With most of the international community condemnding King Gyanendra's suspension of civil government and democratic rights in Nepal, Pakistan's embassy in Kathmandu released a statement of support for the king, saying "Pakistan and Nepal share the objectives of combatting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations" and invoking the principle of non-interference. The People's Republic of China is the only other nation to refrain from criticizing the king's power seizure. The US, UK, EU and India have all condemned the move. (UPI, Feb. 9)

Pakistan's regime obviously fears that it may need to take similar measures to deal with Islamist and Baluchi separatist insurgents. The fact that the PRC is supporting the Nepalese crackdown aimed at crushing Maoist insurgents is (we hope) too ironic to warrant comment.

See our last blog post on Nepal.