Pakistanis, living at home or abroad, have become masters at monologues, despising or ignoring the value of dialogue among ourselves and with others. We have convinced ourselves that we are
As the US mobilised its armed forces in the after math of the terrorist attacks of 11 September, the world's attention focused on Pakistan, so crucial to military
Except when it explodes in violence, Manipur in Northeast India is a state that rarely attracts attention. That is perhaps a misfortune to equal the tragedy of death that perpetually
Just a decade ago, there was near-unanimous agreement among the people of Assam that the cadre of the United Liberation Front of Assam/ Ahom (ULFA) should lay down arms
Nepal is little understood by outsiders because it was not colonised — the reason why there was not enough written about it till the mid-20th century. The country is also
The last SAARC summit was cancelled at India's behest because Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee did not want to shake hands with General Pervez Musharraf, who had just
After many a hiccup, the SAARC summit scheduled for 4-6 January will finally happen at a difficult time in the entire region's history. There is an epic
In recent years, the donor-led chorus on good governance (i.e. reduced corruption) has been gathering unprecedented momentum. "Transparency" and "accountability", the twin mantras of
Beginning or an end?
In a scene from The Killing Terraces, a documentary screened at the inaugural of Film South Asia 2001, director Dhurba Basnet captures the cold fury of
After nearly a month of US-led military strikes in fi.Afghanistan, the future of the country is less certain now than at any time since 1996. The Taliban emerged
Between the 1960s and the 1980s, the cold war between the US and the USSR was such that if the former launched a nuke-mounted missile, Soviet satellites were capable
