Author: admin
Pakistan’s trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has long been described in Islamabad’s economic circles as a relationship full of promise yet stubbornly short of fulfilment. The numbers themselves tell a familiar story: trade volume in 2024 reached $11.5 billion, an improvement on previous years but still a fraction of what officials insist is possible. Behind the headline figure lies a deeper reality of missed chances, structural weaknesses and policy hesitations that continue to define one of Pakistan’s most underdeveloped regional partnerships. Even as the political rhetoric of “Look East” gains renewed life every few years, the…
The dramatic crash of India’s Tejas fighter jet at the Dubai Air Show has cast a long, unflattering shadow over the country’s defence manufacturing ambitions. As the aircraft plummeted in flames before the eyes of an international audience, the tragedy not only claimed the life of the pilot but also reignited a debate that has lingered quietly in defence circles for years: the technical reliability and operational viability of the Tejas program. The Tejas, often touted in Indian official rhetoric as a symbol of domestic ingenuity and self-reliance, has long been a source of both pride and scrutiny. In reality,…
The gathering of Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders in Moscow offered Pakistan a fresh reminder of how deeply its regional fortunes hinge on diplomacy rather than on the lonely comfort of strategic isolation. For Islamabad, the summit was never only about the official speeches delivered beneath chandeliers and national flags. It was, as so often in these multilateral settings, the corridor conversations and carefully choreographed meetings on the sidelines that carried the real weight. Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, arrived in Moscow not simply to participate, but to reassert the country’s place in a region where alliances…
US President Donald Trump’s extraordinary claim that India was once again on the verge of launching a war on Pakistan has reopened a long-standing wound in South Asian politics — one that is kept alive as much by political theatre as by genuine military peril. Trump, speaking casually alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, seemed almost eager to present himself as a man who had single-handedly prevented global catastrophe. Yet behind his boast that he “stopped eight major wars”, and behind his assertion that he halted not only the last Pakistan-India confrontation but “the war…
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, arrived in Washington this week for high-stakes talks with President Donald Trump, marking his first visit to the United States since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The meeting, widely anticipated in both diplomatic and business circles, signaled Riyadh’s determination to reset and expand its engagement with Washington across defence, technology and investment, while also underscoring the complexities of regional security dynamics. Trump personally greeted the crown prince outside the White House, shaking hands as senior officials from both countries lined the entrance. A fighter jet fly-past marked the start of the…