Jan Achakzai

(The Frontier Post, August 13) The British Prime Minister, David Cameron’s, comments in India regarding Islamabad’s alleged role in exporting terrorism has understandably sparked a negative reaction in Pakistan. However, British Prime Minister’s comments were not the result of a slip of tongue or of his alleged diplomatic naivety. There are other underlying considerations that underpin the emerging new thinking in London. British policy makers have started to look differently to the whole gamut of London-Islamabad and London-New Delhi relations. Traditionally, Britain has supported the US broad foreign policy objective in South Asia i.e., to maintain a balance between India and Pakistan. That was part of the US strategy to preserve stability and promote its long-term interest in different regions by forging balanced relations between competing countries, for example, the balance between Israel-Arab states, erstwhile Iraq and Persian Iran’s balance and in South Asia balance between...

(Source: LUBP) Almost on daily basis Pakhtuns are killed in Karachi and there is a complete silence in the media to the plight of the beleaguered community. And the victims are dismissed as workers of ANP as if their blood is cheap. The knowledge that how the MQM’s military wing is undertaking the killings of political opponents, police officers and the Pakhtuns is in public domain- a fact even acknowledged by the government’s own interior ministry report (May 23, The News) with input from all the official security stakeholders in Karachi, including the Sindh Police, Special Branch, IB, ISI, Rangers and the Interior Ministry. So what is the strategy of the MQM behind these targeted killings of the Pakhtuns? Those carrying out this war has two goals: the first is to create sympathy in Karachi and throughout the country for Urdu speaking community to portray the picture as if they are being driven by the Pakhtuns from their homes parallel to what happened to...

Here is what General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, should – but most likely won’t – say in his anticipated policy speech on Nov 29 resuming o his new extended three years tenure (Source: LUBP) My dear countrymen! In every nation’s history, there are moments that call on its leader to face the truth and tell the truth to his fellow countrymen and women. This is such a moment. It is a moment of peril, but also a moment of great opportunity. You have heard a lot from me in recent months about the peril. I am terribly concerned about the existential threats to our country. But you have not heard enough from me about the opportunity that we have today to devise a strategic, long-term approach to reduce these threats. We have an opportunity – one that may not reoccur for generations to come – to reach the kind of regional security that we have been seeking since our parents and grandparents established this astonishing country sixty-two years ago. Sure, there are...