Introduction
Seventeen years have passed since the American forces entered Afghanistan in October 2001 and ousted the Taliban. The massive crackdown forced the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban leaders to melt into Pakistan, where they replenished their...
Security situation in Afghanistan faces greater challenges. Besides the Taliban, the rise of ISIS opens up another front for the embattled Afghan state. At a time when the Afghan national election draws closer, security challenges necessitate...
The VIF hosted an internal discussion on ‘Afghanistan: Emerging Realignment’ on 04 May 2017. The purpose was to consider Afghanistan’s dwindling security environment and imperatives for India to hedge its bets against a resurgent Taliban waiting to...
A delegation of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), led by its President Prof. Ji Zhiye, including Mr. Han Liqun and Mr. Hu Shisheng, among others, visited the VIF on 5 August 2016 for an interaction on India-China...
Although still not confirmed, US officials appear quite certain that they have managed to ‘take out’ the Taliban mir-ul-Momineen (Leader of the Faithful) in a drone strike carried out in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. If indeed Mullah Akhtar...
Notwithstanding the charade of a new peace/reconciliation move by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) comprising the villain-in-chief Pakistan, victim-in-chief Afghanistan, financier-in-chief USA and bystander-cum-freeloader-in-chief China,...
The Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan H.E. Hekmat Karzai, as part of his recent visit to India, held a broad ranging interaction with members of the VIF faculty on 19 November 2015. The interaction spanned across a range of complex bilateral...
Afghanistan 2014: Forward to the Past?
This is not a recent book, comparatively speaking; it was published in 2001, but remains topical. It covers the rise of the Taliban in the mid- to late-1990’s, and examines the main actors in the rise of this...
On 18 April 2013, Mr. Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India interacted with members of the VIF faculty on contemporary developments in Afghanistan. He spoke on the ongoing political, security and economic transition. He gave...
Representatives from Monitor 360, a US-based consultancy firm executing a project for the US Department of Defence and engaged in research and study of global strategic and analytical challenges, visited VIF on Feb 14, 2012. Their visit ostensibly...