Dr Zafar Khan Safdar

Every budget arrives wrapped in promises and expectations, but some budgets reveal more than fiscal priorities; they expose strengths and limitations of the state itself.…

  WHAT does the government give us in return for our taxes? In Pakistan, this question has become a reflex that is repeated in drawing…

FOR decades, we have heard the same familiar phrase: “This budget is for the common man”. Every year, the budget is announced, the same claim…

  There was a time when education was considered a bridge between hardship and dignity. A degree was not merely a document but a promise,…

The next round of high-level talks between the United States and Iran is now expected to take place in Pakistan within the next 48 to…

  THE relationship between Pakistan and China is not a conventional diplomatic arrangement between two states. It is better understood as an evolving continuum of…

A peculiar stillness grips societies not in peace, but in quiet decline, a stillness rooted in avoidance instead of contentment and in a quiet turning…

As Pakistan prepares to present the Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, the moment demands more than routine fiscal adjustments. It demands direction. A national budget is…

A peculiar stillness grips societies not in peace, but in quiet decline, a stillness rooted in avoidance instead of contentment, and in a quiet turning…

A year has passed since the skies of South Asia were lit by drones and the deafening roar of fighter jets. In May 2025, India…