Taimoor Khan

Métier for Transforming Businesses | Geopolitics and business opportunities | Strategy | Purveyor of Beautiful Things | Opinions are just opinions so F'em

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

True story

[Mehlaqa Samdani @MehlaqaCAPJ]

Such a sweet story! Here, @mehdirhasan describes his interaction with an Uber driver about @ImranKhanPTI

[Taimoor Khan @MTKH4N]

Why there will never be a revolution in Pakistan?
@MoeedNj your disection on this would be interesting and is requested.
https://t.co/vbc80cVUtE

[Taimoor Khan @MTKH4N]

In a country where it's judicial system is treated as a toy, it's people will never prosper.

[Steve Hanke @steve_hanke]

#PAKWATCH🇵🇰: Today, Pakistan's bankrupt and illegitimate Gov’t accused Imran Khan of “backing terrorists”.

This is the latest attempt by Gov’t Ministers to keep Khan behind bars.

FREE IMRAN KHAN.

[Moeed Pirzada @MoeedNj]

افغان فوج کا پاکستان پہ حملہ اور پاکستان کی بڑی جوابی کاروائی؟ کچھ گدھے اس چیز پہ خوش ہو رہے ہیں کہ ہم نے افغان فوج کی بہت ٹھکائی کی اور بہت سی پوسٹس تباہ کر دیں! سوچنے والوں کو پریشان ہونا چائیے! طالبان حکومت جس کے پاس کوئی روایتی فوج ہے ہی نہیں! اس کو ہم نے اتنا دیوار سے لگا دیا ہے کہ انھوں نے بھی ہمارے پہ حملہ کر دیا اور ایک ایسے وقت میں جب افغان وزیر خارجہ دہلی ہندوستان میں موجود ہے! جنرل عاصم منیر کے ہیجان نے پاکستانی ریاست کے لئے ایک بہت مشکل دور کا آغاز کر دیا ہے! ... https://t.co/3nEFb9OMio via @YouTube

[Ali Khan Tareen @aliktareen]

Guys, I have some hilarious PSL goss. Apparently they have asked for performance rates of Jennifer Lopez! 😭

Yaaaaaaar kya log hain ye. No work on team renewals, team additions, match day experience/audience. Bus JLO se unki mulakat ho jaye. Ufffffffff

[Pakistan Walli @pakistanwalli]

The Pakistani military dictator, Asim Munir, has unleashed the Pakistani military’s well-known proxy Islamist extremist party, the TLP, at @usembislamabad as a blackmailing tactic aimed at POTUS Donald Trump, to show him the kind of religious extremism opposing normalization with Israel that he faces at home, even as he backs his peace deal with Israel.

The military dictator will now seek higher returns from the POTUS in exchange for his agreement. The TLP is the same military proxy that the Pakistani military unleashes on Islamabad whenever it wants to destabilize the government or sabotage a political party’s campaign.

The violence against some TLP supporters in Lahore was also orchestrated to elevate the profile of the TLP chief.

[Hussain Nadim @HNadim87]

Pakistan’s geopolitical ruling elite has long played this game: Launch the anti-American brigades on the streets every now and then to bargain with the White House on why they must back their regime against these ‘Islamist’ radicals.

Crazy how it works like magic on Americans every single time.

[Shahab @hashurtag]

Let’s see what the Americans have to say about all this. The Great South Asian Game is on full throttle now. The tipping point was Bangladesh reset. It’s mind-boggling how the Taliban have chosen to be in India’s camp at this juncture!

[Shahbaz Rana @81ShahbazRana]

Breaking!

The IMF has asked Pakistan to publicly disclose $11 billion worth of discrepancies in trade data reported by two government entities over the last two fiscal years, raising questions about credibility of the country's external sector indicators. https://t.co/FycyopJUtU

[Hussain Nadim @HNadim87]

As promised, some thoughts on Trump's recent meeting with the Army Chief, and PM Shahbaz Sharif. 👇

US, Pakistan, and the Sleight of Hand: 5 Questions on Trump's meeting with Pakistan Army Chief and PM

The art of magic is never in what the audience see; it lies in what’s concealed. For seventy-five years, U.S.–Pakistan relations have been built on this sleight of hand: great spectacles in public, desperate bargains in the shadows.

The recent meeting between President Donald Trump, Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir, and Prime Minister at the White House was presented as “groundbreaking.” Yet, the more one looks at the details, or the absence of them, the more questions emerge than answers.

So here are my 5 thoughts on the meeting posted as 5 questions:

1. What exactly is being celebrated?
Since no details on the meeting including any agreements, arrangements, or even understandings have been released to the public, what exactly is the Pakistani military regime and its associates even celebrating? Thumbs up pictures with Trump? If anything, the lack of transparency should be a major takeaway and a worrying point for every Pakistani that has seen this script play out way too many times before.

2. Why was the event closed to the press?
What about U.S.–Pakistan relations cannot withstand public scrutiny? Is it because the U.S. prefers to quietly transact with an illegitimate military regime that has stolen elections, rather than face hard questions about democratic legitimacy? What is it that is so sensitive that there is a fear that the Pakistani and American public would be outraged? Whatever is done in shadows, can't be for public good, that is certain!

3. Where is the uniform?
Why did Gen Asim Munir appeared without his military uniform? By protocol, Pakistan’s Army Chief dons his uniform at official meetings—General Bajwa did so when accompanying Imran Khan in 2019. Did the Army Chief shed it out of embarrassment for his official role didn't fit the protocol? Or was Trump and his team unwilling to be photographed beside a man in khaki that could later be archived in history? In either case, the symbolism is stark, and details matter.

4. Why was the Army Chief there at all?
And the most telling question of all: why was the Army Chief there in the first place? Could the PM Shehbaz Sharif not be trusted with the meeting on his own? The visuals of an Army Chief next to civilian US political leaders, especially when the US Army Chief was missing is a source of embarrassment for Pakistan, not celebration. It is indicative of state of lawlessness and misgovernance of the country.

5. Why Trump didn't share the same enthusiasm?
Since, the military regime in Pakistan is big on optics, and pictures hence its important to ask: Why did the White House, Trump, or even Senator Marco Rubio not share a single photograph of the meeting on their social media feeds? The event was quietly tucked away on the White House website, while images of Trump’s same-day meeting with Turkish President Erdogan were widely circulated. If this visit was so significant, why hide it? Do Americans not want to be seen embracing Pakistan’s current rulers?

Additional thoughts: Déjà Vu From a Bygone Era

Strip away the performance and the underlying truth is familiar. The US is looking for low-effort, high-yield subscription of Pakistan that can be easily canceled without a payment: a handful of concessions from Pakistan in exchange for keeping the regime afloat. Pakistan’s military rulers, desperate for validation abroad (since they lack one at home), cut deals that carry no mandate at home.

It is a replay of the 1960s, when Gen. Ayub Khan’s military regime basked in American backing, Pakistan posted record growth, and illusions of strength swelled after 1965 air triumph over India. Six years later in 1971, the state collapsed into two. What seemed like ascendancy was in fact the prelude to disaster that nobody could have predicted in 1965.

Conclusion: The Coming Collapse
But we can make predictions now. Today’s Pakistan faces an even deeper rot-intellectual, institutional, and moral. Foreign acceptance, whether from Washington or Riyadh, provides fleeting illusions of recovery that only strengthens the extractive ruling elite in Pakistan. But without real reform and a return to democracy, beginning with the release of Imran Khan, Pakistan has no chance of survival, let alone revival.

Trump’s meeting could have been a moment to reset relations on transparent, democratic footing. Instead, he has relegated Pakistan to a darker, more precarious role of a hired gun.

Once again, America and Pakistan are locked in a sleight of hand. And once again, it is Pakistan’s people who will pay the price.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

“Israeli Forces Kill 198 Palestinians in Gaza Over Three Days”

It’s a genocide. Daily endless massacres, largely ignored in the West. https://t.co/DpifqpkxqK

[Dr. Xia Khan @DrXiakhan]

بریکنگ نیوز 🔴 سابق پینٹاگون افیشل مایکل روبن کا بیان ؛ امریکا فوری عاصم منیر کو " ناپسندیدہ شخص " ہونے کا اعلان کرے اور پاکستان کو اپنا NATO ALLY کہنا بند کرے . ایک دہشت گرد ریاست قرار دے ، عاصم منیر کا ویزا منسوخ کرے اور تمام پاکستانی افسروں کے ویزے بند کرے جب تک پورا ملک دنیا سے معافی نا مانگ لے اور ان غنڈوں کو ہٹائے - یہ صرف ایک امریکہ میں تقریر کا اثر ہے اب باقی دنیا کا ری ایکشن باقی ہے۔

[Taimoor Khan @MTKH4N]

With recent turn of events, some argue that this equation of oil exports from 🇮🇷 is about to change.

But will it really?

[Taimoor Khan @MTKH4N]

Dude said this few years back and now the Muslim world will be sitting ducks standing against each other and Israel will enjoy the show.

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

The Constitution of the United States is very clear.

There is no ambiguity.

It is Congress that determines whether we go to war, not the President.

Trump must not take illegal military action against Iran.

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

I suppose the good news is we’re living through the end of this malevolent empire. The bad news is it’s going to go out with a decade or more of violent spasms, and take millions down with it.