(China was not invited to – or was not happy with – the summit.) The journalist lamented that the Prime Minister’s move had “openly put Pakistan in the lap of China”. In Pakistan, freedom of the press and politics lie in a gray area, with red lines carefully managed by the military. So the explicit call to rethink relations with China by one of Pakistan’s most prominent media voices is not an arbitrary hot take. According to a retired US diplomat, Pakistan’s Praetorian Army would have preferred Prime Minister Khan to attend President Biden’s summit — to rekindle its relationship with a superpower.

Source: New York Times January 23, 2022 16:43 UTC