Bahria University Islamabad Campus http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/49 2026-05-01T16:54:14Z 2026-05-01T16:54:14Z Aqib Khan, 01-260241-001 http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/20527 2026-01-26T04:58:56Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Inter-Provincial Water Dispute in Pakistan: Challenges and Way Forward Aqib Khan, 01-260241-001 This thesis investigates the complex inter-provincial water disputes in Pakistan, focusing on the historical, political, and institutional factors that have shaped water governance. The study examines the evolution of water allocation systems, particularly following the partition of British India and the subsequent agreements such as the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 and the Water Apportionment Accord of 1991. By analyzing the socio-political dynamics between the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, the research highlights the inequities in water distribution, exacerbated by population growth, climate change, and political interference. The research applies Conflict Resolution Theory to understand the underlying causes of water-related conflicts and suggests practical solutions for improving water governance. The study advocates for institutional reforms, the enhancement of transparency in water distribution, and the adoption of modern technologies such as digital water management systems. Furthermore, it calls for a more equitable water-sharing framework that considers the evolving demands of agriculture, industry, and domestic use. Ultimately, this thesis aims to provide actionable recommendations for achieving sustainable and just water resource management in Pakistan, emphasizing the need for cooperation between federal and provincial institutions and international collaboration for managing transboundary water resources. Supervised by Dr. Muhammad Fahim Khan

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Tahleel Rubab, 01-257241-011 http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/20961 2026-04-16T04:18:09Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Eroding U.S. Moral Legitimacy: A Comparative Case Study of Israel-Palestine Conflict Tahleel Rubab, 01-257241-011 This thesis will address the different ways in which the United States chooses to interact with the international legal bodies in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, through the International Criminal Court (ICC), United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) concept. As much as Washington is portrayed as a champion of a rules-based international order, it proposes a tendency of protecting those who are allies and pressuring those who are enemies. This contradiction casts crucial doubts regarding the competence and jurisdiction of international law bodies. This paper is based on the Neorealist approach, which accentuates the role of systemic pressures and politics of alliances in the determination of the behavior of states. In this light, the U.S. policy towards the state of Israel is not a paradox but a given: the observance of legal norms is justified by the interest of strategic partnerships and violation of the same laws by those of vital partnerships. To empirically verify this assertion, the study compares the Israel-Palestine conflict with two opposite scenarios- Libya and Ukraine, where the interests of the U.S. were more consistent with the application of the international law. The thesis uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Security Council debates, ICC decisions, the executive statements of the U.S. and human rights reports methodologically. Discourse is coded into either support, obstruction, or neutrality with sub-codes following the themes of alliance defense, humanitarian justification and sovereignty claims. This practice emphasizes the way in which language is reflective and constitutive of U.S. strategy with regard to international law. The expected findings suggest that U.S. conduct in Israel–Palestine will illustrate a consistent pattern of obstruction, while Libya and Ukraine demonstrate more active legal enforcement when aligned with American interests. This comparative analysis contributes by showing how great powers instrumentalize law, weakening institutional credibility and deepening Global south skepticism. Supervised by Dr. Aleem Gillani

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Hajra Fiaz, 01-257241-013 http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/20964 2026-04-16T04:45:46Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Political Economy of Climate Change and Pakistan’s Pursuit of Sustainable Development Hajra Fiaz, 01-257241-013 A complex of relations between the political economy of Pakistan and the growing threats of global warming is irreducibly entangled in the quest of sustainable development in this country. Pakistan is one of the country’s most vulnerable to environmental shocks " due to floods and droughts, to rising temperatures when it comes to governing climate " yet it is haunted by institutional incoherence, absence of financial resources and political will. This paper aims at examining the role played by political and economic institutions in Pakistan in its ability to design and implement climate related policies that are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This analysis illustrates the lack of correspondence between the preferred policy vision and the operational facts based only on Green Theory as the major theoretical framework. Though the national plans, including the National Climate Change Policy and Vision 2025, articulate the sustainable development stories, the execution process is marred with lack of proper coordination among the agencies, the existing limitations in external borrowing, and inappropriateness of international climate funding. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has reiterated that climate resilience is important to Pakistan, especially when it comes to dealing with the effects of a natural disaster. Moreover, the Ministry of Climate Change has raised the issue of the necessity of a more integrated and holistic approach to climate change adaptation in accordance with international climate agreements. By relying on a Qualitative research approach, thematic analysis, it will be able to determine the gaps in governance, stakeholder relationships and financial limitations. They demonstrate the role of an elite-based agenda, coal-based growth under CPEC and unmet international assistance to curb any action on climate. The implications of these findings on integrated and contextualized climate-SDG nexus governance and policy reflections to inform inclusive, democratic, and country-specific solutions to sustainable development are apparent. Supervised by Dr. Muhammad Fahim Khan

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Muhammad Hasnain, 01-257232-006 http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/20962 2026-04-16T04:35:04Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Pakistan’s Foreign Policy towards China: (A Case Study 2013-2022) Muhammad Hasnain, 01-257232-006 This thesis is a comparative study of the foreign policy of Pakistan to China under the governments of Nawaz Sharif (2013-2018) and Imran Khan (2018-2022). Although the relations between Pakistan and China are commonly referred to as an all-weather partnering, the shift in politics under the change of leadership in the countries led to significant variations in focus, manner of doing, and execution. The study employs a qualitative research design that is based on the neoclassical realism and the rational actor model to study the influence of systemic pressures, domestic political processes and leader priorities on policy orientations. The Nawaz Sharif government has also been marked by the introduction and the swift development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a source of economic modernization and energy security, and a realistic approach to the balance with the United States. Conversely, the administration of Imran Khan was originally cautious on CPEC, focusing on transparency and fiscal sustainability but has reverted to Beijing during economic crises and poor U.S. Pakistan relations. The major areas of comparison are the approaches to CPEC, the Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement (FTAII), diplomatic discourse, and ways of addressing the U.S-China rivalry. The results point out continuity and divergence: continuity in the structural imperative to fit into China and divergence in the style of leadership, negotiation policies and diplomatic rhetoric. In the end, this paper proves that the China policy of Pakistan is determined not only by the geopolitical factors but also by variations by the leadership, which has an important implication to the strategical independence of the country. The study adds to the literature on foreign policy analysis in South Asia by demonstrating the interaction between domestic politics and international pressures, which create both consistency and variation in the external alignments in Pakistan. Supervised by Dr. Irfan Qaisrani

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