EDITORIAL: Media reports suggested that the Taliban and Afghan government have once again engaged in the talks to give a life to the lifeless reconciliation process. According to the reports, the Taliban and Afghan government representatives held a secret meeting in Qatar where a senior US diplomat also participated.  Key Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, and Chief of the ...

KABUL: The Lazuli railway network is due to be inaugurated in the near future to link Afghanistan with the European countries and China via Central Asia. Mohammad Shaker Kargar, the special envoy of the President for Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), said the inauguration of the railway network will act as an alternative to link the country with the global ...

KABUL: The Taliban delegation demanded the release of prisoners and removal of the group’s leaders from the UN blacklist during the informal talks held in Qatar, it has been reported. The group also demanded that the Taliban group should be identified as a formal movement before they agree to participate in peace talks. The Afghan Taliban officials, based in Qatar ...

KABUL: The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief, Masoom Stanikzai has met with the brother of Mullah Mohammad amid reports secret peace talks have revived in Qatar. According to the sources in Taliban group, quoted in a report by The Guardian, among those present at the meetings held in September and October was Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, brother ...

KABUL: A splinter group of the Taliban in Afghanistan has said the group is ready to end fighting if the exit of the foreign troops from the country is guaranteed. The group led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool, an arch rival of the slain Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, has said the government should guarantee the exit of foreign troops. A ...

ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassa­dor Sun Weidong called on Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan at the latter’s Bani Gala residence on Tuesday. The gist of the meeting, according to PTI sources, was to dispel the impression that the party’s ongoing accountability movement against the prime minister was somehow meant to sabotage the China-Pakis­tan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The two men had a ...

Talking about issues of governance in today’s Pakistan can be part of a very relevant debate as failure of the present state system in delivering on its functions of public interest has already become a serious challenge. This has to be the focus of national discourse if we want to avoid an Arab Spring like situation in Pakistan. But there ...

PESHAWAR: Afghanistan on Friday evinced a keen interest in becoming part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), assuring stout support for the multi-billion project. “The CPEC is a great project that is equally relevant to Afghanistan like Pakistan, and anything that will be good for Pakistan will be good for the entire region,” Ambassador Dr. Omer Zakhilwal said. Speaking to ...

NEW DELHI: Karan Johar’s upcoming blockbuster Ae Dil Hai Mushkil ran into a storm of trouble on Friday after a prominent national theatre owners association refused to screen the film because of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan’s presence. The Cinema Owners’ and Exhibitors Association told media they decided to not screen any movie with Pakistani artistes, directors or technicians – a ...

GLASGOW: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Thursday unveiled plans for a new independence referendum in case her demands for more autonomy and for Scotland to stay in Europe’s single market are not met. Sturgeon said she would publish a draft referendum bill next week, accusing the British government of pushing for a “hard Brexit” and stirring up “xenophobia” with ...