Pakistan’s democracy, true to fashion, has lost yet another government without serving its full five years. As we go to print, Supreme Court has not yet decided whether the action taken by the Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri on April 3 on throwing out the no-confidence motion under Article 5 was constitutionally correct. We thus wait to see whether the country goes to general elections to obtain a fresh mandate from the people or goes into another political crisis over the no-confidence vote that has to be brought again.
In the meantime, the economic indicators are crashing off a cliff due to political uncertainty. Moody’s termed the no-confidence motion as negative for the country, the stock market dropped by 1100 points the day after, and the Rupee has been in free fall, currently trading over USD-PKR 187 in the interbank.
In this month’s issue, we give a brief overview of the domestic political front – too much is changing daily for us to provide a final conclusion over its implications. Underlying all this is the message, of regime change that has apparently been sent from Washington that has changed the situation for Imran Khan’s party.
It reinvigorated his supporters, who had been up to this point cribbing over high inflation and, a lack of apathy and a general feeling that the party had not delivered on its promises. Dr. Moeed Pirzada, Editor GVS, in a detailed article argues why the United States becoming a domestic issue in the forthcoming elections is not a good idea for either Pakistan or the United States and what could be a way forward for both.
Due to our ‘independent’ foreign policy, it seems we have annoyed one of our oldest allies – the USA, which is reasserting itself against Russia and China and sees close ties with India as imperative. But for Pakistan, this very realignment of US interests is the reason why it has gone out to create a multipolar foreign policy. Unfortunately, the right-wing government in India – which has to play up Muslims and Pakistan as a bogeyman for its domestic compulsions – could not improve its relations with Pakistan – despite endeavors by the PTI and PML-N governments since 2013.
The issue continues to look at the Russia-Ukraine crisis; in particular, Dr. Atia Kazmi explains even though NATO is using several hybrid warfare responses to browbeat Russia, nuclear war is still a threat if Russia sees itself as failing to achieve its objectives.
Kamran Adil explains how international law has been used in the crisis, and my interview with Sanjay Kapoor highlights how India is conducting an independent foreign policy with Russia despite pressure from its QUAD allies and other Western countries.
Dr. Asma Khawaja looks at the implications of Indian claims of accidentally misfiring a missile into Pakistan. Syed Mohammad Ali, Director at the Center of Aerospace & Security Studies and a nuclear expert, explains why Pakistan has not taken the Indian statement over the missile at face value.
We continue to look at key elements from Pakistan’s national security policy and encourage debate on its inputs. In this issue, we look at the importance of regional connectivity in its geo-economics strategy, COP26 implications of climate change on Pakistan’s population, and how Vigilantism under the name of Blasphemy is destroying harmony and plurality of the country’s mosaic.
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