Daily Times

Left with barely enough foreign reserves to cover a month’s worth of imports, authorities are desperately trying to manage a balance of payments crisis and rein in inflation after it hit a record of nearly 38% this month. It is in this spirit that Pakistan passed a special order to permit barter trade with Iran, Russia and Afghanistan for special goods, including petroleum, natural gas and a wide variety of food products. With the rupee weakening by the day, it simply isn’t feasible to trade in dollars anymore which is why it is crucial that we devote all our attention to the rupee instead, at least until the rupee stabilises.

Historically, Pakistan’s choice of the US as an ally has inadvertently harmed its potential of forging mutual ties with countries such as Iran and Russia. We have already been coaxed into abandoning the Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline and are repeatedly reminded of the dangers of trading with an international pariah like Russia. But a country like Pakistan cannot afford to be selective about who it chooses to trade with. Moscow has already expressed its desire to develop a closer relationship with us-why shouldn’t we jump at the opportunity?

It is high time we start thinking for ourselves-a huge part of that involves securing our borders. We share more than 900 kilometres of border with Iran-our geopolitical, economic and security needs are far too intimately tied for either country to abandon the other. Tehran even went as far as to extend $500 million in financial assistance in exchange for our cooperation but we persistently refused to go through with the project, all because of pressure from Washington. It doesn’t help that 30% of trade at the Iran-Pakistan border is illegal-these numbers have only increased after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which triggered fuel shortages all across the globe.

Indeed, a trade agreement with countries we have historically neglected gives us the opportunity to set the record straight and normalise trade. Now might be a good time to remember that in the realm of international relations, there are no permanent friends or enemies-only interests are primary and supreme. *