This Article appeared in Daily Dawn on April 26th, 2010.
INDIA has been toying with the idea of the Cold Start strategy for the past six years. It started validating the concept through various military exercises, including Divya Astra (divine weapon) in March 2004, Vijra Shakti (thunder power) in May 2005, Desert Strike in Nov-Dec 2005, Sang-i-Shakti (joint power) from March to May 2006, Shatrunash in May 2007 and Ashwamedh (valour and intellectual illumination) from January to May 2007.
The tragedy at Bombay is a sort of 9/11 for India. It appears to be one of many other acts of international terrorism which have been taking place at so many other places in the worlds at regular intervals. All these are despicable acts and need to be condemned in the strongest words. The government of Pakistan did well by condemning it at the highest level and offered sympathies and assistance (although some uncalled for assistance which had to be retracted later) as a neighbor and in line with International norms.
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This Article appeared in Daily Dawn on December 09th, 2008.
THE government’s warning that it would have to withdraw troops from its western border in case of a threat on its eastern frontier with India was not only uncalled for, it was unrealistic as well. The continuous harping on this issue on TV talk shows is creating a negative impact in the NWFP and FATA.
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This Article appeared in Daily Dawn on December 02nd, 2008.
Pakistan is caught in the eye of the storm in the so-called war on terror between the US and its allies on one side and Al Qaeda and the Taliban on the other.
Due to America’s faulty strategy in Afghanistan, the US and its allies have not been able to eliminate Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. In fact the conflagration has reached dangerous proportions and can threaten the whole region. Sensing failure other regional powers have been advancing their own agendas in Afghanistan. Read more
1. Introduction
1.1. Afghanistan particularly its area south of Hindukush range and Pakistan’s tribal area, North West Frontier Province and northern portion of Baluchistan, collectively constituting the Pathan majority land lying between the Hindukush range and the Indus river, have remained a focal point not only for historians but also for those trying to extend their imperial borders. These extensions have been either to the south or east as in the case of earlier conquerors from Central Asia and the USSR in recent times or to the west or north as by the Imperial British in the 19th and 20th centuries. Dominant civilisations always expand in search for security, stability of their frontiers and to safeguard their economic and commercial interests. Such great movements are well known in history; they continue until they either overrun their strength as in the case of USSR in Afghanistan, or until they find a formidable wall in the form of an equally stable civilisation, or by reaching a natural frontier such as a great mountain range, desert or the sea.
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