Daily Times

Interim Foreign Minister Abdullah Haroon is right to condemn US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s assertion that there was “no rationale” for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout that pays off Chinese loans to Pakistan. The truth is that majority of the debt Pakistan has accumulated over the years has been from the IMF and other Bretton Woods financial institutions, not China.

Pompeo’s statement amounts to nothing but the politicisation of IMF assistance. It seems the US now feels that whether a country is able to acquire financial bailouts will depend on how that country chooses to engage with other regional and global powers. This is pressure, plain and simple. However, such behaviour has been a hallmark of the Trump administration. If one reads between the lines, Pompeo’s real message is easily discernible, if you want to continue to access financial institutions like the IMF, don’t get too close to Beijing. It is not clear if this will bring developing nations closer to the US, but it will certainly lead to a more divided world some years down the line.

Relations between the US and Pakistan are likely to undergo additional strain in the near future as well, as Congress has passed the US Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2019, which limits funds provided to Pakistan in reimbursement of it’s counter-terrorism efforts to $150 million. This will be $550 million less than what was authorised through the Coalition Support Fund last year.

Also read: Unnatural allies

All of this also highlights another challenge which awaits the incoming government. Not only will it face a strong opposition at home, it will also have to deal with increasingly aggressive posturing from a hawkish American regime. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan and his Foreign Ministry will walk a tightrope as they manage relations with the US while improving relations with China, and also deal with the war in Afghanistan and tensions with India. *

Published in Daily Times, August 4^th 2018.