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Time of India
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Harry Brook press conference: On Yashasvi Jaiswal DRS controversy, India bowling, getting out on 99
Putin CREATES History: Russia Becomes First Country To Recognise Afghanistan's Taliban Govt Russia has become the first country to officially recognise the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, accepting its appointed ambassador and shifting decades of policy. The Kremlin describes the move as a step toward productive bilateral cooperation, while Taliban leaders hail it as a bold and precedent-setting decision. As the US maintains sanctions and frozen assets, Russia is taking a pragmatic approach, strengthening economic and counterterrorism ties with the regime that once opposed it during the Soviet-Afghan war. This decision is likely to influence regional diplomacy and reshape geopolitical dynamics in Central Asia.#Russia #Taliban #Afghanistan #Moscow #IslamicEmirate#Diplomacy #GlobalPolitics #FlagRaising #Geopolitics #EmbassyNews#Recognition #InternationalRelations #Kremlin #ShahadaFlag #WorldNews 11.9K views | 15 hours ago
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Putin CREATES History: Russia Becomes First Country To Recognise Afghanistan's Taliban Govt
Russia has become the first country to officially recognise the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, accepting its appointed ambassador and shifting decades of policy. The Kremlin describes the move as a step toward productive bilateral cooperation, while Taliban leaders hail it as a bold and precedent-setting decision. As the US maintains sanctions and frozen assets, Russia is taking a pragmatic approach, strengthening economic and counterterrorism ties with the regime that once opposed it during the Soviet-Afghan war. This decision is likely to influence regional diplomacy and reshape geopolitical dynamics in Central Asia.#Russia #Taliban #Afghanistan #Moscow #IslamicEmirate#Diplomacy #GlobalPolitics #FlagRaising #Geopolitics #EmbassyNews#Recognition #InternationalRelations #Kremlin #ShahadaFlag #WorldNews Read More
Indian Express
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
What America doesn't get about South Asia: India and Pakistan can't be equated
Written by Milinda Moragoda For decades, US foreign policy has framed India and Pakistan as parallel actors in a regional rivalry — an outdated assumption rooted in Cold War thinking. This legacy framework has become a liability. It fails to account for how dramatically the two countries have diverged — economically, politically, and strategically — and risks misaligning US interests in a multipolar world. India, the world's most populous democracy, is poised to become the third-largest economy. It is a global leader in technology and space exploration, and home to a vast and influential diaspora. Its institutions remain rooted in a democratic tradition that supports long-term growth and international engagement. India is increasingly viewed as a stabilising force in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. It plays a leading role in the Quad, recently concluded its G20 presidency, and is deepening partnerships across Asia, Africa, and the West. Pakistan presents a sharply different picture. Born out of a hasty Partition in 1947 and fractured by civil war in 1971, Pakistan has never fully emerged from the shadow of military control. Civilian governments remain weak and often short-lived. The economy is in recurrent crisis, sustained by external bailouts. Radicalisation continues to permeate parts of the political and military establishment. Journalists, judges, and civil society actors often operate under intense pressure, while political dissent is routinely suppressed. Washington has contributed to this imbalance. During the Cold War, the US propped up Pakistan as a counterweight to India, and later relied on it as a staging ground during the Soviet-Afghan war and the War on Terror. Even as Pakistan covertly developed nuclear weapons throughout the 1980s, Washington turned a blind eye in the early stages — responding later, by which time the programme was already well advanced. These tactical decisions sidelined Pakistan's democratic institutions, empowered its military intelligence complex, and entrenched a culture of impunity that persists to this day. The fallout is stark. While India has established its credentials as an important player in a multipolar world and has staked a rightful claim to a permanent seat in the Security Council, Pakistan remains geopolitically transactional and internally unstable. Pakistan's capable citizens — entrepreneurs, academics, reformers — are constrained by a system that discourages institutional reform and relies instead on geopolitical leverage. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan has only intensified regional challenges. India is left to absorb the consequences: A collapsed Afghan state, rising extremism, and a neighbour with an increasingly fragile grip on security and economic stability. Instability in Pakistan and Afghanistan now reverberates across South Asia, threatening hard-won regional gains. Despite these realities, parts of the Washington policy establishment continue to default to 'balanced' diplomacy — treating both countries as parallel entities with equal claims on US strategic bandwidth. This misrepresents the regional equation and undermines the US's geopolitical interests and credibility as a democratic ally in Asia. Some observers argue that this policy of parity is not simply a holdover from the past, but an intentional strategy to keep a rising India in check, viewing it as a potential competitor rather than a partner. If that is true, it would be a grave miscalculation. Such thinking is counterproductive and would suggest that the US has yet to absorb the lessons of its own Cold War-era missteps in South Asia. It also risks alienating one of the world's most consequential democracies. Even though India's foreign policy may not always align with US preferences, it is fundamentally a constitutional democracy with enduring institutions and a vibrant civil society. Pakistan, by contrast, is a military-dominated state whose political cycles and economic direction are shaped more by external influences than domestic consensus. To remain effective in South Asia, US policy must reflect this asymmetry. Treating India and Pakistan as interchangeable partners sends the wrong signal to allies, undermines US credibility, and weakens regional stability. It perpetuates a flawed narrative that has outlived its strategic purpose. The time has come for Washington to adopt a more strategic approach that is based on institutional strength, democratic resilience, and long-term alignment, rather than on historical convenience. This shift is not about abandoning Pakistan, but about acknowledging the costs of maintaining a policy of false parity. In an era of multipolar complexity, where strategic clarity is essential, the US must recalibrate its approach. The stakes — for South Asia and for US influence in the Indo-Pacific — demand nothing less. The writer is a former Sri Lankan cabinet minister, High Commissioner to India, and founder of the Sri Lankan strategic affairs think tank, Pathfinder Foundation
Express Tribune
22-06-2025
- Express Tribune
Peshawar buckles under urban sprawl
Once celebrated as the "City of Flowers", Peshawar now struggles to live up to its poetic title. The air that once carried the sweet scent of blooming apricots and the gentle rustle of orchard leaves now hangs heavy with dust, smoke, and the cacophony of honking horns. A city that was once admired for its natural beauty and cultural richness has descended into chaos, a casualty of unchecked population growth, political apathy, and haphazard urban development. Peshawar's transformation began in earnest during the 1980s, when the Soviet-Afghan war sent a huge influx of refugees across the border into Pakistan. Many of them settled in and around Peshawar, altering the city's demographic landscape. In the following decades, Peshawar became the preferred refuge for internally displaced persons from the tribal belt, who were fleeing military operations, insurgency, and insecurity. Over time, the refugee camps evolved into permanent neighborhoods, and the temporary shelters turned into sprawling, unregulated settlements. The resultant population boom has been relentless. According to the 2023 Digital Census, the population of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reached 40.8 million, up from 35.5 million in 2017: an increase of 5.3 per cent in just six years. While the majority, 34 million, still reside in rural areas, the urban population has swelled dramatically. Peshawar alone grew from 4.3 million in 2017 to 4.7 million in 2023, at an annual growth rate of 1.5 per cent. For Peshawar, the results of this rapid urbanization are visible in every corner. The roads, once adequate for a smaller population, are now choked with vehicles. According to Chief Traffic Officer Haroon Rashid, over 500,000 vehicles ply the city's roads daily. Despite the introduction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in 2020, locals' heavy reliance on illegal rickshaws, unregistered vehicles, and a lack of public discipline continue to worsen road congestion and deteriorate air quality. Dr Rashid Rehman, an urban infrastructure specialist at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar, believed the city was facing a systemic failure. "Urban development continues to expand horizontally, devouring agricultural land and pushing the city's boundaries into rural areas. The lack of long-term strategic planning and zoning regulation is responsible for the chaos. High-rise buildings, for instance, could reduce the strain on land and services, but most housing schemes continue to promote large, detached homes. Weak enforcement of building codes has led to the construction of commercial plazas and residential complexes without adequate parking, water supply, or waste disposal systems," highlighted Dr Rehman. K-P's Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Arshad Ayub, acknowledged the city's growing pains but insisted that efforts were being made to improve conditions. "Five new flyovers are under construction and the Ring Road will be expanded to divert traffic from the city center. The upcoming provincial budget includes significant allocations for urban development in Peshawar, including the procurement of new buses for the BRT system and stricter regulations for commercial and residential construction," claimed Ayub. However, critics argued that such projects were reactive rather than proactive. Environmentalists warned that the loss of green spaces was not just a cosmetic issue but a threat to public health and ecological balance. Peshawar has lost many of its parks and orchards to unregulated construction due to which tree cover in the city has declined sharply. The sense of loss is palpable among older residents, who remember a very different city. Haji Tahir Khan, a 60-year-old shopkeeper in Saddar Bazaar, recalled a time when the city was not only cleaner but also more livable. "We had space to breathe, walk, and sit under a tree," he said. "Now, even finding a parking spot is a daily struggle. The roads are full, the air is dirty, and the water is getting scarce. Is this the progress we were promised?"
News18
15-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
Yalda Hakim: From War Refugee To Journo Who Put Pakistan Defence Minister On The Spot
Last Updated: Yalda Hakim settled in Australia after fleeing the Soviet-Afghan war. She was six months old when she left Afghanistan, with her parents on horseback. Renowned broadcaster Yalda Hakim made headlines after she posed uncomfortable questions about Pakistan's state backing of terrorism to the nation's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif following the heinous Pahalgam attack. The Australian journalist, originally from Afghanistan, became an instant favourite as her questions to Asif reflected concerns that countries in south and southeast Asia, most prominently India, have raised for several decades. Asif was cornered and admitted that Pakistan for years harboured terrorists at the behest of the US and the West. 'We did their dirty work," Asif said, shocking Yalda Hakim herself. Her act of making Asif admit Pakistan's terror ties increased the fame of the renowned broadcaster even more. The journalist became the story. Clips from the interview went viral, particularly her persistent questioning around India's allegations and Pakistan's stance on groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and she earned praise for her tenacity and composure. Hakim began her career with SBS Australia before joining the BBC in 2013, where she became a prominent face of BBC World News. She quickly earned a reputation for sharp, uncompromising reporting and gained access to conflict zones in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Fluent in Dari, she has often used her linguistic skills to bridge gaps during field reporting in West Asia and South Asia. Her first story, 'Yalda's Kabul," was released by the Australian broadcaster in 2008. Born in Afghanistan in 1983, Hakim and her family fled Soviet-occupied Kabul when she was just six months old, eventually settling in Australia after a year-long journey through Pakistan. Her background as a war refugee has deeply informed her journalistic perspective. Beyond her journalism career, Hakim is the founder of the Yalda Hakim Foundation, established in 2018 to support the education of exceptionally talented young women from Afghanistan through scholarships, internships and mentoring. In July 2023, she transitioned to Sky News, where she currently hosts the foreign affairs program 'The World with Yalda Hakim". First Published: May 15, 2025, 19:56 IST
