VIOLENCE DESTABLISES PAK

                   From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s fragile government faces further instability from a resurgent separatist movement in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, a resource-rich area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, says The New York Times.

Beijing is developing a deepwater port and a transportation network linking the port city of Gwadar to China. The separatists seet the partnership as supporting Pakistan’s government, their enemy. In recent years, many of their targets have been Chinese.

Last month, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb near a bus carrying Chinese teachers, killing four others. Chinese development work must stop, the separatists threatened, “otherwise our future attacks will be even harsher.”

Business: Pakistan’s government views foreign investment as vital and is eager to strengthen ties with China as a counterweight to its archrival, India.

Analysis: The government is fighting other insurgencies, including the Islamic State affiliate ISIS-K and the Pakistani Taliban. Baluchistan has faced five insurgencies since 1947, the most recent and persistent one underway since 2003.

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