Afghanistan

After 20 years, the Taliban regained control of Kabul on August 15 and became Afghanistan’s top authority with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following the capture of Kabul, the Taliban appear to be ostensibly adhering to international norms and seeking good relations …

It is becoming increasingly obvious what kind of superpower China might be. Even as the international community watches the unfolding events in Afghanistan with concern, China has moved quickly to further its interests in the region. For Beijing, it is business as usual. Beijing has been quick to announce that …

The return of the Taliban in an Afghanistan abandoned by both its fleeing President and the US forces infuses a perilous complexity into India’s strategic environment. The US’s chastened retreat, rather than withdrawal, from this embattled land-locked country of over 35 million puts the clock back to the time when …

The rapid collapse of Afghanistan has led to predictable finger-pointing about who is to blame for “losing Afghanistan.” Both President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, laudably wanted to end the quagmire. Both made blunders. Most recently, under Biden, Trump’s deadline for withdrawal was ignored, a Trump-era crisis response …

Though just two weeks have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, fear among masses, as expected, has spread like wildfire across Afghanistan, forcing thousands to run towards the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, to escape a dreaded future. Unsurprisingly, the Kabul Airport and its surroundings have …

The political developments unfolding rapidly in Afghanistan since the Taliban forcibly seized power in the country reveal convergent positions between Russia and Iran on the militia’s takeover. Moscow and Tehran are among the few capitals in the world that did not express deep concern about the Taliban sweeping across Afghanistan’s …

The idea of peace, for people living in Afghanistan, has remained quite elusive and distant concept for a very a long time. Owing to very vivid conflictual fault lines, the prospect of peace has often been termed as the long road keeping in view the different factors that are entrenched …

The UN Security passed a resolution on Monday that calls for the Taliban to facilitate safe passage for people wanting to leave Afghanistan, allow humanitarians to access the country, and uphold human rights, including for women and children. Thirteen of the 15 ambassadors voted in favour of the resolution, which …

When something completely unexpected happens, we ascribe it to providence. But when there are a series of such occurrences revolving around a single event, it’s but natural to suspect that something’s amiss and in absence of any rational explanation, conspiracy and coverup theories abound. The latest such issue that’s caught …

Billions of dollars of US materiel is now in the Taliban’s hands; but which leader will be taken to task for it, or for anything? “This is effing ridiculous,” we grumbled to each other as we eased our sedan onto the Autobahn. I was a newly minted 2nd lieutenant, accompanied …