During the recent Pakistan-Turkey summit both sides explored options to assist Afghanistan in reaching a peace agreement with the Taliban. Turkish premier Ahmet Davutoglu had an extensive agenda, including looking beyond bilateral cooperation and playing a role in stabilising Afghanistan. Due to Turkic demographic belt running from West Asia to East Asia through Afghanistan, Turkey…
2014 ended and 2015 began with a sour note in the context of Pakistan-India relations. Two Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed on December 31, 2014 due to indiscriminate firing by Indian border guards. On January 02, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Mr. Sartaj Aziz addressed a letter to the…
Cynics say the Prime Minister’s secretariat has become “Committee Chowk”. On the face of dilution of an uneasy national consensus, people are desperately looking for discreet action against militants. So far fifteen committees have been formed, out of which 11 are to be headed by interior minister—a single integrated committee would have been a better…
It was cathartic to be Mr. Abdul Rehman Qureshi’s pallbearer, former principal PAF School/College Sargodha and Aitchison College Lahore. I lifted the coffin after his first funeral at PAF Base Nur Khan, on November 23, and carried it towards a nearby positioned helicopter for the final leg of his journey to Sargodha. During this walk…
General Raheel Sharif’s first visit to the US came on the heels of a Pentagon report alleging that Pakistan uses proxies in Afghanistan. Visit was not burdened by undue prospects. It will also be an overstatement to call the visit a watershed; however a cautious optimism may be in order. Afghanistan dominated the meetings, with…
To commemorate the Black Day, thousands of people attended a Million March in London in support of Kashmir’s right of self-determination and to show solidarity with the people of the Indian occupied state in their struggle against Indian occupation. Some reports indicated that India had asked the United Kingdom not to allow this march but…
The Army Chief’s trip to Kabul marks the first high-profile military visit from Islamabad since the formation of the unity government in Afghanistan. General Raheel Sharif was the third top Pakistani leader to visit Afghanistan in less than two months. Earlier, President Mamnoon Hussain had represented Pakistan in the inaugural ceremony of President Ashraf Ghani….
While Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai and India’s Kailash Satyarthi share the Nobel Peace Prize for the year, their countries are engaged in a sort of ‘small-scale war’ in the UN acknowledged disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Hopefully, the two laureates would put together their energies and help resolve one of the longest outstanding disputes on…
While Pakistan was busy in mitigating the hardship of flood victims, with the military playing an overwhelming role in rescue operations, Afghanistan was able to put behind its electoral crisis and come up with an improvised government structure for its stalled political transition. The presence of President Mamnoon Hussain during President Ashraf Ghani’s inaugural ceremony…
As the masses of Pakistan struggle to pick the debris of an uncalled for, month long, political crisis that literally paralyzed the people and economy in a number of major urban centres, there is a refreshing breeze from our brotherly county—Turkey. Over the years, Turkey has been able to evolve an enviable model of political…
