Author: Uzma Ehtasham

By Uzma Ehtasham Pakistan’s newly unveiled federal budget arrives at a moment of considerable economic and political strain. Presented by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in the National Assembly, the Rs18.77 trillion spending plan seeks to balance competing pressures: fiscal discipline, economic recovery, social protection, development needs and rising security concerns. Yet beyond the headline figures and political claims, the central question remains whether this budget can meaningfully improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis who continue to struggle with inflation, stagnant incomes and economic uncertainty. The circumstances surrounding the budget presentation reflected the increasingly polarised nature of Pakistan’s politics. Scenes of…

By Uzma Ehtasham The meeting of the National Economic Council, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has set the framework for Pakistan’s fiscal direction in the coming year, offering a familiar blend of ambition, constraint and careful arithmetic. At its centre lies a decision that appears, at first glance, to preserve continuity: the federal development budget remains fixed at Rs1,000 billion. Yet beneath that stability sits a sharper recalibration of priorities, most visibly in the provinces, where development spending has been cut by Rs920 billion, reducing the combined provincial allocation to Rs3,669 billion. On paper, the approach signals discipline. In…

By Uzma Ehtasham The latest escalation between the United States and Iran has once again demonstrated how quickly the Middle East can be pushed towards a dangerous and unpredictable confrontation. At a time when the region desperately needs stability, economic recovery and diplomatic engagement, renewed military exchanges have instead reinforced fears that a wider conflict may be emerging. The developments of recent days have not only heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran but have also raised broader questions about the effectiveness of international diplomacy and the willingness of major powers to prioritise restraint over force. For decades, relations between the…

By Uzma Ehtasham The uneasy pause now visible between Iran and Israel may temporarily reduce the sound of missiles and airstrikes, but it would be dangerously premature to mistake silence for peace. The latest ceasefire rhetoric emerging from Washington, Tehran and Tel Aviv reveals not stability, but a region suspended in uncertainty, where every statement of restraint is accompanied by another warning of escalation. Behind diplomatic language lies a reality that remains fundamentally unresolved: the Middle East continues to function under a political order shaped less by peace-building than by managed instability. US President Donald Trump’s recent appeal urging Israeli…

By Uzma Ehtasham The violence that erupted in Rawalakot has cast a long and unsettling shadow over Rawalakot and, by extension, the wider political landscape of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The killing of four law enforcement personnel, alongside injuries to more than twenty police and security officials, marks a moment that cannot be easily absorbed into the familiar rhythm of protest politics. It signals something sharper, more corrosive, and more dangerous: the point at which political agitation begins to merge with organised violence, and public grievance risks being reshaped into armed confrontation. According to official accounts, the clashes involved members…

By Umza Ehtasham The ongoing conflict involving the United States, Iran, and Israel has now entered its fourth month, and its cumulative impact is increasingly being felt far beyond the immediate theatre of hostilities. What began as a rapid escalation has developed into a protracted geopolitical confrontation with significant economic and diplomatic consequences. Global markets, already fragile after successive shocks in recent years, have absorbed substantial losses running into the trillions of dollars, while uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on trade flows, energy prices, and investor confidence. Even if hostilities were to subside in the near term, analysts widely expect…

Uzma Ehtasham The question of how the United States should manage its escalating confrontation with Iran has once again drifted into a familiar but increasingly uncomfortable space in Washington: strategic ambiguity. With contradictory signals emerging from the White House, rising tensions in the Middle East, and an unsettled diplomatic track on Iran’s nuclear programme, lawmakers in Congress are being urged to step in more decisively to impose clarity on a policy that appears, to many observers, to be shifting from day to day. At the heart of the current uncertainty is President Donald Trump’s latest remarks on Iran’s nuclear capabilities…

By Uzma Ehtasham The collapse of yet another ceasefire in Gaza has once again exposed how fragile pauses in violence have become in a war that continues to inflict immense human suffering with no clear end in sight. What was once presented as a possible opening towards de-escalation has quickly unraveled, replaced by renewed Israeli air and ground operations and fresh waves of Palestinian casualties. For civilians already exhausted by months of displacement, destruction and grief, the return to open conflict has deepened a sense that temporary truces offer little more than brief relief between cycles of violence. Local authorities…

By Uzma Ehtasham The postponement of Pakistan’s federal budget has once again highlighted the difficult balancing act facing policymakers as they attempt to navigate competing political demands, international financial obligations and growing public frustration over the cost of living. What might appear to be a routine delay in the budget-making process is, in reality, a reflection of deeper structural challenges confronting the country at a moment of significant economic uncertainty. The government had initially planned to present the federal budget on 5 June. However, continuing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and disagreements within the ruling coalition have forced officials…

By Uzma Ehtasham Iran Israel Lebanon crisis escalates reports circulating across regional and international media have pointed to a sudden and fragile recalibration in the Middle East, where claims of backchannel diplomacy, attempted restraint and continued military pressure now overlap in a region already defined by instability and competing narratives. According to these accounts, US President Donald Trump is said to have directly intervened with Israeli leadership in an effort to halt planned military escalation in Lebanon. The reports suggest that Israeli authorities were urged to stop strikes on Beirut and delay any ground expansion. Some narratives further claim that…