India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been playing this game ever since he assumed power in May 2014. After a long chill in India-Pakistan relations, Narendra Modi suddenly arrived in Lahore on a surprise ‘hurricane’ goodwill visit to personally greet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his birthday and to make a gracious appearance on his granddaughter’s wedding ceremony. His short …

“Those who kill innocent people are doomed to eternal punishment (25:68-69);” “…whosoever slays an innocent person…it is as if he had slain humanity altogether.” (5:32). HOLY QURAN Terrorism continues to haunt the world with its brutal manifestations in some of the recent tragedies across the globe. The problem is that in the aftermath of 9/11, the detractors of Islam found …

Despite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s unrelenting overtures for peace between India and Pakistan, the two nuclear-armed neighbours remain inextricably tied together in a straight jacket with each mostly looking in the opposite direction while crying hoarse at each other. They just cannot unbuckle themselves in this traditionally “knotty” love affair, and are today the only two countries in the world …

Former Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri deserves praise for rejuvenating the Kashmir issue. Nobody else could do it; not even Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his last two consecutive speeches in the UN General Assembly since he assumed office for his third term. After the nuclear tests in South Asia, first by India and then by Pakistan in May 1998, Kashmir …

This year the nation observed the Defence & Martyrs Day all over the country with unprecedented zeal and solemnity. It was indeed an occasion for acknowledging the supreme sacrifices given by our martyrs and sharing with their families their sense of pride and fortitude. But this was also an occasion to look back and do some real soul-searching to determine …

Pakistan’s emergence on the map of the world as an independent state on August 14, 1947 was, no doubt, the finest hour of our history. Our people saw in it the promise of long-cherished freedom, democracy and prosperity. It was with a sense of supreme satisfaction at the fulfilment of his mission that Quaid-e-Azam told the nation in his last …

Finally, the Iran nuclear deal is a reality now. It resolves the long-brewing crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. The West led by the US had been harbouring grave reservations about its avowed peaceful nature, accusing Iran of clandestinely seeking to make a nuclear bomb. On its part, Iran always denied these allegations insisting its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes …

Whether we like it or not, India’s Narendra Modi is in the driver’s seat at least in controlling the ‘temperature’ in Islamabad. He just has to ask his ministers to utter a few irresponsible words to instantly bring us into a ‘reactive’ mode as was seen in recent weeks with our government and media both quickly joining in the war …

Before his arrival on his maiden visit to Pakistan in April, President Xi Jinping of China sent an exceptionally warm message to the people of Pakistan: “When I was young, I heard many touching stories about Pakistan and the friendship between our two countries. To name just a few, I learned that the Pakistani people were working hard to build …

“Nothing goes off suddenly; even the earthquakes set in motion from the depth of the earth to the rooftops of villages.” This line from a poem written two decades ago by a renowned Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti was reflective of his frustration over the long-brewing political morbidity and authoritarian culture in the Arab world which he predicted will one day …