Last month has been witness to massive attacks on the population of Kabul. A strike on the Intercontinental Hotel claimed 20 lives, following which was the explosive laden ambulance suicide attack which claimed over 100 lives. This is still the winter season and under normal conditions the Taliban and their affiliate the Haqqani network spend this period recouping and preparing […]
Since the tweet by Trump at 4 AM on new years day, blaming Pak for consuming US funds and doing nothing in battling the Taliban and Haqqani network, relations between the two have only been spiralling downhill. The US has suspended all military assistance to Pak, issued threats and yet attempted to cajole them to act. Like always, back channels […]
Trump’s tweets at 4 AM on New Years day, aimed directly at Pakistan has opened a can of worms. Pak’s political and military leaders as also diplomats at the UN and Washington have been crying foul, but to no avail. China, as usual, has come running to wipe Pak’s tears, while India and Afghanistan, who have faced the brunt of […]
The new year tweet by Donald Trump, blaming Pak for taking US funds and doing nothing in terms of supporting its war in Afghanistan, has brought Pak and its fake anti-terror policies back into focus. As expected Pak jumped and sang its same old song stating that it has done more for eliminating terrorism than any other country in the […]
President Trump, on 6th Dec, unilaterally accepted Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv there. It was not a decision in haste, nor did it stem from his imagination. The US house of representatives had passed a law in 1995, demanding the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem. Every […]
In his remarks on ‘meeting the foreign policy challenges of 2017 and beyond’ Rex Tillerson commented on North Korea and Pakistan as the US’s two major challenges in the coming year. These two have remained on the US agenda for some time, but there has been no forward movement by any government. Trump has adopted a more stringent approach than […]
Trump was screaming against the Iran nuclear deal all through his election campaign, promising to pull the US out, when he came to power. When it was time to certify the deal, he did not, letting the US Congress take the decision, indicating his keeping the promise he had earlier made, but just about. His actions against the deal has […]
President Trump’s government unveiled its new National Security Strategy (NSS) last week. It has since been dominating headlines in the region. The NSS lays down his government’s views on existing and emerging threats and its strategy to counter them. The NSS is mandated by Congress based on the Goldwater Nichols act and each President is expected to issue it annually. […]
Strong statements by the US president, indicting Pak for its support to terror groups on its soil, was followed by the BRICS statement, which officially listed terror groups emanating from Pak. Pak objected to both the statements and is presently working on reorienting its US strategy. With both China and Russia behind the BRICS statement, Pak was caught between the […]
The recent North Korean missile launches and hydrogen bomb tests had the US and its allies worried. Japan and South Korea voiced their displeasure, while Trump threatened them with ‘fist and fury’. A special session of the security council was requested for by Japan, France, Britain, South Korea and the US. It is expected to vote on its future actions […]