Can India be a game changer in Afghanistan?
An Afghan policeman inspects a building used by insurgents after an operation near the Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, 5 January 2016. (Photo: Reuters/Anil Usyan).

Author: Frédéric Grare, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

In an interview on 3 May 2017, former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai strongly attacked US policy in Afghanistan and, once again, asked India to do more in his country. Read more…

Getting regional trade right in Central Asia
A container is loaded on to the first Chinese container ship to depart after the inauguration of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor port in Gwadar, Pakistan 13 November 2016. (Photo: Reuters/Caren Firouz)

Authors: Nasir Iqbal, BISP and Saima Nawaz, COMSATS

The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was founded in 1985 to provide members with a platform to discuss ways to improve development as well as promote trade and investment opportunities. Around 462 million people — 6.2 per cent of the world’s population — live within the 10 member states of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Read more…

Pakistan’s minorities under attack
A man beats his head as he mourns the death of a relative who was killed in a suicide blast at the tomb of Sufi saint Syed Usman Marwandi, also known as the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan Sharif, Pakistan's southern Sindh province, 17 February 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Akhtar Soomro).

Authors: Sana Ashraf, ANU and Rosita Armytage, University of Birmingham

On 16 February, a suicide bomb ripped through the shrine of 12th century Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan — a town in Sindh, Pakistan — while the traditional Sufi whirling dance and meditation called Dhamaal was being performed. Read more…

Pakistan muddles along
A masked protester sits next to a flag of Pakistan during an anti-Indian protest in Srinagar, 25 November 2016. (Reuters/Danish Ismail).

Author: Imtiaz Gul, CRSS

Pakistan has endured over a decade of political discord, security crises and prolonged military rule. In 2016, the fragile civilian-led government experienced both setbacks and successes following this legacy of instability. Read more…

China’s Pakistan project: a geopolitical game-changer
A policeman stands guard next to giant portraits of Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain, China’s President Xi Jinping, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, displayed along a road ahead of Xi’s visit to Islamabad, 19 April 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Faisal Mahmood).

Author: David Brewster, ANU

China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative is carving out new pathways across the Eurasian continent, signifying Beijing’s ambitions to remake the world around it.  This project, if implemented, will fundamentally change China’s role and relationships in South Asia Read more…

Pakistan can’t reap the benefits of CPEC
A policeman stands guard next to giant portraits of Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain, China's President Xi Jinping, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, displayed along a road. (Photo: Reuters/Faisal Mahmood).

Authors: Saima Nawaz, COMSATS, and Nasir Iqbal, BISP

The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is widely considered to be a game changer for both Pakistan and the region. It is a major stimulus for Pakistan, promising rapid economic growth, massive infrastructure development, 700,000 new jobs over the next fifteen years Read more…

The meaning of informal trade in India and Pakistan
An employee collects lentils from a container inside a grocery store at a residential area in Mumbai, India, 11 May 2016. (Photo: Reuters/Shailesh Andrade).

Author: Nisha Taneja and Samridhi Bimal, ICRIER

While formal trade between India and Pakistan is abysmally low, informal trade between the two countries has continued to thrive. Despite various measures undertaken to normalise trade and reduce transport impediments, informal trade between India and Pakistan has continued unabated. Read more…

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