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
Safiya Aftab is the Executive Director of Verso Consulting, a collective of practitioners with consulting experience in the development and corporate sectors. She has degrees in Economics and Public Administration and has been involved in socio-economic research, policy analysis, and analysis of governance and rights issues.
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
The 2nd Constitutional Amendment, passed in 1974, paved way for excluding Ahmadi community from the national mainstream. In the larger scheme of things, the second amendment reinforced the policy of state excluding some segments of the society from national mainstream. It transcended the ideological leanings of the parties in power – the left-leaning Bhutto was … Read more
Pakistan’s counter terrorism (CT) efforts often revolve around intelligence gathering, followed by policing, and, in many cases, undercover intelligence-led operations. These are no doubt integral CT components. But for counter-terror efforts to be effective in the longer term, the approach should be multipronged, also focusing on funding of terrorist activities. An important CT activity, therefore, … Read more
Taj Haider (The author is a former Senator, who headed Senate’s special committee on CPEC from 2015 to 2018. The analysis is based on the author’s experience as head of that committee.) Amid all the debate on the future of CPEC, one should not forget the pressing issue of due share in the project, demanded … Read more
Anam Fatima These days, the financing of Diamer-Bhasha Dam is in the news. Prime Minister Imran Khan has called upon the expatriate Pakistanis to generously support funds for the dam. The Supreme Court has already established a dedicated pool to generate money through donations. The move is quite noble. But clearly, it is being said, … Read more
On August 11, 2018, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Chinese engineers in Balochistan. It later emerged that the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was behind the attack. The attack has raised questions about security to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) especially in Balochistan. Below are comments by some experts on the incident: BLA suicide attack … Read more
Iran is a Middle Eastern country, sharing borders with Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia. The country has been striving hard to get nuclear technology. Many states viewed in the 1990s that Iran was on the verge of achieving a civil nuclear technology. Iran’s clandestine research in both fuel enrichment and conversion raised international … Read more
On 15 December, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a military alliance against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh. To the surprise of Pakistan, it too was included in the alliance. Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Office later clarified that it is still looking into the details of the role … Read more