International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

How a regional warmonger came to host US-Iran peace talks

Farooq Sulehria — 2026-04-25T07:07:33Z

Mainstream Pakistan is basking in (self)glory. As host of the US-Iran negotiations — rumours of a second-round abuzz — Islamabad is upbeat. From talk show hosts to YouTube influencers, the one-dimensional message is clear: Pakistan has finally been assigned the role it deserves in the global hierarchy.

- IVP615 - April 2026 / United States (USA), Pakistan

A war neglected by the world — Afghanistan and Pakistan

Farooq Tariq — 2026-03-06T15:01:00Z

The recent war between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been overshadowed by the attack on Iran by U.S. and Israeli imperialism. Yet the Afghan-Pakistan war, which began 21-22 February 2026 has resulted in heavy causalities on both sides. It was launched by the Pakistan Air Force airstrikes on Eastern Afghanistan (Nangarhar, Paktika, and Khost provinces).

- IVP614 - March 2026 / Pakistan, Afghanistan

Neither Islamabad nor Kabul: A Left Perspective on the Pakistan–Afghanistan War

Farooq Sulehria — 2026-03-01T17:27:07Z

As cross-border strikes intensify and Pakistan's defence minister declares “open war” against the Afghan Taliban government, the long arc of Islamabad's Afghanistan policy appears under severe strain. Is this merely another episode in a volatile frontier relationship — or the blowback of decades of militarised strategy and proxy politics?

- IVP614 - March 2026 / Pakistan, Afghanistan

India after the Tianjin summit and in the midst of the climate crisis – an overview

Pierre Rousset, Sushovan Dhar — 2025-10-10T19:19:25Z

On China's initiative, the Tianjin Summit was held on 31 August and 1 September 2025, within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). India was invited to attend. Sushovan Dhar, a political activist and trade unionist in Kolkata, analyses the summit's proceedings and geopolitical implications in this interview. He also examines the nature of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's regime, the link between the climate, democratic and social crises plaguing the country, and the state of the parliamentary and radical left.

- IVP609 - October 2025 / Russia, Pakistan, China, India, Bangladesh

Free Nisar Shar and his colleagues!

Farooq Tariq — 2025-10-02T19:52:48Z

Senior lawyer Nisar Shah from Islamabad was arrested while demonstrating along with his 13 colleagues in a rally in solidarity with the protests in Kashmir against high wages for politicians organised by the lawyers association

- News from around the world / Pakistan

Stand with Peasants and Rural Communities in the wake of the 2025 worst ever floods

Farooq Tariq — 2025-09-08T08:52:10Z

Worst ever flood at River Ravi for 38 years, hundreds of villages affected across Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej belts. Kartarour complex (a place of worship for Sikh community, located inside Pakistan, where Indians can come without visa) submerged. Over 800 killed, thousands injured, eight districts of Punjab under water.

- News from around the world / Ecology and the Environment, Pakistan, Solidarity after disasters

State Neglect and Corporate-Driven Development Deepen Rural Devastation: Punjab faces unprecedented flood challenge

Farooq Tariq, Qammar Abbas — 2025-09-08T08:46:55Z

Two million people have been impacted, 2200 villages and millions of acre of agri land are under water. Unprecedented Flood water now moving toward Sindh endangering lives of millions.

- IVP608 - September 2025 / Ecology and the Environment, Pakistan, Solidarity after disasters

Kashmir, India, Pakistan: on the history and internationalist stakes of a state of war

Pierre Rousset — 2025-05-17T17:01:13Z

This article attempts to take stock of the recent ‘hot' crisis between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Many factors need to be taken into account. Recent events are undoubtedly part of a long history of military tensions and wars dating back to the disastrous partition imposed on the sub-continent by British imperialism in 1947. In recent years, however, profound changes have affected the countries concerned, as well as the geopolitical environment, regional management of water resources and the weapons used. So we cannot assume that history will simply repeat itself almost identically. This is perhaps the main question before us: what's new? The answer, of course, lies primarily with the left-wing organisations in the region. I shall confine myself to submitting some elements of analysis or hypotheses for discussion and criticism, even if I have to revise later my copy.

- Features / Pakistan, India, Kashmir

From the front line: a critical look at Indo Pak War 2025

Farooq Tariq — 2025-05-11T15:20:05Z

On the morning of 7 May, when I answered my doorbell and went outside looking for who rang, my neighbor loudly asked me to turn off all my lights. This command signaled to me that we are living in a moment of war.

- IVP604 - May 2025 / Pakistan, India

Radical Socialist Statement on Operation Sindoor

Radical Socialist — 2025-05-08T21:20:02Z

The Indian Armed Forces have launched Operation Sindoor which has carried out strikes in as many as nine places spread over three cities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Punjab province while a counter-strike by Pakistan, also to be condemned, has led to lives lost in Poonch. All this is an extremely worrisome development, though not entirely unexpected.

- News from around the world / Pakistan, India, Kashmir