By Nadia Zartaj Gilgit-Baltistan, with its unique geography, has one of the most diverse landscapes on earth. The region is an abode for the four greatest mountain ranges in the world: The Pamir to the north, the Hindu Kush to the west, the lesser Himalayas to the south, and the Karakoram to the East. Five of the 14 tallest mountain …

HAH Special Correspondent Islamabad: A book on studies of three major mountain regions of Pakistan has been published. The book, titled: Mountain Studies Understanding and Managing  Mountains for people and Nature is an important resource book for researchers, academia, students, and environmentalists as well as the people living in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya (HKH) regions. The book contains …

By Hamdan Ahmed After widening Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) strategic agenda, particularly focusing on limiting China in the Asian-Pacific region, the United States announced the Indo-Pacific Strategy in February 2022. The strategy has set up some ambiguous yet interesting objectives for the Indo-Pacific region, which was a battleground for the US-China economic and strategic competition lately and has now become …

Steve Cole, Erin Guiltenane In the largest-ever study of glacial lakes, researchers using 30 years of NASA satellite data have found that the volume of these lakes worldwide has increased by about 50% since 1990 as glaciers melt and retreat due to climate change. The findings, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, will help researchers assessing the potential hazards …

Making sense of ‘Chinese characteristics’. Is it time for the Pakistani Left to start talking about Chinese ‘imperialism’? by Aasim Sajjad Akhtar Into the third decade of the 21st century, what does it mean to talk of imperialism(s) and empire? Can every unequal relationship of exchange, power and cultural diffusion be considered imperialistic? How do we sift through the complexities …

Like Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan also has a swelling state debt and took on billions worth of loans over the last decade from China’s Export-Import Bank for a series of infrastructure plans under the Belt and Road Initiative.

On its seventh anniversary, the China Cultural Center in Pakistan has pledged to further enhance people-to-people ties through cultural activities. The center has been at the forefront of cultural exchange between Pakistan and China. Seven years ago, President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Pakistan flanked by the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had jointly inaugurated the cultural …

Regional powers are seeking to fill the vacuum left by the abrupt departure of the US and its Western allies.

Considered to be the icons of High Asia, the elusive snow leopards have evolved to live in some of the world’s highest and harshest habitats in 12 countries.

Beijing’s security presence in Central Asia grows DUSHANBE: Tajikistan has approved the construction of a new Chinese-funded base near the country’s border with Afghanistan as Tajik officials warn of growing threats emanating from its southern neighbour.In a separate development, the Tajik government has offered to transfer full control of a preexisting Chinese military base in the country to Beijing and …

China’s space programme took a major leap on Saturday (May 15) when an unmanned spacecraft, Zhurong rover, successfully landed on the surface of Mars, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, marking the country’s first landing on another planet and the second space-faring nation after the US to land on the red planet.

Anthropologist Tobias Marschall spent 11 months living among nomadic Pamir Kyrgyz herders in the isolated mountain valleys of northeastern Afghanistan between 2015 and 2019. Below is a feature based on his research and field reports. Resettling an entire ethnic group in another country is a monumental task fraught with legal, political, and logistical complications. But that’s what Kyrgyz President Sadyr …

By Neelum Wali The word Covid-19 stands for coronavirus immuno difficiency disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”. Covid-19 is linked to the family of viruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Different viruses are given their names according to their genetic structure. The virus was named SARS-CoV-2 on February 11, 2020, due to its …

by Aziz Ali Dad Let me start this review of the book “Hunza Matters: Bordering and ordering between ancient and new Silk Roads” by indulging in subjectivity. In 2015, I was a Crossroads Asia fellow at Modern Oriental Institute in Berlin, Germany. As a part of socialization, we interacted with different researchers and members of academia. On one weekend my …

News Desk Dr Pema Gyamtsho has been elected new director-general of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). “He will succeed Dr David Molden at his retirement from his current position as director-general in which he served for nearly a decade with his depth and breadth of intelligence, wisdom, and gracious people-oriented leadership,” ICIMOD board of governors announced the …