Inconsequential Western Pacts In search for security in the face of India’s belligerence and dangerous designs together with Afghanistan’s hostility, Pakistan blundered to join SEATO and CENTO in 1954 and earned the hostility of Afghanistan, former Soviet Union and China. India took these western pacts as an excuse to make a U turn on Kashmir…
Moscow will host six-party talks about Afghanistan on 15 February, with Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Iran, India, and naturally Russia expected to be represented. Moreover, ZamirKabulov – thought of as being the leader of the “Islamophile” South Asian faction in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – extended an invitation to the US as well, though stipulating…
The ascension of Donald Trump to the US Presidency has introduced an additional element of uncertainty to the conduct of world affairs. Judging from Mr Trump’s rhetoric, and some of his initial executive orders, such as withdrawing the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the proverbial cat has been set among the geopolitical pigeons….
In January 2017, Pakistan again turned out to be in the center of Middle East politics, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) made a hasty statement on its joining the Islamic Military Alliance (IMA); Riyadh also wanted to appoint the former Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif as Commander-in-Chief of the IMA. The…
A school in a war-torn region of Pakistan helping lionhearted stunt artists to master outlandish tricks, such as eyelid weightlifting and nail walking, wants the government to provide it with funding. The private academy is run by stunt master Ghulam Farooq, who last Sunday displayed the stomach-churning feats that go on at the Balochistan province…
From the Bab al-Mandab to the strait of Malacca, from the strait of Hormuz to the strait of Lombok, all the way to the key logistical hub of Diego Garcia 2,500 miles southeast of Hormuz, the question pops up: How will the unpredictable new normal in Washington – which is not exactly China-friendly – affect…
