khan hotel and restaurant

THE earthquake that struck the province of Baluchistan on October 29th, killing over 150 people, is only the latest calamity to befall Pakistan. The country's economy is threatened with bankruptcy, even as its internal security is haunted by growing militancy.

Without foreign help, Pakistan won't be able to afford its imports, repay its debts, or quell the insurgents encamped within its borders. Thanks to protracted power cuts, it cannot even keep the lights on in its towns and villages. It is not, in other words, a state in full command of itself. And yet despite these dispiriting facts, or perhaps because of them, Pakistan is acutely sensitive to any infringement of its sovereignty. Those outside powers in a position to help it, from the International Monetary Fund to the American military, are as likely to offend its pride as to earn its gratitude.