January 12, 2021
Amid the ongoing intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha, will India assist Afghanistan militarily? According to a report in ThePrint, New Delhi has assured Kabul of military assistance as the US is busy withdrawing troops from the war-ravaged country.
The Pentagon had said in November 2020 that it would reduce the number of US forces in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-January. The US military has not halted the troop withdrawal process despite a new law banning the same without prior knowledge of the US Congress. A defense official told Reuters the US troop level already is close to 3,000.
Last week, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Afghanistan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar had talked over a phone call to discuss the Afghan peace process among other issues such as Covid-19.
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Sri Lanka: A balancing act amid geopolitical developments Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced on Wednesday that a long-delayed Indian and Japanese deep-sea terminal project would proceed. The approval came after reviewing “regional geopolitical concerns,” Rajapaksa’s office said, a reference to India’s suspicion of Chinese interests at the same port.
Colombo’s ties with New Delhi have been tested since the Rajapaksa government last year decided to review the estimated $500 million deal signed in May 2019 between India, Japan and the previous Sirisena government to develop Colombo’s East Container Terminal (ECT).
Awarded to India’s Adani Group and Japanese partners in a joint venture, the contract gives Sri Lanka a 51 percent stake and 49 percent to Indian and Japanese stakeholders.
(TibetanReview.net, Jan16’21) – In a remark clearly aimed at China, Nepal has said Jan 16 that its leaders were able to settle their problems by themselves without external interference. The remark came in the backdrop of China’s active ongoing efforts to prevent a split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) even if that means seeing Prime Minister KPS Oli ousted from his post.
“We are able to settle our problems ourselves. Being close neighbour, there may be some concerns, questions, but we never accept interference from external side,” the
timesofindia.com Jan 16 quoted visiting Nepal foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali as saying. This was after he was asked about China’s overt attempts to get Oli and his rival PK Dahal Prachanda to patch up their differences and keep the party intact.
In Sri Lanka s own interests – The Island island.lk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from island.lk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mumbai blasts perpetrators enjoying 5-star hospitality : Jaishankar slams Pak at UNSC
Calling out Pakistan for its support for terrorism, Jaishankar asserted that the international community must not allow terrorism to be justified. S Jaishankar. (Image: Reuters)
Updated: Jan 13, 2021, 11:00 AM IST
Calling out Pakistan for its support for terrorism and China for providing terrorists cover against sanctions, India s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted that the international community must not allow terrorism to be justified and terrorists glorified.
Jaishankar did not name Pakistan or China, but he made the references to the countries contextually clear. We, in India, have seen the crime syndicate responsible for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts not just given state protection but enjoying 5-star hospitality, he said in one such reference that pointed to Pakistan hosting Dawood Ibrahim, the crime boss behind the attack that killed 257 peop