Tag Archives: Pakistan

A the UN Convention on International Watercourses comes into effect this week, we ask experts if it can lower regional frictions over access to water.

Pakistan is not alone in China’s larger vision of building a web of Silk Roads to connect it with Central Asia and as far as Germany. From 1992 to 2011 China spent 8.5 per cent of GDP on infrastructure, much more than the developing country average of 2–4 percent. And, from 1992 to 2007, China spent US$120 billion on building 21748 miles of highways.

Pakistani television drama serial “Zindagi Gulzar Hai” became an instant hit amongst South Asian communities in North America. Never before had there been a TV series — South Asian in origin and made outside of India — so hugely popular amongst so many diverse South Asian communities. And yet, watching the serial making a mark on its viewers made me cynical, says one Bangladeshi analyst.

The elements of national security cannot guard Pakistan’s democratic dispensation without adhering to the spirit and content of good governance.

Controversial school books present an extremely contentious view of Indian history rooted in the ideology of Hindutva, the Hindu nationalist political movement — and sometimes propagate pure fantasy

The government has approved 10 new coal-fired power plants to ease Pakistan’s mounting energy crisis, with some areas of the country facing power cuts of 20 hours a day.

The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is under fire for its failure to ease Pakistan's crippling energy crisis. But one analyst sees some promise in Islamabad's outreach to China for help.

By favoring a resource capture strategy Afghanistan may well have wasted a decade of potential development in the Kabul-Indus basin. But it may not be too late to engage in meaningful and constructive dialogue with Pakistan to make projects such as the 1,200 megawatt hydropower project on the Kunar River move forward, particularly considering the potential for benefit sharing, including flood control, sediment control and hydropower.

Lack of a domestic vision for water in South Asia reinforces the zero-sum nature of international water disputes. India’s neighbors hold overwhelmingly negative views of New Delhi. But the election of the first single-party government for 30 years gives India an opportunity both for more coherent policy towards water and to explore opportunities for mutually-beneficial approaches to water with its smaller neighbors.

Drones are viewed as the remedy in the age of shrinking defense budgets and high cost of human soldier. A typical $6.48 million worth reaper drone’s end cost is US$3250 per hour of flight time. In contrast, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter costs nearly US$91 million per unit, almost US$5 million per year to operate and $16,500 per hour of flight.