DEVELOPING confidence-building measures is a time-tested practice to reduce tensions between adversaries. The term was first used during the Cold War. Ever since, CBMs have sought to manage the risk of conflict escalation. In that sense, they are a kind of preventive diplomacy. Since the signing of the 1972 Shimla agreement, India and Pakistan have […]

SINCE 2015, China has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan. Has that bolstered our economic development? Opinions vary. Most people feel that Chinese investments, led by CPEC, have contributed to improving the country’s road, electricity and port infrastructure. A smaller segment is sceptical, arguing that these investments have contributed to Pakistan’s debt trap. A dispassionate […]

AT the Nato Summit in Washington this month, marking 75 years of the alliance’s existence, the Russia-Ukraine war dominated discussions. The summit declaration condemned Russia for its “brutal war of aggression” against Ukraine, and its “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and coercive nuclear signalling”. Expressing full solidarity with Ukraine, Nato’s 32 members pledged long-term security assistance for […]

WHAT will Pakistan look like in 2047, a century after it achieved independence? Given its unstable politics, weak economy and fragile law and order, and the rapidly evolving global and regional geopolitics, it is not easy to predict Pakistan’s future. Therefore, projections must be based mainly on proposed reforms the country should legislate on and […]

WITH the targeted assassination of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on July 30 and a Hezbollah commander in Beirut a day before, the Middle East is once again overcast by the dark clouds of a possible war. Israeli officials are gloating that the head of Hamas, which had carried out the Oct 7, 2023, […]

AS Sheikh Hasina Wajed boarded a military helicopter to flee from Dhaka last Monday, TV television screens showed scenes of angry protesters ransacking her official residence and hacking away at statues of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first leader of Bangladesh, who himself was assassinated this month in 1975. The student-led protests over civil […]

WHEN it started its life as an independent country in 1947, India chose a foreign policy that would keep it ‘non-aligned’ in the polarised environment created by the US-USSR Cold War. India leaned towards the Soviet Union, maintained rather cold relations with the US, sought friendly ties with China premised on the Panchsheel (the five […]

IN the first 50 years of its existence as an independent state, India had uneasy ties with the US. India preferred in those years a close partnership with the Soviet Union. Since the dawn of the 21st century, however, India’s relationship with the US has morphed into a strategic partnership, with unprecedented levels of politico-military […]

AT a time when tourism has emerged as a major sector of the global economy, many nations have invested heavily in the industry to contribute to their GDP and also create employment. For Pakistan, too, tourism has the potential to not only bring socioeconomic dividends, but also improve the country’s image. In fact, there are […]