Following Ban, Defense Minister Allowed to Travel; Govt Dismisses Coup Speculation
18 December 2009
Pakistan Allows Top Official To Travel Outside Country, CNN, 18 December 2009
EXCERPT: "Pakistani Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar is free to travel outside the country, Pakistan's government said Friday a day after blocking his departure and sparking a national incident. There are 53 Pakistani individuals reinstated to an Exit Control List this week which prevents them from leaving the country - but Mukhtar is not one...
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India Says 30,000 Troops Pulled from Kashmir
18 December 2009
, AFP, 18 December 2009
EXCERPT: "The Indian army said Friday it had pulled 30,000 troops out of Kashmir, one of the biggest military drawdowns in a decade and reflecting a sharp fall in violence in the disputed region. 'We have moved out two divisions of infantry formations who were on internal security duties... and approximately the number of soldiers pulled out is 30,000 men,'...
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Suicide Bomber Strikes Mosque, Police in NW
18 December 2009
, AFP, 18 December 2009
EXCERPT: "A suicide bomber rammed a car into a mosque during Friday prayers, killing 11 people in a northwest Pakistan district the military claims to have cleared of Taliban fighters, police said. The explosion struck a mosque next to local police headquarters in Taimergara town in Lower Dir district, the focus of a spring military offensive to oust militants advancing...
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Energy Shortfall Greater Concern than Taliban
18 December 2009
Can Pakistan Deliver on Its Energy Promise?, World Politics Review, 18 December 2009
EXCERPT: "'[Pakistan has] got significant remaining exploration potential,' says geoscientist Jim Harris. But that potential, he explains, is hidden in the complex geology of the Himalayan mountain range. To overcome those challenges, speculators and government authorities are eager to expand foreign investment, which has dwindled due to the...
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China and Pakistan: A Formidable Partnership in High-Tech Defense Production
18 December 2009
J-10: The New Cornerstone of Sino-Pakistani Defense Cooperation, The Jamestown Monitor // China Brief, 16 December 2009
EXCERPT: "China and Pakistan have forged a formidable partnership in high-tech defense production. This partnership is born of their ever-deepening military and strategic cooperation that is also reflective of the burgeoning capacity of China's defense industries and the budding Sino-Pakistani defense relationship....
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The Security of Pakistan's Nuclear Facilities
18 December 2009
[pdf], International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, August 2009
EXCERPT: "International concern over the security of Pakistan's nuclear facilities has significantly increased with recent turmoil there. But how justified is this concern? . . . It is safe to assume that Pakistan's disciplined and largely non-corrupt armed forces expend considerable effort to safeguard...
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