Ambassador G Rasool Baluch

In my earlier essay published in July 2020 in this paper, I had argued that the US, as a ruling global power, and China, as a rising global power, are caught in the “Thucydides Trap,” which The Harvard Professor Graham T Allison, in one of his lectures a year ago, alluded to as an inevitability […]

After a two-decades-long sustained and bloody struggle against foreign occupation, a swift and surprise victory by the Taliban in Afghanistan not only stunned the world but even the victor. Everyone was in deep disbelief at their achievement. In this struggle by the Taliban against foreign occupation, several of their colleagues were killed, wounded and taken […]

President Ashraf Ghani has asserted that his government will not kneel before any destructive force ever. He referred to Taliban by using the term ‘destructive force’, because the latter in their ‘Blitzkrieg’ on motorbikes are taking over towns. He uttered his stance while addressing a joint session in the Afghanistan’s National Assembly. There are reports […]

As per international sources and the US Military assessment, “The Taliban appears to have the ‘strategic momentum’ in their sweeping offensives across Afghanistan, but their victory is far from assured.” This was noted by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. As a result of this “strategic momentum,” the Taliban […]

Pakistan is facing daunting challenges in the education sector, particularly when it comes to higher education, which is beset with a myriad of problems. These include defective policy formulation, inefficient implementation, asymmetrical budget allocations and naked corruption in public sector universities. Then theres is also the question of politicisation of appointments at the higher management […]

The present escalation of violence sparked by forced eviction of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem and some other areas where Palestinians have been living for decades – on land now claimed by Israeli settlers – is a reminder to the world community that the Palestine issue remains a tinderbox for […]

Both the Pakistani and Indian Foreign ministers visited the UAE earlier this month, ostensibly on respective bilateral visits. In diplomacy, nothing happens by chance and unwritten protocols dictate that hosting two Foreign ministers representing two sovereign states at the same time should be avoided as an international diplomatic norm. Unless, of course, there is a […]

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in common parlance termed as The Quad consisting of The US, Australia, Japan and India was joined by France in a Naval exercise in the Indian Ocean which ended on 7thApril. The Indian media opined that the exercise was carried out with “an eye on China”. The Times of India, a […]

The long awaited maiden visit by Prime Minister Imran Khan to Afghanistan is significant in terms of timing and outcome. In the past two years Pakistan played the role of an "Strategic Facilitator" in bringing rapprochement between Taliban and The U.S .The Taliban ; Once termed as terrorists and a threat to international peace in […]