All of Imran Khan’s trips abroad as PM has been of great importance to Pakistan. The most anticipated (and more important than others) was his 3-day trip of the United States (US). Primarily Pakistan badly needed to mend fences with the US on a number of thorny issues, secondarily we had to attract very much…
The ‘established’ political parties of Pakistan today have mainly dynastical family rule like that of Z.A. Bhutto, his descendants (and opportunistic adherents through marriage like Asif Zardari), that of Maulana Mufti Mahmood, Baccha Khan’s family and more lately of Nawaz Sharif’s, feudal to the core. The exceptions were Jamaat-e-Islam (JI) and the MQM. The MQM…
Having stabilized somewhat after a rather rocky start the PTI government and PM Imran Khan seem set on their attempt to steer course towards real change, with across-the-board accountability the central plank of their campaign. The dire economic situation shows some signs of hope: With 2.1 million people filing their tax returns, the highest in…
‘Being a friend of the United States was like living on the banks of a great river. The soil is wonderfully fertile, but every four or eight years the river changes course, and you may find yourself alone in a desert’. General Muhammad Zia ul Haq to William Casey 1983 quoted in John E. Persico’s…
It remains unclear if BJP can scrap the special status Kashmir has enjoyed for over fifty years by deleting articles 35A and 370 from the Indian Constitution and if so, can such fundamental change legally be introduced into the basic Law of the Land by just a Presidential Order without a vote in favour by…
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Abstract On May 29, 2019 Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley Jr., who is the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) claimed that “Russia has likely been secretly carrying out very low-yield nuclear tests to upgrade its nuclear arsenal”. This opens a new pandora box for global security and potentially destabilize strategic stability with direct impact…
Baluchistan is Pakistan’s province of superlatives: the largest province, it is the most neglected province in terms of infrastructure development, education etc. but also the richest province in terms of natural resources including the world largest copper and gold reserves. These reserves will play an important role in Baluchistan’s and Pakistan’s development if and when…
With most of the leading opposition leaders in jail now for corruption, nepotism, money-laundering, and even drug smuggling, etc., the second and third tier party leaders are taking the stage. With this the resultant tenor is becoming rougher and more. With no hope of the masses turning out in numbers in the streets, other means…
PTI’s electoral victory in the last election has not been accepted by the political opposition parties in Pakistan. Calling the elections ‘rigged’ and the PM ‘selected’ is the political opposition’s way to undermine Imran Khan’s creditability and that of his government. This despite the fact that no rigging has been proven. This simple gesture of acknowledging…
