Indian forces in Kashmir killed two militants on Wednesday, one them suspected of gunning down a bank manager this month, police said, part of a stepped-up counter-insurgency effort that has triggered an exodus from the Muslim-majority region. India has been fighting an Islamist separatist insurgency in Kashmir since the late 1980s. Muslim Pakistan also claims the region over which the […]

The Department of Homeland Security and State Department announced on Tuesday that they would expand the number of terrorism-related exemptions to allow Afghan evacuees who worked with and supported the U.S. government to qualify for protection and immigration benefits. Why it matters: Existing exemptions from terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG) include providing material support under duress and voluntary medical care to […]

Why Indo-Pacific Power Hinges on Taiwan Of all the intractable issues that could spark a hot war between the United States and China, Taiwan is at the very top of the list. And the potential geopolitical consequences of such a war would be profound. Taiwan—“an unsinkable aircraft carrier and submarine tender,” as U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur once described it—has […]

The question of recognizing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government is not on Moscow’s current agenda, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. “It is not on the current agenda. We have said this many times. It is useless to make any forecasts,” Peskov said. This comes after Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said earlier this […]

Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said during a visit to Sanglakh Valley in Jalriz district of Maidan Wardak on Thursday that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) does not harbor ill will to any country in the world. Addressing residents of Jalriz district, Muttaqi said: “The previous governments of Afghanistan did not have good bilateral relations with the countries […]

Deputy Interior Minister for Security, Mullah Abdulhaq Akhundzada, who is currently in the north of the country to assess the security situation, said Thursday that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) forces will be incorporated into the country’s three branches of security – the police, military and intelligence. Akhundzad said the forces will be included in the country’s security forces […]

Worryingly, the Pakistan government is engaging the militant group in talks from a position of weakness. The Pakistani government has been negotiating with the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for weeks in an effort to permanently halt cross-border attacks from Afghanistan. The latest round of intense and extensive negotiations has seen Pakistan going all in to involve relevant stakeholders to reach […]

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe spoke in Singapore, part of an effort to add “guardrails” to the China-U.S. competition. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held his first meeting with China’s Minister of Defense Wei Fenghe on Friday, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Both men are also slated to speak later at […]

After a whirlwind of visits and agreements, where does the Pacific region stand? Developments of great significance continue to unfold in the Pacific following China’s bold attempt to redraw the region’s geopolitical map. China aimed to create a bloc of “China-Pacific Island” countries during Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s barnstorming eight-nation tour through the region, which began on May 26 in […]

Indian forces in Kashmir killed two militants on Wednesday, one them suspected of gunning down a bank manager this month, police said, part of a stepped-up counter-insurgency effort that has triggered an exodus from the Muslim-majority region. India has been fighting an Islamist separatist insurgency in Kashmir since the late 1980s. Muslim Pakistan also claims the region over which the […]