A Religious Fanatic is in Charge of Pakistan’s Military:
How Pakistan’s most powerful man provoked India’s missile attack
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-pakistans-most-powerful-man-provoked-indias-missile-attack/
From a western perspective, memorising all 114 chapters of the Quran might seem an unusual qualification for a national leader. Yet this is a defining feature of the résumé of General Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of army staff since November 2022.
Pakistan’s bellicose army chief is playing with fire
https://www.ft.com/content/c150e851-d42c-4b46-a737-89de6bc94210
Ayesha Siddiqa:
In Pakistan, the public — unaware of militant training camps in their midst and conditioned to see Pakistan as the victim — is clamouring for retaliation. Whatever happens next will depend on one man: the country’s army chief, Asim Munir. Munir controls Pakistan’s strategic decision-making far more than the elected government led by Sharif. And he is not a figure known for his restraint.
One of the reasons that New Delhi believes that Pakistan-based militants were behind the April attack is because of a speech that Munir delivered a week earlier. In it, he referred to Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein” and vowed not to leave Kashmiris alone in their struggle for independence from India.
How Pakistan’s most powerful man provoked India’s missile attack
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-pakistans-most-powerful-man-provoked-indias-missile-attack/
From a western perspective, memorising all 114 chapters of the Quran might seem an unusual qualification for a national leader. Yet this is a defining feature of the résumé of General Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of army staff since November 2022.
https://www.ft.com/content/c150e851-d42c-4b46-a737-89de6bc94210
Ayesha Siddiqa:
In Pakistan, the public — unaware of militant training camps in their midst and conditioned to see Pakistan as the victim — is clamouring for retaliation. Whatever happens next will depend on one man: the country’s army chief, Asim Munir. Munir controls Pakistan’s strategic decision-making far more than the elected government led by Sharif. And he is not a figure known for his restraint.
One of the reasons that New Delhi believes that Pakistan-based militants were behind the April attack is because of a speech that Munir delivered a week earlier. In it, he referred to Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein” and vowed not to leave Kashmiris alone in their struggle for independence from India.
The Pakistan-Taliban Divorce Gets Messy
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rising-tensions-between-pakistan-and-the-taliban-afghanistan-by-shashi-tharoor-2025-05
Pakistan spent decades nurturing, sheltering, arming, training, and financing the Taliban, which it viewed as a convenient instrument for exerting control over Afghanistan and achieving “strategic depth” against India. But as Dr. Frankenstein discovered, you cannot always control the monsters you create.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rising-tensions-between-pakistan-and-the-taliban-afghanistan-by-shashi-tharoor-2025-05
Pakistan spent decades nurturing, sheltering, arming, training, and financing the Taliban, which it viewed as a convenient instrument for exerting control over Afghanistan and achieving “strategic depth” against India. But as Dr. Frankenstein discovered, you cannot always control the monsters you create.
How India and Pakistan Can Pull Back from the Brink
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/08/india-pakistan-kashmir-military-war-media/
Exaggerated claims of military success—amplified by the two countries’ media—could help each side save face.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/08/india-pakistan-kashmir-military-war-media/
Exaggerated claims of military success—amplified by the two countries’ media—could help each side save face.
Pakistan’s Best Chance to Save Its Economy
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/increased-savings-hold-the-key-to-revitalizing-pakistan-economy-by-aasim-m-husain-2025-05
The latest confrontation between India and Pakistan is the last thing the ailing Pakistani economy needs, following decades of low domestic savings, inadequate investment, and anemic GDP growth. A strategy that balances fiscal discipline, demographic targets, and spending on long-term development is urgently needed.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/increased-savings-hold-the-key-to-revitalizing-pakistan-economy-by-aasim-m-husain-2025-05
The latest confrontation between India and Pakistan is the last thing the ailing Pakistani economy needs, following decades of low domestic savings, inadequate investment, and anemic GDP growth. A strategy that balances fiscal discipline, demographic targets, and spending on long-term development is urgently needed.
How India Is Trying to Squeeze Pakistan Far from the Battlefield
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/business/economy/india-pakistan-soft-power-kashmir.html
The nuclear-armed rivals are also wrangling over Pakistan’s access to desperately needed foreign aid, as India explores ways to use its soft power and relationships to bedevil its old enemy.
‘India is very rich, Pakistan very indebted’: How economic tensions became a ticking time bomb
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/05/08/how-india-won-the-economic-war-against-pakistan/
What Is the Risk of a Conflict Spiral Between India and Pakistan?
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/07/india-pakistan-strike-conflict-spiral-kashmir/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/business/economy/india-pakistan-soft-power-kashmir.html
The nuclear-armed rivals are also wrangling over Pakistan’s access to desperately needed foreign aid, as India explores ways to use its soft power and relationships to bedevil its old enemy.
‘India is very rich, Pakistan very indebted’: How economic tensions became a ticking time bomb
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/05/08/how-india-won-the-economic-war-against-pakistan/
What Is the Risk of a Conflict Spiral Between India and Pakistan?
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/07/india-pakistan-strike-conflict-spiral-kashmir/
India’s Warning to Pakistan
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/india-decision-to-suspend-the-indus-waters-treaty-is-justified-by-brahma-chellaney-2025-05
No country can be expected to uphold a peacetime treaty while suffering the consequences of an undeclared war. If Pakistan refuses to end its support for cross-border terrorism, India has every right to withdraw from the now-paused Indus Waters Treaty.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/india-decision-to-suspend-the-indus-waters-treaty-is-justified-by-brahma-chellaney-2025-05
No country can be expected to uphold a peacetime treaty while suffering the consequences of an undeclared war. If Pakistan refuses to end its support for cross-border terrorism, India has every right to withdraw from the now-paused Indus Waters Treaty.
India Tries to Subdue the Threat from Pakistan
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/india-tries-to-subdue-the-threat-from-pakistan-276f632c
New Delhi hopes that Wednesday’s military strikes will put an end to Islamabad’s impunity.
Why Pakistan can’t afford another conflict with India
https://www.ft.com/content/bccc3ed4-c456-401b-8964-f4044ea7dcbe
The country’s economic vulnerability makes a prolonged escalation particularly dangerous.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/india-tries-to-subdue-the-threat-from-pakistan-276f632c
New Delhi hopes that Wednesday’s military strikes will put an end to Islamabad’s impunity.
Why Pakistan can’t afford another conflict with India
https://www.ft.com/content/bccc3ed4-c456-401b-8964-f4044ea7dcbe
The country’s economic vulnerability makes a prolonged escalation particularly dangerous.
Military briefing: How Indian might stacks up against Pakistan
https://www.ft.com/content/9f1f4841-ed05-4ed1-9c71-e2cb9bb14f88
https://www.ft.com/content/9f1f4841-ed05-4ed1-9c71-e2cb9bb14f88