Ever since India has extended its helping hand to an earthquake ravaged Turkey, a buzz has started on the need to help Pakistan as well by offering humanitarian assistance in the form of wheat and other food grains. A meeting to discuss this is scheduled to take place in Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan on 28 February, and at least one small political party from India, Socialist Party, is participating in the discussions. A similar demand has come from Congress-turned-BJP leader, Sunil Jakhar of Punjab, who has tweeted, “As millions suffer food shortages, a virtually bankrupt Pakistan desperately needs help. A confident India should support a beleaguered neighbor-despite inimical designs of it’s (sic) deep state. Let’s reciprocate the spirit of goodwill which made Kartarpur corridor possible.” This “help Pakistan” buzz is growing among a section of the commentariat as well. While it is a commendable to think of helping the Pakistanis in their time of need, the point being missed is, unlike Turkey’s, Pakistan’s is a man-made disaster—a price that the Pakistanis are paying for having self-serving rulers, including the military, who have bled the country dry. At a time when normal life in Pakistan has taken a hit, with fuel pumps running dry and food riots taking place, there is no sign of the ruling elite relinquishing control or moderating their lifestyle. It is during this time of existential crisis that the Pakistanis imported luxury and electric vehicles worth $1.2 billion in the last six months. Many of them also queued up in front of Tim Hortons in Lahore where the Canadian coffee shop opened its first outlet this week. So popular was the occasion that this upmarket chain clocked its highest ever opening day sales globally. Amid all this, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a minuscule $2.9 billion, with money left for less than three weeks of import.
When the Pakistan military is sitting on assets worth more than $20 billion, and most of its officers are likely dollar billionaires, why would such a country need handouts from India? Didn’t Pakistan organize a major international expo and maritime conference just last week, which saw international participation including that of China? Talks between Pakistan and IMF are stuck primarily because of the former’s refusal to cut its defence budget. Pakistan’s defence budget is almost 4% of its GDP and a 10-20% cut in it would have helped the country not only secure the $1 billion handout from IMF, but also would have eased the economic situation quite a bit. But a fat defence budget is synonymous with the Pakistan military, so any cuts in it are anathema to the generals. If Pakistan is tottering on the brink of collapse it is because of its immense fiscal indiscipline—it’s its own fault. What role can India play in such a situation? Its offer to send vegetables to the starving masses during last year’s floods was turned down by the Pakistan government, which was more interested in posturing against India than trying to alleviate the suffering of its people. Also, let’s not forget the malign nature of the Pakistan establishment, for which the annihilation of India is its raison d’être, because of which it continues to nurture terrorists against India, even when the common citizen suffers. Pakistan is still going around employing lobbying firms in the United States against India. Its network of academics and activists are very much active internationally, conducting misinformation and disinformation campaigns against India. Its rulers are adamant that there cannot be any talks with India until and unless the revocation of Article 370 is withdrawn, which India will never agree to. In fact, even if talks take place between the two countries by some miracle, history shows that Pakistan will not give up terrorism as its state policy. So where is the scope for making peace with such a country? Let Pakistan’s rulers take care of their starving people, with help from “iron brother” China. In fact, China should bail out Pakistan immediately. $1 billion, for which Pakistan is haggling with the IMF, is chicken feed to the Chinese. Let China help Pakistan. It is not India’s job to do so.
