PAKISTAN PERSPECTIVE

Islamabad lives the arrival of delegations with the mixed pride and anxiety of a country that didn't choose to be at center stage but understands what it means. Dawn publishes two deep analyses: the first maps the 'diplomatic maze' awaiting negotiators, methodically inventorying obstacles — Hezbollah absent from the table, sanctions still active, the nuclear question unresolved. The second places Islamabad in the long history of moments when Washington came looking for Pakistan: from the bin Laden operation to Waziristan drones. The implicit message is clear: every time America needed Pakistan, it came, and every time, Pakistan paid the price. These negotiations will be no different — Islamabad knows it and says so with the restraint of a host who knows its own vulnerabilities.