Even as Afghanistan struggles to cope with the trauma of civil strife and a chaotic socio- politico and economic situation, its problems are becoming more complicated with every passing day. It is bleeding internally because of a number of grave factors including the political scenario which is marred with maneuvers and intrigues between power hungry…

The Fifth “Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process” Summit jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Dec 9 in Islamabad counts as a major foreign policy success. Given the present situation in the Middle East and the connected problems in adjoining regions, this timely initiative to bring focus firmly on Afghanistan…

Anywhere in the world both tactical and strategic nuclear forces need to have a central command channel to ensure that nuclear forces that necessarily remain on a knife edge do not inadvertently cause a catastrophe triggered by an accident. In order to have absolute control over our nuclear deterrent, an “Air Force Strategic Command” was…

Among the myriad number of major problems facing the coalition in Afghanistan (and in Iraq) is infidelity, soldiers and policemen trained by US and NATO forces more often than not turning their guns many times on their own instructors and/or fellow soldiers. While some of the time it has been a spur of the moment…

Dec 16 was a day of grief for many reasons. For 43 years we spent the day in gloom remembering the abject surrender in East Pakistan in 1971. On Dec 16, 2014, something so horrible happened that words alone cannot describe it, the APS Peshawar incident brought home to the people of Pakistan the brutal…

Friday Nov 13 will go down as the day when horror visited Paris in a wave of coordinated terrorist attacks against soft targets by gunmen and suicide bombers wearing suicide vests. At least 150 people died, among them concertgoers and restaurant diners, while more than 160 were injured seven of the attackers were also killed….

Dear Readers, To say that Pakistan has, over time, become a complacent nation that is not overly bothered about missing many targets it had aimed for would be an accurate assumption. To also say that we have become very much accustomed to the lack of commitment exhibited time and time again by the leadership would…

Fast-paced changes are taking place in all sectors across the world, among them the reshaping of the global security landscape. This we cannot afford to ignore. With the world economy becoming increasingly more and more interconnected every passing day, these changes are influenced and driven by the revolutionary transformations, in economics, politics, technology etc to…

The Army’s well planned military operations to rid North Waziristan of militants has been a major success, there is a sharp drop in acts of terrorism throughout Pakistan. The frequency of militants attacks was 154 per month, it has now come down to 71 per month; less than 50%, following in one year almost to…

For those graduating from the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), the country’s primary military institution is “hallowed ground”. I entered its steel gates on 14 May 1964 as one of the 110 Gentlemen Cadets (GCs) selected for the 34th PMA Long Course. As an Army Aviation helicopter pilot I flew to PMA several times in 1969/1970,…