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Pakistan

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Floods Ravage the Country

Much of Pakistan was devastated in July and August 2010 by the country's worst flooding in 80 years. The floods started in northwest province of Baluchistan and spread to Punjab and beyond, reaching as far as the southern province of Sindh. The northwest had already been hit hard by years of war with the Taliban. Much of the country's infrastructure was destroyed, along with farmland, livestock, homes and supplies of food and clean water. President Zardari was criticized for traveling to Europe while the country suffered grievously. The floods displaced 20 million people and killed more than 1,600.

In April 2012, Pakistan tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead. Just a week earlier, India successfully launched the Agni 5, a long-range ballistic missile that can reach Beijing and Shanghai, China, and can also deliver a nuclear warhead. Both Pakistan and India denied that the tests were intended as brinkmanship toward the other. India said the exercise was a response to China's recent investment in its military and its growing assertiveness on the military front, while Pakistan said its exercise would "further strengthen and consolidate Pakistan's deterrence capabilities."