Afghanistan transitions into a new phase after the withdrawal of the US forces, the fear of a destabilized Afghanistan and the looming threat of a humanitarian crisis have heightened the potential challenges for the neighboring states. For Pakistan, stability in Afghanistan mean stability in Pakistan. Therefore, Pakistan have not only pledged direct humanitarian assistance but also sensitizing the world to […]

The Iranian special envoy for Afghanistan expressed Tehran’s readiness for joint investment programs in various fields in the neighboring country, such as the mining industry, energy and agriculture. Hassan Kazemi Qomi held separate meetings with acting minister of foreign affairs of the Taliban, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Minister of Energy Mulla Abdul Latif Mansur in Kabul. The Iranian envoy and […]

In October 2020, as a petition asking for the Thai king to be declared persona non grata in Germany started to gain traction, the Thai government blocked access to the site, Change.org. That same month, the government also asked Internet providers to curb access to Telegram, an encrypted chat app, to prevent protesters from using it to mobilise. With a […]

Pakistan’s Taliban movement, led by its most vicious and largest group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and apparently buoyed by the recent triumph of their ethnic Pashtun cousins in Afghanistan, is revitalizing its strategy either for regional autonomy or to overthrow Pakistan’s government and replace it with an Islamic Emirate of Pakistan — a Pashtunistan made up of Pashtuns, an ethnic group […]

Nation states are habitually doomed to defeat their best interests. Conditions of mad instability are fostered. Arms sales take place, regimes get propped up or abandoned, and the people under them endure and suffer, awaiting the next criminal regime change. Nothing is more counter-intuitive than the effort to isolate, cripple and strangulate the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. For all the […]

On January 26, 2022, Provincial Assembly Member Ashok Yadav was injured when cadres of the C.K. Raut-led Janamat Party attacked his vehicle in front of the Janaki temple in Janakpurdham city of Dhanusa District. Yadav’s vehicle was attacked and vandalized by Janamat Party cadres in front of the Janaki temple while he was going to cast his vote in the […]

On February 20, 2022, two Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion in Wangoo Tera area of Kakching District. On February 12, 2022, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was detonated inside the Ukhrul Forest Division Office in the Phungreitang area of Ukhrul town. No casualty was reported in the incident. On February 11, 2022, […]

Entering its second year, the Biden administration has failed to produce a coherent economic policy for the Indo-Pacific. Meanwhile, two major regional trade agreements are moving forward. US businesses and workers will increasingly suffer from legal economic discrimination from these new regional trade rules of the road — the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional […]

Meezan Bank (MEBL) has reported its highest ever quarterly profit of Rs8.8 billion (EPS: Rs5.4) 4Q2021, up 115%YoY. The earnings remained higher than industry expectation due to strong growth in Net spread earned and other income. Net spread earned during 4Q2021 was reported at Rs20.4 billion, up 35%YoY led by strong deposit growth and increasing low cost deposits. On QoQ […]

The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service said that Afghanistan is becoming a hotbed for terrorism. A British man was one of two suspected ISIS recruits caught while trying to enter Afghanistan this month. Ken McCallum, the director general of MI5, said the service has evidence of terrorist groups regrouping in Afghanistan and recruits are travelling to join them. In […]