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Restraint Has Its Limits, Pakistan’s National Command Authority Advisor Lt. Gen. (retd) Mazhar Jamil Tells IISS Workshop

Lieutenant General (Retired) Mazhar Jamil, Advisor to Pakistan’s National Command Authority, delivered the inaugural keynote at the 11th annual workshop on nuclear deterrence and strategic stability in South Asia. The workshop was organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS). He said the May 2025 crisis […]

Aid and Narcotics Keep the Taliban Afloat Despite a Ten Billion Dollar Trade Gap

Afghanistan buys from the world roughly seven times what it sells. Five years into Taliban rule, the gap has been covered by two flows that rarely appear in the same sentence: billions of dollars in donor grants and a drug economy that has moved from poppy fields to methamphetamine laboratories. By the Taliban’s own count, […]

Weeds of War

Afghanistan has become a complex challenge for Pakistan as well as the region. The defiant and uncooperative nature of the Afghan Taliban regime has become increasingly evident in policies that are both politically expedient and driven by a desire to reverse past losses. The present Kandahar-based regime combines spiritual and political authority and claims complete […]

Pakistan’s Missing Persons Debate Needs the Whole Truth

11,035 complaints registered, 9,596 cases reported as resolved, and 1,439 still under investigation. These figures should anchor Pakistan’s debate on separating facts from fiction. They describe substantial institutional activity alongside unfinished work. Any narrative that highlights outstanding complaints while ignoring cases already processed offers an incomplete account. Pakistan should challenge that imbalance firmly, with evidence […]

Afghan Gordian Knot

Afghanistan has become a wicked problem for Pakistan as well as the region. The refractory and truculent nature of the Afghan Taliban regime has started manifesting itself in the shape of policies that are expedient as well as revanchist. The present Kandahar based regime combines the spiritual and temporal authority and claims complete sway over […]

Afghan Sanctuaries Keep Pakistan Under Fire as Kabul Turns Toward Delhi

The leaders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch separatist groups continue to move freely across Afghanistan, ground reports indicate, as militant violence inside Pakistan reaches a 12-year high. United Nations monitors broadly corroborate the picture. Meanwhile Kabul’s ties with New Delhi deepen, and the Wakhan Corridor, often pitched as Afghanistan’s road to China, remains more […]

The Taliban’s Financial Lifeline: Foreign Aid, Narcotics and Geopolitical Bargains

The economic viability of the interim Afghan administration presents a profound macroeconomic puzzle given officially declared annual imports worth USD 12 Bn against meager annual exports of merely USD 1.7 Bn. This monumental disparity creates a staggering trade deficit of USD 10.3 Bn that defies standard fiscal logic and market mechanics. Without sustainable domestic revenue […]

Theological Imperatives Against Armed Insurgency

In his comprehensive research work titled Dehshatgardi aur Fitna al-Khawarij, eminent Islamic scholar Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri establishes that maintaining absolute law, public order, and state authority is a primary religious requirement. Islamic jurisprudence strictly prohibits armed rebellion against legitimate political governance, regardless of any administrative shortcomings, political grievances, or perceived domestic flaws. The catastrophic bloodshed resulting […]

South Asia Must Plan El Niño Financing Before the Disaster Hits

“South Asia is preparing for El Nino with forecasts. It also needs to decide who gets the money first.“ A record Pacific heat anomaly is bearing down on a region that cannot afford surprises. The International Water Management Institute reports sea-surface temperature anomalies of 3.08 degrees Celsius, above the previous record of 3.02. South Asia […]