Gwadar in Pakistani Balochistan and Chahbahar in Iranian Balochistan are located almost at the mouth of the Gulf of Hormuz through which pass 35 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil shipments and 20 per cent of oil traded worldwide. More than 85 per cent of these crude oil exports go to Asian markets, with Japan, India, South Korea and China being the largest destinations. The two ports are separated by less than 200km. It is, therefore, necessary that Pakistani geopolitical strategists monitor closely the progress on the Chahbahar project so as to ensure that Islamabad’s geo-economic interests are not compromised in any way when the Iranian port becomes operational. India is helping develop the Chahbahar Port, which will give it access to the oil and gas resources in Iran and the Central Asian states. Tehran plans to use Chahbahar for transhipment to Afghanistan and Central Asia. India, Iran and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to give Indian goods, heading towards Central Asia and Afghanistan, preferential treatment and tariff reductions at Chahbahar. India has also finalised a plan to build a 900km-long railway line from the Afghan province of Bamiyan to Chahbahar port. Chahbahar provides India an easier land-sea route to Afghanistan. New Delhi has already spent $100 million on building a 220-km road in the Afghan province of Nimroz. The road will be extended to Chahbahar. With sanctions against Iran likely to be lifted soon and seemingly justifiably worried by the launching of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an energy and infrastructure project costing $46 billion, India, perhaps, would like to move swiftly to get the Chahbahar port operational at the earliest. Iran has also proposed a free-trade agreement with India. Indian exporters want to build on the already existing significant trade relations with Iran, using the free-trade zone being developed near Chahbahar to increase exports to the Central Asian states. The Chahbahar port is central...

Peshawar, Pakistan: a suicide bombing has torn through a police cadet parade and scores of people are dead. I arrive to find fresh blood staining the ground. A mangled motorcycle is strewn across the road. Cars are burned out and upended; shop windows are shattered. Bits of human flesh are embedded in the shrapnel-marked walls of surrounding buildings. Be’er Sheva, Israel: two buses have exploded. There is shattered glass, twisted wreckage and a convoy of ambulances ferrying the dead and wounded. There is already talk of reprisals against the Palestinian militants who have carried out this attack. Southern Thailand: Islamic separatists have taken shelter inside a mosque after launching a series of violent raids. In the preceding months there have been killings, bombings, beheadings. Now the Thai military open fire killing all inside the building. Soon after, I walk through the still smouldering mosque. There is blood dripping from the overhead fans. These are just some of the acts of terrorism I have covered as a reporter over the past 15 years. To this list I can add similar attacks in Egypt, Afghanistan, Gaza, Indonesia, China. This has been the pattern since al-Qaida targeted the United States on September 11 2001. Now we have the events in Paris and we are told this is war. What are we thinking? It has been war for more than a decade. For people living in Afghanistan, Pakistan or parts of the Middle East it has been even longer. We are rightly stunned and appalled at the loss of life and the brutality in France. But sadly, we should not be surprised. Just a day a before the Paris attacks, more than 40 people were killed in suicide bombings in Beirut. These were the deadliest acts since the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990. Only a month ago more than 100 people died in a terrorist attack in Ankara, Turkey. The country has been torn apart by violence this year. In July dozens were killed in a suicide bombing in Suruç. Now, we are told this is war? It was war...

Peshawar, Pakistan: a suicide bombing has torn through a police cadet parade and scores of people are dead. I arrive to find fresh blood staining the ground. A mangled motorcycle is strewn across the road. Cars are burned out and upended; shop windows are shattered. Bits of human flesh are embedded in the shrapnel-marked walls of surrounding buildings. Be’er Sheva, Israel: two buses have exploded. There is shattered glass, twisted wreckage and a convoy of ambulances ferrying the dead and wounded. There is already talk of reprisals against the Palestinian militants who have carried out this attack. Southern Thailand: Islamic separatists have taken shelter inside a mosque after launching a series of violent raids. In the preceding months there have been killings, bombings, beheadings. Now the Thai military open fire killing all inside the building. Soon after, I walk through the still smouldering mosque. There is blood dripping from the overhead fans. These are just some of the acts of terrorism I have covered as a reporter over the past 15 years. To this list I can add similar attacks in Egypt, Afghanistan, Gaza, Indonesia, China. This has been the pattern since al-Qaida targeted the United States on September 11 2001. Now we have the events in Paris and we are told this is war. What are we thinking? It has been war for more than a decade. For people living in Afghanistan, Pakistan or parts of the Middle East it has been even longer. We are rightly stunned and appalled at the loss of life and the brutality in France. But sadly, we should not be surprised. Just a day a before the Paris attacks, more than 40 people were killed in suicide bombings in Beirut. These were the deadliest acts since the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990. Only a month ago more than 100 people died in a terrorist attack in Ankara, Turkey. The country has been torn apart by violence this year. In July dozens were killed in a suicide bombing in Suruç. Now, we are told this is war? It was war...

The Center of Research and Security Studies (CRSS), in partnership with its Afghan counterpart organization DURAN Research and Analysis, launched a major Pakistan-Afghanistan Track 1.5/II project “Beyond Boundaries” (BB). The initiative, launched in the second week of November, is a part of the efforts to help improve relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. BB will be implemented in close coordination with the Government of Afghanistan, and the Government of Pakistan. The endeavor is anchored in workshops that feature eight representatives from Pakistan and Afghanistan each, engaging in an open discourse about narratives, grievances and the way forward. The workshop sessions comprise of two working groups; Regional Security Group (RSG), and Regional Civil Society Group (RCSG). Both groups are slated have three meetings each in Islamabad and Kabul, followed by a concluding meeting in Islamabad. The key objectives of the initiative are: expanding the peace constituency through friendship groups in both countries; improving support for better Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship through enhanced dialogue among the influential stakeholders of both sides; encouraging dialogues at various levels through official and unofficial communication channels; and, informing policy makers through forums, policy documents and media. Initiatives like BB will bring together influential government and non-governmental stake-holders who can help reduce tensions, address misconceptions, and revive some level of confidence. The ultimate objective is to eventually urge both governments and key stakeholders away from the mutual vitriol and antagonism, and towards a more trusting and collaborative approach that enhances peace, security, and regional cooperation. The first meeting of the RCSG working group was held in Islamabad from November 9-10, 2015 against the backdrop of a politically grim environment. The inaugural session was chaired jointly by the Federal Minster for Commerce,...