The writer is a retired brigadier and a former president of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute Both Pakistan and Afghanistan seem to be working hard to set, reset, and re-reset relations. Their ‘learning-curve’ seems akin to a roller coaster ride, or do I mean a seesaw? Before last year’s presidential elections in Afghanistan, the two countries were, at best, uneasy neighbours, despite the fact that Pakistan was strictly adhering to its declared position that…
Posts published in “Day: January 1, 2016”
As 2015 draws to a close, Australian journalist Peter Greste has delivered a grim warning about constraints on press freedoms. He knows a thing or two about free speech – imprisoned in Egypt for 400 days on charges of terrorism and “reporting false news”. Greste’s criticisms aren’t directed at autocratic regimes, however, but the national security laws of Western democracies and the “jingoistic” coverage of recent terrorist attacks. The argument that national security…
It is not a good sign that talks about negotiating with the Taliban are beginning with Kabul and Islamabad contradicting each other. Sartaj Aziz tells us now that the initial four-country – Pakistan, Afghanistan, America, China – talks regarding modalities for moving forward will be held “between January 10 and 15” in Islamabad. For some reason the Afghans believed the venue would be Kabul; and told the world as much. Anyhow, getting to the first…
ISIS25 militants belonging to the Islamic State (IS) or Daesh group have been killed and 31 others wounded in two air strikes in eastern Nangarhar province. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Thursday, the precise strikes were carried out in past 24 hours based on the coordinates of Afghan National Army’s 201st Silab Corps. The press release further states that two gatherings of Daesh belonging to the group’s commanders…
The Afghan intelligence operatives conducted a successful operation in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan and rescued at least ten civilians taken hostage by terrorist groups. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said the civilians were abducted by the militants earlier and were safely rescued by the intelligence operatives. No further details were given regarding the exact location where the operation was conducted and the group which held the civilians as captives. However, the anti-government armed…
KABUL – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said international meetings next month to lay the groundwork for a possible resumption of peace talks with the Taliban had to seek an approach to the fractured insurgent movement that ensured a rejection of terrorism. Officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States are due to meet in Islamabad on Jan 11 to try to revive a peace process that stalled in July when the news came out…
The writer is a former op-ed editor of the Daily Times and a freelance columnist. “Modi is coming to Lahore.” “Is Modi coming to Lahore?” “Aren’t you going to comment on Modi’s visit to Lahore?” Huh? What’s this new drama unfolding this quiet Christmas Friday in Lahore, I thought, still half-asleep, as I read various tweets in which I was tagged. After a call from an Indian news channel requesting my Skype presence later…
What has changed of late the sabre-rattling Prime Minister (PM), Narendra Modi, to become a dove when it comes to relations with Pakistan? Many pundits in the Pakistani media are groping for the right answer. Obviously, there cannot be just one reason for Modi’s U-turn. In statecraft policies are dictated in any country to serve the interests of the ruling classes. However, it should be borne in mind that no country has monolithic class interests…
The writer is a veteran journalist and founding member as well as executive editor of The Nation. When Narendra Modi dropped in on the day of Mian Nawaz Sharifs granddaughter’s wedding, he moved towards meeting a goal one had heard in 1999, from a retired Indian diplomat: that the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers should feel free to drop in on the others country whenever there was anything that needed to be talked about. Importantly,…
The writer is a Middle East based columnist. Intelligent men have no enemies, said Chanakya, the author of ‘Arthashastra’, the bible of statecraft. Advising leaders against conflicts, Chanakya warns that avoidable confrontations could be a distraction from the greater objective of empire building. I wonder how the ancient Hindu sage would have viewed Narendra Modi’s breathtaking dash to Lahore from Kabul that has left pundits and hawks on both sides scratching their heads. I…
WASHINGTON: The head of an American think tank with close links to the Obama administration urged the United States on Thursday not to get involved in the current India-Pakistan peace process. “The right American response is one of quiet support,” Richard Fontaine, president of the Centre for a New American Security, Washington, said in an article he wrote for the Wall Street Journal. The think tank’s founders Michèle Flournoy and Kurt Campbell formerly…