The murky poll outcome is not conducive to pursuing a robust foreign policy, especially with India. The foreign ministry will need to lean heavily on the military establishment for guidance.

While the US may see India as a potential counterweight to China, Arab Gulf relationships with India — and China, for that matter — are part of a plan to diversify their global partnerships.

Sharif's PML-N party wins 70 seats in parliament, which puts him in a strong position to form a coalition government

The 74-year-old former PM is campaigning across the country, vowing to position Pakistan as an economic powerhouse in Asia ahead of general elections on 8 February.

With the former prime minister in prison and his predecessor having just had a graft conviction quashed, the path seems clear for Nawaz Sharif to swap seats with Imran Khan. A lot is at stake.

The iconic Indian nationalist leader famously said: 'Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense as England belongs to the English and France to the French.'

While a direct confrontation between Tehran and Islamabad seems unlikely, things could escalate if Iran feels squeezed in the Levant.

India's opposition simply cannot compete with the BJP's money, power, mass mobilisation tools and media control, making a Modi victory come April a near-guarantee

President-elect Lai will certainly be limited in his capacity to enact any major shift in the coming years. Meanwhile, Beijing's Taiwan policy has proven ineffective and may need a change of course.

In election-year India, the ruling party knows that discontent among the poor is a threat to its chances