[ Important Picks of the Day ]

[ NATIONAL ]

Indian envoy, Taliban leader meet in Doha, talks on evacuation, terrorism

In a significant development, the chief of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai met the Indian envoy to Qatar Deepak Mittal. The official announcement was made by the Ministry of External Affairs. The meet happened at the request of the Taliban side, it said.

EU invites Jaishankar to interact with bloc’s foreign ministers

The European Union has invited External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to participate in an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Sept 3, sources said on Tue.

Modi discusses Afghan situation with European Council president Charles Michel

Modi and Michel agreed to remain in touch on bilateral and global issues, in particular, the situation in Afghanistan.

Navy signs contract with BEL to procure India’s first indigenous naval anti-drone system

According to the defense ministry, a naval anti-drone system (NADS), developed by DRDO, can instantly detect micro drones and uses a laser-based ‘kill mechanism’ for targets.

RBI Governor Das Says Global Economy Has Recovered But Is ‘not Out Of Woods’ Amid COVID

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das, Tue, warned that the global economy is “not yet out of woods” as coronavirus continues to infect people

‘Social media platforms claiming 60 Kashmiri youth having gone missing, a totally fake news’: IGP Kashmir

On Mon, NDTV, while quoting a senior police officer, reported that around 60 Kashmiri youth had gone missing from their homes in the last couple of months.

India hits back after PNG bans flights over COVID ‘deception’

India denies Papua New Guinea claims it allowed COVID-infected passengers to board a repatriation flight to Port Moresby. The denial on Tue came after PNG Police Commissioner David Manning last week banned all flights from India, accusing the Indian govt of “deliberately” participating in “deception” that compromised the island nation’s safety and security.-Al Jazeera reported

India administered over 1.33 cr Covid-19 vaccines in a day

India set a new record by administering more than 1.33 crore Covid vaccine doses in a day, on Tue, the cumulative doses are given in the country under the vaccination drive have exceeded 65.41 crores. The total number of people who have received at least 1 shot of the vaccine has exceeded 500 mn.

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

The US completes Afghanistan withdrawal

‘I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America,’ Biden said.

Taliban’s newly appointed Kabul mayor imposes Sharia law

Hamdullah Nomani the newly appointed mayor of Kabul imposed Sharia law in the Afghan capital, Afghan news reports said as the Taliban set about consolidating its control over Afghanistan.Taliban had earlier ordered banks to reopen in the country with withdrawals of $200 or 20,000 Afghanis allowed weekly.

India can’t use Afghan soil anymore: cabinet

Reiterating the government’s resolve to help establish an inclusive government in Afghanistan, the federal cabinet on Tue expressed the hope that after the Taliban takeover of the neighboring country, India would not be able to use Afghan soil against Pak.

US prez Carter knew about Pak’s nuclear program in 1979, didn’t push too hard: Declassified documents

Pakistan had declared itself to be a nuclear state only in 1998, shortly after India conducted its 2^nd Pokhran test. India had conducted its first nuclear test in May 1974 under the codename ‘Smiling Buddha’. The US govt was aware of Pakistan’s nuclear program early in January 1979, according to newly declassified US govt documents that were made accessible recently.

Unconcerned by international consensus, China continues to engage with bad actors, says expert-ANI

Unmoved by the international consensus on global issues with serious consequences, the foreign policy of the Chinese regime assumes that the established ruling power in a country is the legitimate ruling power. Showing disregard for the global consensus, the Chinese Communist Party engages with actors like Myanmar military junta and Taliban, keeping its economic agenda in mind.

Politicizing Covid-19 origin tracing will lead nowhere: Chinese envoy

Tracing the origin of Covid-19, a complex issue of science, “should and can only be undertaken by scientists around the world through joint research”, the Chinese envoy to Iran wrote in an opinion piece published recently, warning against Washington’s efforts to politicize this process.

Indian envoy, Taliban leader meet in Doha, talks on evacuation, terrorism

• In a significant development, the chief of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai met the Indian envoy to Qatar Deepak Mittal, an official announcement was made by the Ministry of External Affairs, which added the meet happened at the request of Taliban side.
• So far, India has evacuated 565 people, of which 175 are embassy personnel, 263 are other Indian nationals. The number of evacuees also includes 112 Afghan nationals, including Hindus and Sikhs.
• In the meeting, Ambassador Mittal also raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner, the MEA said.
• India has often expressed its concerns publically over Pakistan-based terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed finding a safe haven in Afghanistan. 
• The statement by the MEA said the Taliban representative assured the Ambassador that these issues would be “positively addressed.”
• Mittal had earlier served as joint secretary of the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran division in the MEA.
• While this is the first-ever public acknowledgment of talks between the Indian govt and Taliban leaders, New Delhi has been engaged with them ever since the intra-Afghan dialogue began in Sept 2020.
• According to top sources, this meeting is “not an acknowledgment” by India of the Taliban dispensation; New Delhi is waiting to see what kind of govt is formed in Kabul, now that all foreign forces have left the country.
• Stanekzai — Sheru to the Class of 1982 at Dehradun’s Indian Military Academy — has become as much the face of the Taliban’s India outreach as he is the radical regime’s pointsman for the political transition.

Back in the 1970s, when the older generation of Afghans experienced the last stretch of peace, Stanekzai and two others who would go on to become central figures in the troubled nation’s history — deposed President Ashraf Ghani and Afghan-American peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad — were all busy finding themselves while studying on scholarships abroad.

Modi discusses Afghan situation with European Council president Charles Michel

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tue discussed the evolving situation in Afghanistan with European Council President Charles Michel.
• Taking to Twitter, Modi said they reiterated the commitment to strengthen the relationship between India the European Union during the phone conversation.
• An official statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office said that the two leaders discussed the recent developments in Afghanistan and their implications for the region and the world.
• “They unequivocally condemned the horrific terror attack at the Kabul International Airport that resulted in many casualties. They emphasized the importance of a stable and secure Afghanistan and discussed the potential role India and the EU could play in this context,” the statement read.

From Slovenia, a special invite for Jaishankar to the EU foreign ministers’ meeting

• External affairs minister S Jaishankar will also travel to Croatia and Denmark after he visits Slovenia.
• Mr. Jaishankar has been invited to join an informal meeting of foreign ministers of European Union states in Slovenia on Sept 3^rd that is expected to focus on the situation in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.
• “The focus of the discussions is likely to be on developments in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific,” a person familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.
• The informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council will be held at an estate near the city of Kranj on September 3, under the “Gymnich” format.

The EU is also expected to unveil its Indo-Pacific strategy in Sept. Jaishankar is expected to speak on India’s Indo-Pacific policy at the Bled Strategic Forum, an annual international conference, during his visit to Slovenia.

Navy signs contract with BEL to procure India’s first indigenous naval anti-drone system

The Indian Navy on Tue sealed a contract with defense PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the supply of the first indigenously developed Naval Anti Drone System (NADS), developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by BEL, is the first indigenously developed anti-drone system to be inducted into the Indian armed forces, the defense ministry said.

• The NADS can instantly detect micro drones and uses a laser-based “kill mechanism” to terminate the targets, it said.
• Serious concerns over threats from enemy drones first emerged in June when two drones were used by suspected Pakistan-based terrorists to attack the Indian Air Force base in Jammu.
• The NADS was first deployed to provide security cover for the Republic Day Parade this year and later during the prime minister’s Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

“The system, which offers 360-degree coverage, was also deployed in Ahmedabad for the Modi-Trump roadshow,” the ministry said.

RBI Governor Das Says Global Economy Has Recovered But Is ‘not Out Of Woods’ Amid COVID

• Speaking at the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India, Annual Conference, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das on Tue, highlighted that although the economies are recovering and GDPs were on a positive trajectory, countries have not fully bounced back.
• Das warned that the global economy was “not yet out of woods” as COVID contagion continued to infect people. 
• His statement came as India’s GDP grew by 20.1% in the April-June 2021 quarter as compared to the first quarter of the 2020-21 financial year.

‘RBI completed borrowing program’: Guv Das also stated that through various measures, RBI completed its borrowing program in a non-disruptive manner and also created congenial conditions for other segments of the financial market including the financial bond market.

• Elaborating upon the central bank’s measures on tacking the pandemic, he asserted that RBI took several “conventional, unconventional and innovative measures” in areas of monetary policy and liquidity. 
• India’s GDP grows at 20.1%: On Tue, the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation has announced a growth in India’s GDP by 20.1% in the Apr-Jun 2021 quarter as compared to the Q1 of the 2020-21 fin yr. 
• The gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by 24.4% in the corresponding April-June quarter of 2020-21, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). 

The govt had imposed a nationwide lockdown at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, compared to which the economy has rebounded. China, which gained profits by exporting COVID equipment and protective gear, has recorded a growth of 7.9% in the Apr-Jun period of 2021. 

Power vacuum in Afghanistan will lead to military, political crisis, say, analysts

• In the absence of an inclusive government in Afghanistan’s post -Taliban takeover of the war-torn country, analysts said that it will lead to a military and political crisis in the country.
• According to analysts and politicians, if a government that is not inclusive, justice-centered, and acceptable to all is not formed, poverty and migration will increase more than ever, reported Tolo News.
• The Taliban meanwhile said that they are working to form an inclusive government but they gave no details about their discussions, reported Tolo News.
• “Discussions are ongoing about the next govt. There is no need to rush because the base of a govt is being laid,” said Abdulhaq Wasiq, a member of the Taliban’s political office.
• Meanwhile, Omar Zakhilwal, the former Afghan envoy to Pakistan, said the Taliban will need to form an inclusive government.
• also, Pakistan, which has been accused by several countries of tacitly backing the Taliban on Tue said that a new govt will be formed in Afghanistan within a few days. “
• On August 15, Kabul had fallen to the Taliban and since then people are in a state of terror with increasing cases of human rights abuses being reported from several parts of the country.

Meanwhile, U.S. Embassy in Islamabad praised Pakistan. “The United States appreciates Pakistan’s support and assistance with both of these efforts.”

Biden speech transcript: the US completes Afghanistan withdrawal

I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America,’ Biden said.

United States President Joe Biden addressed Americans a day after the last US troops left Kabul, amid domestic and foreign criticism of how he and his administration handled the withdrawal and evacuation of thousands of Americans and Afghans.

Touting it as the end of “the longest war in American history” during his speech at the White House on Tue, Biden first highlighted “one of the biggest airlifts in history” before defending his decision to withdraw by Aug 31 and how that withdrawal was conducted.

Were Biden and Ghani in denial mode as the Taliban marched towards victory?

• In a shocking revelation, a report says that the US president Joe Biden wanted the then  Afghan president Ashraf Ghani to create a “perception” that the Taliban is not winning and he is “capable” of defeating them, “whether it is true or not”.
• On Tue, the day the  US forces left Afghanistan,  Reuters released excerpts from the last call for 14 mins between Biden and Ghani before the Afghan president fled and according to the transcripts, “Biden offered aid if Ghani could publicly project, he had a plan to control the spiraling situation in Afghanistan. “We will continue to provide close air support, if we know what the plan is,” Biden said.
• This was the time when the Taliban was continuing its advancement in different parts of the country, projecting the group as a winner. But both the leaders were far away from the ground realities. Biden was more “focussed” on “spinning” the perception, reveals the report.
• “I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban”,  Biden told his counterpart, Ghani, “and there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”
• The ‘leaked” damaging report says that Biden also asked Ghani how to go ahead with the perception-making exercise.

“We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis was thrown into this,” Ghani said.

• Afghan government officials, and U.S. experts, have consistently pointed to Pakistani support for the Taliban as key to the group’s resurgence.
• The Pakistani Embassy in Washington denies those allegations, embassy spokesman told Reuters.
• “I’m not a military guy, so I’m not telling you what a plan should precisely look like, you’re going to get not only more help, but you’re going to get a perception that is going to change …,” Biden said.
• Ghani, for his part, assured Biden that “your assurance of support goes a very long way to enable us, to really mobilize us in earnest.”
• In a little over two weeks after Biden’s call with Ghani, the Taliban captured several provincial Afghan capitals and the US said (Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Aug 9), “it was up to the Afghan security forces to defend the country. “
• In a follow-up call, later that day that did not include the U.S. president, Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, General Mark Milley, and U.S. Central Command commander General Frank McKenzie spoke to Ghani. Reuters also obtained a transcript of that call.
• In this call, too, an area of focus was the global perception of events on the ground in Afghanistan.
• “I do not believe the time is our friend here. We need to move quickly,” McKenzie added.

Don’t blame Pakistan for Kabul’s fall, US told-Dawn

• It was not Pakistan’s military strategy but Afghanistan’s internal problems that caused the collapse of the former Afghan government argues Islamabad’s US ambassador Asad Majeed Khan.
• Last week, Republican Congressman Michael G. Waltz sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, urging him to sanction Pakistan for its alleged support to Taliban militants who, according to Mr. Waltz, captured Kabul with Islamabad’s support.

What happened to US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan? Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said some of the equipment had been “demilitarized,” essentially rendered inoperable.

• Troops probably used thermate grenades, which burn at a temp of 4,000^oC, to destroy key components of the equipment, according to a defense department official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
• The U.S. military likely abandoned tens of millions of dollars’ worth of aircraft, armored vehicles, and sophisticated defensive systems in the rush to leave the airport in Kabul safely.

MRAPs: As many as 70 MRAPs, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (cost around $1 Mn) built to withstand blasts from improvised explosive devices, were left behind. They have been credited by the Pentagon with saving the lives and limbs of thousands of troops.

Humvees: 27 Humvees, light tactical vehicles that were replaced by MRAPs in Iraq and Afghanistan after they proved vulnerable to IED attacks.

Aircraft: On the airstrip, the military left 73 aircraft. McKenzie didn’t specify what kinds of aircraft, whether helicopter or fixed-wing. Pentagon officials acknowledged, and photos showed, that the soldiers-operated Apache attack helicopters at the airport have cost more than $30 million.

Counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar systems: McKenzie didn’t specify how many such units, which at $10 million apiece detect and shoot down incoming rockets and artillery and mortar rounds, were left behind.

• The systems and material will have little more than symbolic value, said Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant, and military analyst at the Lexington Institute.
• “The helicopters are the most expensive item, but the ability of the Taliban to operate and maintain them without outside help is modest,” Thompson said. But they seemed flying.
• Adding that MRAPs are real gas-guzzlers, so their value in a country where fuel supplies are scarce and terrorist attacks have largely ceased is doubtful.
• After completing the US troops pullout from Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Tue that it will continue to conduct drone strikes against the Islamic State-Khorasan and other terrorist groups operating in the country

Yaqoob and Haqqani factions fight over Taliban govt: Hectic negotiations are reported between Taliban leadership and the Haqqani Network over govt formation in Afghanistan with Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Sunni Pashtun outfit, expected to be in Kabul where the ruling Cabinet could be announced as early as by tomorrow. A slightly indisposed Akhundzada is presently in the Sunni Pashtun bastion of Kandahar.

• Even though the Taliban leadership is projecting a united front to the world, multiple fractures are being exposed within the UN-designated terrorist group with Mullah Yaqoob, son of first Emir-ul-Momeen Mullah Omar, wanting to bring military elements into the Cabinet rather than political elements being pushed by Mullah Baradar, the co-founder of the Sunni Islamist group.
• Reports from Kabul indicate that Mullah Yaqoob, who is also the head of the military commission and deputy leader, has openly told that those living in the luxury of Doha cannot dictate terms to those involved in askari jihad against the US-led occupation forces.

Mullah Baradar and Sher Mohammed Stanekzai ran the Taliban’s political office from Doha and negotiated with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad with Pakistan and UK brass involved in the exercise.