Mr Sharif touted his government's attempts to facilitate talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Karzai government.

tout
praise; advertise
She's being touted as the next leader of the party.
Barely a year ago, such firms were touted as immune to an economic slowdown.
Their much-touted expansion plans have come to nothing.

antonym: understate

Vegetable prices quadruple overnight.

quadruple
increase fourfold
Sales have quadrupled in the last five years.
The number of students at the college has quadrupled in the last ten years.
We expect to quadruple our profits this year.


antonym: decrease

The eyes of the world will be on Pakistan as the drawdown and handover in neighbouring Afghanistan take place.

drawdown
a reduction in the size of a military force
Afghanistan gains will be lost quickly after drawdown.
Afghanistan after the drawdown

After suffering a debacle in the 2013 elections, the PPP has been virtually confined to one province.

debacle
a complete failure or disaster; tragedy
He should take responsibility for the debacle and resign.
The army would suffer a debacle if it continued with the military operation.

antonym: success

Talks will be a watershed.

watershed

a turning point

The discovery of penicillin was a watershed in the history of medicine.

The War in Kosovo was a watershed for us.

The NATO war against Serbia had seemed to be a watershed.

There must be zero tolerance for hate speech that demonises any sect or religion.

demonise
to portray as wicked; make into a demon
He was demonized by the right-wing press.
The Nazis used racist propaganda in an attempt to demonize the Jews.

Consumers are paying inflated prices for food.

inflated
excessively high
company directors with inflated salaries
inflated wages