Pakistan is no longer a reliable partner in any forum, and this is beyond dispute. It led the United States astray in its fight against terrorism following the worst terrorist attack on American soil on September 11, 2001. The USA hunted in the wilderness for OBL in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, but ultimately the number one declared enemy of the USA was found nowhere else but in Pakistan, just adjacent to the military cantonment area of Abbottabad. The same is true of India, which has repeatedly extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan but has been turned down each time. Our PM Vajpayee’s historic Lahore Bus Yatra was followed by the Kargil war, and PM Modi’s friendship visit to Pakistan was returned by the Pathankot Airbase and the Uri terrorist attacks. Pakistan is the hub of Global Terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism is its official policy. Instead of focusing on its economy and development, it was busy in breeding terrorists. The present GoI took the decisive historic decision that “talks and terrorism cannot go together.” Since then, the Indian strategy has taken a U-turn; whenever Pakistan provoked, it received an appropriate response immediately; the Uri attack was followed by surgical strikes, and the Pulwama attack prompted retaliation in the form of the Balakot operation. India revoked Pakistan’s MFN status and imposed a 200% customs duty on Pakistani goods. The net result is for everyone to see: a failed country begging for help, but nobody is ready to bail out Pakistan this time, be it the IMF, the World Bank, the USA, or other Islamic countries.
India is also in no mood to help Pakistan without action on terrorism, all perpetrators of terrorism are roaming free in Pakistan while the victims are still waiting for justice in India. Dossier after dossier from India had no effect as Pakistan shamelessly brazened out all pieces of evidence with one line, there is not enough evidence; provide more. ‘Talks and terrorism cannot go together’ was the old slogan, the latest is “Terrorism and financial help cannot go together.” For the last four years, Pakistan has been on the Grey List of FATF (Financial Action Task Force), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. While India has become the fifth biggest economy in the world and has cordial relations with all other neighbours, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, a global power to reckon with G-20 Presidency and on other hand is Pakistan, a failed state. But it is still parroting Kashmir at the UN and fomenting trouble in our Kashmir. The manifestations of a nuclear Pakistan are not going to end soon. Pakistan has learned no lessons from its miserable condition, as no democratically elected Government has completed its tenure in Pakistan and the misadventures of its army have landed them in a no-return situation. Least development, nearly Rs 300 for a dollar currency, no wheat to feed its people, commodity prices that are out of reach for the average person, and no money to pay interest on international debt. It’s time up for Pakistan now, and taking corrective measures is the only option left.
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