Current Projects
Sabawoon Showcase: Technical and Vocational Trainings for Women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
December 28, 2016, Peshawar: The latest episode of Sabawoon[i], flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), focused on the technical and vocational training for women in KP and FATA. The key discussion points included availability of technical and vocational trainings for women in KP and FATA, importance of such trainings in capacity building, support from civil society organizations, and linkages with local and national markets. The program was aired under the theme of Jwandai Jazbey (living spirits) on Wednesday. Ms. Zeenat Bibi, Communication Executive Technology Up-gradation and Skill Development Company (TUESDEC) Peshawar, participated as the studio. A radio report reviewed the condition of technical training for women in the rural areas of KP. Ms. Zeenat Bibi said: “Trainings and capacity building will not be enough to empower women. They should be given equal opportunities in society.” Sabawoon airs Monday through Thursday on FM-101.5 Peshawar & DI Khan 711 KHZ from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM. [i] Sabawoon is a flagship radio program by CRSS in the KP/FATA region, designed to highlight local issues, and promote fundamental global values such as women’s rights, rule of law, equal citizenry, democracy, governance and accountability. It airs four times a week, under four themes. On Monday, Jarga Marrakka covers current affairs and issues, coupled with government and other senior officials. On Tuesday, Da Semi Jaaj gives a holistic regional overview of the most important stories across the length and breadth of KP/FATA. On Wednesday, Jwandai Jazbey covers issues most important to youth, students and females. Finally, on Thursday, Ranra covers social issues that have a cultural angle and/or impact.
CHINA WATCH [27 DECEMBER-2 JANUARY] CHINA-PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR (CPEC) EXPANDED
The inclusion of new development projects in the CPEC by China and Pakistan was the leading story this week. China has blocked India’s move to add the head of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) to a UN Security Council blacklist. Pakistan, China and Russia held the third round of tripartite consultations on Afghan conflict in Moscow. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the 340 megawatt Chashma-III nuclear power plant. Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal, has said that $30 billion projects had been implemented under the CPEC. CPEC Expanded: During the sixth meeting of Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of CPEC, China and Pakistan have agreed to include some new development projects in the multi-billion dollar venture. These projects are: Karachi Circular Railways, Keti Bandar project and Special Economic Zone in Sindh.[1] The JCC also approved to make three more infrastructure projects part of the CPEC[2] thus bringing China’s total contribution to the corridor-related road projects to Rs.1.025 trillion so far.[3] These road projects fall on the western route and include 280 kilometer Raikot- Thakot road (Rs8 billion), 210km Yarik- Zhob dual carriageway (Rs80 billion) and 110km Basima- Khuzdar road (Rs19.76 billion). It is noteworthy that this JCC meeting was attended by the Chief Minsters of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. This development in itself will boost the provincial consensus over CPEC projects that has been missing for so long. India’s Bid Blocked: China has blocked India’s bid to add the head of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Masood Azhar, to a UN Security Council blacklist of groups linked to al Qaeda.[4] India has accused JeM leader of orchestrating several attacks in India including the Pathankot attack in January last. However Pakistan has found no evidence linking him to attacks in India. China had put the hold on move initially in April. Meanwhile, India maintains that it will...
Combating Corruption in Afghan Defense and Security Sector
Research from Transparency International shows that Afghanistan’s defense and security institutions remain at a very high risk of corruption and that this has severely impacted their ability to provide the level of security and government legitimacy that is so urgently needed. Personnel management, appointments and promotions, procurement and logistics of both soldiers and policemen are heavily affected by both petty and major corruption. The presence of ghost personnel within the army, police and intelligence services have become a serious concern for the Afghan people and the international community. Despite recent efforts by the Afghan President, corruption in procurement and the leakage caused by corrupt practices within security and defense sector institutions poses an existential threat to the Afghan state. On the eve of the Warsaw Summit, this policy brief will analyze the major factors contributing to corruption in the security and defense sector’s institutions. It will also outline the successes and failures by the Afghan Government to overcome these problems. The paper will close with recommendations to stakeholders. SITUATION ANALYSIS According to the National Corruption Survey by Integrity Watch, 45% of Afghans identified insecurity as the biggest problem facing the Afghan government while 18 percent of those surveyed identified corruption and another 18 percent unemployment as the biggest problem. Insecurity is the result of several factors. However, from an anti-corruption perspective, the sources of insecurity in Afghanistan include corruption in the police, army, and justice sectors perpetuated by illegal mining, narcotics trade, and money laundering facilitated by the Hawala system. These six factors are tied together in a vicious circle where one feeds into another and vice-versa. In the following sections, the nature and relations of this web of factors is analyzed. To begin with, a lack of robust human resource management has resulted in a huge...
Afghanistan Leadership Invites Pakistan Army Chief on Visit
Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah invited new Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to visit the country, the media wing of the Pakistani military said. The invitation was extended by the Afghan leadership during a telephone conversation with General Bajwa, according to a statement by Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor, Dunya News reported on Saturday. Gen. Ghafoor added that the call was made by General Bajwa on the eve of the New Year. “#COAS called Afghan President, Chief Executive Officer & Army Chief on telephone. Conveyed best wishes for 2017 & pledged to work together for peace in the region,” Gen. Ghafoor said in a Twitter post. The latest conversation between the new Pakistani Army chief and the Afghan leaders came as relations between the two countries have been witnessing an all-time low during the recent months. The Afghan officials have not commented on the report so far. Afghanistan has long been criticising Pakistan for its reluctance to act against the terrorist groups using its soil to plan and coordinate attacks in the region, including the Taliban and Haqqani terrorist network. The Afghan officials believe these groups have leadership councils based in the main cities of Pakistan. This article originally appeared on www.mangalorean.com, January 01, 2017. Original link. Disclaimer: Views expressed in the article are not necessarily supported by CRSS.
Afghan Weekly (Dec 24 – Dec 30, 2016)
Last week on December 27, Russia, Pakistan and China held a trilateral meeting on Afghanistan in Moscow that the Afghan government was not represented at. The three countries expressed particular concern about the rising activity in the country of extremist groups including the Afghan branch of IS (Daesh). The United States, which still has nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan more than 15 years after the Taliban was toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces, was not invited to the Moscow talks. In a joint statement issued after the trilateral meeting, Russia and China, being permanent members of the UN Security Council, decided to work towards delisting the Afghan Taliban from the world body’s sanctions list in a move, they said, aimed at launching peaceful dialogue between Afghanistan’s government and insurgent groups.[1] Representatives from the three countries also agreed to invite the Afghan government to such talks in future, the Russian Foreign Ministry later said.[2] Voicing Afghanistan's concerns over the trilateral meeting, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stated: “Talking on Afghanistan without consulting the country raises serious questions for the Afghan people. We are worried about what the reasons behind the meeting are and want the relevant parties to explain.”[3] Below follow other updates on the security, internal politics, international engagements and socio-economic developments in Afghanistan from the past week. Security Overview Former Taliban envoy to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef’s house in Kabul attacked by unknown gunmen last Friday killing one of his guards.[4] 11 policemen killed early Saturday in a Taliban attack on a check post in in Shamalgah area of Farah city.[5] 4 policemen killed in a roadside blast in Ghabargah Weyala area in Qalat city of Zabul province last Saturday morning.[6] 3 insurgents killed and 2 others injured in an operation launched in Buz-e-Qandari, Hazrat Sultan, Taloka villages and some...
Going Forward, India Needs Battle Pigs Not Elephants to Tame Pakistan
Thus wrote the Macedonian historian and rhetorician Polyaenus, in his masterpiece Strategems of War, written around 161 CE, and dedicated to the greatest of the Roman Emperors, Marcus Aurelius: “At the siege of Megara, Antigonus brought his elephants into the attack; but the Megarians daubed some swine with pitch, set fire to it, and let them loose among the elephants. The pigs grunted and shrieked under the torture of the fire, and sprang forwards as hard as they could among the elephants, who broke their ranks in confusion and fright, and ran off in different directions”. For generations of military history students, the story of how the humble pig defeated the Indian elephants of the King of Macedonia, Antigonos II Gonatas, has had a simple lesson: in war, it’s often the smarter side, not the stronger one, that wins. PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s national security advisors could do worse than spending some time contemplating that lesson over the New Year weekend, as they consider the course of events during what has been an extraordinarily fraught twelve months for India-Pakistan relations. Frustrated by Pakistan’s continued patronage of jihadist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, India struck across the Line of Control in September. Even though many Indians were euphoric, the strikes failed to deter Pakistan: in November and December, jihadists operating from Pakistan struck back repeatedly, notably hitting the XVI Corps’ headquarters in Nagrota. More worrying, the short-term impact of the cross-Line of Control strikes was to blow apart the ceasefire that India and Pakistan put in place in 2003. Should Pakistan escalate cross-Line of Control firing come the spring, it will be hard for India to rebuild its fencing, 75% of which is brought down by snowfall each winter. That, in turn, will mean more terrorist infiltration—and more violence. From a record low of just 17 in 2012, Indian security force fatalities in Kashmir have inched up steadily in Kashmir to 87...
Sabawoon Showcase: Regional Review of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
December 27, 2016, Peshawar: The latest episode of Sabawoon[i], flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), was under the theme of Da Semi Jaaj (regional review). This program presents prominent news from the region and provides a crisp analysis. Following reports were included in the program: The problems faced by recently repatriated internally displaced people (IDPs) in Orakzai Agency. Pollution problems faced by the people of Kohat district and lack of planning by the district administrations. A three-day ‘Swat Expo 2016’ organized by students to promote small businesses, architectural designs and prototypes. Demand for a fruit market by the locals of Waziristan Agency. A debate competition on Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) organized by students in Mohmand Agency. Sabawoon airs Monday through Thursday on FM-101.5 Peshawar & DI Khan 711 KHZ from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM. [i] Sabawoon is a flagship radio program by CRSS in the KP/FATA region, designed to highlight local issues, and promote fundamental global values such as women’s rights, rule of law, equal citizenry, democracy, governance and accountability. It airs four times a week, under four themes. On Monday, Jarga Maraka covers current affairs and issues, coupled with government and other senior officials. On Tuesday, Da Semi Jaj gives a holistic regional overview of the most important stories across the length and breadth of KP/FATA. On Wednesday, Jwandei Jazbay covers issues most important to youth, students and females. Finally, on Thursday, Ranra covers social issues that have a cultural angle and/or impact.
Pakistan’s Water Security Made Part of CPEC Framework
Pakistan and China on Thursday decided to make water security a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework amid threats by India to review its position on the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. The decision to exploit full hydel potential of Pakistan was taken during the sixth meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC which was held in Beijing. The JCC is the highest policy making forum of the CPEC. The JCC also decided, in principle, to make the mass transit projects of all four provinces part of the CPEC. These projects will be formally made part of the CPEC after their financial and technical vetting by Working Group on Transport in February next year. For development of hydroelectric projects on the Indus River, particularly construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam, the JCC on Thursday constituted a group, said Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal after the meeting. The planning ministry released the video of his statement. “Pakistan may face a very severe water crisis and for economic and food security of the country, the immediate construction of Diamer-Bhasha is crucial,” he said. If the Diamer-Bhasha dam becomes part of the CPEC, it will be a landmark achievement, he added. For more than two decades, Pakistan has been trying to construct the Diamer-Bhasha dam that has an estimated cost of $14 billion. Due to opposition by India, both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have refused to lend money under one pretext or another. After the rise in tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) in recent months, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had threatened to cut Pakistan’s water supply. He has managed to influence the WB that recently paused the process of playing mediator, which it is bound to play under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, according to experts on the accord. Chinese help to secure Pakistan’s water rights will be seen as a major development, according to them. The Indus River is a source of more than 17...
Making the Case for Afghanistan: Why Now is Not The Time to Abandon The Country
In a year filled with blockbuster headlines, Afghanistan remained under the radar for much of 2016. That is, of course, not necessarily a bad thing, but plenty of newsworthy issues remain—only on December 21 did Taliban gunmen attack the Kabul home of a member of parliament, killing eight people. The Afghan national mood is at a record low, according to the latest Asia Foundation survey, with two-thirds of respondents stating the country is “going in the wrong direction,” more than double the proportion who thought so in 2012. This is not surprising: the security situation has worsened; the relationship between the country’s top political leaders remains volatile; economic growth has decelerated; and, although a peace deal was signed, it was not with the Taliban. There is, however, some cause for optimism and despite evidence of growing fatigue, Afghanistan’s major international partners continue to demonstrate economic and military commitment to the country. With speculation rife as to the impact the Donald Trump presidency will have on U.S. engagement in Afghanistan, the Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) assessment from several recent trips to the country is that any significant reduction in current military and financial commitments would have serious repercussions; the very real threat of a civil war, reminiscent of the early 1990s, justifies the continuation of international support. Afghanistan’s security continued to deteriorate throughout 2016, with the Taliban’s expanding influence across the country and ‘ISIS in the Khorasan’ (IS-K) claiming credit for high-profile sectarian attacks. The U.S. inspection body SIGAR reported that the Taliban now “influences” at least 25 districts and controls eight more. In this reading, the Afghan government controls over 60 percent of Afghanistan’s territory and the Taliban roughly 10 percent, with the remaining territory contested. Several independent commentators challenge this picture: the Long War...
Challenges and Opportunities for Afghanistan in 2017
For Afghanistan, 2016 was another year coupled with both ups and downs that tested the government, people, and the international community’s resolve to assist the country. Failures of the National Unity Government of Afghanistan (NUG) included the Taliban’s temporary re-capture of the strategic provincial capital of Kunduz for a second time, the reemergence of the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan, and the government’s inability to create employment opportunities to stop the exodus of Afghans into Europe. Meanwhile on the upside for the NUG, 2016 has seen the peace deal with Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, increased connectivity with China, the opening of the first rail connection between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and successful efforts to isolate Pakistan at the regional and international level. The Failures of 2016 The rise of insecurity across Afghanistan Insecurity rose all across Afghanistan this year, in particular in the northern and southern parts of the country. Like in 2015, the Taliban recaptured the strategically vital capital of Kunduz province in the north, which government forces recaptured from the Taliban only after intense fighting. Not limited to Kunduz, the Taliban also expanded their insurgent activities across Faryab, Jawzjan, and Baghaln provinces in the north. Furthermore, Helmand province, which has so far remained one of the most contested regions between the government and Taliban, witnessed bloody battles in 2016. The Taliban additionally launched group assaults on Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, but were successfully repelled by Afghan government forces. Furthermore the Taliban also initiated heavy battles to seize Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Urozgan province, but were once again pushed away by Afghan government forces after fierce clashes. These significant gains by the Taliban demonstrate that they are more organized and better equipped than before; they additionally possess the ability to challenge the writ of...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.