Spaniards led by Coronado make contact with…

Not all of Pakistan's relations within South Asia are negative.

President Zia ur-Rahman of Bangladesh proposes an organization for South Asian cooperation.

Pakistan is at first reluctant, fearing Indian domination, but eventually agrees to join the group, along with Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is formally inaugurated at a summit meeting in Dhaka in 1985.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India visits Islamabad in 1988 to attend a SAARC summit, the first visit of an Indian prime minister since 1960, when Nehru visited to sign the Indus Waters Treaty.

Zia's estimation is that he and Rajiv can meet quite cordially but can not agree on substantive issues.

Junejo's government is unable to accomplish all of Zia's agenda.

Aside from not passing the sharia bill in 1985, it has allowed the resumption of political parties, a step not welcomed by Zia, who sees parties as divisive in what should be a united Islamic community.

Nonetheless, Zia's dismissal of Junejo on May 29, 1988, and the dissolution of the national and provincial assemblies the next day, comes as a surprise.

In explaining his action, Zia points to the failure to carry Islamization forward and to corruption, deterioration of law and order, and mismanagement of the economy.

Another important reason for Junejo's dismissal is his interference in army promotions and his call for an investigation into an arsenal explosion near Islamabad; civilians are not expected to meddle in military affairs.

In June, a caretaker government is set up, with Zia acting as head of government.

He now enacts the sharia bill by ordinance.

Zia procrastinates on calling new elections, which even his own version of the constitution requires within ninety days.

He finally sets November 17, 1988, as the polling date for the National Assembly, with provincial elections three days later.

His reasons for the delay are the holy month of Muharram, which falls in August during the hot weather, and the lack of current electoral registrations (a point he blamed on Junejo).

Despite the open operation of political parties, Zia indicates that elections will again be on a nonparty basis.