Author: Uzma Ehtasham
Uzma Ehtasham
Uzma Ehtasham is a seasoned diplomatic correspondent and columnist, known for her insightful analysis of international affairs and nuanced reporting for leading newspapers. Her work bridges global events and local perspectives, providing readers with clear, informed, and engaging commentary.
By Uzma Ehtasham In recent months, tensions between India and Pakistan have taken on a dimension that extends beyond the usual political and military rhetoric, entering a domain that strikes at the very lifeblood of both nations: water. The dispute over the Indus River basin, which sustains millions of lives and underpins agricultural economies across the subcontinent, has now become a focal point for what Islamabad describes as a deliberate campaign of “hydraulic aggression” by New Delhi. The most recent flashpoint is a hydropower project on the Chenab River, a development that Pakistan warns could have profound downstream implications for…
By Uzma Ehtasham KARACHI: A ceremony marking the birth anniversary of Hazrat Ali (AS) and the “World Day of Resistance” was held at the Iranian consulate in Karachi, where speakers paid tribute to the “martyrs of Quds” and reaffirmed their support. Welcoming the guests, Iran’s Consul General in Karachi, Akbar Eissa Zadeh, said the resistance front had not weakened but had instead entered what he called a new phase that would produce “meaningful results”. He argued that the Muslim world had no alternative path to progress and higher goals except resistance. Eissa Zadeh said Iran would continue its political, legal…
By Uzma Ehtasham KARACHI: The Karachi Press Club has expressed profound concern and strongly condemned a growing wave of violent attacks, vandalism and arson targeting major media organizations in Bangladesh, including the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star. It has also voiced serious alarm over the reported harassment of senior journalist and editor of New Age, Nurul Kabir. The KPC said it was deeply troubled by reports that since the transition to an interim government, more than 100 journalists have been detained on serious charges without due process. The detention of journalists without trial, it said, creates a…
By Uzma Ehtasham Foreign Office has offered a careful, measured statement on several pressing international and regional issues, highlighting the country’s complex diplomatic posture and the delicate balancing act it maintains in a turbulent neighborhood. Speaking at a routine weekly press briefing, the spokesperson clarified that Islamabad and London do not share a formal extradition treaty. Yet, he emphasized, this does not preclude the two nations from engaging in discussions on individual cases. In practice, routine requests for extradition continue to be processed, with officials able to pursue bilateral conversations on a case-by-case basis, underscoring that while a binding legal…
By Uzma Ehtasham KARACHI: Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy introduced a new cohort of Pakistan’s emerging women directors at a ceremony hosted by the British Deputy High Commission in Karachi, showcasing films she said reflected the power of women-led storytelling. The event drew a wide diplomatic and cultural audience, including US consul general Charles Goodman, British deputy high commissioner Mark Bailey, and Japan’s consul general Hattori Masaru. Senior representatives from the British Council, including director Leila Jamil and country director James Hampson, as well as leading names from Pakistan’s film and fashion industries, also attended. The ceremony marked the seventh edition…
By Uzma Ehtasham Pakistan’s warnings of “hydrological terrorism” appeared to crystalize last week when India released a surge of water into the Chenab River, sending flows soaring to 58,300 cubic feet per second. The sudden torrent inundated fields across Punjab, putting the country’s wheat crop at serious risk and provoking alarm among farmers who were just days away from harvest. For Pakistan’s officials, the timing of the release—unrelated to monsoon rains or any unusual weather event—lent the act the appearance of deliberate sabotage. The subsequent plan by India to refill its upstream dams only heightened anxieties that the Chenab’s waters…
By Uzma Ehtasham There are moments in diplomacy when a statement is far more than words; it becomes a mirror reflecting deeper anxieties, historical grievances, and ideological fears. Pakistan’s latest pronouncement, issued by its foreign office in Islamabad, is precisely such a moment. Officially, it responded to unusually sharp comments by India’s external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, who criticized Pakistan’s institutions. On the surface, it was a formal rebuttal, insisting that Pakistan remains a responsible state whose armed forces and institutions safeguard its sovereignty. Yet beneath the measured phrasing, the statement conveys something far weightier: a profound unease over the…
By Uzma Ehtasham Turkey’s reported plans to establish a combat drone manufacturing facility in Pakistan mark a significant chapter in the deepening defence relationship between the two countries, revealing both strategic foresight and a shared ambition to enhance indigenous military capabilities. According to Bloomberg, Ankara intends not only to supply components for stealth and long-range drones to Pakistan for local assembly but also to involve Islamabad in its fifth-generation fighter jet program. While such announcements are still at the stage of discussion, Turkish officials familiar with the plan have described talks as constructive and ongoing, highlighting a mutual commitment to…
By Uzma Ehtasham President Asif Ali Zardari has formally approved a historic restructuring of Pakistan’s military leadership, appointing Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as both the Chief of Army Staff and the country’s first-ever Chief of Defence Forces (CDF). At the same time, Chief of Air Staff Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu has been granted a two-year extension. Acting on a summary submitted by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the decision places Munir at the helm of Pakistan’s newly unified military command for five years, signaling a landmark step towards integrated strategic planning and operational cohesion across the armed services. The creation…
By Uzma Ehtasham The testimony of Adeela Baloch, the young nurse accused of planning a suicide attack on behalf of the Baloch Liberation Army, did more than puncture the carefully crafted mythology of an insurgent movement. It forced a reckoning with the darker, hidden economies of coercion that have long sat beneath the rhetoric of resistance in Balochistan. When she spoke publicly last year, first in an interview with Al-Nahar TV and later in a strikingly long and uneasy press conference, she offered a narrative that felt at odds with the heroic portraits militants prefer to paint of themselves. Here…