By Ghulam Amin Beg The old Indian narrative on Jammu and Kashmir of a democratic dispensation, constitutionally guaranteed local autonomy and unique status has disappeared overnight. Thanks to the fascist actions of Prime Minister Modi and the BJP government last year. The new status quo in Kashmir has created a new narrative for both pro-Indian and nationalist Kashmiris as well …

President Arif Alvi assents summary; govt weighs in on a proposal to give provisional province status to GB with representation in parliament High Asia Herald Report ISLAMABAD: General elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) will be held on November 15, according to a summary moved by the government and approved by President Arif Alvi on Wednesday. The notification comes …

Partition left many border people in the lurch. Dr Asim Sajjad Akhtar THE announcement by the prime minister earlier this week of a ‘new political map’ of the country in which India-occupied Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are depicted as part of Pakistan is, on the surface, much ado about nothing. Designed to coincide with the first anniversary of the Modi regime’s decision …

In responding to Indian provocation, Pakistan abandoned its principled stand about who can legitimately decide on the fate of Kashmir, writes Farhatullah Babar by Farhatullah Babar Exactly a year after Prime Minister Modi annulled the special status of Kashmir and annexed the region into the Indian territory, Pakistan responded by unveiling with great fanfare its own new political map. The new …

UN-appointed independent human rights experts have called for urgent action in India’s Jammu and Kashmir, amid concerns of ongoing abuses against civilians there.

Want to learn more about National Geographic’s feature on snow leopards and community conservation? Ajay Bijoor takes you behind the scenes of the story   Getting to know the people of Kibber My first interaction with a larger group of local people in Kibber was at a livestock insurance meeting. Winter hadn’t set in fully, but the evenings had grown …

Senator Sherry Rehman Is the China-India conflict in the Himalayas blows hot and blows cold, Islamabad’s studied reticence has so far only signalled quiet alarm. While both China and India try to de-escalate on the LAC via special representatives, the India-Pakistan relationship has seen no such noise reduction. Tension in South Asia, in fact, is steadily rising because the perils …

  The headwaters of 10 major rivers originate near some of Earth’s highest points. Known as the world’s “third pole,”  or Baam-e-Jahan (roof of the world), the land of Mount Everest and other peaks holds the largest concentration of perennial ice outside of the polar regions. Along with snow and rain from the mountains, this ice helps supply the river …

Herald Report Islamabad: A digital rights watchdog has expressed concern at the difficulties being faced by students in attending online classes due to lack of Internet facilities in the rural area of Pakistan and mountainous regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. The organisation has urged the government to provide an appropriate recourse for the students who are unable to access e-learning modules during …

The recent military clash between India and China has transfixed the world, writes Ejaz Haider, a security analyst, in a special report in Dawn’s Sunday magazine. He analyzes the timing and the ramifications for the two countries and for the region. The recent bloody military clash between the two neighbouring powers in remote Ladakh Valley has transfixed the world and …