The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour […]

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s six-day visit to Washington from 26 April–1 May was highly symbolic for bilateral relations and potentially consequential for what the US-ROK relationship would mean in the Indo-Pacific in the next decade. Politically, the visit marked a high with the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the United States (US)-ROK alliance. The Biden-Yoon meeting also marked […]

On Thursday, The Soufan Center hosted a virtual discussion on the security, political, and human rights dimensions of the current situation in Afghanistan. Moderated by TSC’s Colin P. Clarke, the conversation featured Arian Sharifi, Amira Jadoon, and Ioannis Koskinas, with an introduction by our Executive Director Naureen Chowdhury Fink.

China delivered two Type 054A/P frigates to Pakistan on Wednesday, indicating that all four warships of this class have been commissioned into the Pakistan Navy. The program is a mark of the enduring China-Pakistan friendship and the high-level defense cooperation between the two countries. The vessels are expected to serve Pakistan’s seaward defense as well as safeguard regional peace and […]

A special anti-graft court in Pakistan on Wednesday remanded former Prime Minister Imran Khan in custody for eight days while another indicted him on separate corruption charges amid nationwide protests and deadly clashes between his supporters and riot police. Khan appeared before the two tribunals set up overnight inside the high-security police headquarters in Islamabad one day after his dramatic […]

Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the anti-graft agency to release former Prime Minister Imran Khan from its custody, broadcaster Geo TV reported late Thursday. Khan’s arrest on Tuesday in a land fraud case sparked deadly and widespread protests across the South Asian country, prompting the government to call in the army to help restore order. The court declared Khan’s arrest as […]

Pakistan government has arrested scores of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members including top leaders such as Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar over the past 24 hours amid tightened security following countrywide protests against ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest. Qureshi was arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning. Islamabad police spokesperson confirmed that scores of PTI leaders, including […]

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community and the Afghan people’s well-being should receive due attention. “As a traditional friendly neighbor of Afghanistan, we always believe that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community. Afghan people’s well-being should receive due attention,” Wang Wenbin said during his regular briefing […]

Truth has its own Language The suspicious, paranoid and much hated illegitimate Sharifs, Bhuttos and the Generals are unleashing blind terror against the masses of Pakistan. The unprecedented abduction of Imran Khan, the former PM by the paratroopers from the High Court in Islamabad signals tragic tensions of missing logic and failed systems of political governance and accountability. Since April […]

The Taliban’s ability to lead Afghanistan remains questionable and ongoing instability has provided the Islamic State the opportunity for expansion. On April 25, 2023, U.S. officials confirmed that the Taliban had killed the head of the Islamic State (IS) cell operating in Afghanistan. Though his identity has not been revealed, the IS leader is believed to have masterminded the 2021 […]