ORF Special Report No. 125, December 2020, Observer Research Foundation.
This special report was written before the 2020 United States presidential elections. Under the incoming Biden administration, the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is likely to be more gradual and “responsible”, despite the President-elect being in favour of American troops exiting the war-weary country soon. In retrospect, Donald Trump’s insistence on pulling out all US troops from Afghanistan by Christmas 2020 was not misguided, since there is little that such military presence can achieve at this stage of the war. The situation is sealed by some neighbouring nations acting as spoilers in the peace process, impeding American efforts to help bring stability to Afghanistan.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia-UAE dynamics
The Saudi-UAE combine is also ostensibly wary of the “Erdogan-effect” on Pakistan
The writer is a retired major general and has an interest in International Relations and Political Sociology. He can be reached at [email protected] and tweets @20 Inam
Alot has happened, at least in the perceptual domain, since August 27, 2020, when I wrote “The imperatives of Pak-Saudi relations”, published in this space. And perceptions are critical to any relationship. Then… the interdependent nature of our historic and deep-rooted ties was emphasised. However, in the past six months, there have been some defining developments that would continue to underpin Pak-Saudi bilateral ties as long as Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) holds the reins of the kingdom.
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UK foreign secretary holds talks with Indian counterpart
by The Associated Press
Last Updated Dec 15, 2020 at 6:42 am EDT
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, left and Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar make joint press statements after their meeting in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec.15, 2020. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
NEW DELHI Britain’s foreign secretary and his Indian counterpart met on Tuesday in New Delhi in an effort to deepen ties between their countries.
Dominic Raab and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held talks for about four hours and discussed a wide range of issues, including the post-pandemic world, defence, trade and the environment, the diplomats told reports after their meeting.