Pakistan is a country that depends heavily on the remittances sent by its diaspora, which are estimated to be around $29.4 billion in 2021. These remittances not only support the families of the overseas Pakistanis, but also contribute to the national economy, foreign exchange reserves, and development projects. Overseas Pakistanis are therefore state assets and should be respected and valued […]

Pakistan sits at the heart of a geopolitical tussle. Its location at the crossroads of Asia gives it an edge over its rivals, but also exposes it to their machinations. Many countries have tried to thwart its economic ambitions, but Pakistan has also shown signs of resilience and potential.

Leaders of Central Asian countries and the EU chief met in Kyrgyzstan on Friday, where they discussed Afghanistan among other issues. The meeting in Cholpon Ata was attended by the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, and a delegation from Turkmenistan. On Afghanistan, the participants discussed common concerns over the deteriorating situation in the country and reaffirmed their commitment […]

Uzbekistan’s Special Representative Ismatulla Irgashev and Pakistan’s Ambassador in Tashkent, Ahmad Farooq, on Thursday met and discussed the construction of the Termez–Mazar-e-Sharif–Kabul–Peshawar railway. A thorough exchange of views took place on the current situation in Afghanistan and the efforts of the international community and both countries to expand cooperation in the Afghan direction, Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement. […]

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has once again claimed that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is launching attacks against the country using Afghanistan’s soil. “The position of the Afghan government is that they say we do not support Tehreek-e-Taliban against the government of Pakistan, but we have complaints about them, the people of this group enter Pakistan from Afghanistan; almost two months […]

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in northwest Pakistan that left two soldiers and two militants dead. The army said in a statement that militants opened fire on a security checkpoint Saturday evening in the Jani Khel area of Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leading to a shootout with Pakistani troops. A search operation was underway to […]

Instead of being “Being Fustest with the Mostest” in Central Asia, an area of intense interest to China and Russia, the U.S. and Europe may be “too little, too late.” The dwindling relevance of Washington and Brussels to Central Asia was on display when Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted the leaders of the five Central Asia republics at the China-Central […]

Three trends that offer a fuller and more accurate picture of the state of the country’s civil war. The Myanmar military’s coup in February 2021 plunged Myanmar into a state of chaos unseen since the 1950s. The junta’s State Administration Council (SAC) is struggling to impose control over vast swathes of the country. It is opposed by the parallel National […]

A Chinese J-16 fighter jet last week carried out “an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” near an American reconnaissance plane that was flying above the South China Sea, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. The incident, which occurred Friday, follows a near collision of Chinese and American jets late last year over the same contested waters. A video released by the U.S. […]

After US President Joe Biden cancelled his visit to Australia for the QUAD leaders’ summit, the leaders of the four Quad countries—India, Japan, the United States (US), and Australia— met at Hiroshima on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan. This was the third in-person summit of the leaders of the Quad countries. Naturally, the Quad Summit has injected […]