Afghan Diaspora Rejects Taliban Legitimacy Drive
On 4 June 2026, former Afghan Deputy Speaker Mohammad Asif Siddiqi led a demonstration outside the European Parliament Office in Madrid, joined by Afghan expatriates, women’s rights activists, human rights advocates, and Spanish supporters. The protesters submitted a formal resolution urging European institutions to deny the Taliban political legitimacy, refrain from inviting Taliban representatives to […]
The Unlikely Broker: How Pakistan Rewrote Its Place in Washington’s World
There is a particular irony in watching Pakistan , a country Donald Trump once accused of harbouring terrorists while pocketing American aid, emerge as one of the more consequential diplomatic assets in his second administration. Yet here we are. As Washington and Tehran find themselves locked in one of the most dangerous standoffs of the […]
Pakistan Rejects Iran’s Intelligence Sharing Allegations and Calls Them Disinformation Amid Diplomatic Engagements
Last week, a cluster of social media accounts began circulating a specific claim that Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had conveyed sensitive Iranian intelligence and nuclear-related messages to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during recent engagements in Washington. Pakistan’s Foreign Office categorically rejected the allegations, describing them as baseless, speculative, […]
Who is Behind PPDN and What Does It Actually Want?
In early 2026, a previously unknown organization called Pakistan Policy and Development Network quietly registered itself in the United Kingdom. Two months later, it had secured a collaboration with the London School of Economics, arranged business class return tickets and luxury hotel accommodations for speakers flying in from Pakistan, and was operating with a reported […]
Six years in the making, Pakistan’s justice has spoken and the world has noticed.
On the night of September 9, 2020, a woman traveling with her children on the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway found herself stranded after her car ran out of fuel. What followed was a crime of staggering brutality, two men broke into the locked vehicle, robbed the family at gunpoint, dragged the mother out, and assaulted her in […]
When Platforms Become Political Tools
There is something worth pausing on when a two-month-old organization, with no published research record and no established academic footprint, manages to co-brand an international conference with one of the world’s most recognizable universities. The Pakistan Policy and Development Network may present itself as a policy forum, but the story behind the Pakistan Policy and […]
Vienna Dialogue on Pakistan’s Programme for Country Partnership 2025–2030: A Strategic Inflection Point
The high-level engagement convened in Vienna over Pakistan’s Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) 2025–2030 signals a decisive shift in the country’s development trajectory. Signed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar in February 2026, this UNIDO-led framework moves deliberately away from the cycle of short-term financial relief and toward a structurally grounded, climate-resilient model of industrial […]
Pakistan–Italy Visa Waiver Deal Marks New Phase in Bilateral Engagement
Pakistan and Italy have recently signed a landmark agreement to abolish visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports, an accord finalized during a ceremony at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome. Signed by Pakistan’s Ambassador, Ali Javed, and the Italian Secretary General for Foreign Affairs, Riccardo Guariglia, the agreement is designed to facilitate […]
Kharjeeyat and the Ideological Roots of Pakistan’s Extremism Crisis
Pakistan’s decades-long struggle against militancy has produced extensive security frameworks, significant military victories, and countless counter-terrorism operations. Yet the fundamental question remains inadequately addressed: what keeps producing these movements? The analytical lens has almost always focused on operational manifestations, attack frequencies, militant networks, and body counts, while the ideological architecture that sustains and regenerates extremism […]