Iran-Saudi tensions: a tightrope walk for Pakistan on September 21, 2019The 14th September drone attacks by Houthis militia on Saudi Aramco oil facilities in the eastern city of Abqaiq have turned out to be a big shock for the Saudis which one Arab commentator has described as “Saudi Arabia’s 9/11”. It was a direct hit to the Saudi economic nerve centre as the attack affected […]
Why Trump calls off dialogue with Taliban? on September 12, 2019US President Trump’s Saturday (7thSept) announcement on Twitter that he had “called off” talks which he was to hold in a “secret meeting” with the Taliban and separately with President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday (8th September) at Camp David, a landmark venue for big deals and agreements and, of course, a symbol of prestige for […]
Kashmir and Impending Nuclear Holocaust on September 9, 2019The former US President Bill Clinton described Kashmir as “nuclear flashpoint” after the Kargil mini-war between Pakistan and India. It happened at a time when both India and Pakistan had become declared Nuclear Weapons States (NWS). It was unprecedented in the post-World War-II global scenario that the two nuclear powers directly challenged each other in […]
Revocation of Article 370: A trap to derail Afghan peace talks? on August 22, 2019What prompted the Modi government to take such a drastic measure by revoking Article 370 which allowed specific rights to the Kashmiri people. What was the hurry? Kashmiris were not running away with their geography or had attained the necessary wherewithal to declare Azadi; they were still under strict Indian control exercised through worst kind […]
Is India heading for a space war? on April 2, 2019On 27 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has conducted Anti-Satellite Missile (ASAT) test and established itself as a “global space power”. He informed the world that so far only three countries in the world– USA, Russia and China-had this capability and that now India had become the fourth country to acquire this […]
Challenges of terrorism along Pakistan-Iran borders on March 24, 2019The killing of 27 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel in a suicide attack on 13th February at Zahedan-Khash road, approximately 110 kilometres from the Pakistani border, has been a serious incident in recent times. Iran-based Jaish-e Adl group comprising Baloch dissidents from the Iranian Balochistan owned the responsibility for the act. However, Iranian officials […]
Lessons for India after Masud Azhar fiasco on March 15, 2019On March 13, China blocked India’s attempts to get erstwhile Jaish-e Mohammad Chief, Masud Azhar, declared a global terrorist by the UN. India has expressed disappointment at the Chinese move as it already had enlisted the support of the US, France and UK. Indian disappointment does not come as a surprise for it was striving […]
How is Kashmir integral to India? on March 13, 2019On June 14 last year, the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) issued its first report on human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). Invariably, the report was critical of gross human rights abuses by the Indian state against the Kashmiri people who have been struggling for their right to self-determination since 1947. It […]
Lessons from the Indian brinkmanship on March 8, 2019What lessons have we learnt from Mr. Modi’s misadventure in the past week? Alertness to face the enemy on the diplomatic and military fronts has been the major takeaway for Pakistan of this episode which won accolades globally from friends and foes. The second important lesson which our policy makers may have learnt is that […]
The morning after retaliation on March 1, 2019The morning after retaliation scenario must have left a bitter taste on both sides.With two Indian planes down and One IAF pilot in Pakistan’s custody (whose release has since been ordered by PM Imran Khan), one must wonder as to what did the Indian bombing of Balakot, in KPK province, achieve? Threat of retaliation and […]