Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters demonstrate in Karachi on March 2 against alleged vote rigging.
Opinion

Pakistani political parties have much to learn from Turkey's AKP

Ability to resist military interference depends on mass mobilization

29 May 2024
A Chinese-backed power plant under construction in Pakistan's southern Sindh province in 2018.
International relations

Pakistan scrambles for relief on $15bn energy debt owed to China

UAE surprises with $10 bn investment in promising sectors of economy

24 May 2024
The IMF has told Pakistan it must stop subsidizing money-losing entities, such as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as a condition for loans to help prop up its faltering economy. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images)
Asia Insight

Pakistan moves to sell national airline in test case for privatization drive

Dozens of state enterprises on auction block as IMF calls for end of subsidies

21 May 2024
Afghan cargo is loaded at Chabahar for shipment to India in 2019: Budding multilateral cooperation centers on the Iranian deep-water port.
Opinion

Pakistan's moves to further isolate Afghanistan are backfiring

Estrangement is driving the Taliban to work with Iran and India at Chabahar port

13 May 2024
Filling up at a petrol station in Karachi, the Pakistani commercial capital. Pakistan receives millions of barrels of smuggled Iranian finished petroleum products annually.
International relations

Iran smuggles $1bn worth of fuel into Pakistan annually: report

Traders sneak petrol and diesel across border in corruption-riddled trade

7 May 2024
Political veteran Ishaq Dar has become Pakistan's first deputy prime minister since 2013.
Politics

Pakistan appoints Ishaq Dar, close aide of elder Sharif, as deputy PM

First deputy in over a decade takes reins amid rift in ruling party

1 May 2024
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, right, walks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Islamabad on April 22. (prime minister's office handout via Reuters)
International relations

Pakistan and Iran agree to boost trade, but Washington casts long shadow

Sanction fears could make it tough for neighbors to expand bilateral business

25 April 2024
Volunteers carry the casket of a Chinese engineer killed in a suicide bombing in March in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 
Opinion

Security for Chinese workers in Pakistan will always be elusive

Closeness between neighbors remains somewhat superficial

23 April 2024
Pakistan needs to repay $75 billion in debt over the next three years, according to Lahore-based capital markets expert Abdul Rehman.
Economy

Pakistan bargains hard for larger IMF deal of up to $8bn

Struggling country must reform economy to survive, even after approval

22 April 2024
A police officer stands guard near a damaged vehicle at the site of a suicide blast in Karachi on April 19. 
Terrorism

Five Japanese targeted in Pakistan suicide blast

Reports of 1 injury in group after incident in commercial capital Karachi

20 April 2024
Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party and others demand free and fair results of the elections on Feb. 11 in Karachi. More recently Khan's PTI allied with five other opposition parties and now expects to speak with a louder voice.
Politics

Pakistan opposition forms six-way alliance to challenge government

With economy bringing consumer pain, anti-government campaign could accelerate

16 April 2024
Pakistan is setting up a cannabis regulatory body as it hopes that trade in the drug for medical and industrial purposes will help to improve its finances. (File photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Politics

Pakistan sets cannabis rules, eyes sales to help balance books

Country hopes trade in drug for medical and industrial uses will boost coffers

15 April 2024
Supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan took to Karachi's streets in February after the former cricket star was jailed for leaking state secrets and illegally selling state gifts. 
Politics

Pakistan rocked by claims judges threatened in ex-PM Khan case

High Court jurists complain over threats of violence, secret surveillance

10 April 2024
A worker fills a sack with rice at a mill on the outskirts of Lahore in Pakistan.
International relations

India-Pakistan battle for basmati rice turns acrimonious

Nuclear-armed neighbors' clash over fragrant strain boils over

8 April 2024
Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party chant slogans during a protest demanding free and fair elections in Karachi on March 2. 
Politics

Has Pakistan cricket hero Khan opened political Pandora's box?

Jailed ex-PM champions renewal, reforms that resonate with younger voters

6 April 2024
An Afghan repairs a carpet in Kabul. Carpets are one of Afghanistan's primary items of exports to Pakistan.
International relations

Pakistan and Taliban to expand trade despite lingering tensions

Two countries agree on 'separation of business from politics'

5 April 2024
The Karachi provincial assembly. Pakistan's four provincial assemblies vote on April 2 to elect national senators.
Pakistan elections

Pakistan votes for senators as public trust in politics declines

30 out of 48 will be elected unopposed; controversy delays vote for others

2 April 2024
Police examine the site of a suicide bombing that killed five Chinese nationals on a highway in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on March 26.
International relations

Deadly Pakistan attacks threaten China economic ties

Beijing calls on Islamabad to boost security for Chinese workers in nation

29 March 2024
Baloch activists hold portraits of missing family members during a sit-in protest in Islamabad in December: No mainstream political party showed interest.
Opinion

Pakistan's national parties never mind the Balochs

Political abandonment of country's largest province only feeds discontent

27 March 2024
Pakistani soldiers on patrol at the China-developed port of Gwadar in 2017. A deadly attack near the port this week once again underscored the difficulty of protecting Chinese interests, which have become a target for militants.
International relations

Attack in Pakistan's Gwadar strikes near heart of China's interests

Challenge of securing Belt and Road projects resurfaces for new Sharif government

22 March 2024
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, far left, and top military officials attend a funeral on March 17 for officers killed in a militant attack.
International relations

Pakistan's strikes in Afghanistan hint at new government's hard line

Experts warn tackling Pakistani Taliban threat will be more difficult than ever

20 March 2024
A man counts Pakistani rupee notes at a currency exchange in Peshawar, Pakistan, in September 2023. The country is attempting to escape an economic crisis with the help of the International Monetary Fund.
Economy

Pakistan targets new IMF deal with banker atop Finance Ministry

Government accused of bending rules on cabinet selection

19 March 2024
Students, campaigners and lawmakers protest in 2019 against Home Office actions against alleged cheaters on a test of English-language skills. (Migrant Voice) 
Education

South Asian students fight accusations of U.K. visa fraud 10 years on

Over 35,000 visas were canceled over English test scandal in 2014

17 March 2024
A supporter of Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), holds a mobile phone during a protest demanding fair election results in Peshawar on Feb. 10.
Pakistan elections

Pakistan's X blockage puts new PM Sharif in hot seat over free speech

Post-election restrictions stifle business and journalism despite soaring VPN use

14 March 2024
Asif Ali Zardari, right, greets Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the legislature on March 3. Zardari was elected president on March 9.
Pakistan elections

Pakistan 'survivor' Asif Zardari wins presidency, capping tense polls

Resistance to granting PTI-backed lawmakers reserved seats called 'mockery' of law

9 March 2024