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Saturday 14 June 2025

Revenue without reforms

The 2025–26 federal budget, while notable for its aggressive revenue ambitions, fails to articulate a cohesive development vision and ultimately resembles a consolidation mechanism rather than a transformative roadmap.

The budget's public expenditure priorities reflect an outdated bias towards rigid recurrent obligations at the expense of social investment and climate resilience. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Friday 13 June 2025

Thursday 12 June 2025

A trio for the ages

They didn’t posture or perform. They didn’t arrive with placards or pleadings. This trio threaded law, loss, and logic with the calibration of those who knew the weight of what they represent and the silence which usually follows them into Western rooms; this time, they are refusing to let that silence survive.

At every stop thus far, the trio of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Hina Rabbani Khar, and Sherry Rehman, has presented not a grievance ledger but a governance proposition. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Wednesday 11 June 2025

Tuesday 10 June 2025

Thursday 5 June 2025

Wednesday 4 June 2025

Reason in a region addicted to fire

In a world drunk on the drumbeat of war, it takes uncommon nerve to whisper restraint. Yesterday, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari did just that—softly, firmly, devastatingly—from the podium of the United Nations.

Bilawal didn’t cast India as the eternal villain—but demanded that its actions be seen without varnish. In an age of digital disinformation, where narratives spin faster than missiles travel, that clarity is revolutionary. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

India’s Modi the “Temu” version of Netanyahu, says Bilawal

“Pakistan is still willing to cooperate with India against terrorism, because we cannot leave the fate of over 1.5 billion people in the hands of non-state actors who could push two nuclear powers into war," said the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan at a press conference in the UN.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari laid bare Pakistan’s stance on India’s recent actions, accusing New Delhi of military aggression, treaty violations, and state-sponsored terrorism. — FILE/THE THURSDAY TIMES

Friday 30 May 2025

Thursday 29 May 2025

Monday 26 May 2025

Dar’s quiet line

Ishaq Dar, as Pakistan's foreign and deputy prime minister, resisted the urge, so common in crises, for maximalist posturing. He did not parade diplomatic telegrams for public approval. He did not pick Twitter fights. He kept Pakistan’s tone serious and sober.

While jets roared overhead, Ishaq Dar reached for the world’s ear, not its throat. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Wednesday 14 May 2025

Free of Britain, recolonised in saffron

In Narendra Modi, the RSS has found not just a leader but a messiah; one with the political cunning of an autocrat and the populist charisma of a televangelist. Under his watch, textbooks have been rewritten, history sanitised, minorities demonised, and a billion people convinced that all of this is progress.

In Modi's new India, the concept of reason has truly been tarnished into oblivion. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES | DO NOT REPRODUCE

Sunday 11 May 2025

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown

Showcasing its air superiority, the Pakistan Air Force outmanoeuvred and outclassed India’s French Rafales, shattering the illusion of Hindutva-fuelled dominance in South Asian skies, proving this latest cross-border skirmish wasn’t just a dogfight—it was the moment the PAF reclaimed its throne above the clouds.

The PAF’s recent engagement with the Indian Air Force—what many are calling a “cold shock over warm borders”—was no accident. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Saturday 10 May 2025

Wednesday 7 May 2025

Dassault’s Rafale raffle backfires for the Indians

India’s €7 billion Rafale programme suffered a severe credibility blow when three aircraft were reportedly downed during the cross‑border strikes, erasing some 2.6% in Dassault’s market value within hours. This reframes the Rafale from “game‑changer” to cautionary example, strengthening Pakistan’s diplomatic hand and undermining India’s deterrence strategy.

Pakistan reports shooting down Indian Rafale jet; French intelligence confirms aircraft loss. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Saturday 3 May 2025

Pakistan test-fires Abdali missile in major readiness drill

Successful test-fire of Pakistan’s surface-to-surface Abdali missile system conducted during Ex INDUS exercise. The launch aimed to assess the missile’s technical capabilities, advanced navigation system, and operational readiness

Pakistan validates tactical Abdali missile system in large-scale strategic training drill. — FILE

Wednesday 30 April 2025

India’s Sikhs will never know how much Pakistan loves them

It is unfortunate to write that India's Sikhs may never fully grasp the depth of Pakistan’s affection because that affection is filtered through a wall of suspicion built by the Indian state, which views any bridge extended westward as inherently suspect.

A Sikh pilgrim embraces a Pakistani villager near Kartarpur, as the flag of Pakistan waves behind them. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Tuesday 29 April 2025

The road to deterrence

History is not made in conference rooms or cocktail parties. Sometimes, it is written in the dark, among men who refuse to beg for survival. Pakistan’s nuclear program was one of those moments — a nation wounded, cornered, and left with no choice but to fight its way into the club of the untouchables.

The story of Pakistan’s nuclear program is not written in treaties or official communiqués. It is etched in desperation, defiance, and survival. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Friday 25 April 2025

Thursday 24 April 2025

Wednesday 23 April 2025

Monday 21 April 2025

Tuesday 15 April 2025

Monday 14 April 2025

Sunday 13 April 2025

Wednesday 9 April 2025

Friday 4 April 2025

Thursday 3 April 2025

Wednesday 2 April 2025

Wednesday 26 March 2025

Pakistan secures IMF funding boost, stock market surges in response

IMF and Pakistan agree on new $1.3 billion funding package, sparking a strong stock market rally with gains of over 1,400 points. Economic stability shows significant improvement over the past eighteen months, with inflation dropping to its lowest level in nearly a decade.

A combined file photo is shown of the IMF emblem at Washington, D.C. alongside incumbent prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif. — FILE/THE THURSDAY TIMES

Sunday 23 March 2025

Published by Thursday Media International thursday.media