Pak Affairs

The joy of a celebration depends on its reasonableness; for emotional people, there is little room for reason. The news of grant of GSP Plus status to Pakistan by the EU in December 2013 overwhelmed the Pakistani media who, for many weeks, defined and dissected its tone. But, the outcome opinion wasn’t unanimous rather it was divided as some celebrated …

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.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the eight goals of progress to be achieved by the year 2015. In 2000, 189 states endorsed these goals following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. They are meant to establish trends in primary education, maternal health, gender empowerment, infant mortality, extreme hunger and poverty, environmental sustainability, global partnerships for development, and …

At a time when civilian Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) need to have very clear aims and objectives and concentrate on security and curbing terrorism in Pakistan, Punjab Police is compelled to divorce its main counterterrorism unit. Designers have decided to transfer the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) from Central Police office and place it under the Home Department of the province. …

Before discussing the terms ‘evil’ and ‘menace’, it is indispensible to define the terms ‘imperialism’ and ‘terrorism’. The word terror and terrorism have become nearly-synonymous to our daily lives. These two terms are not new for us, but still ambiguous. Succinctly, imperialism is the process whereby powerful countries try to extend their power and increase their wealth by bringing the …

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh recently stated that “the contract for supplying gas to Pakistan is likely to be annulled,” and cited Pakistan’s inability to pay for the cost of laying the pipeline as the major impediment to its implementation. His assessment was based on the government of Pakistan’s recent request to the Iranian government to extend financial assistance …

It is commonly said that crises bring with them a set of challenges and opportunities alike. But, in order to convert these challenges into opportunities, a dynamic and visionary leadership broad-based consensus on, and unshakeable faith in, the national purpose. In the absence of a clear direction, crises only culminate in confounding the confusion and sharpening the already existing divides. …

There is a Chinese saying: If one is facing hundred problems then he should solve the least one first so the number of problems is reduced to ninety-nine. One must continue defeating lesser evils and soon there will be dozens of challenges left to tackle. The shorter the list the better it is. No matter how big the few challenges …

Pakistan’s electronic media has made huge strides in the last one decade. Today this industry has a massive structure and thousands of journalists, executives and technical professionals are directly or indirectly part of it. Whereas Pakistani media may appear less glossy, less liberal or colourful as compared to its Indian counterpart, it is certainly more developed, deeper and robust than …

The 18th Amendment, that was hailed by all and sundry as a step in the right direction, has rather curiously contributed to the ethnic divide within the provinces. The devolution plan, designed to be administratively effective, has become a victim of political partisanship and nationalist politics. If this be the case then the devolution plan cuts at the heart of …