PAKISTAN has decided to opt for a paradigm shift in its foreign policy. It has also for the first time wisely used its strategic location for deriving long-term economic benefits for the people of this country, particularly in the face of the heightened risk of shrinking foreign capital flows from Western bilateral or multilateral sources. CPEC should be the beginning …

PAKISTANI politics is very conservative. Conservatives have ruled us for 53 years and centrists just for 17. The most likely winners in 2018 (PML and PTI) are both conservative. So, the next prime minister will very likely be a conservative too. Conservatism is so big now it is fracturing. Zia, its Pakistani father, had its social, political and economic wings …

The Kurds’ hunger for self-rule must not be denied by dark forces imposing their will on the region It can be argued that Kurdistan’s regional government (KRG) was ill advised to hold a referendum last week on creating an independent state. It may be the case that Masoud Barzani, veteran leader of the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq, is a …

LAHORE: We spoke about the signs of premature de-industrialisation plaguing Pakistan in our last article “Government faces Herculean task to reverse industry phase-out” published September 11, 2017. It raised the question about options the government has to address the shrinking size of the industrial sector. Does the answer lie in active industrial policy management, or should the government leave market …

PAKISTAN secured a score of 55.6 under SDGs’ global index against a far better regional average of 63.3 and is even lower than regional peers Bangladesh’s 56.2 and India’s 58.1. As a result, the country ranked 122 on the SDG index of 157 nations compared to Bangladesh’s 120 and India’s 116 position, according to July 2017 results. The good news, …

JUST when we thought there were already too many wars and conflicts bubbling away, more threats to world peace keep emerging, stoked by irresponsible leaders. Anyone listening to some of the speeches delivered recently in the United Nations General Assembly could be excused for thinking this was a forum for warmongers, not peacemakers. Trump made the most provocative speech heard …

All Pakistan needs is to call time on its geopolitical outlook and shift to its geo-economics variant to be relevant in the world A shift away from geopolitical worldview to its geo-economics counterpart is underway in the international political arena. China is the leading practitioner of the resurgence of states’ interest to pursue national interests through non-military means. Pakistan needs …

Peace in the region will remain elusive without mainstreaming Fata Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has again initiated the process of mainstreaming Fata that was halted by Nawaz Sharif to appease his coalition partners, apparently. The government has shown seriousness about the matter as the Fata Reforms Implementation Committee now has the prime minister as its chairman, KP chief minister, …

IN his remarks on the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly session, President Ashraf Ghani was sharply critical of Pakistan and of alleged militant safe havens there, whose elimination he said was essential to achieving peace in Afghanistan. In his formal address, he called upon Pakistan to engage his country in a comprehensive dialogue on “peace, security and regional …

If a Second Korean War were to erupt tomorrow, there is one thing we can be sure of. It won’t be like the First Korean War of 1950-53. It’s always If a Second Korean War were to erupt tomorrow, there is one thing we can be sure of. It won’t be like the First Korean War of 1950-53. It’s always …