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Because of anti Bush and anti american feeling every crank politicain or simply gangs fighting turf wars and even bandits or thieves can call themselves Taliban. Also the Wahabist religion of militants is not the religion in the Sind and Punjab 2 main provinces of Pakistan. And some of these areas like the Northwest frontier province and the areas bordering Afghanistan like Afghanistan itself have an independent streak and don't take well to any foreigner be it the Russians, the Pakistanis (Punjabis and Sindhis) and to the Americans or going back to the colonial era the British. Its convenient and a easy label for a lazy media that hasnt done its homework, and for politicians who lack the education and disposition to do their own homework or a cultural barrier that makes this difficult to call all this one label Taliban, or some other label, but its dangerous as the manner of dealing with this may be quite different given a correct understanding of whats happening. When turned over to the American people living in a modern world or to modern world Europeans for response to these labels there is only the gut instinct of them versus us the core feeling of something different and alien which is hostile. As this writer points out the Pakistani people themselves by and large are simply like people everywhere, may just be looking for better lives like the rest of us, and are not keen on the militants though they may carry anti Bush feelings. And the Pakistani people resentment for the USA not because of some innate or inherent hostility but because they feel left out of the modern world and its benefits of development like infrastructure, hospitals and basic services, just like most of the developing countries, which have alternated between hostility and friendship towards the USA, just as the USA has alternated between truly benevolent policy towards the developing world and policy thats more in tune to a prior colonial period of its partners in Europe like the British and the French. And in this sense the Pakistani people desire for economic progress may not be automatically construed as expressed through the politicians as they are corrupt and selfserving. Its a complex state of affairs sure but its not made easier but made more complicated by lazy man's labels without understanding the situation on the ground first hand and doing one's homework. ...

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This Economist article looks at India-China relations and the Wuhan Summit between prime minister Modi and president Xi Jinping. It sees India's reluctance to follow a containment strategy in an historical light from the period in which India followed a non-alignment policy in the early post independence period under prime minister Nehru. During the period of the Eisenhower administration with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles India adhered to a strict nonalignment policy avoiding choosing sides in the Cold War. As a result U.S. policy tilted towards Pakistan during the Eisenhower administration. A balance was restored under president Kennedy, with Adlai Stevenson a close friend of India.  The short Sino-Indian war of 1962 led to a situation in which the U.S. backed India and improvement of relations. A semblance of non-alignment in foreign relations continued under Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi. By 1990 with the opening of the Indian economy to foreign investment, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the integration of China into the global economy, a new period of good bilateral relations with the U.S. and Europe was maintained. In 2017 the potential for a conflict in Doklam, Bhutan revived fears from 1962 in India. In 2018 After the U.S. administration of Donald Trump and Trade Representative Lighthizer imposed trade tariffs on China and restrictions on export of advanced technologies China pursued a policy of conciliatory relations with India. China's relations also improved with Japan and South Korea as the U.S. policy was unanticipated and seen as a significant change that would seriously affect China's economy. India's response was to pursue a policy of good relations with China and the U.S., even as the economies of the U.S. and India were drawn closer in India's pursuit of modernization.  ...

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During the election campaign Obama talked about sending at least 2 more combat brigades to Afghanistan. The Defense Department is already planning to send 20,000 additional troops in response to a request of General David McKiernan, top commander in Afghanistan,including 4 combat brigades and an aviation brigade with helicopters, increasing the American troop levels to 58,000, with an additional 30,000 NATO troops already there from other countries. The timeline for this is 12-18 months but with the escalating insurgent attacks in Afghanistan this will probably be done more quickly. Obama and some Democrats talked about Afghanistan as somehow being the good war and he vowed to defeat the Taliban and militants in Afghanistan. But Afghanistan is a different place and most military experts are suggesting that a good strategy will be needed, for example winning over the tribals and some of the militants, and not trying to win militarily. However with the deteriorating situation there the only way to win over tribals and militants may be to get the situation to where the NATO and US forces are in a strong situation. The two big handicaps in this are first history, where the terrain and rural distribution of the people make it difficult to exercize any control over the vast region of mountains and deserts. So throughout history no one has controlled this region and there is no history of centralized government, with different tribes controlling their regions. The other is the problem created by the corruption and lack of any popular support for the Karzai government, which is made worse by the involvement of its officials in the opium trade with opium growing booming in the southern part of Afghanistan. How does the US and NATO create an effective Afghan army and police under a state that does not enjoy any popular support. And yet the strategy that Gates. Petraeus and McKiernan are pursuing involves preparing the Afghan army and police for the task of controlling the vast mountainous region against a rural insurgency that knows its way in the mountains enjoys rural support because of the independent spirit of the Afghan people who find it easy to see the NATO forces as white foreigners in their country. The Afghan army is small for such a vast mountainous region, only 70,000 in a nation of 32 million people, and the police forces of 80,000 mostly corrupt and ineffectual. The present plan is to build the Afgan army to 134,000 still small for such a large region. The other problems stem from the Pushtun population in Pakistan that supports the rural insurgency in Afghanistan and the support of tribal people in the border areas of Pakistan. The picture tells the story, a small number of NATO soldiers in a remote ridge in Afghanistan. And the problems actually are across the whole of the far northern region of what was once British India, of Afghanistan and Pakistan, as the Pakistan government is quite fragile, having an army that operates as a power center of its own with little accountability to the central government. And years of war during the previous military government of Pakistan under Zia Ul Haq, in which Zia with the support of the Reagan administration supported another rural insurgency in Afghanistan that drove the soviets out of Afghanistan, and the subsequent sponsorship of the Taliban movement by the Pakistan military in Afghanistan, has created a situation in Pakistan where militants now operate freely and with impunity in Pakistan itself, disregarding both the Pakistan military and the Pakistan elected government's power structures....

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A poll done by the International Republican Institute, a nonprofit affiliated with the Republican party, of 3500 people across Pakistan found a couple of important things. The Republican Institute's goal is to promote democracy in the developing world. 1. Popularity of President Zardari at 9% and Nawas Sharif's at 55%. The US resumed contacts with Sharif, and Sharif is seen as able to bring the Islamic moderates to the American side. 2. Economic issues are what concerns Pakistanis most. Refugees are approaching the 1 million number according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. 3. 81% said the country was going in the wrong direction, Zardari was never elected and is incompetent and this could be the reason. But military is still unpopular, 77% want democratic rule, possibly with Sharif or some sort of combination of Sharif, lawyers movement, and Islamic moderates in charge. 4. From alow of 9% in January 2008, now 37% are willing to work with the USA against extremism. Could Obama's election and US support of Pakistan's effort to heal itself be apart of this change of heart? 5. 45% support fighting extremists in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. And 69% say having the Taliban and Al Quaeda operate in Pakistan is a serious problem. If these poll results accurately reflect shifting feeling in Pakistan, American help to help Pakistan pull itself up by its bootstraps economically and unify the country under a democratic administration of Islamic moderates and people from other areas like the lawyers movement, could work. It also improves the prospects of pulling out of Afghanistan after the situation improves, and setting up an administration that comprises Islamic moderates and tribal representatives that keeps out Al Quaeda, and works to rebuild Afghanistan after seemingly endless years of war. These efforts would require cooperation of Iran, India, Pakistan and the US, and assistance of countries like Turkey, in creating an atmosphere that promotes peaceful development in the entire region. ...

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US ceasefire proposal July 3, 2025 for Gaza accepted by Israel and Gaza/Palestine. An end to Gaza/Palestine war July 3, 2025 with US Egypt UAE mediators after months of fighting that have left Gaza in ruins, Iran and proxies in disarray, and leadership in Gaza changing three times. This opens up a path for humanitarian help to the population of Gaza/Palestine, ending hostage crisis, and finding a new path to Palestine/Gaza living in peace with its neighbors, Egypt, Israel, UAE and Gulf States.  It marks the end of another chapter of failures in the wars of the Middle East starting with Afghanistan/Pakistan under Reagan and Soviet leader Brezhnev on opposite sides, then Iraq/Iran interventions under Reagan/Bush/Bush first on one side then on the other, Afghanistan/9/11 under Bush Jr., Syria under Obama and Trump, Iraq/ISIS under DJT, and Afghanistan closure under Biden, Iran/Gaza/Israel under DJT second term. Forty Five Years War is an appropriate term reminiscent of the Thirty Years War in Europe in the 17th century, this one that destroyed Soviets and the American administrations priorities of Reagan to Biden 1980-2025. ...

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Gen. Matttis, the U.S. Defense Secretary has completed a strategy review on U.S. presence in Afghanistan. The U.S. policy is now set to put in more troops to support the additional 3900 American troops to advise the Afghan Army authorized in June 2017, as it fights both the Taliban and the Islamic State affiliate in Khorasan, Afghanistan. Two differences from the policy of the Obama administration are the increased focus on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, the Haqqani network, and other related matters which are coming under increased review so that sanctuaries are shut down. Lt. Gen. McMaster, the national security advisor, headed the governance, anti corruption review in Afghanistan during the Obama administration. This is now the focus of the Trump administration- to ask the Afghan government for improvement in these areas in return for aid. Other changes are to secure the support levels of NATO countries in the effort, so that the U.S. is not shouldering the burden alone. Gordon, Schmitt and Haberman cite the report of Gen. Nicholson, head of the American forces in Afghanistan to the U.S. Congress. This report shows deterioration in the fight against the Taliban and Islamic State. As of Nov. 2016 the areas under Afghan government control dropped 15% to 57% since 2015. About 8,400 American troops are part of the 13,000 troop international force in Aghanistan, supporting the Afghan military. An addition 2,000 troops are in counterterrorism missions.   ...

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Dexter Filkins shows here how something is changing that may have been missed by American commanders and the new US administration- the evidence of a crumbling and unpopular feudal structure that the British maintained in Afghanistan to continue the imperial presence, and which has remained that way under the government of Pakistan for the last 50 years. Baitullah Mehsud and other Taliban leaders are from the lower strata of society, the porters and street cleaners and other occupations. The British operated through the malik system of tribal elders who were supposed to maintain order, and the British pretty much left them alone. The Pathan or Pastun people on both sides of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan are going through some major social changes that are pent up for centuries. The malik system is beiing destroyed on one hand , and on the other hand the Taliban enjoy support among ordinary people in Pathan country as being good Muslims, and in parts of Pakistan itself. This creates a dangerous mix for American forces, popular sentiment of the lower strata and ordinary Afghans, with clandestine support from Islamist officers within the Pakistan army and intelligence services for more sophisticated warfare. Which only means that disproportionate resources would be needed for an expanded American project in Afghnistan, without much to offer in return....

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Dunne and Nawaz say the situation in Egypt is developing into something similiar to Pakistan where the military has special privileges and controls what happens in the country even when democratic governments are elected. Dunne and Nawaz are directors of the Middle East and South Asia centers at The Atlantic Council. They say that the U.S. government should suspend military assistance if the conditions are not met for the clear leadership of the elected government and for democratic processes to work.

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This opinion piece in DW.com says India's prime minister should not isolate prime minister Sharif of Pakistan, as he had no part in the escalation of tensions in Kashmir. Foreign and military affairs are now run by the Pakistan Army, and isolating Sharif only entrenches the Army it says, which has kept up tensions similar to the situation in 1999 with the Kargil crisis when the Pakistan Army initiated a conflict in Kargil region. At that time Indian premier Vajpayee and Pakistan premier Sharif were improving relations. 

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Greg Mortenson runs 78 schools in remote poor areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan on a budget of $2.8 millioon he raises through small donations to his foundation, the Central Asia Institute. The Pentagon is listening to Mortenson and he has met privately with Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. THe military has specially sought him out. And General Petraeus has read his book Three Cups of Tea and passed it on to his staff for reading. He also has been asked to speak with senior officers of the Special Operations Command. Greg Mortenson believes getting amoderate education for these children is the best way to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism. In addition to the 78 schools he also runs 48 other schools in refugee camps in the region and 28,000 children in the 2 countries attend Mortenson's schools. In atalk to the Pentagon uniformed officers in 2002 he told them that the $840,000 spent on each of the Tomahawk cruise missiles fired into Afghanistan could have been used to build dozens of schools. He asked them which would you think will make us more secure? ...

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For what a ruble buys in Russia , 2.7 times what a dollar buys in the US, Russia gets alot of bang out of its defense budget of $149 billion, about $401 billion (Purchasing power) compared to US $997 billion. Add to this Russia is now a war economy in the war with Ukraine and concentrates its forces in one theatre not four as the US spread out over Indo-Pacific, Europe and Middle East and Korean peninsula. This is the reason behind most of DJT's actions reflecting realities in defense. Shut down the Middle East theatre which is also what the American people want by moving everything in the direction of economic progress, turning down the revolutionary and sectarian ideologies that roiled Egypt of Suez, Iraq and Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 60's and dragged the world into costly insane wars. And do this with the consensus of Russia, China and India. Wind down the war in Europe- accept the Russians as a Northern European power with a settlement of the Ukraine conflict, and let Germany lead Europe's defense. Manage the relationship in the Indo-Pacific with India and South and Southwest Asian investments in economic infrastructure that will offset China's rapid growth of the last three decades by incentivizing South Asia and South western Asia parts of which were called the Middle East by the Britons and now can be rengaged in the South /Southwest Asian group of nations led by the US. This is the policy for the next 25 years to 2050 that a Russia, Germany, US, China, India consensus sees as a constructive future for the people of the world.   ...

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Ajami makes the point that opinions and attitudes -after the Obama efforts to improve America's standing in the Muslim world - havent changed much since the Bush days. He cites the Pew Global Attitudes Survey for 2009- In Turkey after the Obama Anakra visit favorable rating is only 14%, 69% are unreconciled. In Egypt 27% have favorable view 70% do not, in Pakistan unfavorables actally went up from 63% to 68%. He also points to the situation in Iran where the protester for the fraud in the election of Ahmadinejad did not receive much supprt from Obama, as the Obama administration decided to engage with Ahmadinejad to achieve nuclear settlement. In effect the rhetoric from Obama has not been matched with courage of convicitions , and lacks the courage to turn a new chapter by breaking from the past not just with talk but in real policy changes. And says Ajami the Arabs havve stopped listening to the rhetoric as little has been accomplished by way of change. At the same time false expectations may have been aroused because the Cairo speech was made at the University with the aging Mubarak at Obama's side, and beyond addressing these students the feeling clearly must be that the US would simply continue its policies of supporting old regimes that tolerate no dissent of any kind such as Mubarak's. ...

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Mohamed Hanif of the BBC's Urdu Service points to the manner in which the CIA and the ISI collaborated in the two time destruction of Kabul. And he points to a Pakistani view outside of the military which is not obsessed with India and would like to get down to the basics- electricity and infrastructure, better lives, and a safer neighborhood. In this perspective the Pakistani military and the Americans both do not understand the basic needs of the large majority of Pakistanis yearning for a better life. Contrast this with the Thomas Friedman piece which complains on the other side, with a note of innocence, of becoming a sucker in this game of a two-faced Pakistani military and intelligence services using the Americans for their own game, supporting the Americans and the insurgents at the same time. Hanif almost has the last word in this, pointing to the ordinary Pakistanis who are just poor and looking in.

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Bret Stephens talks with Shiite Imam Mohsen Quadivar, who was a student of Hossein-Ali Montazeri, and a seminarian at Qom, Iran. He now teaches at Duke. Kadivar is the author of a three part work of political philosophy titled "The Theories of the State in Shiite Jurisprudence," which questions Khomeini's idea of vilayat e-Faqih, or principle for a supreme leader with near dictatorial powers. Nothing in this principle he says is intuitively obvious or necessary for religion. It is he says not a part of Shiite general principles, and by near consensus of the Shiite Ulama, a minor jurisprudential hypothesis. He says there are two interpretations of Islam: the aggressive Islam of Ahamadinejad or the mercy Islam of Moussavi. Kadivar points out that 2 of Iran's 4 major seminaries have refused to endorse Ahmadinejad's victory. There is here a search and a struggle for the true soul of Islam that goes beyond Iran, to Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The U.S., India, Pakistan and the Middle Eastern nations are having to walk carefully through a period where a search and a struggle for this true soul is taking place. Alahu akbar now takes on a different meaning....

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US stock markets June 27 2025, after Israel-Iran war and NATO Summit in Hague. The rapid de-escalation after strikes on nuclear weapons development  sites was similar to the India- Pakistan war within days the US after strikes of its own on Fordow and Isfahan called for a ceasefire and an end to the war.

In briefings following the US strikes Lt Gen Dan Caine showed extraordinary composure and professional skills that were displayed throughout the crisis unlike anything seen in recent American military history. His rapport and connection with junior military officers was something that gives new confidence to the armed services of the United States.

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From all accounts the lawyers against Musharraf, the opposing factions of Bhutto and Sharif and the Islamist parties alliance distancing itself from Musharraf's campaign against insurgents in the tribal areas and Waziristan, and the army's failure to do much against the militant islamist in the border areas with Afghnaistan present a picture of Pakistan coming apart. The army as a national institution is losing credibility even as the US needs the Pakistani military to continue the fight in the border areas while it is fighting with other Nato forces in Afghaistan's southern provinces. Actually whole areas in the British assigned areas of southern Afghaistan have been given up to militants or provincial leaders with their own forces. In this situation even as the people seem genuninely keen on a new direction their is no unified leadership or organization to hold it together which commands the confidence of large parts of the country and people. And so the US even under pressure to support democracy would simply put its interests in Afghanistan and the border regions of Pakistan before the interests of the people of Pakistan in finding some genuine solution to the problems. that would give Pakistan a chance to set a new longterm direction different from its past. ...

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Fewer than 2% of Pakistanis pay income taxes and some of the powerful landed elite and industrialists pay little or no income taxes. The result is that the government is short of funds to finance needed healthcare and education. This leaves more of these tasks for the mosques and international donors such as the Saudis, and with it brings support for militant groups. Pakistan is dependent on IMF help for its financing needs and the IMF has offered $11 billion in loans. $7.6 billion of this was transferred. But further loans were held back by the IMF since May 2010 till Pakistan made economic reforms in taxation and other areas such as energy subsidies. The US supports this effort. The government's recent effort to raise fuel prices puts the burden on the poorer sections of society. The result was deeply unpopular and the government was forced to withdraw the price increases. This was the only way to maintain the support of coalition parties in the government

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BBC reports on Iran protests January 2026. Protests happened with students, with women periodically over the last two decades. Iran over the years since the monarchy in the 1880's and democratic movements (parliaments) in 1900's, monarchy in the 1930's and 1960's, socialist governments 1960's. Cold War and restored monarchy in 1970's, religious theocracy 1990's till today has gone through many different governments. It was part of the British Empire (that included India/Pakistan) and Russia's buffer region in the 18th and 19th century.  After economic sanctions from US and Europe the economy depends on sanctioned oil exports. Its defense operations divert much of the funding from oil based resources away from economic development . Much of that was a result of the anticolonial socialist ideologies that spread from North Africa (Algeria, Egypt) to Iraq and Syria that led to wars in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan- which also led to Iraq's version the Baathist ideology invading Iran. Russia and the US have extracted themselves at much loss from these conflicts by 2025 and are posed at a historic rapprochement in relations. For Iran there is today no danger from the region or from European powers, and like the US the people and the country are asking questions about the economic and living conditions from so much in resources now diverted to external conflicts- like the US the people in the region of Iran and the entire Middle East apart from a few small oil rich regions with a tiny part of the overall population- maybe 5% in Qatar and UAE, and Saudi- feel the impact of little investment in rapid economic development of the overall region. A region with a population close to the European Union of 500 million but a tiny fraction of economic development investment for the vast majority of people in Egypt and other parts of North Africa and regions of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan. Most of the investment of $1 trillion is concentrated in the 10% of the population of over 500 million people in oil resource Saudi Arabia, UAE/Qatar monarchies, the rest languishing in war, and now meaningless- in terms of living standards- of anticolonial ideologies or militant religious ideologies, or internecine/ethnic conflict. ...

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As the US gets serious about defeating the Taliban and Al Quaeda militants in Afghanistan and in Pakistan's border areas in Waziristan and the Northwest Frontier Province, and as Pakistan's army and government are at loggerheads and are also each in its own way unable or unwilling to take action against these militants operating out of or near the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it appears that the situation will result in the US having to make some tough decisions including going ahead anyway regardless of agreement with Pakistan. At the same time Defense Secretary Gates is saying that he wnats to see the Afghan army numbers to be doubled from the present 65,000 to be able to spread out across the country and not just be stuck in the urban areas. Any success the US and NATO see in Afghanistan would stem from some of these tough decisions including some tough decisions of a different nature that deal with Afghan government provincial officials tacit involvement in the opium growing areas. Like Iraq this will be a tough one for the US and the Europeans to sort out and make take a lot of patience and effort and some disappointments on the road before serious and lasting results that do not compromise basic American and European goals and intentions. With these goals and intentions the American and the Europeans seek to leave behind a peaceful modernizing state keeping its own faith and traditions with tolerance for others, at the same time that it respects women and economic development and modern education in science and technology that would make this development possible. And these goals would have to be applied as the vital test for the whole region Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India and for the basis of all policy towards the region, foreign policy, economc policy, development policy and regional issue policy like that of Kashmir. ...

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Michael Boskin, the elder president Bush's chairman of the Council of Economc Advisors was instrumental in setting up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Here he points to the dire need to open up trade between India and Pakistan. Trade today between the two countries is $2.7 billion. Under trade models Boskin says the trade could be 20 times larger, about $50 billion. This would increase benefits and wages in both countries and is badly needed and long overdue.

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This article by Saeed Shah and Syed Hasan describes the Taliban factions from the tribal areas that control parts of Karachi, Pakistan's main commercial city on the Arabian Sea. It provides a detailed map showing the outlying areas around the city centre, especially the shantytown areas and the areas with Pashtun majority population controlled by Taliban with roots in the tribal areas. The Taliban charge taxes and adminster law in the areas they control. A major operation was launched since Sept. 2013 by the Sharif government to free this key city of Pakistan from Taliban control and the wave of kidnappings, extortion and other violence from Taliban members. About 168 police officers have been killed in the efforts to control the city, but areas under Taliban control are still hard to patrol by government police and special Ranger force. Karachi anxiously awaits the result of peace talks of the Sharif government with Taliban. If the talks fail and an operation is launched against Taliban in tribal areas the repercussions will be felt in Karachi. Shah and Hasan provide a excellent picture of the tribal loyalties, religious extremism and entrenched culture of violent activity that extends from the border tribal regions of Pakistan into the commercial centres such as Karachi that is a vexing problem for the Sharif administration, police, business and ordinary citizens....

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A professor at Georgetown University on why it takes time to build democratic institutions, with one important omission- the military in Muslim countries such as Egypt have no intention of building these institutions and have undermined the development of these institutions for decades. A bigger omission lies in inability of the military in the most populous Muslim countries with horrendous gaps in development in basic welfare indices such as education, infrastructure and services, that have put these countries decades behind developing Asia and even Latin America which also had a past of military rule. In countries such as Pakistan and Egypt the military simply lacked the skillset and abilities to deliver in economic terms. Therein lies the biggest failure. In China and Russia the governments have popular support because of their capability to deliver economic growth that has transformed both countries and improved the lives of the people in the region. These crucial omissions explain why Republicans such as Senator John McCain and Lindsey see the need for the U.S. to be on the right side for change. Latin America shook off its history of military rule or one party rule and Brazil, Chile, Mexico are part of two free trade regions in Latin America, supporting the free trade system and economic growth in this hemisphere. The issue ultimately rests with the people of Pakistan, Egypt, and other Muslim countries, and a process of learning, compromise, healing and reconciliation that ocurred in Latin America is likely to follow in the Muslim world. It has already begun in Pakistan which like India has a independent judiciary and lively press, and some of the institutions for a functioning demcoracy. The worst omission is unmentionable because it is so obvious - that of firing live ammunition into protesters for democracy. Years after this happened in S. Korea, Mexico and other countries the day is remembered in a certain way. The important point is that when it comes to this there is no exception to the pattern. ...

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Even with the best US effort heroin production increased to 9000 tons in Afghanistan says this report in The Economic Times. Indian coast guard and Gujarat anti-terrorist squad size large amounts of heroin at Mundra port and along the Porbandar coast.  Afghanistan has a 2000 kilometer border with Iran and another 2000 kilometer border with Pakistan. There is now increased risk of this activity along India and Sri Lanka's coastlines and borders, says the Economic Times. Much of the colonial period was marked by British traders use of opium from Bengal and other parts of India in illegal activities in China through Chinese ports for sale of opium -leading to the Opium wars in 1850 with China's feudal monarchy and eventually to China turning to the CCP. This was conducted under the British East India Company and condoned under the British Empire- making it one of the worst activities of colonial powers in history. Some of the same activities are being conducted and condoned by countries in the region. A multinational allied task force Combined Force 150 keeps track of the oceans in the North Arabian Sea and in the Horn of Africa. More naval forces are needed from India, the US, UK, Australia, Japan and other countries to keep the oceans safe and clear, and protect people in the region. ...