Pakistan–Afghanistan Relations: What Next?
Towards Pragmatic Policy Pathways in a Shifting Regional Order POLICY ROUNDTABLE REPORT Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Islamabad, Pakistan Compiled by Imtiaz Gul and Elsa Chandio ABOUT THIS REPORT This report synthesises the interventions made at a...
Diplomacy, Aid, and Dialogue: How the UK Remains Engaged with Afghanistan
By Elsa Chandio As the Taliban complete five years in power, UK Special Envoy Richard Lindsay has reflected in an X thread on why Britain continues to engage with Afghanistan and what that engagement has involved during his first year in the role. Five years after the...
Building Climate-Resilient Infrastructure in Gilgit-Baltistan: Indigenous Solutions for Mountain Communities
By Engineer Muhammad Darjat As floods, glacial melt, landslides, and cloudbursts increasingly damage irrigation systems and other essential infrastructure across Gilgit-Baltistan, cement-heavy construction is proving costly and difficult to sustain. Muhammad Darjat...
Pakistan and Afghanistan Have No Alternative but Dialogue-Based Engagement: Experts
Despite persistent security challenges, Pakistan and Afghanistan have no viable alternative but to pursue sustained dialogue-based engagement and pragmatic cooperation, calibrated security measures, expanded trade, and stronger Track 1.5/ II diplomacy to rebuild trust...
Reclaiming the Commons: Community-Led Farmland Restoration in Gilgit-Baltistan
By Muhammad Darjat As fertile lands disappear under floods and erosion, community-led restoration offers a practical blueprint for climate resilience in Pakistan's mountain regions. Across the high-altitude valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan, a tangible crisis is radically...
Pakistan’s Afghan deportation drive: When ‘voluntary return’ is not a choice
More than 10,000 Afghans a day have been crossing into Afghanistan since Islamabad’s July 10 deadline. The UN warns that fear of arrest is driving people out, blurring the line between voluntary return and forced deportation. Days before Pakistan’s latest deadline for...
Socioeconomic Considerations Must Define Pakistan-Afghanistan Ties, Conflict is the Natural Course: Experts
Pakistan and Afghanistan must move beyond a predominantly security-driven paradigm and instead cultivate their relationship in sustained dialogue, socioeconomic cooperation, and pragmatic regional engagement to prevent bilateral tensions from hardening into prolonged...
PAKISTAN RECORDS DOWNTICK IN VIOLENCE, BUT KP FATALITIES SURGE 53%
CRSS Security Report | Q2 2026 Overall Tally During the second quarter of 2026, the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) tallied as high as 774 violence-linked fatalities and 336 injuries in Pakistan - among civilians, security personnel, and outlaws -...
Latest Publications
PAKISTAN RECORDS DOWNTICK IN VIOLENCE, BUT KP FATALITIES SURGE 53%
CRSS Security Report | Q2 2026 Overall Tally During the second quarter of 2026, the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) tallied as high as 774 violence-linked fatalities and 336 injuries in Pakistan - among civilians, security personnel, and outlaws -...
When Water Stops and Air Burns
Karachi's Transport Pollution, K-IV Failure, and the Making of a Heatwave Catastrophe A Comprehensive Research Report on Air Quality, Climate Change, and Governance Failure Author: Engineer Arshad H. Abbasi Independent Energy, Water & Climate Change Expert Preface...
Gwadar: A Decade of Unfulfilled Promises
By Imtiaz Gul and Shahana Naseer Introduction: Vision, Investment, and the Question of Credibility Gwadar occupies a strategically significant geographic position at the intersection of South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and western China. Its deep-sea port...
IRAN -ISREAL CONFLICT GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR SOUTH ASIA
Executive Summary The 12-day Israel-Iran war sent shock waves across the globe. It not only enforced some strategic realignments but also further sharpened the existing geopolitical divisions between the two major camps: the US-led G-7 and the NATO alliance, versus...
CHINA IN AFGHANISTAN THE DRAGON RISES
Abstract This report tracks China's engagement with Afghanistan in recent years, both pre- and post-Taliban rule in August 2021. Guided by principles of non-interference and sovereignty, China's Afghan policy has adapted to address assertive geo-economic endeavours...