Debate of the week

According to the Defence Department press secretary George Little, Pakistan has refused to be part of a joint investigation into the November 26 Nato attack on Pakistani check post in Mohmand. The decision is one of the several that Pakistan has taken in its protest against the attack that killed 24 army personnel. It has been reported that in his November 29 briefing to the media, Director General Military Operations Major General Ashfaq Nadeem had...

Five days after the deadly Nato attack on a check-post in Mohmand, Pakistan has changed its stance on relations with the United States. With the Nato supplies already blocked and Shamsi air base shut down, Pakistan has also decided to boycott the Bonn conference on Afghanistan. The government and its Defence Committee of the Cabinet responded swiftly to the attack, easing down the pressure from various corners (political and otherwise) to show its...

An early morning Nato attack on Pakistan’s security forces has left at least 28 soldiers dead the Mohmand tribal region. In an immediate reaction to the attack, Pakistan blocked supplies to the allied forces based in Afghanistan. Additionally, Pakistan’s acting ambassador to the United States registered a protest against the attack with the US State Department. The attack came a day after Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met with...

Former federal information minister and human rights campaigner Sherry Rehman has been appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States within 12 hours of Husain Haqqani’s resignation. Haqqani resigned on Tuesday, days after Pakistani-American businessman, Mansoor Ijaz accused him of being behind a memo that accused the Pakistani military of plotting a coup in May. In your opinion, will Sherry Rehman’s political portfolio make her a credible Ambassador...

Husain Haqqani has resigned from his position as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States following his meeting with the top leadership of the country. Haqqani has said he is ready to face inquiries regarding his alleged involvement in the memo-gate scandal. While the diplomat’s three-year tenure in the key position has come to an end, the scandal is not likely to be buried in the near future. The government was brought under pressure by opposition...

The strategic partnership agreement, still under discussion between Washington and Kabul, will govern American involvement in Afghanistan after the deadline for the exit of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014. According to President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan is also negotiating similar agreements with Britain, France, Australia and the European Union. Afghanistan wants the US and Nato to agree to stop carrying out night raids on Afghan homes...

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh have vowed to open a new chapter in bilateral relationship. In an hour-long meeting, prior to the opening of the 17th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), the two prime ministers predicted more constructive and result-oriented talks in the near future. However, the Indian side has made it clear to the Pakistani side that unless there is some...

Pakistani cricketers, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were handed down sentences at the Southwark Crown Court in London today. Salman Butt is to get 30 months of prison time as the judge holds him responsible for ‘corrupting Amir’ while Mohammad Asif has been handed a one-year sentence and Amir will be detained for six months at the Young Offenders Institution. In your opinion, is this a fair verdict? More importantly, will this discourage...

Pakistan’s Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty of spot fixing by an English court, while Mohammad Amir pleaded guilty to the charges even before the proceedings had begun. The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned the trio in February this year for violating the anti-corruption code and they now face possible jail terms in England. Amir’s situation in the scandal might beg leniency as he was only 18 when the incident occurred...

In a wave of self-immolation cases that have recently swept around the world in the past year, a 35-year-old, father of two set himself on fire outside the parliament today. The jobless Raja Khan from Naushero Feroz resigned to this act of desperation in his fight against poverty. Reports stated he said: “I am fed up of poverty.” One can barely imagine how oppressed and desperate he was to escape his situation that he actually attempted to burn...