Why Two Ailing Democracies Missed US Democracy Summit

It was an international summit of democracies, but several democratic countries in Asia and Africa were absent; some were not invited and some turned down the invitation.

Pakistan declined to attend, giving no excuse except that Islamabad will engage Washington, a close ally, bilaterally.

The real reason for Pakistan's absence, experts say, was not about democracy but about China.

'This was a fairly s