The Past In April 2017, Ehsanullah Ehsan, a senior spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] who subsequently joined its breakaway faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar [JuA] supposedly, ‘surrendered’ to Pakistan army. It was a great moment for Rawalpindi and the then Director General [DG] of Pakistan army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor proudly announced how “The state is […]

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has announced a three-week ceasefire, starting from October 2I. The outlawed militant out made the announcement hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government was in talks with TTP. A TTP faction confirmed reconciliation talks with the government were underway. A tribal leader from North Waziristan also verified the negotiations. The Pakistani Taliban are said […]

The Quad grouping will graduate from the last virtual meet of four leaders to the physical summit on September 24, when US President Joe Biden hosted Japanese outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Washington DC. But then Quad has been a doubters’ paradise ever since it was coined due […]

Pakistan has discussed Afghanistan joining the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, the Pakistani ambassador to the country said on Monday. “Regional connectivity is an important element of our discussion with Afghan leadership and our way forward for our economic interaction with Afghanistan,” said Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s envoy to Kabul, in an interview with Reuters. “This important project […]

On September 15, 2021, seven Army soldiers and five terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Asman Manza area of South Waziristan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement, disclosed that the operation was launched on intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the area.

Recently, Pakistan has showcased its achievements in the peaceful uses of nuclear technology at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna. Pakistan presented its achievements in diverse fields such as power generation, health, agriculture, industry and environmental protection. Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Muhammad Naeem and Head of Turkish Nuclear and Mineral Research Agency (TENMAK) […]

To understand the interesting relationship between the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Pakistani Taliban, and the Afghan Taliban, one must peep into history to see how the linkages developed and why the Afghan Taliban are not responding in equal measure to Pakistan’s repeated appeals to take conclusive action against the TTP. Pakistan regards the TTP as a retrograde armed […]

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the world to rally behind Afghanistan’s nascent Taliban government for preserving the progress made by the war-ravaged country over the past two decades and preventing it from turning into a safe haven for terrorists. Speaking at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly via video link, Mr Khan said: “There is […]

Be realistic. Show patience. Engage. And above all, don’t isolate. Those are the pillars of an approach emerging in Pakistan to deal with the fledgling government that is suddenly running the country next door once again — Afghanistan’s resurgent, often-volatile Taliban. Pakistan’s government is proposing that the international community develop a road map that leads to diplomatic recognition of the […]

As the dust settles on the Taliban’s reconquest of Afghanistan, regional neighbors are adjusting their policies to take the new geostrategic reality into account. Among these countries are the self-proclaimed “iron brothers”—China and Pakistan. The good news for Beijing and Islamabad is that their respective policies on Taliban-run Afghanistan broadly align. But one particularly touchy and important area of policy—countering […]