[ Important Picks of the Day ]

[ NATIONAL ]

PM Modi says education should not only be inclusive, but equitable too (↓)

As he launched multiple key initiatives, PM Modi said the measures would not only make our education system globally competitive but also make the youth future-ready.

Similar structural aspects among Quad members helped foster cooperation, says Jaishankar (↓)

Referring to Quad, the foreign minister said its work takes into account the consequences of globalization, requirements of the global commons, and the expression of converging interests. Days of unilateralism over, bilateralism has its limits: Jaishankar said on Quad

India unlikely to reopen Kabul embassy in near future, only people-to-people links to continue

After invalidating all visas in August after the Taliban takeover of Kabul, India could start distributing e-visas as soon as international flight operations resume in Afghanistan.

In Key Reforms, IAF May Soon be Able to Hire Mid-air Refuelling Aircraft for Emergency Situations (↓)

The air force will get the powers for the first time under the Delegation of Financial Powers to Defence Services, which is undergoing a revision given emerging security threats and is likely to be released shortly.

Haryana: Security beefed up, prohibitory orders in place in Karnal ahead of Kisan Mahapnachayat (↓)

Ahead of Kisan Mahapanachayat scheduled to be held in Haryana’s Karnal to protest against the Centre’s three agricultural laws on Tue, prohibitory orders have been placed in the district banning large gatherings as a “gherao” has also been planned by farmers at the mini-secretariat over the Aug 28 lathi-charge.

J&K cops release videos of what transpired at Geelani home post his death

The Jammu and Kashmir Police Mon said its officers were made to wait for 3 hours at separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s home when they went there for his burial after his death, and that the family resorted to anti-national activities “probably under pressure from Pakistan and miscreants”. Mehbooba Mufti says she’s placed under house arrest, slams govt on ‘claims of normalcy’

Tesla in talks with govt for setting up retail outlets in India

The US-based electric carmaker is in talks with the government to explore procedures for setting up fully-owned retail outlets in India. The company is now negotiating with the Indian government to resolve existing issues and start selling its vehicles.

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

Taliban fires shots to disperse anti-Pakistan rally in Kabul, says media (↓)

The questions of interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs were raised after the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Hameed dashed to Kabul on an unannounced visit last week. cameraperson Wahid Ahmadi was filming the protest and has been detained by the Taliban.

China mum on reports of Taliban’s invite to attend govt formation ceremony

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday did not respond to a media report claiming that the Taliban has invited China, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Qatar to attend the new govt formation ceremony

Pak ISI and Chinese proximity to Taliban, queer Quad pitch for Kabul recognition

The role played by Pak and UK in cutting out a deal with the Taliban has been noted by India, which is concerned about the group’s projection as a beacon for Sunni Islamic jihadis.

PAF Prepared to Thwart any Challenge, Says AIR Chief

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu has said that the Pak Air Force is aware of the changing situation in the region and is fully prepared to defend the integrity and dignity of Pakistan.

Iran slams Pakistan’s role in Panjshir valley, wants probe

Iran fired the first salvo against Pakistan’s overt involvement in Afghanistan’s internal matters when it questioned reports of Pakistani military presence in the Panjshir valley, where the Taliban said it has overcome resistance to its rule, on Monday.

The U.S. Sees ‘Critical’ Afghanistan Role for Pakistan Despite Taliban Ties

As anger mounts in Afghanistan over allegations that Pakistan is helping the Taliban defeat the final resistance units and set up its new govt in Kabul, the U.S. State Department said Islamabad can play a “critical role” in the country’s future.

CIA Destroyed Equipment Worth ‘100s of Mn’ in Kabul

The Taliban on Monday opened to reporters the doors to the former largest operational center of the Central Intelligence Agency in Kabul and said the US personnel destroyed and burned all the military equipment, vehicles, and documents.

PM Modi says education should not only be inclusive, but equitable too

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said education should not only be inclusive but also equitable as he launched multiple key initiatives in the education sector during his inaugural address of ‘Shikshak Parv’ while addressing the conclave through video-conferencing.

• He said the measures would not only make our education system globally competitive but also make the youth future-ready. 
• He said the new initiatives would shape the future of the sector. “One of the initiatives, School Quality Assessment & Assurance will not only make education competitive but will also make students future-ready,” he said.

“Talking books and audio-books are part of the education system now. A dictionary for Indian Sign language has been formed. For the first time in the country, Indian Sign language is being included as a subject in the curriculum,” the PM said.

The new initiatives launched include:

• Indian Sign Language Dictionary (audio and text embedded sign language video for the hearing impaired, in conformity with Universal Design of Learning),
• Talking Books (audio-books for the visually impaired),
• School Quality Assurance and Assessment Framework of CBSE,
• NISHTHA teachers’ training program for NIPUN Bharat and Vidyanjali portal (for facilitating education volunteers/ donors/ CSR contributors for school development).

On the occasion, Modi also lauded the performance of the Indian players in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and further urged them to visit 75 schools to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

In Key Reforms, IAF May Soon be Able to Hire Mid-air Refueling Aircraft for Emergency Situations

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to get financial powers to spend between Rs 100 crore and Rs 200 crore in each case to hire aircraft, including mid-air refuellers, and related equipment for the short term to address operational emergencies, top defense sources have said, in a move that could cut down on tedious paperwork during crunch situations.

• The financial powers that IAF is likely to get for the first time are part of larger reforms by the defense ministry and will help the force obtain critical air assets from private players — and even foreign Govt — in a short time frame and for a short duration in case of contingencies, the News18 reported citing a source.
• Mid-air re-fuellers act as a force multiplier and add strategic heft to any air force by letting an aircraft stay longer in the air. Though IAF operates a fleet of 6 Russian Ilyushin-78 refueling tankers, they are facing service issues.
• Delegation of Financial Powers to Defense Services (DFPDS) is the document that governs all defense revenue procurement by identifying competent financial authorities and financial powers accorded to them.
• While capital procurement refer to the acquisition of major capital assets, weapons or weapon systems, and other critical equipment that enhances long-term capabilities of the armed forces, revenue purchases, among others, are related to the procurement of critical spares and ammunition required for the maintenance of these capital assets.
• Capital procurements are governed by the Deference Acquisition Procedure, which was released in Sept 2020.

The ongoing revision of DFPDS, which was last notified in 2016, is a major reform by the defense ministry given emerging security threats and the need for faster and easier procurement of critical machinery to keep the forces keep operation-ready.

Similar structural aspects among Quad members helped foster cooperation, says Jaishankar

The expanding agenda of the Quad affirms a declared intention to promote greater prosperity and ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific and the similarity in the structural aspects of ties among its members has helped to foster the platform, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Mon.

Delivering the annual JG Crawford Oration at the Australian National University, Jaishankar talked about “quantum shifts” along with more organic changes globally and said the world is at the cusp of something big and that the Indo-Pacific would be very much at its core.

“Those who connect the dots would surely agree that we are really now at the cusp of something big. As we seek to discern the outlines of what emerges next, there is no question that the Indo-Pacific would be very much at its core,” he said in the virtual address.

• Referring to Quad — comprising the US, India, Japan, and Australia — he said its working takes into account the consequences of globalization, requirements of the global commons, and the expression of converging interests.
• “The Malabar naval exercise is cited most often as its example. But Quad’s expanding agenda affirms a declared intention to promote greater prosperity and ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific-so, it should not be seen narrowly,” he said.
• In the last two years, Jaishankar said, the Quad has focused on challenges that vary from maritime security, cyber security, and disaster response to connectivity and infrastructure, climate action, and counter-terrorism.
• Referring to geopolitical developments and challenges, Jaishankar also elaborated on the role of the US and delved extensively into the reality of the strategic recalibration by it, adding the country is “undeniably the premier power of our times and will remain so.”
• “To begin with, there is the reality of the strategic recalibration of the United States. Some of it may arise from its commitments and deployments, but there is also the relative growth of competitors and the increasing complexity of challenges,” he said.

“Indeed, such is its centrality to the current order that be it ally, competitor, the agnostic or the undecided, none of us can be indifferent to its posture,” Jaishankar added.

At the same time, he said the American polity is going through serious introspection and that could well result in a different method of engaging the world.

The second big driver of the changes, according to Jaishankar, is the impressive growth of Chinese power.

“There are three autonomous aspects to this phenomenon that need to be considered analysis.

• The first is the enormous expansion of Chinese capabilities in virtually every field,” he said.
• “The second is a projection pattern that changed beginning with 2009, and then more vigorously, after 2012.
• The third and this was particularly apparent during the pandemic is China’s deep relevance to the global economy,” he observed.

The minister also noted that the last 2 decades have seen a real transformation in India’s relations with its three Quad partners. In an apparent reference to the need for reform of the UN ad other global bodies, Jaishanakr said a 75-year-old world order had run its course and was ripe for change.

Haryana: Security beefed up, prohibitory orders in place in Karnal ahead of Kisan Mahapnachayat

Ahead of Kisan Mahapanachayat scheduled to be held in Haryana’s Karnal to protest against the Centre’s three agricultural laws on Tue, prohibitory orders have been placed in the district banning large gatherings as a “gherao” has also been planned by farmers at the mini-secretariat over the Aug 28 lathi-charge.

• Security personnel in large numbers have also been deployed in the new Anaj Mandi area in Karnal from where the farmers have plans to proceed to the mini-secretariat.
• As many as 40 companies of security personnel, including 10 companies of central armed police forces, have been roped in to maintain law and order in Karnal.
• Five SP-rank officials and 25 DSP-rank officials have been deployed to monitor security.
• Meanwhile, the State government has suspended mobile internet and SMS services in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, and Panipat to curb the “spread of inflammatory material and rumors” today.

Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since Nov 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Farmer’s talk with the Karnal Administration has come to an end with no definite conclusion.

[ AFGHANISTAN CRISIS ]

Turkey says working with Qatar, US on the operation of Kabul airport: Turkey is in talks with the Taliban, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tue, adding security at the airport was the main issue.

• Cavusoglu told broadcaster NTV that 19 Turkish technicians were in Kabul, holding talks with Qataris about the airport. Turkey has told the Taliban that it would not take part in the airport mission unless its units are involved in security.
• Cavusoglu said the Taliban could ensure security outside the airport, but they would need a more reliable mechanism inside. A private security company could be used for the mission if the Taliban insisted on having no foreign powers in Afghanistan, Cavusoglu said. (Reuters)

The Taliban has not yet announced a government, but the name of a lesser-known Taliban leader who is in the United Nations terror watch list, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, is doing the rounds as a compromise candidate for the next Prime Minister of Afghanistan.

Disagreements between the terrorist group’s multiple factions have so far stymied government formation in the war-torn nation. The main contenders for power include the Doha unit of the Taliban headed by Mullah Baradar, the Haqqani Network, a semi-independent terror outfit that operates in eastern Afghanistan, and the Kandahar faction of the Taliban.

Taliban fire shots to disperse anti-Pakistan rally in Kabul, says report: The questions of interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs were raised after the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Hameed dashed to Kabul on an unannounced visit last week.

• Hours before Pakistan is to host a virtual conference of Regional Foreign Ministers (Neighbours of Afghanistan) which would have China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan in participation, Anti-Pakistan protests also take place outside Pak Embassy in Iran.
• Anti-Pakistan rally in Kabul that turned violent with Taliban resorting to heavy aerial firing to disperse protesters. The protesters were out against the alleged role of Pakistan to bring the Taliban into power and the alleged role in Panjshir.
• Taliban has detained Afghan women who were protesting against Pakistani terrorism in Kabul on Tue. Reports that journalists who were covering the protest have been arrested as well and cameras confiscated.
• Local Afghan sources shared the video on Social Media that shows the Taliban has deployed photographers at Afghan women’s protests in Kabul.
• People of Parwan rising against the Pak invasion of Afghanistan. This is the Afghan National Resistance

The U.S. Sees ‘Critical’ Afghanistan Role for Pakistan Despite Taliban Ties: As anger mounts in Afghanistan over allegations that Pakistan is helping the Taliban defeat the final resistance units and set up its new govt in Kabul, the U.S. State Department said Islamabad can play a “critical role” in the country’s future.

• Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek the U.S. administration has “been in regular touch with Pakistani leadership and have discussed Afghanistan in detail.”
• “It’s critical that the members of the international community with the most influence in Afghanistan use all the means at their disposal to ensure that Afghanistan lives up to its obligations under the UN Charter.”
• There have also been reports that the ISI is fuelling Taliban infighting between those loyal to political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and members of the powerful Haqqani network.
• Newsweek has contacted the Pakistani embassy in Washington, D.C. to request comment on the allegations of Islamabad’s support for the Taliban offensive in Panjshir.

Pak ISI and Chinese proximity to Taliban, queer Quad pitch for Kabul recognition-HT

Replying to a question on whether the US would recognize the Taliban Govt in Kabul, President Joe Biden said that it was a long way off.

The puzzle faced by the democratic world, particularly the Quad, over recognizing the Emirates of Afghanistan is who will be established in Kabul:

• the Taliban is a nationalistic Sunni Pashtun force or
• fundamentalist Islamic force out on a mission of global jihad
• or merely a stooge of the Pakistani ISI for extending the CPEC into Afghanistan.

With the Haqqani Network faction of the Taliban pushing back those in charge of the Doha political process, it is quite evident that the Taliban Govt will represent the aspirations of fundamentalists Pashtuns, whose total population is around 30% in the country. This means that the Kabul government will have no truck with the minority Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks, what to talk of women and other groups.

• The statement that the Taliban will the voice of (Sunni) Muslims throughout the world, as indicated by their spokesman, indicates that they will weaponize Islam to achieve their ends through violence and politicizing the region.
• That Taliban refuses to end its filial ties with Salafi groups like Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba is a sure indicator that they want to be the real shoulder or true representative of Sunni Islam with Shia Iran being the other one.
• With their ideological Deobandi brothers, Tehreek-e-Taliban and Jaish-e-Mohammad, part of their operations on either side of the Durand Line, the spurt in Islamic fundamentalism as during their earlier avatar is a given.
• The Taliban issue gets murkier considering the presence of Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, DG, Inter-Service Intelligence, in Kabul over the weekend, helping out the Sunni Pashtuns take out the resistance in Panjshir Valley with Pakistan Army commandoes in mufti.
• While Pakistan with the covert support of British intelligence is via media between the Taliban and the western world, the presence of ISI super spy in Kabul shows that the Islamists are a mere proxy of Rawalpindi.
• The British role particularly that of Chief of Defense Staff Nick Carter and its external intelligence is also under the scanner as Kabul watchers believe that the White House was led up the garden path by Whitehall in stitching out a one-way peace deal in favor of the Sunni force.
• With confusion prevailing in Kabul over Govt formation, the Quad powers will take a considered call on the Taliban govt at the summit meeting in Washington on Sept 24.
• While usual suspects China, Russia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar may join the swearing-in ceremony of the Taliban regime, Quad is in no hurry as they are in first verify and then trust mode. The Taliban leaning towards China via Pakistan for support will be a deciding input for Quad.

Blinken, Austin Meet in Qatar on Afghan Evacuations

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opened talks Tue in key diplomatic hub Qatar as they try to speed up evacuations from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
• The top officials from President Joe Biden’s security team began a meeting at the foreign ministry with their counterparts after dinner on arrival Mon with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Afghanistan in Focus, Putin Confidant Nikolai Patrushev to Meet Ajit Doval: Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev will arrive in Delhi on Tue evening, and is scheduled to meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wed.

• News18 reported citing sources that regional issues of China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will be in focus during their meeting. 
• “Russia is our old ally and we want a good relationship with them,” top sources in govt of India said, adding that Doval is likely to brief Patrushev on regional security challenges and situations.
• The Russian NSA is a very close confidant of President Vladimir Putin.

The US Announces First American Departures Since Afghan Pullout: Four Americans left Afghanistan by land on Mon with Taliban knowledge in the first departures arranged by the US Govt since its military pullout, a US official said. 

The four US citizens left by land and were greeted by American diplomats, said a senior official, without specifying to which country they crossed. “The Taliban did not impede them” and were aware of the effort, the official told reporters accompanying Secretary of State Antony Blinken flying to Qatar.

The US starts land evacuation

• As Pakistan takes center stage in the effort to evacuate stranded people from Afghanistan, the United States confirmed on Mon that it has facilitated the evacuation of four US citizens via the land route.
• “Our embassy greeted the Americans as they crossed the border into the third country,” a senior US State Department official told CNN.

China mum on reports of Taliban’s invite to attend govt formation ceremony

• The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday did not respond to a media report claiming that the Taliban has invited China, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Qatar to attend the new govt formation ceremony in Afghanistan.
• China is already coordinating its evolving policy on Afghanistan with its all-weather ally Pakistan and Russia which also share borders with Afghanistan.
• Beijing, which has kept its Embassy opens in Kabul along with Pakistan and Russia, is awaiting the formation of a Govt by the Taliban to decide on recognizing it amidst firm indications by the US, the UK, and other western countries that they will not be in a hurry to endorse the new govt in Kabul.
• China is also keeping a close watch on the Panjshir Valley fighting between the Taliban and the militias of Ahmad Massoud-led National Resistance Front (NRF) which has reportedly delayed the formation of the new Govt in Afghanistan.

On Sat, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephonic conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during which he said that the new govt in Afghanistan should be open and inclusive, make a clean break with terrorist organizations, and establish and develop good relations with other countries, especially neighboring countries.