Taliban say they are not looking to rule Afghanistan alone
Published: The New Indian Express
31 Jan 2019
The Taliban said Wednesday they are not seeking a "monopoly on power" in a future administration in Afghanistan but are looking for ways to co-exist with Afghan institutions — the most conciliatory statement to date from the militants.
The Taliban, who now control almost half the country and carry out near-daily attacks mainly targeting Afghan security forces, issued the statement amid intensified U.S.-led talks to resolve the long-running Afghanistan war. U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reported this week that there had been "agreements in principle" toward a framework for peace with the Taliban.Click here to read..
Pakistan supported militant groups will continue attacks in India: US spy
Published: The Asian Age
30 Jan 2019
Militant groups supported by Pakistan, which uses some terror outfits as "policy tools", will continue to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan, according to America's top spymaster. Remarks by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats came as he and heads of other top American intelligence agencies appeared on Tuesday before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on their worldwide threat assessment.Click here to read..
US lawmakers, intelligence agencies express concern over China’s OBOR initiative
Published: Daily Excelsior
Published: 31 Jan 2019
Top American lawmakers and spymasters on Tuesday expressed their concern over the increasing global presence of China through its ambitious ‘One Belt One Road’ or OBOR initiative, which they said has also a military dimension including in India’s western neighborhood. Responding to lawmakers concerns in this regard, American spymasters during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats refrained to talk about the OBOR’s military dimension in Pakistan in open setting.Click here to read..
China harps on NPT as P5 members meet to discuss nuclear non-proliferation
Published: The Economic Times
30 Jan 2019
China, which has been opposing India's entry into the (NSG), on Wednesday said that there should be no double standards in enforcing the NPT, as five permanent members of the UN Security Council began two-day meeting here to discuss issues related to nuclear disarmament.
China has been opposing India's entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the ground that India is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) though the other P5 members including US and Russia backed its case based on India's non-proliferation record.Click here to read..
Politics heats up in Kashmir as Pakistan foreign minister phones separatist Mirwaiz
Published: The Statesman
30 Jan 2019
Within hours after the Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke to him over the phone in Srinagar about Pakistan observing Kashmir Day against India on February 5, separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Wednesday said that India has to move beyond the status-quo and reach out to both Pakistan’s offer of talks and to Kashmiris. Soon after Qureshi spoke to the Mirwaiz, who is among those spearheading unrest in Kashmir, India reacted strongly by describing the development as “duplicity” of the Pakistani leadership.
This is for the first time that a Pakistani minister of the Imran Khan government has directly talked to a Hurriyat leader in Kashmir, while the previous regimes in Pakistan and their New Delhi based High Commissioners had been hobnobbing with the Kashmiri separatists in a bid to instigate them against India.Click here to read..
