Pakistan

Plastic canisters filled with petrol from Iran at a roadside station on the outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan: Iranian oil has become widely available across the whole country.
Opinion

The hidden costs of Pakistan's crackdown on Iranian oil smuggling

Illicit trade highlights failure of China's economic corridor to generate employment

26 March 2021
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan urged people to get vaccinated after testing positive for COVID-19.
Coronavirus

Pakistan PM Khan tests positive for COVID-19

Leader calls for public to be inoculated amid widespread hesitancy

21 March 2021
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan recently signed bilateral agreements with Uzbekistan intended to boost activity in the virtually idle port of Gwadar. 
Belt and Road

Pakistan promotes Belt and Road port for Central Asian trade

Move expected to increase volume of goods moving through Gwadar

18 March 2021
A boy looks at his house in Uri, in Jammu and Kashimir, which was hit by shelling last November. Eleven people, including six civilians, died in the shelling across the Line of Control.
Kashmir turmoil

India and Pakistan's latest peace deal sparks hope and doubt

Villagers eye tense border warily, recalling past cease-fire violations

9 March 2021
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, seen here at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2020, survived the confidence vote on Saturday, to ensure the continuance of his government.
Politics

Pakistan's Khan wins vote of confidence to save prime minister post

With opposition abstaining, political instability to impact Belt and Road projects

6 March 2021
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will seek a confidence vote in parliament after his finance minister lost his senate seat.
Politics

Pakistan's deal with IMF clouded as Khan faces confidence vote

Ruling coalition setback raises uncertainty, with China seen edging closer

5 March 2021
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan Khan seen during his two-day visit in Colombo, Sri Lanka in February. 
Politics

Pakistan prime minister Khan to seek vote of parliamentary confidence

Decision comes after finance minister loses a high-profile Senate election

4 March 2021
FATF is keeping Pakistan on its grey list until further progress is made in eliminating terrorism funding. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
International relations

Terror-financing grey listing costs Pakistan billions annually

FAFT to keep South Asian economy's status despite 'significant progress'

3 March 2021
Drawing as much on Allen Ginsberg as Salman Rushdie, Pakistani author H.M. Naqvi writes in the voice of a proudly dualistic citizen of the world, who cut his literary teeth not on Chaucer but on spontaneous slam poetry rapping sessions. (Courtesy of Abbas Agha) 
Arts

For H.M. Naqvi, COVID-19 is a creative spur

Acclaimed Pakistani author pledges urgent completion of new work

26 February 2021
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Prime Minister Imran Khan. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are finding more areas of common interest, like Arabian Sea security.
International relations

Pakistan efforts to mend fences with Saudi-led bloc bear fruit

Islamabad also maintains strong ties with counter-alliance of Turkey and Iran

22 February 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing in April 2019. Experts say Beijing is increasingly unwilling to pour money into the Belt and Road projects in Pakistan without exercising greater control. (Source photos by Getty Images) 
Belt and Road

China moves for more control over Belt and Road in Pakistan

Demand for joint parliamentary oversight indicates Beijing's frustration on projects

11 February 2021
Women with masks against COVID-19 walk outside a market in Karachi, Pakistan on Jan. 25. 
31 January 2021
China is set to lay the final leg of a cross-border fiber optic cable in Pakistan, linking to a cable in the Arabian Sea. (Source photo by Getty Images)
Belt and Road

China builds Digital Silk Road in Pakistan to Africa and Europe

PEACE cable will reduce Pakistani internet traffic going through India

29 January 2021
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th U.S. president was welcomed by allies and partners across Asia. (Source photo by AP) 
Biden's Asia policy

Asian allies embrace Biden as China bids Trump 'good riddance'

Beijing says 'kind angels can triumph over evil forces' in regards to transition

21 January 2021
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping: The two countries are embroiled in their most serious disagreement relating to the Belt and Road Initiative. (Source photos by AP)
Belt and Road

China and Pakistan fall out over Belt and Road frameworks

Deadlock over interest rates for major rail project stalls annual summit

19 January 2021
A man reads a newspaper at a vegetable market in Islamabad: most people believe that journalists are performing a valuable public service.
Opinion

Controls tighten on Pakistan's media

Government using threats and advertising cuts to curb criticism

14 January 2021
Demonstrators gather on Jan. 7 in Lahore, Pakistan to protest the killing of miners by IS militants.
Belt and Road

Deadly IS attack threatens China's Belt and Road in Pakistan

Prime Minister Imran Khan pressured at home to act against militants

10 January 2021
A Pakistani sentry at the Angoor Adda outpost on the border of South Waziristan with Afghanistan. 
Belt and Road

Pakistani militants against Belt and Road targeted in Afghanistan

Killings of separatist sympathizers among Baloch 'refugees' rise in Kandahar

9 January 2021
Pakistan's rickety old rail network, much of it dating from British colonial times, is one of the stumbling blocks to better rail connections between West and East Asia. 
Belt and Road

Turkey, Iran, Pakistan rail link to China's Belt and Road

Oriental express service for the 21st century connecting West Asia to China

29 December 2020
Special combat police conduct an exercise in the Pakistani city of Peshawar in January 2016. Security forces in Pakistan increasingly see a need to train for urban-focused operations.
Belt and Road

Pakistani militants shift focus to cities in targeting of Chinese

Recent attempts hint armed groups opposing Belt and Road set sights on Karachi

27 December 2020
An Indian Air Force patrol over Leh in India's mountainous Ladakh region. The versatile Russian Sukhoi SU-30 MKI twin seater has a top speed of 2,120km per hour, and is built under license in India by Hindustan Aeronautics.
Kashmir turmoil

Kashmir emerges as flashpoint among 3 nuclear powers

China's belligerence amid a historic India-Pakistan dispute alarms analysts

21 December 2020
Then-Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the U.S.-India partnership at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai in July 2013. (Photo courtesy of the White House)
Biden's Asia policy

Strengthen India ties to deal with China, think tank tells Biden

Widen South Asian focus from Afghanistan to bigger Indo-Pacific picture, experts say

19 December 2020
The provincial government of Balochistan plans to fence off 24 sq. km of the port city of Gwadar.
Belt and Road

Pakistan to fence off Gwadar to shield China's Belt and Road port

Separating part of city shows Beijing's impatience in face of insurgency

14 December 2020
Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder jets, jointly developed with China, fly in formation to celebrate the shooting down of Indian military aircraft in the disputed region of Kashmir. JF-17s are participating in joint Pakistani-Chinese exercises underway in southern Pakistan.
Indo-Pacific

China and Pakistan conduct joint air drills -- with eye on India

Allies seek closer 'interoperability' amid tensions surrounding common foe

10 December 2020
Pakistan Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons built by General Dynamics of the U.S. are on course for joint maneuvers with their Chinese counterparts. 
International relations

China and Pakistan ink military MOU to counter US-India pact

Beijing sends defense minister to Islamabad, joint air maneuvers planned

8 December 2020