Pak Institute for Peace Studies convened its 12th quarterly consultation on “Afghan peace and reconciliation: Pakistan’s interests and policy options” in Islamabad on March 15, 2024. The focal points of discussion encompassed “Pakistan’s Afghan policy puzzle: challenges and opportunities for the new government” and “The counterterrorism and counter-extremism challenges for the new federal and provincial … Read more
Pak Institute for Peace Studies organized 11th quarterly consultation on “Afghan peace and reconciliation: Pakistan’s interests and policy options” in Islamabad on January 18, 2024. The main themes of the consultation included ‘The changing security scenario: Women’s perspective’ and ‘Emerging Pak-Afghan ties: Youth’s perspective.’ The event was attended by female experts and academics, former diplomats, … Read more
Pakistan needs parliament-led revived national policy on Afghanistan which goes into the public domain for some discourse on it. Pakistan’s present policy lacks key ingredients to protect the country from possible fallout of the emerging Afghan situation which seems susceptible to an increased risk of conflict and violence or crisis. One key aspect of the … Read more
Executive summary Forced displacement has been an unfortunate but near constant challenge facing millions of Afghans over the last four decades. Throughout this time, armed conflict has been the biggest driver causing countless Afghans to be internally displaced, or fleeing their country in search of safety. To this day, involuntary displacement keeps millions of Afghans … Read more
Despite best efforts to reset ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, major breakthroughs are rare. At root lies mistrust, which thrives on misperception about each other. These should be overcome, should the two countries really want to move forward. These thoughts came in a seminar “Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: Exploring the Way Forward”, which PIPS organized with the … Read more
With several attacks along Pakistan’s western border with Afghanistan, security remained fragile in 2016.The most prominent attack was a suicide bomb during Friday prayers in a mosque in late September, killing 34 people. The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility, arguing the naïve notion that the slain people were part of the pro-government … Read more
2016 has been yet another year in recent times when security measures taken within the context of the National Action Plan (NAP) expedited the rate of voluntary returns to increase recently. This high rate is also owed to other non-state push factors on the Pakistan side and a number of pull factors on the Afghan … Read more
On 29 November 2017, PIPS hosted a national seminar “Pakistan’s Relations with Afghanistan: Changing Dynamics and Future”. It was organized with the support of Frederich Ebert Stiftung (FES). The seminar was attended by scholars, diplomatic community, journalists, among others. The seminar called for continuous engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as the regional dynamics, especially in … Read more
On 22 June 2016, Pak Institute for Peace Studies launched a comprehensive study reviewing Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan, participated by well-attended audience including political leaders, civil society activists, diplomats, students, and journalists. In early 2016, PIPS solicited commentaries from practitioner and academics in Pakistan on different aspects of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. The basic question was as to … Read more
A three-member delegation from Afghanistan visited PIPS office in Islamabad, to learn about the need and avenues of Pakistan-Afghanistan media-to-media ties. The delegation included Mr. Abdul Farid, Mr. Sayed Najib Asil, and Mr. Reza Akbari, who worked at Tolo TV, Afghanistan’s popular television network. The meeting noted how Pakistan and Afghanistan have many similarities. Merely … Read more