The quake’s epicentre was located at a latitude of 36.10°N and a longitude of 71.20°E, with a depth of 130 kilometers.
In the old and new Great Game, Afghanistan has held a central position. Peter Hopkirk, in his path-breaking book The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia, chronicled the 19th-century geopolitical chessboard involving Britain and Russia.
There is an unconfirmed report that the US has redeployed at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. This base was the command centre for NATO and US forces throughout their occupation of Afghanistan.
Within Pakistan, the unforgiving regions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan have had an especially violent ‘gun-culture’, for a long time. Bloody, inter-tribal, anti- ‘foreigner’ and familial feuds are a way of life, and often the family sentinels peer at their neighbours through rifle ports.
Afghan refugees awaiting resettlement to the United States have written an 'open letter' to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to immediately halt their deportation to Afghanistan as the March 31 deadline approaches closer.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary also said that Bangladesh can be a partner in Afghanistan's developmental process as Bangladesh seeks to enhance regional cooperation for the attainment of a vision of shared prosperity for the region.
An Afghan economist has said that the new budget would probably be only a quarter of that for 2021. He might have been overly cynical, but in the absence of recognition by the comity of nations, the going is bound to be tough on the fiscal front.
The meeting, chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishanakar, was attended by the foreign ministers of the Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
There are reports that India has invited the leaders of the five Central Asian countries as chief guests for the Republic Day parade next year.
The participants underlined the important role played by Chabahar Port during humanitarian crises as well as in enhancing regional connectivity.
