EditorialThe TT Take

The Power to Dar

At a moment when Asia has been pulled towards confrontation and uncertainty, Ishaq Dar has helped place Pakistan at the centre of the diplomatic effort for peace. In the past month, his steady, coalition-building approach has turned Islamabad into a credible channel for dialogue, resulting in the Islamabad Accords.

Absolute cinema

Pakistan is no longer just reacting to events. It is increasingly being seen as a country around which events may be organised. Islamabad is emerging as a possible venue, Pakistani channels as useful, and names such as Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and JD Vance suggest that the diplomatic centre of gravity may, however tentatively, be shifting toward Pakistan.

Manipur’s slow break

Separatism rarely begins with a declaration. It begins with a sentence that sounds almost reasonable in a frightened place: we cannot live under them. We, as Pakistanis, know this better than anyone.

Independent Republic of Manipur?

Manipur has stopped behaving like a state and started behaving like a border. When a cabinet changes land like a provocation and a confidence vote inside the Assembly cannot calm the street outside, the idea of “Republic of Manipur” stops being metaphor and starts sounding like a warning.

The BLA’s poseurs receive the death they deserve

While the BLA's violence seeks to manufacture inevitability in Balochistan, the answers it receives from Pakistan collapse distance and deny it spectacle it craves so dearly—time and time again.

We can finally be proud

Davos was not a redemption arc but a stress test. Pakistan did not arrive seeking applause or indulgence, but to demonstrate whether discipline could finally replace denial. What mattered was constraint—and the recognition that the old escape routes no longer exist.

On the offensive

There is a certain discipline in Ahmed Sharif’s choice of words as of late. Melodrama is avoided, but denial is not indulged either. If Pakistan is to argue its case internationally, he suggests that it must first lay out its qualms.

The death cell fairytale

Imran Khan's sons' claims are cinematic, emotive, and tailor-made for headlines. They are also, on the evidence presented, not proven — and that distinction is the difference between responsible commentary and propaganda laundering.

KP misrule, Punjab momentum

From Haripur to Lahore, the ballot box has rebuked anti-state theatrics and KP misgovernance, tightening PML-N’s grip on a weary electorate, as PTI’s agitation and foreign-amplified campaigns collide with reality and by-election voters turn to order over unrest.

Breaking Pakistan’s four walls

Devolution that stops at the provincial secretariat is not devolution; it is merely colonialism with a different accent. A Mirpuri airport, a Multani university and a Gwadar harbour are not vanity projects; they are stress tests of whether the new map actually serves the periphery.

عمران خان کی افغان پالیسی: خود فریبی کی انتہا اور تباہی کی داستان

عمران خان کی افغان پالیسی نے قومی سلامتی کو شدید خطرے میں ڈال دیا۔ سفارتی احتیاط اور ریاستی حکمت کے بجائے انہوں نے قومی مفاد کو ذاتی مقبولیت کے تابع کر دیا، یوں وہ تمام رکاوٹیں کمزور ہو گئیں جو دشمن کی واپسی کے راستے میں حائل تھیں۔ آج جو کچھ ہم دیکھ رہے ہیں، وہ پالیسی کی اصلاح نہیں بلکہ تاخیر سے شروع ہونے والا ایک مشکل اور ناگزیر ریسکیو مشن ہے۔

A house of ashes

A state which refuses to distinguish between the vulnerable and the weaponised is not compassionate: it is careless with its own survival. Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, wagered the nation's security on charisma and sentiment, where leverage, verification, and distance were required. In pursuit of his own love affair with the Taliban, he was blind to all three.

پاکستان نے طاقت کے بعد سفارتکاری کے ذریعے اپنا موقف منوایا اور خطے میں نیا نیو نارمل اپنی شرائط پر قام کردیا

پاکستان نے طاقت کے مظاہرے کے بعد سفارتکاری سے اپنا مؤقف منوایا اور خطے کا نیا نارمل اپنی شرائط پر قائم کر دیا۔ دوحہ میں اسلام آباد کا واحد مطالبہ تھا کہ افغان سرزمین سے پاکستان مخالف دہشت گردوں کی حمایت بند کی جائے، اور اگر وہاں سے حملے ہوئے تو ذمہ دار کیمپ جائز ہدف سمجھے جائیں گے۔

Steel in silk gloves

Pakistan came with one demand and departed with verification, guarantors and a timetable; Kabul kept its face, Islamabad kept the substance. A new regional normal now bears Pakistan’s imprint.
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