Day Seventy-Seven: Pakistan's neighbourhood

Following the shocking assassination of Benazir Bhutto earlier today, little positive reporting of any significance could be found. However, on Pakistan's 'Dawn' newspaper site, I found an article that predated Bhutto's death by hours. It seems that Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, is on a state visit to Pakistan right now. In fact, he met with Bhutto hours before her death. Prior to that, the Dawn article reports, he also met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and the two leaders committed themselves to co-operation in order to suppress extremism and shore up the region's stability. Now, following Bhutto's death, Pakistan seems to be teetering on the brink of collapse - making the strength and support of its neighbours vital. Pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan - and, of course, that with India - may hold the key to the future of the South Asian region. If there is hope to be found anywhere today, it is in the overwhelming and universal condemnation of Bhutto's assassination and sympathy for Pakistan's citizens - particularly from leaders in Afghanistan and India. We must hope today's events have not eroded Karzai's commitment, but rather reinforced it.

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BTW: The Dawn website is worth reading in more detail, if you wish to deepen your understanding of Pakistani politics, security and culture. The coverage of Bhutto's assassination and its aftermath specifically is fairly comprehensive, though factual rather than analytical.