America is abdicating its obligation of bringing a responsible end to “wrong wars”. it has decided to pull out its troops from Syria and Afghanistan. A lot had happened with regard to evolving Afghan peace process during 2018, most of the activity is not yet in the public domain. Hopefully, the Pakistan government would stand…
Afghanistan rivals failed to reach a breakthrough on holding direct peace negotiations during international talks in Moscow, the latest international effort to end the conflict. Russia had invited representatives from the United States as well as India, Iran, China and Central Asian Republics; all hailed the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan as an opportunity to…
The prevailing world order is known for acting very fast in Muslim versus non-Muslim conflicts where the outcome is likely to benefit non-Muslims but it shows criminal negligence when Muslims are likely to gain through political settlement of any such conflict. When pushed too hard, the conflict is settled in a way that it is…
Modern warfare is characterized by calculated ambiguity, controlled chaos and perplexing complexity. It is envisaged that the future hybrid conflict in the region shall be fought by the foreign sponsored non-state actors and inserted proxies under the overall goal of influence operations so as to achieving the strategic end state rather than conventional military to…
Afghanistan is trying to recover from the impact of its violence soaked parliamentary elections, marred by boycott appeal by Taliban, suicide attacks, electoral inefficiencies, etc. The voting process was extended by a day to have face-saving voter turnout figures. During election days, over 100 persons lost their lives due to violence and more than 30…
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi visited Afghanistan on September 15, the statement released by the foreign office is quite optimistic about the outcome. “He assured the Afghan leadership that Pakistan, along with other partners of Afghanistan, remained ready to play constructive role in facilitating an Afghan-led and Afghan owned peace process and reconciliation. He underscored…
Overall, the monetary measures unveiled by the mini budget suggest that the government did not do its homework and, by and large, it intends to continue the policies of the previous government. Instead of bringing any new sector or class of people in the tax net, the has government increased the burden on the existing…
Background Pakistan has a robust and progressive economy, incorporating essential features of a typical modern formal economy; at the same time it has deep rooted fault lines as well. In line with public sentiment it has also incorporated numerous instruments of Islamic economy. In addition, there are informal and philanthropic components of the economy. Volume…
Good sense has prevailed and an imminent catastrophe has receded. In a written statement issued on August 30, Geert Wilders announced “not to let the cartoon contest go ahead.” The contest was to be held at the tightly guarded offices of his Party for Freedom in the Dutch parliament building. Meanwhile, the Netherlands government had…
Winners and losers of Elections 2018 have kept up the national tradition, whereby the winners praise the elections while losers reject it. Participation in the elections was enormous, and nationwide. According to Election Commission of Pakistan, voter turnout was over 55.8 percent while over 47 percent women also cast their ballot. For the 272 general…
