Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Ilya Maximov
[Regnum] El Niño has been strengthening for several months in a row and is already having a significant impact on global weather patterns. Its impact, which extends beyond climate change, is becoming noticeable across the globe: in the United States, India, Indonesia, Panama, El Salvador, Sudan, and other countries.
The phenomenon involves abnormally high surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. The ocean transfers accumulated heat to the atmosphere, altering wind patterns and precipitation not only in the Pacific region but also beyond.
The 2026 event was exceptionally strong. "By any measure, we're looking at a very strong El Niño," Emily Becker of the University of Miami told AFP.
The phenomenon will continue to gain strength until February 2027. "El Niño is firmly established and is rapidly strengthening," stated Celeste Saulo, head of the World Meteorological Organization.
The first and most visible signs of record-breaking warming are being recorded in the ocean itself. In the eastern Pacific, the season has been exceptionally active: 22 named storms and 12 hurricanes—more than usual for the entire season from early May to late November, and with almost a month and a half left in the season.
Ten tropical cyclones were recorded in the western part of the region—the most since 1966; due to the eastward shift of the formation zone, the cyclones have time to gain more energy over warm water before hitting China and Japan.
The Atlantic, on the other hand, remains calm: El Niño increases wind shear, which literally tears apart the storms forming over it.
On land, ocean anomalies are resulting in droughts, floods, and fires. In India, monsoon rainfall was 13% below normal, which has already impacted agriculture.
In Central America, in the so-called Dry Corridor from Mexico to Panama, the lack of rainfall is catastrophic: more than 70,000 corn-growing households reported crop losses, with most losing between 75% and 100% of their output; nearly two-thirds of bean producers also lost between 75% and 100% of their output.
The Panama Canal is also in a difficult situation. Low water levels have already forced restrictions on the number of vessels passing through twice in September, and further restrictions are expected in December.
Meanwhile, the canal accounts for up to 5% of global maritime trade and up to 7.7% of Panama's GDP. "For Panama, it's a matter of life and death," noted the country's Environment Minister, Juan Navarro.
In El Salvador, August temperatures were 4.3 degrees Celsius above normal, resulting in a shortage of feed for livestock in pastures. "Imagine how thin this animal is! Why? Because of the lack of grass," a 54-year-old Salvadoran farmer complained to AFP, pointing to a cow whose ribs were protruding from its skin.
Meanwhile, other parts of Latin America are suffering from excess water. The major Iguazu River overflowed six times its normal level, forcing the closure of several tourist trails in Argentina, including the trail to the "Devil's Throat"—the most spectacular part of the local waterfalls. The Paraná River rose to a dangerous 4.7 meters on October 15, prompting evacuations. Flooding forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes in Paraguay and Uruguay.
A similar situation is unfolding in Africa. While some countries are languishing in crop-destroying heat, others are suffering from floods. In Sudan, drought has already affected more than half the country, and it has also hit Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa, while heavy rains have triggered floods in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
At the same time, climate shifts caused by ocean temperatures are quickly turning into economic and humanitarian challenges.
Goldman Sachs estimates that a strong El Niño could cause global food prices to rise by 15.8%. The World Bank warns that rice production in the hardest-hit regions could fall by 20–50%, while price increases for certain commodities—rice, sugar, coffee, and palm oil—could reach 50–100% or more.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that this could push at least 49 million people into acute food insecurity by the end of 2027, raising the number of people suffering from hunger from 225 million to 274 million.
WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau said: "El Niño poses a huge threat to food security for millions of already vulnerable people."
The most alarming quantitative forecast relates to heat-related mortality. A report by the non-profit research organization Climate Impact Lab predicts that during the first nine months of an exceptionally severe heat wave—from June 2026 to February 2027—it could lead to hundreds of thousands of additional deaths compared to a typical year. The countries most at risk are Nigeria, Indonesia, Sudan, India, and Brazil, but the United States also made the top 20 with 3,500 additional deaths.
"During the first nine months (June–February) of El Niño, heat-related deaths will be associated with an additional 451,000 people compared to a normal year. Given current projections that El Niño will persist until spring 2027, we expect all of these numbers to increase," the report states.
The most dramatic situation today is unfolding in Southeast Asia. Amid drought, Indonesia is experiencing its worst forest fire season in over a decade: nearly 900,000 hectares have burned since January.
As a result, not only the country itself, but also its neighbors, including Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, were blanketed by a toxic "rusty smog"—due to the abnormal concentration of microparticles in the air, the sky at the epicenter of the disaster turns bright orange or rusty-brown, creating a post-apocalyptic atmosphere on the streets.
In some places, air pollution levels are four times higher than those considered hazardous. As a result, by mid-October, the country's Ministry of Health had recorded more than 277,000 air-related cases of chronic cough and acute respiratory infections, including more than 62,000 in children under five.
"The smoke even penetrates into the house. Honestly, since the smog started, my body hurts as if I'd been beaten," a resident of the capital, Jakarta, told AFP.
In an attempt to combat smog, Indonesians are resorting to desperate measures. For example, they're trying out a method of dropping dry ice from airplanes, but so far it hasn't produced any large-scale, long-term results.
Amid the unsuccessful fight against the wildfires in Indonesia, protests have erupted. In Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Pekanbaru, and Makassar, people have taken to the streets demanding that the lingering fires be declared a national disaster and that the right to clean air be protected.
The demonstrators held signs with slogans like "If we burn, you burn with us!" and "I have the right to breathe. Put out the fires immediately."
Students later joined the protests, expanding their demands to include fighting corruption, access to education and healthcare, and protecting freedom of expression. This only confirms the accuracy of experts' predictions that El Niño leads not only to climate change but also to social upheavals caused by the consequences of its various manifestations.
Fortunately, this event doesn't pose the same scale of threats for Russia as it does for Asia, Africa, South America, or Central America, as its center is in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, and the weather in our country is largely determined by air masses from the Arctic and Atlantic. Of course, some impact could still be noticeable—in the Far East, for example, the number of heavy rains, floods, and cyclones could increase. But we're not talking about large-scale cataclysms comparable to those in Indonesia.
The El Niño event is expected to peak in February 2027, and elevated temperatures and associated risks may persist until June–July 2027. This means that current data on fires, crop losses, and excess mortality are not yet final.
Climatologists are calling the current event a "postcard from the future": temperatures that seem abnormal today may soon become normal.
"For the average person, this is the warming that is projected to happen in about 20 years, and it will come on suddenly," says Tamma Carlton of Climate Impact Lab.
Patrick Bernard, research director at the University of California's Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, agrees. "This is what winters will look like in less than a generation," he told the LA Times.
The question is whether international organizations and countries at risk will have time to take preemptive action, or whether the world will again react after the fact, when the social and humanitarian consequences have already occurred.
Commentary by Russian military field correspondent Aleksandr Kots
[Facebook] Almost three hours of talks between Vladimir Putin and Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Konstantinovsky Palace ended on the date. In the early days of November, according to President's aide Yuri Ushakov, Russia is "in principle ready to resume" trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine. The Americans asked for exactly this — and got it.
Although, to be honest, I don't recall us ever suspending this format.
At the same time, the Kremlin reformed the very topic formulated in Oslo, traditionally one-sided. There they talked about a ceasefire and guarantees for Ukraine. In Strelno, the conversation turned to "building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict."
The guest brought the idea of technical groups and a discussion about a ceasefire — according to the Finnish President Alexander Stubb, partial, on energy and food. Moscow, instead of a ceasefire, puts the establishment of the post-war world on the agenda. Simply put — eliminating the root causes of the conflict.
Why Washington agrees to play by this schedule, Trump explained himself the day before. "Russia is a big machine," the territory "is getting bigger and bigger, week after week," "Russia is a huge country. Ukraine is not." This background for negotiations was not prepared by diplomats. It is drawn by the promotion in Donbas and strikes on Ukrainian energy. And about the destruction of military-industrial facilities, Putin, according to Ushakov, separately reminded the guest. The American president knows how to count. And he draws a conclusion: you need to talk to the one who is getting more.
For five years, Moscow has been negotiating with sanction packages. Last week, Trump, by decree, suspended restrictions from the "ad" law, signed a few weeks ago. And now he thanks Putin for diesel. Tankers are being prepared for shipment, and the Kremlin is also offering fertilizers.
Even the Western press, from AP to Tagesspiegel, calls the deal a political victory for the Kremlin. The American market is paying for it, heated by the war between Washington and Iran. Moscow's formula remains the same: economic deals - yes, political concessions - no.
The date says no less than the topic. The midterm elections in the US are on November 3, the round is scheduled after them, and the picture of silence in Ukraine will not get to the White House before the vote. But it has already received what is presented to the voter at once: cheap diesel fuel and the return home of Stephen Hawking, condemned in our country for mercenary work. Trump was helped with a gas station. With the Bank of Ukraine, they didn't help. And Kyiv needs a pause now, while they are repairing "Nivkas" and other substations.
Europeans and Zelensky are behind the scenes in this scheme. Trump, judging by his answers to journalists, is talking about peace and without a Ukrainian president. Ushakov also spoke about the Ushakov's efforts and was skeptical: there are new developments, "although not so many."
Following Utkov, Putin received in the same palace the Premier of the State Council of the PRC Li Qian. He reminded that at the November APEC summit in Shenzhen there will be an opportunity to meet with Xi Jinping. And Utkov, by chance, previously expressed "practical considerations" about a possible meeting of the three of them, with Trump. The three-party "technical" round a week before the summit in China is similar to preparing material for the leaders. Those from whom the peace will really depend.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Sergey Adamov
[Regnum] Over the past two weeks, amid a series of extremely painful Russian missile and drone strikes deep in the rear for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the front line has shifted significantly in our favor. This shift has primarily occurred in the northwest of the DPR and in areas of the Kharkiv Oblast near the Russian border.
Last week, fighters from the Northern Forces Group successfully completed Operation Bear's Corner east of Volchansk.
The Vovchansk cauldron—the encirclement ring where, since August 30, the Russian army had trapped units of the 159th and 22nd Mechanized Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and border guards from two detachments—has been eliminated. By daily dislodging the enemy from further "fortifications," the Sever fighters gradually divided the large cauldron into several smaller encirclements.
By the second week of October, the last enemy-held settlements—the villages of Chernoye, Nefedovka, Varvarovka, and Nikolaevka—had come under our control. The next step is to clear the area.
At the end of August, a Ukrainian Armed Forces group totaling up to 2,000 fighters was surrounded. This information was provided by Yevgeny Nikiforov, commander of the "North" group of forces, in a report to Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin on October 16. As a result of the operation, the enemy lost 1,810 men.
The occupied territories can only be called a backwater figuratively. We're talking about 461 square kilometers and 28 "inhabitants" in a tactically important area near the border with the Belgorod region, which was subject to systematic Ukrainian shelling and airstrikes before the buffer zone was formed.
The security zone on this section of the front has now expanded to 30 kilometers and continues to expand. Putin's strategic objective is being successfully achieved.
Then, on October 16, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief emphasized: "Our goal is to ensure absolute security in Russia's border territories. And we do not plan to make this a subject of possible peace negotiations with Ukraine."
FROM DOBROPOLYE TO BELOZERSK
A strategically and psychologically significant result has been achieved in the Donbas sector. After more than a year of fighting, fighters from the "Center" force group have driven the well-entrenched enemy out of the city of Dobropillya in the northwest of the DPR.
A unit of the 51st Combined Arms Army and marines concluded the most difficult battle of the current phase of the Northern Military District. Since 2022, Dobropillya has served as a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, supplying large groups in Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov (Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad), and the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
As the front line approached, the mining town was transformed into a large fortified area, defended by numerous teams of Ukrainian drone operators. The fighting for Dobropillia began in August 2025, when our 51st Army broke through Ukrainian defenses east of the town and threatened to encircle the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnoarmeysk-Dimitrov agglomeration.
The enemy deployed reserves to the area, including units of the 1st Azov Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard*. But after the liberation of Krasnoarmeysk, a new phase of the Russian offensive began.
In July of this year, marines broke into the urban area from the east. By mid-September, they had managed to encircle the Ukrainian group. The Kyiv command, as had become tradition, did not withdraw its units from the urban area.
In addition to Dobropillya itself, the Russian army liberated the villages of Lidino and Pervomayskoye north of the city, as well as Sergeyevka west of Krasnoarmeysk. The offensive continues to the west, northwest, and north of Dobropillya. According to Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the Russian army has already begun an assault on the town of Belozerskoye, located further north.
"The capture of the city of Dobropillya by the Center group's troops is a significant event. During the special military operation, this opens a direct path to reaching the borders of the DPR," stated Supreme Commander-in-Chief Putin.
FROM ALEKSEEVO-DRUZHKOVKA TO "SIMPLY" DRUZHKOVKA
The Russian Armed Forces have taken a serious approach to the last major Ukrainian military contingent in Donbas. Even before the SVO, the most significant Ukrainian forces were concentrated in the north-south agglomeration of Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka, the village of Alekseyevo-Druzhkovka, and Konstantinovka.
After our military took control of Konstantinovka on July 3, it was the turn of the next powerful Ukrainian defense hub: Alekseevo-Druzhkovka with the adjacent industrial zones of the Kondratyevsky Refractory Plant and the Druzhkovka Food Flavoring Factory.
The Ukrainian command, recognizing the importance of the village and its "promki" as the southern gateway to the larger city of Druzhkovka, tried to hold it at all costs. The Ukrainian Armed Forces deployed a large number of drones, whose operators were based directly in Druzhkovka. The enemy destroyed residential areas with artillery fire and regularly launched counterattacks with newly mobilized forces.
Despite the Ukrainian Armed Forces' best efforts, the Ukrainian group's position had worsened by early autumn. Fighters from the "South" group occupied large settlements on the flanks—Mykolaipole, Izhevka, Verolyubovka, and Kurtovka. Ukrainian commanders withdrew some of their reserves from the Druzhkovka sector, redeploying them to Krasny Liman.
By mid-October, Alekseevo-Druzhkovka had come under our complete control. Having cleared the enemy from this settlement and the adjacent industrial zones, our troops launched an offensive on "Greater Druzhkovka" and had already entered the urban area.
The commander of the Southern group of forces, Sergei Medvedev, informed Putin about this in a report: “During the offensive, assault units of the 6th Division took control of the settlements of Chervonozarenoye and Kurtovka.”
Chervonozarene played a crucial role in the Ukrainian defense. Situated on the heights near Druzhkovka, the village was surrounded by several lines of defense, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces established several strongholds there. Now, according to our command, favorable positions have been occupied for further fighting in Druzhkovka itself.
BRIDGES AND REAR AREAS
Successes on the ground are accompanied by extensive operations by the Aerospace Forces and unmanned aerial systems against Ukrainian targets and lines of communication, from frontline areas to the Polish border. The enemy is experiencing obvious problems with the deployment of freshly mobilized reserves, as well as the supply of ammunition, equipment, drones, and their components.
A major milestone in the drive against the Ukrainian rear was the strike on the night of October 2, when the road and rail bridge across the Dnieper River in Kyiv, used to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbas, was seriously damaged. The Southern Bridge in the Ukrainian capital was also damaged.
The following day, Russian forces struck the Northern Bridge across the Dnieper for the first time. According to our Ministry of Defense, the crossing facilitated the transfer of Ukrainian Armed Forces units and the delivery of military supplies. On October 6, UAV crews from the Varyag Separate Unmanned Aerial Systems Brigade attacked the bridge again. On October 20, explosions were again recorded near the Northern Bridge.
The methodical destruction of Ukrainian energy facilities serves the same purpose—disorganizing the enemy's rear. On October 17, Kyiv's leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was forced to admit that, following the Russian attack, Ukraine's energy sector suffered one of its most powerful blows.
Fifteen important power generation and transmission facilities were attacked. The most serious situation developed in Lutsk and Rivne in western Ukraine, as well as in Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Shepetivka, Slavuta, and Netishyn. Strikes also hit the power grids in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Dnipro, and other regions.
As has been repeatedly noted, Ukrainian air defenses regularly miss Russian air strikes. On October 17, not a single ballistic or air-to-air missile was intercepted. The same was true on October 19, when Russian forces launched a massive strike on Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities. A number of targets were hit, including Flamingo cruise missile storage sites and a data center in Kyiv.
Commentary by Russian military jouirnalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] The United States has given Ukraine only grief, death, and incredible financial losses.
1. A meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is unnecessary for a Ukrainian settlement.
2. The United States has shared a great deal with Ukraine, but it has only given it grief, death, and incredible financial losses.
3. Ukraine must want to end this conflict. Zelenskyy must want to end this conflict. And if he doesn't, I think things will be very bad.
4. Russia is a great power!
Still? That remains to be seen.
Ukraine is not.
5. Europe is tired of the Ukrainian conflict.
6. Russia is constantly increasing the territory coming under its control.
7. Zelenskyy must make a deal. (c) Trump.
With these initial statements, Witkoff is arriving in Russia today after talks in Norway. Lavrov stated in this regard that Moscow will listen to American proposals, but will not make concessions.
P.S. The issue of releasing detained persons will also be discussed. Trump is asking for the release of the American Hubbard, who is serving time in our prison. Let one of ours be released and taken away.
US Secretary of State Rubio indicated that the US can act with respect to Ukraine as it sees fit, since without the US, Ukraine simply would not exist.
"By the way, we're not going to make any more excuses about this. Okay? Because without the assistance of the United States, including under the Trump administration, Ukraine would not exist today. Ukraine as a sovereign state would not exist. Let's be absolutely clear: Ukraine would not exist today without the billions of dollars in assistance that the United States provided under the Biden administration and continues to provide under the current administration." (c) Rubio.
Know your place, peasant.
P.S. Witkoff has arrived in St. Petersburg, where talks with Putin will soon take place. They will discuss what was discussed in Norway. The Kremlin has previously stated that Russia will not agree to any ceasefire.
#5
I don't believe it was just the Democrats getting kickbacks from Ukraine as well as from American defense contractors. Witness Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham who famously stated with glee that we were killing Russians without any of our own boots on the ground. I believe it was McConnell who called American contributions to the Ukrainian war effort "money well spent". So they killed a lot of Russians and got a lot of Ukrainians killed in the bargain. I don't suppose we'll ever know how much of that blood money found its way either directly into their pockets or else into their campaign coffers. But you must at least wonder if they were motivated by more than just their belief in Ukraine's ultimate victory in this war.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/22/2026 12:50 Comments ||
Top||
[ZERO] Over the years I have written frequently about what I call the "Pillager Class" and the "Producer Class" in an attempt to explore the reasons why certain people, groups and cultures always seem to turn to looting and destruction rather than building anything of value of their own.
It is a threat the west has been dealing with for thousands of years: We engineer and create and plan for the future, and instead of doing the same, the pillager class decides it’s easier to take what we have. Sometimes they are subtle like a parasite, and sometimes they’re not so subtle, like a swarm of locusts.
There are numerous theories on why this happens. Some think it stems from genetics, others from low IQ, others think it’s purely a cultural phenomenon, and some people argue that it’s a mere reactionary response to poverty. I suspect it’s a combination of all these things. At bottom though, it seems that certain groups are simply born with the pillager instinct; a subset of the populace perpetually stuck in scavenger limbo.
A good comparison to understand this is the classic "lottery winner" dilemma. Data suggests that around 70% of all lottery winners lose every dime they won in 5 years or less. It doesn’t matter if it’s thousands of dollars or millions of dollars; they can’t seem to keep their hands on wealth.
It's Kurt. RTWT [TH] The sour, bitter face of our enemy is the face of the chubby girl who always tried to get between you and her hot roommate — except instead of a double-bagger trying to block your shot, she’s now a Democrat trying to condemn you to serfdom. It’s the same face you see worn by malignant amphibians like Elissa Slotkin (D-CIA), a particularly loathsome creature who trumpets her time at the Central Intelligence Agency to establish her phony USA! USA! bona fides. This comes at the same time she supports a Jew-hating communist to be her co-senator who is, at minimum, a slobbering affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood. Whether her flex is calculated or stupid is a puzzlement; does she think she’s exploiting him instead of being exploited herself? It is useful to remember how the Iranian mullahs took power and then immediately shot all their erstwhile leftist allies. Regardless, they deserve each other; we don’t deserve either.
This time, she felt comfortable on a liberal panel explaining that she intended to prosecute Republicans working for the Trump administration to deter future young Republicans from going into public service.
When fascism comes to America, it will come from the left, because the left is where fascism comes from. It will come in the form of a Democrat, a Democrat who pretends to be patriotic and points to her résumé as if it’s proof. And it will be dressed like an HR director at a mid-tier company in a second-tier town.
Lying is a sacred obligation of Muslim fanatics and some CIA veterans. Oh, not all of them. Some have done outstanding service. You rarely meet those. With few exceptions, my experience with the Agency has been distinctly negative. In Kosovo, the only thing the CIA contributed was keeping the Pristina bar scene alive. The new hit TV series Lioness features super-competent CIA operatives pulling off complex missions and being based. This is why they call it "fiction." The real ones pulling the triggers tend to be pretty cool. The rest of them? They’d fit in nicely at the rear of the bell curve at your local DMV. There’s a reason the best book about the CIA ever is called Legacy of Ashes.
But just because they’re generally incompetent doesn’t mean they are not dangerous. Sadly, they’re less dangerous to America’s enemies than to Americans themselves. Take the aforementioned Slotkin, please. Recently, she decided to disgrace herself even more than she did when she joined with the useless blue falcon Mark Kelly to encourage American soldiers to disobey orders if there was a Republican administration in charge. This time, she felt comfortable on a liberal panel explaining that she intended to prosecute Republicans working for the Trump administration to deter future young Republicans from going into public service.
[KhaamaPress] Pakistain’s decades-long strategy of supporting the Taliban ...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan... to reduce India’s influence in Afghanistan has failed to deliver the expected results, according to an Indian analyst, who says the Taliban’s expanding engagement with New Delhi has exposed the limits of Islamabad’s influence.
Raghav Sharma, director of the Centre for Afghanistan Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University in India, said in an interview that Pakistain had spent roughly three decades supporting the Taliban in the hope of strengthening its position in Afghanistan. Instead, relations between the former allies have deteriorated, while the Taliban has pursued contacts with other regional powers, including India.
He compared Pakistain’s current difficulties with its experience in the 1990s, when Islamabad supported Afghan mujahideen groups in the expectation that allied forces would give it decisive influence over Afghanistan’s political direction.
Sharma said the current tensions between Pakistain and the Taliban were genuine rather than a political performance. He argued that the Taliban had sought to demonstrate its independence from Pakistain’s military establishment and challenge perceptions that its decisions were controlled by Islamabad.
SECURITY DISPUTE STRAINS PAKISTAIN-TALIBAN TIES
The dispute over the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), an gang that carries out attacks in Pakistain, remains a major source of tension. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing the TTP to operate from Afghanistan territory and has demanded action against the group. The Taliban authorities deny providing sanctuary to holy warriors and have rejected Pakistain’s accusations.
Sharma said the Taliban was unwilling to meet Pakistain’s demands to sever its ties with the TTP, leaving a major obstacle to improving relations. The dispute, he argued, also illustrates the limits of Pakistain’s ability to influence the Taliban leadership.
The analyst raised the possibility that Pakistain could be supporting armed opponents of the Taliban in Afghanistan, including groups operating in Badakhshan and Nuristan. However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... he did not provide evidence for the allegation in the interview. He also said he saw no clear indication that Pakistain had decided to seek the Taliban’s overthrow.
INDIA PURSUES A PRAGMATIC APPROACH
Sharma described India’s engagement with the Taliban as a pragmatic policy driven by national interests. He said New Delhi recognised that the Taliban remains Afghanistan’s dominant political and military force and that meaningful engagement with the country requires dealing with the authorities in Kabul.
He said the Taliban also had reasons to expand ties with India, including gaining leverage in its dispute with Pakistain and strengthening its domestic position. Nevertheless, Pakistain retains advantages through its shared border with Afghanistan, social and religious links, and established connections with Taliban leaders.
Sharma also said China’s role as a potential mediator was complicated by Pakistain’s need to seek help in resolving a dispute with a group Islamabad once regarded as an ally. Beijing, meanwhile, remains concerned about the presence of Uyghur turban groups in Afghanistan, he said.
The shifting relationships among the Taliban, Pakistain, India and China underscore the increasingly complex regional competition over Afghanistan, where former alliances are being tested by security disputes and changing diplomatic interests.
The report is based on an interview with Raghav Sharma, director of the Centre for Afghanistan Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University in India, published by Afghanistan International Radio on October 21, 2026.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[TH] The sour, bitter face of our enemy is the face of the chubby girl who always tried to get between you and her hot roommate — except instead of a double-bagger trying to block your shot, she’s now a Democrat trying to condemn you to serfdom. It’s the same face you see worn by malignant amphibians like 
...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan...
