The bitter home truth about our foreign policy is that none of the major political parties can deny the opening narrative of PML(N)’s Manifesto for the 2013 election, “Pakistan today is at war within, while isolated abroad. Its independence and sovereignty stand compromised, its economic weaknesses are forcing us to go begging bowl in hand,…
Flanked by his Minister of State Abid Sher Ali and the Federal Secretary, Ms. Nargis Sethi, Khawaja Asif, the Federal Minister for Water and Power, and of Defence, claimed that load-shedding was necessitated because of the rapid accumulation of circular debt to Rs.280 – Rs.300 billion. Some private power plants had shut down, reducing the…
Serving a defamation notice on the PTI Chairman, Imran Khan, for “levelling baseless allegations” against him and the judiciary, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry threatened civil and criminal proceedings “in accordance with the law, both inside and outside the jurisdiction of Pakistan, if unconditional apology is not tendered by you,” the notice claimed in damages, “a token…
Waging guerilla warfare against the Mughals in the 18th century, the Khalsa Sikhs would cross the canals in the Punjab over temporary wooden bridges to launch surprise attacks, while retreating they would quickly dismantle these bridges by uprooting (Chak De) the wooden planks (Phatte) to prevent being chased. The phrase “Chak De Phatte” is commonly…
Dear Readers, One of the greatest misfortunes for a nation that prides itself on being on Islamic Republic is the pervasive corruption that eats away at its vitals like cancer. Despite the promises and vows of successive government functionaries to stop the rot, corruption hos thrived. Many institutions like NAB, FIA and Ehtesab Bureau were…
Better late than never, the much awaited assault on North Waziristan has begun, 75 days later than it should have. To quote my article, “Non-stop” of Mar 6, 2014, “The precision strikes of the PAF disrupted the TTP’s administrative and operational deployment. More importantly, ‘actionable intelligence’ was available for these to be carried out, that…
One is proud of the will, courage, commitment and sacrifice of our 34th PMA Sri Lankan course-mates, they fought terrorism for over 25 years through Sri Lanka’s darkest period. My good friend Maj Gen (Lucky) Wijayaratne, who when commanding 1st Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLI) at Panagoda “inducted” me into his battalion, was killed in…
There is a lot of speculation about the PM’s possible visit to New Delhi on Monday May 26 to attend Narendra Singh Modi’s inauguration as Prime Minister of India. Any exchange between Pakistan and India assumes symbolic proportions, arousing considerable comment and analysis thereof. Even though the invitation went to all SAARC member countries, Modi’s…
The son of Late Brig Mohammad Ahmad (later DG IB and author of “My Chief”, a biography of Field Marshal Ayub Khan) and one of my closest friends since childhood, Col (Retd) Salman Ahmad has fought more battles than anyone else in Pakistan Army’s history. Starting with Bedian with I E Bengal in the 1965…
The compelling feedback one gets soon after arriving in Moscow is that whatever reservations the Russians may have about Vladimir Putin’s autocratic style of governance notwithstanding, they are united behind him on Crimea and the Ukraine. In his broken English our driver described with great gusto how Putin had snatched Russia’s Crimea back from foreign…
