Author: Dr. Qasim Ali Shah

The recent UNSC report on terrorism has once again rung the alarm bells regarding the emerging global terrorism threat, specifically the one emanating from Afghanistan. The United Nations Security Council’s latest report, the 37th from the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team (document S/2026/44, dated February 4, 2026), paints a stark picture of evolving global terrorist threats. While covering worldwide activities of groups like ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, the document devotes significant attention to Afghanistan under Taliban rule, describing it as a growing sanctuary for militants that directly fuels instability in neighboring Pakistan and beyond. The indications based on the…

In the brutal arena of international trade, sentiment is a liability and numbers are the only objective truth. While official communiqués from New Delhi and Washington speak of a “defining partnership,” the opposition in New Delhi has threshed the deal as anti-India. The new trade policy guidelines, defining the tariff issues came to fore on February 2, 2026, when President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social, the reduction of punitive tariff on India to 18 %. The details given by President Trump and later by US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, says about the Indian agreement to stop oil from…

The “apocalyptic atmosphere” in the Middle East saw a ray of hope, when Iran showed its readiness for a negotiated settlement of the ongoing crisis in the region. Iran’s message this week was blunt, measured, and carefully constructed. Speaking in Istanbul, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made it clear that Iran–US negotiations remain possible, but only if they take place without coercion. Talks conducted under threats, he argued, are not negotiations at all.That distinction matters. In the long and fragile history of Iran–US relations, diplomacy has often unfolded alongside sanctions, military signaling, and rhetorical escalation. Tehran’s position, reiterated yet again,…