The joint statement released after @ImranKhanPTI 's visit to China is long, well-worded, and meaningful, to say the least. As per the statement, PM Khan was invited by the Chinese leadership. This, in and of itself, refutes the impression created by certain people.

I have serious issues with this @MarkeyDaniel piece in @ForeignAffairs, not least because it is rife with the usual set of allegations against Pakistan. politics-dz.com/en/americas-pe… .@MarkeyDaniel writes:"it helped birth the group in the 1980s...."

Two issues with this. One, The Taliban were not created in the 1980s. Also, all Mujahideen did not join the ranks of the Taliban in the 1990s.

Looking forward to this webinar on South Asia's nuclear history. It starts at 11. @Rabs_AA @adilsultan West's is a perspective of Nonproliferation, so it is important to look at Washington's non-proliferation policy, says @Rabs_AA.

This @Rabs_AA piece is not a digital warriors' delight because it neither bashes certain factions nor extols the others. It asks some tough questions of the Taliban and the U.S., a country that has let them run scot-free. pakistanpolitico.com/afghanpeace/ The Taliban, according to the author, must be pushed to share their vision ,their framework for Afghanistan. No free passes for them, please. The Taliban, as the author says, must show the world that they have changed.

@Rabs_AA hosted @seb_bw and @WheelerICCS, to discuss their co-authored report entitled 'Nuclear Responsibilities: A New Approach to Thinking and Talking about Nuclear Weapons'. Introducing the report, @seb_bw said that the idea was to explore ways to foster a culture of responsibility in the heart of nuclear politics, adding that a strong culture of talking and thinking about nuclear responsibilities will reduce mistrust, misperception, instability,etc.

In this session of the CSSPR Conversation Series, @Rabs_AA discussed with @PravinSawhney the Sino-Indo disengagement and its implications on the threats India faces, the ceasefire on the LoC, India's position within the QUAD, and a lot more. Disengagement happened within the 1959 Chinese claim line, and in areas which only had tactical value, said Pravin Sawhney while arguing that it showed how the PLA was unwilling to even give tactical concessions to India.

In the CSSPR Conversation Series, Dr. @Rabs_AA hosted Dr. @vali_nasr ,for a wide-ranging discussion on regional dynamics, the intercession between geopolitics and geoeconomics, Pak-U.S. relations, Afghanistan, Iran, and a whole lot more. According to Dr.Nasr, the Biden administration has not come to office with a forward-looking policy on South and Western Asia, for that matter.

Enthralling conversation happening right now on @ajwsmall 's interesting and thought-provoking report. @Rabs_AA has made some excellent remarks on the report and the overall dynamics of CPEC.
gmfus.org/publications/r… Dr.Akhtar calls CPEC as a transformative project, and terms the parleys on CPEC as recalibration and reassessment that would ultimately lead to reassurance.

William E.Todd ,the nominated US Amb to Pakistan, gave a testimony to the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. foreign.senate.gov/download/testi… "The U.S.-Pakistan health partnership helped contribute to better-than-expected COVID-
19 outcomes in Pakistan, from training health workers to upgrading emergency operations
centers...."

That @MarkeyDaniel dedicates the preface of his book to Gwadar is quite telling and commensurate with China's priorities in the region. Interesting point re impediments for China: domestic politics within states of Eurasia.

This piece by @Rabs_AA ,brilliantly lays bare Pakistan's future strategic challenges and the option(s) that the country should exercise ,in the wake of the Israel-Gulf rapprochement. strafasia.com/israeli-gulf-r… The author argues that Pakistan must not lose sight of the impending threat of encirclement, that could emanate from Israel's forays around and proximity to Pakistan. New Delhi and Tel Aviv could ramp up trouble for Islamabad in the Arabian Gulf, argues the author.

"Our campus was off limits ,creativity was not," says @Rabs_AA in an RCSS webinar on Education and Technology. Internet access is the biggest issue when it comes to the online education landscape in Pakistan, she adds.

18 pages into this interesting study on DPRK by @PerkovichG and @toby_dalton ,I find this point very logical: "Trading some compliance uncertainty for comprehensiveness up front seems worthwhile to build a
broad foundation for the second stage of verified capping to follow." “Permitting” ongoing nuclear and missile activities like this would be politically very hard
to swallow in Washington, Seoul, Tokyo, and probably also in Beijing."

Well, a state doesn't require permission from other states to take decisions in its interest.

Something that the doctor ordered for me. Captivating title, and an all-important phenomenon that is fast-becoming a key element in a state's crisis behaviour. @heatherwilly The tweet that ,according to the authors, lies at the heart of their argument is this :" To manage escalation during crises, stop tweeting."

Today, @Rabs_AA spoke at a webinar on India's defense modernisation and its implications on deterrence stability. She started off by saying that the region that confronts trilateral complexities, is undergoing strategic shifts. Calling for thinking on what India's defense modernisation is geared towards, @Rabs_AA coined the term "Surrogate Deterrence ", which means that India will use its toys against Pakistan (surrogate) for deterrence signalling against China cos direct deterrence is risky.

Dr.@Rabs_AA had a brilliant , scholarly and IR-esque conversation with the erudite @RRajagopalanJNU on alliances, Structural Realism, balancing etc, in the context of India's basket of options in the wake of conflagration with China. Thread to follow. When asked by @Rabs_AA as to how India ,as a weaker power , can coerce China, Dr.Rajesh, while acknowledging India's relatively less power overall, pointed to things being even stevens at the theatre level in and around the LAC.

This piece by @MadihaAfzal needs to be read carefully in order to understand the deleterious effects of being openly biased and deluded.
brookings.edu/blog/order-fro… "Perhaps a deal would have been signed anyway. The Taliban got everything it wanted, securing — in its eyes — a U.S. surrender for an absolute minimum in promises."

Really? Undermining Pakistan's role despite knowing full well that the US had practically implored us to do more.

This is a very interesting piece by @Pushan3012. He talks about the need for India to review and accountability in lapses in intelligence and conduct (of war) at various levels in the wake of the standoff in Ladakh. Thread to follow . orfonline.org/research/deja-… He writes that systemic shortcomings have to be highlighted and questioned, if India wants chalk out an effective strategy to deal with China.

"The Pakistani PM has talked about this many times, and we have been chided for it. We carried out an exercise looking at the similarities between Modi and Hitler. I kid you not ,if you close your eyes, you will not see a difference." @YusufMoeed
facebook.com/nutshellconfer… You cannot cherry-pick when it comes to relying on bilateralism and multilateralism, said Dr.@YusufMoeed while adding that is a difference between dialogue and reflection. Pakistan is willing to engage in the former.

.@Rabs_AA had a very crisp,scholarly conversation with distinguished scholar, Ashley J.Tellis, on the crisis in the Himalayas, India's two-front war refrain, US-Indo relations and the scaffold of US-Sino competition. Thread to follow. On the intrusions in Ladakh, Tellis said they appeared to be within the Chinese claim line and in areas that the Chinese had patrolled. That said, Tellis said that previously the Chinese didn't entrench themselves in those places.

So, let me get at this piece by @MichaelKugelman.

"Still, using what information is available, it’s clear that Pakistan derives benefits from the standoff."
How can hazy information paint a clear picture ? nationalinterest.org/feature/pakist… "Some Indian media reports—albeit unconfirmed—claim that as many as ten thousand Chinese soldierscrossed into India at various parts along the Line of Control and remain on Indian soil."
LOC or LAC ? The difference can turn the entire piece on its head.....