After 22 days, Pakistan reopened the Friendship Gate at Chaman border crossing on May 27 on “humanitarian grounds” coinciding with the Ramazan in Afghanistan. At least 12, including two FC personnel, five children and three women were killed when Afghan forces attacked Pakistan civilian and military officials during a census enumeration in two villages on the Chaman border on May 5. In June 2016, the border remained closed after a Pakistan Army major and three others fell victim to the fire from across the Durand Line. In August 2016, Pakistan shut down the Spin Boldak and Chaman, border for nearly two weeks following protests and torching of the Pakistani flag at a rally on the Afghan side. In February 2017, TTP/Jamaatul Ahrar attacks from their reported sanctuaries across the border enforced another closure for 32 days at Chaman and Torkham. And in May this year, a deadly ambush by Afghan forces of Pakistani enumerators near Spin Boldak, Chaman cost as many as 15 Pakistan lives. It led to another closure of border for nearly 20 days. This cumulative 65 day closure at Chaman – between August 2016 and May 2017 alone – entailed a huge cost for traders and thousands of daily wage workers between Karachi and Kandahar. The daily average losses just to the truckers, traders and government, according to officials come to at least $3 million. No surprise the bilateral trade with Afghanistan has been on the wane. Zubair Motiwala, president of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reckons the Pakistan-Afghanistan trade has dropped by nearly 40 percent decline in recent years since early 2016. In a formal complaint on the suspension of traffic in February and March to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) 6 April, Dr Suraya Dalil, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the UN office at Geneva spoke of damages of up to $90 million to Afghan traders. Afghan traders had voiced similar concerns in February and March, urging both...

Over the weekend, reports broke out that some 79 cases had been filed in the last three months for negative propaganda against the state and its various institutions over social media. These can be filed now, since the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Bill 2016 was passed in August of last year. The bill was widely criticized by civil society and rights based organizations, especially since the language of the bill was so ambiguously worded. Promises were made than that this is in the interests of Pakistan and will be used to target anti-state actors and proscribed organizations. Less than a year later, things have come full circle. Twenty two people have been arrested under the bill, and at least two journalists have been asked to appear before the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to explain their social media posts. Of the 22, at least eight are political workers that belong to both Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). PTI cried foul and threatened to sue the state, claiming their workers were innocent, while one of the journalists, Taha Siddiqui, filed a writ against the FIA in the Islamabad High Court. I understand the need for the state to protect itself and its institutions. But this is an egregious example of gagging those that demand better answers and transparency. It is an unsaid international convention, that people of any country should have the utmost respect for the military. These are brave men and women that are willing to, and in Pakistan, often do, lay down their lives to protect our way of life. However, disagreeing with the military should not amount to the state mounting a brazen and miscalculated campaign against those that dissent. Asma Jehangir, Siddiqui’s lawyer, stated in a press briefing that the government should please the military on its own merits. While it is a statement designed to jolt the state, it goes a lot deeper than that. Pakistan’s powerful military is unhappy with the government’s progress...

Afghanistan's Khaama Press news agency on Saturday quoted President Ashraf Ghani as saying that "Pakistan is in isolation but an isolated Pakistan is not in favour of Afghanistan." The country must be encouraged to refrain from supporting terrorist groups, an obvious reference to the Afghan Taliban's sanctuaries in the border regions. Ghani made these remarks during a meeting with local tribal elders of southern Kandahar province Friday evening. If reported correctly by the news agency Ghani's quote on Pakistan offers some glimmer of hope as far as the bilateral relations are concerned, particularly to the context of the bloody exchanges of fire and loss of life in the Spin Boldak district near the Durand Line earlier this month. Ghani's remarks coincided with two important statements. One by US Forces in Afghanistan said at least 750 militants affiliated with the Afghan chapter of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - ISIS Khurasan - were killed in the past two-and-a-half months in Afghanistan. Their territory and fighting strength have been reduced two-thirds. The second statement emanated from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Headquarters. Released May 19 after a stakeholders' meeting it said all members reaffirmed their commitments to sustainable security in Afghanistan and to their strong partnership with Afghanistan. For Pakistan, this situation represents both an opportunity as well as challenges. It is an opportunity because President Ghani's "less hostile and diagnostic" tone on the disadvantages of an "isolated Pakistan" to Afghanistan reflects the realisation that such attempts (by India) will only precipitate his country's fragility and insecurity. Also, if one were to go by the optimism of some pro-active and well-meaning Afghan officials, Pak-Afghan acrimony probably has already peaked (because of acts of terrorism in February and March) and now may be heading for de-escalation. They believe that the relationship is not entirely...

Some 29 countries, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund participated in the Belt and Road Forum (B&RF) for International Cooperation, including senior leaders and officials from the US, Japan and South Korea. On the occasion, President Xi Jinping pledged a major funding boost to the new Silk Road, including an extra 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) for the existing Silk Road Fund, 380 billion yuan in loans from two policy banks and 60 billion yuan in aid to developing countries and international bodies in countries along the new trade routes. Initiatives such as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and the New Silk Road essentially underscore the Chinese quest for stability and staggering of risks. It is also rooted in the belief that stability and development go hand in hand. The Beijing leadership also believes that without an economically developing and politically peaceful region, it can neither expand its markets nor can it share the dividends of its own development. In an apparent endorsement of China’s initiatives, Britain’s finance minister told the summit that his country was a “natural partner” in the new Silk Road. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif praised China’s “vision and ingenuity”. India, on the other hand, chose to boycott the Forum, with its External Affairs Ministry spokesperson saying his country “cannot accept a project that violates its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” This position came on the heels of New Delhi’s open expression of disapproval of CPEC on many occasions, ever since President Xi signed off investments and assistance worth over 57 billion dollars (as of May 2017). The ‘colonising’ reference is specifically aimed at Pakistan, as the media in New Delhi, since this week has been actively claiming that Islamabad would become Beijing’s colony by 2030. ‘Beijing plans to turn Pakistan into its economic colony’ read a headline in Indian daily Times of India. The story claimed to “confirm that Pakistan will become...