Sponsoring peace and reconciliation
Two weeks ago, when Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Iran, I used this space to appeal for Pakistan to play a proactive leadership role in helping these two…
Pakistan and the Saudi coalition
Pakistan’s foreign policy managers, including the prime minister, the advisor on foreign policy, the foreign secretary and indeed the spokesperson, had all initially contributed to confusion over Pakistan’s involvement in…
A reason to join the fight fairly
The unsettling if confounding assault on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot came a day after Pakistan’s powerful military chief Gen Raheel Sharif set 2016 as the year to…
Losing the moment
In the last few months Pakistan had the chance to take advantage of a very rare and golden opportunity in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. The concessions offered to Pakistan by Afghan President…
Zero-sum squared
Former foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri’s tome titled Neither a Hawk nor a Dove is finally out. The current toxicity in Pakistan-India relations renders it only more relevant. As it…
The concept of engagement in contemporary US diplomacy
Modern diplomacy is conducted in a world of rapidly evolving global challenges: the spreading dangers of weapons of mass destruction; new and more malignant forms of terrorism; regional and sectarian…
A message from Lausanne
I saw this photograph on Twitter: an Iranian man kisses the TV screen in his home as US Secretary of State is speaking. How did this become possible? Well, this…
King Salman keeps close hand on oil in remodelling strategic team
Saudi Arabia's subtle change of energy policymaker line-up since the accession of new King Salman in late January appears to give the monarch's inner circle a firmer hand on the…
Good governance
Pathetic show by Pakistan at the ICC World Cup 2015 has saddened the whole nation so much so that in an unprecedented wave of anger and anguish all segments of…
US and Saudi Arabia uneasy allies in turbulent Middle East
Long-standing ties between the United States, the world's oldest democracy, and Saudi Arabia, an ultra-conservative Islamic absolute monarchy, have strained at times, but the unlikely allies remain bound by mutual…
