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With the United States preparing for a complete withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by mid–2021 mandated by the US–Taliban deal signed on 29 February 2020, Afghanistan will predictably witness a resurgence of increasingly visible manifestations of ‘great power’ rivalries.

Terrorists stormed the American University of Afghanistan on August 24 killing 16 people and injuring more than 50.

A report by the Long War Journal has stated that the Taliban is now threatening five of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals.

USAID pledges $791 million in fresh aid to Afghanistan to support Afghan-led development programmes and other roundups

Both Russia and China have both proposed large railway infrastructure projects in Afghanistan and other weekly roundups from South Asia

US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter made his final trip to Afghanistan on 9 December as President Barack Obama winds down his presidency

News and analyses from South Asia this week.

Since April, 2005, there has been a co-ordinated escalation of acts of jihadi terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Jammu and Kashmir (J) State of India. It is my assessment that the coming months will see more and not less incidents of jihadi terrorism in these three areas.

As a new phase begins in the tragic history of Afghanistan, sulking can't be Delhi's strategy. India must keep an open mind, engage all the major Afghan formations, intensify the dialogue with all the regional and international stakeholders, and find ways to influence the outcomes.

Despite former President Musharraf's departure, neither the ISI nor the Army, could disengage itself from its dream - strategic depth in Afghanistan.

Two years after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, the debates around whether the group remains intact or has become divided have surfaced once again. In the immediate aftermath of the fall of Kabul in August 2021, there were speculations that the country could be going into a civil war or the Taliban would eventually come to a split. This brief analyses the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s resurgence in Kabul and weighs in o

By all accounts, the new Taliban is more aggressive, well armed and trained, in collaboration with Al Qaeda and other terrorist elements, determined to take over, to begin with, southern Afghanistan, despite the presence of coalition forces.

The situation for most Afghans remains critical

Increased insurgent violence in Afghanistan since the start of the Taliban's 'spring offensive' in May has further deteriorated the country's state of security.

Afghanistan and India enjoyed a “romantic relationship,” with close cultural ties.

In the midst of the chaotic withdrawal of the US-led forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban swept back to power in Kabul on 15 August 2021. Since then, the Taliban have repeatedly attempted to project a more moderate brand of governance. However, the Taliban leaders have yet to enunciate clear policies on issues such as women’s and girls’ access to education, employment, and political participation. Early indications nonetheless suggest that th

As the Obama administration debates the speed of its military withdrawal from Afghanistan between now and 2014, there is mounting pressure on all parties to find negotiated solutions.

Reconciliation with the Taliban is critical to the US transition plan for Afghanistan. Although there have been secret and persistent talks with some key elements of the Taliban leadership during the last two years, a tangible outcome has yet to emerge from these negotiations.

Pakistan has not given up its dream of controlling Afghanistan. It gives Rawalpindi an incredible reach and influence in the region and a legitimacy at home which has been under severe strain since the Abbottabad raid. The Taliban office in Doha is the first step towards such a goal. In that sense, the Doha office is a breakthrough for Rawalpindi more than any one else.

Local militants of Afghanistan joining the Islamic State's (IS) and violent clashes involving "IS jihadists" in different parts of the country suggest a realignment of loyalties of local militants. Kabul and the region must not be complacent.

Taliban, Rawalpindi declared victory too soon. The game now depends on Trump’s calculations

Recent geopolitical disruptions and India’s geoeconomic and geopolitical ambitions necessitate the building of new, more reliable multimodal trade corridors. This report examines the strategic importance for New Delhi of the ten-year agreement on Chabahar Port in Iran, and how it aligns with India’s ‘Connect Central Asia Policy’ and historical ties with the region. The Chabahar Port, along with the International North-South Trade Corridor

If the Obama Administration avoids the temptation of returning to business as usual with Rawalpindi, it has an opportunity to get both Afghanistan and Pakistan right.

Dealing with the complex Afghan situation and the slippery Pakistanis will not be any easy task for the Chinese.

While West Asia is volatile, the Chinese are beginning to get more active in Afghanistan, retain their pre-eminence in Pakistan and strengthen ties with Iran. In fact, Iran is the third leg of China?s policy in our immediate western neighbourhood. The Chinese are obviously making preparations for the time when peace returns to the Arab world, which might leave a stronger Iran.

ISIS, as an ideology and group, has also attracted many crossovers: ideologically radicalised, predominantly youth, leaving behind more regional and hyper-local entities to join ISIS’s brand of pan-globalist jihad is a trend that continues even today.

Fifteen years ago, the USA had promised to sell F-16s to Pakistan. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the company manufacturing the aircraft, took the necessary advance for it. Then there were sudden changes in the global and regional strategic environment. The Jehadi war in Afghanistan got over and Pakistan started diverting Jehadism into Jammu and Kashmir. The Cold war also was over.

With the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, analysts are pondering the kind of organisational form the group would take next. The influence of the so-called Islamic State in South Asia may be minimal, but India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have all had the shadow of ISIS’ global footprint land on their doorstep. This brief sheds light on how the influence of ISIS spread across South Asia, specifically after 2014, when pro-I

What are the gains that diplomacy on counter-terrorism, resolutions of the UN Security Council and other such multilateral instruments bring to the table?

A New Silk Road is magical thinking, given that Afghanistan remains a hotbed of instability plagued by daunting challenges. Lack of security has already delayed Tapi, the natural gas pipeline linking Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

The Obama Administration is putting it out as though the withdrawal is a great achievement. But the reality is shoddier - we are witnessing yet another western retreat from Afghanistan, one that can have baleful consequences for others.

Closer home, the Great Power Game will be played in the unstable fields of Ayatollahs' Iran, a Talibanised Afghanistan, whose leaders have their own world view, and a Sunni radicalised nuclearised Pakistan. The main contestants will be China and the US and our strategic planners may have to start planning for an uncertain future.

As winter approaches, the suffering of the people of Afghanistan will worsen

With over 9,000 NATO forces staged on the ground in Afghanistan, Trump has larger stakes in this country than in any other current conflict arena.

Of all the arguments for the US to continue in Afghanistan, despite an embarrassing catalogue of reverses, one most often advanced even by such distinguished strategic thinkers as Henry Kissinger is that American withdrawal,

The Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar is aimed at speeding up reconstruction in war-torn Afghanistan and bringing peace and normalcy to the nation

By opposing 'unilateralism in international affairs' and evincing a 'common interest' in the evolution of a multipolar world based on 'cooperative security order' while in Moscow this week, Prime Minister Vajpayee has addressed issues going beyond bilateral ties and regional politics in South Asia. To the extent, Vajpayee and India have been consistently focussing on multipolarism, particularly after the US war in Afghanistan, and on Iraq.

The September 26 death of Amjad Farooqi, Pakistan's most wanted terrorist, reveals the new face of terrorism taking shape in the backwoods of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Killed after a five-hour gun battle with security forces in Sindh, Pakistan, Farooqi had a bounty of Rs 20 million (436,205 USD) on his head.