Pakistan’s Defense Role in West Asia: A New Trajectory
The signing of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, 2026, by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan signals a genuine recalibration of how three major Muslim-majority states have chosen to formalize collective deterrence at a moment when the region’s old security guarantees look increasingly unreliable. Despite each having distinct strengths and historically uneven relationships, […]
Azad Kashmir Protest Movement Stalls as Dispute Over Refugee Seats Deepens
Four years ago, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) emerged as a major force of public protest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. People protested over rising electricity bills, shrinking wheat subsidies, and the soaring cost of living. These protests drew the authorities’ attention, and most of the economic problems that had triggered the movement received some form […]
The Lessons Taught by Strait of Hormuz
For the students of strategic affairs especially those who started believing in the diminishing role of geography in military strategy due to rapid technological advancement, Strait of Hormuz episode has offered some rethinking. The Strait has been effectively controlled by Iran ever since the war was started by the US and Israel and despite all […]
Kashmir’s Unfinished Story: From Insurgency to the Present Day
Every year during the month of August, Kashmir appears to revisit its past. This is certainly the case for this year as well, with the approaching anniversary of the 2019 revocation of Article 370 on August 5 prompting political parties in the region to prepare themselves yet again for another show of strength and the […]
Resistance Operations Intensify Across Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s resistance landscape may be entering a more active phase. Over the past few days, separate attacks claimed by the Afghanistan United Front (AUF), National Resistance Front (NRF) and Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) have been reported across Kandahar, Herat, Faryab and Nangarhar. The geography is significant. These incidents are not concentrated in one isolated area; […]
Rukhsar Ahmed Case: Britain Wants Cooperation, Just Not Reciprocity
The Rukhsar Ahmed case has exposed an uncomfortable question in Pakistan-UK relations: how much legal cooperation can one country reasonably expect from the other when there is no comprehensive extradition treaty between them. Britain is asking Pakistan to facilitate the return of Pakistani national facing serious allegations in the UK. Pakistan, however, has its own […]
Pakistan’s Textile Industry Must Own Its Compliance Story
Pakistan’s textile and garment industry stands at the centre of the country’s economic identity. It contributes approximately 8.5 per cent of GDP, supports millions of direct and indirect livelihoods and generates more than 60 per cent of national export earnings. Clothing, hosiery, denim, home textiles and athletic wear produced in Faisalabad, Karachi, Lahore and Sialkot […]
Two Years Into Recovery, Sri Lanka’s Debt Path Holds, Barely
Two years into Sri Lanka’s most acute economic recovery effort in decades, the headline numbers point in a broadly positive direction, even as recent shocks have exposed how fragile that recovery remains. The country’s debt restructuring, launched after its 2022 sovereign default, is now close to completion. According to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, by […]
The Slow Death of Afghan Journalism Under Five Years of Taliban Rule
When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, Afghanistan possessed one of the more developed media landscapes to have emerged in the region over the preceding two decades. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recorded roughly 12,000 working journalists and more than 500 active media outlets at the time of the takeover. Five years on, that […]