Pakistan

Pakistan’s top diplomat on Saturday publicly stated for the first time that his ministry had severed ties with Afghanistan’s national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, over incendiary remarks about its southern neighbor that undermined regional peace efforts. Shah Mehmood Qureshi made the disclosure a week after a highly placed Pakistani official …

The United States (US) has now expedited its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, with the US Central Command officials saying that 4-6% of the process has already been accomplished with the full withdrawal deadline set for September 11, 2021 by US President Joe Biden. However, as the US leaves after two …

Three Pakistani soldiers were killed and five wounded in two attacks on military vehicles by unknown assailants Sunday night. Both attacks took place in Balochistan, the Montana-sized province in the southwest of Pakistan where Baloch nationalist groups have waged a decadeslong campaign for independence. The insurgency, which has seen an …

Pakistani chief of army staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince, deputy prime minister and minister of defense of Saudi Arabia, and reviewed bilateral relations, Saudi state news agency SPA reported. Bajwa arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Pakistani prime …

Pakistan has had a long and complicated relationship with terrorism, but the recent Aman-21 naval exercise hosted by Pakistan is evidence of its military multilateralism. Multilateralism is the participation in and organisation of relations between three or more states in pursuance of common goals, and this concept underpinned the recent …

In late February, India and Pakistan announced a cease-fire along their de facto border in the contested region of Kashmir. In a joint statement, the two countries’ military authorities said that there will be a “strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing,” while also claiming they will seek …

The decision by India and Pakistan to ‘cease firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and all other sectors’, with effect from the midnight of February 25, 2021, is being seen as an important thaw in the bilateral relationship that was at an all-time low.1 The decision came about after …

Mehmood Ghaznavi remembers rejecting the case of a Pakistani Christian girl converting to Islam for marriage four years ago. “She knew nothing about Kalma [the Islamic proclamation of faith], there was no inspiration. I suggested she study the Quran and the life of the Prophet Muhammad before marrying her Muslim …

In its Plenary held on February 22, 24, 25, 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decided to retain Pakistan in its listing of Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring – the ‘grey list’ – along with 18 other countries. Pakistan has been on the ‘grey list’ since June 2018.

Militant attacks are on the rise in Pakistan amid a growing religiosity that has brought greater intolerance, prompting one expert to voice concern the country could be overwhelmed by religious extremism. Pakistani authorities are embracing strengthening religious belief among the population to bring the country closer together. But it’s doing …