In the Pursuit of Future

Published by Eurasia The imposition of a 10 percent tax on mobile subscribers has been unfair for the people who have to incur extra charges while Afghan government, as regulator, has failed to ensure provisions of quality telecom services at reasonable costs which could be achieved through adopting and enforcing a set of vigorous rules and regulations to facilitate free and fair competition among telecom companies. Even though Article two of the Telecommunication Law of Afghanistan sets clear rules on quality of services and avoiding monopoly by the telecom companies at any time through ensuring free and fair competition, in practice not only is quality not being ensured, but the telecom companies are also deliberately exercising a monopoly over the market. Lack of a mobile number portability option is one of the main factors that has given leverage to the telecom companies to monopolize their existent customers by limiting their choice and ability to switch their service from t...

Karzai: Al Qaeda Is A Myth Instead Of A Reality – OpEd Published by Eurasia : Yesterday marked the 14th anniversary of 9/11- the deadliest terror attack on American soil that killed nearly 3,000 people in a single day. The commemoration of this day came this year in a time when after nearly a decade and half of war against terror, Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan President, who had been installed by the Americans and guarded for years by  American bodyguards  at his own request to protect him, has doubted the very existence of Al Qaeda and has called it a “ myth ,” instead of a reality. Karzai’s provocative remarks come in a critical time when Afghanistan is undergoing financial, political, and socioeconomic turmoil, the situation which is believed to be the outcome of the failures he himself made and the opportunities missed over 13 years of his tenure as head of State. 9/11 changed Afghanistan into a totally different place than it was under the Taliban. In comparis...

This op-ed is published originally by Khaama Press The U.S. has warned that it will withhold $300 million dollar in  military assistance  to Pakistan if it does not take serious and practical steps to hunt down members of the notorious Haqqani network who are targeting both Afghan and U.S forces in Afghanistan. For the same reason, prime minster Nawaz Sharif’s  visit  to Washington, which was planned for October, is also hold off. This significant shift in the U.S. policy towards Pakistan follows the growing criticism by the Afghan government and people over Pakistan’s support of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network. Looking at these recent developments and changes in the Obama’s administration’s perception in regard to Pakistan’s sincerity in the fight against terror, it has become clear that Pakistan is in the verge of losing achieving its strategic objectives that are set forth in its doctrine of “strategic depth” and foreign policy towards Afghanistan...

The article is originally published in Khama Press . Author: Habib Sangar After nearly a year of diplomatic efforts made by President Ghani’s administration to restore trust and build confidence in the relationship between his country and Pakistan, the most recent wave of suicide attacks, causing a high number of civilian causalities, has brought their peace negotiations to a stalemate. These attacks which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, have widely caused anger and frustration among both the Afghan people and their elected officials towards Pakistan’s government, who has long been accused of providing sanctuary and support for the Taliban. Since taking office as second elected president, and the first to be handed power through the democratic process, President Ghani took an unprecedented approach in seeking Pakistan’s blessing to bring an end to a one and a half decade-long insurgency in Afghanistan. The level of trust he enshrined towards Pakistan’s governmen...