Containment of China
A false concept Conventional wisdom suggests that India has been designated by the West as a pivotal link in the containment of China. As explained in this space last week, projection of…
On India’s regional role
Signs of change? Many eyebrows were raised when, in 2006, India voted against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency on a western sponsored resolution regarding Iran’s nuclear program. India, a founding…
The Balochistan Resolution
The dark side of self-determination For someone closely involved in promoting Kashmiri self-determination in the United Nations and other forums, one can imagine the chuckles of satisfaction in the Indian Ministry of…
Iran’s nuclear ambitions
A reality check In several write-ups in this space the undersigned has consistently pleaded for Iran’s right to acquire peaceful nuclear technology. This right is underwritten by the NPT and enshrined in…
The Iranian nuclear crisis
And Israel’s deadly diplomacy Analyses of the events surrounding the Iranian nuclear crisis have tended to focus on the military dimension to the exclusion of the crafty Israeli diplomatic manoeuvrings aimed at…
On the Afghan endgame
Strategic depth vs strategic stability Tentative signals on the opening of serious negotiations for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan now seem to be acquiring concrete shape. According to latest indications, talks between…
Terms of engagement
Priority to Pakistan’s interests In an article, that appeared last Wednesday in this very space, it was observed that with the opening of the Taliban office in Doha the focus will shift…
A change in policy
Talking the walk 2012 opened on a hopeful note for the Af-Pak region leaving behind a difficult year punctuated by serious turmoil in Afghanistan and a major crisis in bilateral ties between…
On the Envoys Conference
What was missed out? Never was a meeting of Pakistani Ambassadors, an otherwise routine affair, given so much publicity as the one held earlier this month. The moot was presented as a…
Nato attacks
One incident; many perspectives Over the past two weeks, the sizeable community of analysts in this country has been grappling with the question as to what was the real cause behind the…
The Mohmand tragedy
What next? It might not be out of place to suggest that the unprovoked attacks on our border posts by NATO gunships are amongst several symptoms of the broader disconnect between Pakistani…
Dos and don’ts
Our envoy in Washington “Our country! …may she always be right; but right or wrong, our country!” is how an American naval officer Stephen Decatur defined his relationship with the state. A…
On Iran’s nuclear crisis
A possible way forward? Now that the furore created by IAEA’S latest report on the Iranian nuclear program has subsided and the sword, temporarily at least, returned to the scabbard the international…
Iran’s nuclear challenge
In its latest report, the International Atomic Energy Agency has delivered a damning critique of the current status of Iran’s nuclear program. While acknowledging that the Agency had found no evidence that…
The muddle continues
Mixed signals emerged during and after Hillary Clinton’s high powered visit to Pakistan last month. Going by the statements made while in Pakistan, objective scrutiny would tend to suggest that the positives…
The superpower embrace
In my article last week, I had tried to draw a distinction between the previous partnerships between Pakistan and the US and the one forged in September 2001. During the previous two…
Pak-US stand-off
The belief that a close relationship with the US automatically assures a strong international standing for Pakistan has been a dominant and abiding theme of our foreign policy. Accrual of substantial benefits…
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