Geo-strategic location is no blank cheque for unqualified external support. The recent Chinese-Iran strategic cooperation deal is perhaps a warning that Beijing is not likely to rely on the nuclear-armed goliath which is hamstrung by the burden of its own inaction, tardy governance system, policy contradictions, and partially delusional romance with its super geo-strategic location which meanwhile is more of a liability than advantage.
Read More »Pakistan: Planning for 2021
Pakistan will have to tackle the many structural problems enhanced by COVID-19 when the crisis is over. However, planning for 2021 must address some major issues that are important for the country.
Read More »Trans-Asian Railway: Gateway for South and Southeast Asia
Trying to be a regional power on its way to being a global one, India is turning a blind eye to the fact that while Eurasia is a reality mainly because of BRI. The time of world leaders, global or even regional powers dominating others is vanishing and a multipolar world is in the making.
Read More »Tough Love – Bangladeshi Foreign Policy on China, India, and the US
What appears to be Bangladesh's vague foreign policy outlook to external actors is rather a well-disguised regional maneuver based on a transactional relationship with China, and the United States, for a better balance of power, writes one analyst.
Read More »Pakistan’s Green Power Potential
Pakistan retires over 11,000MW of fossil fuel-based plants by 2047, the contribution of over 22,000MW from five cascaded dams on the Indus river will go a long way in bolstering the growth of renewable power generation in Pakistan.
Read More »View from Pakistan: An Eurasian Identity
Three times shorter than the Suez Canal route the several Eurasia Corridors will play an important role in creating new commercial and social environments in the region near the Caspian Sea and north territories from Bereket to the border with Kazakhstan. It offers a great opportunity to pakistan, says one defense analyst.
Read More »Pakistan: Making CPEC Work – I
Despite multilateralism and even free trade being questioned, Chinese President Xi Jinping is offering an alternative vision of connectivity, facilitation of trade and integration of markets across regions and continents.
Read More »Gwadar, Security and Inclusive Development
Gwadar for outsiders, particularly keen investors and businessmen, evokes enthusiasm. They equate it with a place open to visitors and ready for investment. But the imposing omni-present physical and procedural security barriers kill that enthusiasm.
Read More »Afghanistan, China and Connectivity
China is the real pivot of the east, and considering India for this role is a blunder of the highest magnitude. A country which has not been able to provide basic living amenities to its populace; a large segment of Indian urban population grows up and dies on footpaths and streets but the country is falsely talked about as the economic bulwark of the region.
Read More »Why is China So Deferential to Pakistan?
In the China-Pakistan context, China has scrupulously abided by the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in our internal affairs. Both countries share the vision for a just, peaceful and prosperous world, writes Pakistan's former foreign secretary.
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