As the import of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal dawned on
Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf is already talking
about his country's relationship with China. Stating that
his relationship with the US will always be there because it
is a uni-polar world, he said that Pakistan's relationship
with China is strategic. He also said that he will seek US
help to resolve the Kashmir issue. Meanwhile, religious
parties in Pakistan called for a national strike on Friday
to protest against the Danish cartoons that depicted Prophet
Mohammed in bad taste. The strike was total as Friday was a
half-day and this is an issue that brought most of the
Islamic world together. However, it turned out to be a major
embarrassment for Musharraf as it comes soon after the
Karachi bombing and coincides with US President George
Bush's arrival from India. The religious parties accuse
Musharraf of being an American stooge and for abandoning the
Taliban in Afghanistan. Paradoxically, the Western press and
prominent members of Western Governments for not doing much
on terror and mollycoddling the religious groups are
criticizing Musharraf. Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) is often considered to be operating a
parallel Government in Pakistan and is suspected to have
infiltrated lower-ranking officers of several elite
regiments. The world is anxious about the safety of the
nuclear weapons in Pakistan should the Musharraf's
Government collapse. India and the US have publicly stated
that they want to see a democratic and economically viable
Pakistan. However, Musharraf seems to have no intention of
organizing elections and has instead exiled most of the
prominent leaders accusing them of corruption, embezzlement,
and mismanagement.
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