Following territorial losses in Syria, the Islamic State declared Wilayahs in India and Pakistan on May 10 and 15, 2019, respectively. In a recent statement, IS also threatened a fresh wave of attacks in India and Bangladesh.
The Pulwama attack has again exposed the vulnerability of India and Pakistan to terrorist blackmail, bringing the two to the brink of war. The aftermath of the attack underscores a new phase of militancy in Kashmir and renewed hostilities between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan’s influence on the Afghan Taliban is misunderstood by the US. While Pakistan retains a modicum of influence on the Taliban, it is not able to dictate terms to them. It can convince the Taliban to enter peace talks but what comes out of these talks is not in its hands.
US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the pullout of 7,000 US troops from Afghanistan took both his allies and adversaries by surprise. It will change the calculus on the ground in Afghanistan with far-reaching consequences for regional peace and security.
Following the Islamic State’s battlefield and territorial losses in the Middle East, its franchise in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the Islamic State of Khorasan, has emerged as the group’s most brutal iteration.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan went to China eyeing immediate financial assistance to negotiate a bailout package from the International Monitory Fund. The joint statement issued marking the end of Khan’s visit did not mention any assistance package.
Following the Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to acquit Asia Bibi in the blasphemy case, Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan’s rabble rousing clerics provoked open mutiny within the military and issued calls to kill the three Supreme Court judges.
In September and October 2018, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held two meetings in Islamabad and Washington to renegotiate the terms of engagement.