Articles

Is a Demographic Shift underway in Northern Afghanistan?

In the two years since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan significant developments have been unfolding in the country’s Northern provinces. This article looks at two specific developments – first, the relocation of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan ....

August 31, 2023 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Commentary , regional stability , Extremism , Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , Qosh Tepa Canal , ethnic demography , Pashtunization

Twenty Months In, The Taliban Endures As The World’s ‘Catch-22’

Dr Chayanika Saxena Commentary

Amid controversial observations about the Taliban’s potential recognition^[1], the world is yet to arrive at an understanding, let alone a consensus, on what to make of the ultr....

June 01, 2023 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Commentary , Taliban , Al Qaeda , UN

Russia's Approach to Afghanistan

Amb P S Raghavan, Distinguished Fellow, VIF

Developments in Afghanistan have always aroused Russian minds. In the words of Amb Raghavan, since the eighteenth century, Russia's strategic planning has been driven by the search for secure borders, buffer zones and warm waters. To further understa....

April 21, 2023 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Russia , Developments in Afghanistan , Podcast

International Order and Taliban: Theory and Practice

Georgi Asatryan, Ph.D. Commentary

Afghanistan has historically been on the fringe of global politics while also being unexpectedly and tragically entangled in international processes. It was afflicted throughout the 20th century by linkages to the outside world. The Soviets invasion ....

March 29, 2023 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Commentary , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Taliban , International order

AFGHANISTAN: Through the Fog of Instability

Lt General R K Sawhney, PVSM, AVSM, Centre Head & Senior Fellow, National Security and Strategic Studies & Internal Security Studies, VIF

Afghanistan is a country that has seen more devastation than prosperity, especially in the last 20 years. The resurgence of the Taliban and its cat-and-mouse game with the West has brought the once lively nation on the brink of starvation and decline....

February 07, 2023 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , India , Pakistan , US , Afghanistan , Taliban , Book Published , Durand Line , Afghan wars

Peshawar Bombing likely to Heighten Stress in Pakistan-Taliban Relations

Dr Anwesha Ghosh Article

Taliban’s triumph in Afghanistan in August 2021 was seen as a strategic victory for Pakistan. But the initial euphoria considerably withered away in the course of the following months, by the general drift in the Pakistan-Taliban relations. Two fac....

February 06, 2023 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Article , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Durand Line , TTP , Afghan Taliban , Peshawar bombing , terrorist attack

Killing of al-Zawahiri: U.S. Counter-terrorism Operations, Future of Al Qaeda and Implications for Taliban, Pakistan, other Stakeholders and India

Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM (Retd)

… al-Zawahiri’s killing could be the beginning of a new road instead of its end, depending on how the Taliban evolves from here ... Taliban is caught between devil and deep-sea ... There is enormous pressures from international community ... Will....

December 21, 2022 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Taliban , Al Qaeda , Monograph , Counter terrorism , al-Zawahiri , Stakeholders , US intelligence operation , Taliban rule

One year after the Taliban Takeover- Afghanistan in Crisis

Aakriti Vinayak Commentary

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"-Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The recent developments in Afghanistan compel to acknowledge this off quoted statement. Juxtaposing the main military dictum of "keeping one....

October 08, 2022 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Commentary , governance , Taliban , Economic crisis , Human Rights , women rights , one year , Afghanistan in Crisis , Taliban Takeover

Afghanistan- One year after Taliban Takeover

Amb Gautam Mukhopadhaya

Two decades of progress in Afghanistan and the process of nation-building came to an abrupt end with the fall of the Afghan government and the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban on August 15, 2021. A year after the situation in Afghanistan is unparalle....

September 22, 2022 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Taliban , Economic crisis , Human Rights , Podcast

“Victory Day” Parade: One year of a Pyrrhic Victory for the Taliban

Soumya Awasthi Article

The impact of the Taliban’s one-year rule in Afghanistan differs across regions and countries. The impression on South Asia was more distinct than on any other region. In South Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan bore the burden of the Taliban’s takeo....

August 18, 2022 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Article , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Kabul , Terrorism , South Asia , Southeast Asia , ISI , ISKP , Haqqani network , TTP , Uzbek , Victory Parade , One Year of Taliban , Taliban 2.0 , Akhundzada , Baradar , Kandahar , Quetta Shura , Tajik , Zabiullah