Sabena Siddiqi

Since September, US State Department Special Envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad has been making diplomatic efforts to bring about a peace settlement in Afghanistan prior to the presidential elections scheduled in April, 2019 in the country. Achieving a breakthrough recently, talks were initiated between the US and Afghan Taliban teams in Abu Dhabi this week. Held in the presence of officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, these talks are the second time that the US has been facilitated by Pakistan in establishing direct contact with the Afghan Taliban. Last held in July 2015 in the hill resort of Murree outside Islamabad, the first round of talks had yielded no result. Seeking to end the 17-year long conflict, Washington has engaged in the dialogue but avoided mentioning any direct contact between Khalilzad and the Afghan Taliban. ALSO READ:  With eye on Taliban, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan urge trilateral cooperation Officially, the announcement was that meetings i...

Amid the friction prevailing between South Asian neighbors India and Pakistan, the launching of the Kartarpur Corridor is nothing less than a paradigm shift for this region. First proposed by India in 1999 when the then Prime Minister Vajpayee visited Lahore, this channel could not be built due to lack of trust between the two nations. After many years, the debate over opening Kartarpur re-started when cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu attended the swearing in of his old friend Imran Khan as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. At this occasion the Pakistani army chief General Bajwa told him that Pakistan was thinking of opening the corridor. Even though Sidhu faced a severe backlash for being “over friendly” in Pakistan once he went home, his visit has proved to be a catalyst in re-energizing Indo-Pak relations. ALSO READ:  Imran Khan’s first 100 days Considering that both countries do not get along most of the time, the breakthrough is nothing less than a mira...

Recently, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad hosted the 11th South Asia Economic Summit. At the event, leading World Bank economist Sanjay Kathuria presented his report, “Glass Half Full: The Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia,” which is an analysis of future economic prospects for the region. Being the world’s fastest growing region, South Asia represents a massive market but the ratio for intra-regional trade remains a negligible 5 percent due to lack of trust and neglect. In comparison, 50 percent of the trade in East Asia and the Pacific region is within its immediate neighborhood. Trade barriers Identifying the four main impediments that slow down trade within this region, Kathuria specified connectivity costs, mutual trust deficit, tariffs and para tariffs as well as some real and perceived non-tariff barriers as the main factors. Apparently, costs of trade within South Asia are more than double the average rates around the world, ...

Happening just a week from now in Buenos Aires, this year’s Group of Twenty (G20) summit carries added significance as it holds potential to break ice between the US and China. According to reports, a ‘meeting plus dinner’ would take place between President Trump and President Xi, giving them more opportunity to settle issues in a casual setting, his would also be their first face- to- face meeting in a year. Ending the trade war is in everyone’s interest as US-China relations have a trickle-down effect on global markets and an adverse impact on global growth. Consequently, the G20 promises to be in the limelight in the coming days. Just to add perspective; the G20 was raised to summit level in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2008. Impacting 85 percent of the world economy, it represents two -thirds of the world’s population and 75 percent of world trade. Successfully bringing together the world’s leading industrialized and emerging economies, the group cons...

Even as Iran braces itself for the second round of US sanctions next month in November, President Trump has stressed that not only will all sanctions lifted by the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal be back in full force from 5th November, there will be more sanctions in the future to prevent Tehran from “developing the world’s deadliest weapons.” Further sanctions would be implemented to “address the full range of  Iran’s malign conduct ,” he said. In August, the first set of sanctions targeted the purchase of US dollars, gold trade and automotive sector, and next week Iran’s oil and shipping sectors and its central bank would be hit. Evidently, the US will not be placated easily and Washington has specified once again that those countries that continue to do  business with Iran after 4th November  would be blocked from accessing the American banking and financial system. ALSO READ:  Economic growth at the expense of punishing IMF package for Pakistan Vowing to “ta...

Ever since the US energy conglomerate Exxon Mobil acquired around 25 percent shareholding in the offshore drilling field in Pakistan this year, it has been considered a significant development. Returning to Pakistan after 33 years, the presence of Exxon Mobil promises to speed up oil and gas exploration and discovery in Pakistan as it brings in huge experience of deep and ultra-deep-water drilling to Pakistan. Apparently, this new technology applied by them in the offshore drilling field has been responsible for bringing about a revolution in the oil and gas market in the US. Implementing the same state of the art technology in Pakistan might change the country’s economic fortunes at this critical time of financial crisis. Up till this time, the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and the Italian energy firm ENI had carried out these operations and held around 33 percent stakes in this field. Now since the entry of Exxon Mobil in the count...

Having similar objectives as the CPEC and the TAPI, the CASA-1000 happens to be the third most significant, groundbreaking project of the decade for this geopolitical region. Officially declared a project in 2015, the progress of the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) has been at a snail’s pace until only recently. Launched in 2016, it involves four countries, namely, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and most of the funding is arranged from the World Bank, while the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are also funding it partially. ALSO READ:  Can Exxon Mobil entry bring foreign investment into Pakistan’s energy sector? In the broader perspective, this ambitious scheme intertwines two separate geopolitical regions with one single project. Connecting the energy-rich Central Asian states with the massive consumer market of South Asia, both US-backed proje...

Contrary to popular expectations that there might be no need to approach the IMF after all as the financial crisis has been averted, the Pakistan government has requested the Fund for an “economic recovery program”. As confirmed by Gerry Rice, Director Communication at the IMF, “Pakistan approached IMF in Indonesia for a fresh loan program in month of October.” Thus, it appears that going to the IMF never stopped being part of the plan. Considering the state of the Pakistan economy, it does need corrective measures and does need IMF regulations as the current account deficit spiraled by 43 percent in the last fiscal year while the budget deficit is 6.6 percent of the economic output. Having plunged 42 percent, foreign reserves were hardly enough to provide import cover for two months. Expected to range between six to eight billion dollars minimum, IMF support would help in carrying forward the long-term planning of the young government. Kicking off on a ‘technical level’ to for...

Describing by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a   “historic turning point ”, his recent trip to Beijing starts a new era in   Sino- Japanese relations. Embarking on a new ‘China strategy’, this visit also marks the 40-year anniversary of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship and this visit was the first by a Japanese leader to Beijing in seven years.   Setting aside any previous rivalry, China and Japan have agreed to boost their economic ties, forget their political differences and boost free trade. Adopting a practical and more realistic approach, Sino-Japanese ties are much more stable now as their converging interests bring them closer and increase their co-dependence. Recognizing this fact, even President Xi said that, “As the international situation changes, China and Japan are becoming increasingly dependent on one another. The rapid changes in the world are providing China and Japan with opportunities for more in-depth cooperation...