Insecurity in a New Silk Road

Withdrawal of US-NATO troops from Afghanistan, remains an issue for military operations of new-old participants in the process of further destabilization of the political situation in Central Asia. The process of political destabilization of the region raises many a questions about new relationship between interests of USA, China, Russia and India in this region. Pronounced influence of radical Islamic movements in the broader area of Asia makes this region tremendously important for the further development of global political relations in this part of the world. The crisis in relations between Russia and the West makes reconfiguration of global strategic interests in the region more complex.

Taxonomic Assessment of the Order Caryophyllales from Pakistan With Special Emphasis on Seed Morphology

The order Caryophyllales comprises 26 families distributed all over the world. In Pakistan it is represented by 14 families viz., Aizoaceae, Amaranthaceae, Basellaceae, Cactaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Frankeniaceae, Gisekiaceae, Molluginaceae, Nyctaginaceae, Phytolaccaceae, Plumbaginaceae, Polygonaceae, Portulacaceae and Tamaricaceae. Detailed macro and micro morphological characters of seeds of 229 taxa belonging to the order Caryophyllales were examined by using light and scanning electron microscopy including seed descriptions, keys and micrographs. Considerable variation was observed in seed size, shape, colour and surface at family, generic, specific or infraspecific levels. The comprehensive study on seed morphology is first of its kind and provides an additional tool to strengthen the recognition of taxa within the order caryophyllales from Pakistan. This data is further analysed numerically by clustering to trace out the phylogenetic relationship of taxa at various levels.