There is a revealing cruelty in the latest cotton crisis. Pakistan’s most important export industry is being weakened at home itself by a tax structure that has made local cotton less attractive to buy and more expensive to move through the formal value chain. The closure of ginning factories in Tando Adam and other cotton […]
Editorial
Extreme Temperatures
This year, Fourth of July was meant to celebrate a historic milestone, marking the 250th anniversary of the United States officially becoming its own sovereign nation after it severed ties with Great Britian. Instead, it became a lesson in what heat now does to rich countries as well as poor ones. More than 185 million […]
Right to Defence
Washington has reiterated its support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks, with the US State Department saying that “the Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists” and that Washington “supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks.” The remarks signal continued US backing for Pakistan’s position that the […]
Women in Uniform
India has spent years presenting the induction of women into its armed forces as proof of institutional modernity. Republic Day tableaux, permanent commission litigation, combat-support appointments and glossy recruitment messaging have all carried the same promise that the Indian military is opening space for women on equal terms. The record emerging from within that establishment […]
Iran Talks
The Iran track is not dead. That, rather than any grand announcement, is the meaning of the latest indirect US-Iran talks in Doha. Mediators have spoken of “positive progress, with oil falling to a four-month low as fears of immediate disruption in the Strait of Hormuz eased. Yet this is not peace–at least not the […]
Cricket Diplomacy
The agreement signed in Jeddah between the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation is more than another ceremonial handshake. Under the arrangement, Pakistan is to help build a modern cricket stadium in Jeddah, with facilities planned according to ICC standards and cooperation promised in infrastructure development, technical expertise, stadium planning and operations. […]
New Fiscal Year
Pakistan seems to have entered the new fiscal year with some semblance of economic relief. Headline inflation eased to 11.1 per cent in June from 11.7 per cent in May, while the consumer price index also fell 0.30 per cent month-on-month, mainly on account of lower transport costs, motor fuel and electricity charges. This is […]
Collapsed Roof
Lahore police have registered an FIR against the owners of a private tuition centre and the contractor after a roof collapse in Kahna claimed the lives of 14 children. The case has been registered under PPC sections 322 and 337-H, dealing with manslaughter and hurt by rash or negligent act. According to the FIR, the […]
Two Fronts
The message from the skies is becoming harder to ignore. On Tuesday, two rudimentary drones are said to have entered Pakistan’s airspace from Afghanistan. They were shot down by the electronic warfare system. This has happened on the heels of a quadcopter killing a nine-year-old in Bajaur last week. On the western front, the Afghan […]
Water Coercion
The most consequential sentence at Islamabad seminar on the Indus Waters Treaty came from Pakistan’s Indus Waters commissioner, who said he had written four times to his Indian counterpart over significant fluctuations in the Chenab since New Delhi placed the treaty in “abeyance.” No answer has come. Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah described the Chenab […]