Posts published in September 2016

The writer is an associate research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. When the US was drawing down troops from Afghanistan in December 2014, there were widespread speculations about the possible implications of this development on the South Asian security landscape, especially the India-Pakistan rivalry. The era following the US intervention in Afghanistan witnessed relative stabilisation between India and Pakistan. On its part, the US made sure that the regional animosity…

The writer works in Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Summary: If India chooses to respond with extensive force, and if Pakistan moves to counter, Washington inevitably will be impelled to intervene diplomatically to stabilize the situation. This might work temporarily, but the wheel of conflict will turn again. Over the weekend, terrorists attacked an army base in Kashmir, killing 18 Indian soldiers. Soon after, the Indian army announced that it believed that the terrorists had…

After last week’s terrorist attack on an Indian military base in Uri, Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of 18 soldiers, a debate over how to respond has ripped through India’s strategic community. For the time being, the Indian Prime Minister appears to have signaled a restrained course, but additional measures could be considered and the debate will surely continue. Three points of conventional wisdom have already begun to crystallize. All of them seem to…

Narendra Modi offered another olive branch to Pakistan Saturday, despite Islamabad’s continuing sponsorship of terrorist groups that carry out attacks in India. But it’s not clear how much longer the Indian Prime Minister can turn the other cheek if large-scale strikes continue. On Sept. 18 insurgents attacked an Indian Army base near the town of Uri in Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers. There was no claim of responsibility, but authorities blamed Jaish-e-Mohammad, a group with past…

ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad on Tuesday ordered that a judicial commission would visit Karachi to inspect a boat which was allegedly used in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. An ATC Judge heard the Mumbai attack case and accepted a request filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to inspect the boat ‘Alfoz ‘ in Karachi. The FIA had requested the court to send a judicial commission to examine the boat as it was…

LAHORE: Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) President Pir Ijaz Hashmi has urged Maulana Fazlur Rehman to deliver as Kashmir Committee chairman or quit. In a statement issued here on Tuesday, Hashmi said the nation wanted to see the performance of the Parliament’s Kashmir Committee as well as its chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman as India was continuing to inflict atrocities on Kashmiris. Hashmi demanded Maulana Fazl deliver or quit the office. He urged the Foreign Office to…

Recent stability in the Chinese economy masks deep-seated problems that threaten to rattle global markets in advance of a leadership change next year, according to a survey. Ignoring these risks is shortsighted, said authors of the China Beige Book International, a quarterly survey that tracks the world’s second-largest economy. Data from the group’s third-quarter survey of 3,100 Chinese firms and 160 bankers point to some potential problems. New growth engines intended to shift the economy…

HONG KONG — The United States Justice Department has filed criminal charges against a Chinese executive, accusing her, the company she owns and several of her colleagues of violating American sanctions meant to choke off funding to North Korean companies that help Pyongyang develop nuclear weapons. The executive, Ma Xiaohong, 44, is the owner of the Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Company, a trading company that in one year, according to United States officials, handled more…

Long-range drills and patrols the Chinese military held in the Western Pacific on Sunday demonstrated the nation’s ability to counter US interference in the South China Sea issues, Chinese military experts have said. The unprecedented exercise involved more than 40 aircraft from different aviation teams, indicating the air force would join with the navy, rocket forces or other military arms to conduct additional large joint operational exercises in the region in the future, they added.…

The writer is a freelance columnist The domain of military witnessed Pakistan and Russia — the latter in the form of the former Soviet Union — become entangled with each other on the land of Afghanistan. The domain of military has been selected by both countries to herald a new era of friendship. A contingent of Russian troops has arrived in Pakistan to conduct a first-ever joint military exercise, named Friendship 2016, from September 24…