Pakistan

Among the significant issues of the subcontinental region, one can refer to the concern over Pakistan’s inability to maintain the security of its nuclear facilities, the illegal increase in its nuclear weapon production, extremist organizations’ access to nuclear weapons, as well as the fact that this country has not joined the NPT treaty. Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which was created to fulfill the two aims of promoting peaceful applications of nuclear power and preventing nuclear activities from edging toward military purposes, can play an effective role- within the framework of its legal authority- in preventing the potential threats of Pakistan’s nuclear activities from actualizing. Therefore, the main question of the present research concern the strong and weak points of the IAEA’s performance toward Pakistan’s nuclear activities. The findings of this essay will demonstrate the undesirability of the Agency accomplishments (drawing up several safeguard agreements), in comparison with its deficiencies, including cases such as the Agency’s silence regarding the uptrend in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons production, failing to persuade Pakistan to join the NPT, being affected by the great powers in observing Pakistan’s nuclear activities, as well as incorrect estimations of the security of its nuclear programs.

Persian language and literature have a presence of about one thousand years in the Indian subcontinent. The growth of this language is indebted to Ghourid rulers whose mother tongue was Persian. However, we should not be negligent of the significant role of great Iranian Sufis and mystics such as Ali Ibn Othman Hojviri, Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti and Sayyed Ali Hamadani. The necessity of a research about the continuation and growth of Persian language in Pakistan is due to the questions as when this language and literature found its way and what is their importance in this country, as well as to what extent they have influenced Urdu and eventually their effects on Iranian studies. The research method is based on the review of historical documents with emphasis on numerous manuscripts kept in national and private libraries in Pakistan. The outcome of this research shows that the strength and solidity of Urdu is in critical need of more manuscript sources and stone-print documents for better understanding of spiritual culture, historical and public identity of Pakistan and seriously demands preservation of the ancient heritage of this region and production of new sources for the modern history and culture of Pakistan. Persian language and its heritage no doubt have a great share in this regard.

In the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the ensuing dominance of political Islam discourse and its impact on Pakistani society, the ground was prepared for the spread of Wahhabism and anti-Shiism in that country due to the failure of the Islamabad government to manage the reactive conduct of extremist Salafist groups as well as its engagement in internal disputes. Consequently, plots and threats from Salafist extremism in Pakistan led to the emergence of a confrontational ideological identity against the Islamic Revolution. In response to the question about the main root of Pakistani extremist groups’ security threats and plots against the Islamic Revolution, the hypnosis of this paper is that efforts made by radical Salafist groups for constructing an extremist identity based on authorization triggered the confrontational identity formation against Iran’s Islamic Revolution. This research will first analyze the impact of the Islamic Revolution’s influence on the reaction of extremist groups in Pakistani society. Then, it will study the impact of such factors as poverty, political instability, religious schools and regional machinations on the growth and creation of extremism in Pakistan. The third section will explain Pakistani extremist groups’ security threats and plots targeting the Islamic Revolution.

China has invested in the Gwadar port in Pakistan to create an economic corridor with the aim of connecting China to Central Asia through the Indian Ocean. This program is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including several roads, sea routes, and corridors. On the other hand, India, a regional rival to China, is keen to invest in the port of Chabahar in the I.R. Iran to create the International North-South corridor, which can connect India to Central Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Northern Europe through the Indian Ocean. According to these significant facts, two critical questions will be discussed in the present study: the first question investigates whether Indo-Chinese competition makes Chabahar and Gwadar rival ports, and the second question examines whether it would be possible for China to investigate in Chabahar as an alternative corridor. To address these questions, the present study hypothesizes that Chabahar can be an international port, fulfilling the interests of all parties, including China. This study is a qualitative research, based on the International Order theory by Hadley Bull, using the SWOT analysis in order to address the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of Iran-China bilateral relations in Chabahar for both sides. For collecting the data, existing documents and articles, as well as in-depth interviews have been used. Results indicate that the Chabahar port, as one of the main gateways to the Iranian transit corridors, could be a common point of Interest for Iran, India and China to create a regional order, based on cooperation in transit.

Background: Assessing municipal solid waste management systems is crucial for improving the quality of waste disposal services in urban areas. Objectives: The main objective of this study is to assess the operational capacities and challenges of Metropolitan Corporation Quetta in managing municipal solid waste (MSW). Methodology: Applying a mixed-method approach, this study used a case study research design. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews from the selected six key informants and official data on waste management services. The findings showed that MCQ's waste lifting capacity for 2020-21 and 2021-22 were 256523 tons and 259350 tons, respectively. The average daily waste lifting capacity in 2020-21 was 657.75 tons, while in 2021-22, it increased to 665.00 tons. Results: The findings also revealed that the amount of waste generated in Quetta is estimated at 1500 tons a day, of which almost 50% is disposed of daily. MCQ has 231 vehicles for solid waste management. Of the total human resource capacity i.e., 2595, 1600 work on daily wages. MCQ needs more funds, machinery, and vehicles. The findings of the study concluded that the Metropolitan Corporation Quetta needs more operating capability due to inconsistent and insufficient funding availability, a lack of machinery and vehicles, and a shortage of human resources. The MCQ has successfully disposed of about half (50%) of all the waste generated daily. Conclusion: This study suggests a dire need for enhancing the operational capability of MCQ through allocating sufficient finances, equipment and machinery, and adequate human resources for an improved and sustainable solid waste management system in Quetta.

The Ummah's unity has been shattered by the divide-and-rule machinations of the US through its "Global War on Terror", seemingly rendering the dream of pragmatic geopolitical cooperation between the world's majority-Muslim states a political fantasy. The so-called "Clash of Civilizations" hasn't just been weaponized to provoke inter-civilizational conflicts, but also intra-civilizational ones too, which in the Ummah's case took the form of violent sectarianism. While "conventional knowledge" would suggest that there's no surmounting these obstacles in the near future, Iran might actually be able to pioneer a breakthrough if it revives and reforms the Old Cold War-era CENTO alliance of itself, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iraq in order to symbolically contradict the sectarian trend and enter into mutually beneficial strategic relations with its three most important neighbors.