While the US is anticipating conclusion of a peace agreement with the Taliban by September, followed by elections in which Taliban could participate as apolitical group, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani fears fading into oblivion. In his quest for continued relevance in future Afghan landscape, he visited Pakistan on 27-28 June. Long pending invitation by…
had aspired for a US$ 12 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it got only 50 percent. And out of this US$ 5.8 billion will shortly be recycled to IMF as repayment of its earlier loans. Pakistan’s economic managers will have hard time prioritizing the usage of remaining US$200 million! Technically one…
Narendra Modi has scored an expected, yet dramatic, election victory. Modi is the first non-Congress prime minister in India to return to power after a full five-year term. It was a well participated election; about 67 percent of more than 900 million eligible voters cast their ballots. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contested the election on…
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Iran was overdue; this was his first visit since assuming office in August 2018. The core purpose of the visit was to fortify Pak-Iran relations. Talks helped ease tensions as the two countries agreed on a raft of measures to deal the problem of terrorism that has affected both…
The US and Afghan Taliban negotiators wrapped up their latest round of marathon peace talks on March 12 with “real strides” made but no agreement on a timetable for troop withdrawal, the US special envoy Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said. He divulged that the next step would be discussions in Washington, adding that “there is no…
India’s intrusion into Pakistan’s Balakot enclave and China’s Doklam bulge will go down the annals of history as fiascos that cumulatively brought down the stature of India from a near global power to a sub-state pygmy. India’s foreign policy and electoral campaigning is pegged around arousing and cashing anti-Pakistan and anti-China sentiments. It is a…
This year the Kashmir solidarity day was observed in the backdrop of intensified atrocities by Indian occupation forces that are systematically eliminating Kashmiris physically as well as economically as part of India’s campaign of ethnic cleansing. The occupation forces are engaged in all sorts of brutalities aimed at bringing about a demographic change to the…
Aman 2019 was the 6th exercise of a multinational naval initiative hosted biennially by Pakistan Navy since 2007. Twenty-eight countries had participated in the first Aman exercise in 2007; the number rose to 46 in Aman-2019 which radiated a strong message to Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, who has been dreaming of isolating Pakistan internationally…
BJP is following a systematic approach to push Indian Muslims against the wall. From symbolic to substantial, countless items are part of strategy too box. From beef ban to not fielding a single Muslim candidate in state elections of the Uttar Pradesh point towards the same objective to deprive Muslims of their legitimate political, economic…
Like a 19th century circus, the wandering Afghan peace process is jockeying from town to town, and a round in Islamabad is yet another admission of centrality of Pakistan with regard to the Afghanistan end game. During the fifth trip of US Special Envoy Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to Pakistan, both sides reiterated their shared intent…
