It is heartening to see Indian career diplomats of recent vintage penning their understanding of the complex India-Pakistan relationship. Soon after The People Next Door (Harper Collins, 2017)by T.C.A. Raghavan, India’s high commissioner in Islamabad from 2013-2015, we have India’s Pakistan Conundrum (Routledge Books, 2022), by Sharat Sabharwal, his predecessor in Pakistan from 2009-2013. Both Raghavan and Sabharwal also served […]

What’s new? The rise of a local Islamic State franchise and the growing influence of a hard-line and violent protest movement known as “Labaik” that draws support mostly from Pakistan’s Barelvi majority, open a new chapter in the country’s sectarian violence, which until recently was driven largely by Deobandi groups.

Pakistan’s historic flooding covering a third of the country is a complex humanitarian disaster illustrating how excessive water can quickly overwhelm land by brute force. Understanding the fluid dynamics of increasedflooding because of quickening climate change is essential to create preventive measures involving water runoff, water tables and tides. The basic data is alarming. The worst flooding occurred along the […]

The massive floods that have hit Pakistan couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. Struggling to keep its economy afloat by relying on the lifebuoy of international loans, the widespread destruction caused by the unprecedented deluge will only make its financial situation even more precarious. And while the UN and international community has pledged financial assistance and material aid […]

Responding to a claim by the Afghan minister of defense of the US using Pakistan’s airspace for drone operations, Pakistan said late Sunday it was “highly regrettable”. According to a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Islamabad has noted with deep concern the allegation by Afghanistan’s Defense Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub regarding the use of Pakistan’s airspace in a US counter-terrorism […]

Afghanistan’s Defense Minister Yaqoub Mujahid on Sunday said American drones flying over Afghanistan are entering the country’s airspace from Pakistan. Speaking at an accountability session in Kabul, Mujahid called on Pakistan to stop allowing the use of its airspace against Afghanistan. He said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) did not have reliable radar detection systems in place but that […]

Sher Khan customs office of Kunduz province says that the export of coal from Tajikistan to Pakistan via this port has started again and it is loading more than 100 trucks of coal daily. “It has been four days since the coal transit started, I ask the traders to have their tariff and transit documents when requested, and the traders […]

A Pakistani court on Thursday extended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s pre-arrest bail for one week in a terrorism case over a speech, his lawyer said, shortly after the former premier appeared in court in person amidst tight security. Khan’s lawyer and political aide Babar Awan told Reuters bail had been granted until Sept. 1, after which they will apply […]

Politics in Pakistan is again creating turmoil. Media reports said: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s close aide and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, Shahbaz Gill’s room at Parliament Lodges was raided by police contingents in the presence of Gill who was brought to the location amid strict security measures. The police team led by the senior superintendent of police (SSP) found […]

This year Pakistan is celebrating Independence Day 14th August, when the clouds of imminent default are getting thicker. While the people have complete faith in the economic resilience on the country, a lot needs to be done on war footings. To carve out its future strategy, a dispassionate review of nearly three-quarters of a century has to be done, find […]