Two presidents, one country. Abdullah Abdullah (L) and Ashraf Ghani (R) were sworn in as Afghan presidents in public ceremonies in adjacent palaces, Kabul, March 9, 2020 Three significant things about Ashraf Ghani’s swearing-in ceremony in Kabul on Monday augur well for the implementation of the US-Taliban pact signed in Doha on February 29. One, …
A “win-win” over Afghanistan and Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) met with Turkish President Recep Erdogan, Moscow, March 5, 2020 Two peace agreements within a week are a bit too much. Hot on the heels of the US-Taliban peace agreement signed in Doha on February 9, Russia and Turkey have signed a peace agreement over the Syrian conflict in Moscow …
Trump puts Taliban deal back on track
US special representative for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad (L) met Abdullah Abdullah (R) and other leaders of erstwhile Northern Alliance, Kabul, February 3, 2020 A mini mutiny in Kabul against the US-Taliban deal has been nipped in the bud and it should sound warning bells in Washington that the real threat to peacemaking in Afghanistan …
UN offers seamless partnership to India’s judiciary
Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (September 1, 2018 –). File photo The UN Human Rights Council’s move to approach the Supreme Court on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is already triggering a response in our country that can only be called the manifestation of ‘Pavlovian conditioning’ — a classical conditioning, …
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Regional states won’t oppose US-Taliban deal
Youth release balloons and pigeons to celebrate the reduction in violence, Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Feb. 28, 2020 The reactions of the major regional states surrounding Afghanistan over the US-Taliban peace agreement in Doha Saturday reveal fault lines that are useful pointers in the Afghan peace process. A sardonic remark by the Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar …
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Afghan peace comes with caveats but can’t be snuffed out
US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad (L) and co-founder of Taliban movement Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (R) signed the Afghan peace agreement., Doha, February 29, 2020 The chasm between illusion and reality in politics remains perennial. Wars seldom ended according to the script of peace agreements. The fall of Saigon in April 1975 …
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Turkey, Russia tiptoe toward ‘unnecessary war’
The Russian destruction of Turkish fleet at the Battle of Sinop on 30th November 1853 sparked the Crimean War. (Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art.) A military confrontation between Turkey and Syria has erupted in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib. Latest reports say …
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Deconstructing the election to Iran’s Majlis
Iran’s parliamentary election on Friday took place in extraordinary circumstances. The pandemic fear over coronavirus significantly impacted the voter turnout, which is estimated to be around 42% (as compared to 62% in the 2016 election to the Majlis). A dozen people have died so far in Iran and a few dozen diagnosed with the virus …
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Socialism rises like a phoenix to haunt America
The race for Democratic Nomination in the upcoming US presidential election in November has electrified with the huge victory by Bernie Sanders in the Nevada primary on Saturday. The race has crossed a critical milestone. The primaries so far gave us a sampling of the trend in two regions of America — the American heartland …
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Pakistan’s triumphalist moment in regional security
The acrimony over the disputed results of the Afghan presidential election notwithstanding, there has been a consensus within Afghanistan for the “reduction in violence” plan negotiated by the US and the Taliban, which commenced at midnight Friday. Hope has replaced despondency. President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai (who is …
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