Daily Times

Pakistan’s economy is tanking. The rising fuel cost is a cause of tremendous concern because it would lead to hyperinflation, which carries the risk of massive civil unrest.

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the Pakistani political leadership is calling for a meeting for joint action. This would aim to handle the economic crisis, under the aegis of the establishment. However, the establishment has been unresponsive to the proposal.

In 1999, General Musharraf took over a country bankrupted by Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan then had only $700 million in foreign currency reserves. Musharraf resigned a decade later when the average economic growth rate was seven per cent and foreign currency reserves stood at $17 billion.

In 2008, Zardari and Yusuf Raza Gillani took over from Musharraf and wasted no time in again bankrupting the nation through massive corruption. Yusuf Raza Gillani started the trend of undertaking huge loans from the IMF. Pakistan has lived off of debt ever since.

Bankrupt Pakistan was artificially kept afloat by loans and financing from friendly nations and the IMF. This largesse was due to our strategic geo-political location. However, piling on loans was not a tenable economic solution.

Pakistan can potentially make all prophets of doom — who term us a failed state — eat humble pie.

Pakistan is now on the verge of sovereign default. A sovereign default would destroy the economy and potentially lead the nation to starvation. This is what has caused the political leaders unprecedented call for united action.

We need to treat the economy on a war footing. We need to employ out-of-the-box thinking for an economic revival plan.

By the grace of God, all is not lost and Pakistan can crawl out of the economic abyss we have sunk into. We can rise high. We are perceived as a country rife with terrorism and religious militancy. The TLP in Pakistan is the latest addition to this unholy mix. Terrorism has been our Achilles heel for over two decades now.

Pakistan must turn its greatest weakness into its greatest strength. Pakistan should capitalise on its militants. This means engagement with the interlocutors of the TTP and TLP as well as all other lesser players operating the political economy of terrorism. These terror outfits are well-equipped and organised units with an extremely effective logistics and communication network and a disciplined chain of command of sorts – albeit for an unholy purpose.

These outfits can be reorganised and then made to engage with their Afghan counterparts. The Pakistani state can simultaneously engage with the Taliban leadership, and a framework can be worked out for cooperation on an out-of-the-box economic plan. Afghanistan and Pakistan desperately need economic assistance, and their respective financial neediness would provide the much-needed impetus to pull off this real-life Mission Impossible. A communication network must be built by effectively organising the various disparate groups. This would enable an infrastructure network to create a supply chain for the oil and gas reserves of the Caspian Sea. Various relevant groups must be made stakeholders in the resulting economic boom. Economic incentive alone can ensure willing cooperation through effective agreements and deals.

Pakistan alone is in the unique position to succeed where the British, the Soviets, and the Americans failed. This would give us tremendous leverage and power globally. The timing is also perfect due to the ongoing global energy and food grains arising out of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Once the supply route is in place, Pakistan can then engage with the US, China, and the EU and strike oil and gas deals. Pakistan’s diplomatic cadre can also pull some strings behind the scenes to have its debt written off. Pakistan can then begin anew, debt-free, with a clean slate.

General Raheel Shareef can play a monumental role in this endeavour. The establishment can coordinate the exercise.

Terrorism has the greatest political economy and in politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies. The Afghan elements can be roped in with appropriate financial incentives. If executed right, the strategy is a win-win for all players involved. There should be a zero-tolerance policy for financial corruption.

Pakistan’s 40-years-old military, diplomatic and socio-economic assistance to Afghanistan, historical ties as well as tribal connections can all work towards serving this goal.

Our militant networks can become our strength, and we can build upon the informal and formal cross-border nodal connections.

Pakistan can potentially make all prophets of doom – who term us a failed state – eat humble pie. Pakistan can turn the tables on the FATF’s invoked financial crises, making it a yesteryear’s tale.

Pakistan is a country of paradoxes, which is uniquely blessed in the world. We are a productive state with an enormous talented population. Our nine-year-old Aafia Siddiqui created a world record by becoming Microsoft certified. We have world-class strategists, scientists, diplomats, academics, journalists, economists, military men, pilots, engineers, mariners, doctors, financial managers, supply chain experts, and IT professionals in our midst. We need no outside assistance. We possess all the inputs needed to create the synergies required to achieve this goal.

We hold the peerless honour of defending the Kaba in Mecca in 1979. We became a nuclear power in 1998, against all odds. We fought off the Taliban and militants and wrested back our territory. We maintain a strong military which won in the faceoff with the four times larger military next door in 2019. We surprised the world in 2020 when we flattened the curve of Covid-19 while better-equipped nations helplessly saw spikes in their cases. Our national carrier PIA’s flights were banned in Europe, but within weeks, the same countries relied upon PIA to evacuate their nationals after the Taliban takeover in 2021. We have always surprised the world with our capabilities. Pakistan has brains and brawns. We can employ our human capital to become the energy supplier of the world.

Fuel price hikes and the resulting inflation is a global crisis, which is slowing down the world economy. By embarking on a mission to save itself, Pakistan can be the superhero that saves the day for the world.

The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. She can be reached at aliya1924@gmail.com