Daily Times

Despite a never-before-seen performance by Pakistan’s foreign office, little aid has trickled in to help rebuild the flood-battered inland; making the buzz about assurances of funding from Beijing and Riyadh to the tune of $13 billion all the more pertinent. That the cash-strapped country has been desperately trying to keep its head above water–both literally and figuratively– with its back excruciatingly burdened with the servicing of heavy debt is old news. But its all-weather friends rooting in its corner on a day the so-called champions of utopian ideals stoically refused to acknowledge our dire straits should still be celebrated as a much-needed miracle.

Money matters. No qualms about that. And while any reasonable administration would think twice before thumping chests over artificial sustenance, the success in averting the collapse (by a storm-tossed economy) does call for a faint phew. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s determination in clearing Chinese concerns regarding the safety of their personnel and some unpaid bills adds more credence to his wish to transform the relationship into a working partnership. Elsewhere on the Russian front, Islamabad is trying its level best to procure the discounted oil all in a bid to save as much precious foreign exchange as possible.

By now, all distress signals, even those sent out by the UN, have failed to garner the attention of the first world. The appeals for debt cancellation punctuated with “all hell break(ing) loose” chants have largely been pushed to the back bench because no matter what Islamabad may believe, the rest of the world is not ready to accept the errors in its ways. Emphatic tweets and heart-wrenching pictorials may have managed to strike a chord or two but the commitments continue to remain just a fraction of the overwhelming $30 billion required for immediate relief. This number does not even begin to touch on the reconstruction, which requires another $16 billion–for starters.

Since failure has always been an orphan, no political party would be bothered to pause their clamour for climate reparation and answer who actually pushed the affairs down into the slums. Pakistan has repeatedly tasted the nauseating aftertaste of a good helping of foreign assistance. Trying to get back on its feet is no walk in the park for whoever gets addicted to these crutches. This is exactly why the recent turn of events calls for an immediate introspection by the ruling elite. After all, we cannot let the mistakes of our past pave the way for a drearier tomorrow! *