New Delhi: As Pakistan stepped into a new year amid a democratic backsliding at home and a shifting geopolitical perception abroad, editorials of prominent newspapers opted for cautious optimism. They warned that excess repression could lead to long-term instability while also noting that if domestic issues are stabilised, 2026 could be a year of economic and political growth for Pakistan.
Pakistan’s leading English daily, Dawn, highlighted three key concerns in its editorial: “resurgent terrorism, economic fragility, and a steady squeeze on fundamental rights.”
It highlighted that militant violence had surged across the country amid structural weaknesses, adding that the country’s “counterterrorism efforts value force rather than reform”.
“The country has tried control time and again. It should now try governance,” the editorial noted.
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Repression, fragile economic stability
Titled ‘The year ahead’, the article also put up a word of caution.
“Economic decisions need clarity, consistency and equal application if confidence is to return. Security policy, meanwhile, must rest on civilian authority rather than a permanent sense of emergency. And the executive must accept that order imposed through coercion is fragile and short-lived,” the editorial read.
Others were not so blunt. Pro-government newspapers painted a picture of geopolitical resurgence, where the country asserted its role as a regional player from South Asia to the Middle East and Africa.
“2025 has marked a year of geopolitical ascendancy for Pakistan, the likes of which has not been seen for decades,” Nation Pakistan said as it mapped out the avenues Pakistan should be looking at in the new year.
The newspaper toed the nationalistic line, in keeping with the official government stance and headlined its editorial as ‘Pakistan Resurgent’.
“In the span of just twelve months, Pakistan has reseated itself at the table of global powers and, in the process, constructed a diplomatic network that many states would envy. This resurgence has been shaped above all by two major conflicts on Pakistan’s borders, each involving hostile military forces and each fundamentally altering regional perceptions of the country’s power,” read the editorial.
The paper was referring to the year-end press conference by Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister. In the presser, Dar claimed that India’s image as a ‘net security provider’ in the Indian Ocean region, which was a narrative brought by “big powers”—an apparent reference to the US and Quad—had shifted. He added that Pakistan’s perception of being “diplomatically isolated” had also changed.
Nation Pakistan also put in a subtle word of praise for the country’s army.
“Whatever one’s political leanings, there can be little doubt that Pakistan’s international posture rose meteorically in 2025, and those who engineered this shift deserve recognition for a year that has reshaped the country’s place in the world,” its editorial read.
Dawn took an entirely different course, as did Express Tribune.
Dawn warned against the excesses of repression.“A state that relies on control rather than consent reduces its own capacity to govern and invites the very instability it claims to prevent,” read its editorial.
Express Tribune took the cautious optimism route. “Pakistan enters 2026 at a critical juncture, with several challenges converging to test the resilience of the country’s leaders and ordinary citizens alike. But while the path forward is fraught with difficulty, a clear-eyed assessment reveals that it also leads to wide avenues for stability and progress.”
The paper chose to focus on economic issues and highlighted how Pakistan’s economic condition remains precarious. It asked the government to shift focus toward “the billions that are flushed down the drain every day on account of state-owned basket cases”.
The article pointed to deep-seated structural issues that threaten the economy despite promising growth.
“The welcome economic stability of recent months remains fragile, as the country still depends on loans and foreign assistance rather than a significant domestic economic turnaround,” the editorial noted.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)