The Nation Editorials 11th September 2026

Necessary But Hasty

News of a circular directing the immediate return of Afghan students in Pakistani medical colleges, created much comment across social media. Despite clarification that it only applies to those without valid visas, it has caused ripples. A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court by several of these Afghan students, to delay the effect of this directive. Commentators and public opinion makers bemoaned the lack of judiciousness of the order.

Yet, despite all arguments, Pakistan is well within its rights to even cancel a valid visa, where state security so dictates. Just as any other country does. As host country for decades to many Afghans, Pakistan has been a model of generosity. But perhaps unwisely. After all, no other neighbouring country of Afghanistan opened its borders to receiving guests for an unlimited period of time. And no other country suffered any loss of reputation for this strictness either. So why should Pakistani interests be considered any less dear.

Pakistan condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia
The move was correct, if it comes from a policy decision to reduce the number of Afghan residents in Pakistan. Even if they are students. Many countries, including affluent superpowers are doubling down on their security, and refusing and even canceling visas of students. Even those on scholarship, even those in their final year, even those paying full price. Pakistan is not unique in this. Rather perhaps as a hard state, it is following this trend last, not inventing it.

The confusion that arose from valid visas in existence should have been catered for by specific directions as to when the visa term would pre-emptively end. Grace periods could have been granted for those sitting final examinations. The issuance of fresh student visas should have been paused while the policy was formulated. Universities should have given comfort that credits accrued thus far could be transferred.

PSCA procures 100 biometric machines
Yet, even with all the haste with which it was conveyed, the decision is not without argument. It may not have bee planned down to the letter; yet security perhaps demanded that it be rolled out quickly and imperfectly, rather than later.

Obsolete Order

The United Nations increasingly resembles a gilded public relations agency: world leaders arrive in New York, deliver carefully rehearsed speeches, repeat national talking points and return home while the wars continue.

It witnessed a livestreamed genocide in Gaza and could not stop it. It could not censure the Israeli leaders who presided over the bloodbath, nor prevent the same leadership, joined by the United States, from widening military aggression across the Middle East. It could not meaningfully intervene in Venezuela. It has not been able to end the war in Ukraine.

The obvious question, therefore, is why nations still bother.

Pakistan condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia
Faith in the so-called international community has eroded because international institutions appear strongest when issuing statements and weakest when confronting powerful states. Increasingly, countries are responding by strengthening their own militaries, building regional alliances and relying upon themselves rather than multilateral guarantees. The emergence of arrangements such as the Makkah Defence Alliance can also be read as another sign of this collapsing faith in the UN-led order.

There is now a reasonable argument that the UN, at least in its present form, has outlived its usefulness.

PSCA procures 100 biometric machines
Yet the 81st General Assembly has opened once again, and expectation builds. With the US-Iran war expected to dominate discussions, that promise will immediately be tested. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to advocate negotiations and de-escalation when he addresses the Assembly on Sept 25.

Perhaps this is why countries continue returning. However ineffective the UN has become, there remains no comparable global forum where adversaries can at least speak under the same roof.

But ceremony cannot substitute for relevance forever. If the UN wants to restore trust, its gilded halls in New York must become capable of restraining aggression, enforcing international law and preventing bloodshed.

Kundi calls for better opportunities for youth in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Otherwise, sooner or later, the world may decide there is little reason to keep showing up.

Heating Up

Read that line again: August was the hottest month ever recorded globally. Not a rolling average, not a projection of what may happen decades from now, but a measurement of the world we inhabit today. At 16.96 degrees Celsius, the global average temperature effectively matched the highest monthly temperature ever observed.

The warning could hardly be clearer. Yet climate denial persists.

Scientists estimate that human activity, primarily the burning of coal, oil and gas, has already warmed the planet by roughly 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels. Greenhouse gas emissions nevertheless reached new highs in 2025. Humanity knows what is happening, understands what is causing it, and continues feeding the crisis regardless.

Pakistan condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia
The consequences are no longer abstract. They can be seen in floods in Nepal, punishing heatwaves across Europe and advancing desertification in parts of Africa. Western Europe has endured its warmest summer on record, while severe heatwaves shut schools, dried rivers and contributed to tens of thousands of excess deaths. Oceans, which absorb more than 90 per cent of excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases, are also reaching unprecedented temperatures.

This is what climate change looks like: increasingly frequent disasters accumulating across continents until the abnormal becomes ordinary.

PSCA procures 100 biometric machines
Perhaps humanity has already crossed thresholds that cannot easily be reversed. But that cannot become an excuse for surrender. Every fraction of a degree of warming prevented still matters.

There is still time to limit the fall, but only through action. Governments must now place climate stability above short-term political convenience and corporate profit. Energy systems must change, fossil-fuel dependence must decline and climate commitments must become enforceable policy rather than conference rhetoric.

The thermometer has delivered its verdict. The question is whether political and economic systems are finally prepared to listen.