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ICEP CSS/PMS INSTITUTE LAHORE The Wall Street J.
 ARTICLES PAGE NO

Dawn editorials Section

Srinagar G20 boycott 08
Gloomy days 10
Trade with Iran 13
IDPs left high and dry 16
The highest mountain 18
HRCP report | 20
Malnourished children 23
An unconscionable death toll 25
Disparity in society 27
No pardon for rape 29
Changing Mideast 32
Anti-Muslim bigotry 34
Pollution policy 36
Srinagar meeting 38
Fact-book: Facts and Figures from Editorials ✍️ 40-42
International Articles
In Defense of the Fence Sitters 43
India is broken: book review 52
The Muslim reset in the World Order 59
West’s Taliban Policy is fundamentally flawed 65
India Can Still Be a Bridge to the Global South 71
ChatGPT in China's Tech Ecosystem Looks Very Different 76
National Articles
Chat-GPT: A divine sign 82
FSC on transgender persons 85
Democratizing SDGs in Pakistan 88

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 India & Kashmir: two views 91
AI and Education: in Pursuit of Intelligence and Wisdom 95
Ambiguous approaches 98
India-Pakistan ties 101
Now We’re asking the wrong questions 105
How AI Could Revolutionize Diplomacy 110
Deterrence and diplomacy 115
Pakistan’s political crisis: long term effects 119
Blue Pakistan: Potential of earnings through seas 123
Performing a political wonder 125
Another Crisis Brewing Up 128
No Debt Restructuring: collapsing economy of Pakistan 130
Afghan Girls' Right to Education is Uncompromisable 132
TTP - Threat to Pakistan and Beyond 134
Genderising Inflation: How Inflation effects women 136
A Rich Land with Barren People 138
Renewed Iran-China Ties: What Pakistan needs to do 140
The Urgency of Climate Smart Agriculture 142

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 Current affairs MCQS Compilation
Which Country hosted 5th China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign C. Sherry Rehman
Ministers’ Dialogue ? D. Abida Parveen

A. China Who is the Current Prime Minister of AZAD JAMMU AND

B. UAE KASHMIR?
C. Pakistan
D. Afghanistan A. Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi
B. Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq
Which country received highest funding from Asain C. Sardar Tanveer Ilyas
Development Bank ADB in 2022 ? D. Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan

A. Pakistan Name the 15th Prime Minister Of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, who
B. Bangladesh was elected unopposed on 20 April 2023?
C. Sri Lanka
D. None of them A. Raja Farooq Haider
B. Chaudhry Anwarul Haq
Who becomes second-fastest Asian batter to score 12000 runs? C. Sardar Tanveer Ilyas
D. None of These
A. Babar Azam
B. Virat Kohli Who is the Current Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia?
C. Fakhar Zaman
D. None of These Lt Gen Bilal Akbar
B. Ameer Khurram Rathore
Who became first Pakistani to receive prestigious honorary C. Brig Bilal Asad
Fellowship award by Oxford University D. None of these

Malala Yosuzai
B. Kirshna Kumari Kohli

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Who is the Current Director-General of Airports Security Force Who becomes first Pakistani to scale the Annapurna mountain
(ASF)? without the support oxygen on 15 April 2023?

Major General Adnan Asif Nazir Sabir

B. Major General Abid Latif Khan B. Sajid Ali Sadpara
C. Major General Zafar ul Haq C. Samina Baig
D. None of these D. None of These

First Pakistani Woman who has Scaled “Annapurna Peak” Two Dams have been Authorised for Garrison City. Mujahid
located in Nepal in April 2023 is ________? Dam will be constructed in Chontra region while Mohata dam
will be constructed in __________
A. Hadiqa Kayani
B. Nafeesa Kiyani A. Chontra
C. Naila Kiyani B. Raika
D. None of these C. Daultala
D. Murree
According to World Bank, Pakistan’s inflation to further rise by
how many percent in fiscal year 2023? The Mujahid Dam will be constructed in which region of
Rawalpindi?
A. 28.5 per cent
B. 27.5 per cent A. Raika
C. 29.5 per cent B. Nambal
D. None of These C. Chontra
D. None of these
Which Pakistani is among 100 most influential people of 2023
by Time Magazine? April 10 declared as ______________ day in Pakistan?

A. Sherry Rehman A. Kashmir Day

B. Hina Rabani Khar B. Constitution Day
C. Nigar Johar C. Pakistan Day
D. Shireen Mazari D. None of These

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Gayari Tragedy was occurred on ____________? Lieutenant General (Retired) Nazir Ahmed Butt appointed as
the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on?
7th April 2012
B. 15th May 2012 A. 4th January,2023
C. 4th January 2012 B. 4th February,2023
D. None of these C. 4th March,2023
D. None of These
Who is the Current Attorney General of Pakistan?Who is the
Current caretaker Chief Minister of PUNJAB? Which of the following is the special Pakistani envoy to
Afghanistan who presented his resignation to PM Shehbaz
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Sharif after his three years service in march 2023?
B. Mohsin Naqvi
C. Hamza Shahbaz Sharif A. Maleeha Lodhi
D. None of these B. Mohammad Sadiq
C. Mohammad Kamran
Who is the Current Governor of Balochistan? D. Mohammad Shahid
A. Muhammad Khan Achakzai The first ever woman to score a hundred for Pakistan in T20
B. Abdul Wali Khan Kakar internationals?Who is the Current IG of KPK police?Director
C. Jan Mohammad Jamali General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
D. Justice (retd) Amanullah Khan Yasinzai Rafael Mariano Grossi visited Pakistan on?
Famous writer and poet Amjad Islam Amjad died on? 10 to 12 February
B. 12 to 14 February
A. Feb 9,2023 C. 14 to 15 February
B. Feb 10, 2023 D. 15 to 16 February
C. Feb 11,2023
D. Feb 12,2023

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Actor, producer, director and TV broadcaster Zia Mohyeddin Former President of Pakistan died in?
passed away at age of 91 in Karachi on Monday __________?
A. Saudi Arabia
A. 11th January 2023 B. UAE
B. 13 January 2023 C. Oman
C. 12 January 2023 D. Iran
D. 14 January 2023
Former President General Retired Pervez Musharraf passed
PM Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated KANUP-3 on ____ in away in Dubai at the age of______?
Karachi.Pakistan ranked _____ out of 180 in international
transparency index 2022? A. 59
B. 69
A. 138th C. 79
B. 140th D. None of these
C. 120th
D. 112th General Pervez Musharraf died on?

Who is the Current Minister of Sindh for Cooperation A. February 3, 2023

Department? B. February 4, 2023
C. February 5, 2023
Jam Khan Shoro D. February 6, 2022
B. Fayaz Ahmed Butt
C. Jam Ikramullah Dharejo When a special court handed Musharraf death sentence in the
D. Saeed Ghani high treason case against him?

Who is the Current Provisional Minister of Irrigation in Sindh? A. On January 17, 2019
B. On March 17, 2019
A. Nasir Hussain Shah C. On December 17, 2019
B. Jam Khan Shoro D. On June 17, 2019
C. Sohail Anwar Siyal
D. Mukesh Chawla

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 DAWN
EDITORIALS
SECTION

All editorials are taken from prestigious

Pakistan’s and Words newspapers.
Srinagar G20 boycott | Dawn
former chief minister of IHK, India has
INDIA’S efforts to normalise its dubious annexation of unleashed “unprecedented … arrests,
held Kashmir have suffered a serious blow as a number of raids, surveillance and persecution”
G20 countries have either refused to attend a tourism ahead of the G20 moot. As the UN
moot scheduled to begin in Srinagar on Monday, or have special rapporteur on minority rights
yet to commit to attending the event. recently noted, by organising the
meeting in Srinagar, India sought to
normalise “brutal and repressive denial”
Details: of rights of Kashmiri Muslims, while
China has taken the lead in boycotting the event in the occupied region adding that the G20 was “unwittingly
as its foreign ministry spokesperson said that his country “is firmly providing a veneer of support” to India’s
opposed to holding … meetings in disputed territory”. violations of human rights in
Moreover, Indian media has reported that Turkiye and the disputed region. India’s
Saudi Arabia, both G20 members, have yet to confirm rulers arrogantly consider
participation while Egypt, which is not a member of the Kashmir to be a non-issue on
bloc but was invited as a guest, has also not yet registered the international agenda after
for the event. It is heartening to note that these nations they annexed the region in
have taken a brave step in solidarity with the oppressed 2019.
people of held Kashmir. While Srinagar may be a
picturesque locale for a tourism conference, the Wayforward for India:
suffocating footprint of India’s occupation, and the blood New Delhi will have a rude awakening. While it is true that
of countless Kashmiris spilled by Indian forces, means the international order is mainly governed by realpolitik and
that all conscientious nations should stay away from what is still the absence of ethical guidelines, some global players are still willing to
internationally recognised as a disputed territory. raise a voice for oppressed peoples around the world. What is
particularly unfortunate is that G20’s Western members — who have
Critical evaluation of the issue: been crying hoarse over Russia’s occupation of Ukraine — have gladly
Reports from the occupied territory indicate that India is pulling out all given their stamp of approval to India’s occupation of Kashmir.
the stops to ‘sanitise’ the situation. According to Mehbooba Mufti,
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 12.Veneer - A thin covering or layer that hides the true nature or
appearance of something.
Vocabulary in context
13. Arrogantly - In a proud, self-important, or overbearing manner.
14.Realpolitik - A political approach that prioritizes practical
Difficult words: considerations and national interests over moral or ideological
1. Annexation - The act of incorporating or seizing control of a principles.
territory or region. Phrasal verbs:
2. Dubious - Doubtful, questionable, or suspect. 1. Take the lead - To be the first or most prominent in a particular
3. Moot - A meeting or gathering for discussion or debate. situation.

4. Occupied - Taken control of, typically by force. 2. Commit to - To pledge or promise to do something.

5. Spokesperson - A representative who speaks on behalf of an 3. Stay away from - To avoid or refrain from being involved in
organization or group. something.

6. Conscientious - Guided by one's conscience or moral principles. 4. Pull out all the stops - To make a maximum effort or use all
available resources.
7. Suffocating - Oppressive, overwhelming, or stifling.
5. Raise a voice - To speak out or express one's opinion or concern.
8. Sanitise - To make something appear more acceptable or favorable
by removing or suppressing unpleasant or controversial elements. Idiomatic expressions:

9. Unprecedented - Never done or experienced before. 1. A serious blow - A significant setback or setback.

10. Surveillance - Close observation, monitoring, or scrutiny of 2. All the stops - All available means or resources.
individuals or groups. 3. Cry hoarse - To repeatedly and loudly express one's opinion or
11. Persecution - The act of subjecting someone to ill-treatment, complaint.
harassment, or hostility.

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Gloomy days | Dawn
during the same period last year. The amount is just 35.5pc of the
PAKISTAN’S balance-of-payments troubles have spiralled $22.8bn full-year budget target for foreign financing. No wonder
into a full-blown economic crisis over the last several official foreign currency reserves have dwindled to $4.3bn as of last
months. Amid stagnating growth and weekend — just enough to cover the bill
skyrocketing inflation, the crisis, exacerbated by of one month of controlled imports.
sustained political conflict, has reached a point
Former finance minister Miftah
where it is threatening to destabilise the country Ismail believes that the economic
as it faces the danger of sovereign default. The situation is going to be “very difficult” in
reasons are obvious. the coming months, with liquid foreign
exchange reserves likely to drop below
the critical level of $2bn by the end of
Details: September. With the IMF programme
Our ruling elites have borrowed heavily from just in limbo, because the Fund isn’t
about everywhere to sustain their luxurious lifestyle satisfied with Pakistan’s commitment to
for decades, without ever thinking that the world reform or its ability to arrange the
could one day stop financing or subsidising their required funds to meet external
extravagant ways. The more immediate reason relates financing needs, our bilateral partners
to the inability of our ruling classes to change their are also hesitant to step up. In such a
wasteful ways, despite warnings from our lenders and friends. It is not scenario, with new elections expected in October, no one really knows
surprising that no one wants to fund us unless we make a strong where we will be — and in what condition — in the next few months.
commitment to implementing reforms and fixing our structural issues.

Critical evaluation:
A report of the economic affairs ministry shows that Pakistan’s external
financing pipeline is drying up. Multilateral, bilateral and commercial
inflows (read: loans) went down by 38pc — or amount to just $8.1bn —
in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year against over $13bn
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According to IMF estimates, Pakistan will be required to make
debt repayments or seek rollovers of nearly $75bn over the
next three years. In order to repay its debt and avoid default,
Pakistan must rapidly boost its earnings from exports, FDI and
remittance inflows from overseas Pakistanis.

Wayforward:
That is not going to happen overnight or without
implementing key structural reforms to stabilise the economy.
So Islamabad is left with only one option: take fresh loans and
seek rollovers of existing foreign debt to stay afloat and avoid a
formal default. That will not happen until the IMF programme
is revived.

The alternative — debt restructuring — doesn’t sound pleasant

in the current environment. In either case, we will have to first
deal with the elephant in the room: political instability.

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 Vocabulary in context

Difficult words: 8. Lenders - Individuals, institutions, or Phrasal verbs:

organizations that provide loans.
1. Balance-of-payments - A record of all 1. Borrowed heavily - Obtained a
economic transactions between a country 9. Structural issues - Fundamental or significant amount of money through
and the rest of the world over a specific underlying problems within a system or borrowing.
period, including imports, exports, and organization.
financial flows. 2. Stagnating growth - Growth that has
10. Multilateral - Involving or slowed down or come to a standstill.
2. Spiralled - Increased rapidly or participated in by multiple countries or
uncontrollably. parties. 3. Step up - To increase or intensify
something.
3. Full-blown - Fully developed or intense. 11. Inflows - Money or resources
coming into a country or organization. 4. Stay afloat - To avoid financial failure or
4. Exacerbated - Made worse or more bankruptcy.
severe. 12. Dwindled - Decreased or reduced
in number or quantity. Idiomatic expressions:
5. Sovereign default - The failure of a
government to meet its debt obligations. 13. Liquid - Readily convertible into 1. Balance-of-payments troubles -
cash or easily sold. Financial difficulties related to a country's
6. Elites - A small, privileged group of international trade and financial
people who hold power or authority. 14. Rollovers - The extension or transactions.
renewal of a debt or financial arrangement.
7. Subsidising - Providing financial 2. Cover the bill - To have enough money
support or assistance. to pay for something.

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Trade with Iran | Dawn
concrete efforts to deepen trade relations. The border markets will
FOR numerous reasons, mostly geopolitical, Pakistan’s hopefully help promote much-needed economic activity in Balochistan,
volume of trade with its neighbours — with the exception and should help formalise border trade. As it is Pakistani cities,
of China — is very low. Trade ties with Iran have been particularly Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, are flooded with
particularly lukewarm, mostly due smuggled Iranian products.
to the fear of attracting American
Critical evaluation:
and Saudi wrath.
Formalising trade will help bring in tax revenue,
while also opening up the Iranian market to
Details: Pakistani products.
However, small steps are being taken to Along with promoting trade ties, officials on both
enhance the commercial relationship sides need to resolve the controversy over the Iran-
with Iran. Pakistan gas pipeline. While the Iranians have
▪ Amongst these is the opening of constructed the pipeline on their end, Pakistan has
the Mand-Pishin ‘border yet to build its part. As a result, Iran may take
sustenance market’. The market, Pakistan to court, with this country facing a $18bn
one of six such initiatives on the penalty for failing to complete the project. The
border of Balochistan and the matter was discussed in the Public Accounts
Iranian province of Sistan- Committee on Wednesday, with the PAC chairman
Baluchestan, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif remarking that “the US should pay the penalty” if it stops Pakistan
and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday to facilitate from completing the pipeline, pointing to the widely held belief that the
trade between the two countries. fear of offending Washington is preventing Pakistan from honouring its
commitment.
A 100MW transmission line that will bring electricity from Iran was
also inaugurated. It is hoped these steps are followed up with more
Wayforward for Pakistan and Iran:

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Pakistan can ill afford to pay such a massive penalty. Reneging on the
deal will reflect badly on our shaky international standing, and damage
ties with Tehran. The state should make it a priority to address the
pipeline issue, and assure Iran that it intends to honour the deal. If the
price of gas is right, it would be a win-win situation for all, as Pakistan
needs affordable hydrocarbons. The Saudis should have no concerns,
as they themselves are mending fences with Iran, while our friends in
Washington must be told that Pakistan has to honour the pipeline deal.
If the US can look the other way when India and others buy oil from
sanctioned Russia, it should have no issues if Pakistan buys gas from
Iran, and enhances trade relations with it. Eurasian integration is the
new buzzword, and if Pakistan fails to hop on the bandwagon of
regional trade for fear of offending powerful actors, it will have only
itself to blame.

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 Vocabulary in context

Difficult words:
1. Geopolitical - Relating to the political, economic, and strategic 12.Reneging - Failing to fulfill or honor a commitment or agreement.
factors influencing the relations between countries.
13. Shaky - Unstable, uncertain, or unreliable.
2. Lukewarm - Not enthusiastic or passionate; lacking in warmth or
14.Hydrocarbons - Organic compounds consisting of hydrogen and
intensity.
carbon, such as natural gas or petroleum.
3. Wrath - Extreme anger or fury.
Phrasal verbs:
4. Sustenance - Support or maintenance, especially of livelihood or
1. Bring in - To generate or produce something, especially revenue or
basic needs.
income.
5. Inaugurated - Formally opened or introduced with a ceremony or
2. Mending fences - Improving or repairing damaged relationships
event.
or alliances.
6. Transmission line - A cable or wire used for transmitting
3. Look the other way - To deliberately ignore or pretend not to
electrical power.
notice something, typically something wrong or improper.
7. Concrete - Real, tangible, or specific.
4. Hop on - To join or participate in something, especially a trend or
8. Formalise - To make something official or formal. opportunity.
9. Flooded - Overwhelmed or inundated, usually with a large Idiomatic expressions:
quantity of something.
1. Pay the penalty - To suffer the consequences or face punishment
10. Smuggled - Illegally transported or brought into a country for a particular action or failure.
or region.
2. Hopping on the bandwagon - To join or support a popular
11. Critical evaluation - An assessment or analysis that provides an trend or movement.
objective and thoughtful examination of a situation or issue.

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IDPs left high and dry | Dawn
AS a vicious political flare-up grips Pakistan, the
continuing IDP crisis has fallen by the wayside. A joint
report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
and the Norwegian Refugee Council puts the global
number of displaced people at 71.1m in 2022. It includes
massive dislodgment caused by Russia’s war and those left
homeless in the catastrophic floods that submerged large
parts of Pakistan.

Details:
Although the report says 8m were displaced in the country, the overall
figure of those affected is a grim 33m, which is one-third of the
population, with 2.2m homes either swept away or damaged. Ideally, livelihoods is not all that should have been delivered by the
these figures should have served as a climate change clarion call for government. As the trajectory of climate change suggests monsoon
authorities to prioritise rehabilitation. But a vast majority still faces floods will be a biannual blow, robust strategies to counter natural
brutal attackers and weather conditions. Reports as recent as January calamities are absent.
this year say some six IDPs were shot dead and five wounded in an
Wayforward:
attack on their makeshift shelters in Jacobabad.
Taking a cue from developed nations, we require a crisis response task
Critical evaluation of the issue: force on a national scale for prompt control and provision of shelter,
It is time to spare a thought for humanity that was robbed by nature. food and safety. And federating units need to work in smooth unison to
For a nation as beleaguered as Pakistan, the international community plug loopholes in service delivery systems. Succour for humanity can
must do more to assuage mass misery. Moreover, minors among the only arrive with a committed, sensitive leadership so that lives do not
displaced being deprived of basic rights to health and education is an hang by an endless thread and relief is provided with a vision to end
area of significant collective concern. Restoration of homes and need.

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 Vocabulary in context

Difficult words:
1. Vicious - Extremely violent, cruel, or aggressive. 11. Robbed - Deprived or taken away forcefully or unlawfully.
2. Flare-up - A sudden and intense outbreak or increase in 12.Trajectory - The path or course that something follows.
something, often referring to a conflict or dispute.
13. Robust - Strong, sturdy, or resilient.
3. IDP - Internally Displaced Person, a person who has been forced to
14.Succour - Assistance, support, or relief provided in times of
flee their home but remains within their country's borders.
hardship or distress.
4. Dislodgment - The act of being forced out or removed from a
15. Loopholes - Gaps or weaknesses in systems or regulations that
place.
can be exploited or taken advantage of.
5. Submerged - Covered or engulfed by water or another liquid.
Phrasal verbs:
6. Grim - Depressing, bleak, or unpleasant.
1. Fall by the wayside - To be neglected or forgotten, usually in
7. Rehabilitation - The process of restoring or improving the favor of something else.
condition, health, or functionality of something or someone.
Idiomatic expressions:
8. Beleaguered - Besieged, surrounded, or overwhelmed, usually
1. Spare a thought - To think or consider something, usually with
with difficulties or problems.
empathy or sympathy.
9. Assuage - To alleviate, relieve, or lessen the intensity of
2. Hang by an endless thread - To be in a precarious or uncertain
something, typically pain, distress, or a problem.
situation.
10. Deprived - Lacking the necessary or expected benefits or
privileges.

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The highest mountain | Dawn
Critical appreciation:
THREE Pakistani mountaineers raised the national flag at
Ali Sadpara died in 2021 while attempting a winter ascent of K2, his
the highest point in the world over the weekend, with the death highlighting the plight of Pakistan’s mountaineers. Pakistan has
whole country basking in their seen a number of climbers emerge in
achievement. Sajid Sadpara became the recent years, most notably Sajid, the
first climber from Pakistan to scale Mount trailblazing Samina and Naila. There is
Everest without supplemental oxygen and also Shehroze Kashif, the 20-year-old
without the assistance of porters — the first attempting to become the youngest in the
world to climb all 14 eight-thousanders.
alpine-style ascent on the 8,848-metre
He has climbed 10 so far. He is among
peak this season. those who have raised Pakistan’s flag atop
the world’s highest peaks with very little
government support.
Details:
Naila Kiani, a mother of two, became the second Wayforward:
female mountaineer from Pakistan, a decade There is a pressing need for a
after Samina Baig, to summit Everest. In the mountaineering school run by the Alpine
process, she also became the first woman from Club of Pakistan, the country’s climbing
the country to scale five eight-thousanders. Naila is the first foreign federation. The lack of corporate support for mountaineers is
climber to reach the top this season; her expedition included disappointing. But despite these hurdles, public interest in the sport is
compatriot Nadia Azad who also summited successfully. The ascents growing, and a bit of support for the climbers could go a long way in
came as the Everest routes were fixed for this season although Sajid’s increasing Pakistan’s presence on top of the worl
solo feat is remarkable — not only did he carry all his equipment
without help, he also set the route he took himself. It was a fitting
tribute to his late father Ali Sadpara, the legendary climber whose early
ascents weren’t recognised as he accomplished them as a porter.
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 Vocabulary in context

Difficult words: 9. Feat - An impressive or remarkable achievement.

1. Mountaineers - People who engage in the sport or activity of 10. Trailblazing - Pioneering or innovating in a particular field,
climbing mountains. setting a path for others to follow.
2. Basking - Taking great pleasure or satisfaction in something, often 11. Plight - Difficult or challenging situation or condition.
in the context of enjoying an achievement or success.
Phrasal verbs:
3. Supplemental - Additional or extra, usually referring to
1. Scale (a mountain) - To climb or reach the top of a mountain.
something that enhances or complements something else.
2. Set (a route) - To establish or create a path or course for others to
4. Alpine-style - A climbing technique that involves carrying all
follow.
necessary equipment and supplies, without the assistance of porters
or support teams. Idiomatic expressions:
5. Summit - To reach the highest point or peak of a mountain. 1. Basking in - Taking pleasure, pride, or satisfaction in something.
6. Eight-thousanders - Refers to the fourteen mountain peaks in 2. Raise (a flag) - To hoist or display a flag, symbolizing a triumph
the world that are over 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) in height. or representation.
7. Expedition - A journey or voyage, often undertaken for a specific 3. Go a long way - To have a significant impact or make a
purpose or goal. considerable difference.
8. Remarkable - Extraordinary, exceptional, or worthy of attention
and admiration.

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HRCP report | Dawn
politicians linked to the opposition. Many were subjected to
IN its flagship annual report on the state of human rights custodial torture while some are facing sedition charges.
in the country, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
has painted a sorry picture of where the state actually Likewise, the inability of the state and its different organs to rectify
stands — more than 75 years after independence — on civil discriminatory legislation and implement the state’s writ and laws to
convict perpetrators has led to an escalation in threats to religious
liberties, religious freedoms and other fundamental
freedom and sexual violence against women and children.
human rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
▪ The scale of violence and discrimination against trans persons
was aggravated by the backlash against the hard-won
Critical appreciation: Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018.
The report, which examines the rights situation in the country in 2022,
is a blunt reminder of how the pillars of state — the legislature,
judiciary and the executive — have failed in their duty to protect
citizens from violence and political and economic exploitation.
Particularly at risk are such vulnerable groups as religious minorities,
women, sub-national groups, workers and children, while state
institutions continue to violate each other’s territory, undermining
their institutional capability and credibility.

▪ The report specifies how the (ongoing) political and economic

turmoil in the country has had a disastrous impact on the human
rights situation, and points to the resurgence of terrorism that
claimed 533 lives last year. The state’s growing intolerance
towards dissenting opinions, free speech and the freedom of
assembly has resulted in a large number of enforced
disappearances — mostly in Balochistan — as well as the arrest of
journalists, social media influencers, political workers and

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Incidents of mob lynching also appear to have risen, underscoring the to address them because the protection of vulnerable segments of
fact that intolerance and a lack of respect for the laws of the land at the society and human rights doesn’t figure on the agenda of political
state level have now completely permeated our social and public life. parties. It, therefore, isn’t surprising that, as pointed out by HRCP
chairperson Hina Jilani, the human rights community is losing the
Wayforward for the governments: space which it had gained after a long struggle.
HRCP has been highlighting these deep-rooted issues afflicting our
state and society for decades. But successive governments have failed

Vocabulary in context

Difficult words: 7. Sedition: conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the
authority of a state or monarch.
1. Blunt: straightforward or direct, without hesitation or ambiguity.
8. Custodial: relating to custody or imprisonment, particularly in a
2. Exploitation: the act of taking advantage of someone or
legal or police context.
something for one's own benefit, often unfairly or unjustly.
9. Escalation: an increase or intensification, often in terms of
3. Vulnerable: susceptible to harm or injury, physically or
severity or magnitude.
emotionally.
10. Discriminatory: showing prejudice or bias against a
4. Resurgence: a revival or comeback after a period of decline or
particular group based on characteristics such as race, gender, or
inactivity.
religion.
5. Dissenting: holding or expressing opinions or beliefs that are
11. Perpetrators: individuals or groups responsible for committing a
different from those commonly or officially held.
crime or wrongdoing.
6. Enforced disappearances: the act of forcefully abducting or
12.Backlash: a strong negative reaction or response to a previous
taking someone away without disclosing their whereabouts or fate.
action or event.
phrasal verbs:
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 1. Painted a sorry picture: presented a negative or regrettable Idiomatic expressions:
portrayal.
1. Painted a sorry picture: presented a negative or regrettable
2. Stand for: represent or signify. portrayal.
3. Fail in: be unsuccessful or ineffective in performing a task or duty. 2. Pillars of state: the essential and fundamental institutions or
branches of government.
4. Violate each other's territory: encroach upon or infringe on
the jurisdiction or responsibilities of other state institutions. 3. Disastrous impact: a highly negative and destructive effect.
5. Face sedition charges: be accused of engaging in speech or 4. Enforced disappearances: the act of forcefully abducting or
actions that incite rebellion or resistance against the state. taking someone away without disclosing their whereabouts or fate.
6. Subjected to: experienced or endured. 5. Custodial torture: physical or psychological abuse inflicted upon
individuals while they are in custody or detention.
7. Figure on: be included or considered as part of a plan or agenda.
6. Deep-rooted issues: long-standing or deeply ingrained
8. Rectify: correct or make right.
problems.
7. Figure on the agenda: be included or considered as an
important topic for discussion or action.
Losing the space: experiencing a reduction in influence,
recognition, or opportunity.

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Malnourished children | Dawn
Critical evaluation:
ALTHOUGH the waters of 2022’s devastating floods have
The state needs to address the nutritional needs of vulnerable children
receded, the long-term impacts of the climate event urgently, for as UN experts have noted, the damage to health caused by
continue to haunt the victims, particularly children. malnutrition may be irreversible.
According to the UN, the number of malnourished children
in the flood-affected areas has increased greatly, even ▪ The UN says $5.5m have been allocated for food security
interventions, but more funds are
though malnourishment was already prevalent before
needed. While the economy may be in a
the deluge. tailspin, and economic conditions
abroad are also experiencing
Details: turbulence, thus affecting donor
inflows, funds must be cut from other
A UN survey says that one-third of youngsters between six
non-essential heads and channelled
to 23 months suffer from moderate acute malnutrition,
towards children and adults in flood-
while 14pc of infants are exposed to acute severe
affected regions, who must have enough
malnutrition, which can be deadly. UN officials say that to eat.
before the floods, child wasting was quite high, but that
after the deluge “emergency levels” are being witnessed, Wayforward for the Govt:
especially in Sindh and Balochistan. Sadly, even before the
Moreover, the power elite must take
floods worsened the situation, Pakistan was fighting an
time from their palace intrigues to come
uphill battle against child malnutrition. Unicef has termed the situation
up with a long-term plan to address the menace of child malnutrition,
“quite dire”, with wasting “heavily prevalent” and some 10m youngsters
and give our youngsters a chance to live a better tomorrow. In fact, the
suffering from stunting.
general health, education and rehabilitation needs of the flood victims
should not be forgotten in the web of crises.

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 Vocabulary in context

Difficult words:
1. Receded: to move back or withdraw, 9. Child wasting: a condition 5. Tap into: make use of or access a
especially in the case of water. characterized by a rapid weight loss and resource or reserve.
undernutrition in children.
2. Devastating: causing severe damage or Idiomatic expressions:
destruction. 10. Emergency levels: a critical or
1. Waters have receded: the
severe situation that requires immediate
3. Haunt: to continue to cause distress or floodwaters have gone down or subsided.
attention or action.
trouble.
2. Long-term impacts: lasting or
11. Stunting: a condition where a child's
4. Malnourished: suffering from a lack of enduring effects.
growth and development are impaired
proper nutrition or inadequate diet.
due to malnutrition. 3. Fighting an uphill battle: facing a
5. Prevalent: widespread or commonly difficult or challenging task or situation.
12.Dire: extremely serious or urgent.
occurring.
4. Quite dire: extremely serious or urgent.
Phrasal verbs:
6. Moderate acute malnutrition: a
5. In a tailspin: experiencing a rapid
condition where a child's nutritional 1. Receded: to move back or withdraw,
decline or deterioration.
status is below the normal range but not especially in the case of water.
yet severe. 6. Palace intrigues: political
2. Haunt: to continue to cause distress or
maneuvering or power struggles within
7. Acute severe malnutrition: a severe trouble.
the ruling elite.
form of malnutrition that can be life-
3. Cut from: to reduce or allocate less
threatening. 7. Web of crises: a complex or
from a particular source or area.
interconnected series of problems or
8. Deluge: a sudden and overwhelming
4. Channelled towards: directed or challenges
flood or inundation of water.
redirected towards a specific purpose or
target.

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An unconscionable death toll | Dawn
Critical evaluation of the
DYING in the process of giving birth is a particularly data:
poignant tragedy. And yet that is how a shockingly high
number of women across the globe will continue to lose While South Asia is one of two
regions where the MMR has
their lives unless governments recognise the monumental
shown a significant decline
injustice of a situation where most of these deaths can be over the years, including in
prevented by ensuring easily available medical Pakistan, the country’s MMR
interventions. remains unacceptably high at
154 in 2020, when 9,800
women died during pregnancy
Details:According to Trends in Maternal Mortality, a report by or childbirth. MMR in the
several UN agencies released recently, a woman dies during same year for India was 103;
pregnancy or childbirth every two minutes. in Bangladesh, it was 123.
Pakistan’s MMR also provides
▪ That came to over 280,000 fatalities in 2020, a toll aptly a window into the inequity in
described by the UNFPA executive director as human development indicators across the country.
“unconscionable”.
▪ As per the Pakistan Maternal Mortality Survey, the MMR for
Alarmingly, the maternal mortality ratio has either stagnated or Punjab is 157, while for Balochistan it is 298. There is likewise
increased in most parts of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for considerable disparity of around 25pc between rural and urban
70pc of the fatalities, 82,000 of them in Nigeria alone. The report says MMR with the latter registering a lower figure.
that roughly a third of women across the world do not undergo even
four of the eight recommended antenatal checkups or receive essential These statistics also have a symbiotic link with gender inequality in
postnatal care; around 270m women lack access to modern family Pakistan’s patriarchal culture where many women do not have agency
planning methods. over decisions about their reproductive health, including how many
children to have and spacing between births.

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 ▪ According to the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey 2018-19, already poor nutritional status of Pakistani women — especially in the
only 10pc women can take decisions about their health in rural areas — is sure to worsen, thereby contributing to an even higher
Pakistan. prevalence of anaemia among them. This is a critical concern in a
country where 41pc of maternal deaths are due to excessive blood loss
Couple that with inadequate antenatal care and lack of awareness, and during childbirth.
it all adds to the risks incurred by pregnant women as well as the
underweight babies they often bear. Wayforward:

Last year’s devastating floods and the prevailing economic crisis have Special interventions are needed if Pakistan’s modest gains in MMR are
pushed millions more into poverty and made the achievement of SDGs not to be reversed.
on reducing maternal and infant mortality even more unlikely. The

Vocabulary in context

1. Poignant - (adj.) evoking a keen sense of 4. Antenatal - (adj.) relating to the medical care 3. Disparity - (n.) a lack of equality or
sadness or regret given to a pregnant woman before she gives similarity, especially in a way that is unfair
Example: The movie's poignant ending left birth Example: There is a significant disparity
everyone in tears. Example: The doctor advised the expectant between the wages of men and women in many
mother to undergo regular antenatal checkups. industries.
2. Unconscionable - (adj.) not right or
reasonable 1. Stagnated - (v.) to become inactive or stop 4. Reproductive health - (n.) the state of
Example: The boss's unconscionable behavior developing physical, emotional, and social well-being
towards his employees led to a strike. Example: The company's growth stagnated related to the reproductive system
after the CEO resigned. Example: The clinic provides comprehensive
3. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) - (n.) the reproductive health services for women.
number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live 2. Sub-Saharan - (adj.) relating to or situated
births in the region of Africa south of the Sahara 5. Demographic - (adj.) relating to the
Example: The MMR in Nigeria is alarmingly Desert characteristics of a particular population, such
high. Example: Many countries in sub-Saharan as age, gender, or ethnicity
Africa struggle with poverty and disease. ‘

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Disparity in society | Dawn
incomes from real estate, retail, agriculture, etc. Hopefully, this should
IN her remarks to a German broadcaster on the sidelines become clear in the coming days.
of the Munich Security Conference last week, IMF
managing director Kristalina Georgieva set ▪ The more important question focuses
on whether Prime Minister Shehbaz
out the agenda for good fiscal governance in
Sharif’s politically embattled
Pakistan. government is ready to take the plunge
and risk the anger of his party’s core
constituents from the retail and real
Details:“What we are asking for are steps that
estate sectors, and withdraw the
Pakistan needs to take to be able to function as a
massive energy and tax subsidies given
country and not to get into a dangerous place
to powerful factory owners.
where its debt needs to be restructured,” she said.
So far, the government has shown
Her advice: tax those who are earning well in both
virtually no signs of embarking on this
the public and private sectors and give subsidies
‘difficult’ route, as it fears the electoral
only to the poor who actually need it. That the
repercussions of annoying its vote bank.
IMF chief’s statement has come at a time when
Rather, the rulers are trying to meet the
Islamabad is struggling hard to close the deal with
IMF’s revenue condition through
the international lender for the restoration of the loan programme,
enhancing indirect taxes, even though they are fully aware that the
amid fears of defaulting, shows that differences between the two sides
move will heap further misery on low-income households that are
are far from settled.
already contending with the effects of soaring inflation.
From her talk it has also become evident that the IMF is not satisfied
This is not what any caring government would do in a country that has
with the increase in the consumption tax rate and wants the
the world’s second highest number of out-of-school children, where
government to enhance income tax on the rich.But it is still uncertain
nearly 10m youngsters suffer from stunting because of chronic
whether the IMF is asking only for an increase in income tax rates on
malnutrition and undernutrition, and where 70pc of households have
existing taxpayers or is pressing for broadening the net and pulling in
no option but to drink germ-infested water.
all those who have evaded paying their dues or who have undertaxed

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The ongoing economic crisis has increased financial and gender Way ahead: Sadly, our tax structure is geared only to further enrich
disparities. The main purpose of a good tax policy is to bridge these the wealthy, and they are the ones who control politics, directly or
gaps and to reduce economic differences by directly taxing the affluent. indirectly. Without a just socioeconomic order, the challenges will only
grow.

Vocabulary in context

1. Fiscal governance: The process of managing the financial 8. Stunting: A condition that arises due to chronic malnutrition and
resources and expenditures of a country or organization. undernutrition in which a child's physical and mental growth is
severely impacted.
2. Subsidies: Financial assistance or support given by the
government to individuals or organizations to promote economic 9. Socioeconomic order: The structure of a society that defines the
activity or to help with the cost of essential goods and services. relationship between individuals, communities, and the economy.
3. Increase in consumption tax rate: A rise in the tax levied on ▪ Real estate: Property in the form of land or buildings.
the consumption of goods and services.
▪ Electoral repercussions: The effects of political decisions or
4. Income tax: A tax imposed on the income earned by individuals actions on an elected government or political party's future chances
and organizations. of winning an election.
5. Undertaxed incomes: Incomes on which insufficient tax has ▪ Misery: Suffering, pain, or distress.
been paid.
▪ Soaring inflation: Rapid and significant increase in the general
6. Politically embattled government: A government that is prices of goods and services in an economy.
facing significant opposition or challenges to its authority.
▪ Chronic malnutrition: Long-term lack of adequate nutrition
7. Indirect taxes: Taxes levied on goods and services, such as sales leading to poor physical and mental health outcomes.
tax and excise duty.
1. Germ-infested water: Water that is contaminated with harmful
bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms

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No pardon for rape | Dawn
sexual assault because he married the victim as a result of a
AN important aspect of procedural law pertaining to the compromise.
crime of rape, and one that most certainly serves the cause
of justice, was recently reiterated in a sessions court in Critical evaluation: Cultural filters and biases can often lead to
Karachi. faulty applications of the law. In a deeply inequitable society, the
compounding of offences can lead to outcomes completely at odds with
the principles of justice.This is perhaps most starkly seen in cases of
Details: ‘honour killing’ where, unlike other types of murder, the families of the
victims and the perpetrators are the same. This has allowed murderers
In a case where a school teacher was sexually assaulted in Karachi in to go free when the victims’ next of kin have ‘pardoned’ them — a
March 2017, the court found the accused guilty and rejected a grotesque iteration of ‘keeping it in the family’.
compromise between him and the victim’s father as a basis of acquittal.
After the public outrage at the murder of social media celebrity
Holding that an out-of-court settlement has no legal value in rape Qandeel Baloch at the hands of her brother, legislators brought an
cases, the judge sentenced the defendant to 10 years behind bars. Her amendment to the relevant law. Fundamentally, this amendment
approach adhered to the law: the crime of rape is not included among changed nothing. Honour killing remains compoundable; the court
the compoundable offences listed under Section 345 of the Criminal continues, as before, to have discretionary power to award punishment
Procedure Code, which expressly says “No offence shall be to perpetrators even if they are pardoned by the family of the victim.
compounded except as provided by this section”.
Only the minimum punishment that may be awarded has been
▪ Nevertheless, courts still make appalling errors of judgement. In enhanced — from 10 years’ imprisonment to imprisonment for life.
2012, a trial court acquitted men accused of gang rape after they
came to an out-of-court settlement with the father of the The acquittal of Qandeel’s brother on appeal by the Lahore High Court
victim.Fortunately, the Supreme Court struck down the lower is further evidence that the law needs revision, but it also offers an
court’s ruling. But similar travesties of justice continue to take insight into society’s misogynistic bent.However, in most cases of
place. murder, even willful murder, the deciding factor in whether justice is
▪ For example, in December 2022, the Peshawar High Court set done is the social standing of the victim’s family. If they can be
aside the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to a man for browbeaten into a ‘compromise’, then killers walk free. Surely those
who commit this most terrible of crimes should not get away with it.
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 Vocabulary in context

1. Procedural law: Rules that govern the process of resolving legal 9. Compoundable offences: Offences that can be resolved through
disputes, including the rules of evidence, jurisdiction, and due an out-of-court settlement or compromise.
process.
Criminal Procedure Code: The legal framework that outlines the
2. Rape: The crime of forcing someone to engage in sexual activity procedures for criminal trials in Pakistan.
against their will.
10. Trial court: The court that conducts a trial.
3. Acquittal: A legal finding of not guilty.
11. Gang rape: The crime of forcing someone to engage in sexual
4. Out-of-court settlement: An agreement reached between activity against their will by a group of people.
parties in a dispute without going to trial.
12.Life imprisonment: A sentence of imprisonment for the
5. Legal value: The usefulness or validity of something under the remainder of one's natural life.
law.
13. Honour killing: The practice of killing a family member, usually
6. Defendant: The person accused of a crime in a court of law. a woman, who is perceived to have brought dishonor to the family.
7. Bars: A term used to refer to a prison or jail. 14.Browbeaten: To intimidate or coerce someone into doing
something.
8. Adhered: To follow or obey a particular rule or principle.
15. Terrible of crimes: A severe and heinous crime.

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Changing Mideast | Dawn
the militia. If the ongoing ceasefire in Yemen takes a more permanent
THE possibilities for further peacebuilding in the Gulf and shape, matters may transition to a broad-based dialogue where the
the Middle East in general are considerable, should the country’s tribes, confessional groups and political factions can reach a
landmark deal signed between Saudi Arabia and Iran in power-sharing deal, and agree to a democratic solution that protects
Beijing last week deliver on its lofty goals. the interests of all Yemenis.

Beyond Yemen, the Chinese-

Critical evaluation: brokered deal points to the
fast-changing dynamics in the
One particular theatre of conflict that can Middle East. It shows that the
benefit immensely is Yemen, where a ruinous US and, to a lesser degree,
eight-year-old war has left the impoverished Europe have lost their status as
Arab nation barely functional. The conflict has regional power brokers.
pit the pro-Iran Houthi movement, which Amongst the reasons Chinese
controls the capital Sana’a, against the Yemeni diplomacy succeeded is the fact
government backed by Saudi Arabia, which that Beijing has not launched
intervened militarily in Yemen in March 2015. neocolonial wars in the energy-
rich area and is also not
However, the intervention has been an interested in regime change.
unmitigated disaster, with the Saudi-led The same obviously cannot be
coalition, supported by the West, unleashing said for the US and Europe.
intense bombardment, often targeting civilians. Beijing wants stable markets,
The Houthis have responded by attacking Saudi and safe access to the key Gulf
and Emirati cities with missiles. But now, after energy corridor to fuel its
the breakthrough in Beijing, the Yemeni conflict economy, while the Saudis and
may be close to a resolution. Iranians also want Chinese investment and trade.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran has agreed to stop arming
the Houthis, though officially Tehran denies it is sending weapons to
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Where the Middle East is concerned, the West has missed the bus. In Riyadh and Tehran need to put in their best efforts to make the deal
fact, the Beijing developments point to an emerging multipolar world work, as a calmer Gulf will bring benefits to the entire region. Pakistan
order, and the apparent end of American unipolarity. can also gain from this détente, if it manages to address its internal
issues and builds bridges with both the Saudis and Iranians.
Wayforward:

Vocabulary in context

difficult words: • neocolonial: relating to a policy or practice of exerting political,

economic, or cultural influence over other countries or regions,
• peacebuilding: the process of promoting peace and reducing
often with the aim of maintaining control or dominance
conflict in a region or society
phrasal verbs:
• landmark: a significant or notable event or achievement
• pit against: to cause two or more parties to oppose or fight against
• lofty: ambitious or high-reaching
each other
• ruinous: causing damage or destruction
• back up: to support or reinforce someone or something
• impoverished: very poor or lacking basic necessities
idiomatic expressions:
• ceasefire: a temporary suspension of hostilities or fighting
• missed the bus: to have missed an opportunity

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Anti-Muslim bigotry | Dawn
representative also had issues with observing the day. These views
IN a civilised world, there can be no place for hatred and highlight the fact that despite declared secularity, some states have
violence based on race, religion, ethnicity, etc. However, issues with Islam and the Muslim culture.
humanity is far from these lofty ideals, though advances
have been made in combating bigotry. ▪ For example, in Europe, the far right has combined Islamophobia
with racism and anti-immigrant sentiment to create a toxic
atmosphere for Muslims and people of colour. France has been
Rising Islamophobia in the world: championing restrictions on the hijab in government buildings.
In the modern age, one of the most rampant forms of
Vile examples of Quran burning in
hatred is Islamophobia, that manifests itself in
different European states illustrate that
various forms, ranging from the harassment of
for some, the continent’s mediaeval
women wearing the hijab, to murderous rampages
animus for Islam is very much alive.
such as the one carried out by a white supremacist in
India, on the other hand, specifically
Christchurch in 2019. It was this incident that led to
under the BJP’s watch, has woven
the observance of the International Day to Combat
Islamophobia into state policy.
Islamophobia every March 15. Pakistan, particularly
the former PTI government, played an instrumental ▪ The Sangh Parivar has for long
role in the observance of the day internationally. reviled(hated/loathed) Islam — as seen
in the Babri Masjid episode, the lynching
Critical evaluation: As the UN chief has observed,
of Muslims on suspicions of eating beef,
Muslims in many parts “face bigotry and prejudice
and the disenfranchisement of Indian
simply because of their faith”. Some interesting
Muslim citizens on flimsy grounds.
observations were made during the discussion on a
These episodes simply prove that for
resolution condemning Islamophobia during the
millions of people, Islamophobia is a
General Assembly in 2022, perhaps reflecting the
lived reality that needs to be fought, as
anti-Muslim prejudices of supposedly secular states.
does prejudice against other faiths.
The French delegate could not understand why a
specific day was dedicated to Islamophobia. Meanwhile, the Indian
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Putting own house in order: Muslim cultures have mingled and traded with each other, exchanging
ideas and concepts, while also confronting one another on the
Yet it is also true that Muslim states need to do a better job of battlefield. In fact, were it not for Europe’s interaction with Islam, the
protecting minorities that live within their borders. When non-Muslims continent may have had a difficult time exiting the Dark Ages.
are not completely free to practise their faiths, not only is it a violation Therefore, either we can learn from history and coexist, or continue
of their fundamental rights, it also gives fodder to Islamophobes to regurgitating (bring up) the venom of the past.
further spread poison. For centuries, the world of Islam and non-

Vocabulary in context

Difficult words: 5. Woven into - to integrate or incorporate something into something else
1. Rampant - widespread; unchecked; growing without limit or restraint 6. Regurgitating - to repeat or restate something without much thought or
originality
2. Supremacist - a person who believes in or advocates the supremacy of a
particular group, especially one determined by race or ethnicity Idiomatic expressions:

3. Bigotry - intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself 1. Far from - not at all; quite the opposite of

4. Secularity - not having any religious or spiritual basis 2. Lived reality - something that is actually experienced or encountered,
rather than just imagined or perceived
Phrasal verbs:
3. Fodder to spread poison - something that provides material for
1. Carried out - to perform or complete a task or action
someone to promote or spread harmful ideas or beliefs
2. Played an instrumental role - to have a significant or crucial role in
4. Mingled and traded - to interact and engage in commerce or exchange
something
of ideas with one another
3. Combining with - to unite or merge with something else
5. Exiting the Dark Ages - emerging from a period of ignorance,
4. Championing - to support or defend something vigorously backwardness, or primitiveness.

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Pollution policy | Dawn
alone, bad air caused 235,000 premature deaths in Pakistan. It reduced
A NATIONAL policy on combating air pollution has been the average life expectancy by 2.7 years. Those are staggering numbers.
long overdue. With Pakistan’s largest cities regularly There has been an equally stupefying economic cost borne by the
ranking among the most polluted in the world, it is a country for its failure to act against the menace, which the World Bank
wonder that the issue had not been looked into with more has estimated to be around $48bn, according to Ms Rehman. It is
urgency. encouraging to see the urgency with which this problem is now being
tackled, although much remains dependent on the enthusiasm and
commitment with which the provincial
Details: governments adopt the mitigation
Better late than never, as they say. According to news measures that are to be prescribed
reports, the federal government okayed the National Clear under the policy.
Air Policy recently, “aiming to improve air quality in the
Policymakers at all levels must realise
country by reducing pollution”.
that air pollution is an issue of
▪ According to a story carried in this paper, the policy considerable importance to the climate
will attempt to provide a comprehensive framework change crisis Pakistan faces. Hazardous
to tackle air pollution, focusing on actions that can levels of air pollution regularly
be taken at the national level to mitigate its harmful disrupted life in some of the biggest
effects. Primary objectives of the policy have been cities of Punjab this past winter,
identified as reducing deaths due to pollution- disrupting economic activity. Karachi,
related illnesses, transboundary pollution, where air pollution still remains an
improving general health, and reducing the impact overlooked crisis, has seen a spate of
of air pollution on national economic activity. deaths, including of children, which
have been attributed to the discharge of
Critical evaluation: toxic industrial gases close to or in
residential areas. Respiratory illnesses
According to Sherry Rehman, climate change minister are becoming increasingly common in
and reportedly the driving force behind this effort, in the year 2019 the port city, impairing the quality of life of ordinary citizens who are
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unaware of the hazards of the dangerous pollutants they breathe in The national policy to combat air pollution should be taken up with as
every day. much zeal as the other existential challenges we face.

Wayforward:

Vocabulary in context

Difficult Words: 4. Breathed in: to inhale air or gas into the lungs
1. Mitigate: to make something less severe or harmful Idiomatic Expressions:
2. Transboundary: crossing or extending across a boundary or 1. Long overdue: something that should have happened much
boundaries earlier
3. Menace: a threat or danger 2. Better late than never: it's better to do something late than to
never do it at all
4. Hazardous: dangerous or risky
3. Staggering numbers: extremely large or shocking figures
Phrasal Verbs:
4. Overlooked crisis: a problem that has been ignored or
1. Looked into: to investigate or examine something closely
neglected for a long time
2. Taken up: to start or begin something, usually a task or activity
5. Existential challenges: challenges or problems that threaten the
3. Borne by: to carry or endure the burden of something very existence of something

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Srinagar meeting | Dawn
international community’s silence over Kashmir’s plight. The G20
THE G20 is sending the wrong message by letting India contains many Western states that claim to be the standard-bearers of
organise events linked to the bloc in held Kashmir. While fundamental rights. However, when it comes to the people of occupied
the summit of the world’s top 20 economies will be held in Kashmir, these rights can apparently be held in abeyance. The West has
New Delhi in September, a meeting related to tourism is to collectively raised a hue and cry over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, yet
be held in Srinagar next month. the over seven-decade-old Indian occupation of Kashmir seems to be a
non-issue in Western capitals.

Details: The Muslim world’s silence is even more galling. None of the Muslim
states within the G20 — Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey — have
This is a cunning attempt by India to ‘legitimise’ its illegal occupation
objected to the scheduled event in Srinagar. Moreover, some of
of the disputed territory by organising a multilateral event there, while
Pakistan’s friends in the Gulf are reportedly investing millions of
the G20 states seem to be playing along without batting an eyelid.
dollars in the held territory. The world’s attitude towards Kashmir’s
Reportedly, only China supported Pakistan’s stance and objected to the
plight is a result of Pakistan’s failures on the diplomatic front, and the
meeting being held in occupied Kashmir. The Foreign Office has
double standards being pursued by ‘the great and the good’ in the
termed the move “irresponsible” and reminded the international
comity of nations.
community that IHK remains a disputed region while New Delhi
continues to brutally suppress the Kashmiri people. Wayforward for the G20:
Critical evaluation: There is still time for the G20 to take a moral stand. If the bloc were to
boycott all events in IHK, it would send a strong message to New Delhi
The BJP-led government has pulled out all the stops to create new
and shake its arrogant assumption that it can do anything in the
‘facts on the ground’ where IHK is concerned. The most brazen of these
occupied region and get away with it. Will the G20 stand with the
moves was the August 2019 decision to do away with the region’s
oppressed people of Kashmir, or will realpolitik triumph?
limited autonomy. But what is particularly disturbing is the

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 Vocabulary in context

Difficult words: 2. Pull out all the stops: to do everything possible to achieve
something.
1. Multilateral: involving several nations or parties.
3. Held in abeyance: temporarily postponed or set aside.
2. Occupied: taken control of, especially by military force.
Idiomatic expressions:
3. Autonomy: the right or condition of self-government.
1. Batting an eyelid: to show no surprise or shock.
4. Plight: a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation.
2. Raise a hue and cry: to raise a loud and persistent outcry,
5. Diplomatic: relating to the profession, activity, or skill of
especially to protest against something.
managing international relations.
3. Stand with: to support or be in solidarity with.
6. Comity: friendly social atmosphere; social harmony.
4. Realpolitik: a political approach that emphasizes practical
Phrasal verbs:
considerations over moral or ethical ones.
1. Do away with: to get rid of; abolish.

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 Facts and figures

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 FACTS AND FIGURES
Compiled From Editorials

▪ G20 countries have either refused to attend a tourism moot scheduled to begin in Srinagar on Monday or have yet to commit to attending the
event.
▪ China has boycotted the event in the occupied region and expressed opposition to holding meetings in disputed territory.
▪ Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, both G20 members, have yet to confirm their participation in the tourism conference.
▪ Egypt, invited as a guest, has not yet registered for the event.
▪ Reports indicate that India has increased arrests, raids, surveillance, and persecution ahead of the G20 moot in Srinagar.
▪ India's rulers consider Kashmir to be a non-issue on the international agenda after annexing the region in 2019.
▪ Pakistan's external financing pipeline has dried up, with multilateral, bilateral, and commercial inflows decreasing by 38% in the first 10
months of the current fiscal year.
▪ Pakistan's official foreign currency reserves have dwindled to $4.3 billion, enough to cover one month of controlled imports.
▪ Liquid foreign exchange reserves are likely to drop below the critical level of $2 billion by the end of September.
▪ The IMF program is in limbo due to concerns about Pakistan's commitment to reform and its ability to arrange the required funds.
▪ Pakistan's trade volume with its neighbors, except for China, is very low.
▪ The opening of the Mand-Pishin 'border sustenance market' aims to facilitate trade between Pakistan and Iran.
▪ A 100MW transmission line that will bring electricity from Iran was inaugurated.
▪ Pakistan needs to resolve the controversy over the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, as Iran may take Pakistan to court and impose a $18 billion
penalty.

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 ▪ Pakistan's international standing and ties with Iran could be damaged if it fails to honor the pipeline deal.
▪ Eurasian integration is the new buzzword, and Pakistan should hop on the bandwagon of regional trade.
▪ The global number of displaced people in 2022 is reported as 71.1 million.
▪ In Pakistan, 8 million people were displaced, and the overall figure of those affected is 33 million, which is one-third of the population.
▪ 2.2 million homes in Pakistan were either swept away or damaged due to catastrophic floods.
▪ There were six IDPs shot dead and five wounded in an attack on their makeshift shelters in Jacobabad.
▪ The report mentions that terrorism claimed 533 lives in Pakistan in the examined year.
▪ The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, is referred to as a hard-won law.
▪ The HRCP report highlights the inability of the state and its different organs to rectify discriminatory legislation and implement the state's writ
and laws to convict perpetrators.
▪ The report mentions incidents of mob lynching on the rise, indicating a lack of respect for the laws of the land.
▪ The human rights community is losing the space it had gained after a long struggle, according to HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani. IMF's agenda
for good fiscal governance in Pakistan: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva advised Pakistan to tax high earners in both the public and
private sectors and provide subsidies only to the poor who genuinely need it. The IMF is not satisfied with the increase in the consumption tax
rate and wants the government to enhance income tax on the rich.
▪ Differences between Pakistan and the IMF: The remarks by Kristalina Georgieva indicate that differences between Pakistan and the IMF are
far from settled, as Islamabad struggles to close a deal for the restoration of the loan program amid fears of defaulting.
▪ Government's approach to meeting IMF's revenue condition: The government in Pakistan has shown little willingness to increase income tax
rates on the rich and withdraw subsidies given to powerful factory owners. Instead, they are attempting to meet the IMF's revenue condition by
enhancing indirect taxes, which could further burden low-income households already grappling with soaring inflation.
▪ Socioeconomic challenges in Pakistan: The ongoing economic crisis in Pakistan has exacerbated financial and gender disparities. The tax policy
is criticized for primarily benefiting the wealthy, contributing to an unjust socioeconomic order. Pakistan also faces issues such as a high
number of out-of-school children, chronic malnutrition, undernutrition, and limited access to clean water.
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International
ARTICLES
SECTION

All articles are taken from prestigious

Pakistan’s and Words newspapers.
In Defense of the Fence Sitters │ Foreign Affairs
MATIAS SPEKTOR
MATIAS SPEKTOR is Professor of International Relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo, a Nonresident Scholar at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, and a Visiting Scholar at Princeton University.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction • Disappointing allies and balancing national interests are part of the hedging
strategy.
• Developing countries in the global South are choosing to remain neutral in the
war in Ukraine to avoid being caught in conflicts among major powers. V. Hedging and Economic Interdependence
• These countries adopt a strategy called hedging to keep their options open and
adapt their foreign policies to uncertain global power dynamics. • Developing countries value their sovereignty and seek to strengthen domestic
markets and self-reliance.
II. Reasons for Hedging • Economic interdependence can weaken sovereignty, so hedging countries
promote industrialization and vital sectors.
• Developing countries want to avoid costly entanglements with major powers
and maintain flexibility in their foreign policies. VI. Partnerships and Alliances in Hedging
• They perceive the future distribution of global power as uncertain and wish to
avoid commitments that may be difficult to fulfill. • Hedging involves forming partnerships of convenience rather than general
alliances.
III. Hedging in the Context of the Ukraine War • Unlike during the Cold War, hedging today is about avoiding choosing sides
among major powers.
• Developing countries see Russia's staying power as a reason not to dismiss its
influence and consider a total Russian defeat as undesirable due to potential VII. Criticism of Western Hypocrisy
destabilization.
• The West's frustration with hedgers overlooks the opportunity to engage with • Developing countries criticize Western hypocrisy in their dealings with the
these countries and address their concerns. global South, which undermines Western claims of a "rules-based order."
• The United States' selective support for authoritarian governments and its own
IV. Challenges and Considerations in Hedging violations of international rules weaken its moral standing.

• Hedging can be challenging and depends on domestic politics and economic VIII. Optimism and Concerns in a Multipolar World
interests.

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 • Developing countries see a multipolar world as a stable foundation for • The United States should address the concerns of the global South, cooperate
international order. on climate change, trade, and manage the rise of China and Russia.
• However, concerns include security competition limiting smaller states'
freedom of action and the potential repression of calls for justice and equality. XI. Cooperation between the West and the Global South
IX. Leveraging Hedging for Change • The West and the global South should work together to reach mutually
beneficial outcomes.
• Western hypocrisy offers developing countries leverage to demand consistency • Areas for cooperation include climate change adaptation, mitigation, and
in Western actions. international trade.
• Developing countries can push for change by criticizing Western actions while
lacking similar leverage over China and Russia. XII. Conclusion
X. Opportunities for the United States • Developing countries in the global South are hedging their way into the future,
seeking material concessions and raising their status in the international order.
• Hedging presents a challenge for the United States in security competition, but • The United States must engage with the global South on their terms to
also an opportunity for engagement. maintain its position among the great powers in a multipolar world.

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Know this word first before reading the article: and wish to avoid commitments that will be hard to discharge. With
limited resources with which to influence global politics, developing
Hedging is a strategy used to minimize potential losses by taking countries want to be able to quickly adapt their foreign policies to
actions that offset or balance out risks. It involves making unpredictable circumstances.
arrangements or investments to protect against unfavorable changes in
the value of assets or investments. In the context of the war in Ukraine, hedgers reason that it is too early
to dismiss Russia’s staying power. By invading its neighbor, Russia may
have made a mistake that will accelerate its long-term decline, but the
country will remain a major force to reckon with in the foreseeable
As countries in the global South refuse to take a side in the war in future and a necessary player in negotiating an end to the war. Most
Ukraine, many in the West are struggling to understand why. Some countries in the global South also see a total Russian defeat as
speculate that these countries have opted for neutrality out of economic undesirable, contending that a broken Russia would open a power
interest. Others see ideological alignments with Moscow and Beijing vacuum wide enough to destabilize countries far beyond Europe.
behind their unwillingness to take a stand—or even a lack of morals.
But the behavior of large Western countries have been too quick to
developing countries can be dismiss this rationale for neutrality,
explained by something much viewing it as an implicit defense of Russia
simpler: the desire to avoid being or as an excuse to normalize aggression. In
trampled in a brawl among China, Washington and various European
Russia, and the United States. capitals, the global South’s response to the
war in Ukraine is seen as making an
Across the globe, from India to already difficult problem harder. But such
Indonesia, Brazil to Turkey, frustrations with hedgers are misguided—
Nigeria to South Africa, the West is ignoring the opportunity
developing countries are created by large developing countries’
increasingly seeking to avoid growing disillusionment with the policies
costly entanglements with the of Beijing and Moscow. As long as these
major powers, trying to keep all countries feel a need to hedge their bets,
their options open for maximum the West will have an opportunity to court
flexibility. These countries are them. But to improve relations with
pursuing a strategy of hedging developing countries and manage the evolving global order, the West
because they see the future distribution of global power as uncertain
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must take the concerns of the global South—on climate change, trade, ▪ In 2019, for example, Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, sought
and much else—seriously. to counterbalance Brazil’s growing dependence on China by
courting support from U.S. President Donald Trump. In
ONE FOOT IN response, the powerful farming caucus in the Brazilian Congress
stopped Bolsonaro in his tracks, anticipating that farmers would
Hedging is not a new strategy. Secondary powers have long used it to lose market access in China if the president pressed ahead with
manage risks. But in recent years, a growing number of influential his pivot.
states from the postcolonial world have embraced this approach.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for example, has developed Hedging also inevitably involves disappointing allies when national
strong diplomatic and commercial ties with China, Russia, and the interests are at stake. For instance, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
United States simultaneously. For Modi, hedging acts as an insurance Erdogan has publicly affirmed support for Ukraine’s territorial
policy. Should conflict erupt among the major powers, India could integrity and sent Kyiv humanitarian aid. But his government has
profit by aligning with the most powerful side or joining a coalition of avoided being drawn into the conflict, despite Turkey being
weaker states to deter the strongest one. a NATO member with strong and valuable ties to the United States and
the EU. Erdogan recognizes that Turkey cannot afford to alienate
As a strategy for managing a multipolar world, hedging entails keeping Russia because Moscow wields influence over areas of major interest to
the channels of communication open with all the players. This is easier Ankara, including the Caucasus, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Syria.
said than done. Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for example,
Brazil has condemned Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine but has Hedgers are wary of economic interdependence because it weakens
also declined European requests to send military equipment to Kyiv. their sovereignty. As a result, they seek to strengthen domestic markets
Lula reasoned that refusing to criticize Moscow would impede dialogue and national self-reliance, promoting industrialization and building up
with U.S. President Joe Biden, and selling weapons to the Western vital sectors such as transportation, energy, and defense. This has been
coalition would undermine his ability to talk to Russian the approach taken by Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Indonesia
President Vladimir Putin. As a result, Brazilian officials have made under President Joko Widodo has courted Chinese and Western
boilerplate calls for an end to the fighting without doing anything that investment to reverse two decades of deindustrialization. Because
might trigger a backlash from either Washington or Moscow. taking sides in the war in Ukraine could jeopardize these plans, he has
studiously sought to stand above the fray. In 2022, he was one of only a
Hedging can be difficult to sustain over time, and a state’s ability to do few world leaders to have met with Biden, Putin, Chinese President Xi
so often depends on its domestic politics. Political constituencies can Jinping, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
jeopardize hedging strategies when their economic interests are at
stake. Since hedgers value freedom of action, they may form partnerships of
convenience to pursue specific foreign policy objectives, but they are
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unlikely to forge general alliances. This differentiates today’s hedgers Washington is supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia for its proxy war
from nonaligned countries during the Cold War. Amid the bipolar against Iran in Yemen, which has resulted in the unlawful killing of
competition of that era, nonaligned developing states rallied around a thousands of civilians, the destruction of a rich cultural heritage, and
shared identity to demand greater economic justice, racial equality, and the displacement of millions of people. The moral high ground requires
the end of colonial rule. To that end, they formed enduring coalitions in consistency between values and actions.
multilateral institutions. By contrast, hedging today is about avoiding
the pressure to choose between China, Russia, and the United States. It Furthermore, most countries in the global South find it difficult to
is a response to the rise of a new, multipolar world. accept Western claims of a “rules-based order” when the United States
and its allies frequently violate the rules—committing atrocities in their
DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO various wars, mistreating migrants, dodging internationally binding
rules to curb carbon emissions, and undermining decades of
For countries in the global South, hedging is not just a way to extract multilateral efforts to promote trade and reduce protectionism, for
material concessions. The strategy is informed by these countries’ instance. Western calls for developing nations to be “responsible
histories with the great powers and their conviction that the United stakeholders” ring hollow in much of the global South.
States, in particular, has been hypocritical in its dealings with the
developing world. Consider the reaction of many in the global South to
a speech by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at the Munich Security
Conference in February. Harris told an audience of Western leaders
that Russia’s atrocities were “an attack on our common humanity.” She
described the horrors of war and the forced deportation of hundreds of
thousands of Ukrainians, some of whom were separated from their
children. “No nation is safe in a world where . . . a country with
imperialist ambitions can go unchecked,” she added. Ukraine, Harris
declared, should be seen as a test for the “international rules-based
order.”

Across the global South, leaders know that Russia’s behavior in

Ukraine has been barbaric and inhumane. Yet from their vantage point,
Harris’s speech only underscored Western hypocrisy. As the Chilean
diplomat Jorge Heine pointed out, the United States cannot expect
other countries to sanction Russia for its brutality in Ukraine when

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The developing world also sees hypocrisy in Washington’s framing of Nuno Monteiro warned, when U.S. hegemony is unchecked,
its competition with Beijing and Moscow as a battle between Washington becomes capricious, picking fights against recalcitrant
democracy and autocracy. After all, the United States continues to states or letting peripheral regional conflicts fester.
selectively back authoritarian governments when it serves U.S.
interests. Of the 50 countries that Freedom House counts as Memories of bipolarity in the global South are no better. From the
“dictatorships,” 35 received military aid from the U.S. government in perspective of many developing countries, the Cold War was cold only
2021. It should be no surprise, then, that many in the global South view in that it did not lead to an earth-extinguishing confrontation between
the West’s pro-democracy rhetoric as motivated by self-interest rather two nuclear-armed superpowers. Outside Europe and North America,
than a genuine commitment to liberal values. the second half of the twentieth century was red hot, with political
violence spreading across and within many countries. Bipolarity was
As frustrating as it is to countries in the global South, Western not marked by stable competition along the Iron Curtain but by bloody
hypocrisy has an upside: it gives developing countries a lever they can superpower interventions in the peripheries of the globe.
pull to effect change. Because the United States and its European allies
appeal to moral principles to justify many of their decisions, third Yet hedgers from the global South are optimistic about multipolarity
parties can publicly criticize them and demand reparation when those for reasons beyond history. One prevalent belief is that a diffusion of
principles are inconsistently applied. Developing countries have no power will give developing countries more breathing space since
such leverage over China and Russia since neither couches its foreign intense security competition among the great powers will make it
policy preferences in terms of universal moral values. harder for the strong to impose their will on weaker states. Another
common view is that rivalries among the great powers will make them
THE MORE, THE MERRIER? more responsive to appeals for justice and equality from smaller states,
since the strong must win the global South’s favor to compete with
Many in the West associate a multipolar world order with conflict and their rivals. A third view is that diffuse power will open opportunities
instability, preferring a dominant United States, as was the case after for small states to voice their opinions in international institutions,
the collapse of the Soviet Union. Not so among countries in the global such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. When
South, where the prevailing view is that multipolarity could serve as a they do, global institutions will begin to reflect a wider range of
stable foundation for international order in the twenty-first century. perspectives, increasing the overall legitimacy of these international
bodies.
Part of this reasoning is informed by recent memory. People in
developing countries remember the post–Cold War unipolar moment But such optimism about the prospects of a multipolar order may be
as a violent time—with wars in Afghanistan, the Balkans, and Iraq. unwarranted. Security competition in multipolar systems may push the
Unipolarity also coincided with the unsettling influx of global capital great powers to create stricter hierarchies around them, limiting
into eastern Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. As the scholar chances for smaller states to express their preferences. For example,
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the United States has cajoled many countries into pushing back against To win friends in a multipolar world, the United States should start
Chinese influence, shrinking their freedom of action. Furthermore, the taking the concerns of the global South more seriously. Adopting a
great powers might act in concert to repress calls for justice and condescending stance or, worse, shutting these countries out of the
equality from smaller countries, as the so-called Holy Alliance among conversation entirely is a recipe for trouble. Major developing countries
Austria, Prussia, and Russia did in the nineteenth century, when it are not only indispensable partners in tackling climate change and
quashed nationalist and liberal grassroots movements across Europe. preventing global economic turmoil but also in managing China’s rise
In the past, great powers have maintained their authority by excluding and Russia’s reassertion of power.
and imposing their will on others. The victors of World War II, for
example, appointed themselves as the five permanent members of the
UN Security Council, cementing their power within multilateral Large developing countries can never
institutions. It is far from obvious that developing countries will fare be true insiders in the liberal
better under multipolarity than they did under previous global orders. international order.
RISE OF THE MIDDLEMEN
Engaging these countries will take humility and empathy on the part of
The prevalence of hedging among the major countries of the global U.S. policymakers, who are not used to either. Crucially, the United
South presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the United States should pay close attention to the global South’s grievances with
States. The challenge is that hedging could magnify security China. Rather than pressuring countries to sever ties with Beijing,
competition among Beijing, Moscow, and Washington, as developing Washington should quietly encourage them to test the limits of Chinese
countries play the three great powers off one another. As a result, the friendship for themselves. Developing countries increasingly recognize
United States may need to offer more concessions than it has in the that China can be just as much of a bully as established Western
past to persuade developing countries to cooperate and strike bargains. powers.

The opportunity for Washington is that hedgers are unlikely to The United States must also drop the expectation that the global South
permanently join forces with Beijing or Moscow. Across the global will automatically follow the West. Large and influential developing
South, moreover, people are increasingly open to engagement with the countries can never be true insiders in the liberal international order.
West. The populations of most developing countries are young, They will, therefore, seek to pursue their own interests and values
energetic, and impatient, striving to create a world order in which they within international institutions and contest Western understandings
can thrive. Among the global South’s cultural and economic elites and of legitimacy and fairness.
grassroots movements, influential voices are pushing for progressive
reforms that could provide a foundation for cooperation with the West. But the West and the global South can still cooperate. History provides
a guide. For the better part of the twentieth century, postcolonial
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countries challenged the West on a number of issues, pushing for rapid progress within their own borders, opening a window of
decolonization, racial equality, and economic justice. Relations were opportunity for engaging large developing states. Another area ripe for
tense. Yet a commitment to diplomacy ensured that the West and the partnership between the West and the global South is international
developing world could jointly benefit from international norms and trade, an arena in which more balanced relationships are possible.
institutions governing topics as varied as trade, human rights,
navigation of the seas, and the environment. Today, the West and the The countries of the global South are poised to hedge their way into the
global South do not need to aim for total consensus, but they should mid-twenty-first century. They hedge not only to gain material
work together to reach mutually beneficial outcomes. concessions but also to raise their status, and they embrace
multipolarity as an opportunity to move up in the international order.
One promising area for cooperation is adaptation to and mitigation If it wants to remain first among the great powers in a multipolar
of climate change. The United States and EU countries have made world, the United States must meet the global South on its own terms.

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 Vocabulary in context

1. Take a side: To align or support one party or viewpoint in a conflict or 15. Pivot: Shift or change direction or focus.
disagreement.
16. Wield influence: Exert or use influence or power.
2. Opt for neutrality: Choose to remain neutral or unbiased in a situation.
17. Jeopardize plans: Put plans or objectives at risk or in danger.
3. Out of economic interest: Motivated by economic considerations or
18. Stand above the fray: Remain impartial or neutral in a conflict or dispute.
benefits.
19. Leverage over: Influence or advantage in dealing with a particular situation
4. Alignments with: Associations or agreements with certain countries or
or party.
groups.
20. Breathing space: Room or freedom to maneuver or make decisions.
5. Lack of morals: Absence of ethical principles or values.
21. Excluding and imposing their will on others: Marginalizing or dominating
6. Be trampled in a brawl: To be overwhelmed or adversely affected by a
others by forcing their own preferences or desires upon them.
conflict or fight.
22. Progressive reforms: Reforms aimed at promoting social, political, or
7. Pursue a strategy: Adopt and follow a particular plan or approach.
economic progressiveness.
8. Maximum flexibility: The highest degree of adaptability or versatility.
23. Sever ties with: Cut off or end connections or relationships with.
9. Discharge commitments: Fulfill or carry out obligations or
24. Test the limits: Assess or push the boundaries or extent of something.
responsibilities.
25. Contest Western understandings: Challenge or question Western
10. Hedging strategies: Employing measures to minimize risks or
perspectives or interpretations.
uncertainties.
26. Mitigation of climate change: Actions taken to reduce or minimize the
11. Aligning with: Forming alliances or associations with a particular side or
impact of climate change.
group.
27. Ripe for partnership: Suitable or opportune for forming a partnership or
12. Deter the strongest one: Discourage or prevent the most powerful entity
collaboration.
from taking action.
28. Move up in the international order: Increase one's status or position in
13. Boilerplate calls: Generic or standard statements made without much depth
the global hierarchy.
or specificity.
14. Counterbalance: Offset or compensate for something by applying an
opposing force or influence.
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India is broken: book review│ Foreign Affairs

Ashoka Mody Ashoka Mody is a Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction A. Weaknesses in federalism, state capacity, and accountability institutions

A. Overview of the widespread belief in India's rise in foreign policy analysis B. Mody's indictment of India's flawed development ideas and lack of commitment to
B. Recent events leading to the belief that India's moment has arrived markets and public goods

II. Economic Factors VII. The Original Sin: Nehru's Economic Beliefs
A. India's projected status as the world's fastest-growing economy in 2023 A. Nehru's flawed economic model and missed opportunities for job creation
B. Relocation of global firms to India due to China's slowdown and rising labor costs B. Comparison with Japan's success and Nehru's focus on heavy industrialization
C. India's growing population and its potential economic impact
VIII. India's Descent into Autocratic Rule
III. Political Factors A. Corruption, institutional subversion, and the rise of identity politics
A. The Bharatiya Janata Party's consecutive parliamentary majorities and stability B. Critique of secular politicians and their pandering to religious interests
B. India's international standing despite its refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of
Ukraine IX. Escaping the Broken Path
C. India's presidencies of the G-20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization A. Mody's call for deepening democracy through decentralization and local
accountability
IV. Contradictions and Challenges B. Harnessing the power of civil society to foster equality, tolerance, and progress
A. India's mixed economic performance and reliance on services C. The role of technology, fiscal resources, social action, and human capital
B. Political contradictions: democratic beacon vs. illiberal backsliding
C. Disparities and social issues in India: religious majoritarianism, gender inequality, X. Assessing Mody's Arguments
and manual scavenging A. Mody's skillful writing and simplified narrative of India's political economy
B. Critique of Mody's binaries and their applicability to India's context
V. Critique of India's Rise C. Acknowledging India's impressive democratic growth and developmental gains
A. Introduction to Ashoka Mody's book "India Is Broken" as a critique of India's story
B. Mody's thesis: India's democracy and economy are fundamentally broken XI. Conclusion
C. Criticism of India's political elites and their failures since independence A. Summary of the key points discussed in the essay
B. Reflection on the complexities and challenges of India's rise
VI. India's Flawed Development Model

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Of the many tropes that have cluttered foreign policy analysis in recent party’s success, coupled with the decline of its rival Congress Party, has
decades, few are as widespread or as enduring as the inevitability of India’s all but assured governmental stability for the foreseeable future. Weaker
rise. Built on a foundation of liberal democracy, fueled by a population of Indian governments in the past often had to balance the competing
more than a billion people occupying a vast territory, and enabled by the agendas of factions in ruling coalitions and onerous horse-trading that
United States’ desire to find a counterbalance to an expansionist China, India resulted in inaction and sclerosis. The BJP will almost certainly
has been inching toward the geopolitical spotlight. Now, a confluence of maintain power in the 2024 general elections; the only question worth
recent events has convinced some observers—and arguably India’s own debating is the size of its majority. Its strong hold over Parliament gives
leadership—that its moment has finally arrived. the party the political heft required to push through long-pending
economic reforms.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India is set to be the
world’s fastest-growing economy in 2023. Its GDP is expected to expand by Even India’s refusal to
6.1 percent, well above the emerging market average of four percent and five unequivocally condemn
times the pace of the industrialized world’s average of 1.2 percent. Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has
China’s protracted slowdown, COVID-19 missteps, and rising labor costs, not damaged the country’s
global firms interested in relocating their manufacturing facilities, including international standing. To the
Apple and Foxconn, are considering expanding operations in India. Any day contrary, Western interlocutors are
now, India’s growing population—last pegged at 1.41 billion—will surpass convinced that the combination of
that of China. India’s relative youth (about 40 percent of the country is under Russia’s Ukraine quagmire and
the age of 25) is seen as valuable, not just because of the potential boost it China’s flagrant aggression on the
provides to economic productivity but also because of what it signals about Sino-Indian border makes the time
India’s latent consumer base in the coming decades. Armed with smartphones, ripe to wean India off its addiction
connected to digital payment systems, and culturally predisposed to global to Russian arms and consolidate its
brands such as Coke and Netflix, India’s young consumers occupy pride of anti-China posture. This year, India
place in the growth forecasts of many Fortune 500 companies. will simultaneously hold the
presidencies of the G-20 and the
Historically, India’s fractious politics have limited the country’s ability to Shanghai Cooperation
expand infrastructure, reform tax laws and financial regulations, and improve Organization, a Eurasian political
basic welfare services, but that may be changing. and security group historically
dominated by China and Russia—a
▪ The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has symbolic victory for its efforts to
won consecutive parliamentary majorities, in 2014 and 2019. The

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be seen as a leading, rather than a balancing, power on the global stage. the BJP, and smaller regional parties—since independence, showing the deep
roots of India’s troubles.
On closer inspection, the narrative hyping India’s inexorable rise appears less
assured. Reckoning with India’s contradictions is an exercise in cognitive NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS
dissonance. Economically, it is a mixed bag.
Mody, an Indian-born economic historian at Princeton, spent decades at the
On the one hand, India is on track to become the world’s third-largest World Bank and the IMF troubleshooting international economic crises. On
economy by the decade’s end. On the other, India’s services-heavy the day Mody took U.S. citizenship, Mody’s father said his son would “always
development model is hamstrung by weak job growth, premature be an Indian at heart.” It is that intimate connection to his homeland that
deindustrialization, and a vast informal sector. Politically, meanwhile, India is propels Mody’s sense of outrage; he approaches his topic armed not with a
touted as a shining democratic beacon in the Asia Pacific. But it is also one of scalpel intended to contour the conventional understanding of India but with a
the world’s most disappointing illiberal backsliders, with growing religious sledgehammer meant to smash it to bits.
majoritarianism, weakening separation of powers, and a muzzled media. Few
democracies can rival the array of affirmative action measures that India’s Mody’s thesis is alluringly simple: after 75 years of independence, India’s
constitution affords historically disadvantaged minorities or match the democracy and economy are fundamentally broken. India may boast
diversity of its top leadership. Yet Muslims in Indian cities are increasingly competitive elections—with more than 600 political parties, high voter
ghettoized, women make up a minuscule share of the workforce, and manual turnouts, and the regular alternation of power—but Mody dismisses such
scavenging—in which workers remove human excrement by hand—is a mechanics of democracy as deficient indicators of democratic health. Instead,
legally prohibited, yet widely observed, form of blue-collar employment. he notes that “weakened norms and accountability have made the rules and
institutions of democracy a plaything of the privileged and powerful.” Today,
Among this tangle of conflicting narratives is a new book by the economist criminal behavior and self-dealing have almost become prerequisites for
Ashoka Mody that is well positioned to become an exemplar for the glass- political success. Four out of ten elected members of Parliament face pending
half-empty view of India. India Is Broken methodically demolishes the criminal cases at the time of their election; eight out of ten are crorepatis, a
bumper-sticker version of India’s story that CEOs and politicians conjure at term loosely translated to mean “millionaires”; and nearly all see prolific
glitzy international conferences such as the World Economic Forum in Davos. campaign spending as a worthwhile down payment on massive future returns.
It takes readers on a tour of India’s dark underbelly, where corruption has
triumphed over compassion, and democracy exists in theory but rarely in When it comes to the vaunted Indian economy, Mody avoids economists’
practice. Many recent critiques of India’s trajectory focus on Hindu traditional obsession with GDP and focuses instead on the availability of jobs
nationalism and the rise of the BJP. But Mody goes further by connecting the and the level of human development. On this score, he argues that India has
failures of successive Indian governments—alternately led by the Congress, consistently failed to generate enough jobs to keep up with labor demand or to
deliver quality public goods, such as health and education, that can equip its

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citizens with basic life skills. India’s employment struggles, Mody posits, are subcontinent in 1947. If this is India’s moment in the spotlight, it could be for
as old as the republic. He puts the country’s jobs shortfall in 1955 at around 25 all the wrong reasons.
million; in 2019, he writes, it was at least 80 million and was likely much
higher after the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite tangible gains on poverty, India When taking aim at India’s flawed development model, there are plenty of
has not achieved commensurate progress on key standard of living metrics. targets to choose from. Federalism, weak state capacity, and the interventions
Malnutrition remains stubbornly high even in better-off regions of the country: of accountability institutions in New Delhi, including the Central Vigilance
in the economically dynamic southern state of Tamil Nadu, 30 percent of Commission (an anticorruption agency) and the Comptroller and Auditor
young people are malnourished—ten percentage points higher than the General (which scrutinizes government expenditure), have all thrown sand in
number in Vietnam, despite similar levels of per capita income. the gears of India’s growth. Mody places the blame elsewhere, arguing that
India’s underperformance is about ideas, not interests or institutions. His
indictment of the Indian political elite’s intellectual bankruptcy is premised on
India has consistently failed to generate two charges: Indian leaders have never committed to a market-based economy
enough jobs to keep up with labor demand. or maintained a core conviction about the need to provide citizens with basic
public goods.

In his lament for India’s broken economy and democracy, Mody spares no one DOOMED FROM THE START
blame. He acknowledges that India’s inaugural prime minister, Jawaharlal
Nehru, was a “beloved leader” who “did not seek personal gain or prestige,” In Mody’s account, Nehru’s flawed economic beliefs were the original sin that
but he eviscerates Nehru for putting “all his chips on heavy industrialization, a set India on a trajectory of jobless growth. Critics have long castigated Nehru
strategy that fared poorly in employing the large numbers who wanted jobs.” for unabashedly propagating Fabian socialism, an ideology that marries a
Nehru’s daughter and eventual political successor, Indira Gandhi, “established suspicion of markets with an embrace of state-led heavy industry. Nehru
herself as a cynical, slogan-peddling politician intent on holding onto power.” hoped this economic model would catalyze investment and self-sufficient
Lacking any coherent economic or political ideology, “she saw preservation of growth in a newly decolonized India. Mody departs from this received
her power as her main goal.” Modi, India’s current prime minister, may be a wisdom, arguing that “whether [Nehru] was inspired by Fabian
darling of the international community, but he is a “folk hero” for Hindutva— socialism, Soviet ideology, or his own professed commitment to equality and
the BJP’s guiding ideology of Hindu nationalism—whose economic fairness, he practiced none of them.” In fact, Nehru was a disciple of the “big
credentials were built not on promoting entrepreneurship but on “subsidizing push” industrialization strategy popularized by the economist Paul Rosenstein-
favored industrialists.” Mody’s glum assessment leads him to see parallels Rodan and modernization theorists such as Walt Rostow. As Nehru put it, he
between India today and “the Hindu-Muslim divide and egregious economic believed Indian industry would be “self-feeding, self-propelling, self-
inequalities” of the torturous years leading up to the bloody partition of the developing.”

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 build “civic communities” that can foster norms of equality, tolerance, and
shared progress. Here, he finds inspiration in the work of the Harvard political
Mody writes that by stubbornly committing to such a development model, scientist Robert Putnam who emphasizes the democratic role of civic
Nehru missed a golden opportunity to mimic Japan’s success under the Meiji associations, nonprofits, professional organizations, and mutual aid societies.
restoration, which was premised on a mutually reinforcing cycle of high- Techno-evangelists tout the ability of big data, artificial intelligence, and
quality education, investments in agricultural productivity and domestic smartphones to improve welfare delivery, but Mody is not entirely sold.
manufacturing, and the aggressive pursuit of exporting to foreign markets. Technology can help, but it is no substitute for fiscal resources, social action,
Nehru, he writes, was too mesmerized by his effort to build massive steel and human capital.
plants, power stations, and dams—what the prime minister famously called
the “temples of modern India”—to get his hands dirty negotiating the complex DOING ITS BEST
bureaucratic politics of funding and sustaining primary education.
Mody is a gifted writer, and India Is Broken is the rare book that distills
Although India’s descent into overt autocratic rule would prove short-lived, India’s complex political economy into digestible bites. But that is also the
corruption and institutional subversion became the new normal. Economic book’s great weakness. Mody’s account is powered by simple binaries that do
anxiety provided plentiful oxygen for toxic identity politics, especially along not always stand up to scrutiny.
religious lines. According to Mody, India’s “angry young men” have taken on
many forms—from proponents of the chauvinist politics of the nativist Shiv Mody makes it clear that India’s populace would have been better served had
Sena party to the mobs that in 1992 razed the Babri Masjid, a centuries-old its leaders pursued the export-led, labor-intensive manufacturing model
mosque that Hindu nationalists claimed sat on sacred grounds, to the foot popularized by India’s East Asian neighbors. But there is one key difference:
soldiers of the Hindutva movement, who have set their sights on fighting the successful East Asian “tigers” were all autocracies when they embarked on
imaginary demons such as “love jihad,” a conspiracy theory claiming that their new model, which allowed them to repress labor, enact sweeping land
Muslim men are seducing Hindu women to convert them to Islam. In this reform, and keep civil society in check. If anything, India’s growth as a
regard, Mody offers little sympathy for India’s secular politicians, whose democracy looks even more impressive in hindsight; as the economists Rohit
commitment to liberal ideals was, in his view, skin-deep and who pandered to Lamba and Arvind Subramanian have pointed out, since 1950, India has been
religious interests in the name of political expediency. the only continuous democracy (other than perhaps Botswana) to maintain an
average GDP growth rate between three and 4.5 percent for nearly four
How might India escape from this path? Mody is silent on detailed policy decades (which India has done since its growth takeoff in 1980).
prescriptions, instead advocating for broad reform principles. India must
deepen democracy by promoting greater decentralization to municipal and Mody’s critique of India’s woeful human development record is more
village governments, where local citizens can more easily hold their leaders compelling, but here, too, his anger is misplaced. Under the Indian
accountable. In addition, he calls for harnessing the power of civil society to constitution, important public services such as law and order, public health,

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sanitation, and water are all the responsibilities of India’s state governments, economic model—but they now turn out to vote in larger numbers than men in
not central authorities. New Delhi provides broad policy guidance and most state-level elections, and India’s long-standing male-heavy sex ratio has
financial resources, but states are ultimately responsible for implementation. It finally begun to rebalance. Mody may criticize the current government’s
is an open secret that most Indian states are hardly paragons of virtue; they are gambit to ramp up the distribution of private welfare amenities as a cynical
hotbeds of illiberalism, parochialism, and patronage politics. If anything, what vote-catching ploy, but research from peer countries finds that access to clean
is happening today at the national level is the scaling up of a model that was cooking fuel, electricity connections, and piped water can greatly improve job
first perfected in India’s state capitals. prospects, health standards, and gender norms inside the household. Surely,
these basic amenities are requisites for building a country’s industrial base.
Furthermore, Mody’s dismissal of India’s developmental gains in the three
decades since liberalization comes across as churlish. Decades ago, In laying bare the inherent frailties of the Indian model, Mody also sends a
demographers sounded the alarm about India’s impending “population bomb.” message to Western policymakers who have made big bets on India’s ability
Yet fertility has declined dramatically and has now dipped just below to be an economic, political, and strategic bulwark against China and other
replacement levels, an unsung success in family planning. Women are authoritarian states. India may be touted as the “next big thing,” but as with
seriously underrepresented in the labor force—an unsightly blight on India’s any marketing campaign, one would be well advised to read the fine print.

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 Vocabulary in context

Phrasal Verbs: Spare no one blame: To criticize or blame everyone involved.

Put in (putting): To place or insert something. Glum assessment: A pessimistic or gloomy evaluation.
Keep up with: To stay at the same level or pace as something or Castigate for: To severely criticize or rebuke someone for something.
someone.
Taken aim at: To direct criticism or attack toward something or
Build on: To develop or improve upon something. someone.
Set off: To start or cause something to start. New normal: Referring to a situation or condition that has become the
usual or expected state of affairs.
Hold onto: To keep or maintain something.
Escape from: To find a way out or break free from a situation or
Take on: To assume or undertake a responsibility or challenge.
condition.
Set sights on: To have a goal or target in mind.
Hold accountable: To make someone responsible or answerable for
Get one's hands dirty: To involve oneself in unpleasant or difficult their actions.
work.
Pander to: To indulge or cater to someone's desires or interests, often
Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions: for personal gain.
As old as the republic: Referring to something that has existed for a Stand up to scrutiny: To withstand or endure careful examination or
long time, since the establishment of the republic. scrutiny.
Tangible gains: Real or measurable improvements. Embark on: To start or begin a new venture or activity.

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Lay bare: To expose or reveal something, especially flaws or Read the fine print: To carefully examine the details or terms of an
weaknesses. agreement or situation.

The Muslim reset in the World Order │ Foreign Affairs

MARIA FANTAPPIE MARIA FANTAPPIE is an Associate Fellow at the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome.
Outlines of the article
I. Introduction • Xi Jinping acted as a trusted broker between the • The deal calls for enhanced economic and
two countries. diplomatic ties between Iran and the GCC
• On March 6, 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia met in countries.
Beijing and announced that they had decided to • Intense discussions between Iran and Saudi
normalize relations. Arabia followed, during which the two sides • China will continue to oversee all of these steps.
agreed to bury the hatchet and normalize
• This landmark agreement has the potential to relations. V. Potential consequences of the Iran-
transform the Middle East. Saudi deal
IV. Details of the deal between Iran
II. United States' efforts for reducing and Saudi Arabia • The deal has the potential to end one of the
tensions between Iran and Saudi region's most significant rivalries and extend
Arabia • Both sides will reopen embassies. economic ties across the Gulf.

• The United States encouraged Iran and Saudi • The Saudi government will end its support for • The Saudi Finance Minister, Mohammed al-
Arabia to start discussions in 2021. the Iran International television channel. Jadaan, has pledged that, if all goes to plan,
Saudi Arabia is ready to invest in Iran's
• President Joe Biden urged the Gulf Cooperation • Both sides will uphold the April 2022 cease-fire
economy.
Council to contain Iran. in Yemen and begin work on a formal peace
agreement. • The consequences for the region of such a
• The Saudi government turned to China instead. rapidly developing relationship may be
• Iran will cease supplying Houthi rebels with
profound.
III. China's role in normalizing arms.
relations between Iran and Saudi VI. Tehran looks east
Arabia
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 • Both Tehran and Riyadh believe that they will • Tehran welcomes China's deepening role in the VII. Conclusion
benefit from working through China to restore Middle East because it weakens U.S. influence
regional ties. in the region and undermines the U.S.-led • The Iran-Saudi deal has the potential to bring
sanctions regime that has crippled Iran's Iran closer to its Arab neighbors and gradually
economy. stabilize its relations in the region.

On March 6, 2023, representatives from Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—to join with Israel to contain
Beijing for discussions brokered by China. Four days later, Riyadh and Iran. But the Saudi government turned to China instead, viewing
Tehran announced that they had decided to normalize relations. This President Xi Jinping as a better mediator with Tehran. Involving
landmark agreement has the potential to transform
the Middle East by realigning its major powers,
replacing the current Arab-Iranian divide with a
complex web of relationships, and weaving the region
into China’s global ambitions. For Beijing, the
announcement was a great leap forward in its rivalry
with Washington.

How it started and how it ended up:

It was not supposed to be this way. It was the United

States that had encouraged Iran and Saudi Arabia to
start discussions, in 2021, in an effort to reduce
tensions between the Gulf rivals, advance nuclear
talks, and bring an end to the conflict in Yemen.
Tehran and Riyadh held five rounds of direct talks,
and informal conversations continued thereafter.
Then, during his visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, China, the Saudis believed, was the surest guarantee that a deal with
U.S. President Joe Biden urged the Gulf Cooperation Council—an Iran would last, since Tehran would be unlikely to risk jeopardizing its
intergovernmental union of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi relations with Beijing by violating such a deal. Xi discussed the issue
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with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to containing it. Instead, the deal has the potential to bring Iran closer to
Riyadh in December 2022 and then met with Iranian President its Arab neighbors and gradually stabilize its relations in the region.
Ebrahim Raisi in Beijing in February 2023.

Intense discussions between Iran and Saudi Arabia followed, during

which the two sides agreed to bury the hatchet and normalize relations. Underscoring this promise, the Saudi Finance Minister, Mohammed al-
For both countries, Xi’s personal intervention was critical. Both have Jadaan, has pledged that, if all goes to plan, Saudi Arabia is ready to
long-standing political and economic ties with Beijing, and the Chinese invest in Iran’s economy. Raisi has already accepted an invitation to
president was, therefore, able to act as a trusted broker between them. visit Riyadh at an unspecified date, in a further sign of both sides’
intention to strengthen ties. The consequences for the region of such a
If the deal is fully implemented, Tehran and Riyadh will be closely rapidly developing relationship may be profound.
aligned once more. It was only in 2016 that diplomatic ties between the
countries were severed, after a mob torched the Saudi embassy in TEHRAN LOOKS EAST
Tehran. Now, according to the new agreement, both sides will reopen Both Tehran and Riyadh believe that they will benefit from working
embassies, and the Saudi government will end its support for the Iran through China to restore regional ties. For both countries, working with
International television channel that Tehran holds responsible for Beijing is a new development.
domestic dissent.
▪ In 2015, Iran’s priority was improving relations with the United
Both sides will uphold the April 2022 cease-fire in Yemen and begin States and Europe. It viewed negotiations with its neighbors as
work on a formal peace agreement to end the civil war in that country. secondary. The result was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Iran will cease supplying Houthi rebels with arms and persuade them Action (JCPOA)—the nuclear deal with the United States and its
to halt their missile attacks on Saudi Arabia. In addition, the deal calls fellow permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus
for enhanced economic and diplomatic ties between Iran and the GCC Germany—which curtailed Iran’s nuclear program in exchange
countries, and for Iran and its Arab partners to begin discussions on for sanctions relief.
building a new regional security framework. Moreover, China will
continue to oversee all of these steps. After U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew American support for the
JCPOA in 2018, Saudi Arabia and the GCC drifted closer to Israel, a
The Iranian-Saudi deal has the potential to end one of the region’s move that was accelerated by an Iranian attack on Saudi oil facilities in
most significant rivalries and extend economic ties across the Gulf. No 2019. Iran in turn then changed its focus, giving new emphasis to
longer will Iran stand alone to confront an alliance of Arabs and improving relations with its neighbors and to regional trade. To that
Israelis, which the United States hoped would do the difficult job of end, Tehran reestablished full diplomatic ties with Kuwait and the UAE
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in 2022. But the Beijing deal with the Saudis is the larger prize Iran has to defend the kingdom when its oil facilities were attacked by Iran in
sought—a true opening to the Arab world, which could soon be 2019.
extended to Bahrain and Egypt.
Riyadh believes that the United States—once its stalwart ally—is
Tehran welcomes China’s deepening role in the Middle East because it focused on other priorities, and it does not believe that Washington has
weakens U.S. influence in the region and undermines the U.S.-led a clear plan for regional security in the wake of the stalled nuclear talks
sanctions regime that has crippled Iran’s economy. To that end, better with Iran. Saudi leaders are also dissatisfied with the current
ties with GCC countries will lessen the threat posed by the Trump leadership in Washington. President Biden was slow to repair relations
administration-brokered Abraham Accords, which initiated closer after pledging as a candidate to treat the regime as a “pariah,” following
intelligence and military coordination between Israel, Saudi Arabia, the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
and the UAE (and later extended to Morocco and Sudan), thereby
extending the shadow war between Iran and Israel to the Gulf. Lacking the advanced military capabilities of its larger and more
aggressive neighbors, Saudi Arabia has always been obsessed with its
Although Tehran might be willing to accept bilateral ties between the own defense. Reducing tensions with Tehran will not end these
GCC and Israel, it could not tolerate a U.S.-backed Arab-Israeli military concerns, but it buys Riyadh more time to shore up its security and
alliance against it. Such an alliance would be all the more threatening diversify its strategic options. The desire for security led Saudi Arabia
to Tehran in the aftermath of failed nuclear talks with the Biden to seek ties with Israel over the past decade, and the same desire is now
administration, domestic political protests, a growing Israeli presence motivating its cultivation of China. Saudi Arabia’s strategy is intended
in Azerbaijan and Iraq, and an increasing willingness by Israel’s new to guarantee its security. By assembling a broad network of partners,
right-wing government to contemplate war in order to stop Iran’s including China, Israel, and the United States, and by improving
nuclear program. relations with adversaries such as Iran, Syria, and Turkey, the Saudi
regime hopes to shore up its long-term stability.
RIYADH’S BALANCING ACT
For Saudi Arabia, the Beijing-led agreement constitutes a more Riyadh is showing that if U.S. policy does not serve Saudi interests,
audacious strategic shift. Relations between Riyadh and Washington then the Saudis will not be beholden to the alliance.
are at a historic low. Saudi Arabian satisfaction with U.S. policy in the
Saudi Arabia has set the ambitious goal of becoming an advanced
region has been declining since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Riyadh was
industrial economy, as well as a cultural and tourism hub, by 2030.
unhappy with the dismantling of Iraq’s government, troubled by the
Achieving this will require U.S. military support, Israeli security and
nuclear deal, angry with U.S. unwillingness to support Saudi Arabian
technology, trade with Europe and China, and domestic stability. The
interests against Iran in Syria and Yemen, and concerned by its failure
Saudi strategy is at odds with Washington’s conception of regional
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security, which favors isolating Iran and does not rule out war, though China’s involvement is perhaps the most troubling dimension of the
there is no clear U.S. plan to manage it. The United States has also Iranian-Saudi rapprochement. Beijing had previously been careful to
struggled to recognize that it cannot claim that nothing has changed in avoid entanglement in the Middle East. But its burgeoning economic
its commitments to its Middle Eastern partners at the same time as interests there have necessitated taking on a diplomatic role, as well.
also making clear that it is pivoting away from the region. In effect,
Riyadh is showing that if U.S. policy does not serve Saudi interests, The region is important to China’s Belt and Road Initiative; the Chinese
then the Saudis will not be beholden to the alliance. government has needed to ensure, for example, that its investments in
the Saudi energy sector are not threatened by Houthi missiles.
Washington has also been slow to realize that Saudi Arabia sees itself
not as a security vassal of the United States but as a regional power Moreover, China has been steadily expanding its economic footprint in
capable of playing an independent role in world politics. Riyadh Iran, and it is interested in supporting Moscow’s plan to develop a
believes that the old paradigm of “U.S. security in exchange for low oil transit corridor through Iran that would allow Russian trade to reach
prices”—as one Saudi official put it—is dead. Saudi Arabia’s vision of global markets without using the Suez Canal. The development of this
strategic autonomy is not simply a reaction to diminishing U.S. corridor would also allow China to circumvent the Strait of Malacca in
engagement in the Middle East but a statement of the kingdom’s the face of the formidable armada that the United States and its allies
ambitions. are building. To advance these strategic priorities, Beijing is now
preparing to challenge Washington for influence in the Middle East.
Riyadh wants close and independent ties with the United States, as well
as with Russia and China. It also sees itself as playing a crucial role in The convergence of the broader strategic interests of China, Iran, and
the region, balancing Egypt, Iran, Israel, and Turkey to protect its own Saudi Arabia suggests that Beijing’s breakthrough with Iran and Saudi
security and wield regional influence. To hold that coveted position, Arabia is likely to serve as the foundation of a new geopolitical reality
Saudi Arabia must nurture relations with all its neighbors. In 2022, in the Middle East. This transformation presents a historic challenge
Riyadh restored ties with Turkey; now it is doing the same with Iran. for the United States.
Next it will be Israel’s turn. Relations with Iran will give the Saudis
No longer can Washington simply demand that its Arab allies decouple
much needed political cover with their allies, meaning that a deal with
from China and unite behind its leadership to combat Iran. That
Israel can be presented as a bilateral agreement, rather than a military
approach is out of date and out of step with its allies’ current needs. As
axis against another Muslim country. The Beijing deal both affirms
one Saudi official put it, “The United States fails to understand that we
Riyadh’s view of its status in the Middle East and demonstrates its
cannot be allies at the expenses of our interests.” Saudis do not see
strategic autonomy.
their interests served by either war with Iran or confrontation with
SILK ROAD SECURITY China.
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What happened in Beijing by no means lessens the threat posed by of war in the region, provide for maritime security, and cooperate to
Iran’s nuclear and regional policies. However, in the short run, end long-running regional conflicts. Washington must also formulate
Washington should welcome the lowering of tensions in the Middle policies that are in tune with how the region now sees its own interests.
East, which enables the United States to focus on other global priorities
without the pretense of a steadfast commitment to the region. Otherwise, it will continue to lose influence to China and Russia, and
the region will drift into nonalignment. Any U.S. reappraisal of its
The United States should also encourage Saudi Arabia and the GCC to regional strategy must start with understanding the pressures and
explore a broader regional security architecture that will reduce the risk opportunities that brought Riyadh’s leadership to Beijing’s doorstep.

Vocabulary in context

1. doorstep Bury the hatchet - to end a long-standing quarrel or 8. Shadow war - a conflict between two countries or groups that is
conflict and become friends again not fought directly, but through intermediaries or proxies.
2. Bring an end to - to put an end to something 1. A pressing need - a urgent requirement
2. Downplay the issue - to make something seem less important or
3. Hold responsible - to consider someone or something as the
serious
cause of a particular situation or problem
3. In the wake of - as a result of or following a particular event
4. Jeopardize - to put something at risk or in danger 4. Staunch ally - a loyal and committed supporter
5. Hostile posture - an unfriendly or aggressive stance
5. Underscoring - to emphasize or highlight the importance of 6. Ramp up - to increase or intensify something
something 7. Unprecedented times - a situation that has never been seen
6. Invest in - to put money or effort into something in order to before
make a profit or achieve a result 8. Diplomatic channels - official communication between
countries or groups
7. Drifted closer - to gradually move closer to someone or 9. Potential for escalation - the possibility that a situation could
something become more serious or dangerous.

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 Game of brinkmanship - a strategy in which countries or
groups push each other to the brink of war or disaster in order to
gain an advantage.

West’s Taliban Policy is fundamentally flawed

| Foreign Affairs
Amos Yadlin By Adam Weinstein, a research fellow at the Quincy Institute.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction III. The Taliban's Cohesion and Governance
• The Taliban’s resurgence presents a long-term challenge for US • Reports of infighting and hope for a splintering or mutiny are
policymakers. exaggerated.
• To formulate a successful long-term diplomatic strategy, Western • The Taliban's cohesion allowed it to outlast opponents in a war of
diplomats must avoid coercing or dividing the Taliban, and instead gradual attrition.
focus on a constructive humanitarian and development strategy. • The Taliban has a track record of resolving internal disputes and
• The essay argues that attempts to isolate, sanction, or support the reducing corruption, surpassing its predecessors in governance.
Taliban’s opposition will achieve little. IV. A Process-Driven Diplomacy Will Not Work
II. The Limits of Diplomatic Pressure • Western officials' antagonistic approach is likely to drive the Taliban
• Criticism or statements will not change the Taliban's social policies, as into a deeper reclusive posture.
exemplified by the Western governments’ failure to change the group’s • A process-driven Western style of diplomacy reliant on some carrots
behavior during the war. and more sticks will not move the Taliban.
• Western officials must remain focused on practical realities and not • New relationships must be forged, and this will take years.
allow their own sanctimony to impede progress or obscure history. V. Time Presents a Greater Threat to the Taliban than
• Western diplomacy is ultimately accountable to public opinion and will Outside Pressure
continue making statements, regardless of their effectiveness.
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 The current emir's tenure may be cut short in a country with a life
• • There may not be moderate Taliban members, but there are pragmatists
expectancy in the low 60s. within the group who prioritize state-building over ideological purity.
• The international community should build diplomatic inroads to benefit • The essay emphasizes that a successful long-term diplomatic strategy
from future changes of leadership. requires a constructive humanitarian and development strategy, not
• The Taliban's leaders of today are not the leaders of tomorrow. coercion or division.
VI. Conclusion

A Taliban-led Afghanistan presents a challenge that will probably instead commit to a constructive diplomatic, humanitarian, and
confront U.S. policymakers for generations. To craft a successful long- development strategy. This is not an endorsement of Taliban policies,
term diplomatic strategy, however, Western diplomats must avoid any but rather a pragmatic path toward creating the best conditions
misapprehensions that they can possible for change that will
control the Taliban’s policies actually improve human rights.
through coercion, public
humiliation, or by trying to The Limits of Diplomatic
divide it. So far, the Biden Pressure:
administration appears to
understand that attempts to Calls to isolate the Taliban, add
divide the Taliban will fail. But new sanctions, or support the
the international community, Taliban’s political opposition will
including achieve little for Afghans. No
Washington, has not yet amount of criticism or statements
learned that coercion and will change the minds of Taliban
shaming will not alter Taliban leaders about their social policies.
behavior, however much This is equally true when it comes
satisfaction it provides. from Muslim countries or revered
Deobandi scholars respected by the
It is time for governments to Taliban. Even public statements of
tone down their sanctimonious praise may be counterproductive if
posturing about women’s rights and democracy—issues they already they are caveated with criticism; in fact, Western governments are so
deemed not important enough to militarily fight for years ago—and discredited by the war that in some instances the support of diplomats

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is enough to tarnish an idea as a foreign conspiracy or order that the those days are long gone. Of course, the Taliban ethos is better at
Taliban’s leadership must reject. inspiring the esprit de corps required to fight a common enemy than
navigating the difficult compromises necessary to effectively govern.
Western diplomacy is ultimately accountable to the public opinion of
its own citizens, so such statements will continue, even when they are But the Taliban has a track record of resolving internal disputes, and in
useless or counterproductive. It is understandable that the Afghan some important aspects of governing, such as reducing corruption, it
diaspora and organizations working on the ground would vocally has surpassed its predecessors. As documented by the United Nations,
express their indignation at the Taliban’s egregious human rights the Taliban is pursuing an agenda of selective reconciliation with its
violations. However, Western officials must remain focused on the enemies: On January 16, the Taliban announced it had welcomed 475
practical realities of the situation and not allow their own sanctimony former opponents back to Afghanistan, signaling an effort to prevent a
to impede progress or obscure history. Three consecutive U.S. return to war. But this is still more of a publicity stunt than a true effort
presidents decided it wasn’t worth remaining in Afghanistan militarily, at dialogue.
and most coalition partners left years before U.S. troops finally
departed. Western diplomats should now exercise pragmatism and A Process-Driven Diplomacy Will Not Work:
patience.
Instead of working with the Taliban on a durable peace, Western
The Taliban's Cohesion and Governance: officials are meeting with the discredited old generation of warlords
and other opposition leaders who want to overthrow the regime.
Initial reports of fierce infighting between Taliban factions proved to be Combined with a relentless series of scathing diplomatic démarches,
exaggerated following the Taliban takeover. Any hope that a mutiny this antagonistic approach by Western officials seems likely to drive the
will foment within the ranks of the Taliban or that the group will Taliban deeper into an entrenched posture of reclusiveness.
splinter misses what made the Taliban so effective over decades of war.
Plenty of warlords inflicted themselves upon Afghans in recent In this adversarial context, a process-driven Western style of diplomacy
decades, but the Taliban’s cohesion is what ultimately allowed it to reliant on some carrots and more sticks will not move the Taliban.
outlast its opponents. It was a war of gradual attrition, not a swift Despite differing opinions on the February 2020 U.S.-Taliban
conquest. agreement signed in Doha, Qatar—and Washington’s lack of
enforcement of the agreement’s conditions before withdrawal—the
Taliban leaders may grumble and chide their own colleagues about peace deal still represented a major shift in U.S.-Taliban relations that
decisions they dislike, but subversion is highly unlikely. The Haqqani would have been impossible in the past.
network may once have operated as a semiautonomous outfit, but

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This owes more to Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar and U.S. greater leeway and reached out to the international community. The
diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad’s strong relationship than any technical focus instead has been on occasional meetings with Taliban
process of negotiations. It also helped that both sides were in tacit representatives in Doha, as well as highly publicized conversations with
agreement that the withdrawal of U.S. troops was the top priority. politicians from the former government.
Some policymakers in Washington propose that technical-level
engagement should precede senior-level engagement with the Taliban; This counterproductive diplomatic virtue signaling elevates some of the
but due to the importance of trust-building and relationships with a most unvirtuous figures of the previous government while squandering
group such as the Taliban, this approach will fall flat. New relationships what few inroads Washington has with the de facto rulers of
must now be forged, and this will take years. Afghanistan. It also diminishes any incentives that may have existed for
more pragmatic Taliban leaders to push harder against aging
Time Presents a Greater Threat to the Taliban than Outside ideologues in Kandahar, the Afghan city that hosts the Taliban
Pressure headquarters. Effectively dealing with the Taliban will require a clear
ranking of priorities rather than a kitchen sink approach ( All-
Time presents a greater threat to the Taliban’s current incarnation than encompassing approach).
any outside pressure. Its current emir, Haibatullah Akhundzada, may
remain in power for some time, but in a country with a life expectancy U.S. policy objectives in Afghanistan focus on three areas:
in the low 60s it’s also possible his tenure could be cut short. The ▪ counterterrorism,
hardliners who seem poised to replace him are also elderly; many of the ▪ human rights,
more pragmatic figures in the movement are much younger. It’s ▪ and stability.
important that the international community build the diplomatic
inroads necessary to benefit from future changes of leadership. Like in Political “inclusivity,” which in Washington seems to mean including
any movement, the Taliban’s leaders of today are not the leaders of political stakeholders from the former government, rather than ethnic
tomorrow. representation, is often pushed as a prerequisite for stability. But
Western diplomats are barking up the wrong tree. Given the
It is questionable whether moderate Taliban members exist, and hopes disorganization and exile of its political opposition, as well as the near
of a Taliban 2.0 appear to be little more than a mirage. However, there irrelevance of its armed opposition in the country, it is highly
are pragmatists within the group who prize state-building more than improbable that the Taliban will demonstrate any inclination towards
the unchecked pursuit of ideological purity. Washington’s bureaucracy inclusivity beyond token ethnic representation that is co-opted into the
failed to move fast enough to take advantage of the brief opening after Taliban movement. Attempting to put the old guard back in positions
the fall of Kabul, during which those practical Taliban figures had of power in the name of inclusivity is a pipe dream, and a dangerous

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vision: Reinserting discredited politicians into the mix would be Pakistan’s military establishment is in no rush to strike a deal it cannot
destabilizing. defend.

Hard security concerns such as counterterrorism and great power Washington is in a better position, however. The Afghan Taliban still
competition are clearly the top priorities for Washington, and values the 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement as a face-saving mechanism to
pretending otherwise is pointless. The Taliban is unlikely to break with engage with Washington, as evidenced by its occasional references to
al-Qaeda, but that does not mean it wants to see another 9/11 directed deal. The TTP is especially keen to deny that it operates from within
from Afghan soil. Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri’s safe haven in a Afghanistan or threaten the United States, as it fears this could lead the
heavily guarded area of Kabul—in sight but out of mind—demonstrated United States to conduct drone strikes, such as the ones that killed the
the nature of the current relationship between the two groups. last three TTP leaders. This leaves the door open for limited high-level
However, the Taliban must recognize that hosting the al-Qaeda leader engagement and cooperation on counterterrorism.
(until his assassination via U.S. drone strike in July 2022) in an
apartment allegedly owned by the Afghan interior minister made
international legitimacy a tall order.

TTP pose a great threat to Pakistan’s stability: Human rights and women rights:

Despite the historical relations between Pakistan and the Haqqani Human rights and particularly women’s rights are still a high priority
network, led by current Afghan Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, for the United States. But calls to stop engaging with the Taliban will
Pakistan has been unsuccessful in persuading the Afghan Taliban to only reduce the potency of future threats to increase sanctions or
curtail terrorism from its protégé group, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan remove exemptions. Responsible states should retain what little
(TTP). Negotiations with the TTP have only served to kick the can leverage they do have by continuing to withhold de jure recognition. In
down the road; the group is still able to launch attacks against order to protect a future for Afghans in a post-Taliban led Afghanistan,
Pakistani security forces and police. Hundreds, if not thousands, of or a potentially changed Taliban-led Afghanistan, it is essential to
TTP fighters have crossed the border into Pakistan to carry out such prioritize tangible objectives that Washington and its partners can
attacks. The Taliban’s formal and informal statements following control, while also maintaining open communication and preserving
attacks, such as the one that killed nearly 100 people at a Peshawar the existing state institutions.
Mosque regularly attended by police, show it believes it still has the Limited cooperation with the Taliban on disaster relief,
upper hand. Pakistan will likely be fighting the TTP for years with one counternarcotics, disability programming, some aspects of education,
hand, while shaking hands with the Afghan Taliban with the other. But and public health will improve the lives of Afghans, build an iota of

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trust between the Taliban and the international community while also A decade under the status quo of Taliban rule is an eternity. But an
increasing the latter’s leverage in the future. Afghan child born today will only be 10 years old in 2033. Their destiny
can only be changed through tangible actions taken in the present, not
To capitalize on potential opportunities in the future, Washington through statements of condemnation that do more to ease the
should prioritize dialogue with the Taliban, as well as continue collective conscience of the West than help Afghans. Social change is
humanitarian aid at current levels and even consider some forms of likely to outpace political change in Afghanistan. The latter may take
development aid. It should also cultivate the next generation of Afghan years and even decades, but roughly 40 million Afghans who were
leaders by providing scholarships, investing in remote learning for unable to seek refuge abroad are relying on it. Some may argue that
girls, and continuing to offer support for Afghan women inside and engaging with the Taliban normalizes its policies, but that ship sailed
outside Afghanistan. the moment U.S. diplomats publicly sat down with Taliban leaders in
Doha in 2018, culminating in an agreement signed in 2020 and a photo
Conclusion: This won’t produce magical results. But keeping the op between then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Baradar
door open with the de facto leaders in Kabul while offering some later that same year. Continued outreach is necessary, even if it is
creative solutions for Afghanistan’s people is better than slamming it laborious and discouraging for now. And eventually U.S. diplomats
shut. must sit down with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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India Can Still Be a Bridge to the Global South | Foreign Affairs

Sanjaya Baru Sanjaya Bara, a distinguished fellow at the United Service Institution of India.

OUTLINES OF THE ARTICLE

I. Introduction • India's marginal position in multilateral organizations
• G-20 summit in Bali and India's aim to take G-20 in a new
• India’s refusal to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict direction
• India's approach to preserve relations with Russia, China, US, • India's aspiration to become the leader of the global south
and Japan
• India's leadership of the G-20 IV. India's Priorities as G-20 Leader

II. India's Policy • Focus on economic recovery, access to COVID-19 vaccines,

climate justice, and terrorism
• India's nonalignment policy • The need for a new deal for the global south
• Multi-alignment policy • The need for debt relief for developing economies
• India's balance in different organizations (SCO and Quad)
V. Concrete Measures to Help Global South
III. G-20's Importance for India

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 • Sovereign debt restructuring for least-developed and emerging VI. Conclusion
economies
• The need to increase contribution to climate finance • India's credible leadership of the global south
• Access to affordable medicine • Importance of G-20's role in addressing global issues

Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, India has refused Delhi. Speaking at the start of the meeting on Thursday, Indian Prime
to take sides in what it views as essentially a power struggle between Minister Narendra Modi lamented the state of multilateralism: “Global
the East and West. governance has failed,” he said, citing issues including financial crisis,
climate change, the pandemic, and terrorism.
New Delhi has instead opted to walk the middle path: preserving its
time-tested relations with
Moscow, seeking to improve
relations with Beijing, and
strengthening relations with
Washington and Tokyo. More G-20 and India’s Policy:
than a few times, the challenge
of balancing Russia and the India takes the mantle of G-20 leadership
United States has nearly jolted from Indonesia; it will be followed by
India from its tightrope. Brazil and then South Africa in 2024 and
2025, respectively. This period of
India’s middle-path approach leadership presents an opportunity for the
has gained greater relevance countries of the global south at a time
and urgency with its leadership when tensions between great powers
of the G-20 this year. This threaten to undermine the G-20. But the
week, the group’s foreign outcome may also depend on the G-7
ministers gathered in New
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group of developed economies, led this year by India’s new friend Jaishankar said at the G-20 summit, India aims to confront obstacles
Japan. posed by bad economic headwinds—especially the global south’s debt
burden—and to address issues of energy and food insecurity, which
This year, Modi has leaned on New Delhi’s long-standing policy of have increased as a result of the war in Ukraine.
nonalignment, first embraced by founding father Jawaharlal Nehru
and creatively rephrased as “multi-alignment” by current Indian These concerns seek the attention of the G-7 economies, but Jaishankar
Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. Multi-alignment, according to also seemed to send a message to both Russia and China in his
Jaishankar, is “more energetic and participative.” India currently comments, saying the summit in New Delhi would “[a]ssert the
balances its memberships in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, primacy of rule of law, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty,
alongside Russia and China, and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and relying on diplomacy to resolve differences.”
(known as the Quad) with Australia, Japan, and the United States.
On the global stage, India has adopted a tough posture on climate
▪ The G-20 has become an important forum for India, which change by asserting the right to economic development and on COVID-
remains marginal to the decision-making systems of most 19 cooperation by seeking exemption from intellectual property rights
multilateral organizations, including the United Nations Security protections for vaccines against the virus. These positions have
Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. attracted considerable support, and Indian officials have echoed them
Last year, India’s leaders watched as Indonesia had to work hard in preparation for the G-20 summit. “We will call for equity for the
to ensure that the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine did not derail global south,” Indian Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told
the annual G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. This year, New Delhi reporters in January.
aims to take the G-20 in a new direction—as well as to cement its
status as the leader of the global south, as it saw itself under ▪ India is likely to place significant emphasis on debt relief for
Nehru. developing economies, and Modi recently expressed concern that
unsustainable debt threatens many countries’ “financial viability.”
With a virtual meeting of nearly 125 developing countries at the start of During the Cold War, countries in the global south were able to
the year (called “Voice of Global South”), India set a new focus for the secure greater development aid from major economies, given
G-20’s annual summit in New Delhi in September. The summit will Western concern about communist influence. In the 1990s, the
aim to concentrate on far-reaching challenges that concern the global World Trade Organization was constructed so as to give special
south, such as economic recovery, access to COVID-19 vaccines, and differential treatment to countries in the global south.
climate justice, and terrorism. India hopes to present itself as a bridge
power that seeks a new deal for the global south, but it remains to be These gains have withered away as wealthy countries have reduced
seen how much support it has for its aspirations: Not many heads of assistance, imposed trade conditionalities, and sought to reverse
government tuned in to hear Modi speak during the virtual meeting. globalization processes. In this context, India should seek consensus on
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a few concrete measures to help the global south—to be continued by low-cost pharmaceuticals manufacturing and affordable health
Brazil and South Africa as its G-20 president successors. A sustained care would allow it to make a powerful case against Big Pharma.
focus on debt relief, reduction in global inflation, access to affordable
medicine, and climate justice would make India a credible leader of the Finally, the G-20 should agree to revitalize multilateralism in trade,
global south. including by extending the World Trade Organization’s special and
differential treatment facility, which allows for some tariff protection
To start, the G-20 should agree to sovereign debt restructuring for and a more gradual tariff reduction for developing economies
least-developed and emerging economies dealing with large debt compared to developed economies. (The principle first came under
burdens, just as the group stepped in to create mechanisms that helped threat while former U.S. President Donald Trump was in office.) As
bail out Western economies after the 2008 financial crisis. Global Russia’s war in Ukraine has heightened food security concerns, the G-
inflation caused by both U.S. policy and Russia’s war in Ukraine make 20 should also agree on a policy for public stockholding and price
this particularly urgent. The G-20 should also support the United support to farmers in developing economies, especially for the grain
Nations’ recommendation to create a Sovereign Debt Workout market.
Institution to implement debt restructuring.

Under India’s leadership, the G-20 should also call on developed

economies to increase their contribution to climate finance to help the If just these four points were agreed to at the G-20 summit in New
global south, beyond the $100 billion agreed to at the annual U.N. Delhi later this year, then it would mark a major turning point for the
climate change conference (known as COP27) last November, known as group, which has not had much to show for its global leadership lately.
COP27. Existing climate commitments still aren’t adequate to meet the With India at the helm, the time has come for the G-20 to help the
needs of emerging economies. This would echo global south-led efforts global south in a dramatic fashion.
at COP27 to provide so-called loss and damage funding for especially
vulnerable countries.

▪ Next, the G-20 should declare a waiver of intellectual property

rights protection for vaccines against COVID-19 and its variants.
The group should also agree to price controls on life-saving drugs,
especially during crises. Although the pandemic has receded,
securing this demand would set a precedent for future global
health challenges. Access to affordable medicine and health care
remains a major concern in the global south. India’s record in

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 step in: to intervene or take action in a situation
▪ bail out: to provide financial assistance to a company or
organization that is in difficulty
Vocabulary in context
▪ call on: to ask or request someone to do something
▪ climate finance: financial resources provided to address climate
change and its impact
jolted from: to be shaken or disturbed by something unexpected
▪ leaned on: to rely on or use for support
▪ cement its status: to establish or strengthen something firmly
▪ echoed them: to repeat or restate something that has already
been said
▪ IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS:
▪ power struggle: a situation in which two or more people or
groups are competing for power
▪ tightrope: a situation where one must balance carefully between
two difficult choices
▪ take the mantle: to take responsibility or leadership of
something
▪ fall out of: to become disorganized or chaotic
▪ rule of law: the principle that all people and institutions are
subject to and accountable to the law
▪ territorial integrity: the principle of respecting the borders and
territory of a nation
▪ wither away: to gradually disappear or become less important

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ChatGPT in China's Tech Ecosystem Looks Very Different | Foreign Affairs
Rishi Iyengar
Rishi Iyengar is a reporter at Foreign Policy.

Outlines of the articles

Title: The Battle of Chatbots: US and China’s Race in Artificial Intelligence

I. Introduction III. National Differences in AI Regulation

• ChatGPT is a popular AI chatbot developed by OpenAI based in California and • OpenAI’s Chinese counterparts will have to hew to Beijing’s rules on how the
used by more than 100 million people worldwide. product affects national security, which may require content moderation or
• Microsoft invested multibillion dollars in OpenAI to integrate the technology censorship.
into Bing, and Google is developing its own chatbot. • China views AI as a critical technology that requires a regulatory framework,
• Chinese tech companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, and JD.com have developed whereas the US tends to approach AI as an added element of already regulated
chatbots of their own, and China has been investing in AI capabilities since sectors.
2017. • ChatGPT has not been made available in China, and Beijing has reportedly
• However, US-China tensions on the technology front may be shrinking the restricted Chinese tech firms from using or offering its services to the public.
room for collaboration between the two countries. • The Chinese government is attempting to justify ChatGPT restrictions and
broader censorship by depicting it as part of the broader US-China rivalry.
II. ChatGPT and China’s AI Ambitions
IV. Challenges and Opportunities for Chinese Tech
• China aims to become a “global innovation center” in AI by 2030. Companies
• The competition and collaboration between US and Chinese scientists and
companies on AI have taken place through labs set up by companies such as • Baidu’s chatbot Ernie was trained on English-language information from
Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba in Silicon Valley. Wikipedia and Reddit, which are both blocked in China.
• Beijing’s AI “Sputnik moment” occurred in 2016 when a Google AI program • Companies operating in China’s tech space are used to navigating government
defeated a Chinese grandmaster in the board game wei qi. regulation and censorship requirements on their other products.
• Graham Webster of Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center says that • Beijing will also likely use AI to produce propaganda and fake news at speed
defining the chatbot moment in overly nationalistic terms can be misleading, as and scale that may not be possible with people.
OpenAI is a company with its own values and ambitions.

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V. Conclusion • Chinese tech companies face challenges in navigating government regulation
and censorship requirements, but they also have opportunities to innovate and
• US-China tensions on the technology front may limit collaboration in AI create AI products that can benefit the world.
development.
• ChatGPT and Ernie represent a competition between the US and China in AI,
but defining it as a nationalistic race can be misleading.

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If you are reading this on the internet, then you’ve probably heard of relationship between the world’s two largest economies becomes
ChatGPT. The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, made by California- increasingly adversarial—particularly on the technology front—the
based company OpenAI, has taken the world by storm. More than 100 room to work together on technologies such as artificial intelligence
million people around the world are estimated to have used it in the may rapidly be shrinking. The Biden administration’s restrictions last
two months since it launched, October on the export
and Microsoft has made a of advanced
“multiyear, multibillion dollar semiconductor chips to
investment” in OpenAI to integrate China, aimed in part at
the company’s technology into its China’s AI capabilities,
search engine, Bing (with some was a major broadside
initially frightening effects). Google in a relationship that
is developing its own chatbot named has only become more
Bard. acrimonious.

The furor around ChatGPT and ▪ The 2030 goal was

similar alternatives has prompted a set months after what
scramble in China’s tech sector to could be described as
join the party. Baidu, China’s Beijing’s AI “Sputnik
leading search engine, said it plans moment,” when a
to roll out its “Ernie Bot” in March Google AI
while other Chinese tech giants, program beat a Chinese
such grandmaster at the
as Alibaba and JD.com, announced chatbots of their own. ancient board
game wei qi, also known as Go. “That really set off China’s AI
China has spent years developing its artificial intelligence capabilities, revolution,” said Sam Howell, who researches technology and
outlining its ambitions in a 2017 plan that sought to make the country a national security at the Center for a New American Security.
“global innovation center” in the field by 2030. Those goals have
engendered competition but also collaboration between U.S. and But defining the chatbot moment in overly nationalistic terms can be
Chinese scientists and companies, including through labs that the likes misleading, said Graham Webster, a researcher and editor in chief of
of Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba have set up in Silicon Valley. But as the the DigiChina Project at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center.
ChatGPT is a far cry from the kind of tech that has traditionally been
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developed in U.S. government labs. “I don’t think that one should view ChatGPT has not been made available in China, and Beijing
ChatGPT as a win for the United States in some kind of race,” Webster has reportedly restricted Chinese tech firms from using or offering its
said. “OpenAI is a company, but it is not the United States. … It has its services to the public. The Chinese government is attempting to justify
own ambition and values that may sometimes align with most ChatGPT restrictions and broader censorship in China by depicting it
Americans and may sometimes not, and it’s simply not directed by as part of the broader U.S.-China rivalry, said Angeli Datt, who
national interest.” researches Chinese censorship at free expression group PEN America.

But national wrinkles still play a big part. OpenAI’s Chinese “When really, it’s the sheer fact that uncensored and free information
counterparts will have a different calculus because of Beijing’s often outside of the firewall counters Chinese Communist Party propaganda,
restrictive tech regulations, its vast censorship apparatus, and its misinformation, and disinformation” about any number of sensitive
broader government control of the private sector. In China, generative issues, like human rights in Xinjiang, Datt said.
AI will have to hew to Beijing’s rules on how the product affects
national security, Webster said. An official at the Chinese Embassy in Washington said Beijing is
focused on keeping AI useful and safe.
“So there’s an automatic responsibility, essentially, to conduct what you
could consider content moderation or censorship—it’s frankly both,” “China is committed to building a community with a shared future for
Webster added. humanity in the domain of AI and efforts to advocate a people-centered
approach and the principle of AI for good, ensure that AI is safe,
There’s also a major difference in how China approaches regulation of reliable, controllable, and capable of better empowering global
artificial intelligence, according to Paul Triolo, senior vice president for sustainable development and enhancing the common well-being of all
China and technology policy lead at the Albright Stonebridge Group, humanity,” the official wrote via email.
adding that the United States tends to approach AI as an added
element of already regulated sectors. Ironically, Baidu’s chatbot Ernie was trained on English-language
information from Wikipedia and Reddit, which are both blocked in
▪ “Chinese officials on the other hand view AI as a critical China. “It’s going to be a difficult balancing act for Chinese companies
technology that requires a regulatory framework, both to control to find ways to use generative AI technology without running afoul of
the negative aspects of AI algorithm deployment but also to Chinese censors,” said Paul Scharre, who recently wrote Four
provide technology companies with a clear sense of where the Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
regulatory lines will be drawn to encourage innovation in the
sector,” Triolo said. Beijing will also likely use AI to produce propaganda, Scharre said.
“They’re basically fake news generators, so they can be used to generate
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state propaganda or fake news at speed and scale that may not be a national security advantage,” Howell said. “What’s at stake here is not
possible with people.” just who leads in artificial intelligence but also who sets the rules for
how it’s going to be used around the world—so democratic values and
More impactful than Beijing’s censorship regarding China’s ability to the concept of open societies are at stake in the AI race.”
develop its AI ecosystem could be U.S. export controls last year that all
but cut off the sale of the most advanced semiconductor chips—and the What does ChatGPT itself think about China’s AI capabilities?
equipment needed to make them—to Chinese companies. Those chips
are crucial to the development of advanced AI models, and the export “China has made significant investments in artificial intelligence (AI) in
restrictions could be the “biggest single impact of U.S.-China recent years, and its capabilities in this area are rapidly advancing,” the
technology competition on China’s AI development,” Triolo said. chatbot told Foreign Policy, referencing China’s aforementioned 2030
benchmark. “China’s strengths in AI include natural language
“The restrictions will take time to bite, as Chinese organizations and processing, computer vision, and machine learning. The country has
firms have stockpiled some chips. But over time, if Chinese companies made significant progress in developing AI-powered applications for
cannot find workarounds, they will be at an increasing disadvantage in various industries, such as healthcare, transportation, and finance,” it
terms of training AI algorithms on cutting-edge hardware,” Triolo added. It wasn’t all praise though: The bot also called out China’s
added. “This is particularly the case with large language models, which “policies and initiatives aimed at collecting and analyzing large
are best trained on the most advanced hardware.” amounts of data, which has raised concerns about potential misuse and
infringement on privacy.”
Not unlike the fight over global leadership of other advanced
technologies, such as 5G mobile networks, there is more at stake than “Overall, China’s AI capabilities are rapidly advancing, and the country
leadership in technologies that can write clever texts on demand. is poised to become a major player in the global AI landscape,”
ChatGPT said. “However, it will be important for China to address
“Competition over AI—and emerging tech broadly—carries concerns about privacy and ensure that AI is developed and used
consequences that extend beyond the digital domain. A country that responsibly.”
leads in AI is going to reap significant economic benefits and also gain

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 Vocabulary in context

1. ChatGPT: an AI chatbot created by OpenAI, a California-based 10. Generative AI: AI that is capable of creating new content,
company. such as text or images.

2. Multiyear, multibillion dollar investment: Microsoft has 11. Content moderation: the process of monitoring and controlling
made a significant investment in OpenAI to integrate the company’s user-generated content on an online platform.
technology into its search engine, Bing.
12.Censorship: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books,
3. Artificial intelligence (AI): a field of computer science that films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically
involves developing algorithms and models to perform tasks that unacceptable, or a threat to security.
would usually require human intelligence.
13. Albright Stonebridge Group: a global strategy and business
4. Bard: a chatbot being developed by Google. advisory firm.

5. Ernie Bot: a chatbot created by Baidu, China’s leading search 14.Propaganda: information that is biased or misleading, usually with
engine. the aim of promoting a particular political cause or point of view.
6. Silicon Valley: a region in the San Francisco Bay Area of 15. People-centered approach: an approach that puts the needs
California, known for being a hub of technology companies and and well-being of people at the center of technological development.
startups.
16.AI for good: the use of AI to solve social and environmental
7. Advanced semiconductor chips: computer chips that use problems and promote positive change.
advanced technology to process data faster and more efficiently. Xinjiang: a region in western China that has been the subject of
controversy due to human rights allegations abuses.
8. Wei qi: an ancient board game also known as Go.
9. Nationalistic terms: terms used to describe something in a way
that is overly focused on a particular country or nation.

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 National
ARTICLES
SECTION

All articles are taken from prestigious

Pakistan’s and Words newspapers.
A divine sign | Dawn

Amin Valliani: The writer is an educationist with an interest in religion.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction
A. The 21st century as the century of technology V. Humility and Gratitude
B. Manifestations of technology in everyday life A. Acknowledging Allah as the Creator
B. Dependence on Allah's blessings in different spheres of life
II. Positive Impact of Technology C. Examples of humility in farming and healthcare
A. Convenience and ease in daily life
B. Creation of job opportunities VI. Limitations of Technology
C. Advancements in communication, entertainment, travel, and warfare A. Inner peace and understanding the highest good of life
D. Exploration of space and universe B. Chaotic state and lack of satisfaction
E. Learning and educational benefits C. Importance of humility and thankfulness
F. Facilitation of challenges and work efficiency D. Balancing technology with morality and spirituality

III. Technology as a Divine Sign VII. Preparation for the Hereafter

A. Reference to Quranic verse (41:53) A. Acknowledging the limitations of physical life
B. Technology as an unfolding of divine promise B. Importance of spiritual aspect beyond time and space
C. Continuous manifestation of Allah's miracles C. Integration of technology and spiritual teachings

IV. Technology and the Human Mind VIII. Conclusion

A. Human mind as Allah's greatest creation A. Summary of the importance of humility and gratitude
B. Creation of equipment and gadgets from human ideas B. Balance between technological advancements and spiritual growth
C. Potential negative consequences of technology misuse C. Essential teachings of all religions regarding spirituality
D. Existential risk posed by lethal weapons

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WE are living in the 21st century, which is considered the century of becomes manifest to them that this is the truth” (41:53). Thus, we can
technology. Modern equipment such as computers, mobile phones, the consider technology to be the unfolding of the divine promise made in
internet, home gadgets and thousands more are all manifestations of the aforesaid verse. Allah continues to show His miracles as long as the
technology. universe exists.

Positive impact of technology: Technology and the human mind:

Technology reminds us that Allah is the Creator.
Thus, technology has given us many gifts that have made our lives
relatively hassle-free. These gadgets have become part of our daily life. All technological advancements stem from the human mind — the
They have created thousands of job opportunities. From greatest creation of Allah. The mind produces ideas and concepts that
communication to entertainment and travelling to warfare, every later materialise in the shape of equipment in the physical world. This
aspect of life has been impacted by technological advancement. equipment is useful for humanity, however, when misused, it can cause
negative consequences. The very existence of the world itself is at risk
Today, with the help of technology and science, a person can measure
as humans have developed lethal weapons that can decimate the world
the depths of the sea as well as scale great
in no time. Moreover, in
heights. Science and technology have also
day-to-day activities most
enabled man to explore space. It has helped us
people tend to overly rely
discover thousands of secrets contained in the
on technological gadgets
universe. This has provided extraordinary
rather than explore their
means of learning to millions of people around
God-given potential.
the globe and changed the shape of towns and
cities. Similarly, it has facilitated the challenges Humility and
of life and has fast-tracked our work.
gratitude:
Technology as a divine sign: Technology reminds us
In the light of all this progress, one can term that Allah is the Creator
technology as a divine sign, a miracle or a and His creation is
blessing from Allah. Allah says in the Holy continuous. The Quran
Quran, “We will show them Our Signs in the says “Every day He has a
universe, and in their own selves, until it matter to bring forth”

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(55:29). We need to be thankful and humble in our attitude as we Further, technology is yet to help humanity attain inner peace and
benefit from so many wonderful inventions and discoveries that tranquillity, and enable man to understand the ‘summum bonum’ (the
technology has made possible. In spite of these developments, there is highest good) of life. It is a dire need of entire humanity. Many people,
no escape from the fundamental need of spiritual humility. This can be unable to get inner satisfaction from these gadgets, sometimes find
understood from the following examples. themselves in a chaotic state. It has rightly been pointed out that we
live in taller buildings but with a shorter temper. We build bigger
In today’s era, a modern farmer cultivates his land and spends days and houses but ones that are bereft of love. We have more doctors and
nights trying to get the best results from his cultivation. He uses hospitals as compared to the past but are still not well. We cook many
modern tractors, threshers and other agricultural machinery and also dishes but don’t get the essential nutrients. We have multiplied our
uses the best available fertiliser and good seeds and irrigates his crops wealth but belittled our values. This is largely due to the absence of
in a timely manner. But in the end, looking upwards in humility, he humility and thankfulness.
prays to Allah to bless his land with a good crop. No doubt he receives
blessings in the shape of better crops and remains thankful to Allah. Preparation for the hereafter:
If we consider technology to be a divine sign, we should secure and
Similarly, a well-experienced doctor with specialisation examines his
support our value system, and not lose track of morality and
patients for treatment. He uses all his knowledge and modern
spirituality. We should be able to create a balance in different spheres
techniques. He prescribes the best medicines for the patient, but in the
of life. Though technology has improved the standard of our physical
end, says that he is just treating the patient to the best of his ability.
life, our lifespans are limited. The preparation for life in the hereafter
However, cure comes from Allah who is the ultimate source of healing.
must not be ignored. What is essential is to pay heed to the spiritual
It is He who eradicates disease. Recovery is not in the hands of the
aspect of life which is beyond time and space. These are the
doctor; he does his best but, in the end, prays that Allah may give shifa
fundamental teachings of all religions.
(healing) to the patient.

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FSC on transgender persons | Dawn

Sara Malkani: The writer is a lawyer.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction V. Changing Understanding of Gender Identity

A. Federal Shariat Court's ruling on the Transgender Persons (Protection A. Recognizing the spectrum of gender identity
of Rights) Act, 2018 B. Challenges in determining gender expression based on cultural norms
B. Implications of the ruling on marginalized individuals C. Broad and subjective range of behaviors deemed contrary to Islam

II. FSC's Objections to the 2018 Act VI. Ignoring Cultural Significance and Rights
A. FSC's concern with the definition of "transgender persons" A. FSC's neglect of the cultural status of the khwaja sira community
B. Rejection of self-perceived gender identity and voluntary change of sex B. Stigmatization and erasure of the khwaja sira community
C. Distinction made between intersex, eunuchs, khwaja siras, transgender C. Failure to consider constitutional rights and equal protection
men, and transgender women
VII. Protection of Transgender Persons' Rights
III. Flaws in FSC's Understanding A. Importance of upholding fundamental rights
A. Misconceptions about khwaja siras and their gender identities B. Persecution and marginalization faced by transgender individuals
B. Flawed reasoning on the distinction between sex and gender in Islam C. Ensuring equal citizenship and protection for transgender persons
C. Logical error in FSC's interpretation of Quranic verses
VIII. Conclusion
IV. Limited Evidence from Hadith A. Summary of the FSC ruling and its implications
A. The FSC's reliance on hadith regarding "effeminate men" B. Necessity to reconcile religious interpretations with human rights
B. Historical context and interpretation of the incidents C. Safeguarding the rights of transgender individuals within the
C. Lack of evidence for a blanket ban on transgender persons in Islam framework of Islam

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ON May 19, the Federal Shariat Court declared that key provisions of birth. The FSC considers the latter un-Islamic because Islam does not
the landmark Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, recognise any distinction between sex and gender identity.
are repugnant (contradictory) to Islam. The FSC has called for
invalidating a law that serves to protect some of the most marginalised At the outset, the FSC’s understanding of these sexual and gender
persons in our society. Unless the FSC decision is appealed before the identities is flawed. Contrary to what it says, khwaja siras are persons
Supreme Court, its ruling will become effective in six months. with distinct gender identities and it must not be assumed that they
suffer from infirmities or disabilities. The identification of a person as
FSC’s Objections to the 2018 Act: khwaja sira is based on the self-perceived identity of the individual.
The FSC finds that the definition of “transgender persons” in the law There is no physical or medical assessment undertaken by the khwaja
conflates a range of identities, each of which has distinct physical sira community when admitting new members. Indeed, there are no set
characteristics and also a distinct status in Islam. Crucially, physical or biological characteristics that make a
the FSC has held that Section 3 of the 2018 Act which person khwaja sira; rather it is a combination of
recognises the right of transgender persons to their self- psychological, physical and cultural factors that
perceived gender identity is contrary to Islam. The shape the identity.
‘voluntary change of sex’ on the basis of self-perceived
Further, the FSC’s reasoning that any distinction
gender identity is also against Islam.
between sex and gender identity is contrary to
Flaws in FSC’s understanding: Islam is based on flawed reasoning. The FSC
acknowledges that in “some cultures and societies
The FSC states that the definition of “transgender persons”
a person or a human being is defined and
under the 2018 Act includes intersex, eunuchs and khwaja
identified by his or her ‘gender’ and not by his or
siras, transgender men and transgender women. Intersex
her ‘sex’”, but then goes on to assert that “in Islam
persons are “special” and “deprived”. Eunuchs and khwaja
the defining factor for a human being in this
siras, according to the FSC, refer to the same category of
context is ‘sex’ not ‘gender’”.
persons “with serious and permanent sexual infirmity in
their male sexual organs”. Limited Evidence from hadith:
Transgender men and women on the other hand are persons whose This conclusion is based on an obvious error of logic. The FSC relies on
self-perceived gender identity differs from the sex assigned to them at verses of the Holy Quran which declare that God created men and
women. Since no other sex is specified, the FSC concludes that Islam
does not recognise any other sex or gender. However, it does not
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logically follow from the verses acknowledging the creation of men and “mukhannath” as used in early Islamic society almost 15 centuries ago
women that any other sex is repugnant to Islam, and that sex alone is are identical to transgender identities as we understand and perceive
the basis of gender identity. Indeed, none of the Quranic verses or them today. Today, there is a growing global consensus that gender
hadith referred to by FSC support its conclusion that recognition of any identity falls on a spectrum, and is based on a range of biological, social
distinction between sex and gender is contrary to Islamic injunctions. and cultural traits.

The error of logic is obvious when we break down the argument as Changing Understanding of Gender Identity:
follows: a) The Quran recognises two sexes; b) the Quran does not The range of acceptable gender expression changes significantly over
explicitly recognise any distinction between sex and gender identity; c) time. Is there any item of clothing, or hairstyle or even gait that can be
Therefore, Islam forbids recognition of any distinction between sex and deemed exclusively for ‘men’ or ‘women’? Who will make this
gender identity. It is obvious why ‘a’ and ‘b’ does not entail ‘c’. If the determination? For example, are women with short hair and men with
Quran is silent on a matter, it does not entail that it finds that matter long hair expressing a gender identity contrary to their sex? Under the
repugnant. FSC’s reasoning the range of behaviour deemed repugnant to Islam is
not only extremely broad but also impossible to identify.
The FSC also relies on hadith that the Prophet (PBUH) disapproved of
“effeminate (lacking manly quality) men”. However, the ahadith cited Ignoring Cultural Significance and Rights:
involve only two incidents — one where the Prophet turned an
What is particularly disappointing is that the FSC has ignored the
“effeminate man” away from his house and the other where he
distinct cultural status of the khwaja sira community in the
banished a man who applied henna. Historians of the early Islamic
subcontinent prevailing for several centuries. The fact that the FSC
period conclude that the “effeminate” men or “mukhannath” were
deems khwaja sira persons to have a disorder amounts to the
common in society and played visible roles. However, there is no
stigmatisation and erasure of this community.
evidence to suggest that there was a blanket ban on these persons and
these two incidents could well be isolated and context-dependent. It is It is striking that the FSC has not considered fundamental rights
far-fetched to extrapolate from these ahadith that transgender persons provisions in Pakistan’s Constitution that guarantee life, dignity and
as a whole and in all contexts are repugnant to Islam. equal protection under the laws to all persons. Its ruling could possibly
vitiate the hard-won rights of transgender persons who face
It is similarly far-fetched to extrapolate from these ahadith, as the FSC
persecution and marginalisation on a daily basis. Surely the protection
does, that “in Islam males as well as females are not allowed to act and
of their right to exist as equal citizens cannot be deemed contrary to
behave as an opposite sex” to the one assigned to them at birth. The
Islam.
FSC does not consider whether the categories of “effeminate” men or
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Democratizing SDGs in Pakistan| Dawn

Ayesha Khan: The writer is chief executive of the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction C. Encouraging partnerships between governments, NGOs, and
A. Brief overview of the SDGs and their importance communities
B. Concerns about the current progress and likelihood of achieving the D. Fostering innovation and new technologies for localising the SDGs
goals
V. Role of Open Government Partnership (OGP)
II. Challenges with the SDGs A. Description and principles of the OGP
A. Geopolitical and structural imbalances exacerbating global crises B. Pakistan's membership and potential benefits
B. High risk of most goals remaining unmet C. Citizen-centric approach and its alignment with SDGs
C. Impact of the SDG investment gap, particularly on vulnerable countries D. Enhancing collaboration with stakeholders for innovative solutions
D. Pakistan's specific challenges and the potential deeper crisis
VI. Importance of climate commitments and SDGs
III. Challenge of top-down approach A. Linkage between the SDGs and climate goals
A. Lack of involvement and buy-in from local communities B. Optimizing the SDGs through democratisation for accountability
B. Negative consequences of implementation that doesn't suit local needs C. Consequences of missing the SDGs

IV. Democratising and localising the SDGs VII. Conclusion

A. Empowering local communities through involvement and ownership A. Recap of key points
B. Ensuring transparency, accountability, and community feedback B. Importance of meeting the SDGs for a more equitable future

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GEOPOLITICS and structural imbalances are adding to the global mix One major challenge with the SDGs is that they are often seen as a top-
of crises, necessitating urgency in action to meet the Sustainable down approach with governments, organisations, and corporations
Development Goals. The SDGs, adopted in 2015, are a set of 17 goals making SDG implementation decisions without necessarily involving
that provide a blueprint for achieving equality, reducing poverty and the communities they are meant to benefit. This dilutes understanding
seeking universal human rights for all by 2030. All the 191 UN member and decreases buy-in from communities, resulting in implementation
states have agreed to try and achieve the 169 targets by 2030. While the that does not suit local needs.
self-consciously ambitious SDGs have achieved some success, there is a
high risk that most of the goals designed for people, prosperity, planet, Democratising and localising the SDGs:
peace and partnerships will remain unmet. The $2.5 trillion annual To address this challenge, democratising and localising the SDGs is
SDG investment gap will affect vulnerable countries more acutely. By essential. This means involving local communities in decision-making,
all estimates, at the current rate of investment, it will be impossible to and tailoring implementation strategies to meet their unique needs.
meet the SDGs by 2030. Some steps towards democratising and
localising the SDGs include:
Challenges with the SDGs:
The goals set eight years ago, with a view to address Empowering local communities by involving
the urgent environmental, political and economic them in decision-making processes and
challenges facing our planet are in dire straits. For providing then with tools and resources to
Pakistan, trapped in economic low growth, high take ownership of the SDGs. This could
inflation and unemployment, falling investments, include training on how to contribute to
excessive fiscal deficits, and deteriorating external decision-making processes, as well as
balancing position, the inability to meet targets will funding or technical support to implement
plunge the country in a deeper crisis. The projects that align with the SDGs.
demographic distribution of the population with four
Ensuring transparency and accountability by
per cent falling in the over 65-year age bracket and
co-creating policies and making information
60pc belonging to the 15-64-year age cohort, adds to
on SDG implementation publicly available,
the volatile mix of high youth expectation and low
as well as setting up mechanisms for
country capacity to deliver.
community feedback and oversight.
Challenge of top-down approach:

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Encouraging partnerships between governments, NGOs, and It builds on the three cardinal principles of transparency, accountabi-
communities to help ensure that the SDGs are implemented in a way lity and co-creation in policies as critical enablers for fostering more ef-
that is both effective and sustainable. By working together, these fective and inclusive governance processes.
groups can identify and address challenges in a collaborative way.
Pakistan joined the OGP at the OGP summit in Paris in 2016, but no
Fostering innovation and new technologies and approaches to action has been taken since to formalise the agreement. The citizen-
democratise and localise the SDGs. Mobile technology can be used to centric approach of OGP can promote participation in development
gather data on local needs and preferences, while blockchain and implementation of government policies and programmes, aligning
technology can help to ensure transparency and accountability in action with achievement, monitoring progress and setting realistic
decision-making processes. goals for scaling ambition. This approach is well suited for localising
SDGs and enhancing collaboration with civil society organisations, the
Role of Open Government Partnership (OGP): private sector and other stakeholders in developing innovative
The Open Government Partnership could serve as a perfect fit-for- solutions to complex development challenges.
purpose SDG accelerator entry point in order to turn it from a global
pressure and advocacy tool into a planning tool. The OGP, launched in Conclusion:
2012, is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete The SDGs are linked closely to climate commitments. Achieving both is
commitments from national and sub-national governments to promote important for a safe future. Democratising SDGs will optimise their full
open government, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new potential and ensure that governments are accountable to citizens and
technologies to strengthen governance. their actions are in line with the SDGs. Meeting the SDGs will pave the
way for a more equitable future. Missing them will fast track our
descent into disarray.

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India & Kashmir: two views| Dawn

Ashraf Jehangir Qazi: The writer is a former ambassador to the US, India and China and head of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction D. Potential benefits of bilateral engagement, trade, investment, and cultural

A. Overview of the "old principled" view regarding India-Pakistan relations exchanges
B. Introduction of the "new pragmatic" view and its contrasting perspective
V. Challenges and Opportunities
II. Old Principled View A. Entrenched interests in mutual hostility and potential consequences for
A. India as Pakistan's principal adversary and history of conflicts Pakistan
B. Accusations against India's actions in Kashmir B. Need for discussions on a feasible longer-term strategy
C. Criticism of international community's response and Pakistan's image C. National survival issues and their significance
D. Pakistan's perspective on the Kashmir dispute and its previous efforts
VI. Current Issues in Pakistan
III. Challenges and Transformations A. Government-led assault on the judiciary and its implications
A. Failures and consequences of past conflicts and agreements B. Economic challenges, currency devaluation, and poverty concerns
B. India's annexation of IHK and its impact on Pakistan's stance C. Issues related to census, digital revolution, and internet access
C. Perception of India's demand for surrender and repression in Kashmir D. Disparity between wealthy leaders and impoverished votebanks
D. Deprioritization of support for the Kashmiri freedom struggle by Pakistan E. Conflicts between constitutional bodies and the Army Act versus the Rule of
Law
IV. New Pragmatic View
A. Disregard of UN resolutions and lack of global support for Pakistan VII. Conclusion
B. Recognition of Pakistan's limitations and inability to alter territorial status A. Evaluation of the "old principled" and "new pragmatic" views
quo B. Possibility of a combined approach for a longer-term strategy
C. Importance of a recovered Pakistan and improved India-Pakistan C. Acknowledgment of national survival issues and the need for discussions
relationship D. Critique of the current state of affairs in Pakistan

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Old principled view: Pakistan fought three wars with India over Kashmir, which failed to
OLD ‘principled’ view: India is priority for Pakistan’s foreign policy. It produce the desired results. Tashkent brought no relief and hastened
is the principal adversary and only country with which we have gone to the end of Ayub Khan. Shimla extricated Pakistani prisoners of war but
war. It has brutally repressed the people of Kashmir and illegally at the cost of effectively ‘bilateralising’ the dispute.
annexed the disputed territory of IHK, thereby terminating
comprehensive structured dialogue with Pakistan.

India calls the Kashmiri freedom struggle ‘terrorism’ although armed New Pragmatic view:
struggle is an inalienable right of people under forcible occupation. Is the ‘old principled’ or the ‘new pragmatic’ view more realistic?
Musharraf’s four-point proposal had promised a principled
Subsequently, the Kargil conflict, instigated by the usual suspects after
compromise settlement.
Vajpayee’s historic visit to Lahore, compelled a nonplussed Nawaz
Challenges and Transformations: Sharif to rush to the US to beg for the safe withdrawal of Pakistan’s
forces from an impossible situation. This transformed the LoC into a de
Pakistan’s irresponsible and unforgivably corrupt governance, and the
facto border. Pakistan paid a huge
opportunism of the international community
price in blood, treasure, diplomatic
allow India to escape censure. While the
isolation, and the perception of a
international human rights community
failing state.
condemns India’s crimes in Kashmir, the big
powers prioritise state interests over law and More recently, Pakistan
morality. Pakistan’s pathetic image, downgraded relations with India
moreover, negates the cogency of its after it annexed IHK on Aug 5,
arguments. 2019, unilaterally changing its
status in violation of UN Security
Pakistan is a party to the Kashmir dispute. It
Council resolutions and the Shimla
regards the Kashmir Valley as its ‘jugular
Agreement. This rendered the LoC
vein’ as its people would have opted to join
moot as it issued from the
Pakistan were they able to exercise their
agreement.
right to self-determination.

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By claiming to have resolved the Kashmir dispute forever, India positions stem the tide of failure engulfing Pakistan? Can acting as a
destroyed the basis for dialogue with Pakistan. This was a demand for a defeated state stabilise Pakistan? Can such a Pakistan elicit or manage
Pakistan surrender even more ignominious than in Dhaka in 1971. $17 billion for a ‘Living Indus Initiative’?
India, moreover, arrested the entire Muslim leadership of the Valley
and intensified its repression to the extent that Genocide Watch issued Given that confrontation and conflict with India are no longer options,
two ‘genocide alerts’. is unprincipled surrender the only alternative? Has Modi shown any
inclination to consider resolving the respective ‘core issues’ of Kashmir
While a misgoverned and isolated Pakistan was no longer able to and ‘terrorism’ through dialogue and compromise, which could usher
counter India’s unilateralism and repression there was never any in a mutually beneficial relationship?
reason to meekly accept its fait accompli. The right to self-
determination is not a gift from Pakistan to Kashmir. It is the Overcoming existential challenges that threaten Pakistan requires
inalienable right of the Kashmiri people. people’s movements and nation-building, not the betrayal of principled
commitments. Do Pakistan’s ruling elites have the character, foresight,
or common decency to provide minimally responsible leadership? Our
present situation provides a very clear answer. India’s contempt for
Challenges and Opportunities: Pakistan and its refusal to concede anything will not be mitigated by
UN resolutions affirm the disputed status of Kashmir, and Pakistan as fawning submission. However, should we recover from our moribund
a party to the dispute. Accordingly, it has an absolute obligation to condition — and this will require deliverance from the political and
uphold and support the rights of the Kashmiri people in every power elites — we may explore possibilities for improved relations with
legitimate way. a currently pathologically anti-Pakistan India.

Despite its rhetorical declarations of support, Pakistan has, in fact, de- New ‘pragmatic’ view: UN resolutions on Kashmir are history. The
prioritised support for the Kashmiri freedom struggle. As a result, the world does not support Pakistan. Nor does it condemn India with
Kashmiri people on both sides of the LoC today probably prefer regard to these resolutions. The Kashmiris know Pakistan is helpless
independence to a failing Pakistan. Kashmiri independence, however, and cannot afford conflict with India or alter the territorial status quo
is opposed by both India and Pakistan. in Kashmir.

It was, however, dangled before the Kashmiris by a former Pakistan The best they can hope for is a recovered and renewed Pakistan able
prime minister. That risked complicating relations with China, which is and willing to resuscitate the dormant four-point proposal. This would
Pakistan’s most effective counter to India. Can forsaking principled require a fundamentally improved India-Pakistan relationship so that
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win-win approaches become feasible. The quicker Pakistan reconciles parlous condition. We need not fear Chinese misgivings as they have no
itself to prevailing realities, however unjust, the quicker the sufferings interest in India-Pakistan hostility.
of the people of IHK can be alleviated. Accordingly, Kashmiris want
Pakistan to restore normal relations and fully engage with India so that Conclusion: Is the ‘old principled’ or the ‘new pragmatic’ view more
it can bat on their behalf. realistic? Are they mutually exclusive? Can a combination of them
comprise a feasible longer-term strategy? Discussions should ensue on
Moreover, the potential benefits of bilateral trade, investment, tourism, this and other national survival issues. Meanwhile, a government-led
cultural and media exchanges etc, can help accelerate growth, and parliamentary assault on the judiciary! Rs300 going on to 500 to the
reduce inflation and poverty, mutual ignorance, mistrust and hostile dollar! Can’t have an agreed census! Digital revolution and an on-off
narratives. internet! ‘Leaders’ thousands of times richer than their votebanks
sinking below the poverty line! Constitutionally superior bodies
Current Issues in Pakistan: subordinate to a constitutionally subordinate body! The Army Act
Powerful quarters in both countries, however, have entrenched versus the Rule of Law! US ‘non-interference’ on daily display!
interests in mutual hostility. While India may lose valuable
opportunities, Pakistan could pay an existential price because of its We have become a global joke.

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AI and Education: in Pursuit of Intelligence and Wisdom | Daily Times

Zeenar Salim: The writers are faculty members at Aga Khan University and Syracuse University.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction IV. Balancing AI and Human Capabilities

A. Introduction to ChatGPT and its capabilities A. Comparison of AI's processing power with human creativity and
B. Explanation of the predictions and concerns regarding job losses and intuitive reasoning
automation B. Highlighting the importance of human imagination, inference, moral
reasoning, and experiential learning
II. ChatGPT and AI Algorithms
A. Description of ChatGPT and its ability to process information and V. Utilizing AI in Education
generate text A. Holistic approach to integrating AI in education to enhance students'
B. Clarification that AI does not "think" and lacks moral and ethical skills
reasoning B. Emphasizing the need to go beyond descriptive writing and promote
narrative writing with meaning
III. Impact on Education C. Importance of understanding and researching new technologies for
A. Discussion of AI's potential effects on the quality of education educational benefit
B. Importance of raising awareness about the benefits and dangers of AI
in education VI. Conclusion
C. Gary Kasparov's perspective on collaborative use of AI in chess and A. Summary of the article’s main points
human creativity B. Call for responsible use of AI and further research for educational
advancement

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With the introduction of the OpenAI ChatGPT in November 2022, information generated unless an established authority authenticates it.
there has been a flurry of activity accompanied by doomsday Secondly, it does not have moral and ethical reasoning, meaning it does
predictions for the future of humanity. What is ChatGPT? What are its not know right from wrong. It just mimics what has been programmed
capabilities, and why is this remarkable outpouring of predictions of for it.
job losses, replacement of teachers, and hyper-accelerated automation?
Impact on Education:
Chat GPT and AI Algorithms: AI can have profound effects on the quality of education at the school
ChatGPT is an online, open-source application that uses the piles and and higher education level. While students across the world are using
piles of data in the digital ecosystem to ‘write’ text, codes, formulae, AI, it is important to raise awareness of the benefits and dangers in its
and the like that ‘sound’ human-like. It is one of the most downloaded use.
and used applications with over 100 million
users who are students writing essays for The last human chess champion Gary
their courses, professionals using it for Kasparov is instructive in this area.
computer programming coding, researchers He helped IBM develop ‘Deep Blue’, a
using it to generate survey questions, and chess programme that ultimately
the list goes on and on. defeated him. He asserts that we must
work with AI and machine learning in
ChatGPT and other applications, such as a collaborative manner – noting that
Google’s Bard, are programmed with human creativity can flourish with the
algorithms that are a set of rules to process new technology. Today, chess
information or data. These algorithms programmes compete against each
‘recognise’ patterns – the value of Artificial other, and humans cannot compete
Intelligence (AI) tools is that they can go with such computer processing power
through large datasets in a very short time. that can review trillions of options in
So, it appears that the AI tool can almost split second time frames. However,
instantaneously ‘write’ what you ask it based on the ‘prompt’ provided. they don’t enjoy competition, have fun, or get a thrill from the win or
the disappointment of a loss. Humans on much less information with
However, we need to be clear about two things. First, AI is not their powers of imagination, inference, moral reasoning, and
‘thinking’. It is just reproducing text based on pre-existing information experiential learning are far more creative, intuitive, and we might say,
that is provided by humans, which means you cannot trust the wise.
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Utilizing AI in Education: Conclusion:
Holistically, focusing on the core goal of education, we can decide Using AI tools without thinking or understanding their use will lead to
whether or not AI can be used and raise awareness among students on further ratification of education without any beneficial outcomes. We
the same. The question that we need to ask ourselves is how do we use need to move the needle from teaching descriptive writing to teaching
AI to enhance students’ skills such as knowledge co-creation, logical narrative writing rich in meaning – which is situated in the context,
reasoning, decision-making, intuition, moral reasoning, and engages whole new processes of learning, and new processes of
leadership? discovery. This will in turn give rise to time-saving opportunities that
frees learners and their educators to explore new vistas. We need to
research these new technologies and ‘control’ them for our benefit

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Ambiguous approaches | Dawn

Muhammad Aamir Rana : The writer is the security analyst.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction IV. Ambiguity in Pakistan's Approach towards Taliban
• Pakistan's policy objectives in Afghanistan may be deliberately kept vague in Regime in Afghanistan
the public domain, generating confusion.
• Pakistan claims good relations with the Taliban regime in Kabul but blames it
• Distractions in the geopolitical context may have their use, but they can lead to for not stopping militants from using Afghan soil for attacks on Pakistan. Lack
internal security issues and public mistrust. of clarity on Pakistan's ultimate plans to deal with the situation.

II. Lack of Clarity in Pakistan's Afghan Policy • Options of talking to TTP, resettling militants, or conducting strikes in
Afghanistan need careful consideration and strategic planning.
• Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has criticized the former PTI government's
Afghan policy and blamed military dictators for flawed policies. However, there V. Need for Realistic Assessment and Open Dialogue
is no clear explanation of how the current government's Afghan policy is
different from past policies. with Kabul
• Minister of State on Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar's advice to the
• Lack of consensus and confusion within the ruling coalition regarding the international community on patience and reciprocity.
military operation against terrorists in Afghanistan.
• Lack of formal and open composite dialogue with Kabul contributes to
III. Need for Clarity on State Policy and TTP ambiguity in Pakistan's intentions and design of state institutions.
• Security forces conducting successful operations against militants, but
coordination and information-sharing among law enforcement agencies need VI. Weak Coalition Government and Political Interests
improvement. • Weak coalition government using security affairs to delay elections and giving
mixed signals to allies in KP and Balochistan. Need for a clear and unified
• Winning the trust of the masses, especially victims of previous military approach to security and Afghan policies.
operations, is crucial.
• Reports of TTP militants' resurgence and resettlement raise doubts about the
VII. Conclusion
state's policy and military operation. • Pakistan's policy objectives in Afghanistan should be clearer in the public
domain to avoid confusion and internal security issues. Clarity on state policy,

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ONE cannot think that Pakistan’s strategists do not recognise the policy This question of where the military operation will be conducted is a
objectives they tend to follow in Afghanistan. But they might keep these valid one. Security forces are already conducting successful
objectives largely vague in the public domain, generating confusion. intelligence-based operations against the militants, which may be
Still, many insist that Pakistan has a policy but that it is camouflaged expanded to a few more districts. These actions could be strengthened
with notions such as ‘strategic depth’ and ‘friendly regime’. Distractions and made more useful, in terms of preventing terrorist attacks, by
might have their use in the given geopolitical context. But if these lead developing coordination and information-sharing among the law-
to internal security issues and public mistrust then lucid policy lines enforcement agencies. It is of utmost importance to win the trust of the
would serve the national interest better. masses, especially those who were victims of previous military
operations. Equally important is to be clear about the state policy
Lack of clarity in Pakistan’s Afghan policy: regarding the TTP. Disturbing reports are coming from Swat, Tirah
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has been a staunch critic of the former Valley in Khyber district, and other tribal districts that TTP militants
PTI government’s Afghan policy. He has repeatedly demanded that have started their patrolling again and that their resettlement is
those who devised and facilitated the return of the TTP militants to ex- ongoing.
Fata be held accountable. However, his colleague Interior Minister
Rana Sanaullah declared the militants’ reintegration as state policy. Such news has triggered doubts that the state might not have changed
Interestingly, in an interview, Khawaja Asif held two former military its policy of settling and mainstreaming the TTP. If this is the case, then
dictators, Gen Ziaul Haq and Gen Pervez Musharraf, responsible for people have every right to question the military operation. If the old
bringing the menace of terrorism to the country due to their flawed policy is back, can the Afghan Taliban guarantee the TTP will give up
Afghan policy. But he did not explain how the ruling coalition’s Afghan its weapons? One hopes the military leadership has taken the political
policy is different from that of Gen Zia or Musharraf. Nor are we aware leadership into confidence on these and other points.
of any process of consensus that led the government to the current
Afghan policy. Ambiguity in Pakistan’s approach towards Taliban
regime in Afghanistan:
The National Security Committee decided in its latest meeting to The second aspect of ambiguity, which is directly linked to the first, is
launch a comprehensive operation against the terrorists, but after the related to Pakistan’s approach towards the Taliban regime in
reaction of some coalition allies and others from KP the government’s Afghanistan. Pakistan claims that it has good relations with the ruling
tone appears to have changed. The announcement of a military Taliban regime in Kabul but also repeatedly blames it for not stopping
operation had created more confusion rather than built consensus. the militants from using Afghan soil to carry out their attacks on
Pakistan. The state still needs to be clear about its ultimate plans to
Need for clarity on state policy and TTP:
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deal with this situation. There has been the option of acting on the sectarian terrorists hiding in Afghanistan, but the Taliban had denied
Taliban’s advice to talk to the TTP and resettle the militants inside their presence. And they are doing the same now by maintaining that
Pakistan, or to pay Kabul the cost of settling the TTP militants away the TTP is not using their soil to launch attacks. Pakistan had no
from the border, deep inside Afghan territory. Many officials are also alternative approach earlier. Eventually, when the US and Nato
hinting at the option of conducting strikes against TTP hideouts in dislodged the Taliban regime, the sectarian terrorists returned to
Afghanistan. But what is the ultimate strategy? Pakistan where many were killed by the police. But the situation is far
more complicated this time, and Pakistan cannot show the same
Need for realistic assessment and Open dialogue with patience that it displayed in the 1990s.
Kabul:
In this backdrop, the power elites should reconsider their optimism
Speaking at the Ministerial Meeting of the Neighbours of Afghanistan
regarding the Taliban and analyse the complicated relationship for the
in Samarkand last week, Minister of State on Foreign Affairs Hina
future. What happened to all the tall claims of transnational energy
Rabbani Khar’s advice to the international community centred on
projects and trade corridors? Has any progress been made on these?
‘patience’ and ‘reciprocity’. She spoke of the need to be flexible and to
continue engaging the Taliban. If Pakistan has shown a similar Weak coalition government and political interests:
approach to the TTP and given more space to the Taliban regime then
Pakistan might have back channels to talk to the Taliban. However,
the power elites should have calculated the security, political and
unless a formal and open composite dialogue with Kabul is initiated,
economic costs.
ambiguity will persist about the intentions and design of our state
It must also be considered how much patience the citizens of Pakistan institutions. A weak coalition government does not intend to intervene
have. The TTP factor might have built up pressure on the Taliban in the Afghan and security policies and is just interested in getting
regime but the latter is clever and knows how to handle such situations. maximum political advantage. At one end, the government is using
The moderate face they showed to the world after the takeover of Kabul security affairs to delay the elections, while on the other it is giving an
disappeared long ago and they have not fulfilled any of their impression to its allies in KP and Balochistan that they are not steering
commitments. They are good at deceiving allies. They did the same in the security and Afghan policies.
the 1990s when Pakistan had demanded that they hand over the

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India-Pakistan ties | Dawn
Maleeha Lodhi
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK & UN.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction • Pakistan's decision to attend these meetings and potential implications

• Outlook for Pakistan-India relations remains troubled
• Prolonged diplomatic impasse with new irritants added to long-standing IV. Indus Waters Treaty Dispute
disagreements • India's notification of intention to modify the Indus Waters Treaty
• Recent events have further strained the relationship between the two countries • Pakistan's long-standing dispute over hydroelectric projects on the Jhelum and
Chenab rivers
II. Recent Developments • World Bank's involvement in brokering the treaty and appointing a Court of
Arbitration
• India's announcement of holding a G20 tourism working group meeting in
• India's unilateral amendment of the treaty and Pakistan's response
Srinagar, occupied Kashmir
• Pakistan's predictable response denouncing the move and objecting to other
scheduled meetings in the disputed region V. Bilateral Tensions in Other Areas
• India's actions in Jammu and Kashmir, including restrictions, military siege, • Bilateral tensions extending to cricket, with India's refusal to play in Pakistan
and human rights violations • Pakistan's proposal for a hybrid option for the Asia Cup
• Pakistan's protests and the lack of deterrence from the BJP government • Impact of these tensions on overall bilateral relations

III. Ceasefire and Diplomatic Deadlock VI. Conclusion

• Back-channel communication leading to a ceasefire agreement in February
• Troubled outlook for Pakistan-India relations with prolonged diplomatic
2021
impasse and new irritants
• Expectations of a formal dialogue not materializing
• Need for diplomatic efforts to address long-standing disagreements and
• India's upcoming role as host of the G20 presidency and the Shanghai
disputes for regional stability.
Cooperation Organisation summit

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THE outlook for Pakistan-India relations remains troubled. The Formal dialogue and the peace process between the two neighbours
prolonged diplomatic impasse persists, characterised by new irritants were suspended by India long before its 2019 action. But relations
that have added to long-standing disagreements and disputes. plunged to a new low after August 2019. Pakistan responded to Delhi’s
Kashmir action by halting trade, recalling its high commissioner and
Recent developments: downgrading diplomatic ties.
When India, host of this year’s G20 summit, announced holding
a G20 tourism working group meeting in Srinagar in occupied However, back-channel communication between them led in February
Kashmir, it provoked a sharp response from Islamabad. 2021 to re-commitment by both sides to observe a ceasefire on the Line
of Control in accordance with a 2003 understanding. From the
A foreign ministry statement denounced the move, calling it dangerous confrontation during the Balakot crisis of February 2019,
“irresponsible” and describing it as designed “to perpetuate its illegal the two countries stepped back from the brink to agree on the LoC
occupation of Jammu and Kashmir in disregard of UN Security Council truce.
resolutions”. It also objected to Delhi’s scheduling of two other
meetings of a consultative youth affairs forum (Y20) in Leh and The ceasefire has since mostly held. But expectations that this thaw
Srinagar. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference urged Muslim countries would pave the way for a formal dialogue did not materialise. The
and China not to attend meetings in the disputed region. diplomatic deadlock persists with strongly worded statements
exchanged with regularity.
Pakistan’s response was predictable in view of India’s aim to use these
meetings to secure legitimacy for its actions by conveying a sense of ▪ Other than holding the G20 presidency this year, India is also
normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, which it illegally annexed and chair of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
absorbed into the Indian union in August 2019. and will host its annual summit in June. In that capacity it was
obliged to invite Pakistan to the foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa
India’s sweeping restrictions, military siege and human rights scheduled for May 4-5.
violations have continued to make the situation there dire. Delhi has
also carried out legal, demographic, and electoral changes in the past Although Islamabad has yet to take a decision on whether to attend, it
two years to disempower Kashmiri Muslims. Pakistan’s protests have has rarely shied away from participating in multilateral forums even
not deterred the BJP government from pressing ahead. when held in India. As for attending the heads of government summit
in June, that might depend on whether Chinese President Xi Jinping
Ceasefire and diplomatic deadlock: and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend.

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Indus waters treaty dispute: unilaterally amend the treaty citing Pakistan’s “intransigence in
The more consequential development for Pakistan-India relations in handling disputes”.
recent months has been over the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. For six
This indicated Delhi’s effort to avoid any court process and intent to
decades, this has survived wars, confrontations and tensions between
bar third-party intervention in disputes by the proposed treaty
the two countries. But questions have now arisen over the fate of the
modification. It asked Islamabad to respond in 30 days to its ‘notice’.
treaty that governs the sharing and management of trans-border rivers.
Pakistan rejected India’s call for negotiations on amending the treaty’s
▪ On Jan 25, 2023, India notified Pakistan through the Indus
dispute mechanism and accused Delhi of trying to divert attention from
Commission of its intention to modify the Indus Waters Treaty.
arbitration proceedings at the Hague.
This reflected a hardening of India’s position and an effort to take
advantage of Pakistan’s preoccupation with its domestic political But in early April, Pakistan responded to India’s ‘notice for
turmoil and economic crisis. modification’ through a letter from the Commissioner for Indus
Waters. This has not been made public. But officials say the letter seeks
Pakistan has long disputed the construction of the 330 megawatt
clarification on the ‘notice’, offers to listen to Delhi’s concerns and
Kishanganga hydroelectric project on the Jhelum river and plans to
insists the treaty cannot be unilaterally amended.
construct the 850 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Project on the Chenab river
in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Bilateral tensions in other areas:
This dispute has figured for decades in bilateral talks and meetings of This dispute over an issue of vital importance for water-stressed
the Permanent Indus Commission. Because a resolution proved Pakistan has further vitiated the atmosphere. Even cricket has not
elusive, in 2016 Pakistan approached the World Bank, which brokered escaped bilateral tensions.
the treaty and is also a signatory, to appoint an ad hoc Court of
▪ In September, it is Pakistan’s turn to host the Asia Cup, under the
Arbitration to deal with the dispute, a provision under the treaty.
Asia Cricket Council. The ACC president is Indian cricket board’s
While India completed the Kishanganga project in 2018, the bank took Jay Shah (son of BJP Home Minister Amit Shah). Without
six years to activate the court as well as a neutral expert, sought by consulting the host country, Pakistan, Shah unilaterally
India. Both dispute settlement methods are sanctioned by the treaty. announced a schedule for the tournament in January. When PCB
Two days before the first court hearing at the Hague on Jan 27, which chairman Najam Sethi protested at a board meeting in February,
India boycotted, Delhi served notice on Islamabad that it would Shah conveyed India’s refusal to play in Pakistan.

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Sethi said that by the same reciprocal criteria it would be impossible for practical issues, chances of any melting of the ice are remote. The
Pakistan to later play in the World Cup in India. He offered a hybrid prospect is for the two countries to continue in an uneasy state of no
option with matches involving India played in a neutral venue and the war, no peace. The near-term goal should be to manage tensions and
rest in Pakistan, a formula that could later be applied to the World Cup. prevent them from spinning out of control. But still lacking is any
The matter is still unresolved. framework for the management of tensions.

Conclusion:
Pakistan-India relations remain clouded in uncertainty. While
working-level diplomatic engagement continues sporadically on

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Now We’re asking the wrong questions | Dawn

Umar Agha; The writer teaches at Lums and is a Harvard graduate

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction • Willingness of institutions to support policies that check their own
• The primary end of politics and purpose of a sovereign state power and increase accountability. Limitations of a conformist
• The legitimacy of political systems and the right to rule military hierarchy in fostering innovation and transformation
• The role of leaders and merit in ruling elites
• The concept of lexically prior rights IV. Dangers of Relative Satisfaction in Ruling Elites
• The moral and rational defensibility of liberal democracy • Justifications based on flawed logic and comparison to other
• The need for critical thinking in confronting state failure in Pakistan developing nations
• Need for a higher bar and rejection of mediocrity as excellence
II. Limitations of Current Political Systems in Pakistan • Objective poor performance of Pakistan on development indicators
• Failure of parliamentary democracy, military dictatorship, and
hybrid variants V. Proposal for a New Social Contract and
• Superficial focus on technical solutions without addressing Constitutional Framework
underlying structural flaws • Experimentation with a constitutional framework that promotes
• Need for political will and a political model that enables effective effective government
government • Critique of hollow slogans and weak judiciary in protecting
• College students' ability to identify fundamental solutions to individual rights
Pakistan's problems • Proposal for a "political meritocracy" based on moral, civic, and
intellectual virtues. Examples of successful models in Singapore and
III. Questioning the Effectiveness of Current Systems China
• Challenges of a manipulatable democratic system based on
"electables" and concessions for re-election VI. Importance of Effective Government for Real
• Irrationality of voters and complexities of ethnolinguistic identity Equality
politics in Pakistan
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 • The role of independent, efficient institutions run by globally • Importance of asking critical questions about the purpose and
competitive talent legitimacy of government .Need a new social contract and
• The link between effective government, dignity, and security constitutional framework in Pakistan to enable effective
• The significance of constitutional rights in the face of tyranny government and address underlying structural flaws.

VII. Conclusion

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 ▪ WHAT is the primary end of politics and purpose of a sovereign state?
▪ What makes a political system legitimate?
▪ What gives the right to rule?
▪ How should leaders be chosen or elevated, and what should count as merit in ruling elites? Are some rights ‘lexically prior’ to others?
▪ Is liberal democracy the only morally and rationally defensible model of government?

These are the first-order questions that we explore in my class, cross-listed by the School of Law and the Department of Politics in the School of
Humanities and Social Sciences at Lums, and the ones that all citizens should be pondering as we confront state failure.

Limitations of current political systems in Pakistan: This approach, admirable in its intentions and taught enthusiastically
In Pakistan, we often limit our thinking to the systems that we have at places like the Harvard Kennedy School, is akin to treating a cancer
tried: parliamentary democracy, military dictatorship, and their hybrid patient’s more superficial symptoms, like bed sores or chronic pain,
variants. They have failed, and likely will fail, to deliver structural without addressing the underlying tumour. Chances of survival in such
reform, sustainable development, economic and human security, and a cases are, one can reasonably assume, quite bleak.
just society.
Questioning the effectiveness of current systems:
Worse, many self-appointed and aspiring ‘technocrats’ have devoted In other words, we don’t need to add to the laundry list of technical
themselves to policy solutions — necessarily second-or third-order solutions; we need the political will to implement the glaringly obvious
concerns — without addressing underlying structural flaws. Even well- and a political model that allows such will to exist and be realised.
intentioned, rigorously researched ‘evidence-based’ policy Indeed, the solutions to some of Pakistan’s problems are so
prescriptions are meaningless if there are deficiencies in constitutional fundamental and self-evident that college students can readily identify
design and in the political theory on which the state’s purpose is and conceive workable remedies to them.
premised.
So, the right question may not be whether X action is constitutional or
There is a feeling of relative satisfaction in our ruling elites as the not, rather if this constitution can spawn effective government that
country sinks to new depths. enables human well-being and collective flourishing given our unique
social, cultural, and political realities.

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A few quick thoughts experiment. amount of formal reasoning or technical policy proposals can help
Can a (manipulatable) democratic system premised on ‘electables’ and them rule well.
a relentless cycle of concessions to the electorate to secure re-election
What we need is a higher bar, not self-justificatory or apologetic
deliver? If research in the developed world has shown that voters are
rhetoric by extractive power elites benefiting from a rotten system and
not rational actors, even about their own economic interests, what hope
others who, even if well-intentioned, confuse mediocrity with
does parliamentary ‘democracy’ have given our perfect storm of low
excellence.
literacy rates, ethnolinguistic identity politics, sectarian biases, and
persistent feudalism? Fortunately for those who realise that a new social contract is needed,
facts don’t care about the justificatory rhetoric deployed by status quo
Would any institution willingly support policies that seek to implement
elites. Pakistan ranks terribly on almost all development indicators,
checks on its power and make it more accountable?
with the distinction of being in the bottom four in a few key areas.
Can interventions by a military hierarchy steeped in a conformist,
Our passport ranks worse than North Korea’s and Somalia’s. (It is only
monopolistic, colonial, ‘yessir’ culture access the imagination and
ranked higher than the passports of war-torn Afghanistan, Iraq, and
creative thinking needed for institutional innovation and national
Syria.)
transformation?
How can we get out of this mess? More experimentation with a
The highest virtue here is obedience — and the proof is in the pudding.
constitutional framework, and its resultant institutional design, that
Perhaps most dangerously, there is a feeling of relative satisfaction in has had, to put it mildly, limited success over several decades? Hollow,
our ruling elites as the country sinks to new depths. Justifications regurgitated slogans like ‘more democracy’ and individual rights
include ridiculous logic: ‘we seem to be doing better than Afghanistan,’ enshrined in liberalism that are never protected in real terms by a
or that such issues ‘necessarily exist in developing nations. politicised and/or weak judiciary that is generally incapable of
confronting the deep state?
Dangers of relative satisfaction in Ruling elites:
If our objectively bad status quo is considered satisfactory, or even Proposal for a new social contract and constitution:
excellent, I wonder if there are policy solutions to cure such cognitive Or do we need a new constitution that ensures that citizens with the
ailments? For Aristotle, a prerequisite of virtuous action was correct most appropriate moral, civic, and intellectual virtues for demanding
moral perception: if a person lacks these emotional capacities, no leadership roles find themselves in positions of power — a ‘political

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meritocracy’ premised on ensuring a people’s right to effective For example, if courts cannot de facto protect your right to freedom of
government by promoting those with superior ability and virtue? expression, or investigative agencies can’t competently prove your
innocence, then the relevant constitutional right becomes essentially
Such models exist (and are implemented to varying degrees in meaningless in the face of tyranny.
Singapore and China, two major socioeconomic success stories in Asia),
and my class is designing a new ‘Pakistani constitution’ premised on Conclusion:
this most fundamental right, from which all other rights are enabled: Fundamentally, we must ask ourselves what the end of government is.
the right to effective government. Is our constitutional democracy primarily valuable as a means to an
end — the end of effective government that promotes the common good
There can be no real equality, particularly equality before the law,
— or is it valuable in itself even if it does not produce just outcomes?
without effective government based on independent, efficient
institutions run by (globally competitive) talent. You can have liberal First principles matter. We would be wise to ponder them.
democracy, but you won’t have a life of dignity and security.

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How AI Could Revolutionize Diplomacy | Foreign Affairs
Andrew Moore
Andrew Moore is chief of staff to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Outlines of the article

I. Introduction • Computer vision

• Russia’s war against Ukraine IV. Communication and encryption

• Innovative use of new technologies by Ukraine
• The need for negotiations • Need for secure communication
• Interception of cables by intelligence agencies
II. Emerging technologies for peacemaking • Post-quantum encryption
• Quantum-secure telegram
• Impact of emerging technologies on peacemaking
• Changes in the way negotiations are conducted V. Ensuring agreements enter into force
• Augmenting delegations with AI
• Citizen input in real-time • Difficulty in releasing Iranian assets
• Testing positions and scenarios • Distributed ledger technology for transparent compensation
transfer
III. AI and diplomacy
VI. Conclusion
• AI-generated briefings
• AI “hagglebots” • Technology as a double-edged sword in diplomacy and
• AI systems with artificial general intelligence peacemaking.

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More than a year into Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, there example is the need for live language interpreters. The use of
are few signs the conflict will end anytime soon. Ukraine’s success on automated language processing—as exemplified by Google’s language-
the battlefield has been powered by the innovative use of new translating glasses—could smooth negotiations, reducing the time
technologies, from aerial drones to open-source artificial intelligence spent on consecutive interpretation.
(AI) systems. Yet ultimately, the war in Ukraine—like any other war—
will end with negotiations. And although the conflict has spurred new AI and diplomacy:
approaches to warfare, diplomatic methods remain stuck in the 19th
While some tools will speed negotiations, others will better inform
century.
diplomats ahead of talks.
Emerging technologies for peacemaking:
▪ As Nathaniel Fick, the inaugural U.S. ambassador at large for
Yet not even diplomacy—one of the world’s oldest professions—can cyberspace and digital policy, recently quipped, briefings
resist the tide of innovation. New approaches could come from global generated by the AI-powered ChatGPT are now “qualitatively
movements, such as the Peace Treaty Initiative, to reimagine incentives close enough” to those prepared by his staff. As large language
to peacemaking. But much of the change will come from adopting and models improve, AI will be able to search and summarize
adapting new technologies. information more quickly than a team of humans, better
preparing diplomats to enter negotiations.
With advances in areas such as;
▪ artificial intelligence, Although these systems will need some degree of human oversight,
▪ quantum computing, allied parties can also compare notes, leveraging their respective AI
▪ the internet of things, and distributed ledger technology, systems. As more and more parties develop their own AI, we could see
today’s emerging technologies will offer new tools and techniques for AI “hagglebots”—computers that identify optimal agreements given a
peacemaking that could impact every step of the process—from the set of trade-offs and interests—take on a key role in negotiations. Ever
earliest days of negotiations all the way to monitoring and enforcing more sophisticated AI systems may even one day reach a level of
agreements. artificial general intelligence. Such systems could upend our
understanding of technology, allowing AI to become an independent
Although the well-appointed interiors of Vienna’s Palais Coburg and agent in international engagements rather than a mere tool.
Geneva’s Hotel President Wilson will likely remain the backdrop for
many high-level diplomatic discussions, the way parties conduct these As negotiations begin, parties may augment their delegations with AI,
negotiations will undoubtedly change in the years ahead. One simple providing real-time, data-informed counsel throughout discussions.

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IBM’s Cognitive Trade Advisor has already assisted negotiators by differences among individual negotiators. While traditionally the privy
responding to questions about trade treaties that might otherwise of the espionage community, computer vision can now aid in this
require days or weeks to answer. effort, identifying micro-expressions and other emotions by analyzing
videos of negotiations. Even if diplomacy remains an art, it will
New technologies also allow countries to solicit citizen input more increasingly rely on hard science.
easily in real time.
When negotiators reach an agreement, they need to secure the support
▪ More than a decade ago, Indonesia pioneered a platform called of their capitals and leadership, creating the need for secure
UKP4, allowing everyday citizens to submit complaints about communication. Negotiators have long faced the risk of spies and leaks
anything from damaged infrastructure to absent teachers. and are now more exposed than before to the threat of intercepted calls
Although technology can be misused for manipulation and and cybersecurity breaches.
misinformation, artificial intelligence can also serve as a powerful
tool to identify these misbehaviors, creating an ongoing struggle Communication and encryption:
in the arms race between AI that will help and AI that will harm.
New technology can both secure communication and put it at risk.
Intelligent systems can also help negotiators test various positions and Most strikingly, powerful quantum computers are likely to one day
scenarios in a matter of minutes. crack present-day encryption. The furor caused by the WikiLeaks
revelations would pale in comparison to the bedlam that could unfold
▪ During the first round of Iran nuclear negotiations, a team at the as foreign intelligence agencies decrypt thousands of confidential
U.S. Energy Department built a replica of an Iranian nuclear site diplomatic cables.
to test every permutation of Iranian nuclear enrichment and
development. In the future, an AI system will be able to run As of today, many intelligence agencies are likely already intercepting
similar scenarios and virtual experiments faster and at a much and storing cables with the hope of decrypting them once they develop
lower cost. the requisite technological capabilities. In response, countries have
developed new techniques to ensure the integrity of diplomatic
When I worked on then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s team communication through post-quantum encryption. In a December
negotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2014 2022 demonstration, French President Emmanuel Macron sent the
and 2015, diplomats would meet in a variety of configurations—from French diplomatic service’s first quantum-secure telegram.
large plenaries to one-on-one sessions—trying to discover the
intentions behind the positions each side took and discern even minor

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After parties announce a deal, technology can still play a role in internet of things—or the ability for items of daily use to be
ensuring their agreement enters into force. When the JCPOA went into connected to the internet—may make such inspections far more
effect in January 2016, the United States had difficulty releasing effective by creating many new data points. Teams at Los Alamos
Iranian assets frozen after the revolution—banks were still afraid to National Laboratory, for example, have already used AI to detect
transfer money for fear of running afoul of the sanctions’ regime. In the signs of nuclear explosive tests by relying on data from
end, the U.S. government delivered $1.7 billion in cash to Iran, flying international sensor networks.
$400 million on pallets to Tehran through Switzerland.
Remote sensing can also play a role in ensuring parties follow through
Distributed ledger technology has the potential to transparently ensure on their commitments. For example, once the exclusive domain of
parties receive compensation and could be used to openly transfer intelligence agencies, a team at Stanford has now used open-source
funds while keeping in place sanctions for other purposes. Already, geospatial imagery to monitor activity at Iran’s nuclear facility in
blockchain is showing its promise across a variety of use cases, Natanz. Once quantum sensing matures, it will become even more
including transferring information securely out of difficult for malicious actors to disguise their activities. Quantum
sensors have already proven successful at mapping underground
▪ Ukraine. Working together with social enterprise company Hala tunnels and identifying seismic activity. Granted, some of these
Systems, a lab at Stanford University has used blockchain to applications are still far in the future; in any upcoming negotiations,
document Russian war crimes, ensuring that original evidence of monitoring will have to rely on more traditional methods. But the
war crimes cannot be manipulated. promise of these new technologies is vast.
Ensuring agreements enter into force: Conclusion:
After agreement and implementation, monitoring is key to ensuring an Although our ways of waging war have evolved, our ways of waging
agreement holds. peace have not yet made similar strides. Ukraine’s defense has laid bare
the importance of bringing innovation to the battlefield. Its success at
▪ In 2015, Iran agreed to a monitoring regime of unprecedented
the negotiating table will be in no small part a result of technological
rigor. As Kerry explained at the time, “Iran’s nuclear program will
innovation too.
remain subject to regular inspections forever.” In the future, the

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 Vocabulary in context

• War of aggression: A term used to describe a war that is initiated • Hagglebots: Computers that use AI to identify the best agreement
by a country without any justification or provocation. given a set of trade-offs and interests.
• End with negotiations: The conflict in Ukraine will eventually come • Artificial general intelligence: AI systems that have the ability to
to an end through negotiations. reason and think like humans, without being limited to specific
tasks.
• Stuck in the 19th century: Diplomatic methods have not changed
much since the 19th century, despite technological advances in • Citizen input: The use of technology to enable everyday citizens to
other areas. participate in decision-making and share their feedback in real-
time.
• Tide of innovation : Technological innovations are rapidly changing
the world. • Real-time data-informed counsel: AI provides ongoing advice and
recommendations to negotiators based on real-time data.
• Reimagine incentives: To reconsider and come up with new
approaches to encourage people to engage in peacemaking. • Virtual experiments: The use of technology to simulate and test
different scenarios.
• Adapting new technologies: To modify and use new technologies in
different ways. • Micro-expressions: The use of computer vision to identify small
facial expressions and emotions in video footage.
• Automated language processing: The use of technology to interpret
language and provide translations automatically. • Secure communication: The use of technology to ensure
communication between parties is secure and free from interception
• Qualitatively close enough: AI-generated briefings are similar in
or cyber-attacks.
quality to those prepared by humans.
• Post-quantum encryption: Encryption techniques that can
• Human oversight: The need for human intervention and control
withstand the decryption capabilities of quantum computers.
over the use of AI systems.
• Distributed ledger technology: A secure and transparent way of
transferring and tracking funds through a decentralized system

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Deterrence and diplomacy | Dawn
Maleeha Lodhi
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK & UN.
Outlines of the article
Title: The Security Imperative: Pakistan’s Nuclear Deterrence and Diplomacy

I. Introduction • Sanctions under the Pressler Law

• Internal and External Security Challenges • Diplomatic Initiatives by Pakistan
• Importance of National Security for Pakistan's Future
IV. Roller Coaster Developments
II. Security-Driven Nature of Pakistan's Nuclear Deterrence • Crisis in Pakistan-US Relations
• Historical and Geographical Context • Benazir Bhutto's Official Visit to Washington
• Legacy of Disputes and Hostility with India • The Brown Amendment and Release of Military Equipment
• External Balancing Strategy and India's Aggression
• Decision to Seek Nuclear Capability V. Talks Before and After Pakistan's Nuclear Tests
• Nuclear Diplomacy with the US and India
III. Diplomacy and Discriminatory Treatment by the US-Led • Future of Pakistan's Nuclear Deterrence
West
VI. Conclusion
• US Legislative Measures Against Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons • Diplomacy's Crucial Role in Pakistan's Nuclear Deterrence
Capabilities • Implications for Pakistan's National Security
• Covert Nuclear Weapons Programme and Strategic Space

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 THE strategic choices most consequential to Pakistan’s future lie within. They involve

▪ dealing with recurrent economic crises,

▪ providing effective governance,
▪ defeating terrorism,
▪ making education accessible to all its children
▪ and generating jobs to absorb the population’s youth bulge to avert a potential demographic disaster.

The implications of these internal challenges for national security are The book’s concern with how Pakistan surmounted numerous obstacles
apparent and can be ignored only at great peril to the country. to master the nuclear fuel cycle left a gap in the role of diplomacy and
how its diplomats defended the country and promoted its interests in
But external security challenges have been no less imposing since the the nuclear domain.
country’s inception, confronting it with enduring dilemmas. The
burden of history and tyranny of geography — a volatile neighbourhood A compelling new book now fills that gap.
and the headwinds of geopolitics unleashed by big power competition
— have consistently put security from external threats at the top of The Security Imperative: Pakistan’s Nuclear Deterrence and Diplomacy
Pakistan’s national agenda. Contested borders inherited from colonial by Zamir Akram, deals with nuclear diplomacy with sharp insight and
rule compounded this dilemma. extraordinary breadth. Having dealt first-hand with nuclear issues and
negotiations, Akram, an outstanding diplomat, is especially qualified to
Security-Driven Nature of Pakistan's Nuclear Deterrence tell the definitive story of Pakistan’s quest for security by acquiring
credible nuclear deterrence in which diplomacy played a crucial role.
Few books have been written by Pakistanis about how the country’s
enduring external security predicament motivated its quest for a Pakistan’s main challenges lie within but external security has also
nuclear capability. posed enduring dilemmas. The main theme of his well-researched book
is the security-driven nature of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence. In the
Feroze Khan’s Eating Grass was the first to chronicle Pakistan’s nuclear opening chapter, Akram describes how the country’s security
history and the challenges it faced to acquire a nuclear weapons compulsions were the consequence of history and geography. The
capability. legacy of disputes and hostility with India shaped its security paradigm.

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Pakistan initially relied on an external balancing strategy including capitalising on what Akram calls the “strategic space” provided by this
military alliances to assure its security. But this failed to prevent India’s development.
aggression in 1971. That together with the 1974 Indian nuclear
explosion convinced Pakistan to seek a nuclear capability as a security So long as it didn’t conduct a nuclear test, make a weapon core and
guarantor. Geography worsened Pakistan’s security predicament given share technology, US pressure was kept at bay, he writes. Waivers on
its location in an unstable neighbourhood with challenges emanating American non-proliferation laws and adherence to the “tacit
from Afghanistan. understanding” enabled Pakistan to receive assistance and also move
forward to build its capabilities.
Diplomacy and Discriminatory Treatment by the US-Led
West But no sooner had the Russians been forced to withdraw from
Afghanistan when the US imposed sanctions on Pakistan in October
A key theme in the book is the discriminatory treatment meted out to 1990 under its Pressler law. Islamabad protested, pointing out that
Pakistan by the US-led West and how Pakistan’s diplomacy navigated unilateral measures aimed only at Pakistan would not promote regional
through this while protecting and advancing its nuclear and missile nonproliferation. It also pressed on with its nuclear plans, conducting
programmes. Akram recalls how after India’s 1974 nuclear explosion “cold tests” and shifting from its uranium-based nuclear weapons
the US ended up punishing Pakistan for what India had done. capability to the plutonium route.

“Through a series of legislative measures such as the Glenn, Symington Akram outlines the diplomatic initiatives taken by Pakistan in the
and Solarz amendments, the US effort was essentially to prevent 1990s, offering a series of regional nonproliferation proposals to the US
Pakistan from pursuing its own nuclear weapons capabilities.” and India.
Pakistan’s civilian nuclear cooperation agreements were cancelled
under American pressure, first with Canada and then the Reprocessing ▪ In the chapter ‘Roller Coaster’, he describes developments in
Plant agreement with France. Thereafter Pakistan had to pursue a which I was also intimately involved in our nuclear diplomacy as
covert nuclear weapons programme. Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington.

Roller Coaster Developments Pakistan-US relations had then plunged into crisis which only eased
after prime minister Benazir Bhutto came to power, undertook an
Pakistan used the period of its close relationship with the US following official visit to Washington and was able to convince president Bill
the 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan to build its nuclear capability, Clinton that Washington needed to reassess its policy because its
punitive approach had not worked. Clinton was to later publicly

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acknowledge that it was unfair to keep both Pakistan’s money and the Talks Before and After Pakistan's Nuclear Tests
F-16s it had paid for.
Akram details the talks between the US and Pakistan before and after
It was then that Senator Hank Brown informed me — as mentioned in Pakistan’s nuclear tests that followed India’s in 1998. Later chapters
the book — that he intended to move an amendment to the Pressler again pick up the theme of nuclear discrimination, discuss the 2005
legislation to lift the ban on economic assistance to Pakistan and Indo-US nuclear deal and the implications for Pakistan of this “nuclear
release all embargoed military equipment including the F-16s. Between exceptionalism”.
then and the success of the Brown Amendment, for which the Pakistan
Embassy lobbied hard, the Clinton administration tried to secure a Pakistan’s response and plan to achieve ‘full spectrum deterrence’,
unilateral nuclear concession from Pakistan in return for supporting announced in 2011, is also appraised with clarity. Accounts of
the amendment. Pakistan’s bilateral and multilateral nuclear diplomacy contain many
useful insights.
Pakistan refused, including the proposal to “cap” its nuclear weapons
programme in exchange for release of the F-16s. I was present in Conclusion:
meetings during the visit of army chief Gen Waheed Kakar to
Important as the nuclear capability has been to provide Pakistan with
Washington when he flatly told the Americans that as “Pakistan’s
the means to deter external aggression, an important conclusion of the
national security was non-negotiable” they could keep the planes. In
book is that nuclear deterrence cannot deal with internal challenges
the end, the Brown Amendment was adopted, economic sanctions
which Pakistan is facing. That in turn can weaken deterrence.
lifted and military equipment worth $368 million was released except
the F-16s.

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Pakistan’s political crisis: long term effects | Dawn
Sahab Usto
The writer is a lawyer and an academic.
Outlines:

I. Introduction A. Historical examples

A. Hegel, Marx and Schumpeter's view of history B. Current scenario
B. Neglect of an objective analysis of history by authorities V. The way forward
II. The ongoing crisis in politics and society A. The election of a new constituent assembly
A. Anarchy and decline of institutions B. Areas of focus for the new constituent assembly
B. New criteria for leadership 1. Remove civil-military imbalance
C. Obsolete democratic tools 2. Eradicate institutionalised corruption
III. The future of democracy and the possibility of a takeover 3. Reform the electoral system
A. Possibility of a 'soft takeover' 4. Revise laws on private property and land reforms
B. Modus operandi and expected results 5. Dispense with patently discriminatory public policies and laws
C. Anti-establishment sentiments and public support 6. Reform the legal system for justice and equity
IV. The question of how to deal with the continuing systemic VI. Conclusion
failure

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 GERMAN philosopher Friedrich Hegel has characterised history as

▪ “a march of reason”;
▪ Karl Marx called it a “dialectical process”, propelled by inherent social contradictions;
▪ and Joseph Schumpeter saw it as “creative destruction” that replaces obsolescence with innovation.

These perspectives have left a considerable impact on much of the world, in particular Western society, politics and economy.

The ongoing crisis in politics and society ▪ challenging the government’s writ,
Unfortunately, our state and political grandees (high authorities) have ▪ and indulging in all kinds of obscenities in the guise of political
shown little regard for an objective analysis of history, remaining rhetoric are the new ‘normal’.
willfully unmindful of its ominous currents. No wonder, even as the The age-old tools of democratic politics — discourse, civility and
state has turned politically toxic, economically crippled and compromise — are becoming redundant as rival politicians fight each
institutionally deranged, they have shown reluctance to listen to the other like sworn enemies.
voice of reason calling for a wide-ranging discourse to forge a new,
workable compact to cure the systemic malaise that gives rise to If not stopped, the ongoing antagonism may lead to a situation where
recurring sociopolitical crises. conflict-resolving institutions, particularly the judiciary, will also
become ineffectual, leaving the embattled polity and already comatose
The future of democracy and the possibility of a takeover
economy without political or institutional recourse.
Resultantly, the authorities, law, institutions and even morality are All this raises questions about the future of democracy. Unsurprisingly,
losing ground to the forces of anarchy. No more are vision, character or the doomsayers are already out predicting a ‘soft takeover’. But this
performance the criteria of leadership; instead, tribe-like phalanxes of time, the plan is reportedly laced with a hard objective — an ‘all-round,
followers and the impact of toxic narratives have become the measure relentless cleansing of the system’.
of popularity. Hence,
The oracles (seer people) are, however, silent on the modus operandi
▪ rejecting election results, and the expected results of such cleansing in a body politic that has
▪ defying judicial orders, already been violently tribalised, with followers (in both camps) blindly
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bonding with their cultist chiefs, ever ready to take on their rivals. to a sporadic talk shop. The executive remains subjugated to a
Moreover, the visible rise in ‘anti-establishment’ sentiments could also dreadfully overbearing establishment (perceived by some to be in
come in the way of garnering public support for establishment- cahoots (partnership) with judicial elements).
sponsored accountability. But if the chips are down (if things become
risky), would the judiciary sanctify an extra-constitutional set-up? And The judiciary, despite receiving post-18th Amendment boons, has
in case the court is packed via a PCO, would the compliant court failed on both counts, ie, constitutional enforcement and institutional
sustain the massive backlash of the bar, civil society, social media and performance. Much of the public sector reeks of rank inefficiency and
political parties? unbounded corruption.

A judicially supported ‘reformist’ putsch (take over), too, would also be The economy is literally on the ventilator, waiting for the IMF to
untenable. Accountability, no matter how well-meaning, has resuscitate it. And even then, the political leadership refuses to rise
historically failed to bear fruit unless a robust legal system is in place to above their petty personal and party interests, leaving a fragile
check the excesses of prosecution. Military dictator Pervez Musharraf democracy to fend for itself or wither away. In these circumstances, the
tried this mode, but failed when a ‘collaborative’ judiciary couldn’t stop only workable and long-term option seems to be the election of a new
witch-hunting in the name of accountability. constituent assembly to review the much-mangled 50-year-old
Constitution.
The age-old tools of democratic politics are becoming redundant.
The question of how to deal with the continuing systemic
But even though an intervention seems unworkable in the given failure
scenario, the question of how to deal with the continuing systemic
failure remains. The new constituent assembly needs to focus on at least the following
eight areas:
More so, given the delay in stitching together a deal with the IMF, and
the increasing belligerence of the political leadership, which is drawing ▪ One, remove the age-old civil-military imbalance that has cost us
state institutions into the fray. The answer lies in our own history and many an elected government, if not democracy, peace, progress
that of other struggling democracies. and stability.

Historically, the people led by a visionary, sagacious and selfless ▪ Two, introduce an inbuilt constitutional mechanism to eradicate
leadership have gone back to the drawing board if the existing system corruption that has become institutionalised and is gnawing
reached a plateau. Our case is no different. Parliament stands relegated on(eroding) our economy and moral fabric.

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 Seven, although we are a poor, backward state, it is ironic that we have
▪ Three, reform the electoral system in order to ensure free and fair been involved in virtually every sort of modern warfare —
elections and a peaceful transfer of power.
▪ international,
▪ Four, revisit the laws governing private property, land reforms, ▪ regional,
and distribution of public wealth, so that the common folk may ▪ internal,
also receive their due share of national wealth and resources. ▪ overt,
▪ covert,
▪ hot,
▪ Five, dispense with (get rid of) the patently discriminatory and ▪ cold,
exploitative public policy and laws that allow public lands — ▪ proxy,
urban and agricultural — to be monopolised by a select class of ▪ sectarian,
powerful elite comprising feudal, corporate, military, ▪ ethnic, etc.
bureaucratic, judicial, media, political and real estate interests,
Wars have cost us enormously in terms of human lives and economic
and depriving millions of landless and homeless citizens,
losses. It’s time we did away with wars. Therefore, let matters of war
including peasants, labourers and katchi abadi residents of their
and peace be decided strictly by parliament.
rights.
Finally, Pakistan was meant to be a true federal democracy, therefore,
▪ Six, as no society can survive, let alone thrive, without justice and it’s imperative to further strengthen provincial autonomy — financially,
equity, our legal system being an extension of an obsolete administratively and politically. Only then will we see light at the end of
security-fixated colonial order needs drastic reforms bringing to it the dark tunnel.
more efficiency, agility and insularity. Particular focus is needed
on resetting the rules related to administration, jurisdiction,
appointment and accountability in the higher judiciary.

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Blue Pakistan: Potential of earnings through seas | Dawn
Yasir Masood
The writer is a strategic analyst.

‘BLUE economy’ refers to sustainable and inclusive water resource Despite having the potential to generate more than $100 billion,
management that covers all coastal activities, marine-related Pakistan’s current blue landscape is limited to generating an estimated
industries, and services that could generate revenue and bolster $1bn. Most of it comes from fisheries, coastal tourism, and marine
socioeconomic well-being. revenue, but the lack of modern industries such as energy and minerals
restricts its potential. Meanwhile, regional states are making billions of
It also encompasses the energy (oil, gas and renewables), shipping, dollars from this sector.
maritime, aquaculture, fisheries and tourism sectors and integrates
environmental management, economic growth, and aquatic ecosystem The country’s maritime potential remains to be tapped.
sustainability. Over three billion people across the world rely on marine
resources for their livelihoods. Owing to last year’s devastating floods, there is an immediate need to
tackle food insecurity in Pakistan. The coastal areas can be used to
Pakistan is presently confronted with one of its most formidable breed fish for commercial purposes, with a potential yearly value of
economic challenges. Given the circumstances, it seriously needs to $2bn; but, seafood export revenues are now only around $450 million,
diversify its economy to put the country back on track. Blue economy is according to estimates.
a promising area that could strengthen Pakistan’s financial,
geostrategic and geo-economic standing. Pakistan hasn’t fully capitalised on its proximity to the Arabian Sea and
the Indus river basin, despite the rising demand for aquaculture
Here we discuss Pakistan’s blue economy, including its products from domestic, Chinese and Indian markets.
underutilisation. How can decision-makers and key players tap this
economy’s potential for a self-sufficient and sustainable Pakistan, all Inadequate financial resources, political uncertainty, weak enforcement
the while keeping the country’s myriad challenges in mind? of the law, technological gaps, and poor awareness of and expertise in
sustainable methods have hindered the country from harnessing its
blue potential. This in turn is contributing to greater food insecurity.
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Blue economy emphasises sustainable development while preserving Figures estimate that maritime tourism accounts for $300m of GDP.
biomass like marine life and coastal resources. This could help solve Current maritime revenue projections are far behind India’s at $6bn
the country’s protein shortage by increasing seafood consumption. and Bangladesh’s at $5.6bn. Unfortunately, earnings from Pakistan’s
Meanwhile, the mangrove system is also said to have the potential to tourism industry are a mere 0.4 per cent of GDP, compared to
yield $20m. Thailand’s at 18pc, Malaysia’s at 6pc, and Sri Lanka’s at 6pc. Unfor-
tunately, it is South Asia’s least competitive travel and tourism country.
Pakistan’s coastline is 1,050 kilometres long and has an Exclusive
Economic Zone of 290,000 square kilometres. According to some experts, if the travel and coastal tourism sectors
were to be improved to international levels, they could even contribute
The country’s location on the Arabian Sea, bordering India to the east up to 10pc of GDP by the next decade or so.
and Iran and Afghanistan to the west can make it the hub for shipping
goods across South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and beyond, helping Under CPEC, Gwadar Port when fully functional offers great potential
the economy profit from regional trade and global markets. to aid in revitalising Pakistan’s blue assets.

It also offers transportation, tourism and ecological services like storm Gwadar’s airport development, free-trade zones, IT parks, BPO
protection and carbon storage, which can boost local economies. operations, energy production and storage, mineral extraction and
export, and electricity linkages through an industrial corridor could
Pakistan has been unable to realise its potential as a marine hub. accelerate local economic growth through resource mobilisation and
Reports on the subject have cited the reasons as: poor port access, attract substantial foreign direct investment.
limited finances for infrastructure renovations and modernisation,
outdated policies discouraging foreign investment, fragmented If Pakistan were to achieve long-term growth and reap dividends from
governance, marine pollution, degradation of the mangrove forests, a the blue economy, it has to adopt and put into practice a rigorous,
lack of local technical and professional skills and an incompetent localised, and sustainable policymaking framework on a war footing; a
managerial and bureaucratic set-up. framework that draws inspiration from the achievements of its South
Asian neighbourhood, Asean, and beyond.

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Performing a political wonder | Dawn
Muhammad Amir Rana
The writer is a security analyst.

Although delayed once before, the all-parties conference (APC) called The impression is becoming stronger that the establishment and
by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has now been deferred indefinitely. political parties use the term ‘national consensus’ rhetorically, and
The conference was to discuss and develop a consensus on ways to neither genuinely believes in the process. The growing political frenzy
overcome the challenges facing the country, including terrorism and and rigidity within the institutions have pushed the country into
the economic meltdown. Meanwhile, parliament has approved the complete chaos. It is best described by the Urdu phrase ‘aapa dhaapi’,
mini-budget — the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023 — and the or an onrush of selfishness. The situation has reached a level where the
security forces have intensified their operations against the terrorists. chief organiser of the ruling party is distancing herself from decisions
This could have led the government to abandon the idea of building a taken by the government. There has never been a better time to initiate
national consensus on critical challenges. a broad-based dialogue among the political parties to keep all
institutions within their limits and protect key national interests.
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Though a functioning legislature is the best forum to hold a broad- without the PTI and JI would be like a joint parliamentary meeting of
based dialogue, it is paradoxical that the political parties themselves do the ruling parties. If the government decides to convene the multiparty
not believe in parliament and always go for ‘deals’ beyond the moot, it should also bring the PTI on board. Conversely, the PTI itself
parliamentary and constitutional domain. can call such a moot if it really feels wounded by the establishment.

When Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari stresses the need for a code of conduct Setting up an agenda for such a political dialogue could be crucial as it
for all political parties to strengthen parliament, he ignores the way in would determine the initiative’s outcome, and it should be decided
which the coalition government is running the House. One should collectively rather than by the hosts alone. Nothing would be better
separate political deals from dialogue. Dialogue is a civilisational trait, than if all political parties submitted their ideas and recommendations
and a deal is business, but both can go together if the purpose is to for mitigating the critical challenges the country is facing. The APC can
repair or strengthen the social contract between all stakeholders. Imran form sub-committees to discuss ideas on the economy, security and
Khan is reluctant to become part of any such process. He believes his supremacy of parliament and give final shape to these ideas, which
party will be a winner in the upcoming elections because he is popular could be presented in the party heads’ meeting.
and has successfully constructed his master narrative against the three
mainstream parties. Perhaps no one from the ruling alliance has Convening such an APC is not an idea out of Utopia, as there is
directly contacted him for negotiations, and Khan exploits it as a major precedence for it. The last time we saw such a coming together of
weakness of his opponents. He knows where the power lies and wants political parties was in preparation for the 18th Constitutional
direct interaction with those who wield it. Perhaps direct contacts Amendment. Several ideas are in the air, and the government must be
among political parties can bridge the trust deficit and open the door aware of that. But for these ideas to materialise, a functional and
for dialogue. creative bureaucracy, which is nonexistent at the moment, would be
required. The bureaucracy in Pakistan is malfunctioning. Instead of
Present-day Pakistan does not have mediatory figures like Nawabzada indulging in a blame game about who is responsible for the current
Nasrullah Khan to bring political opponents to the table. Those who state of the system, there is a need to focus more on converting ideas
have been sidelined by their respective parties or are more sensitive into practice, and political parties can take up this task. The second
have launched the ‘Reimagining Pakistan’ drive. Had they put their challenge has to do with consensus; a weak government can spoil a
collective energies into initiating a national dialogue, the situation brilliant idea, but a strong government can implement the worst
would have been different; at least some sane voices would have been policies.
heard in the country’s political landscape.
A political consensus makes the task easy for the government and
Almost all major political parties are part of the ruling alliance, except bureaucracy. The establishment and other institutions remain reluctant
for the PTI, the Jamaat-i-Islami and a few other small parties. An APC to reverse consensus decisions, as in the case of the 18th Amendment.
126 (ICEP Dawn Deconstruction)
Even though attempts have been made to sabotage the constitutional Except for a few exceptions, political parties in Pakistan do not have a
amendment, the latter has prevailed so far. It is a different case that the tradition of accommodating dissent, nor do they have democracy
provincial governments still need to translate the amendment for their within their own structures. How can one expect wonders from such a
own benefit. weak political structure in the country? Dialogue proceeds only with
viable arguments, and this can come through internal strength.
The strategy of such a moot should be non-confrontational between Political parties may have to embark on an internal process to gain
parties and with other institutions. If the political parties work within strength for a dialogue on issues of national importance.
constitutional limits, no other institution would have the courage to
undermine them. The power of political consensus has no match and
does wonders. However, the question is, are the political parties ready
to perform this wonder?

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Another Crisis Brewing Up | Daily Times
M Alam Brohi

The census is also being undertaken after five years after the previous
one held in 2017 under the supervision of the army. It took us 18 years
The federal government, quite surprisingly, conceded to carry out a to hold the census of 2017 after the 1998 census due mainly to the
digital population and housing census beginning on March 1, and disagreement among the stakeholders though the federal authorities
ending in April. This is the first time we have switched from manual are constitutionally and legally bound to hold a census after every ten
census to digitization of the population and housing without any proper years.
public awareness campaign in the country. The decision for the
digitization of the population was taken by the previous government on Certain political and ethnic groups in Karachi were unhappy with the
the demand of MQM-P but could not implement it. The present regime census of 2017 claiming that the population of the urban Sindh thereby
revived this divisive plan at a time when the nation is faced with many meaning megacities was deliberately shown less to deny their
existential problems, including economic collapse and deep political populations their political, economic and financial rights. They
polarisation. objected to the delimitation of constituencies based on population as
shown in the 2017 census. They carried on sustained pressure on the
Though a good initiative, the timing of the decision is perplexing for federal and provincial authorities to review certain blocks of the census
many reasons. The country is faced with economic collapse and all the in the megacities and increase the national, provincial and local
unessential expenditures are to be avoided. The people were teetering government constituencies there accordingly.
under unprecedented inflation. The IMF-dictated mini budget would
trigger another avalanche of earth-shaking inflation while the census We have almost a week to start the exercise throughout the country but
would cost us billions. Secondly, the exercise is being carried out the apprehensions of political parties, nationalists and various ethnic
without obtaining consensus among the stakeholder such as political and cultural groups regarding the conditions determining the eligibility
parties, and various ethnocultural groups living in small federating of persons living at a particular place, and appointment of enumerators
units especially in Sindh and Balochistan on the modus operandi of the have already surfaced. The political, economic and financial interests of
enumeration, conditions determining the eligibility of citizens. various ethnocultural populations such as indigenous Sindhis, Baloch
and Urdu speaking, and Baloch and Pashtun populations in Sindh and

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Balochistan respectively are at odds with each other. Their conflicting population. Therefore, they have made it clear that the results of the
political and economic objectives were responsible to make the 2017 digital enumeration would be unacceptable to them unless their
census controversial. The same cross-purpose interests are at play to demand for the condition of the CNIC is met.
trigger apprehensions about the authenticity of the current digital
census. The Sindhi social organizations including Sindh Vision, Intellectual
Forum, Servants of Sindh and Sindh Democratic Forum have already
A senior leader of the MQM-P, Farooq Sattar addressed a presser held a series of seminars on digital enumeration and voiced their
yesterday and raised objections to the appointment of enumerators. apprehensions. The Sindh United Party supported by certain
What he said was that the entire exercise would depend on the integrity nationalist groups is on a road march from Kashmore to Karachi. The
of the enumerators to make correct entries. There would be no anger and angst among the indigenous population against the digital
paperwork or record for verification. The thrust of his demand was to census without the condition of CNIC is spreading like wildfire. The
show the correct population of Karachi as has been perceived by them. ruling Pakistan people’s Party has felt the heat of the anger of Sindhis
Their demand would carry weight as the current PDM regime is against the digital census. The Chairman of the PPP Sindh, Senator
dependent on their votes. As perceived by the Sindhi nationalists and Nisar Khuhro is on record voicing his support for the demand of the
social and civil society leaders, the whole exercise has been undertaken Sindhi populace for the condition of the CNIC for enumeration.
to placate the MQM-P, and the federal authority would go a whole hog
to meet their demands. The angst in many ethnocultural populations, social organizations, and
civil society, national and nationalist political parties in Sindh and
The leaders of indigenous Sindhis have also been irked by the absence Balochistan about the results of the digital census is ominous and could
of the condition of the computerized national identity card for be the harbinger of a big crisis in Sindh. We have an acute ethnic and
enumeration. This coupled with the stay of only six months would pave linguistic divide in Sindh and Balochistan that manifests itself in
way for the enumeration of the entire alien population of Burmese, planning, allocation of funds, elections, political representation and
Thais, Bengalis, Biharis, Pashtuns, Afghanis, Seraikis, Hindkos and economic opportunities including jobs. The recent local government
Punjabis as residents of Karachi. This would also impact the elections elaborately reflected this divide.
delimitation of political constituencies. The Sindhi nationalists are also
apprehensive that this is all part of a hidden agenda to register a The country is already passing through a serious political and economic
manifold increase in the population of the megacities of Sindh; turn the crisis that has impacted all the state institutions with a perennial threat
indigenous population into a minority; carry out delimitation of the to the very existence of the nation. Instead of addressing this deepening
national, provincial and local government political constituencies crisis, the ruling class is subjecting the populace to back-breaking
according to the new digital population paving way for the ultimate economic hardships and plunging the country into another divisive
shift of the balance of political power in favour of the non-indigenous exercise.
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No Debt Restructuring: collapsing economy of Pakistan | Daily Times
Dr Qaiser Rashid
The writer is a senior economy Analyst:

Bad habits die hard. One of them is to restructure debt. However, on Georgieva also gave two pieces of advice: first, Pakistan should collect
February 18, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the higher taxes from the rich and give benefits to the poor; and second,
managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan should extend only targeted subsidies, directed at the poor.
Kristalina Georgieva said unequivocally that “there is no debt
restructuring for Pakistan.” She is saying that the rich should be taxed more than the present tax
regime to collect more revenue. On the ground, however, the state of
Georgieva, a Bulgarian economist serving the IMF, made it clear that affairs is that Shaukat Aziz, as Finance Minister (12 October 1999 – 15
Pakistan should stop thinking about restructuring its debt. The facility November 2007), minimized direct taxation and maximized indirect
is no more available. Instead, Pakistan needed strict and urgent taxation to run the economy, under the tutelage of General Pervez
measures to “run as a country and not reach a dangerous point where it Musharraf. Earning through indirect taxation helped the economy
needs to rebuild itself.” The implied allusion might be to any country greatly initially. However, the reliance opened the floodgate of liberal
experiencing sovereign default (such as Greece in 2015 and Sri Lanka import which favoured luxury items, which gradually increased the
in 2022) and which pulled itself out of a political disaster caused by an import bill, and outclassed export earnings to cause an ever-increasing
economic meltdown. Presently, Pakistan teeters on the edge of trade deficit. Now, Pakistan finds it difficult to scale down the deficit.
sovereign default.
Over-reliance on indirect taxes has also engendered other effects. For
In simple words, Georgieva is saying that an economic collapse can instance, for daily commuting, people are dependent on plying
spill a disaster for the political integration of the country. Instead of personal vehicles and not on using public vehicles. Furthermore,
touching rock bottom, as Greece and Sri Lanka did, Pakistan must Pakistan is synonymous with housing schemes. One construction
restructure its economy, which is favouring the rich at the cost of the builder is pitted against the other to buy more and more land to erect
poor, and which is keeping Pakistan in a state of unending gated communities offering golf courses, swimming pools, security
unserviceable debt. guards, and other pieces of comfort. Some housing societies even claim
to supply electricity around the clock. These housing societies have
engulfed cultivable agricultural land. Even small and medium-scale

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industry has vanished. Owners sold their industrial lands to housing remittance is used for buying property (land and houses) and vehicles,
schemes in return for higher accumulative profits. Either the industry which consume energy (electricity and oil). Moreover, foreign
has been relocated to some other country such as Bangladesh, Malaysia remittance is used for opening a shop to import items from, say China,
and Hong Kong or the money so obtained has been used for buying to sell in the local market. That is it. No need of installing a local
nationality of some other country including Canada, Spain, and manufacturing unit. Just import and sell as a retailer. This is how
Portugal. East European countries which have recently joined the foreign remittances contribute to more imports and the consequent
European Union have been the best next destination. The process of flight of capital from the country.
money transfer has also contributed to the rise in the price of the
dollar, thereby depleting the foreign currency reserve in dollars. The next best question is this: who will pay the taxes to meet the IMF’s
Nevertheless, what is left of Pakistan is poverty and paucity. The conditions? The answer is this: the poor. An elaborated choice is this:
second route bleeding Pakistan’s dollar reserves in Afghanistan. either exact money from the poor or reduces non-developmental
Georgieva also expressed her concerns for the poor when she raised a expenditures in both civil and military sectors.
pertinent question: “why the rich in Pakistan should benefit from the
subsidies and should not pay taxes in the face of tremendous On the one hand, Pakistan is a debt-ridden cash-starved country,
challenges?” In western countries, the higher the earning, the more the whereas, on the other hand, Pakistan’s roads and streets are brimming
tax slab for contribution to the economy. This is the point to which with imported luxury automobiles. The paradox is detrimental to the
Georgieva has invited Pakistan’s attention. However, the question is economic health of the country. When the government subsidizes
this: where are the rich? The answer is this: most of them have petrol and diesel – even if for the sake of the poor – the rich also get the
immigrated to foreign countries to ensconce themselves in a place benefit.
which is safer for both their families and capital. Even a substantial
One thing Georgieva has made clear: the age of untargeted subsidies,
number of retired military generals, admirals and air marshals have left
whether the sector is energy (oil, gas, petrol, diesel, and kerosene) or
Pakistan.
agriculture, is over. For instance, if people can buy luxury vehicles, they
Factors such as frequent military interventions (directly through can also afford the unsubsidized price of fuel. There is no need to offer
martial laws and indirectly through hybrid regime experiments) and a them a subsidy. Instead, offer subsidies to the poor on their items of
compromised judiciary have rendered people feel insecure about the utility such as public transport.
future of their families and capital. Every educated and skilled
To reduce debt and secure the IMF loan, Pakistan has to increase
Pakistani prefers to leave the country. Instead of serving the country,
immediately its earning. The alternative choice is to reduce non-
they prefer to send foreign remittances. This process is difficult to be
developmental expenditures including defence expenses.
reversed in the near future. Interestingly, the major chunk of foreign

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Afghan Girls' Right to Education is Uncompromisable | Daily Times
Maryana Khan

The writer is a senior jounalist.

claim women to be principally women, wives and daughters than

independent citizens and give the authority of their bodies to men by
It is universal that no life on planet earth is possible without food, referring it to family values is nothing but despotism. The secret to the
water and oxygen. Similarly, people around the globe agree on the fact nation’s prosperity is women’s access to education and equality, their
that no progress is possible without education. The international participation in society and the political sphere.
community is well aware of the significance of education. So, they not
only accepted it as a means of life transformation, but they also In the modern age, education is considered an unrivalled power and
extended it to their citizens. The triumphs of education-focused nations source to gain financial independence.
have always been witnessed. When we talk education of a nation, it
means the education of males and females. The oligarchic setup in Afghanistan by the Taliban denies women
freedom, liberty, and dignity. They also have shown hostility to
In the modern age, when education is considered an unrivalled power women’s education. Earlier in March 2022, the Afghan government
and source to gain financial independence that enables one to facilitate vetoed Afghan women’s right to higher education, which was followed
themselves with basic living necessities, education is more a by the closure of university education in late December 2022. This
action of the Taliban has devastated and infuriated women not only in
need than leisure. The more the state wants to progress, the more it Afghanistan but throughout the globe. It has also triggered protests in
needs to invest in education. Thus, investment benefits the state in Afghanistan, in which male students of universities also participated.
multiple ways: from an indicator of poverty reduction to a just and
empowered society. In developed countries, gender equality is nearly One can easily imagine how hazardous the consequences of women’s
achieved. The problems faced by third-world countries where gender inaccessibility to education would be. International organizations have
discrimination is still a norm have led to difficulty in women’s condemned this brutal act of the Taliban. On March 24, 2022, UN
approach to educational institutions. Young women’s access to quality Human Rights Expert criticised the process, by saying: “This decision
education must be ensured. In such a time, when the importance of must be reversed immediately, And girls of all ages in every part of
education is an unchallenged reality, the uprising of any group who Afghanistan should be allowed to return to their classes safely!”
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UN on December 21 also directed immediate re-opening of universities. denounced a move barring Afghan women’s education. The problem
Acting Higher Education Minister, Nida Muhammad Naeem, doesn’t belong to liberals; only conservatives and liberals should
responded to black lash and called women’s education unIslamic and develop a consensus on the issue and the sensitivity of the cause.
non-cultural. In contrast, the Taliban have always misused Islam for Women have always been targeted, but the Taliban ensure no stone is
their wicked thoughts. Islam has directed everyone to learn, “Can those left unturned to bow down the rights of females in Afghanistan. I’m
who know and those who won’t be alike? So only do the wise receive sure the international community will take notice of this severe and
admonition(Al Zumar).” threatening move of the Taliban towards this already war zone
territory. Regardless of state ideology, population access to education
The verse needs to clarify that only wise men should receive an or their basic rights is un compromisable.
appraisal. Islam has called the illiterate blind. So how can it support
this cause? Isn’t it worth thinking about? The setback of 50% Afghan women’s dreams are dying, and no ray of hope can be seen.
population isn’t only an alarming matter for the concerned gender; it’s They still are surviving and fighting the fascist and inhumane Taliban.
the nation’s social, political, economic, medical and literacy problems. The international community must encourage the Taliban regime to
The cause was widely taken by international communities and liberal undo their decision. The government of Pakistan can play its role in
and feminist organizations, but no proper actions have been convincing Afghan Taliban to realize the actual teaching of Islam and
performed; instead, tweets and statements have been issued for no allow female education. The Islamic world should also convince the
good. Taliban that this decision is creating a bad image of Islam, and they
must follow the true spirit of Islam regarding the education of women.
The globalized world is well aware of the situation in Afghanistan, yet
only silence can be heard. Neither Western nor any Islamic country has

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TTP - Threat to Pakistan and Beyond | Daily Times

Nawazish Ali : The writer is a security analyst.

As Pakistan struggles with a major economic crisis and an ever- The TTP’s escalating campaign of violence is a function of its growing
turbulent political scene, the growing threat posed by Tehrik Taliban political and material strength. It reflects in its political cohesion,
Pakistan (TTP) is yet another challenge for the stressed homeland. The expanding cadre of trained fighters, suicide bombers, and
latest suicidal attacks in Peshawar and Karachi were the deadliest since weapons/equipment. Much of the TTP’s political leadership and
Afghan Taliban took over Afghanistan. The lethality and the ability of capability is based in Afghanistan. However, in Pakistan, the TTP has
the attackers to penetrate deep inside security installations, the most regained some territorial influence in southern districts of Khyber
secure part of Karachi and Peshawar, imply that the TTP has re- Pakhtunkhwa, like South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Tank, Bannu
constituted a critical capability of urban terrorism, signifying the and Lakki Marwat.
ascendant trajectory presenting a major medium- to long-term
challenge for Pakistan. The TTP has re-constituted a critical capability of urban terrorism.

The TTP serves as a crucial case study due to its hidden roots with the In spite of the Taliban’s firm strategic calculus in favour of the TTP,
Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda, East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Afghan leadership appears to understand the importance of
the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), and various other splinter maintaining a functional relationship with Pakistan or at least
groups of militant organizations operating in Afghanistan and the preventing tensions from deteriorating into a full-scale conflict. The
Middle East North Africa (MENA). Additionally, the TTP had aligned Afghan Taliban’s posture of moving forward appears like a tug-of-war,
some of its objectives with the political goals of certain Pakistani alternating between moments of tension and de-escalation. There are
religio-political and ethnic parties, particularly a subset of Baloch and other foreign fighters in Afghanistan with varied regional agendas, who
Pashtun nationalists. In recent decades, these ethnic minorities have will find safe havens in Pakistan should the TTP make a major
protested allegedly discriminative and exploitative state policies of territorial gain. This possibility is real yet not imminent. If it was to
Pakistan. They are located within the Pakistan tribal belt bordering materialise, it will raise the spectre of eroded Pakistani security,
Afghanistan and serve as a support base to TTP. broader regional instability, and migration concerns. The key factor

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shaping the Pakistani response is the country’s deteriorating economy, Additionally, the Government of Pakistan should strengthen its
which is on the brink of a default limit. international alliances against the growing threat of religious
extremism and terrorism, coordinating efforts with the United Nations,
All this said the TTP’s main concern remains the implementation of the United States, and other key international partners. Furthermore,
‘sharia laws’ in Pakistan based on its strict interpretation of Islam. The domestic efforts should focus on improving the security apparatus and
group says that it will not lay down its arms until this goal is achieved. ensuring effective enforcement of the rule of law. Lastly, civil society
Thus, the likelihood of a quick peace deal between the state and the organizations should be encouraged to contribute towards conflict
TTP remains low; Pakistan cannot afford any political settlement that resolution and peace-building in the tribal belts. For this, the
comes at the cost of replacing a democratic system with strict Government of Pakistan should seek the support of its international
theocratic regulations. Yet, a political settlement remains the only allies, strengthen its security apparatus, invest in developmental
option for both sides given to geopolitical realities. initiatives, and pursue efforts that promote dialogue and reconciliation.
The current economic and political crisis in Pakistan necessitates that In conclusion, while military forces may succeed in limiting the
the ‘International players’ of GWOT need to interact with Pakistan activities of the TTP, it is not a sustainable solution. A comprehensive
about the essentials to focus on and develop a clear counter-TTP package of both kinetic and non-kinetic operations and measures is
strategy. Besides, the Government of Pakistan should initiate a required to effectively counter this threat. Pakistan sorely needs a new
comprehensive blueprint that encompasses both military and non- anti-terrorism policy that restricts the state institutions from
military measures to effectively counter the ensuing threat. The use of differentiating not only between “good” and “bad” Taliban but between
military force should be limited to determined hotbeds of insurgency “good” and “bad” militants. In the past, several armed groups were
and operations should be coordinated with other organs of the state in given concessions by the authorities hoping for such groups would help
order to ensure an inclusive approach against the TTP. The state should the government forces to fight the anti-Pakistan militants. Not
also invest in socio-economic and education initiatives in the tribal differentiating between such groups means Pakistan will have to
areas and support programs that promote dialogue and reconciliation indiscriminately act against all those involved in violent acts and
among communities. But, the larger question will be how Pakistan will disarm them without examining their loyalties.
handle the Afghan Taliban who provides a safe haven to the TTP.

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Genderising Inflation: How Inflation effects women |Daily Times

Noor Ali : The writer is a human Rights activist.

Pakistan is facing a major inflation crisis. According to the latest The increase and intensification of unpaid household labour, in
report, the annual inflation rate in Pakistan has risen to 24.5 per cent. addition to the continuous shrinking of public services leads to higher
Such a high level of inflation has sent prices of goods and services intergenerational costs.
soaring. And it is therefore urgent to counter this cost-of-living crisis to
protect people’s pockets. According to the report ILO, men generally work in greater numbers in
industrial sectors and financial business services, which tend to offer
Notably, the crisis affects women and girls disproportionately. better compensation. However, women are more likely to seek
Undoubtedly, men and women face different levels of vulnerability to “vulnerable employment”, including work in services, agriculture,
financial shocks. An area where this becomes more pronounced is textile etc. Given this structure, women find themselves harder hit by
unpaid caring labour where women carry unevenly more burden than the economic crisis, which can intensify their vulnerabilities.
men, with implications for growth. In many households with limited
income, the healthcare and education of male family members are Women, due to limited employment opportunities, are less likely to be
prioritized over female members. hired, and more likely to be fired as compared to men. Reports suggest
that employers these days are laying off women in disproportionate
Not only this, but inflation is also higher for products and services numbers.
aimed at women, who are less likely to have salaries that keep pace
with inflation. Furthermore, the recent hike in petrol prices has created a major
concern about its impact on women. Keeping in view that for many
Similarly, the increase and intensification of unpaid household labour, people the main reason for driving vehicles is to get to work, the lack of
in addition to the continuous shrinking of public services provision in adequate resources and access to safe and cheap transportation for
health, social care and education, due to budget cuts, leads to higher women hinders their ability to actively contribute to the country’s
intergenerational costs. economy.

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In a phallocentric society like ours, where men are assigned the role of Scholars and researchers argue that these prejudices against a certain
primary breadwinner, women seeking work opportunities find it class of women in the SAPs become the cause of gender inequality in
extremely difficult to secure jobs in traditionally male-dominated society in dominant discourses in many fields, and economics is no
sectors. exception.

While the Pakistani government is negotiating with IMF, ‘not so At the same time, financial crises bring to a head the paradoxical
women friendly’ SAPs are expected to make an appearance quite soon, position of women within the household. With the growing expenses of
as in the past structural adjustment has often led to spending cuts on education, girls belonging to the middle and lower middle class are
important welfare and social development programs specifically more likely to abandon their formal education.
designed for women such as education and health care.
To conclude, it would appear that inflation has far more serious
Feminists, activists and academics have pointed out that these biases consequences on women regardless of their socio-economic
against certain classes of women under SAPs have their roots in the background. It is high time for those sitting in the power corridors of
effects of gender inequality in society on dominant discourses in many the state to reconsider women’s legitimate place in society while
disciplines, and economics is no exception. devising policies for the development of human resources, the
reconstruction of the education systems, and the eradication of
poverty.

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A Rich Land with Barren People | Daily Times
Shahzaib hassan

We are from a land whose minerals are important but not its people. students, who are studying at various universities across the country,
We are from a land whose mountains are Pakistani but not its people. suffer every time they travel on the killer KKH.
More importantly, we are from a land whose people perish in dozens to
make it to the mainstream Pakistani media. Whatever little the state was offering to the people of Gilgit Baltistan
would no longer be available.
Do you know what land it is? It is Gilgit-Baltistan that Imran Khan
symbolically identifies as the Switzerland of Pakistan. It is the land Just a few days back, at least 25 people perished in smoke as a result of
because of which Pakistan is considered the most attractive tourist a collision between a bus and a car over which the whole people of GB
destination in the world. It is the land that has the biggest mountain mourned and protested while making a demand from the government
ranges in the world. It is the land that is the most beautiful blessing of of Pakistan that at least give us a good transit system if not the political
God to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan but at the same time a status. Driven by the extremity of frustration, the youth bulge of the
gargantuan open prison for the people who inhabit this region because region took to Twitter with a hashtag trend upgrade-bus-service where
they are treated as people of lesser gods. they have laid the entire blame of this incident on the state for it is not
giving GB its due rights as a result of which the basic rights are
The treatment meted out to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is worrisome missing.
not because this region has no political status but because this region is
the most neglected one despite being the most important in terms of its The situation is getting tenuous as people are running out of patience.
strategic location. Nothing could expose this ignorance more than the It is also indicative of the two weeks-long protests of people against the
corrosive transit system of GB, which is the worst one by Pakistani government that is hell-bent on removing the subsidy on wheat as an
standards. Whether it is Mashaburm or Northern Area Transport austerity measure. Whatever little the state was offering to the people
Corporation (NATCO) or for that matter any other service, most of of the region, would no longer be available.
their buses smell of burning wires, which keep the passengers
Moreover, there is not a single hospital in GB that is state-of-the-art.
disturbed throughout the long journey of 18 hours from Gilgit to
There is neither an engineering university nor a medical university.
Islamabad. It is the mental trauma that all people of GB, especially
There is one university that lacks both faculties, facilities and
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departments. Despite these problems, which are related to basic needs, To cut the long story short, the emotions in the region are running high
the people of GB are calling themselves Pakistani and feel proud of as it is time for the state to put bandages on the wounds of the people
their nationality. But it seems this pride is fading away with time owing of the GB who have made no demands when being annexed with
to the compounding issues of the energy crisis. Given this cold weather Pakistan. People of such a degree of loyalty demand rewards, not the
of winter, the region is suffering 18 hours or more of load shedding punishment of withdrawing the limited subsidies that the region is
every day. enjoying.

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Renewed Iran-China Ties: What Pakistan needs to do | Daily Times
Muhammad Asif Noor

President of Iran Ibrahim Raisi made a three-day historic visit to China trading partner; Tehran exports $12.6 billion of goods to Beijing and
and met President Xi Jinping to deepen the bilateral cooperation and imports $12.7 billion.
review the implementation of the 25-year Strategic Cooperation
alliance between the two nations. President Raisi is the first Iranian China and Iran have steadily built a strengthened partnership
president to visit China in over two decades. President Raisi was focusing on energy trade.
accompanied by a large delegation, including the chief of the central
bank and ministers of oil and mining apart from the leading negotiator The growing alliance between China and Iran has grown further after
on matters related to dialogue on the nuclear program. During the visit, Iran’s outreach to Shanghai Cooperation Organization from observer
several cooperation agreements and documents were signed. Almost status to its full membership. Iran’s relationship with China, Russia,
twenty documents were agreed upon related to the 25 years of and Central Asia is testimony to the realignment in Iranian foreign
agreement to accelerate bilateral cooperation in new areas. This policy. This further helps Iran to use its diplomatic relations with SCO
historic visit has several political, economic, and strategic implications as leverage against the US-led sanction regimes and negotiations on the
for not only Iran and China but also for the region and globe. Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

For the past several decades, China and Iran have steadily built a The significant trade-off of this strategic agreement is the Chinese
strengthened partnership focusing on energy trade and exploring new imports of Iranian oil defying the American sanctions, which provide
areas of cooperation. Apart from energy-related collaboration, there critical cash inflow to Tehran. In return, Iran provides market access to
have been significant boosts in economic ties and defence cooperation, China for its products, including automobiles, houseware, and others.
balancing the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East region. The At the strategic level, China agrees to invest in railways, energy, sports,
official visit of the President of Iran is significant as amidst the strong transportation, cyber security, research, and development in defence
western sanctions and pressure Iran is looking towards this crucial production. Through this vital cooperation, Iran will come out of the
strategic partnership with China to boost its economy and ward off the economic burden causing not only socio-economic stress at home and
western pressure, including sanctions. Currently, China is Iran’s largest abroad.

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This historic visit also reflects the non-partisan policy action of Iran During this visit, Iran and China’s engagement also demonstrate
towards China, especially after the change of government in Iran. China’s expanding and growing influence in the region and how the
During this important historic visit, the Presidents of Iran and China country is building its alliances with the regional countries. This is
signed 20 more cooperation documents which are part of the 25-year particularly significant given China’s role as a major player in global
comprehensive cooperation signed in 2021. Additionally, President Xi affairs and the increasing competition between the US and China for
expressed his willingness to accelerate the implementation of the 2021 regional influence. It is also important to note that this visit will bring
deal by deepening the “practical cooperation in trade, agriculture, into the limelight that Iran is expanding its diplomatic engagement
industry, infrastructure, and other fields and importing more high- despite challenges.
quality Iranian agricultural products in 2023.
The regional connectivity will reach one of the largest organizations in
The partnership between Iran and China has also created ripples on the the region as an essential permanent member. The close partnership of
geopolitical chessboard in the Middle East. China’s outreach to the Iran with China may also give a further boost to Pakistan and China
Middle East is non-partisan and seeks to engage both Iran and Saudi relations, especially the trilateral cooperation on CPEC might further
Arabia. This independent foreign policy of China is a source of concern enhance cooperation although there are several challenges to that
for the US because it not only reduces the US’s potential to punish Iran however, owing to the fact that China’s foreign engagement has the
but also drifts Saudi Arabia away from the US. China has the inherent nature of building bridges and creating room for dialogue, there are
policy of no confrontation rather with sheer wisdom, the leadership various opportunities that will grow in future. Cooperation between
and policy leaders of the Community Party are trying their best to Iran and China has several positive impacts on the region especially to
promote the values of inclusive growth and helping countries through make the region more connected and inclusive for growth. This also
economic means. Iran is an example, and so do other countries like has the potential to open new doors of opportunity can enhance
Pakistan. The growth of Iran and Pakistan means that although the cooperation between Iran and China.
political pandits might comment on strategic matters simultaneously if
we review it through the lens of economic development, China’s
support and investment is ever growing in both countries.

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The Urgency of Climate Smart Agriculture | Daily Times
Dr Muhammad Qureshi’s

Agriculture is the backbone of human civilization, providing food and increasing food security, improving farmers’ livelihoods, and reducing
livelihood to millions around the world. However, the changing climate greenhouse gas emissions. One of the key aspects of CSA is the use of
is making it increasingly challenging for farmers to meet the growing technology to improve the efficiency of farming practices. Precision
demand for food. Climate change has brought about a range of agriculture, for example, allows farmers to use data and technology to
problems, including more frequent and severe weather events, optimise their crop management practices, such as applying the right
declining soil fertility, and water scarcity. amount of fertilizer at the right time. This reduces waste and increases
yields; benefiting both the environment and the farmers’ bottom line.
These issues have a significant impact on crop yields and the Another important aspect of CSA is the use of sustainable land
livelihoods of farmers, particularly in developing countries like management practices, such as agroforestry, which integrates trees into
Pakistan. In Pakistan, agriculture accounts for approximately 21 per crop and livestock systems. This improves soil health, reduces erosion,
cent of the country’s GDP and employs around 45 per cent of the and provides a range of other benefits, including increased biodiversity
population. However, the sector is facing significant challenges due to and improved water management. These practices can help farmers in
the impacts of climate change, including increased temperatures, Pakistan adapt to the impacts of climate change and reduce the risk of
reduced rainfall, and more frequent and severe weather events, such as crop failure. In addition to these technical measures, CSA involves a
droughts, floods, and heat waves. These changes are affecting crop change in the way we think about and manage agriculture. This
yields, reducing the availability of food, and impacting the livelihoods includes a shift towards participatory approaches, where farmers are
of farmers and their families. To tackle these challenges, a new involved in decision-making and have a greater say in the management
approach to agriculture is needed, one that is not only sustainable but of their land.
also resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Governments can play a key role by providing technical and financial
This is where Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) comes in. CSA seeks to support to farmers and creating policies that incentivise the adoption
promote sustainable agriculture by balancing three main goals: of CSA.
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This leads to greater ownership and motivation to adopt sustainable resistance. Some examples of climate resilient crops include: Drought
practices and helps build a more resilient agriculture sector. The tolerant crops: Crops such as sorghum, millet, and cassava have a deep
implementation of CSA is a collective effort, requiring the involvement root system that allows them to access water in times of drought. They
of all stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, and are also able to conserve water, making them well-suited to dry areas.
research institutions. Governments can play a key role by providing Heat-tolerant crops: Crops such as rice, maize, and wheat have been
technical and financial support to farmers and creating policies that developed to withstand high temperatures, making them suitable for
incentivise the adoption of CSA. In Pakistan, the government can areas that are experiencing rising temperatures due to climate change.
support CSA by investing in research and development, improving
access to finance for farmers, and creating a supportive policy Flood-tolerant crops: Crops such as rice and mung bean have been
environment for sustainable agriculture practices. The private sector, developed to be able to grow in flooded conditions, making them
including agribusinesses and ag-tech companies, can support the suitable for areas that are experiencing increasing levels of flooding due
implementation of CSA by providing access to financing, new to climate change. Pest and disease-resistant crops: Crops that have
technologies, and markets for sustainable agricultural products. been genetically modified to be resistant to pests and diseases, such as
Research institutions can contribute by conducting research on Bt cotton and Bt brinjal, are also considered to be climate resilient. This
sustainable agriculture practices, developing new technologies, and is because pests and diseases are becoming more prevalent due to
sharing knowledge with farmers and other stakeholders. climate change, making it increasingly important for crops to have this
resistance. Adopting climate-resilient crops can help farmers reduce
Climate change is affecting agriculture in wa number of ways, including the risks associated with climate change, improving food security and
more frequent and severe weather events, declining soil fertility, and their livelihoods. Additionally, the use of climate-resilient crops can
water scarcity. These issues are having a significant impact on crop help reduce the need for chemical inputs, such as pesticides, thereby
yields and the livelihoods of farmers, particularly in developing benefiting the environment. In Pakistan, the adoption of climate-
countries like Pakistan. As a result, it is more important than ever to resilient crops is still in its early stages. However, there is growing
adopt a new approach to agriculture, one that is sustainable and interest and recognition of the importance of these crops in the face of
resilient to the impacts of climate change. Climate resilient crops are increasing climate variability and extreme weather events. The
crops that have the ability to withstand and adapt to the impacts of government of Pakistan, in collaboration with international
climate change, such as extreme weather conditions, changes in organisations and research institutions, has started to promote the
temperature and precipitation patterns, and increasing pest and development and dissemination of climate-resilient crops. For
disease pressure. These crops have specific traits that make them more example, the government has established research programs to develop
resistant to the effects of a changing climate, such as drought tolerance, heat and drought-tolerant varieties of wheat, rice, and maize. In
heat tolerance, flood tolerance, and improved pest and disease addition, the government is promoting the use of conservation

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agriculture practices, such as reduced tillage and intercropping, which growing demand, while also protecting the environment and building
can increase the resilience of crops to the effects of climate change. resilience to the impacts of climate change. Implementing CSA requires
However, some challenges need to be overcome in order for climate- all stakeholders’ involvement and a collective effort to promote
resilient crops to be widely adopted in Pakistan. For example, there is a sustainable agriculture. By working together, we can ensure a more
lack of awareness among farmers about the benefits of these crops and secure and sustainable future for farmers, and for the planet.
how to grow them. In addition, there are limited market opportunities
for farmers who want to grow these crops, and there is a lack of The writer is PhD (Horticulture) and currently working as Assistant
investment in research and development of these crops. Despite these Professor (Department of Horticulture, University of Sargodha)
challenges, it is clear that the adoption of climate-resilient crops is Pakistan.
becoming increasingly important in Pakistan as the effects of climate
change become more severe. With continued efforts to promote the
development and dissemination of these crops, they have the potential
to play an important role in improving the resilience of Pakistan’s
agriculture sector to the impacts of climate change. In conclusion,
Climate Smart Agriculture is a critical and urgent need of the time. It
provides a way forward for farmers to produce enough food to meet the

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