During a routine meeting with President Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet members last week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei (“Imam Khamenei”) urged the Indian government to “adopt a just policy towards the noble people of Kashmir and refrain from oppressing and bullying the Muslim people” in this region. These statements have officially clarified how Tehran views New Delhi’s unilateral adventurism in the region. Not only has the eerie
On February 16, 2016, two leading Asian newspapers published opposing stories on bilateral talks. The Hindustan Times quoted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Mr Tariq Fatemi that Pakistan was ‘ready to forge cooperative relations with India’. On the other hand, a report by Dawn quoted India’s new High Commissioner to Pakistan Mr Gautam Bambawale saying that the dialogue between both countries would resume ‘once the atmosphere
Over the past few years, we’ve heard news about army operations and Intelligence-Based Operations (IBOs) in KP, Balochistan and Sindh but when it comes to Punjab, the news are either too low or almost all of them talk about covert IBOs. To date, Punjab has never faced any military operation. This exception is not legitimize demands for one anew, but rather to question the motive behind not targeting dangerous militant
Pakistan Armed Forces are fighting an “amorphous” enemy, as former army chief General Kayani used to say. This enemy manifests itself in various forms, at various places and through a variety of mediums. Operation Zarb-e-Azb will complete its second year in coming June and the National Action Plan (NAP) promulgated by the political-military leaders will also complete its second year in December. A key question being asked by observers, analysts
After a prolonged period of drastic reduction in major terrorist attacks, Pakistan is again bleeding. Terrorists associated with the Pakistan Taliban’s (TTP’s) Tariq Geedar group, headed by Umar Mansoor alias “Naray (Slim)”, claimed responsibility for yet another brazen attack on an educational institution. The Bacha Khan University (BKU) in Charsadda was attacked on the morning of January 20 by a group of killers who looked almost the same age as
On January 2, 2016, a group of 5 heavily-armed terrorists attacked the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Pathankot, Punjab, killing 7 security personnel including a serving Lt Col of the Indian Army. India’s hyper-sensationalist media once again jumped to conclusions, with each news outlet quoting its own ‘high ranking’ anonymous sources giving their own differing versions of the incident. Some said it was carried out by Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) whereas
The recent meeting between NSAs and Foreign Secretaries of nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India in Bangkok caught everyone by surprise. The timing of the meeting, which witnessed participation by other senior officials from both sides, is especially noteworthy. Less than a day after the meeting, it was announced that Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj would be participating in the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference along with a delegation, beginning December