Tag Archives: Afghan peace

Afghans are disheartened by their leadership – both President Ghani and the Taliban. The common perception is that the Afghan leadership has squandered the opportunity in the intra-Afghan peace talks to resolve the conflict by stubbornly sticking to their respective positions. 

Any major deviation from the basic contours of the existing agreement will only help spoilers of peace and not the millions of Afghans who are desperate for a return to normalcy. This could also erode trust in the inviolability of future peace agreements that consume enormous effort and time to mature.

As the US prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, the regional powers of the Middle East will have a chance to expand their spheres of influence to the war-torn country. Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will soon take their competition to the next level.

One of Pakistan's leading analysts attributes progress in US-Taliban peace to the exclusion of India from the process.

Bad relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the Durand Line have been used by India to keep a viable threat of a possible second front against Pakistan as a counter to the indigenous uprising in Kashmir, says Ikram Sehgal.

In under four weeks’ time (5 April) Afghanistan’s 12 million voters will get the chance to elect one of 11 candidates to replace President Hamid Karzai, in what observers hope will be the country’s first ever peaceful and democratic handover of power.   It will be one of the biggest challenges in a vital year of transition for the country, …