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By Uzma Ehtasham Armenia has halted its planned acquisition of India’s Tejas fighter jets following a dramatic crash at the Dubai Airshow that claimed the life of the aircraft’s pilot, casting a shadow over the indigenous fighter program and its fledgling export ambitions. Negotiations for the $1.2 billion deal, which would have involved the purchase of twelve jets, were underway and marked what would have been the first major international sale of the Tejas aircraft. The suspension of the deal is expected to have significant financial consequences for Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which had supplied critical systems for the jet,…

As winter tightens its icy grip over Afghanistan, the nation stands on the precipice of an unfolding humanitarian tragedy, one whose dimensions are as severe as they are heartbreaking. Across the rugged mountains, sprawling deserts, and dusty urban sprawls, millions of Afghans are confronting the stark reality of life without the basics that many of the world’s citizens take for granted. The season, often a period of quiet endurance, has this year become a cruel magnifier of suffering, exposing the fractures in a country already beleaguered by decades of conflict, political upheaval, and social disruption. For many, the simple act…

The recent attack in Pahalgam has once again cast a grim spotlight on the fragile situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, drawing urgent concern from the United Nations over what it describes as serious human rights violations in the region. While the global community has unequivocally condemned the attack itself, the UN’s focus extends beyond the immediate tragedy, highlighting a pattern of responses by Indian authorities that, according to experts, risk eroding fundamental human rights and international norms. This duality—the imperative to confront terrorism while respecting the rule of law—has rarely felt more pressing. In the aftermath of the Pahalgam assault, Indian…

Pakistan issued a stern rebuke of Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s recent comments suggesting that Sindh, the southeastern province of Pakistan, could one day return to India. The Foreign Office (FO) described Singh’s remarks as “delusional and dangerously revisionist,” warning that such rhetoric threatens regional peace and stability while reflecting an expansionist mindset at odds with international law and the sovereignty of nations. Singh, speaking at a gathering of the Sindhi community in Delhi, claimed that although Sindh is not part of India today, its “civilizational” ties to India remain unbroken. “Who knows, tomorrow Sindh may return to India again,”…

Pakistan has taken a decisive and overdue step to bring both transparency and security to its Afghan transit trade by introducing non-intrusive inspections (NII) for all containers passing through its borders. Instructed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), customs authorities are now equipped to scan 30 percent of imported and exported containers using advanced X-ray and gamma-ray technologies, ensuring goods can be inspected without physically opening the containers. This is not a piecemeal reform. Officials plan to expand the initiative gradually to include non-containerized cargo, signaling a comprehensive overhaul of a system that has long been exploited by smugglers…

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…