Massive crowds are expected to converge on the capital, fired up by a charismatic ousted premier bent on returning to power. The economy is in free-fall, and the weak coalition government seems helpless to stop it. The countryside has been devastated by hellish drought and biblical floods.

But for a moment, the nation’s attention is riveted on the outcome of a ritual, closed-door process in a drab military compound to choose and install Pakistan’s next army chief — the most powerful figure in this nuclear-armed state and still-fragile democracy of some 221 million people.

For months the US has repeatedly tried to coerce India into cutting ties with Russia, thereby abandoning its national interests. New Delhi, however, continues to spurn American attempts to subject its economy to Washington’s dictates.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that the United States can not stop Pakistan from purchasing Russian oil and it will be possible to do so soon.

While addressing Pakistan Muslim League-N workers in Dubai, the finance minister said during his visit to the US last month, he had a meeting with the officials of the US State Department in which the matter of oil purchase from Russia was discussed.

• The energy crisis in Pakistan has deepened this year.

• Gas supplies available for households will be very limited this winter.

• Pakistani households will have gas available for three hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and three hours in the evening.

First Washington supported a soft coup against Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan. Then the unelected regime banned his speeches, charged him with “terrorism,” and banned him from politics. Now a failed assassination attempt may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Pakistanis have been out on the streets protesting in the millions over the past few months. Even though the country has been afflicted by the horrific floods, the political momentum for radical change has not abated.

Janet Yellen embarks on her first trip to India as U.S. Treasury Secretary on Tuesday, focusing more on the similarities of the world's two largest democracies and opportunities for deeper ties than on past trade and geopolitical spats.

Yellen is not expected to dwell on India's failure to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine, nor on India's massive increase in purchases of discounted Russian oil this year.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar says his country has no plans to stop importing Russian energy. The statement was made as Western countries plan to roll out price caps on Moscow’s oil exports next month. 

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accused his successor and opponent, Shehbaz Sharif, of involvement in a plot to kill him after surviving an assassination attempt on November 3.

The government of Pakistan has approved a deal worth nearly $112m to import 300,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia to meet its domestic shortfall.

The Indian government has restricted the use of glyphosate-based herbicides due to the risks to human and animal health. On Tuesday the Agricultural Ministry stated in a notification that “the use of glyphosate is prohibited and no person, except Pest Control Operators (PCOs), shall use glyphosate.”