Kazakhstan is holding a referendum to amend the country’s constitution amid criticism the proposed changes wouldn’t reform the nature of the authoritarian regime despite government attempts to present the overhaul as bringing democratic reforms. Kazakh activists have called on President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to postpone the June 5 plebiscite, saying people were not given enough time to study the 56 proposed […]

When a suicide bomber killed three Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver several weeks ago in Karachi, China–Pakistan relations were already being tested by Pakistan’s economic troubles and political instability, as well as the broader US–China rivalry. The attack — claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army, a secular, ethnic Baloch separatist organisation seeking to secede from Pakistan and eliminate China’s […]

On broaching the issue of religious radicalisation in Kashmir, the stock reply is that this is sheer propaganda as there’s no such thing here. This reply is invariably followed by a lengthy monologue on the inimitable and age-old ‘Sufi [Muslim ascetic] -Reshi’ [Hindu sage] culture this region boasts of, which being pluralistic and extremely tolerant in character, blocks ingress of […]

Waqf is a charitable endowment permanently dedicated by an individual to (Allah) God to provide services to the community. It is perpetual which means ‘once a waqf always a waqf’ and it cannot be alienated. The institution of Muslim endowments Kashmir was first established under the name of ‘Idara auqaf islamia and later Muslim Auqaf Trust and then as Jammu […]

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok Pakistan has renewed its commitment to a peaceful and sovereign Afghanistan, saying it is not playing the role of a spoiler in the neighbouring country. Pakistan was constantly raising its concerns over rising terrorism and cross-Durand Line attack, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said. Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Friday, he said the objective behind […]

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, said despite problems and obstacles created by opponents of the Islamic Emirate, the IEA must also fight false propaganda being spread by these anti-IEA elements. Speaking at a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, Stanikzai said opposition groups are trying to drive […]

The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) Management Committee and the World Bank this week approved three projects totaling $793 million that will provide urgent and essential food, livelihood, and health services to the people of Afghanistan. According to a statement issued by the World Bank, all three projects will be implemented off-budget out of the interim government’s control, through United […]

The Pakistani Taliban said Thursday they have indefinitely extended a cease-fire with the government in Islamabad, following two days of talks with a delegation of Pakistani tribal elders that were hosted by the Afghan Taliban. According to Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan group or TTP, the decision was made after “substantial progress” in the talks with […]

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are maintaining close ties with al-Qaida as they consolidate control over the country, and their main military threat is coming from the Islamic State extremist group and guerrilla-style attacks by former Afghan government security personnel, U.N. experts said in a new report. The experts said in the report to the U.N. Security Council that with the onset […]

The United States shares Tajikistan’s desire to see the emergence of a peaceful political process in which all of Afghanistan’s communities take part, Washington’s special envoy, Thomas West, said on Thursday. West made the remarks after visiting Tajikistan where he met with senior local officials including President Emomali Rahmon. He said that Tajikistan has a long and mountainous border with […]