India’s ambassador to Qatar held talks with a top Taliban leader on Tuesday, the Indian foreign ministry said, the first formal diplomatic engagement since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The envoy, Deepak Mittal, met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the head of the Taliban’s Political Office in Doha, at the request of the Taliban, the foreign ministry said.The foreign ministry said […]

The United States and India have agreed to continue to work closely on the latest developments in Afghanistan, says the State Department. The agreement came during a phone call between US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday. In a statement, the State Department said the two sides discussed a broad range […]

Pakistan is establishing interfaith harmony councils at the local, provincial and national level to promote dialogue and resolve sectarian conflicts, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, special representative of the prime minister on religious harmony, has revealed. In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Ashrafi, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council, a top body of religious scholars, said Prime Minister […]

This is Part-1 of a two-part article. This part shows how peace and tranquility at LAC is sought to be restored, in spite of a rare clash at Galwan last year. LAC was a rare border where not a single shot was fired, and none killed, in over four decades despite it being a disputed border. It further shows how […]

India sent a military plane to northern Afghanistan on Tuesday to pull out its citizens, officials said, as fighting raged between Afghan security forces and the advancing Taliban. The Indian government shut its consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif, the biggest city in the north, and urged its diplomats and Indian citizens to take the special flight home, Reuters reported. Islamist Taliban fighters […]

The spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry, Shri Arindam Bagchi, said on Sunday that the consulate in southern Kandahar province is not closed, contrary to some Indian media reports. However, Indian personnel have been evacuated, the spokesperson said. “India is closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Afghanistan. The safety and security of our personnel is paramount. The Consulate General of […]

A senior Qatari official said Indian officials made a “quiet visit” to Doha where they met with the Taliban’s political leadership. India Today reported Tuesday that speaking at a virtual event, ‘Looking Towards Peace in Afghanistan after the US-NATO Withdrawal’, organised by Arab Center Washington DC, Qatar’s Special Envoy of the State of Qatar for Counterterrorism and Mediation of Conflict […]

Zalmay Khalilzad, US special envoy for Afghanistan said in a series of tweets that he met with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Doha on Tuesday and that the country will play a vital role in the Afghan peace process. India “will continue to have a vital role as we work together, and alongside the rest of the international community, […]

In late February, India and Pakistan announced a cease-fire along their de facto border in the contested region of Kashmir. In a joint statement, the two countries’ military authorities said that there will be a “strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing,” while also claiming they will seek to “address each other’s core issues and concerns” to ensure […]

In a sudden move on Aug. 5, India’s government announced it was eliminating the special, semiautonomous status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir by revoking Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The decision is a watershed moment in the 72-year-long standoff between India and Pakistan over control of the Kashmir region, as well as for the Kashmiri peoples’ long […]