By Asif Haroon Raja Pakistan is caught up in a paradoxical situation. The US as well as the unity government in Kabul have been pressing Pakistan to convince the Afghan Taliban to come to the negotiating table and help in restoring peace in war torn Afghanistan. At the same time they do not want Pakistan to maintain contacts with Taliban and are urging it to fight them. Last year, with great efforts Pakista ...

نغمہ حبیب پاکستان سالوں سے دہشت گردوں اور دہشت گردی کے خلاف بر سرپیکار ہے۔ اس کے شمال میں واقع افغانستان گزشتہ چالیس سال سے عالمی طاقتوں کا میدان جنگ بنا ہوا ہے یہاں مختلف ممالک اور نسلوں کے لوگ لاکر بسائے گئے اور انہیں اپنے اپنے مفاد کے لیے استعمال کیا گیا۔ افغانستان سے لاکھوں لوگ ہجرت کرکے پاکستان آگئے اور یہی کے ہوکے رہے کم از کم اب تک تو ایسے کوئی آثار نظر نہیں آرہے کہ یہ مہاجر اپنے ملک واپس چلے جائیں ا ...

By Sajjad Shaukat Trust deficit has deepened between Pakistan and the US since May 21, 2016, when the CIA-operated drone strike killed the Chief of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansour along with his poor taxi-driver Azam in Nushki, Balochistan. On June 10, this year, a high-level delegation of the US, including Gen. John Nicholson, Commander Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, and Ambassador Richa ...

by Brig® Mehboob Qadir Mothers Day came quietly this year among a series of commemorative days which followed each other in succession quick enough to leave hardly any footprint in their wake .Then there is that ever present maddening turmoil around us which degrades and badly dilutes one’s power of reflective thinking. It is a terrible tragedy of our times that even our considered thoughts have also become ...

By Sajjad Shaukat With national zeal and fervour in different parts of the country, Youm-e-Takbeer (The day of greatness) is celebrated every year on May 28 as a national day to mark the conduction of nuclear tests when on the very day in 1998; Pakistan became the first Muslim and the 7th nuclear power in the world. While showing aggressive designs, on May 11, 1998, the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Behar ...

By Asif Haroon Raja The US-India-Afghan government (govt) nexus has been the root cause of Afghan instability. While the US initiated war on terror in October 2001 to defeat and eliminate terrorism from the face of the earth, and utterly failed to do so, the trio has also been outwardly pleading for peace since 2011 when force failed to cow down the Taliban. Pakistan has been the biggest victim of instabili ...

By Sajjad Shaukat [caption id="attachment_14420" align="alignright" width="300"] An FARDC colonel fix a medal on pakistani MONUSCO contingents during medal parade of Pak Batt 1 et Pak Avn Unit 2 in Bukavu, the 28th of September 2013. © MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti[/caption] Every year, International Day of United Nations (UN) Peacekeepers is celebrated on May 29 to pay tribute to all those who served in the UN p ...

By Asif Haroon Raja Terrorism was pushed into Pakistan from Afghanistan by the ones who had engineered 9/11 and initiated war on terror in October 7, 2001. Pakistan was made an ally to capture Afghanistan but was then forced to fight against its own people on its soil. Terrorist groups in FATA and Baluchistan and a political party in Karachi were fully supported by foreign powers to destabilize Pakistan and ...