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Sunday, February 22, 2026
TopicUS withdrawal

Topic: US withdrawal

US delegation holds talks with Taliban for first time since troops withdrawal

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the 'candid and professional' discussions covered the need for safe passage of US citizens, other foreign nationals and Afghan partners.

Afghanistan shows US failed to address issues that went beyond military means

The historical experience of Americans had made them self-centred and often overbearing and thus unable to understand the cultural substance of other societies.

Afghanistan always an afterthought for US, says ex-FBI agent Ali Soufan

In an interview with Bloomberg's Bobby Ghosh, the FBI agent also stressed that nation-building is not the military's job, saying its work is to deal with symptoms, not the root causes.

Taliban cabinet looks like a most-wanted list. Bush to Biden, not much has changed

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said they wanted to ensure Afghanistan is no more the field of conflict. What's happening in Kabul betrays this promise.

Embarrassment of Afghanistan likely to constrain western strategic thinking for decades now

If the US has withdrawn from Afghanistan to contain China then the credibility of the West as a security guarantor are not worth the paper they are written on.

Afghanistan is a hard country and India has focussed more on soft power

The West might have abandoned Afghanistan but cannot afford the optics of widespread destruction, a televised man-made calamity for which it is responsible.

Five myths about Afghanistan that India must overcome, along with its timidity

From ‘graveyard of empires’ to the stage for Great Games, there are many enduring fictions about Afghanistan.

India alone on Afghan chessboard as US, Russia pick Pakistan. Here’s what Delhi can do

The 1996 India-Iran-Russia effort to contain the Taliban cannot be replicated in 2021;like Washington, Moscow has its own interests and so does Tehran.

‘Keep a bit of Afghanistan in White House’—what India should tell US. For Quad’s sake

US’ Afghanistan exit will open doors for China entry. Delhi has limited options.

On Camera

Nick Jonas wearing a mangalsutra is validation for many Indians. He’s our favourite jiju

Nick Jonas is not trying to modernise the mangalsutra, but his gesture shows that choices can be equal. If commitment must be flaunted, it need not be gendered.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

In a first, Indian small arms maker to bid for UK Project Grayburn to replace British Army’s SA80 rifles

Bengaluru-based SSS Defence has made public its bid for a major foreign military contract, targeting UK’s ambitious SA80 successor programme with its home-tested weapons.

No country is ever fully sovereign. Cold War era taught India its real meaning

India’s fraught neighbourhood places multiple constraints on its strategic choices. It leaves no time to take a deep breath, lean back and reset.