A glimmer of hope for Pak-US relations on May 2, 2018US President Donald Trump began the year with a Twitter message accusing Pakistan of deceit and lies. Nevertheless, the United States was one of the first allies Pakistan had since its inception but both the countries had somewhat fraught relations for more than 30 years. Starting from the 1980s, the US gave arms and funding […]
How will Bolton impact Pakistan? on April 16, 2018Despite the fact that Pakistan has been significantly successful in curbing terrorism, the NSA John Bolton does not believe that Pakistan is internally strong enough to thwart an assumed Islamist takeover of the state. On March 23, President Trump announced in a tweet that he was replacing HR McMaster with John Bolton as National Security […]
The friend in court on March 26, 2018Objective reality must be measured by its own size and not by the size of its shadow. Indeed, the People’s Republic of China has been an all-weather friend of Pakistan. Let us all honour and respect this friendship by being discerning and reasonable and not by forcing superfluous weights and strains on the friendship. A […]
US’ call for a revamped relationship on March 15, 2018‘Trust, but verify’ is an old Russian proverb that President Reagan liked to repeat often. Trump is neither the first president nor he is going to be the last to criticize Pakistan of deceit and threaten to cut off American assistance. Notwithstanding, the last six decades of the US support, the US has completely failed […]
Condemning Indo-US belligerence on March 2, 2018Pakistan is surviving tough times, for it goes up against synchronous bellicosity from India and the US. The Trump administration has chosen to press Pakistan with its ‘do more’ mantra to eliminate the alleged ‘safe havens’ for the ‘agents of chaos’ in Pakistan. Whilst puffed up by the US support of its aspirations to be […]
Trump’s State of the Union address and Pakistan on February 12, 2018There’s a stark difference between the Twitter and the teleprompter rendition of Trump’s policy.President Trump’s persistence in his State of the Union address that Congress pass laws to guarantee that “American foreign-assistance dollars always serve American interests, and only go to America’s friends” may not be as artless as it appears. However, to the extent […]
There can be no peace without political engagement on January 28, 2018It is unlikely that Afghanistan will ever be peaceful or stable without a peace settlement between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government. The ceaseless savagery in Afghanistan is an impression of the strategic stalemate in the conflict; besides, it likewise shows the failure of the military option in vanquishing the Taliban. There has not […]
The future of Pak-US relations on December 17, 2017When it comes to bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, nobody can assert whether Trump, the US military, India or Pakistan can do the job. There is no doubt that a strategy is required for this but the one adopted by Trump can hardly be called the best. Ties between Pakistan and the US have […]
Rex Tillerson’s recent visit to South Asia: politics and policies on November 13, 2017US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent visit to South Asia, which included Afghanistan, Pakistan and India has been proven to be a failed attempt at leaping forward in endeavours for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan , as the United States continued with its hegemonistic designs to foist its strategies forcefully. Tillerson’s visit had been […]
Korean Peninsula — quest for normalisation on October 19, 2017The bellicose rhetoric flying back and forth between the US and North Korea increases the perception of both sides readying to come good on respective threats. Thereby reinforcing (skewered) notions of the power of deterrence. Each is trying to build up specific arsenals to meet security concerns that may or may not be legitimate. Nevertheless, […]