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karakoram Pass
Strategic Essay: The Genesis of the Line Joining NJ 9842 with the Karakoram Pass


Amit Krishankant Paul

This essay traces the origins and evolution of the imaginary line joining NJ 9842 to the Karakoram Pass, a cartographic construct with no legal basis in the 1949 Karachi Ceasefire Agreement. It reveals how private and official mapmakers—particularly in the West—erroneously extended the ceasefire line beyond NJ 9842 without any factual basis and the practice became pronounced after “Hodgson’s Line” introduced by the U.S. State Department in 1968.

Siachien
Strategic Essay: Comprehending NJ 9842 and the Region Beyond


Amit Krishankant Paul

This essay critically examines the origins, significance, and misconceptions surrounding NJ 9842—the northernmost demarcated point of the 1949 India-Pakistan Ceasefire Line (CFL) in Jammu and Kashmir. It argues that NJ 9842 emerged not as a terminus by design but as a consequence of an incomplete demarcation exercise halted by mutual consent due to terrain challenges and presumed irrelevance...

GCC
Structural Constraints and Strategic Inertia: Rethinking Gulf Security After Israel’s Doha Attack


Mohmad Waseem Malla

This Issue Brief analyses the structural limitations of the Gulf security framework in light of Israel’s unprecedented attack in Doha on 9 September, targeting Palestinian Hamas leadership. While the attack marked a dangerous escalation of Tel Aviv’s regional adventurism, it also exposed the enduring structural weaknesses of the Gulf’s security architecture which has been defined by entrenched dependency on the United States.

Pakistan-Afghanistan
The Pak-Afghan Border Clashes: Fallout of Unrealistic Expectations?


Ashish Shukla

Ever since August 2021, when Taliban fighters captured the seat of power in Kabul, the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan started deteriorating. It was primarily because of Pakistan’s unrealistic expectations from the Taliban.....

Issue Briefs

Pakistan Flag
Pakistan’s UPR National Report: Hides more Than it Reveals


Zaheena Naqvi

Months after its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report on the human rights condition in the country was approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during its 53rd Session on 30 October 2023, Pakistan continues to violate most of the agreed recommendations to alleviate the concerns of all the stakeholders and improve the rights situation in the country.

Chahbar Port
The Chabahar Port and India-Iran Agreement


Ashish Shukla

On 13 May 2024, India and Iran signed a 10-year long-term contract for operation of Shahid Behesti terminal at the Chabahar port in Iran, eight years after concluding the general framework of cooperation on the Chabahar port. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in May 2015 for the development of this port by India and on 23 May 2016, the contract was executed during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran.

Gilgit-Baltistan
Widening gulf between Pakistan and AJK


Nazir Ahmad Mir

Although most of the demands have been accepted― of course, not before securitizing the political issue by deploying FC, Rangers along with police to use force against the protesters― the people of AJK are unlikely to forget the ordeal they have had to pass through, for the last more than six months, which has certainly steeled their nerves.