Trilateral defence pact is a good omen for the region

The Combined Competitive Examination 2024 was meant to open doors for young Sindh residents seeking government careers. Instead, it has become a symbol of broken trust. Out of more than 4,300 candidates who sat the exam, only 70 passed. This low number alone raised serious doubts. When detailed marks sheets came out, those doubts turned into anger. Candidates found strange errors in their results. A single 100-mark paper in criminology appeared as two papers worth 200 marks. A similar problem showed up in environmental science. These are not small clerical slips. They point to deeper flaws in how the Sindh Public Service Commission handled this process. The protests that followed are justified. Students did not just complain online. They organised sit-ins. They held rallies. They formed the Movement for Restoration of Meritocracy. Their demands are simple and fair. They want the exam cancelled. They want a fresh test conducted properly. They want an independent inquiry into how the SPSC has handled recruitment over the past five years. The legal battle adds another layer of concern. The Sindh High Court suspended the results and asked the SPSC to produce full records. That was a reasonable step toward accountability. But the Federal Constitutional Court later suspended those orders, allowing interviews for the 70 successful candidates to continue. This leaves thousands of young people without answers while the process moves forward around them. This newspaper believes the SPSC owes these candidates transparency, not silence. A spokesperson refusing to comment while the matter sits in court is not good enough. Public institutions exist to serve citizens fairly. When thousands of young people spend years preparing for an exam, they deserve a system they can trust. Sindh’s youth are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for merit to be respected. The government and the SPSC must treat this seriously. An independent judicial inquiry would help restore public confidence. Anything less will only deepen the belief that government jobs go to the connected, not the capable. Young people who play by the rules deserve a system that does the same.

The suicide bombing at Kabal Police Station in Swat has claimed 17 lives. Seven police officials  and 10 civilians were martyred in this attack. More than 23 injured people are still fighting for their lives in hospitals. We pray for their speedy recovery. This attack was not just on a police station. It was an attack on the peace of an entire community. The people of Swat have already suffered greatly from terrorism in the past. They rebuilt their lives after years of conflict. They deserved better than this bloodshed. Markets closed across Kabal as residents mourned their dead. This attack must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The bomber used between six and eight kilograms of explosives. Police officers showed real courage. They stopped the bomber from reaching his main target. Their bravery saved many more lives. These officers deserve recognition, not just words of praise. Their families deserve the full compensation that has been promised to them, delivered without delay. The formation of a Joint Investigation Team is a necessary step. Investigators must move quickly and use every modern tool available to find those responsible. But investigation alone is not enough. Pakistan needs a sustained and serious campaign against terrorism, not scattered responses after each tragedy. Chief Minister Muhammad Suhail Khan Afridi used this moment to blame federal security policies. This kind of political point scoring serves no one right now. Terrorism is a threat to the entire country. It cannot be treated as a provincial problem or a political weapon. What Khyber Pakhtunkhwa needs is genuine cooperation between the provincial and federal governments, not finger pointing while bodies are still being buried. The Rs20 billion allocation for police capacity is a welcome move. But money alone will not defeat this threat. Pakistan needs unity among political parties, religious leaders, security forces, and ordinary citizens. Terrorists thrive on division. They exploit political blame games and public distrust. Every time leaders turn a tragedy into a political argument, they hand terrorists a small victory. The victims of Kabal deserve more than condolences. They deserve a state that protects its citizens and brings the guilty to justice without delay. They deserve leaders who put aside politics and work together against a common enemy. Pakistan has defeated terrorism before through unity and sacrifice. It must find that same resolve again. Swat has bled too many times. This must be the last time.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has launched Vision Pakistan 2047, a long-term plan to boost jobs, education, technology and growth for young Pakistanis. On paper, the plan looks promising. It talks about giving women a bigger share in jobs, helping startups grow, building new schools, sending students abroad for training, and handing out laptops to deserving students. These are all good ideas that any nation would welcome. But here lies the real problem. Pakistan has never struggled to write good plans. Our history is full of grand visions, five-year plans, and national frameworks that were launched with big promises and bigger ceremonies. Vision 2025, Vision 2030, and several other such documents came before this one. Where are they now? Most were quietly shelved and replaced by the next government’s own vision, often with a new name and the same old promises. This is the real dilemma facing Vision Pakistan 2047. A plan is only as good as the system that carries it forward. Pakistan’s problem has never been a shortage of ideas. It has been a shortage of follow-through. Policies get written, launched, and celebrated, but rarely do they survive a change in government or bureaucracy long enough to show results. Even more troubling is who ends up designing these plans. Often, the same officials and institutions responsible for the failure of earlier visions are handed the task of drafting the next one. If the people who could not deliver Vision 2025 are now writing Vision 2047, what guarantee do citizens have that this one will be different? Reserving 35 per cent jobs for women and 10 per cent funding for startups sounds encouraging. Expanding Danish Schools and distributing laptops are steps in the right direction. But none of this matters unless there is honest accountability, consistent funding, and political will that outlasts one government’s term. Pakistan does not need another beautifully worded vision document. It needs a system that actually delivers on what it promises. Only then will 2047 look different from 1947.

Pakistan does not often receive praise from international publications on economic matters. This time, it has earned it. A US publication has praised Pakistan’s efforts to modernise its financial system, saying the country is steadily strengthening its position in the global digital financial landscape through reforms and technological innovation. This praise is well deserved. This did not happen by accident. It happened because Pakistan chose to invest in digital transformation at a time when many countries are still debating whether digital finance is worth the effort. The article rightly noted that Pakistan has the potential to play a meaningful role in the evolving global digital economy. The publication commended his vision, and for good reason. Building a regulatory system for virtual assets from scratch is not easy. Pakistan needed clear rules, not confusion, and PVARA has worked to provide exactly that. The message is simple: Pakistan must actively position itself within the international digital financial system to benefit from emerging technologies and new economic opportunities. What stands out most is a simple but powerful idea from the article. The future will belong to countries that make swift decisions and implement reforms without delay. This is a lesson Pakistan has learned the hard way in other sectors, where slow decision-making has cost the country valuable time. In digital finance, Pakistan appears determined not to repeat that mistake. The article also makes an important point about how governments must operate going forward. It says governments can no longer rely solely on traditional bureaucratic systems. They must instead adopt the speed, flexibility and innovation-driven approach of technology startups. This is a bold statement, but it reflects reality. Digital finance moves fast, and slow institutions get left behind. Digital assets are becoming the foundation of tomorrow’s financial infrastructure. Countries investing in digital finance today will be better positioned for long-term economic growth and global competitiveness. Pakistan is one of these countries, and that deserves recognition. None of this means the work is finished. The government still has a long road ahead in building trust and expanding financial inclusion. But the direction is right, and this recognition from an international publication confirms that Pakistan’s efforts are being noticed. Pakistan should build on this momentum, not lose it.

Pakistan has just done something worth celebrating. Standing alongside Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has helped bring to life the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a pact that puts Pakistan right at the centre of a new chapter in regional security. This is not a small achievement. It is proof that Pakistan’s voice still carries weight where it matters most. For decades, Pakistan has built strong ties with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia separately. Now, those ties have been woven into one formal framework. Under this agreement, an attack on one country will be treated as an attack on all three. That is a serious commitment, and Pakistan’s inclusion in it says a great deal about how the region sees Islamabad’s role today. Some commentators have rushed to compare this pact to NATO or to label it a “Muslim NATO.” That framing misses the point. This is not a bloc built to threaten anyone. It is a defensive arrangement built on trust, shared history, and common interest. The three countries have been careful to describe it as a framework for collective security, deterrence, and regional stability, not as a tool aimed at any single rival. What makes this moment especially encouraging is what each country brings to the table. Pakistan offers a battle-tested military and decades of experience fighting terrorism, skills few nations in the world can match. Saudi Arabia brings economic muscle and political influence across the Muslim world. Türkiye contributes a fast-growing defence industry and modern military technology. Put together, these three strengths complement each other in a way that few alliances manage to achieve. For Pakistan, this is more than a defence pact. It is a diplomatic opportunity. Islamabad already maintains working relationships with Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Iran, China, and the United States. Few countries in the world can claim that kind of reach. This new agreement strengthens Pakistan’s hand further, giving it a bigger seat at the table when regional crises need calm heads and open channels of communication. There is good reason to feel hopeful here. The Middle East and South Asia face real security challenges, from shifting alliances to new military technologies. In this uncertain environment, countries that plan ahead and build partnerships based on trust will be better placed to protect their people and their interests. Pakistan, by joining hands with two important regional powers, has shown exactly that kind of foresight. Of course, agreements on paper only matter if they are followed by real action. The success of this pact will depend on how well Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye coordinate in the years ahead, and how seriously all three governments honour their commitments. But the foundation being laid here is a strong one. Pakistan has long punched above its weight in regional diplomacy. With the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, it has taken another confident step forward, and that is something every Pakistani can take pride in.

Pakistan’s solar energy story is moving in the right direction, and this deserves praise. Federal Minister for Power Awais Leghari has announced that the country’s solar capacity has now reached 38,000 megawatts. This is a major achievement for a country that relied heavily on imported fuel for decades. The minister shared this update at the Battery Storage Flexibility 2026 Conference, where he also laid out an ambitious target. The government wants clean energy to make up 90 percent of Pakistan’s electricity mix by 2035. Right now, clean energy already accounts for 55 percent of total electricity generation in the country. This is a significant number and shows real progress. The government is not stopping at solar power alone. It is also working on battery storage technology, which allows electricity to be stored and used later. Leghari said Pakistan is building its own battery energy storage industry. This includes local engineering work, system integration and battery management software. The Ministry of Industries is preparing a policy to support battery manufacturing inside Pakistan. A National Battery Energy Storage Framework is also being prepared. This framework will set safety standards, define how batteries connect to the power grid and create rules for investment in the sector. A National Steering Committee has already been formed to guide this work, along with technical and regulatory groups. Pilot battery storage projects have been approved for electricity distribution companies as well. These small projects will help the government understand what works before rolling out bigger plans. All of this progress is worth appreciating. Pakistan is being recognised as one of the fastest growing distributed energy markets in the world. But announcements and targets are only the first step. What matters most now is consistent follow through. The government must ensure that policies are implemented on time, that investors get the transparent framework they were promised and that local manufacturing actually takes off. Clean energy growth must also reach ordinary consumers through lower electricity bills, not just headline capacity numbers. Real sustainability means turning these plans into results that last for decades, not just for one conference speech.