Pakistan

Pakistani Taliban turn on China
Pakistani Taliban turn on China
A deadly bomb blast rocked the Serena Hotel last month in Pakistan’s south-western city of Quetta, leaving five dead and 12 critically injured. The bomb exploded just as a VIP…
Pakistan’s extremist dilemma
Pakistan’s extremist dilemma
Pakistan is at a crossroads, with a choice either to become hostage to religious groups or to take independent foreign policy decisions. After making an apparent shift away from…
Russia’s Asia diplomacy
Russia’s Asia diplomacy
Russia’s long-serving Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shuttled between Beijing, New Delhi and Islamabad in recent weeks, putting on a diplomatic display that could be described as…
A dilemma for Pakistan as UAE cuts off work visas
A dilemma for Pakistan as UAE cuts off work visas
For the struggling economy of Pakistan, foreign remittances from expatriates are lifesavers, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is country’s second-largest source of…
Pakistan gets on the TikTok ban wagon
Pakistan gets on the TikTok ban wagon
Pakistan has become the second South Asian nation after India to ban Chinese video-sharing app TikTok.  The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on 9 October banned TikTok…
Intra-Afghan talks and future of Pakistan-Taliban relations
Intra-Afghan talks and future of Pakistan-Taliban relations
The reshuffling of the Taliban leadership ahead of the intra-Afghan negotiations, which began this month in Doha, has underscored that the militant group is trying to emerge from…
For real peace, Afghanistan needs a Plan B
For real peace, Afghanistan needs a Plan B
In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani outlined what he saw as the objective for his country: “a sovereign, united, democratic Afghanistan at…
Kashmir, a year on from the change
Kashmir, a year on from the change
It has been a little over a year since the Indian government under Narendra Modi curtailed the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir by revoking Article 370 of the Indian constitution…
As Pakistan and Saudi Arabia drift apart, China moves in
As Pakistan and Saudi Arabia drift apart, China moves in
Pakistan­–Saudi Arabia relations are at a historically low ebb. In November 2018, Saudi Arabia announced a US$6.2 billion loan package for cash-strapped Pakistan. The package…
Obstacles remain for Pakistan dam backed by China
Obstacles remain for Pakistan dam backed by China
Over the last decade, the demand to build a new mega-dam intensified in Pakistan. The proposed Diamer-Bhasha dam, 320 kilometres from the border with China in the north, was an…