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This study explores the legitimacy of nation-states in the light of Islamic teachings, and thoughts of prominent Muslims jurists. It focuses on these questions: does Islam prescribe a specific form of government; if a single unified state is required as per injunctions of Islam; does Islam outlaws the nationalism; does Islam commend a unitary or a federal state. The research investigates the state-formation process in the light of teachings of Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) as well as writings of Muslim theologians and jurists. The nature of the state practiced in the Muslim world, the importance of Caliph and its actual role, place of tribalism and nationalism in Islam, are the main points of discussion.The study employs historical and descriptive methods and relies on secondary sources mainly books and articles covering writings of Muslim scholars from later generations.

This study explores the legitimacy of the nation-states in the light of Islamic teachings, and the thoughts of prominent Muslim jurists. The research focuses on the questions, does Islam prescribe a specific form of the government; if a single unified state across the world is required as per the injunctions of Islam; does Islam outlaws the nationalism; does Islam commend a unitary or a federal state. The research investigates the state-formation process in the light of teachings of Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) as well as writings of Muslim theologians and jurists. The nature of the state practiced in the Muslim world, the importance of Caliph and its actual role, place of tribalism and nationalism in Islam, are the main points of discussion. The study employs historical and descriptive methods and relies on secondary sources mainly books and articles covering writings of Muslim scholars from later generations.

Pakistan's Afghan policy after Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979 was not a simple reaction to that event. Soviet action had far reaching repercussions for Pakistan as well as for the region as a whole. Nor Pakistan's reply to Soviet occupation of Afghanistan neither Soviet decision to send its troops in small neighborly country could be seen while separating it from changing regional as well as international scenario. It also could not be seen without taking into consideration the historical background of the events that had led to the destabilization of Southwest Asia.

This paper elucidates the significance of the role and behavior of a core member - occupying a central position and politically, militarily, and economically superior to others – and the outside great or superpower for the success of the process of regional cooperation especially in the developing world. The core state plays a vital role in either success or failure of any regional cooperative arrangement. Outside powers, especially the great or superpowers can also affect the fate of regional schemes. Moreover, the nature of relations between the core member state and an outside great or superpower also affects in diverse ways the process of regionalism. Under this theoretical framework, this paper investigates why the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline proposal could not materialize. The paper explores internal and external factors that halted the progress of the project with special reference to the role and behavior of India and the United States. It illuminates how the Indo-US strategic partnership and nuclear deal overshadowed a crucial project that was designed to create interdependence between three states, especially India and Pakistan and establish peace in the region. The study finds that India emphasized its connections with the United States to realize its ambitions of becoming a key player in world affairs. The paper shows how the US distracted India from pursuing a crucial regional cooperation project by providing payoffs and incentives that jeopardized the process of regionalism in South Asia.

The paper aims to highlight some drawbacks in the approach of a section of Muslims leaders, scholars, and masses towards the idea of nationalism. They view it as a Western concept implanted in the Muslim world as a conspiracy to divide and subjugate them as well as to undermine Islamic teachings. The paper elucidates the existence of the socio-economic conditions and political situation in the Muslim world that offered apt milieu to the growth of nationalism. Rise of nationalism has not been exclusively responsible for fragmentation of Ottoman Empire. Instead, the religious elements in the Arab world and oppressive rule and suppressive measures of the Turk rulers also contributed to the process. Fairly, nationalism served as a driving force against the imperial rule and helped gain Muslims emancipation from the West. The study also illuminates the difference between territorial and Muslim nationalisms and that how Islam replaced the secularism. The study is qualitative and employs historical and content analysis methods to collect and scrutinize the data.

The paper aims to highlight some drawbacks in the approach of a section of Muslims leaders, scholars, and masses towards the idea of nationalism. They view it as a Western concept implanted in the Muslim world as a conspiracy to divide and subjugate them as well as to undermine Islamic teachings. The paper elucidates the existence of the socio-economic conditions and political situation in the Muslim world that offered apt milieu to the growth of nationalism. Rise of nationalism has not been exclusively responsible for fragmentation of Ottoman Empire. Instead, the religious elements in the Arab world and oppressive rule and suppressive measures of the Turk rulers also contributed to the process. Fairly, nationalism served as a driving force against the imperial rule and helped gain Muslims emancipation from the West. The study also illuminates the difference between territorial and Muslim nationalisms and that how Islam replaced the secularism. The study is qualitative and employs historical and content analysis methods to collect and scrutinize the data.

Pakistan faced severe challenges of violent extremism and terrorism after US invasion of Afghanistan. The successive governments pursued both political and military means to bring an end to this problem but to no avail. The war against terrorism was highly unpopular among the people and it was the main cause of failure to combat terrorism. In 2013, the newly formed government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decided to give peace a chance after a decision of an All Parties Conference (APC). Consequently, the dialogue process, through the committee members nominated by the government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ensued that kindled the hope of peace and stability in the country. However, the process was crippled after a few months and government launched a military operation against TTP and other militant outfits in the country. The paper explores the factors that lead the government to start peace talks with TTP and analyzes the challenges that dialogue process faced and ultimately caused its failure. Finally, it highlights the benefits, particularly the national consensus to combat terrorism that dialogue process produced despite its failure to bring peace in the country.

The paper explores the progress of regional cooperation in various functional areas as identified by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) since its inception in 1985. It also examines whether and to what extent SAARC has been successful in accomplishing the goals enshrined in its charter. SAARC was formed: to promote peace, amity, stability and progress in the region; to promote the welfare and quality of life of people; to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development, and; to attain collective and national self-reliance through joint efforts. SAARC made significant progress in several areas, such as: agriculture and rural development; environment; science and technology; human resource development including education, arts, culture and sports; transport; telecommunications, and information and communication technology; tourism, and energy. It has concluded several agreements and conventions besides setting up a few regional centres to realize its objectives. Generally, SAARC has not successful in implementing its programs and projects due to various reasons. It has been short of achieving several of its goals which makes its performance dismal.

In today's globalized world, it has become a necessary norm to be part of a regional integration process for neighbouring countries in any region of the world. Central Asia is a good example to understand with its rich past and unexplored perspective. This phenomenon can be better understood by examining the quest of Central Asian republics (CARs) for regional integration and the role of BRI in this process. ‎For that, this paper explores the historical dynamics and drivers of regional integration in Central Asia with a special focus on the role of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which aims to improve regional infrastructure, commerce, and investment, has the potential to redefine the direction of regional integration in Central Asia in the face of shifting global power dynamics. Furthermore, Liberal Intergovernmental theory helps explain the Central Asian Republics' core actions and the impact of their domestic policies providing a details view of what drives regional integration in Central Asia. The study explores the historical dynamics and drivers of regional integration in Central Asia, focusing on the role of the BRI in reshaping these dynamics at domestic and external levels, using qualitative and thematic analysis of secondary sources.

Since 2014, India's domestic and foreign policies have reflected violent religious fanaticism and hyper-nationalism. If elected to power, Modi often stated that India would pursue a tough stance against Pakistan and would put Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) directly under the control of the Indian central government. This did not paint a positive picture. Since 2014, India's primary goal in foreign policy has remained to encircle Pakistan on all of its borders and isolate it from the rest of the world. Nearly all of the world's superpowers and the Muslim nations have encouraged diplomatic relations with India. India strategically employs all of the regional nations and global powers it has close ties to fight Pakistan. Without any regional or international pressure, it unilaterally changed the special constitutional status of Indian-occupied Kashmir. The reactionary foreign policy of Pakistan, on the other hand, did not rely on pre-emptive measures to fight India's foreign policy, which is primarily built on plotting against Pakistan. India consistently takes advantage of Pakistan's weak and nebulous international policies. This study aims to give a detailed analysis of the elements, in particular the internal or domestic ones that were responsible for influencing foreign policy decision-making in India and Pakistan between 2014 and 2020. Using Allison's models of foreign policy has identified the factors accountable for Pakistan's unproductive and responsive external policy in contrast to India's proactive and forceful external strategy. One of the crucial findings that this study identified is that the democratic system and political continuity in India are the significant elements providing a strong base for effective policy making and building strong institutions as compared to Pakistan where the absence of both these elements are contributing to institutional crisis as well as weak and passive decision making.

The paper scrutinizes the political rights situation during the first five years (1999-2004) of Pervaiz Musharraf era. Musharraf had come into power after army had revolted over his dismissal as army chief by the prime minister. He strove to project soft image of his government to get legitimacy within the country and recognition from the outside world, particularly the West. He portrayed himself as a liberal leader and later also propagated his idea of "enlightened moderation" as a panacea for the miseries of the Muslim world. Despite his overtures, the political rights situation became bleak during his military rule and no meaningful change took place even during the first two years after country returned to "democratic rule." Musharraf government denied people of their political rights to prolong his authoritarian rule. His rule was characterized by: arbitrary arrests and imprisonments of political leaders; repression of political activities; imposition of forced exile; political victimization in the name of accountability; attacks on rights to elect the government; military's direct grip over affairs of state despite transition to the civilian rule; intimidation of opposition over legal framework order; and limitations on freedom of association.

The paper scrutinizes the political rights situation during the first five years (1999-2004) of Pervaiz Musharraf era. Musharraf had come into power after army had revolted over his dismissal as army chief by the prime minister. He strove to project soft image of his government to get legitimacy within the country and recognition from the outside world, particularly the West. He portrayed himself as a liberal leader and later also propagated his idea of "enlightened moderation" as a panacea for the miseries of the Muslim world. Despite his overtures, the political rights situation became bleak during his military rule and no meaningful change took place even during the first two years after country returned to "democratic rule." Musharraf government denied people of their political rights to prolong his authoritarian rule. His rule was characterized by: arbitrary arrests and imprisonments of political leaders; repression of political activities; imposition of forced exile; political victimization in the name of accountability; attacks on rights to elect the government; military's direct grip over affairs of state despite transition to the civilian rule; intimidation of opposition over legal framework order; and limitations on freedom of association.

Right to Information regime is considered a strong commitment towards good governance. This commitment supports fairness in laws, rules and regulations. In Pakistan, the best RTI laws are of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; hence KP RTI Act 2013 and Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013 have taken as a case for this paper. This paper aims to analyze how far certain Right to Information laws remained successful in terms of proactive disclosure of information and institutional measures. Categorically two dimensions are examined (a) proactive disclosure of information by the public bodies and (b) Institutional Measures under clause 5 and 4 of Right to Information laws in both provinces respectively. Based on desk review and telephonic discussion a comparative assessment has taken randomly selected departments such as Elementary and Secondary Education, Health and Local Government Department. Comparatively, in Punjab public bodies are more actively engage with respect to proactive disclosure of information. As per provisions of RTI laws, complete information is not available on sampled websites of public bodies that deviating international best practices. This paper highlights the necessary measures to be considered by decision-makers and provides way to improve regime of RTI laws in Pakistan.

Pakistan is an ethnically diverse country. Therefore, a federal system has been introduced after the independence. However, powers may not be fully decentralised to the federating units which created sense of deprivation particularly among the people of smaller provinces and less developed areas. To alleviate their concerns and grievances, the 18th Constitutional Amendment has been brought about and more autonomy has been given to the provinces. However, the amendment could not address the problems of ethnic minorities living in different provinces. This article explores the prospects of creation of a Saraiki or South Punjab Province. The article uses a qualitative research technique employing historical and descriptive methods. The data has been collected mostly from secondary sources. The findings show that Punjab is the largest province in terms of population, and it is difficult to manage its affairs efficiently from the Capital, Lahore.The provincialgovernment faces difficulty to address the grievances of the people living in far-flung regions such as South Punjab. The growing inequalities led to the revival and intensification of the movement for the creation of Saraiki Province.

The Afghan people suffered a lot from war on terror, security issues, and political and economic instability since US invasion in 2001. Pakistan being an important neighbouring country of Afghanistan can play a vital role in bringing amity and stability through facilitating peace process. Both the US administration and Afghan government demand Pakistan to influence and bring the Taliban to the table talks. In this context, this study aims to explore Pakistan's role in the ongoing peace process that has so far created an understanding among the stakeholders that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the interest of the region. The study finds that there are greater issues to be dealt with carefully e.g., the governance system of the country, the constitution, and a viable power-sharing formula to be acceptable to all the stakeholders. Any successful peace deal needs a strong commitment on the part of all the stakeholders. Peace is the need of the hour not only for Afghanistan but for the whole region as well. Pakistan needs to continue her support to the Afghanistan's stability and play its due role in the peace negotiations in the greater regional interests.