When taken in concert with other factors, there has been interesting development with India holding fresh discussions with the US on two pacts, the Communications Compatibility and Security Arrangement (COMCASA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA). The pacts put on the table by the US some 15 years ago were rejected by successive Indian governments, …

Imagine the president of the United States of America sitting in the White House Situation Room with his top national security advisers and deciding that there are not enough threats to US national security. There are not enough wars and humanitarian crises around the world. The United States is bored. Imagine the president deciding to manufacture a new national security …

A Candid Conversation with the famed Russia Expert “The cardinal charge is that Russian intelligence agencies hacked the Democratic National Committee, stole Mrs. Clinton’s and then John Podesta’s e-mails, and gave them to WikiLeaks for distribution in order to harm her campaign. But there is not one iota of factual evidence to prove this allegation.” Known to be the most …

PESHAWAR: As the government nears end of term, the ruling party attempts to make good on its commitment to mainstream Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). In an address to the National Assembly on May 2, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reaffirmed his government’s pledge to implement recommendations outlined in Fata Reforms Committee 2016 report. A day later, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister …

Scientific research and use of better agricultural technologies can help counter this greatest global health challenge Six-year old Ayaan was pale and lean. He was slow in studies and less active in sports. His parents were alarmed when one day the child fainted. Initial checkup and tests were enough to reveal the child as severely anemic. “I was surprised to …

L P Hartley once said, “The past is a foreign country”. He clearly wasn’t thinking of Pakistan when he said this. As election season draws closer, one theme that sticks out the most is ‘sameness’. The names are the same (Khan, Sharif, Bhutto), the acronyms are the same (PPP, PTI, PML), the faces are the same, and of course, the …

HAMBURG, Germany — To claim we are living through a new Cold War is both an understatement and a category mistake. The 20th-century face-off between the Communist East and the Capitalist West was, ideology aside, about two superpowers trying to contain each other. The global conflict of today is far less static. What we are witnessing instead is a new …

NEAR the end of its tenure, the Sindh government announced a new youth policy. It has many outputs, including creating a youth commission, information system for documenting youth, placement bureaus, incubation centres at universities, assistance in skill development, options in seeking financial assistance for entrepreneurship and more. It also promises a possible revival of student unions. With scant time left …

The human rights movement, like the world it monitors, is in crisis: After decades of gains, nearly every country seems to be backsliding. Viktor Orban in Hungary, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines and other populist leaders routinely express contempt for human rights and their defenders. But from the biggest watchdogs to monitors at the United Nations, the human rights movement, …

Sending of Saudi troops to Syria will be a dangerous step as it may throw the neighbouring countries in bloody conflicts In a dangerous move to the already prolonged civil war in Syria, Saudi Arabia has shown willingness to send troops to the war-torn country as a part of a broader international coalition. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), …