Russia’s Taliban Gamble: Strengthening a Terror Sanctuary
Russia deepens military ties with the Taliban regime even as its own officials warn of massive terrorist threats emanating from Afghan soil, exposing a profound strategic contradiction. Russia’s recent military and technical cooperation agreement with the Taliban, signed by Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob during his Moscow visit, highlights expanding bilateral defense ties. This […]
From Chagai-I to Today: Pakistan’s Enduring Commitment to Deterrence
Twenty-eight years ago, Pakistan responded to India’s five nuclear tests of 11 and 13 May 1998 with a strategic and far-sighted decision. India’s nuclear ambitions were already demonstrated by its 1974 nuclear test. Through six nuclear tests conducted on 28 and 30 May 1998, Pakistan restored the regional balance of power and ensured the credibility […]
Sar-e Pol Killings Expose Deepening Crisis of Impunity and Armed Power Networks
When guns speak louder than law, justice becomes the first casualty. The daylight killing of four unarmed young men in Sar-e Pol, carried out by an individual associated with Ahmad Shah Deen Dost, Governor of Ghor province, exposes a deeper and more structural reality under Taliban rule in Afghanistan: the normalization of impunity within a […]
Taliban’s Child Marriage Policies Deepen Afghanistan’s Isolation
The Taliban’s reported move to formalize or permit child marriages in Afghanistan has triggered strong international condemnation, with British Minister of State Hamish Falconer calling the development “appalling” and describing child marriage as a clear violation of basic human rights. His statement reflects growing global frustration with the Taliban’s continued dismantling of protections for Afghan […]
From Atoms for Peace to Nuclear Deterrence: The Evolution of Pakistan’s Nuclear Program
“If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own. We have no other choice” Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto            Chagai hills, five blasts, Pakistan becomes the seventh nuclear power in the world. A mere seventeen days after neighbouring India had shocked the world with […]
Terrorism is no longer met with silence
The walls of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are speaking, and their message is louder than fear. From Peshawar and Kohat Road to Bara and Khyber districts, public wall chalking condemning extremist elements reflects a growing and visible rejection of terrorism by the people who have suffered its consequences the most. For decades, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stood on the […]
The Gathering Storm – How Afghanistan’s Terror Ecosystem Threatens Regional Security
For decades, Pakistan has borne the heaviest brunt of instability in Afghanistan. When the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021, there was a cautious, perhaps naive, optimism in some regional quarters that a centralized authority would finally put an end to the chaotic safe havens that defined the war-torn nation. Today, those […]
Imported Narratives and the Risks of Sectarian Framing
Pakistan has long struggled against the destructive consequences of sectarian division, paying a heavy social and security cost over decades. At such a sensitive moment, attempts to frame deportations of Pakistani nationals from the UAE primarily through a sectarian lens deserve careful scrutiny, particularly when official evidence supporting claims of systematic sectarian targeting remains absent. […]
The Ghost of a Nation: Why the Battle for a Contiguous Palestine is Being Lost in the West Bank
While global headlines remain locked onto the fragile transitions of Gaza’s post-ceasefire governance, a quiet, surgical erasure is taking place just a few dozen kilometers away. For the Pakistani observer, emotionally tethered to the promise of a sovereign Palestinian state, it is time to look past the immediate humanitarian catastrophe and confront a sobering geographic […]