“My soul is full of longing for the secrets of the sea,And the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me”. H W Longfellow The oceans have been variously referred to as the ‘lungs of the planet’ and a ‘global sink’, signifying its importance, though the latter description is also a testimonial to…
The Republic of Turkey is an emerging economic leader in Asia, Europe and Africa, being the 16th largest economy of the world. It is a successful model of democracy in the whole Islamic World and is an ideal leader to all emerging economies to liberalize its economy without compromising its traditions. It is an ideal…
The inaugural meeting of the Pak-Afghan Joint Technical Working Group was held in Kabul on July 26 under a recently set-up consultation mechanism for coordination on border management and related security “to discuss issues related to border security and joint fight against terrorism on both sides of the Durand Line,” said a brief statement issued…
The application of an appropriate strategy for addressing internal security challenges while dealing adequately with external pressures has become a major problem of Pakistan, and a topic of immense importance for the international community. The existential threats of ethno–religious strife from inside have inaugurated a critical debate globally on Islamabad’s contemporary standing in the region….
Pakistan and China enjoy an all-weather friendship that has endured the test of time. Pakistan was one of the first three countries that recognized Peoples Republic of China in 1950 and since then relations between our two countries have been on an upward curve. Beginning with establishing diplomatic ties in 1951, both countries have–over the…
Recently Quetta was again the venue of a suicide attack with more than 75 innocent people, most of them lawyers brutally killed. Sentiments of grief, sadness and anger overcome logic which hindered result oriented investigations. A blame game was again activated and conspiracy theories were spread like wild fire. A war of tug became supreme…
Three consecutive days of deliberations and the result was abysmal creation of another High Level Task Force to monitor the progress on implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP). This additional Task Force will comprise of senior representatives of all concerned departments and agencies of the Federal Government and the Provinces—another bickering forum. The Government…
Dear Readers, The two central pillars of good governance are transparency and accountability; unfortunately both are in very short supply from our political culture. Had this been any other country, governments would have fallen for such incompetence but this is Pakistan. Lack of accountability, ineffective and/or corrupt governance is the head of the fountain from…
ContextAs the global campaign against extremism progresses along, there is a need to understand the evolving dynamics of this fight that got initiated after 9/11. Although a lot has been written about the circumstances that persisted in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the matters have gotten a lot more convoluted ever since. Now, there appears…
When President Obama endorsed Hillary Clinton after she clinched the required number of delegates to become the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, he stated that he thought there had never been ‘someone so qualified to hold this office [of President]’ as her. That was a big call, and I suspect a few people may disagree…
