Post 9/11 when the United States launched its War on Terror against AL-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, Pakistan had to suffer the impact. While Pakistan was blamed for playing a double game with the United States, countless lives were sacrificed during War on Terror to root out terrorism from the country.
The killing of Osama bin Ladin has been made the Pakistani Achilles\’ heel despite the fact that it was the effective intelligence sharing of Pakistan\’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which led to the whereabouts of bin Laden.
Since the revocation of article 370 which stripped the state of Jammu and Kashmir of its unique status back in 2019, it is not only the property or land from which Muslims of the region were denied in the last three years, as attempts were also made to strip them of their religious beliefs.
Given the precarious situation in Afghanistan, the elimination of such a high-profile figure in the wake of the US drone strike raised an important question about the near future of the conflict-ridden country: What the strike has in its store for Afghanistan?
Well aware of the fact, that cash-strapped Afghanistan under the Taliban is in dire need of economic assistance and International recognition, India, by leveraging its economic clout, and political reach is once again trying to influence the foreign policy of Afghanistan.
Taliban-Qatar security cooperation – the deal could have been sealed with any other country, but the Taliban opted for Qatar, the country with whom the Taliban had historical relations, and also enjoy a neutral status while being the United States front-state to deal with the Taliban – signals Taliban’s pragmatism on the foreign policy front.
The question of responsibility will surface time and again until a humanitarian and security catastrophe keeps haunting Afghanistan and the region – who is responsible for Afghanistan’s collapse?
OIC’s 48th session in Islamabad has erected Pakistan as a pivot of the OIC. For the first time, OIC has voiced very clearly the issues that concern the regional stability of South Asia. It remains to be seen, however, that will OIC be able to raise its stature from a popularly-claimed defunct body to a platform perfectly capable of voicing issues and concerns in a way that promotes action?
The invasion of Ukraine caused massive outrage in the Western world and the media. But why do we miss to see such condemnation and outrage on the severe and unjust wars where the West, itself, is an aggressor?
As the international community has long been concerned over nuclear technology and nuclear missiles falling into the hands of rogue elements – Isn\’t this specific incident of India\’s accidental missile firing into Pakistan indicate rogue-actors-like handling of the weapon system by a nuclear state?