From Astana to Amritsar
On April 26, Kazakhstan hosted the third Ministerial Conference of neighbours and ‘near-neighbours’ of Afghanistan (somewhat awkwardly designated as the ‘Heart of Asia’ countries) within the framework of the so-called…
Global offshore money maze
All responsible governments in recent years have shown commitment to retrieving looted money by their citizens, but in Pakistan the PPP-led government during its five-year-tenure (2008-2013) acted as the main…
Is Pakistan sinking?
The question of Pakistan’s viability as a state is at least as old as the country itself. Recently a sobering article written by a former American ambassador to Pakistan has…
Everything’s almost free in Spain’s parallel barter economy
There are neither salespeople nor cash counters in the "free shop" in an abandoned block of flats in Madrid. Anyone can walk in, drop off goods they no longer use,…
The rise of India
Can India become a great power? This question is taken up by the weekly Economist in its March 27 edition. New Delhi, as the weekly sees it, has the potential…
Of distant dreams and false myths
The goodwill Indians and Pakistanis manifest for each other can vanish in a jiffy when the hate-mongers on both sides get going. The ensuing slanging match usually takes the form…
Not a perfect world
TheIran-Pakistan pipeline is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Islamabad and Tehran have signed an agreement to press ahead with the project and Tadbir Energy has offered…
Hope on the wane
Tragic as the recent loss of soldiers on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) is, the other significant casualty has been plummeting public confidence in the ability of…
The evolving scenarios
Afzal Guru’s secret hanging on Saturday, conventional laws of dialectics direct us to believe, has spawned multi-layered linkages, ranging from corrosive domestic politics to high military strategy. Of these perhaps…
Kargil lows
Gen (r) Shahid Aziz’s effort to ‘disclose’ an open secret has brought the Kargil conflict back into focus. Finding out who knew what and to what extent is certainly important.…
