China and India are rising powers of Asia. Both Asian giants have to adopt the policy of interdependence by growing economic ties; on the other side, they have a strict stance on border disputes. This article describes in detail the bilateral relationship between China-India, especially under the Modi doctrine, during his first term. Secondly, it also discusses the limitation of these growing ties and growing concerns for Pakistan. The basic argument of this article is that the growing economic interdependence will affect Pakistan, especially if this interdependence transfer from the economic to military dimension. The whole data is based on exploratory in nature. A qualitative research method has been used to achieve the research goals. Tools used for data collection include oral interviews and content analysis of the existing literature on the subject in the form of books, official reports and research articles. The relevant literature has been objectively analyzed to reach a meaningful conclusion.

Construction of perception and commodification of foresight is a political tool to hold control over the means of production and enhance a hegemonic control over the public sphere, imagination, and even mass perceptions. Foresight is a process to (re)produce commodities, but the process is itself a commodity. Foresight has become a commodity; now, it is a market product for sale and purchase. Politics of prospects related to CPEC and the construction of perceptions and meanings attached to the development process is a significant component of foresight.This paper is primarily an explanation of hermeneutical study CPEC by analyzing the existing perceptions and perceived prospects. The perceptions and perceived prospects provide an institutional base of forecasting and foresight. CPEC is operating in a larger capitalist system whose sole purpose is (re)production of capital in which superficial fascination of foresight and development are merely commodities for buying and selling. A qualitative approach has been used for analyzing the perceived prospects over CPEC. Pakistan perceives CPEC as the development of industry, infrastructure, and agriculture and a catalyst for economic growth development.

Women empowerment and Islamization have critical relationship with each other in the political history of Pakistan. The domination of a single dogmatic thought process has affected the alternatives and has reduced the political space of almost half of the societal segment in the political sphere. The initiatives of women empowerment have been taken in Pakistan, but that empowerment could not trickle down to the masses. The slogans of empowerment further concentrate the power of the dominant elite in a same class. The process of Islamization started in Pakistan before its inception in 1947. Islamization got significant momentum during the Zia-ul-Haq regime in Pakistan in the 1980s. This paper is an attempt to explore the engagements of women with Islamization and how the process of Islamization influenced women's empowerment. The existing writings on Islamization largely focused on Islamic laws and their political manifestation in the polity of Pakistan. This study primarily focused on gendered dimensions and their linkages with Islamization. A qualitative approach has been used for exploring the core question, and it has been found that ideological state apparatuses are dominating both Islamization and women's political rights.

Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership has assumed a personalised character which has drastically transformed its domestic and defence policy as well as its global grand strategy. The main contour of the grand strategy is a strategic rebalancing in the places of its influence including its near abroad and its area of interest including Asia, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Putin’s leadership and psychological orientation have a fundamental role in the materialisation of this transformation and the study of this factor serves as a lens to explain Russia’s resurgence and also provides a guide to Russia’s future foreign policy. One of the significant aspects of the strategic rebalancing is Russia’s increasing influence in South Asia and the projects of building transport and trade corridor. While China remains another significant powerful player with similar geostrategic and geoeconomic plans; states such as Pakistan foresee great challenges as well as opportunities which emerge as a result of the increasing influence of Russia and China in the region and the lingering dissonance in Pakistan’s relations with the United States of America.

Kashmir is primarily a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. There is a substantial ideological component to the intentions of the two nation-states in this matter, which go beyond simple geopolitical or strategic considerations. The role of the United Nations (UN) in the face of human rights violations in Kashmir is the subject of this article. This article continues to cover the conflict in Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Hence, it highlights the significance of the UNs' involvement in the Kashmir conflict. The failure of UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute and the Indian government's rejection of outside engagement are both extensively addressed. In Kashmir, the physical and emotional pain has resulted from the failure of the international community to protect human rights. The research concludes that India would never be able to find a lasting solution to the situation in Kashmir because there have been no significant political or economic repercussions on India as a result of the Kashmiri conflict.

Deliberate Self Harm (DSH) is a pervasive issue in Pakistan. The limited research on this phenomenon conducted in Pakistan is restricted by the non-availability of an empirical assessment measure of self-harm in the Urdu language, hence relies mostly on the interviews of cases reported to the emergency departments and those translated does not necessarily carry the same connotation. An indigenous deliberate self-harm scale was developed to cater to this issue. Factors of DSH were identified using Nock’s integrated theoretical model and literature review. Sixty-five items were generated. Content Validity Index (CVI) was calculated. The scale was administered on a sample of 200 self-harm cases.EFA revealed a three-factor structure (i.e intrapersonal, interpersonal and situational) supported by Parallel Analysis. RASCH analysis supported the item fit. This scale can be a helpful tool for the researchers and clinicians to explore DSH in the native population.

This research study examines the impact of remittances on quality of life. In order to accomplish the objectives, the study uses primary data which are collected from 403 households of District Dir Lower, Pakistan. Results summarized that incoming foreign remittances have a positive effect on education. Foreign remittances improve the household income level, this income is further utilized for different educational expenses. Therefore, remittance recipient families spend more than that of non-receiving families on education. In addition, remittances also increase the probability of children’s enrollment in schools. On the other hand, remittances are positively associated with family health status. The results revealed that 83% of the remittance recipient families have the ability to access basic healthcare needs, whereas 64% of non-receiving households have no access to basic health facilities. Additionally, remittances receiving families mostly prefer a private doctor and private hospitals, whereas non-receiving household usually uses government hospital facilities.

The paper aims to extend the resource-based view to dynamic capability view under dynamic environment, by investigating the effects of three strategic orientations (i.e., customer, competitor, and technology) on firm performance mediated through dynamic capabilities. A sample of 180 pharmaceutical firms of Pakistan was drawn using simple random sampling. Data was collected through a self-administrated questionnaire and analyzed using the variance-based structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrated that customer, competitor, and technology orientations have both a direct and indirect relationship with firm performance. The study offers Pakistani pharmaceutical firms a better comprehension of their strategic orientations and demonstrates how the alignment of strategic orientations with dynamic capabilities may result in better firm performance.

The key aim of current research is to investigate the influence of CG on financial performance (FP) and capital structure (CS) of cement companies listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). To accomplish this purpose, twenty cement firms listed on the PSX was deployed from 2005 to 2014. Auto-correlation and heteroscedasticity were tested and Regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. SPSS 21 is conducted to perform the analyses.CG is analyzed via board size, board independence, and institutional ownership while, return on assets and return on equity are employed to analyze FP, whereas CS is calculated via debt to equity. The outcomes document that CG positively affects FP, however, negatively impact CS. This research not only contributes to examining the impact and association between CG, FP, and CS but also prove the outcomes of previous studies that have presented a significant influence and association between CG, FP, and CS.

Political polarization remains central to the political behavior scholarship. In this study, political polarization patterns among the youth of Pakistan with reference to selective exposure approaches of media were examined. Survey from 420 students of Pakistan public sector universities was conducted. It was found that selective exposure to media is still strong in Pakistan, however diverse exposure is also being witnessed in Pakistan. Now the people are also diverting towards diverse exposure. Consequently, political polarization among the university students of Pakistan is still strong. Findings imply that media in Pakistan is playing an important role in strengthening the democracy in Pakistan. Furthermore, it is also concluded that media played a key role to determine voters’ choice during Elections-2013 in Pakistan.