Author: Sara Nazir

The latest setback in United States-Iran relations has once again underscored a central reality of international politics: ceasefires can halt violence, but only sustained diplomacy can build peace. The recent breakdown in trust following the June memorandum of understanding has prompted renewed questions about whether Pakistan can continue serving as an effective intermediary between Washington and Tehran. While sceptics argue that Islamabad lacks the leverage to enforce agreements, such criticism misunderstands both Pakistan’s diplomatic role and the nature of modern mediation. Pakistan has never claimed to possess the power to compel either side into compliance. Rather, its strength lies in…

The seizure of a narcotics consignment worth approximately $215 million near Gwadar by the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Coast Guards is more than a successful anti-drug operation. It represents a broader transformation in the nature of maritime security, where the challenges facing states are no longer limited to traditional naval threats but increasingly involve transnational criminal networks, illicit economies and hybrid security risks. Conducted through an intelligence-based operation in coordination with the Joint Maritime Information Coordination Centre (JMICC) at Pishukan, the operation resulted in the interception of a large shipment, including hashish and crystal methamphetamine, allegedly intended for international trafficking routes…

The recently delivered advisory opinion of the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir regarding the dispute over the refugee seats issue has been largely examined in terms of constitutionalism and politics. Several issues have been discussed extensively including the constitutionality of refugees’ seats, claims of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and the government’s reaction to the protests. Nevertheless, there is something else that should be highlighted about the Court’s opinion, something more general and fundamental. In essence, it reminds us of the most basic feature of any constitutional democracy: protest is an indispensable aspect of democracy, yet it…

It took less than ten seconds in Oslo to expose something Narendra Modi’s carefully managed political image has spent years trying to conceal. A journalist asked a simple question and the Prime Minister did not answer before walking away. The brief exchange between Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen and India’s prime minister would normally have faded into the background of diplomatic routine, the kind of moment that rarely survives beyond a news cycle in tightly managed international visits. Yet this one lingered, not because of what was asked, but because of what was not, and because of what that silence…

The recent statement by Ishaq Dar regarding Pakistan’s continuous coordination with Xi Jinping’s government during the US-Iran-Israel conflict reflects far more than routine diplomatic engagement. It signals the emergence of a deeper strategic convergence between Pakistan and China in shaping regional stability through diplomacy rather than coercion. At a time when the Middle East was drifting toward a wider regional war, both Islamabad and Beijing demonstrated a shared preference for de-escalation, multilateralism, and political dialogue. Their jointly proposed five-point peace initiative, emphasizing ceasefire, protection of civilian and nuclear infrastructure, freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and adherence to…

In contemporary security environments, shifts in doctrine are often revealed less through declaratory policy and more through capability demonstration. Pakistan’s recent anti-ship missile test fits squarely within this pattern. Rather than a routine validation exercise, it reflects an incremental but meaningful evolution in Pakistan’s deterrence posture, one that aligns with broader transformations in strategic thought across the maritime domain. Classical deterrence theory, as developed during the Cold War, was anchored in the logic of mutually assured destruction and strategic stability at the nuclear level. However, as scholars of Security Studies have long argued, deterrence is not static. It adapts to…

Pakistan’s recent demand for an independent and objective inquiry into attacks against United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon goes beyond diplomatic routine. It reflects a deeper concern shared by long-standing troop-contributing countries: that the protective norms surrounding international peacekeeping forces are steadily eroding. In an increasingly fragmented global security environment, such attacks are no longer anomalies but indicators of a dangerous and evolving pattern. Addressing the Security Council, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, Iftikhar Ahmed, described these incidents as serious violations of international humanitarian law and the mandates of the United Nations. While such language may appear procedural, for countries that have contributed…

In the contemporary global economy, energy markets remain deeply intertwined with geopolitical stability. Few regions illustrate this reality more clearly than the Middle East, where political tensions and armed conflicts regularly reverberate across global oil markets. In an era already marked by supply disruptions following the Russia-Ukraine War, the world has become acutely sensitive to any instability that threatens energy-producing regions. For many developing economies, including Pakistan, the pursuit of peace and stability in the Middle East is not merely a diplomatic aspiration. It is an economic necessity. The strategic significance of the region lies in its central role within…

For Pakistan, the persistence of cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan represents a structural security challenge rather than an episodic concern. Recent open-source visuals and local reporting from the Bajaur border region, when assessed alongside United Nations monitoring reports, indicate continued militant movement across the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier. These developments reinforce long-standing concerns that Afghan territory continues to be exploited by militant groups to mount attacks against Pakistan, undermining civilian safety and border stability. This evolving threat environment is best understood through the terrorist safe haven framework in security studies. The safe haven literature explains how militant organizations exploit weak, ungoverned, or…