Posted By Faheem Belharvi The start of the year has brought the withdrawal of US-led international troops from Afghanistan one step closer. This year will be pivotal, as it becomes ever more pressing to shore up the security situation in the Central Asian country and arrange the details of the transition that leads up to next year’s withdrawal. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is paying a visit to the United S ...

Prpfessor Ali Sukhanver According to the New York Times, an ex-CIA officer Mr. John C. Kiriakou is scheduled to be sentenced to 30 months in prison as part of a plea deal in which he admitted violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by e-mailing the name of a covert C.I.A officer to a freelance reporter. The paper says Mr. Kiriakou, 48, earned numerous commendations in nearly 15 years at the C.I ...

Asif Haroon Raja The MQM averse to sitting on opposition benches has remained in power five times since 1985. Although the most dominant party in Karachi, its vote bank in Karachi never crossed the figure of 8 lacs but suddenly shot up to 25 lacs in 2008 elections. Consequently, its seats in Sindh and federal governments increased significantly. PPP-MQM alliance, although a marriage of convenience, has rema ...

Posted by Faheem Belharvi President Karzai of Afghanistan wrapped up his 5-day state visit to India on 13th of December on an insignificant note. He utilized major part of his visit to plead Indian business community to invest more in Afghanistan. India has already pledged US $2 billion for development in Afghanistan with particular focus on extraction of huge mineral deposits. India capitalized on his visi ...

By Sajjad Shaukat When during the Musharraf regime, Pakistan government initiated the construction of Gwadar deep-seaport in the Balochistan province in March 2002 with Chinese assistance, a siren went off in the capitals of the United States, India and Israel. The US took it as a threat to its global plans, and India felt that it threatened its integrity. Israel also took it as a greater threat from an Isl ...

By Brian Fung Tokyo officials are relying on retirees and aging ships to fill a temporary shortfall in coast guard manpower -- a move that reveals the broader limits of Japan's capabilities. As China keeps extending its interests abroad, some predict that neighboring countries will form a coalition to counter it. Any of three states could take the lead on building such an alliance: India, South Korea, or Ja ...

By Patrick O’Connor Marking the first US drone attacks of 2013, the Obama administration ordered two separate missile bombardments in Pakistan and Yemen on Wednesday and Thursday. The latest attacks demonstrate that the drawdown of US-led occupying forces in Afghanistan will be accompanied by an expansion of illegal drone operations across the Middle East. At least 16 people were reported killed, all allege ...

Book Review: Kavneet Singh M.K.Dhar a Bengali Brahmin of East Pakistani extraction tells his tale of 29 years of serving in the India’s Intelligence Bureau while being a field operator. Armed with a degree in Journalism Dhar joined the Indian Police service in 1965. He eventually got inducted into the Intelligence Bureau (IB) based on his professional service. Chapter 1-9: Dhar in these several chapters wea ...