography and the seemingly intractable ethnic divisions in Afghanistan makes success

US did not believe in the view that democracy could accomplish economic growth in Afghanistan. And their preference was authoritarian modernisation rather than through democratic means, according to Stanford University professor Dr. Robert Rakove.

In a groundbreaking speech in August this year, US President Donald Trump laid out his government’s policy for South Asia, authorising more American troops to Afghanistan and insisting that Pakistan must either “do more” to restrain Islamist militants, or face consequences. Indian and Afghan governments have welcomed the new US policy approach. The major components of Trump’s Afghanistan strategy — recognising Pakistan’s role in provi

The primary objective of the US is to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a launchpad by Al Qaeda

The failed attack on the Indian consulate in Jalalabad on August 3, and the conspiracy to attack the Indian ambassador in Afghanistan, reported in Mail Today the day before that, are indications that we need to plan for the worsening scenario in Afghanistan, rather than for an optimistic one.

The bomb was launched, possibly from a customised USAF C-130 Hercules aircraft, to target a maze of caves in and around Achin.

While Indian officials have participated in events where the Taliban have been present, India has been content to let others take the lead. We have, therefore, been unable to plan options for ensuring security of both the Indian nationals working in Afghanistan as well the diplomats at our embassy in Kabul, and this remains the primary responsibility at the moment.

The issues in Afghanistan do not exhaust potential areas for India-US cooperation. For example, combating the drug trade, engaging China, Central Asian nations, Iran, and Russia. Successful coordination and collaboration will go a long way towards creating a post-2014 Afghan scenario amenable to both India and the US.

While the supreme leader is there for life (or till he chooses to retire), the president is limited to two four-year terms, defining where the balance of power rests between them

The Taliban’s return will lead to geopolitical realignment. India’s ties with major powers will also be readjusted to manage terrorism coming from the Af-Pak area

A weaker American presence would only compound New Delhi’s existing Afghan conundrum.

India today has limited tactical options on how to preserve itself around the issue of Afghanistan.

India needs to be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences for its national security.

The Alliance, a concoction of tribal leaders and warlords held out in the northern parts of Afghanistan against the Taliban more than 25 years ago. However, the rapid fall of the north brought to the front that many who had previously helped the Northern Alliance, and even the US-led forces later in 2001 to depose the Taliban, were now in cahoots with the same group.

करते परवान गुरुद्वारे पर हमले ने अफ़ग़ानिस्तान में भारत की हालिया सक्रियता पर नए सिरे से सवाल खड़े कर दिए हैं क्योंकि काबुल में तालिबान के काबिज होने के बाद नई दिल्ली उसके

While the year 2003 saw many acts of terrorism in South, South-East and West Asia, as well as in Chechnya in Russia, very few major acts of terrorism were reported from Central Asia. In fact, ever since the US-led coalition went into action against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Central Asian Republics (CARs) have remained largely free of major acts of terrorism

There has been no credible evidence so far of any mastermind having orchestrated the various serious acts of jihadi terrorism reported during 2003, whether from Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq or Turkey. The available evidence indicates that all these incidents were planned and executed by local elements, which share the pan-Islamic ideology of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front (IIF), b

New Delhi, Tehran and Moscow could coordinate their efforts on Afghanistan as the US exits

Pakistan has no option but to respond to public outrage. Blocking of the two NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and denying the use of a Baloch airfield to the CIA is actually a low risk retaliation when Iran, Hezbullah, Syria are much more in the eye of a huge, global storm.

Donald Trump is now arguing that India should be viewed as part of a solution to the Afghan imbroglio

The US is entering its trickiest phase in the Af-Pak region, where elections are due in both, Pakistan and Afghanistan just around the time Washington has set for its troops to depart. Can troops depart without an overt or covert understanding with Iran which has a long border with Afghanistan?

Afghanistan’s willingness to accept China’s offer to join its ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the possibility of Russian support to Chabahar lends a new nuance to the contestation brewing between India, China and Pakistan.

With India and Russia having a common interest in Afghanistan’s stability, the ensuing big power competition, which is pushing Moscow into a tight Chinese economic embrace, is increasingly turning out to be a challenge.

Cautioning that the security situation in Afghanistan may become complicated in future, Chinese scholars said since both India and China have interests in that country, it could provide an opportunity for both to play a bigger role, setting aside the disagreements regarding Pakistan.

The top job for now will possibly go to someone already blessed by Zawahiri, but the future al-Qaeda could be much more Afghanistan-Pakistan centric as the group looks towards a new era of ideological and operational leadership

The high table at the NATO Summit at Chicago will discuss some withdrawal agenda, but the real policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan will only be delineated when the new administration takes charge in Washington in November.

Counter-terror narratives are backsliding, and this trend needs to be arrested as a compromise with a section of these groups becomes an acceptable way out.

It may return if more structural concerns in counter-terror thinking and policies are not addressed over time

India must expand its development role further and enhance its security profile in Afghanistan

The Central Asian Republics (CARs) have, in recent years, implemented multifaceted foreign policies to achieve strategic autonomy and limit China’s influence and Russia's traditional sway. But domestic uprisings in the CARs, the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan, and now the Russia-Ukraine conflict have given China new opportunities to strengthen its presence in Central Asia. This brief investigates China's increased engagement with the CARs

The phenomenon of individuals leaving their home country and making their way to conflict zones to join terror and insurgent groups is not new. In the past few years, however, the numbers of these “foreign fighters” have increased: thousands of people from more than 80 countries have made their way to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and other battle zones. As countries in the West struggled to deal with these intra-geographic threats from radicalis

The US Congressional Staff was pointed out that though Pakistan's political machinery is willing to work with all parties, including India, on Afghanistan, the army apparatus and the ISI still remains a liability. These factors must be taken into account while US deals with Pakistan.

After decades of being on the backburner, the 9-11 terrorist attacks forced America to take a fresh look at the South Asian region. The last time the US had focused on this region was immediately following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which required US policymakers to structure their policies to fit the Cold War paradigm.

New Delhi’s engagement after America’s exit must build on its resonating vision of a stable and plural Afghanistan

We should not be lulled into complacency about the nature of the militancy in J&K these days. Incidents can be few and far between. But when they occur, they can be deadly. The winding down of the US and NATO operations in Afghanistan could enlarge the area which could be used by anti-Indian jihadis to set up training camps.

The attack in Quetta should be understood as an attack on the stability and future of Pakistan's economic dream project.

The 'old boys' network has given Asim Umar an extensive reach among the jihadi groups active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He can tap into the Taliban network with as much ease as he could work with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

India’s outreach to the Taliban isolates Pakistan further

Legitimising Taliban is a global risk