“This is not that Dawn for which, ravished with freedom,
we had set out in sheer longing,
so sure that somewhere in its desert the sky harbored
a final haven for the stars, and we would find it.”
How easily we forget that Osama Bin Laden was harboured not by his native Saudi Arabia, but was given a safe haven in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. He was eventually flushed out by Navy Seals from here.
In Budget 2024-25, Rs 42,277 crore was allocated for various development projects in Kashmir, including 130 crore for 624 MW Kiru Hydroelectric Project, Rs 476.44 crore for the 800 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Project. In June 2024, PM Modi projects worth Rs 3,300 crores in J&K to transform the hitherto backward state. In 2020, IIM opened a campus in Srinagar.
This April, there was a palpable air of hope, economic well being and development. The state was looking forward to an unprecedented boom in the tourist numbers, when this Hindu genocide put an end to the upcoming tourist season.
Pakistan could not face the fact that Kashmir was prospering. It is in stark and sad contrast to the dismal and disastrous state of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, which has remained nothing more than a training ground for Pakistan’s mainstay industry of terrorism. PM Modi has huge infrastructural plans for Kashmir, including all-weather roads, tunnels, and the much awaited rail connectivity. What plans does Shehbaz Sharif have for the development of PoK?
The IMF has $2 billion within Pakistan’s $7 billion program. It will once again be used to sponsor terrorism across the border as has been done in the past. But snakes in a backyard cannot remain hidden as can be seen in the case of Osama Bin Laden, who was the face of the Twin Towers attack, and the American journalist Daniel Pearl whose ruthless murder was also avenged by India’s Operation Sindoor strikes.
Bilawal Bhutto, Pakistani political royalty of sorts, has acknowledged that “Pakistan has a past as far as extremist groups are concerned”. Even Pakistani Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif conceded that the country has “harboured links to terrorist groups in the past”. IMF must introspect on what basis a nation known for its defaults and terrorist networks is being given loans? Islamabad has partaken of the IMF’s generosity over 25 times since 1950. And as of 31 March 2025, Pakistan owes the IMF $6.2 billion. These figures are publicly available on the IMF website. The World Bank has separately provided $48 billion to Pakistan. We haven’t yet counted the loans given by China.
Multilateral agencies such as the IMF and the World Bank have robust lending policies in place to ensure that the aid is used for developmental activities such as climate research, sustainable development, poverty eradication, export promotion and have a definitive methodology for seeking compliance of its policy initiatives. But Pakistan has committed “economic suicide” by focusing on its main export, terrorism, rather than building its economy through various measures as has been done by India.
The Indian Rupee and Pakistani Rupee started off on par in 1947, but the PKR has seen a steady and strong decline and stood at 1 INR=3.23 PKR before the two countries went to war this week.
Pakistan has been standing on the precipice of a disastrous bankruptcy, with its external foreign debt at a staggering $130 billion. It’s surviving on dole from China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar along with the IMF and World Bank. The Pakistani economy was expected to “recover” with an expected growth rate of 2.7 per cent (India’s projected rate is 6.7 per cent). The IMF needs to take a hard close look to understand where this dole is being utilised. Do they really want to taint their hands with the blood of innocents like Vinay Narwal?
India abstained from the vote at IMF meet. India believes that rewarding continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism sends a dangerous message to the global community, exposes funding agencies and donors to reputational risks, and makes a mockery of global values. Fungible inflows from international financial institutions, like IMF, could be misused for military and state sponsored cross border terrorist purposes.
It would have been appropriate to conduct audits and delay the funding as the timing of the disbursement is very inopportune. At the very least, the sanctioning of the loan could have been used as a ‘carrot’ to persuade Pakistan to abstain from sponsoring terrorism. This state sponsored terrorism had led to the suspension of military aid to Pakistan during Trump’s first stint. It was on the grounds that Pakistan was providing a safe haven to the Afghani Taliban and the ‘vicious’ Haqqani group which had been targeting the American forces in Afghanistan.
One is left wondering about the lack of will of the governing board of the IMF to condemn Pakistan or give it a rap on its knuckles.
The IMF suggests the promotion of tourism is an economic opportunity to make a country self-sufficient. It would be pertinent to note that the IMF has itself strangled the nascent Rs 12,000 crore industry in Kashmir which contributes 7-8 per cent of the region’s GDP, in a swift debilitating move to grant Pakistan aid.
We hope and pray that wisdom prevails and truth is learned.
Meenakshi Lekhi is a BJP leader, lawyer and social activist. Her X handle is @M_Lekhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
