The Afghan Eye

In the opening episode of Season 3 of The Afghan Eye Podcast, host Sangar Paykhar is joined by analyst Ahmed-Waleed Kakar to examine newly disclosed US lobbying records that raise serious questions about Pakistan’s intentions toward Afghanistan.  The episode analyses documents filed under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), revealing that Pakistan has retained a Washington lobbying firm...

In this episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, host Sangar Paykhar is joined by Afghan Eye’s in-house historian Ahmed-Waleed Kakar to examine a revealing speech by Pakistan’s most powerful general, Asim Munir, delivered to a gathering of religious scholars in Islamabad.  The discussion explores how Pakistan’s military leadership is increasingly instrumentalising Islam to assert political authority, de...

In this episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, Sangar Paykhar speaks with Indian strategic analyst Sushant Sareen about the rapidly shifting geopolitics of South Asia. The conversation examines India’s evolving engagement with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, rising tensions between Kabul and Islamabad, and Pakistan’s deteriorating leverage over Afghan affairs. Sareen offers a candid Indian perspective on r...

In this episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, Sangar Paykhar speaks with retired Pakistani Army Major Adil Raja for a rare, wide-ranging conversation on power, policy, and politics in Pakistan, and what they mean for Afghanistan.  Adil Raja discusses Islamabad’s Afghanistan policy, the enduring influence of the intelligence services, the politics of militancy narratives, and why negotiations between...

In this episode, Sangar Paykhar speaks with Ahmad-Waleed Kakar, about his latest article exploring Pakistan’s deepening identity crisis. Triggered by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s remark calling Mahmud of Ghazni a “plunderer”, the discussion unpacks how Pakistan is renegotiating its relationship with the very historical figures that once shaped its ideological foundations.  Far more than a debat...

In this episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, Sangar Paykhar speaks with Muhammed Enes, Chief Editor of MEPA News, about how Turkish foreign policy understands Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the shifting geopolitics of the wider region.  Enes explains why Turkish media initially echoed Islamabad’s narrative during the recent tensions along the Durand Line, how public opinion in Turkey began to reassess P...

In this episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, host Sangar Paykhar speaks with American author and broadcaster Scott Horton, for a deep dive into the shifting geopolitical landscape of post-US-withdrawal Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Horton, known for his libertarian critique of American interventionism and for books such as 'A Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan' and 'Enough...

In this Afghan Eye Podcast episode, host Sangar Paykhar speaks with Pakistani investigative journalist Waqas Ahmed about the 27th Constitutional Amendment, a move that could fundamentally reshape Pakistan’s political future. The discussion explores how this amendment, introduced on 8 November 2025, effectively elevates Field Marshal Asim Munir to an all-powerful, constitutionally protected positio...

In this Afghan Eye Podcast, journalist Ali Mustafa joins Sangar Paykhar to explain how Pakistan’s military courted Donald Trump and how that diplomacy helped set the stage for today’s looming conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Mustafa, a seasoned international journalist who has covered the Global War on Terror, reveals how Pakistan’s generals flattered and influenced Trump, shaping Washi...

Kabul’s water is vanishing and no one is coming to help. In this episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, host Sangar Paykhar speaks with environmental activist Sayedmuhammad Sulimankhil, co-founder of Samsoor Watan, about the terrifying scale of the water crisis in Afghanistan’s capital.  From personal stories of water shortages to broken infrastructure, climate injustice, and international indifferenc...

In this episode, host Sangar Paykhar sits down with renowned Indian scholar Dr Shanthie Mariet D’Souza to unpack India’s evolving strategy towards Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.  With decades of fieldwork and policy research experience, Dr D’Souza offers a rare and candid insight into how New Delhi balances engagement with restraint. We explore:  🔹 Why India hasn’t recognised the Taliban  🔹 The real...

In this powerful episode of the Afghan Eye podcast, host Sangar Paykhar speaks with renown Afghan journalist Ali Latifi about the deepening crisis facing Afghan refugees expelled from Iran.  With first-hand reporting from the Islam Qala border and over 15 years covering displacement and migration, Ali shares harrowing testimonies from returnees—many of whom were beaten, robbed, and deported with n...

Join host Sangar Paykhar on the Afghan Eye Podcast as he sits down with veteran journalist Haq Nawaz Khan to unpack the fallout from Pakistan’s recent “Operation Sarbakaf” in Bajaur’s Mamund region and explore the shifting dynamics of Pakistan–Afghanistan relations since the rise of the Islamic Emirate in Kabul. 🔍 In this episode, you’ll hear: How the sudden three-day curfew and targeted strikes...

Join host Sangar Paykhar and Eurasian affairs analyst Eldaniz Gusseinov as they revisit the inaugural Termez Dialogue in southern Uzbekistan. In this episode, they explore how Afghanistan is poised to become the linchpin of trade, commercial growth and geopolitical shifts across Central Asia, Russia and South Asia.  Key topics include:  * Russia’s recognition of Afghanistan’s de facto authorities...

In this compelling episode of the Afghan Eye Podcast, host Sangar Paykhar sits down with Mir-Ali Askerov, a political scientist from the Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, to discuss the recent high-level Russian delegation visit to Kabul, led by Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of Russia's Security Council. Together, they dive deep into the historical context of Russia-Afghanistan relat...

In this episode of the Afghan Eye podcast, hosts Sangar Paykhar and Ahmed-Waleed Kakar dive into the implications of Afghanistan’s attendance at the recent 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan. We discuss Afghanistan’s potential strategic interests, regional cooperation, and the impact of BRICS on a multipolar world order. Amid ongoing economic sanctions, political isolation, and recent infrastructure devel...

 On 18th March 2024, Afghanistan's remote and southeastern Paktika province found itself subject to aerial bombardment. The airstrikes, carried out in the early hours of the morning, were conducted by Pakistani military planes from across the Durand Line. A statement soon released by Islamabad confirmed the airstrikes, claiming these were in response to a recent a deadly TTP attack in Mir Ali...

Qatar again has served as the location for Afghanistan-centred gatherings. As a UN-convened conference kicked off, representatives from different countries, international bodies as well as Afghan civil society gathered in Doha as part of what was supposed to be a discussion on how to transition Afghanistan out of its state of diplomatic and legal isolation following the Taliban's takeover in...

Pakistan concluding fiercely contested elections amidst turmoil and mass claims of irregularities is only the latest development in an eventful 2024. The year has been similarly eventful for Afghanistan's foreign relations. On 29th January, the Taliban-led Afghan government organised an unprecedented conference in Kabul attended by the representatives of neighbouring and regional countries. T...

Amidst deteriorating relations between Kabul and Islamabad, news emerged on 18th December. The Afghan ambassador to Pakistan confirmed that an invitation had been extended to Pakistani politician Maulana Fazlur Rahman to visit Kabul. The visit, according to many sources, was intended to defuse tensions between the neighbours; Fazlur Rahman, an influential politician and religious scholar, could me...

On 1st December 2023, the Taliban's ambassador was greeted by an official at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bilal Karimi formally presented his credentials to and was received by Hong Lei: the Director General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Protocol Department. The picture was shared triumphantly by the Taliban on X (formerly known as Twitter) and thereafter quickly circulat...

On 24th November 2023, a conference was convened in the Russian capital of Moscow. Attendees included Russian politicians and an Iranian government representative. The conference was also attended by a number of exiled Afghan politicians: Shukria Barakzai, Fawzia Koofi, Muhammad Muhaqqiq, Ahmad Wali Massoud, and Ahmad Massoud. The event follows months of conflicting statements made by Russian offi...

On 6th November 2023, senior and former American diplomat Annie Pforzheimer wrote an article for World Politics Review. In the article, Pforzheimer, who has previously worked extensively as an American diplomat in Afghanistan, highlighted the signs that the Biden Administration was mulling widening and upgrading its ties with the Taliban, now the government of Afghanistan. Pforzheimer argued that,...

On 2nd October 2023, Pakistan's Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti announced that illegal immigrants residing in the country would be given  one month to return to their home countries.  Whilst not explicitly aimed at Afghans, the majority of projected deportees, roughly numbering 1.73 million, would be Afghans. Since 1st November, with the passage of a month's deadline, deportations have...

In the beginning of April 2023, the Taliban notified the United Nation mission in Afghanistan that Afghan women are no longer permitted to work for the U.N. There are approximately 400 Afghan women who work for the U.N mission in Afghanistan. This decision was condemned by the international community and the U.N. is currently assessing whether to continue or halt all aid activities in Afghanistan....