Express Tribune Editorials 31st August 2026

ML-1 railroad

A delayed start is better than no start. The decision to kickstart the 1,733-km-long Karachi-Peshawar Main Line-1 (ML-1) project – by commencing procedural activities for an elevated 480-km railway track from Karachi to Rohri in its first phase – is a welcome development. The $2.5 billion project had been in limbo for a long time, infected with bureaucratic lethargy as well as a lack of funding owing to an unconducive local and international environment. The good point, however, is that spade work has been done, and proactive ministerial brainstorming to make it viable is at a promising pace. Soliciting funds and involving professional engineering consortiums remain major challenges, and it is hoped that the initiative will see the light of day.

The first phase of ML-1 is estimated to cost Rs450 billion and is likely to be financed by Chinese banks, apart from other global lenders, further solidifying the CPEC transnational connectivity dream into a reality. The execution of the project faced a litmus test as the Planning Commission took stock of ground realities and reprimanded actors who were not up to the mark. That is good introspection and a departure from the culture of signing off as 'all is good'. The need of the hour is to meet the timeline and ensure that work resumes on the first calendar day of 2027. Upgrading and doubling the railway corridor from Karachi through Lahore and Rawalpindi to Peshawar, alongside the Taxila-Havelian track, is indispensable, given the dilapidation of the British-laid track. It is hoped that carriages will be able to move at a speed of 160 km per hour, compared to 80 km/h at the moment.

The ML-1 project is not only about modernising the railway and logistics network, but is also directly related to national security. With the population bulge surpassing 250 million and GDP growth likely to remain over 4% in the next few years, an economically feasible railway is in high demand. It goes without saying that the revamping of Pakistan Railways across its length and breadth will come as a shot in the arm for connecting it with a plethora of regional railroad projects that are evolving as part of wider geo-economic connectivity.

Illegitimate IWT defiance

India's continued defiance of its international legal obligations under the Indus Water Treaty is causing concern well beyond the borders of India and Pakistan, especially after repeated Pakistani warnings that if India actually follows through on its threat to violate the terms of the 65-year-old deal, Pakistan will take it as an act of war. A fresh reminder has come from Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in a virtual address to a seminar in Washington.

However, Indian government officials continue to periodically threaten to block Pakistan's rivers – that too despite an international court recently supporting Pakistan's position. India had no right to unilaterally "hold the IWT in abeyance", its ministers and government touts are regularly making comments that flout the country's international obligations, and yet, they have the gall to accuse us of using belligerent language for saying we will fight to protect what is universally accepted as being ours. Even though Pakistan has consistently sought to resolve differences through dialogue, diplomacy and the mechanisms provided under the treaty, India has wilfully chosen the path of confrontation over cooperation and coercion over legality. Its refusal to restore technical engagement and water data-sharing only deepens the crisis, as that data can prove to be a critical flood mitigation tool.

It is also worth noting that India's water threats are not just illegal, they are cruel and inhuman. Withholding water means forcing a population to starve and go thirsty. It seems Narendra Modi is learning from his friend and fellow genocide supporter Benjamin Netanyahu. Unfortunately, when the global order refuses to properly address an actual genocide by a regime full of war criminals, there is little hope that it would intervene in a situation where 'only' threats of war crimes are being made. By allowing countries to walk away from binding agreements without consequences, world powers are inviting the collapse of the so-called rules-based order that has been a cornerstone of international relations since the end of World War II.

Congratulations, it's nothing

A disturbingly unusual incident that took place recently at a private hospital in Nazimabad, Karachi, has left the public stunned. A couple visited the hospital on November 20, 2025, and was blessed with the news of a baby, according to media reports. Nine months later, the same doctor who confirmed the pregnancy was purportedly involved in a vile coverup: the disappearance of the baby.

While this particular case is as bizarre as it can get, the widespread prevalence of small, private hospitals that operate with neither official licences nor quality equipment is only a marker of such inevitable incidents. When a sector as sensitive and personal as healthcare is allowed to flourish independently, free from the watchful eye of the government, what ultimately happens there is a direct result of poor governance.

According to the couple's account, the attending doctor had confirmed the pregnancy, provided ultrasound reports over the course of nine months to corroborate her news, and even gave them an estimate of the baby's weight and size. Despite all this, the hospital staff, including doctors, was confident enough to assert that there was no baby - only air in the abdomen.

While an investigation is underway, the staff's disappearance before the police's arrival clearly suggests something fishy. And the only probable criminal practice that can be linked to this incident is the illegal sale of babies. For a risk this grave, the Nazimabad hospital as well as any private, licence-less hospital should immediately be sealed and done for. Healthcare should only be allowed to operate under a strict system of surveillance and security, with dedicated hospitals accessible to both the rich and poor. The recent incident at PIMS further highlights the urgent need for a complete overhaul of the current system that is failing to protect vulnerable lives over and over again.