The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has finalized preparations for the historic Test match between India and Afghanistan, scheduled to be played from June 6 to June 10 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
Former India leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule has joined the Indian team as their spin-bowling coach ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh. The 53-year-old will work with India’s spin bowlers across all formats.
India sharply criticised Pakistan at the UN Security Council, raising concerns over terrorism, Afghan civilian casualties and attacks on hospitals and humanitarian infrastructure.
India has changed the rules for citizenship applicants from three of its neighbours, with a deadline attached, and consequences that follow.
As accusations mount on both sides, the ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid escalating tensions appears increasingly unstable.
Though the media in both countries framed the negotiations, mediated by Turkiye and Qatar, as a high-stakes, short-term diplomatic effort, but emphasised different fault lines.
The 2,640-km-long Durand Line is more than just a frontier. It is a century-old scar on the map of South Asia - a scar that has bled into three Anglo-Afghan wars, the Cold War, the Taliban’s rise, and today’s great power rivalries. For the Afghan Pashtun, this line is not history.
Earlier on October 10, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had announced that India’s Technical Mission in Kabul would be upgraded to a full-fledged Embassy of India.
Dr Naseem Baloch, the Chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), vehemently criticised Pakistan's assault on neighbouring Afghanistan, asserting that they constitute a breach of international law and a disrespect to the dignity and honour of a free Afghanistan and its esteemed populace.
In a post shared by BNM on X, he noted that Pakistan had misjudged the situation by believing that the creation of the Taliban government in Afghanistan would render the Durand Line issue inconsequential and that Kabul's foreign policy would align entirely with Islamabad's interests.
