The people of the tribal areas got what they had signed up for and their constitutional status is but a quid pro quo for retaining their ‘autonomy’. And so goes the argument: the constitutional arrangement for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reflects the written agreements that were concluded with the state on their behalf. Why would the tribes accept ...

The Pakistani officials have said there will only be room for improvement if Washingtn accepts their defeats, failures in Afghanistan, apparently lobbying for a change in the new US strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia. The country’s foreign affairs minister khawaja Asif told the Senate on Wednesday that “There will only be room for improvement if Washington accepts their defeat, ...

KABUL: The NATO chief has told Russia that the best way to achieve stability in the region is to support the incumbent government in Kabul. NATO and Russia had a “frank exchange” on the security situation in Afghanistan, including the regional terrorist threats, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. After a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels, he said: “Our analyses differ considerably but ...

KABUL: Former President, Hamid Karzai emphasized that the US new strategy for Afghanistan had nothing, but the continuation of war and bloodshed. “The US with its new strategy wants to use Afghanistan as a jumping board, which has no message for Afghans, except the continuation of war,” Karzai said, speaking in Iran’s strategic council for foreign relationships in Tehran. He ...

A Pakistani blogger who went missing earlier this year has applied for asylum in Britain after alleging he was tortured by a “state intelligence agency” during his disappearance. Aasim Saeed was one of a group of five liberal social media activists who were abducted in Pakistan in January 2017 before being released after several weeks. The Pakistani military has repeatedly denied ...

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said that his country will not be a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) unless it is given access to Pakistan’s Wagah and Attari border, DNA India reported on Wednesday. Addressing a gathering at the Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi, Ghani said that Kabul will restrict Pakistan’s access to central Asia if it is not ...

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson got a frosty welcome to Pakistan Tuesday after Washington turned up the heat on Islamabad for allegedly providing “safe havens” for Taliban militants. America’s top diplomat was quietly greeted by a mid-level Pakistani Foreign Office official at the military airport in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, an AFP photographer saw — a welcome devoid ...

President Ashraf Ghani met Indian external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj in his residence in New Delhi, discussing the US new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia and the region’s conditions after the after the declaration of the strategy, president’s office said Tuesday. Ghani left Monday for New Delhi for an official visit. The two sides called the US strategy useful ...

KABUL: Contrary to Pakistan army claims, the CIA Chief has said that the US-Canadian couple kidnapped by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, but they were held inside Pakistan for five years before being freed. CIA Chief’s remark has been doing round in media while it is for the first time a US official has publicly stated that the couple and their ...

GARDEZ: President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday accused Russia and Pakistan of supporting the Afghan Taliban who he said responded to his call for peace with suicide attacks. Ghani, who travelled to southeastern Paktia province to condole with families of the victims of recent terrorist attacks, was accompanied by some members the Cabinet. After meeting families of the victims, the president told a media conference ...