By Usman Khalid, Director Rifah Institute of Foreign Affairs (RIFA) Not many people know that Hindus are a minority in India. The number of those within the fold of chaturvarna i.e. four castes (Brahmin, Kashatri, Vesh and Shudara) are no more than 15% of the population of India – the same as the Muslims. The original inhabitants of India are treated as ‘untouchables’ like the shudras but their number is 65 ...

Posted by Sumera Noor Stating that previous sanctions were not really hurting Iran, realizing that China and Russia will not support approval of any more sanctions in the UNSC, the USA and EU have announced fresh sanctions hitting Iran’s oil exports. The US President Barak Obama has announced freezing of Iran governments’ assets held or traded in the US. These sanctions also included blocks on Central Bank ...

Posted by Faheem Belharvi Both India and Pakistan must have to be on the track of dialogues to ensure to overcome the challenges into their future ties through sincere and sustainable efforts. It is only through direct talks that both the countries could manage to come out of their problematic relationship and take benefits from each other’s potentials in wider interests of the entire region. In the backdro ...

Asif Haroon Raja Few thousands fighters under Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbadin Hikmatyar have been fighting the occupation forces and ANSF for twelve years. The resistance forces consider ANSF and ruling regime led by Karzai as collaborators while the latter view the Taliban as extremists and anti-democratic. The US punished them for collaborating with Al-Qaeda. Failing to defeat ...

Posted by  Toba Singh Anti-Pakistan forces including India and its foreign collaborators have made a sinister move and launched propaganda campaign to poison the minds of people of Gilgit-Baltistan by distorting history. Gilgit-Baltistan (BG) is integral part of Pakistan, and the people are as patriotic and brave as people of other regions of Pakistan. They had fought against Indian forces and were able to ...

Posted by Tommy Francis Trade resumed after a 20-day hiatus when six Pakistani trucks carrying goods crossed into Indian administered Kashmir last Tuesday (29 January), according to an official. Reportedly, halt was sparked by deadly clashes on the Line of Control earlier this month, followed by accusations of aggression and breach of peace by India and Pakistan against each other. Talking about the Line of ...

By James Shinn A failing economy, Islamic radicalism and a growing nuclear arsenal make the country a potential hotbed of tail risk. As investors scramble for yield in markets awash with central bank liquidity, their eyes continue to be drawn toward the glitter of emerging markets, including those in the Middle East and South Asia, where I’ve been trolling for the past few weeks to probe the links between p ...

Posted by Faheem Belharvi In South Asia, the issue of Jammu and Kashmir has the main catalyst of, “militarization, open and protracted wars, extremism, and underdevelopment.” Northern Areas of Pakistan, renamed as, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), being part of disputed Kashmir state, remained affected for quite some time. This huge landmass and geographically mountainous region of 72,971 square kilometers is sparsel ...