January 2014

News one way or the other keep pouring in just to add insult to our injuries. On December 12, just days before the Fall of Dhaka anniversary, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh leader and a pro-Pakistan politician Abdul Quader Molla was hanged. Bangladeshi government accused Mollah of atrocities during the country’s independence war. He had been found guilty in February by a much-criticised, …

For over three decades, Iran and the US have been blood enemies. Their hatred, like the hatred between the Palestinians and the Israelis, has framed the Middle East’s alliances and fuelled terror and war. Though the interim deal over Iran’s nuclear programme has not undone that, yet it offers a glimpse of a different, better Middle East. This deal can …

The year 2014 is likely to unfold yet another testing time for Afghanistan. The withdrawal of US forces from the country would end a 12-year-long US garrison in Afghanistan.

Iran has positioned itself as an important regional actor in Central Asia and is committed to playing a role in neighbouring Afghanistan. As US troops draw down their numbers in Afghanistan, Washington should consider how improved US-Iranian relations could further long-term US policy goals in Afghanistan and in the region.

Seldom, if ever, has a rookie political party’s success in assembly become such a talking point and a cause for nationwide euphoria… But that’s exactly what activist Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party’s stunning show felt across India’s impressive showing — winning 28 out of 70 seats in the Delhi polls — seems to have done.” Times of India.

During my last visit to the US, I found from a ‘trash yard sale’ a book entitled “America’s Stake in Asia” written in 1968 by Drew Middleton, a renowned foreign correspondent, first for Associated Press, and later for The New York Times who covered the World War II from D-Day to V-Day and several subsequent developments in Africa and Asia …

“We will remain committed to help Pakistan’s civilian government as well as security forces in dealing with terrorism”

The strategic environment around Pakistan is evolving and changing rapidly. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s internal environment remains unchanged and, if it is evolving, then so far there are no signs that it is evolving in the right direction.