ISLAMABAD SEEMS TO BE SENDING A SIGNAL TO WASHINGTON THOUGH 2019 COULD STILL SEE TRUMP’S TYPICAL TWEETS

With twists and turns, highs and lows, the year 2019 could, at least, see some overtures, if not relief, in the troubled ýPakistan-American bond. Currently, there is a titanic trust deficit between the ýtwo sides. ý

This deficit has overshadowed their...

TOP STORY: INDIA COULD BE ON A LOSING WICKET

The trade war with Islamabad could cost New Delhi $1.8 billion

A Commerce Ministry source has announced that Pakistan may even consider a complete ban on imports from India or an increase in tax and duty rates. A complete ban on Indian films and television channels is also another option.

The volume of trade...

TOP STORY: BALOCHISTAN’S BIGGEST PROBLEM IS POVERTY

On the 18th Century French maps, this part of the world is marked ‘Terre des Balodges, feroces et guerrieres’, land of the Baloch, fierce and warlike. Not much has changed. In the 60 years since it was incorporated into Pakistan, Balochistan has generated countless independence movements and uprisings, peaking in 1971-74 when then-Prime ...

Foreign policy is actually a country’s behaviour with regard to other states in the international arena, driven by its need to achieve its goals

The first and most successful foreign aid initiative was the European Recovery Program (ERP), popularly known as the Marshall Plan. This program was about rebuilding Europe in the aftermath of World War II. World War II had completely de...

Keeping in view the increasing environmental pollution and its implications, the new government kick-started the Plant for Pakistan Movement in the country.  Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated 10 billion trees project by planning and watering a sapling in Haripur district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on 2 September 2018. The new government intends to complete the project in five years of th...

The new government stands committed to ensure the better relations with the neigbouring countries as Prime Minister Imran Khan duly mentioned in his speech as Prime Minister designate wherein apart from the areas mentioned supra, substantial emphasis was exhibited by opting for a more balanced and independent foreign policy stature.

In recent general elections, Imran Khan's party...

Keeping in view the impending water crisis, Pakistani nation has girded up its loins to build the Diamer Bhasha Dam. For this purpose the Chief Justice of Pakistan took initiative and armed forced followed suit by donating fund from their salaries.

It would not be wrong to say that there is no life without water and there would soon be no water without storage. Much has been said...

The per capita availability of water, which was above 5,200 cubic metres in 1947, has now dropped to a mere 1000 cubic metres

Pakistan faces severe water scarcity and is at the verge of running out dry by 2025 owing to a dearth of water reservoirs and decline in the storage capacity of existing dams.

It is clearly visible that the government did not attach sign...

No doubt, Pakistan's water crisis has several serious health, social, and political implications

We, the humans on earth are the funny creature: We search for water on other planets while let the water fritter on our planet. By 2025, more than 3.5 billion people will be living in water-stressed areas in different parts of the world. Water stress happens when the demand for water ...

Urbanization is the process of population growth in urban areas. There are many ways to define an urban population e.g. by population density, population magnitude, governmental / administrative / political boundaries, or economic functions. Some states describe their urban population as per those people living within certain administrative / governmental limits. For example in Iraq, there are admin...

Like any other modern state, Pakistan always has irritants of various types with all its neighbouring countries

The killing of Osama-bin-Laden on May 2, 2011, by US Naval SEALs in a campaign coded as "Operation Neptune Spear at Abbottabad, can be likened to the  demise of Mullah Mansour, but this time the stage was set at Noshki, Balochistan, but once more in the territorial...

Interior variables are the predominance of social unfairness, imbalance, absence of education and abuse in the general public. Outside variables are the association of Pakistan in theterritorial and worldwide force amusement and intermediary wars

Extremism is a perplexing marvel, in spite of the fact that its multifaceted nature is regularly difficult to see. Most essentially, it ca...

At current trends, 60 million children will die before their fifth birthday between 2017 and 2030, half of them newborns

Pakistan has the world's highest newborn mortality rate, with one in every 22 babies born dying within a month. The report tells the difference between the rich and rest countries in this perspective. According to the report, babies born in the world's poorest cou...

During his years in power, he did not give importance to parliament and took dictatorial decisions in internal, external and financial affairs while bypassing the parliament.

“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” ― Napoleon Bonaparte

There seems no end to Mr. Nawaz Sharif’s grief and grudge after disqualification from premiership. He released his anger ...

We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. – Jimmy Carter.

After the Second World War, most of the post-colonial states have faced the problem of ethnicity in one form or the other. Pakistan, as well, is no exception in this regard. It is unfortunate that after decades of indepen...

Sun Tzu a Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher says, “A leader leads by example not by force.”

The same is case with Mr. Zulifqar Ali Bhutto whose judicial murder would have been sunk into oblivion by the people, had it been the murder of a person alone. However his assassination was a deliberate attempt to eliminate an ideology which survives fo...

Sooner or letter, the federal government may recourse to carve out new provinces or introduce devolution of power. Both the ways can be used to appease the demands of the people.

Keeping in view the gaining momentum of demand for Southern Punjab province, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has to take notice and invite all political parties to hold a dialogue on the is...

At the end of the day, one can take solace from the fact that no matter how chequered and tortuous the course of events, the Muslim India achieved its manifest destiny and Pakistan is here to stay.

“Pakistan came into being when the first native of India embraced Islam”, is a mantra most Pakistanis believe in as an article of faith. “ No, Pakistan was created when Muhammad bin Qua...

Last month Pakistan underwent a premature evaluation process, primarily pushed by USA and supported by UK, Germany and France. Since then there has been a lot of speculation about Pakistan’s inclusion in the terror financing list issued by FATF

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established in 1989 on the eve of G7 summit in Paris. Initially comprised of 16 countries the mem...

‘No man is an island’, said Donne and neither is a country for that matter. Pakistan needs friends and can ill-afford to keep shrugging off oft-voiced allegations about its flirtation with selected terrorists

Beyond its shores, Pakistan’s fair name has unfortunately become synonymous with terrorism of the Islamic variety. Its reputation has, over the years, taken so much of a hi...

The dream of 1.5 billion people of the region for peace and prosperity is still elusive. The peace can only be ensured in the region if the civil and military leadership of both the countries resolve to sort out all the outstanding issues. For this purpose, they need to adopt measures for solution of Kashmir issue keeping in view the self-determination of Kashmiris

BARRISTER AA...

CPEC is just four simple letters; letters on which an entire nation's hopes and aspirations are pinnted. This huge injection of Chinese investment is vital for jump-starting the Pakistani economy. Such a generous shot in the arm can also unfortunately have the opposite effect; that of dooming the country to perpetual servitude. A high level of preparedness, ability and capacity to exploit the opportuni...

The history of Pakistan is full of both positive as well as negative decisions made by both public and judicial courts

What options do people have in case institutions are not working properly or not functioning at all in any part of the world? This can also be applicable to courts, both judicial and peoples' courts. Judicial courts are assigned jurisdiction by the constitution it...

Despite the city's decaying infrastructure and civil services, it has not only maintained a lively facade, but has lived up to its reputation as a city of lights

Karachi is in many ways a microcosm of the country itself. One finds all religions, nationalities and ethnicities represented here. There is no dearth of good entrepreneurs, businessmen, traders, transporters, educationists,...

You know tolerance breeds tolerance while intolerance begets violence. The national politics of present day Pakistan is a true example of the same. It is PPP that kept its cool throughout its history despite the worst kind of oppression inflicted by the rivals

It is believed that the Greek philosopher Aristotle said, "The nature abhors a vacuum" since it invites forces to fill the em...

Mainstream Islamist parties act politically with a mind to nonpolitical considerations. Most religious parties remain tied to religious movements through informal links and overlapping memberships

During general elections in Pakistan, every major political party advocates popular policies and catchy slogans like roti, kapra aur makan(bread, clothing and shelter) in order to win p...

It is also time for Pakistan to get on with the job of bringing FATA into the mainstream, thereby creating a distinct Pakistani identity amongst the tribesmen on its side of the border instead of leaving them in the lurch.

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan (better known by its acronym FATA) had been created in 1849 to serve as a buffer between British India and ...

India Should Question Legality of Durand Line between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Opines a Renowned Indian Scholar Satish Chandra, an Ex Diplomat

Satish Chandra, a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan has penned an article where he has recommended to the Indian government to openly side with Afghanistan on the legality of the Durand Line. The title suggests the Indian government...

The Indian military assistance to Afghanistan has increased on a year to year basis which hasn't only pleased the American government but has also brought Afghanistan or at least a few of its cities where the Afghan government still exercises writ under the Indian influence

Christine Fair, an American foreign policy and international relations expert, is regarded as a staunch enemy o...

For the Human Capital to be smart and sustainable, the knowledge, skills and values of the youth should be inclusively carved and polished.  Human capital plays a critical role in economic growth and poverty reduction.

Dismal at the dreary creeping phenomenon of underdeveloped Human Capital in Pakistan, the human skills relentlessly remain untrained and irrelevant according to...

Doubling down on an unsuccessful war is not an act of strength or persistence. It is a sign of insanity to do the same thing over and over again and expect different result

Pakistan needs to develop a well-thought-out, cool and calculated response to US President Trump's Strategy on Afghanistan, which is a vague plan, and cannot be called a strategy. The fact i...

Counter terrorism has a steep learning curve and since terrorists adapt and evolve accordingly, so must the security plans

With the Armed Forces to protect the borders -agencies to safeguard its national interests and weaponry to deter military invasions, Pakistan can honestly say that its security is in good hands. Generally this would be enough for conventional warfare. It now ...

After Pakistan came into being as a result of the division of the British India, there were at least 26 different commissions and committees constituted on police reforms, mainly focusing on the structural and functional aspects of the police department

Police reforms are continuously required in the wake of new challenges, new technologies, new socio-political...

Everything has to be done sensibly and the reservations of all the stake holders be taken into consideration properly

Any plausible answer is, perhaps, yet to be transpired as to why various census teams including enumerators and security personnel every time lose their heads while counting heads of the population for the nation in the process of census. Similarly, the reply to ...

MADRASA HISTORY

Any critique about madrasas in Pakistan must be handled with care, given the sensitivity of the public about an institution considered by many in the country as shield, protecting pristine Islam from undesirable foreign influences. Besides propagating and spreading the knowledge of Islam, madrasas in the Pakistani context are the largest public welfare NGOs on educati...

“The United States is the most powerful nation on Earth.*

President Obama, State of the Union Address, 12 January 2016

The United States spends more on military than next 8 nations combined. There is no gainsaying that the United States Navy has greater power than almost all others combinedii. But United States Navy currently faces exceptional challenges since the wa...

History often takes perplexing twists. In September 1973 when Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto met President Richard Nixon at the White House, he sought U.S. aid to construct the port at Gwadar and offered its use to the U.S. Navy. Although the President stated he would have the proposal examined, a National Security Council briefing paper indicated no great interest in having a naval ...

Despite the ongoing interest-collisions in Afghanistan, both Islamabad and Moscow have used Pakistan's strategic 'look East policy' as a means to improve bilateral relations

Permanent friends and enemies are not found in international politics because the state interests, which do not allow space for personal relations, mark friendships and animosity. It is true of the Pak-Russia...

Times have changed. Political attitude must also change with the time

The land mark judgment has been given by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 20th April 2017, which is discrete enough as “not to send wrong signal” so that both, the petitioner and the respondents are celebrating with political naivety. In passing this judgment the rule of law has been the main consideration, becaus...

The key to generating any meaningful impact is again Gwadar, which not only acts as a land-sea interface but also as the most vital and most vibrant component of the entire logistics chain

Part II

The competition it faces in this regard stems not from Chabahar as many seem to think but from the wellestablished ports of Sohar and Khorfakhan, both lying just across...

There is a need for instant relief for large numbers in some parts. But the priorities should be the efficiency, integrity and quality of relief delivery

Out of the seven largest deserts of the world, Thar is the only fertilizing desert in which a rich but multifaceted culture, heritage, traditions, folk tales flourish. It is all due to its vibrant inhabitants who belong to different...

The power corridors believe in guided democracy with a byproduct of political stability. Had it been vice versa, Pakistan history would have been based on strong pillars of tested democracy mustered by political constancy

With its waning social gauge, degenerating economy, dividing society on ethnic, sectarian bases and the government's mislaid priorities, Pakistan is emerging as a d...

Delayed census highlights the inherent flaws in the working of civilian institutions that always look for pretexts to avoid responsibilities

Constitution of Pakistan requires national census to be conducted every ten years. However, Federal government had not been able to fulfill this constitutional obligation since last eighteen years. Given the changes in the Statistics Act (Act nu...

The key to generating any meaningful impact is again Gwadar, which not only acts as a land-sea interface but also as the most vital and most vibrant component of the entire logistics chain

CPEC has been variously referred to as an earthshattering development and as a game changer. It is worth noticing that far more important than conceiving and executing a project is the ability to ...

We have to face the reality with a cool mind and a heart filled with faith, belief and existentialism

In a conversation between the two leaders, President Trump hailed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He complemented him with the words He is a terrific guy. He is now is of the same opinion for the Egyptian Dictator, General Abul Fateh Al-Sisi. These are symbolic words with deep meaning. Ge...

A woman's brain is less prone to radicalization than a man's brain. This may help in determining the social construction of the female gender roles

The spelling of woman in English has progressed over the past millennium from wifmann to wimman and finally, the modern spelling woman. A hilarious misconception is that the term woman is etymologically connected to womb, the actual word ...

‘Youth' is best understood as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood's independence. That's why, as a category, youth is more fluid than other fixed age-groups. Yet, age is the easiest way to define this group, particularly in relation to education and employment, because 'youth' is often referred to a person between the ages of leaving compulsory education, and finding the...

We cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that military power has to be backed by social and economic cohesion

Pakistan’s security perspective remained exceedingly bleak during the decade following India’s first nuclear explosion in 1974. Its policy of nuclear ambiguity from the mid-eighties onwards served it well. Though the country was finally forced to come out of the nuclear close...

Most reforms so far have focused on short-term, episodic gains and failed to make an impact". It goes without saying that administrative/civil service reforms are an ongoing process, the world over

There are few issues in Pakistan, which over the years have engaged the attention of the elites as well as the civil society, other than the working of its bureaucracy and all that is percei...

They range in their persona from the extremely idealistic to the most ridiculous

To start on an optimistic note, here is a quote from a respected American source, published towards the latter part of the Musharraf regime. “Economic and social outcomes in Pakistan over the last 6o years are a mixture of paradoxes. The economic growth has been averaging around 5 percent annually since ...

Despite its money-making potential, the industry has always been primed for disaster

On completion of their operational lives, all ships are needed to be disposed off, and the most beneficial way of doing so, in theory at least, is to send them for recycling where it’s machinery, equipment and hull can all be reutilized in one way or another, without adversely impacting the environme...

We are experiencing a wide gap between demand and supply since the last few years and the energy crisis has deepened presenting paradoxical situation

Pakistan is an energy starved country. The major contributors for energy to run the economic engine of our country are electricity, natural gas and oil besides other fossil fuels. Pakistan’s Energy Mix can be summed up as follows.

We believe that powers can be separated and balanced against each other, that deliberative laws would yield fair laws, and that the common good can be raised by the self-interested behaviour of individuals

Few of us are gifted with clairvoyance, or born with a sixth sense to prophesy the shape of things to come. It is, however, possible to foresee or, to a lesser degree, predict the...

Altaf Hussain, the founding Chairman of Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) through his three minutes outbursts on 22 August against Pakistan; the armed forces of Pakistan and the political leadership has caused a cloud burst effect on the domestic politics of Pakistan. Political sanity appears to bring stability and rapid change, which need to be watched and analyzed.

Altaf Hussain did some...

The Parliament of Pakistan, the law making body of Pakistan, can play no role in the affairs of FATA according to the FCR despite the presence of elected tribal representatives in the National Assembly

Located in northwestern Pakistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is a semiautonomous tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The reforms in the FATA are important in many ways. ...

People evaluate state performance by the way government offices function. Governance service delivery becomes a function of the working of state organizations although many factors encroach on it behind the scene

Government is a formal body invested with the authority to make decisions in a given political system. The word government is used to refer to the collective group of people t...

Once again terrorists capitalised on the country’s inherent bad governance by targeting lawyers in Quetta’s Sandeman Provincial Hospital on 8th August 2016, killing 70 and wounding 130. The deadly attack was claimed by both the Islamic State-Khorasan and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The relentless terrorist strikes with such impunity manifestly exh...

By all indications, the next US Administration might not be as indulgent or as understanding as the current one is. Sooner rather than later, the onus to convince an increasingly skeptical American leadership about its sincerity and commitment to peace would fall on Pakistan rather than the other way round

Since Pakistan’s emergence on the world map, Pak-US ties have been characterised...

Pakistan- a model ideologically driven experiment for the Muslims of Colonial India- emerged on 14th August 1947. It was a country deriving its bonding mechanism from a faith based ideology which was unique at the time of Independence. The Muslims of India had shown their political awareness in supporting this idea despite heavy odds. There was love for even Pakistan before there was a land of Pakistan ...

It is highly irrational to fix the blame only at FBR. In fact, the lack of political will to collect taxes and the absence of taxation culture in Pakistan is equally responsible for low tax to GDP ratio

The traditional concept of sovereignty is being replaced by responsible sovereign whereby the rulers must have the authority and the will to collect the taxes from the people. These, ta...

Introduction

The Balochistan province has a historical significance due to its unique and central geographical position. The province is extremely deprived and has suffered years of isolation from the central ruling authorities during 11 years of Perviaz Mushraf rule. The U.S. War on Terror and the development of Gawadar-port has put a paramount importance to the province for the Gre...

Pakistan, a populous developing country with a high population growth rate, is rightly worried about its food insecurities On 19 July 2014, the UN General Assembly's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forwarded a proposal for the SDGs to the Assembly. The proposal contained 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of sustainable development issues. These included ending p...