Who’s afraid of intra-Afghan dialogue?

The two-day conference of mainstream Afghan politicians and Taliban representatives in Moscow on February 5-6 becomes a landmark event in the peace process.  Principally, it signifies the commencement of the ‘intra-Afghan dialogue’, a process that was struggling to be born. This process can be expected to galvanise the Afghan peace talks. Some of the most …

India wades into Afghan peace talks

(Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov greeting Taliban officials at Moscow peace conference, November 2018)  The Ministry of External Affairs spokesman’s remark on Thursday in New Delhi that “it is important that the presidential election in Afghanistan takes place as per the schedule” is the first major Indian comment on the current peace talks in Qatar between …

Afghan peace comes two steps at a time

Dramatic news is filtering in from Qatar where the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and his delegation were huddled together with the representatives of the Taliban for four consecutive days since Monday. The duration of the talks unmistakably signifies that complex negotiations have taken place. Things are moving almost entirely in the …

US officials converge on Pakistan seeking Afghan peace

After a successful mission to Turkey this weekend on US President Trump’s behalf, his leading Republican ally Senator Lindsey Graham is reportedly heading for Islamabad on a similar mission seeking rapprochement with another truculent erstwhile ally of the US. Senator Graham, interestingly, used to be a hardliner on Afghanistan who once believed that a US …

India baits US while Pakistan tells Trump, ‘There’s nothing like free lunch’

(External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets US Special Representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, New Delhi, January 10, 2019) Breaking a prolonged period of several months, the Pakistani allegation of Indian involvement in terrorist attacks has surged. This appears during the first detailed media briefing by the Pakistani authorities in Karachi on January 13 on the …

Pakistan’s Afghan jig irks regional states

(Russian FM Sergey Lavrov receiving Pakistani FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Moscow, Dec 26 2018) With what mixed feelings Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wound up on Wednesday his hurried 3-day regional tour of Kabul, Tehran, Beijing and Moscow, we will never know. What sticks out is that Islamabad’s newfound role as “facilitator” of the …