Despite the chorus of positivity emanating from Washington and several media outlets, the capture of Mullah Baradar in Karachi does not entail a hard swing towards cooperation on the part of the Pakistani government.

The Pakistani government has seized the upper hand in their struggle against the Pakistan Taliban - a situation that is a far cry from the dark days of last April, when ‘state collapse’ was on the tip of everyone’s tongues.

Although this week’s report on Pakistan touches down on the possibility of U.S. drone strikes alienating crucial tribal populations along the Durand line, the assassination of Pak Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud is without a doubt a boon for the Pakistani government’s fight against Islamic militancy.

Indian air-force fighter jets violated Pakistani airspace twice in one day, in an apparent attempt to test Pakistan’s air defences.  A few days later, India has deployed Russian-made MiG 29 combat fighter jets to the outskirts of their capital, New Delhi. 

Just who was behind last week’s terrorist attack in Mumbai, India? Of all the players involved, everyone seems to have been advantaged by the carnage.  It may be too early to determine just who the mastermind is, but a careful analysis of quickly unfolding events ought to reveal just who had the most to gain – and, in geopolitics, the player with the most to gain is usually the culprit.

Far from being a routine reshuffling exercise, Pakistan’s appointment of a new chief for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) comes amid growing US pressure for reform and concern about the premier spy agency’s loyalty in the “war on terror”.