ISAS Insights

As early as the 6th century B.C., the Chinese traveller, Huang-Tsang, praised the forests, flowers and the fruits of the rugged mountains and the beautiful valley of Swat. So did the Greek conqueror, Alexander the Great, who arrived there a couple of hundred years later. Thus, visitors from the east and the west were in agreement on the lands idyllic ambience in the ancient ages. In the modern days, Swat has been called the Switzerland of Pakistan for the same scenic splendour. Alas, the comparison with Switzerland ends there for, unlike the playground of Europe, Swat today is a stage where a Grecian tragedy of Olympian proportions is being enacted.