Ever since the India-friendly Sheikh Hasina government came into office after sweeping the December 2008 general elections, her domestic opponents and their foreign patrons have been plotting the ouster of her government through undemocratic means.

The continuing spiral of violence in Karachi signals the slow but gradual melting of a nuclear-armed State controlled by a military allied with global terrorist networks.

Umar Cheema’s abduction and torture by ISI officials recently is part of the strong arm tactics employed by the Pakistan Army and its intelligence wing to force journalists to fall in line.

Sino-US rivalry has been simmering for the past many years, as China has replaced Russia in the American scheme of things as its most potent adversary.