Over the past fortnight, Indians and Pakistanis experienced something that was at once both familiar and unexpected. Pakistan’s relationship with the Afghan government nearly blew up over the intensifying extremist insurgency in Pakistan’s border area; a Pakistani airstrike in Kabul led to a shooting match between Afghan and Pakistani soldiers along the border, which was then shut. The two sides agreed to a ceasefire on Wednesday, but amid the violence Afghanistan’s top diplomat was courted by India with a visit to New Delhi.
Tension between Kabul and Islamabad – and friendship between Kabul and New Delhi at Islamabad’s expense – has been a consistent dynamic between the three capitals for nearly a century. What has been unexpected, though, is that this dynamic has persisted even after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban – a group that since its inception was, in large part, funded, trained and armed by Pakistan.
Nonetheless, the events of the past fortnight had been brewing for four years, since the Taliban took power. And they suggest that unless Wednesday's ceasefire can be converted into a permanent resolution, the region is heading towards escalating mutual tension, destabilisation and violence that is almost independent of who is leading any of these countries.
From Islamabad’s perspective, this problematic dynamic was supposed to have been fixed when the Taliban took power. Afghanistan’s ruling classes had questioned the legitimacy of Pakistan from its birth in 1947, particularly its inheritance of borders and populations from the British empire. The result was persistent insecurity on Pakistan’s part about its western frontier, especially when Kabul collaborated with the Indian government. The civil war in Afghanistan to oust the country’s communist government in the 1980s offered an exciting new opportunity for Islamabad. Although the communists had chased away the traditional Afghan elites, it seemed clear that they were too unpopular to survive. Pakistan planned to ensure that Kabul would be liberated by an Islamist regime that would always share an ideological affinity with Pakistan and an allergy to India.
These plans appeared to succeed in 1992, in 1996 and, most recently, in 2021 when the Taliban overthrew the post-9/11 Afghan Republic. But if anything, Afghanistan’s Taliban has been a huge disappointment to Islamabad. This is partly because a related group of insurgents comprised of co-ethnics in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has come roaring back to life since the fall of Kabul. Worse still, it has been operating out of safe havens in areas of Afghanistan dominated by the Haqqani Network, a militant group under the Taliban umbrella which had distinguished itself since the late 1980s as Pakistan’s most useful asset in the country.
Despite the vast differences in their ideology, Afghanistan’s social contract has always demanded its governments – royalist, communist, democratic and now Islamist – be dominated by ethnic Pashtuns. And they have all felt compelled to support their fellow Pashtuns engaged in violent struggles against the Pakistani state in KPK. Whenever Kabul has been punished or threatened by Pakistan for this, all of its successive governments have inevitably turned to New Delhi for backup.
Despite the years that the Haqqani Network spent during the most recent Afghan civil war repeatedly targeting Indian consulates and personnel in Afghanistan with suicide bombers and snatch squads, after becoming Interior Minister in August 2022 Sirajuddin Haqqani has been a pioneer in building diplomatic relations with India. Islamabad has since cancelled the Pakistani passport it had quietly given him years ago, and in fact most major Pakistani airstrikes in the last two years have been on Haqqani strongholds where TTP elements have safe havens.
It should be remembered that between 1996 and 2001 the US government was unable to either bribe or coerce the Taliban into expelling Osama bin Laden and the rest of Al Qaeda despite its best efforts. Pakistan is unlikely to be any more successful in its demands to the Taliban regarding the TTP. If anything, Pakistan’s dilemmas are even sharper than the American ones were. Attempts to generate economic pressure on the Taliban by closing border crossings have deeply alienated many on the Pakistani side who depend on the cross-border trade for their livelihoods. This anger is particularly significant given that the insurgency is the strongest in the formerly semi-autonomous “tribal areas” that were merged with KPK in 2018. These areas lost their degree of independence without gaining much new infrastructure and development, and with little prospect of catching up.
But Afghanistan is itself in an extremely shaky situation. Hunger increasingly stalks much of the country, and local commanders are often deeply frustrated by the central leadership’s indifference to their concerns. Under these circumstances, it is likely Pakistan will turn to a mix of strategies from different eras; harder border controls and air strikes, combined with the search for local allies on the Afghan side of the border who can establish buffer zones in exchange for everything from medical treatment to education.
While it is tempting for Pakistan to follow counterterrorism from the air, the costs are likely to be much higher, and the returns even lower
Significantly, Pakistan is likely to have some support from US President Donald Trump in any such efforts. Although it was the first Trump administration that negotiated the agreement for a US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mr Trump has subsequently come to see his successor Joe Biden’s fulfilment of that treaty as a catastrophic error and has mused on the need to re-establish a US presence there.
As I wrote in my column here after the 88-hour air war between India and Pakistan in May of this year, there is now a worrying tendency for India and Pakistan alike to escalate to the use of conventional military force alongside covert escalation. The growing closeness of India and the Taliban means these tendencies will add ever more risk and unpredictability to regional crises.
If the Afghan-Pakistan conflict continues to grow, the Taliban may pursue other opportunities to apply pressure on Pakistan. Afghanistan also shares a border with Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, where the Baloch Liberation Army’s (BLA) separatist insurgency continues to intensify. The Taliban would not be alone in these troubled waters. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his national security adviser, Ajit Doval, have publicly expressed support for the Baloch, and the Pakistani military increasingly seems willing to retaliate against India for events in the province. What is particularly worrying is that the BLA has increasingly made it a policy to target Chinese citizens and assets in Pakistan for attack, something the TTP has also often done, although more opportunistically.
Ultimately, Pakistan’s leaders should recognise that while it is tempting to follow the American style of counterterrorism from the air (which Pakistani cable TV loves just as much as its American counterpart) the costs are likely to be much higher, and the returns even lower. Instead, decades of experience suggest that what would work is restoring the badly damaged credibility of parliamentary politics and addressing the grassroots developmental challenges of KPK’s former tribal areas and Balochistan. While this may not make for the most satisfying television spectacle, it will ultimately provide the only truly sustainable form of national defence.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Dubai World Cup prize money
Group 1 (Purebred Arabian) 2000m Dubai Kahayla Classic - $750,000
Group 2 1,600m(Dirt) Godolphin Mile - $750,000
Group 2 3,200m (Turf) Dubai Gold Cup – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Turf) Al Quoz Sprint – $1,000,000
Group 2 1,900m(Dirt) UAE Derby – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Dirt) Dubai Golden Shaheen – $1,500,000
Group 1 1,800m (Turf) Dubai Turf – $4,000,000
Group 1 2,410m (Turf) Dubai Sheema Classic – $5,000,000
Group 1 2,000m (Dirt) Dubai World Cup– $12,000,000
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
J%20Street%20Polling%20Results
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Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)
Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)
The view from The National
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Avatar%3A%20The%20Way%20of%20Water
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Match info
Huddersfield Town 0
Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
Brief scores:
Manchester City 2
Gundogan 27', De Bruyne 85'
Crystal Palace 3
Schlupp 33', Townsend 35', Milivojevic 51' (pen)
Man of the Match: Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace)
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
Teams: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar
Friday fixtures: 9.30am (UAE time) - Kuwait v Maldives, Qatar v UAE; 3pm - Saudi Arabia v Bahrain
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Scores in brief:
Boost Defenders 205-5 in 20 overs
(Colin Ingram 84 not out, Cameron Delport 36, William Somerville 2-28)
bt Auckland Aces 170 for 5 in 20 overs
(Rob O’Donnell 67 not out, Kyle Abbott 3-21).
Meydan Racecourse racecard:
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 1,600m
8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,600m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,600m.
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
