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By K N Pandit
Because of the covert and overt help of Pakistan, and the US’ blurred vision of Afghan policy, the Afghan Taliban are walking the streets of Kabul without a stiff battle. The Americans are gone. The “elected” government of Ashraf Ghani is gone and the Afghan national army raised by the Americans with great fanfare is invisible – destroyed, absconding or deserted. Continue Reading…
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By K N Pandita
Pakistan is euphoric about the victory of the Taliban and the fall of Kabul. It is her fulfilment of the four-decades-old desire of achieving strategic depth westward. This country has been feeling nervous about the vulnerability of her eastern border after the loss of Bangladesh in the 1972 war with India. What added to her anxiety was the growing cordial relationship between India and Afghanistan. Why Muslim Afghanistan developed a cordial relationship with the infidel India and did not warm up with her has remained an unresolved enigma for the rulers of Pakistan. Continue Reading…
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By K N Pandita
Westminster model democracy takes a long time to strike its roots deep in the psyche of the people. The British democracy is more than a millennia, and the American democracy is nearly 250 years old. The survival of democracy, as we glean from the example of the two countries mentioned above, depends on how pragmatic these are with the inbuilt capacity of adjusting with a new imperative that appears rapidly in an age of scientific and technological advancement. Continue Reading…
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By K N Pandita
The Problem
On August 5, Ebrahim Raisi, the President-elect of Iran took formal oath of office and thus replace the somewhat moderate predecessor Hassan Rouhani. His election for the top position in Iran is a shot in the arms of the conservative clergy since Raisi is known and the diehard Islamist very close to the patriarch Ayatollah Khamenei. To some commentators he is the most likely leader to succeed the patriarch when he is no more. What are the national problems looking into his eyes and how is he likely to react? This is what we intend to discuss here. Continue Reading…
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By K N Pandita
Stating the issue
On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced that the US was withdrawing from the JCPOA and signing a presidential memorandum to institute the “highest level” of economic sanctions on Iran. In a statement, Secretary of the then Treasury Steve Mnuchin stated that sanctions would be re-imposed subject to certain 90 days and 180 days “wind-down periods.” Reacting angrily, Iran said that since the US had rescinded the nuclear deal unilaterally, she was not bound to honour the agreement. Continue Reading…
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By K N Pandita
The Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar was right in saying that India wanted peace in and around Afghanistan. As Taliban are reported to be taking control over more and more towns and border crossing points, the neighbouring states, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, China and Russia, all are closely watching how the situation is developing in strife-torn Afghanistan after the exit of the US and NATO forces. Continue Reading…