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Jun 2, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Pti .. |Ahsen Khan |Sabih Ul Hussnain |Saeed Ahmed Rid
The United States has returned 133 antiquities to Pakistan, roughly worth around $14 million. These antiquities had been trafficked from Pakistan, including some that date back to 105-85 BCE.
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May 30, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Ahsen Khan |Furqan Ali |Saeed Ahmed Rid |Umer Farooq
As Kabul's ties with Islamabad remain frosty, traders in Afghanistan have decided to pivot away from Pakistan and have started trading with and through Iran for its transit trade bound for India. Some traders have estimated that the volume of trade which has shifted away from Pakistan in the past two years is as high as 70%, biting deep into the embattled local economy.
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May 21, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Yousuf Nazar |Ahsen Khan |Saeed Ahmed Rid |Ibrahim Yahya
Many Pakistanis have a medieval mindset. They believe things can change by changing the "King" or some of the big players on the grand chessboard of power politics. A change of faces will not make any difference, because the country has suffered from poor management of the economy for the past two decades, regardless of who was in power. The dream merchants and carpetbaggers thrive on selling stories - promising miracles like bringing looted wealth back or billions in foreign investments.
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May 21, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Umer Farooq |Ahsen Khan |Saeed Ahmed Rid |Ikramul Haq
The debate over the prohibition of used cars is now rather old. Domestic auto manufacturers demand a prohibition on the import of used cars, as in their opinion the bulk import of second-hand cars from Japan into Pakistani society is killing the local car manufacturing industry—an industry that claims to have introduced the latest technology and which provides employment to nearly a million workers.
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May 1, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Saad Hafiz |Umer Farooq |Saeed Ahmed Rid |Qamar Shahzad
India has taken a firm stance against Pakistan's desire to resume trade and economic activities suspended in 2019. The Indian Foreign Minister, Dr. Jaishankar, has clarified that talks, trade, and terrorism cannot go hand in hand, and relations with Pakistan cannot improve as long as terrorism remains an issue. The hostility between India and Pakistan has persisted for over seven decades and is a matter of international concern due to the presence of nuclear weapons.
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Apr 17, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Pti .. |Umer Farooq |Tariq Aqil |Saeed Ahmed Rid
I can pinpoint Benazir Bhutto’s rise as political leader in the wake of her 1986 historic welcome at Lahore Airport, as the time when I started to acquire political consciousness. That was a time of great intellectual ferment in Lahore—I remember witnessing debates among right and left leaning intellectuals at the tea houses in Lahore Anarkali, particularly the famous Pak Tea House on the Lahore Mall. Educational institutions were themselves arenas for the battle of ideas.
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Apr 5, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Pti .. |Saeed Ahmed Rid |Ahsen Khan |Rohinee Singh
On Pakistan Day, 23rd March, 2024, the foreign Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Ishaq Dar informed the media in a press conference in London that the Pakistan government was ‘seriously considering’ resumption of trade ties with India as Pakistani businessmen were pushing the government to open trade with India for reviving the worsening economic outlook of the country.
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Feb 22, 2024 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Pti .. |Saeed Ahmed Rid |Saad Hafiz |Zalmay Azad
The way elections were postponed beyond the ninety days constitutional limit and the uncertainty was created around whether the elections will be held or not, it was obvious that had the Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Qazi Faez Isa not declared February 8 as the final, non-negotiable date, the powers that matter had no intention of holding the elections of the national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan.
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Aug 16, 2023 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Saeed Ahmed Rid
This is a historic moment in the history of parliamentary democracy in Pakistan, as the fourth consecutive parliament since 2002 has completed its five-year term. Therefore, this should have been a moment of jubilation and celebration for the staunch supporters of a democratic Pakistan. But the fact is that all those who desire a functioning democracy in Pakistan find themselves worried and anguished, as constitutional democracy seems to be undergoing yet another crisis.
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Jul 11, 2023 | 
thefridaytimes.com | Saeed Ahmed Rid
‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’ —Evelyn Beatrice Hall, 1906Ideally speaking, every staunch supporter and champion of democracy, human rights and freedom of expression should follow this in true letter and spirit.
