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As Pete Hegseth promises a historic review into the Fall of Kabul, the real accounting must extend beyond the airport chaos to the Afghan families left stranded in Pakistan by Western failure, delay and broken promises.

Will there be a second Islamabad Talks? Undoubtedly. The notion of an Islamabad Talks 2 have not materialised on cue, but that doesn't mean the process is dead. It means Pakistan holds the only channel both the U.S. and Iran can still use.

On the 88th death anniversary of Allama Iqbal, it is worth asking not only what he meant to the making of Pakistan, but what his ideas demand of the country now. As Islamabad tries to keep open channels between Iran and the United States, Iqbal’s poetry feels less like memory and more like instruction.

After years of being defined by debt scares, bailouts and economic uncertainty, Pakistan is showing signs of a broader recovery marked by renewed market access, stronger investor confidence, diplomatic relevance and momentum that isn't stopping anytime soon.

Pakistan’s emergence as the setting for U.S.-Iran diplomacy in 2026 was not a sudden stroke of luck but the return of an older strategic role; long before officials sat across from one another in Islamabad, Pakistan was already the back channel by which messages, assurances and ceasefires were carried.