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On The Eve of the Doha Round - Afghan Women Claim Their Space in the Peace Talks
Zulaikha Rafiq Commentary

This is an exceptionally confusing and exciting time in Afghanistan, and (we hope) a turning point in the history of the country. The US and the Afghan government representatives, together with civil society representatives are due to sit across the....

April 17, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Commentary , Taliban , Afghan Women’s Network , Doha , Afghanistan peace talks
Kabul’s Muscle-Flexing amidst recent Tensions
Prateek Joshi Commentary

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent assertion that Pakistan would play a key role in the Afghan peace settlement has contributed to the latest downswing of ties between these two nations.1 In his address to journalists, Imran Khan not onl....

April 04, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Commentary , Afghanistan peace process , Afghanistan’s government’s strong stance
Afghanistan Manoeuvres: Sense and Nonsense of Talking to Taliban
Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee, Editor, VIF

… every stake holder for Afghanistan’s democracy, stability and progress appreciates the severe consequences of the Taliban assuming power … also understand that even in a power sharing arrangement between the legitimate, democratic Government ....

March 28, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Situation in Afghanistan , Taliban
The Afghanistan Conundrum
Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM (Retd)

… for the United States, pushing the Taliban to join peace talks with Kabul is paramount to ending its 17-year long involvement in the war. But perhaps Washington's biggest problem will be figuring out how to balance the Taliban's demand for a comp....

March 07, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Taliban
Moscow Talks: Divided We Fall
Dr Yatharth Kachiar Article

In an unprecedented move, the Taliban delegation held two-day talks with the Afghan politicians in a Kremlin-owned President Hotel in Moscow to discuss the future of Afghanistan. However, in a rather typical manner, the Afghan Government was once aga....

February 18, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Article , Moscow Taliban talks , Afghanistan civil war
Afghanistan’s Landlocked Trap
Dr Yatharth Kachiar Article

Pakistan’s denial of the air passage to the Indian cargo flights bound to Afghanistan comes as a major impediment in enhancing the regional connectivity of landlocked Afghanistan.1 In September 2018, Spice Jet has signed up a contract wi....

February 08, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Article , Afghanistan trade connectivity , Pakistan-Afghan issue
Afghan Talks - Talking Peace without the People?
Dr Yatharth Kachiar Commentary

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, tweeted at the end of six-day long peace talks with Taliban in Qatar that discussions have made “significant progress”. According to the media reports, the two sides ....

February 04, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Commentary , US-Taliban talks , Afghan peace process
Revival of Peace Initiatives in Afghanistan: Implications for India

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....

January 31, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , US , Taliban , al-Qaeda , Peace Initiatives in Afghanistan , Afghan National Army
The Great Game Revisited*
Tilak Devasher, Consultant, VIF Article

The continuing turmoil in Afghanistan and the entry of several players in Central Asia, in what has been called the New Great Game, is likely to get further complicated. This is due to the reported move of the US to pullout half their troops from Afg....

December 26, 2018 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Article , The Great Game , Afghanistans vulnerability
Moscow Regional Consultations on Afghanistan: Can India Play a Role?
Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF Article

On 9 November 2018, Moscow organised regional consultations on Afghanistan which were attended by the Taliban’s Qatar office and the representatives of the Afghan High Peace Council. This was the first time that the Taliban and the representatives ....

November 10, 2018 Neighbourhood Studies , Afghanistan , Article , Taliban-Afghan meeting , Russia’s Afghanistan initiative
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