Zainab Akhter

Research Analyst, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article ‘The Sino-Indian Conflict in Ladakh: An Explainer’ has been published in South Asian Voices, on August 14, 2020.

In order to understand the standoff, it is important to understand the geostrategic significance of its location and socio-cultural aspirations of the region in question, Ladakh. Often referred to as a “cold desert” and known for its international tourism, Ladakh’s history provides fertile ground for exploring the roots of the current standoff, writes Dr. Akhter.

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Research Analyst, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article ‘Exploring Ladakh’s Turkic links’ has been published in Stawa Magazine on August 04, 2020.

Owing to its geo-strategic location, Ladakh has historically played an important role in ancient trade especially the Silk Route. It was the melting point of culture that connected the Indian subcontinent with Central Asia, China and Tibet. There was a special connection between Ladakh and Turkestan in Central Asia, writes Dr. Akhter.

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The Pakistan state has clearly failed to suppress the voice of the Pashtuns in the face of their indomitable courage to fight for their rights, and as they say, within the confines of the Pakistan Constitution.

• Zainab Akhter |
• June 18, 2020 |
• IDSA Comments

Research Analyst, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Indo-China Ladakh dispute, titled ‘Understanding the India-China standoff in Ladakh’ has been published online by Stawa Magazine.

Ladakh is geo-strategically very important for India as it shares frontiers with China as well as Pakistan and is also home to the mighty Siachen glacier that gives India a vantage point over Pakistan. A fresh Ladakh policy must be charted, which should include suggestions from local communities including ones who live in the frontier regions. We also need to bridge the void between frontier villages and the local administration, writes Dr. Akhter.

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Research Analyst, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on India-Pakistan partition, titled ‘Lingering pain of Partition’ has been published online by Stawa Magzine on May 26, 2020.

The Partition of India and Pakistan was not just a separation of land but also a division of thousands of families, writes Dr. Akhter.

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Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Pakistan’s fight against COVID-19, titled ‘COVID-19: Pakistan Caught Off Guard’ has been published by the All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an External Services Division of AIR, on April 24, 2020.

Pakistan’s fight against COVID-19 has been marred with controversies since the time the first few cases were reported towards the end of February. So far about 10,000 positive cases have been reported with more than 200 deaths; but Pakistan has been reportedly under-reporting the number of cases each passing day. This underlines that the pandemic might be spreading very fast in the country, writes Dr. Akhter.

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It is feared that Imran Khan’s move to sideline the already alienated opposition and continuous bickering between the federal and provincial governments would undermine the national effort against COVID-19.

• Zainab Akhter |
• April 10, 2020 |
• Issue Brief

Research Analyst, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter's article on Ladakh corridor, titled 'Could the Kartarpur corridor herald a Ladakh corridor for the Baltis?' has been published by the Asia Dialogue, University of Nottingham, on March 25, 2020.

A Ladakh corridor like the Kartarpur one will bring an end to the miseries of these mountain people and add another chapter to the confidence-building measures of India and Pakistan, writes Dr. Akhter.

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Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on tenure extension of Pakistan’s Army Chief, titled ‘Pakistan In A Bind Over Extension To Army Chief’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on January 11, 2020.

The article analyses the ambiguity over the Services Act Bill that is meant to regulate the tenures of not only the Army but all the services’ chiefs.

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Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on the United Nations (UN) designated terrorist, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief, and the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks Hafiz Saeed, titled ‘Is The Indictment Of Hafiz Saeed A Farce Or Real?’, has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on December 13, 2019.

Although the US has welcomed the move to indict Saeed, India needs to watch carefully and see whether the Imran Khan government is any different from the previous Pakistani governments. Hafiz Saeed has been arrested before and sent to jail but finally ended up being released by the Pakistani authorities many times, writes Dr. Akhter.

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