Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to Islamabad on a two-day visit starting Monday, which, deepened by billions of dollars of likely investments, is expected to test Beijing’s capacity to avoid antagonising India too much. Read Here – The Hindu
There is little doubt that the move to make Gwadar port fully operational will have a transformative impact on Pakistan. Still, there are good reasons to keep the optimism controlled, and to be mindful of the challenges ahead. For one, much of the engagement with China is being seen in Pakistan through an emotional lens, […]
Like Barack Obama, Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, took a big gamble last week, but his was riskier. In a speech on Friday, Rouhani declared that the proposed nuclear deal with the United States and five other major powers marked the “first step” in reaching “the highest point of constructive interaction” with the world. Iranians should […]
For the Pakistani man on the street, the relationship with Saudi Arabia, the custodian of Islam’s two holy sites, is literally an article of faith. A Pew survey in 2013 found that 95 per cent of Pakistanis had a favourable opinion of the desert kingdom, and Pakistan was the only country in the Islamic world […]
Iran’s geostrategic location makes it an intrinsic part of India’s security and economic space. A stronger and more globally integrated Iran will be an asset for India. Read Here – The Hindu
With a new king and a young, untested defense minister, Riyadh has plunged headlong into war in Yemen. At stake is nothing less than the kingdom’s position of leadership in the Arab world. Read Here – Foreign Policy
The insistence on Iran being a threat is based on the delusion that Iran has remained unchanged since its inception as the Islamic Republic. Yet, three major indicators highlight a deep development in Iranian politics in the region. These signposts include Iran’s constructive regional military presence; its peaceful and balancing role in resolving politico-cultural issues […]
If Netanyahu is ousted, he’ll likely be remembered as a leader who failed to advance the peace process with the Arabs, failed to derail the Iranian nuclear program—despite inveighing against it for years—and devoted most of his energy to preserving a problematic status quo. Read Here – Politico
Turkish troops swept into Syria this weekend to recover remains from the first Ottoman sultan’s ancestor, who can’t rest in peace 800 years after his death. Read Here – The Atlantic
The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it. Read Here – The Atlantic
looking beyond borders 