All posts tagged: Taliban

Taliban looking to renew and normalise ties with India: Suhail Shaheen | Latest News India

Taliban looking to renew and normalise ties with India: Suhail Shaheen | Latest News India

Published by Parlour News

Afghanistan is looking to renew and normalise ties with India and is open to investments for the country’s development, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Friday in the wake of the first contact between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The call for investments from the Taliban side is significant as the two sides are exploring ways to enhance bilateral trade. (Suhail Shaheen | Official X account) The phone call between Jaishankar and Muttaqi, the highest level of contact between the Indian government and the Taliban since they took over Afghanistan in August 2021, raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles as it came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. Muttaqi’s move to call Jaishankar ahead of his scheduled visits to Iran and China next week is also significant, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The phone call built on a meeting between Muttaqi and foreign secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai in January, and a visit to Kabul by the Indian diplomat overseeing relations with …

In A First, S Jaishankar Speaks To Taliban Foreign Minister, Scripts History

In A First, S Jaishankar Speaks To Taliban Foreign Minister, Scripts History

Published by Webster

Quick Reads Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. S Jaishankar held a phone call with Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi This marks India’s first ministerial-level outreach to the Taliban regime. Dr Jaishankar appreciated Taliban’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack. New Delhi: Scripting a new chapter in regional dynamics, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday spoke with the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi over an official phone call. The call assumes significance as it is the first ministerial-level outreach by India to Afghanistan’s Taliban administration. Dr Jaishankar’s call to Mr Muttaqi comes days after Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, which New Delhi is yet to officially recognise, condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians, all tourists, were killed by Pakistan-linked terrorists in a religiously-motivated attack in Jammu and Kashmir. ‘MINISTERIAL-LEVEL TALKS – A FIRST WITH TALIBAN’ In a post on social media platform X shortly after the phone call, Dr Jaishankar wrote, “Good conversation with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi this evening. Deeply appreciate his condemnation of the …

Jaishankar speaks to Taliban minister for first time, lauds Afghanistan’s condemnation of Pahalgam attack

Jaishankar speaks to Taliban minister for first time, lauds Afghanistan’s condemnation of Pahalgam attack

Published by Webster

The phone conversation built on an earlier meeting between Muttaqi and Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai in January, and marked the highest level of contact between India and the Taliban since the latter seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. New Delhi: India on Thursday welcomed the Afghanistan Taliban regime’s rejection of attempts to sow distrust between the two countries, during the first official interaction between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The phone conversation built on an earlier meeting between Muttaqi and Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai in January, and marked the highest level of contact between India and the Taliban since the latter seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. The exchange also came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. “Good conversation with acting Afghan foreign minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi this evening. Deeply appreciate his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack,” Jaishankar said in a social media post, referring to the 22 April attack that killed 26 civilians and …

OPINION | Taliban in Karnataka: Culprits must be punished

OPINION | Taliban in Karnataka: Culprits must be punished

Published by Webster

The woman was appealing to the mob with folded hands, but the men continued beating her with sticks. The question is: Is religious fundamentalism above law in India? Have the religious radicals no fear of law? New Delhi: The brutal manner in which a Muslim woman was beaten with sticks and pipes outside a mosque in Davangere, Karnataka, forces us to think about the devils living in our midst in the 21st century. No civil society can tolerate such a horrendous act in the name of Shariah. It is a good sign that the Davangere police acted promptly and arrested six of the attackers soon after the video appeared on social media. Their names: Muhammed Niaz, Muhammed Ghaus Pir, Chand Basha, Inayatullah, Dastgir and TRasool.  It is now the duty of the police to ensure that other individuals who were part of the mob must also be caught and brought to justice. All these culprits must be given severe punishment so that nobody could dare commit such a crime in the name of religion. This …

Taliban Morality Police Arrest Men For Wrong Hairstyle, Skipping Mosque: UN

Taliban Morality Police Arrest Men For Wrong Hairstyle, Skipping Mosque: UN

Published by Webster

The Taliban morality police in Afghanistan have detained men and their barbers over hairstyles and others for missing prayers at mosques during the holy month of Ramadan, a U.N. report said Thursday, six months after laws regulating people’s conduct came into effect. The Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws last August covering many aspects everyday life in Afghanistan, including public transport, music, shaving and celebrations. Most notably, the ministry issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public. That same month, a top U.N. official warned the laws provided a “distressing vision” for the country’s future by adding to existing employment, education, and dress code restrictions on women and girls. Taliban officials have rejected U.N. concerns about the morality laws. Thursday’s report, from the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, said in the first 6 months of the laws’ implementation, over half of detentions made under it concerned “either men not having the compliant beard length or hairstyle, or barbers providing non-compliant beard trimming or haircuts.” The report said that the morality police regularly detained …

Taliban release detained US citizen Faye Hall

Taliban release detained US citizen Faye Hall

Published by Parlour News

Mar 29, 2025 11:51 PM IST AFGHANISTAN-USA:Taliban release detained US citizen Faye Hall – An American citizen detained in Afghanistan last month by the Taliban administration has been released, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said on Saturday. Taliban release detained US citizen Faye Hall “American citizen Faye Hall, just released by the Taliban, is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home,” Khalilzad posted on X. There was no immediate comment or confirmation from the State Department. Khalilzad, also a former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, gave no further details. He posted a picture of Hall sitting between two men. A source with knowledge of the release said Hall, who had been detained in Afghanistan since February, was freed on Thursday following a court order and with logistical support from Qatar in its role as the United States’ protecting power in Afghanistan. Hall was received at the Qatari embassy in Kabul and confirmed to be in good health …

Monitoring Situation In Afghanistan, Held Discussions With Taliban: India At UN

Monitoring Situation In Afghanistan, Held Discussions With Taliban: India At UN

Published by Webster

United Nations: India told the UN Security Council that it has discussed with the Taliban regime various issues pertaining to bilateral relations and the “special” people-to-people ties has been the “foundation” of Delhi’s present day engagement with the country. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, said Monday at the UN Security meeting on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that in the beginning of this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai. “The two sides discussed various issues pertaining to bilateral relations as well as regional developments. The Afghan side appreciated and thanked Indian leadership for continuing to engage and support the people of Afghanistan,” Mr Harish said in the Council. “It was decided that India would consider engaging in development projects in the near future in addition to the ongoing humanitarian assistance programmes,” he said. The January meeting between Misri and Muttaqi was the highest-level contact so far between Delhi and the Taliban since the regime took over Kabul …

US cuts foreign aid, orders Afghan women scholars to return amid Taliban restrictions: Reports

US cuts foreign aid, orders Afghan women scholars to return amid Taliban restrictions: Reports

Published by Webster

US aid funding had previously enabled thousands of Afghan women to study abroad or continue their education online, but many of these programs are now suspended. More than 80 Afghan women, who had been studying in Oman with scholarships funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), are now facing orders to return to Afghanistan following a drastic cut in foreign aid programs by President Donald Trump. These scholarships, part of a program designed to support Afghan women pursuing higher education, are now on the verge of being discontinued due to a freeze on foreign aid funding. Trump, alongside his ally Elon Musk, decided to terminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts, which has severely impacted these women’s educational opportunities. The scholarships, which were previously seen as a lifeline, came to an abrupt halt in January when Trump assumed office and froze foreign aid to various countries. According to reports, one of the students spoke out about the shock of the decision, saying, “It was heartbreaking. Everyone was shocked and crying. We were …

Afghan Women Turn To AI Companions Amid Taliban’s Harsh Restrictions

Afghan Women Turn To AI Companions Amid Taliban’s Harsh Restrictions

Published by Webster

Left isolated due to the draconian policies of the Taliban administration, women in Afghanistan have been forced to turn to artificial intelligence (AI) for friendship. Since seizing power in 2021 after the US hastily withdrew its troops, the Taliban has imposed a series of oppressive measures against women in the country, restricting their independence and ability to co-exist as a normal human being. Lima, an 18-year-old from rural Afghanistan, told BBC that she is seeking help of AI and treating it as a friend to get through the days. “Reading novel, or chatting with AI, usually, to empty every single word of me – to talk, ask questions, or simply treat as a friend,” she said when quizzed about how she spends her mornings. “The AI app makes a character of your favourite idol. All the famous people you know you can talk with them or say anything you want. You can ask them questions. You can give yourself a fake hope and make them your friend or family.” Apart from AI, Lima finds solace in …