Pakistan is yet to recover from one of the worst political violence witnessed in the port town of Karachi. What started as an issue between President Pervez Musharraf and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has now assumed gigantic proportions and polarized the country into two. The city of Karachi has come to a stop, and the whole country is suffering from social and political unrest, which may soon start to have economic repercussions as well.
Things don't look rosy with the other neighbors as well. On the eastern front, Bangladesh is the scene of intense political activity..well..without a government. The two leading parties, Bangladesh Nationalist party and the Awami League have been questioning the fairness of the upcoming elections and pointing irregularities in the voters list. The country is currently under a state of emergency and headed by a caretaker government.
Down south, Sri Lanka is battling renewed attacks by LTTE, including air raids on the capital city of Colombo. The landlocked Nepal seems to be doing better, months after King Gyanendra was stripped of all royal powers and the state was proclaimed secular by the 7-party government.
It is rather surprising that the Indian government hasn't involved itself much into issues across the border. A stable neighborhood augurs well for the social and economic development of the entire South Asian region, and it is high time the SAARC countries realize that.
Things don't look rosy with the other neighbors as well. On the eastern front, Bangladesh is the scene of intense political activity..well..without a government. The two leading parties, Bangladesh Nationalist party and the Awami League have been questioning the fairness of the upcoming elections and pointing irregularities in the voters list. The country is currently under a state of emergency and headed by a caretaker government.
Down south, Sri Lanka is battling renewed attacks by LTTE, including air raids on the capital city of Colombo. The landlocked Nepal seems to be doing better, months after King Gyanendra was stripped of all royal powers and the state was proclaimed secular by the 7-party government.
It is rather surprising that the Indian government hasn't involved itself much into issues across the border. A stable neighborhood augurs well for the social and economic development of the entire South Asian region, and it is high time the SAARC countries realize that.
