Category: South East Asia

Tajikistan Reports Five Dead in Cross-Border Attacks From Afghanistan

Tajikistan has accused armed groups operating from Afghanistan of carrying out two deadly cross-border attacks over the past week, leaving five people dead and five others injured in what officials describe as a dangerous escalation along Central Asia’s most volatile frontiers. The announcement came through the Tajik presidential press service on Monday, which said President Emomalu Rahmon convened an emergency […]

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Drug cultivation in Afghanistan has ‘almost dropped to zero’: deputy interior minister

Abdul Rahman Munir, the Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics at the Ministry of Interior, said on Saturday at the meeting of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Drugs (CARICC) in Uzbekistan that the cultivation, trafficking, and sale of narcotics in Afghanistan have “almost dropped to zero.” Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, said in […]

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Balancing Interests in the India–Russia Equation

The December 2025 meeting between Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi in Delhi came at a moment when Russia continues to face Western economic pressure and India is navigating a shifting multipolar environment. The visit reaffirmed the long-standing depth of India–Russia relations, while also revealing the structural constraints that now shape the partnership. Public statements from both governments reiterated ongoing cooperation […]

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Tajikistan says five killed in shootings from Afghan territory amid rising border tensions

Tajikistan said on Monday that five people were killed and five others wounded over the past week in two separate shooting incidents originating from inside Afghan territory, marking a further escalation in security concerns along the Central Asian nation’s southern frontier. In a statement, the presidential office said President Emomali Rahmon reviewed the situation with security officials and described the […]

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Taliban, Pakistani forces clash at Spin Boldak

Taliban and Pakistani border forces exchanged fire at the Spin Boldak crossing in Kandahar province on Friday night, both sides said, marking the latest flare-up along a frontier that has seen repeated clashes over the past two months. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the incident began when Pakistani forces opened fire, prompting what he called a “necessary response” from Taliban […]

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The India Trump Made

Over the last decade, India has drawn ever closer to the United States, tentatively aligning itself with Washington as it continues to eschew formal alliances. This approach has paid off, securing U.S. investment, defense cooperation, and technological exchange, as well as the sense that the friendship between the world’s two largest democracies would only grow. Indian policymakers were mostly untroubled […]

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South Asia Intelligence Review

Derailing the Lifeline On November 29, 2025, an improvised explosive device (IED) planted on the railway track detonated shortly before a train was expected to arrive in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. “Around one and a half feet of the track was blown up in the blast,” a railway official said. On November 24, 2025, the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express […]

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Complications of the ‘Cooperative Rivalry’ Between Iran and Pakistan

Iranian President Masoud Pezhakian’s visit to Islamabad on August 2, which led to the signing of 12 cooperation agreements between Iran and Pakistan, is a reflection of the 12-day Israel-Iran war. Pakistan strongly condemned the unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistani Defence Minister Khwaja Asif vowed to “stand behind Iran” and called […]

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Muslim Question in India after 78 Years of Independence

Seventy-eight years after India’s independence in 1947, the condition of the country’s Muslim community raises a number of enduring questions—about equity, integration, and justice. The community, which comprises roughly 14.2% of the country’s population according to the 2011 Census and an estimated 19.7 crore (197 million) individuals in 2023, still bears the visible imprint of disadvantage on many socio-economic and […]

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Afghanistan looks to India partnership as Pakistan shuts down key trade corridor

He thanked India’s Ministry of External Affairs for facilitating discussions, noting that technical teams and private-sector representatives from both countries have been in continuous contact. Afghanistan is accelerating efforts to diversify its trade routes after Islamabad halted the transit of Afghan goods through Karachi, prompting Kabul to strengthen alternative corridors — particularly via Iran’s Chabahar Port and expanded cooperation with […]

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