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AsiaOne
04-07-2025
- Business
- AsiaOne
Russia becomes first country to recognise Taliban government of Afghanistan, World News
Russia said on Thursday (July 3) it had accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan, making it the first nation to recognise the Taliban government of the country. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow saw good prospects to develop ties and would continue to support Kabul in security, counter-terrorism and combating drug crime. It also saw significant trade and economic opportunities, especially in energy, transport, agriculture and infrastructure. "We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral co-operation between our countries in various fields," the ministry said. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a statement: "We value this courageous step taken by Russia, and, God willing, it will serve as an example for others as well." No other country has formally recognised the Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. However, China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have all designated ambassadors to Kabul, in a step towards recognition. The Russian move represents a major milestone for the Taliban administration as it seeks to ease its international isolation. It is likely to be closely watched by Washington, which has frozen billions in Afghanistan's central bank assets and enforced sanctions on some senior leaders in the Taliban that contributed to Afghanistan's banking sector being largely cut off from the international financial system. Complex history Russia has been gradually building relations with the Taliban, which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in fighting terrorism. Since 2022, Afghanistan has imported gas, oil and wheat from Russia. The Taliban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003, but the ban was lifted in April this year. Russia sees a need to work with Kabul as it faces a major security threat from Islamist militant groups based in a string of countries from Afghanistan to the Middle East. In March 2024, gunmen killed 149 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in an attack claimed by Islamic State. US officials said they had intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch of the group, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), that was responsible. The Taliban says it is working to wipe out the presence of Islamic State in Afghanistan. Western diplomats say the Taliban's path towards wider international recognition is blocked until it changes course on women's rights. The Taliban has closed high schools and universities to girls and women and placed restrictions on their movement without a male guardian. It says it respects women's rights in line with its strict interpretation of Islamic law. Russia has a complex and bloodstained history in Afghanistan. Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979 to prop up a Communist government, but became bogged down in a long war against mujahideen fighters armed by the United States. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev pulled his army out in 1989, by which time some 15,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed. [[nid:704353]]
Gulf Today
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Blast claimed by Daesh kills four in northwest Pakistan
An explosion in northwest Pakistan killed at least four local government officials and police Wednesday, an officer told the media, in an attack claimed by a branch of the Daesh group. "One senior government official, along with another government official and two police officers, were killed in the attack. Eleven people were wounded," said Waqas Rafiq, a senior police official stationed in Bajaur, a city near the border with Afghanistan. The officials were travelling in a car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when "the attack happened in a market in Bajaur city", Rafiq added. Hours later the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) group claimed to have detonated an explosives-laden moped that targeted the vehicle in which the officials were travelling. The deadly blast came four days after 16 soldiers were killed in the same province in an attack claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, a group which is very active in the area. Around 300 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, according to the media. Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Center for Research and Security Studies. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan -- a claim the Taliban denies. Agence France-Presse
India Today
19-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
What price is Pakistan's Field Marshal Munir paying for free lunch with Trump?
Everyone knows that there are no free lunches in America. Everyone also knows it is extremely rare for a US President to host the army chief of a country like Pakistan for a luncheon meeting. Asim Munir of Pakistan is, of course, no ordinary army chief. He is Pakistan's de facto ruler and undeclared military dictator. There is a civilian regime headed by the puppet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sitting in Islamabad. But it exists only to rubber stamp decisions taken by the all their grandstanding on democracy, human rights and liberal political values, the Americans have zero compunctions in entertaining, praising and feting the worst military dictators and mass murderers as long as 'he is our son of a and ready to do the US' bidding. Therefore, there is logic in Trump entertaining Asim Munir in the White House. The question, however, is what's Trump's ask of Pakistan's generalissimo, and what is being offered in return. After all, a transactional Trump wouldn't be wasting time courting an Islamist yokel like Munir unless he wanted something significant from one really knows what exactly was on the agenda of this meeting. Could it be something as simple as: Trump wanting to thank Munir because the latter called for the US President to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 'stopping a nuclear war' between India and Pakistan? Is Trump playing host to someone who otherwise would be a pariah because he hopes to gain some personal financial benefit? The Trump organisation and its associates are reported to have entered into deals on cryptocurrency with Pakistan under the patronage of the Pakistan Army. There are also reports of Pakistanis having offered rare earth mineral rights and other lucrative projects (on paper at least) to US companies, some of which could be related to the Trump Apart from the personal deals he might be trying to squeeze out of Munir, Trump could also be discussing terrorism cooperation against the perceived threat from the Islamic State Khorasan (ISK). A recent testimony of the Centcom chief suggests that terrorism is something on which both the US and Pakistan have been working together. Could Trump be trying to pull Pakistan out of the Chinese embrace by wooing Munir? Or is this about Iran? There is a lot of speculation about the US seeking logistics bases inside Balochistan for operations against Iran. At the very least, the US might be seeking free and unfettered use of Pakistani airspace for its Iran offensive. There is also some talk of seeking Pakistani assistance for rescue operations inside Iran in the event of US attacks on the Islamic Republic. Finally, the Americans could be even seeking intelligence cooperation from Pakistan for destabilising and changing the Iranian return, what could be Munir's ask from Trump? He could seek economic assistance and investments from the US. More importantly, he could press Trump to deliver on his assurance of mediating between India and Pakistan on Kashmir and forcing India to come to the dialogue table with Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation of MPs that travelled to the US believes Pakistan was promised US mediation as a face-saver for getting India to halt its Operation Sindoor and accept the ceasefire proposed by the Pakistan Army to end the four-day conflict. Apart from US intervention on the Kashmir issue, Munir could seek US pressure on India to back down and honour the Indus Waters Treaty. In addition, he could demand that the US pressure India to back off from its alleged support to Baloch freedom fighters and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) the eve of the lunch meeting, Munir seemed to be signalling to the US that he will play hard to get on Iran. He also hinted in his talk to members of the Pakistani diaspora that Pakistan seeks a dialogue with India to settle all their bilateral problems. Despite his recent Islamist and jihadist rants in Pakistan, Munir has tried to project himself as a democrat and someone who tolerates dissent back home, all buzzwords that the gullible US media eagerly laps up without any on-the-ground wasn't the only one doing the signalling post-Operation Sindoor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also ended weeks of avoiding joining issue with Trump's self-serving, self-congratulatory and self-lauding by taking credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The statement by the Indian Foreign Secretary about the Trump-Modi telephone conversation set the record straight about what transpired during the four-day clash and how there was no linking of the US-India trade deal or any mention of US mediation. Modi also skillfully dodged the bullet that Trump fired by slyly inviting him to the White House on the same day he was lunching with India's arch enemy. This was nothing but Trump trying to bring Munir and Modi together in a single frame, with him playing peacemaker and mediator. That Trump resorted to this subterfuge indicates that his agenda with Munir is probably more than just fobbing off the Pakistani dictator with a lunch for his endorsement of Trump's quest for a Nobel Peace is quite obvious that the dubious role of the Trump administration in the recent India-Pakistan bash up has raised Indian hackles and left a bitter taste of betrayal. While there is no doubt that the entire episode has caused a significant trust deficit between India and the US, the sense of hurt in India is somewhat misplaced. The fact is that the US and India are not wedded to each other. Neither of them has sworn lifelong loyalty to each other. They are what author Seema Sirohi calls 'Friends with Benefits'. To the extent their interests match and there is mutual benefit, they engage with each other. But since this is an open relationship, both are free to seek other suitors or lovers, even those who might be unpalatable or unacceptable to the other. If the US is wooing Pakistan for its own objectives, India too was not ready to end its relationship with Russia despite the US and other Western countries taking a rather dim view of India's continuing affair with their bete will, of course, be a pushback from India in case the US, wanting to get Pakistan back in its bed, attempts to throw India under the bus – whether on Kashmir or the Indus Waters Treaty or any other bilateral issue. A small sample of that came with the Foreign Secretary's readout of the Trump-Modi talk. But if the Americans refrain from doing anything that violates India's red lines and flirt with Pakistan to get it to once again play mercenary for de-nuclearising Iran and dismantling the regime in that country, India can live with it, like India did when the US needed Pakistan for operations in Afghanistan. Both the US and India know that once things settle down, they will kiss and make up and re-energise their 'friends with benefit' Very little has been revealed about the meeting between Trump and Munir. On the face of it, Trump was treating Munir to lunch to thank him for backing off in the war with India. But there are some hints that the two also spoke about Iran. There is as yet no clarity on what exactly the Americans sought from Pakistan and what Pakistan agreed to do. There is also no clarity on what the quid pro quo is for Pakistan's services – is it financial, or is it all about India? Both sides are being very cagey about their new terms of engagement. This is because any cooperation that Pakistan gives the US on Iran will have its political fallout. Similarly, if Trump has shafted India to appease Pakistan, he wouldn't want to announce it publicly. But in the next few days and weeks, actions on the ground will bring to light what Faustian deals were made between Munir and Trump.(Sushant Sareen is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation)(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)Tune InMust Watch
News18
18-06-2025
- Politics
- News18
'Asim Munir At White House' Memes Break The Internet As Trump Hosts Him For Lunch
Last Updated: The internet seemed to think Bollywood masala was the best way to interpret the significant meeting between US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Field Marshall Asim Munir It may be a sign that US President Donald Trump is seeking to bring an end to the ongoing crisis between Israel and Iran, but internet users had a rather different take on his lunch invitation to Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir. The most serious issues take on a life of their own on the internet, but that does not mean they are without context and interpretation. The internet seemed to think some Bollywood masala would be the best way to interpret the meeting between Trump and Field Marshall Asim Munir. 'Cringe' (what the internet calls it these days) was the flavour of this interpretation of the closed-door lunch meeting, with memes depicting scenes from Anil Kapoor and Amrish Puri starrer Rishtey (2002) to Sadashiv Amrapurkar's popular scene from Ishq (1997), which said: 'Donald Trump after meeting Asim Munir." Donald Trump with Asim Munir in White House — Jo Kar (@i_am_gustakh) June 18, 2025 Others, too, were not as subtle with captions like 'Donald Trump and Asim Munir's exclusive video from the White House" or 'Donald Trump with Asim Munir in White House". Asim Munir in White House — Moana (@ladynationalist) June 18, 2025 On Tuesday (June 17), the White House confirmed a meeting between Trump and Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir for a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. The last Pakistani military leader to meet a sitting US President was General Pervez Musharraf in 2001, who did so as the nation's head of state during his tenure as a military dictator. The Trump-Munir meeting came as reports speculated on the possibility of Pakistan aiding Iran during its ongoing conflict with Israel. Asim Munir, in a public address in Washington, DC, had declared Pakistan's 'clear and strong" support for Iran in its war with Israel while also backing US efforts to de-escalate the situation. The Dawn reported that one of the most consequential developments during Munir's visit, however, has been Pakistan's strengthened counterterrorism partnership with the US, particularly against the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) group. Earlier, overseas Pakistanis protested against Field Marshal Asim Munir outside an event at a hotel in Washington, DC. People shouted slogans 'Pakistanio ke Qatil" and 'Islamabad ke Qatil", 'Mass Murderer Asim Munir", 'Democracy dies when guns speak", 'Asim Munir, your time is up. Pakistan will rise" while he was being welcomed at the event.
The Guardian
17-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Russia removes Taliban from list of banned terrorist groups
Russia has suspended its ban on the Taliban, which it had designated for more than two decades as a terrorist organisation, in a move that paves the way for Moscow to normalise ties with the leadership of Afghanistan. No country currently recognises the Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. But Russia has been gradually building ties with the movement, which Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in fighting terrorism. The Taliban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003. State media said the supreme court lifted the ban on Thursday with immediate effect. Russia sees a need to work with the Taliban as it faces a major security threat from Islamist militant groups based in a string of countries from Afghanistan to the Middle East. In March 2024, gunmen killed 145 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in an attack claimed by Islamic State. US officials said they had intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch of the group, Islamic State Khorasan (Isis-K), that was responsible. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The Taliban says it is working to wipe out the presence of IS in Afghanistan. Western diplomats say the movement's path towards wider international recognition is stalled until it changes course on women's rights. The Taliban has closed schools and universities to girls and women and placed restrictions on their movement without a male guardian.
