Impact of instability in Pakistan

ONE of the purposes of this column is to identify and try to shed light on global issues that have attracted little attention in the US media but which might be of interest to readers locally.

An example was the recent military coup in the West African state of Niger that I wrote about last week. The international media has now picked up on this subject because of the likely repercussions of the coup both in Africa itself and elsewhere in the world - not only the involvement of the Wagner mercenary group and the growing threat of Russian intervention, together with the need for counter terrorism measures against Islamic insurgents in the region, but also in light of the threat of military intervention by other African countries that still exists but now appears less likely.

Another global event during the past week –this time in Pakistan - is, I believe, worth covering today because it could precipitate a crisis on the Indian subcontinent. With over 240 million inhabitants, Pakistan is the globe’s fifth-most populous country. It also has the second largest Muslim population. So, what happens there can have a considerable effect on the rest of the world.

The event in question is the sentencing by a court in Islamabad of the nation’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, to a three-year jail term after he was found guilty of illegally selling state gifts he received while in office. As a result, he will be banned from politics for