Democracy, Disorder, and the Battle for Renewal On January 15, 2026, Senior leader Gagan Kumar Thapa was elected President of the Nepali Congress (NC) unopposed during the party’s second Special General Convention (SGC) held at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu. The SGC was convened with the backing of over 60 per cent of general convention delegates. Election Committee Coordinator Sitaram KC announced […]

India has decisively entered a phase of problematic communal politics that is steadily limiting its rational and intellectual foundations. The consequences are visible not only in electoral outcomes but also in the cultural and educational regression that accompanies this shift. The systematic delegitimisation of Urdu, falsely portrayed as a non-Indian or alien language, exemplifies this. Such politics is not merely […]

Eight soldiers from the Indian Army were injured during an extended gunfight with suspected militants in Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir. The encounter began during a search operation by the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police, targeting militants linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammad group. Kishtwar Encounter: Eight Indian Army soldiers were injured Sunday in a prolonged gunfight with suspected militants in […]

India’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that the Taliban-appointed diplomat has assumed duties as chargé d’affaires at Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the appointment followed India’s decision to upgrade its technical mission in Kabul after a visit to India by Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. “As you are aware, when the Afghan foreign […]

For Saudi Arabia, the surprise mutual defense pact signed last week with Pakistan during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Riyadh is a double deterrence tool. The Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) “states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both”, and “aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen […]

Is the new Turkish-Saudi-Pakistani defense pact an attempt at an Islamic NATO or a strategic self-sabotage? The idea of a budding “Islamic NATO” under Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia might seem bold and fresh in a period of Middle Eastern “realignment.” But don’t dismiss it out of hand as the emergence of a symbolic new regional alliance: the trilateral convergence […]

Brazil’s decision to allow a Chinese military hospital ship to dock in Rio de Janeiro could provide a case study of how Beijing is expanding its naval presence in the Western Hemisphere. It also demonstrates how regional powers are dealing with the pressures arising from the intensifying competition between the United States and China. This past fall, China requested authorization […]

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that Islamabad has “complete evidence” of close ties between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA) and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “There is a close relationship between the TTP and the TTA. You say there is no link, but we have complete evidence,” Sharif told a meeting of religious scholars. “All kinds of facilities are […]

Visiting Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir meets with Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Maged Saqar and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ahmed Khalifa Fatehi Pakistan and Egypt on Thursday discussed bilateral defense cooperation and regional security, said an official statement. Visiting Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir met with Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Maged Saqar and […]

Both want to “save face” after Israel’s attack on Qatar and remind fellow Muslims about the importance of more intra-Ummah military-technical cooperation, not set the stage for an Israeli-Pakistani nuclear standoff or Saudi Arabia imposing an oil embargo on India like some suspect. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan just signed a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” (SMDA). According to their joint statement, […]