South Asia Investor Review

The Pakistan Air Force's Retired Air Vice Marshal Shahzad Chaudhry has recently penned an op-ed for The Express Tribune newspaper calling on his country to make peace with India. He argues that " India is relevant to the world", implying that Pakistan is not. Chaudhry believes that the "gap between Pakistan and India is now unbridgeable".  Chaudhry concludes his piece with the following recommendation: "It is time to recalibrate our policy towards India and be bold enough to create a tri-nation consensus, along with China, focusing on Asia to be the spur for wider economic growth and benefit". Prime Minister Indian PM Modi Boasts of Having "56 inch Chest" History of India-Pakistan Peace Talks: While I completely support Chaudhry's call for Pakistan to make peace with India, I do wonder why India's Hindu Supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi would even seriously entertain such a thought if "India is relevant to the world...

What does Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan hope to accomplish during his Iran visit? What are the key issues bedeviling  Iran-Pakistan relations ? Cross-border terrorism alleged by both? Pakistan's relations with the Gulf Arabs? CPEC? Afghanistan? Gwadar? Chabahar?  Indian RAW's use of Iran  to launch terror attacks in Pakistani Balochistan? Who calls the shots in Iran? President Rouhani or the hardline Iranian Revolutionary Guard leaders? Why is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continuing to  threaten Pakistan  with use of force, including use of nuclear weapons? Is this part of his election campaign to appeal to his base? Or will this intimidation go beyond elections if he wins a second term? Is Pakistan Prime Minister's hope of better ties with India under BJP just a mirage? Are analysts like  Moeed Yusuf  right about India waiting it out to achieve overwhelming superiority to eventually dictate term to Pakistan? Viewpoint From Overseas...

Pakistani-American scholar Dr. Moeed Yusuf, Associate Vice President of the Asia Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington D.C., visited Silicon Valley on September 29, 2018.  Dr. Yusuf  spoke at an event organized by  Talk4Pak (talk4pak.com)  team to launch his recently published book "Brokering Peace in Nuclear Environments U.S. Crisis Management in South Asia". Dr. Moeed Yusuf (L) with Faraz Darvesh The event was moderated by Faraz Darvesh. It started with a brief intro by Riaz Haq to Talk4Pak followed an introduction to  the main speaker by Dr. Misbah Azam. Riaz Haq (L) with Faraz Darvesh Riaz Haq introduced Talk4Pak as a media platform intended to connect Pakistani-Americans with Pakistan to stimulate discussion on issues of interest to the diaspora.  Talk4Pak principals include Faraz Darvesh, Misbah Azam, Sabahat Ashraf, Ali Hasan Cemendtaur, and Riaz Haq. Talk4Pak engages with its target audience via social media platforms l...

Pakistani-American scholar Dr. Moeed Yusuf has examined the role of the United States in defusing South Asian crises since the nuclear tests conducted by  India  and  Pakistan in 1998 . In "Brokering Peace in Nuclear Environments U.S. Crisis Management in South Asia" by Dr. Moeed Yusuf published by Stanford University Press, the author analyzes American diplomacy in three critical periods: Kargil conflict in 1999; the stand-off after the Indian Parliament attack in 2001 and the  terrorist attack in Mumbai  in 2008. Yusuf argues that the US-Soviet Cold War deterrence model does not apply to the India-Pakistan conflict and offers his theory of "brokered bargaining". In chapters that detail the US role during three India-Pakistan crises, it is clear that the US rejected India's insistence on bilateralism in resolving India-Pakistan disputes.  The author says that "in each episode, the concern about the escalation forced the United States to engage, large...

"India is not scared of the guns here in Kashmir -- it has a thousand times more guns. What it is scared of is people coming out in the streets, people seeing the power of nonviolent struggle," says the senior leader of the moderate wing of Kashmir's main separatist alliance, Hurriyat, and a key organizer of the civil disobedience campaign that began earlier this year, filling the air with chants of azadi . The number of armed attacks in the valley, meanwhile, has dropped to its lowest since the insurgency began in 1989, according to Indian officials. How has India responded to the the peaceful movement for freedom in Kashmir? Not recognizing the reality of change on the ground, the Indian government has attempted to demonize the struggle as LeT led terrorism. Beyond that, it has continued to use force against unarmed, peaceful civilian protesters on the streets of Kashmir. Wall Street Journal reports the current situation in Kashmir as follows: Indian troops often res...

The business community in Karachi welcomed the support of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for the new prime minister Mr. Gillani. Good relations between Pakistan People’s Party and the MQM are considered vital for the business community in Pakistan. According to Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, Shamim A. Shamsi, president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged the new team to revisit economic policy issues and resolve them for the good of the people. “It was wise of the PPP to take the MQM on board as it is an integral part of the current reality of the province. The decision bodes well for Karachi and therefore the country,” Majyd Aziz, a senior leader of the business community, said. Peace in Karachi is considered crucial for Pakistan's economic growth and prosperity. According to Wikipedia, Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan and the biggest port city; it accounts for the lion's share of GDP and revenue. It generates over 65% of the total national revenue...