Central Asia and Pakistani Seaports: Opportunities
Central Asia and Pakistani Seaports: Opportunities Amer Zafar Durrani, July 27, 2005 Executive summary Pakistan’s seaports – chiefly Karachi Port (KPT) and Port Qasim (PQA) – are the natural maritime gateways for Afghanistan and the five land‑locked Central Asian Republics (CARs). Over the past three fiscal years (FY 2021‑22 → FY 2024‑25) the value and tonnage of transit and…
Regional Security Concerns: Pakistan’s Response to US-India Ties
Amer Zafar Durrani, February 21, 2025 The United States and India Joint Leaders’ Statement issued on February 13, 2025, provoked strong reactions in Pakistan. Is it “much ado about nothing” or is it more a case of “where there is smoke, there is a fire?” Sifting facts from posturing is important. Pakistan needs to objectively…
Childlike naivete – retain it
Charles Baudelaire espoused the antithesis of then middle-class values of materialism and conventionality as being “naivette,” or simply put naivete. Interestingly, the bourgeoises and their fondness for tradition in an industrial age, an age of science and discovery, often formed a barrier in pursuing a childlike curiosity towards the world, nature, and one’s own self.…
Equity and Grid Stability: Reconsidering Household Net Metering in Pakistan
Amer Zafar Durrani, President, Reenergia and Komal Kenneth Shakeel, Senior Economist, Reenergia We wrote about household solar and its adoption in Pakistan last year and since, many a storm has erupted on the local landscape on this issue coupled with net metering. Net metering is a typical policy area where countries like Pakistan are best…
Afghans in Pakistan
Yes, Afghanistan as a nation state has never really accepted Pakistan. But, why so? One lens through which to look at this hesitance from Kabul is the creation of the Durand line without the consent of the Afghanistan state. The natural demographics and geography of Pakistan and Afghanistan have since long, pointed at how the…
No substance, no poetry, no thought, no Pakistan—the world, friends, is moving on!
In this last week, alone, much has happened outside the land of the pure and plenty. The Egyptians earned foreign exchange and tourism flourished. Not a lot happened at Sharm El-Sheikh, except that the red seacoast lit up with suits and dresses and some scanty-dresses. The usual moral stampede by the less favored nations—read all…
Sheep, Shepherds, Pakistan, and Social Pollution!
“To be born again, first you have to die. How to ever smile again, if first you won’t cry? How to win the darling’s love mister, without a sigh?” I will not even dare and explain whose quote I am using. Those who know, do shut up. Pakistan is, I think, in need of this…
Future Afghanistan economy? Taking clues from the economy of the ‘Taliban Group’
The debate on how Afghanistan’s economy will fare, once the coalition forces, and their proxies and supporting service providers, have left, rages on. From an economic point of view, much has changed and yet much stays the same. Falsely propped-up consumption is fast going down. The prevalence of abject poverty in the masses stays the…
Adapting Pakistan To Post Covid-19 Technology Gains: Some Thought Pathways
Post pandemic, a massive compression of technology adoption and adaptation is happening in Asia, but Pakistan, still amongst the least technology-friendly states, is lagging. Is the enabling environment in Pakistan holding back this technology adoption and adaptation? Is dearth of capital chasing technology innovation in Pakistan holding back emergence of ideas and innovations and entrepreneurs,…
2021, snakes and ladders and a virus exposing virulent buffoons
We were all exposed as selfish nations, as selfish global communities. Let there be some cheer in that.
World through a Pakistani Lens 