Modi-Biden Bonhomie on June 28, 2023On June 26, Pakistan’s Foreign Office could not restrain itself from summoning the US Deputy Chief of Mission and issuing him a demarche. The objective was to convey Pakistan’s displeasure on the US-India joint statement, which was issued after a meeting between US President Joe Biden and visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June […]
G-20 meeting in Kashmir on May 20, 2023From May 22 to 24, India would host the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), Srinagar, the capital of Indian-held Kashmir. In 2023, India holds the G20 presidency. Taking advantage of its position, India wants to air four main messages. First, Kashmir is a tourist spot loyally aligned […]
Bilawal Bhutto’s visit to Goa on May 10, 2023On May 4-5, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited Goa to attend the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), being hosted by India, the current chair. After more than a decade (since 2011), Pakistan’s FM was visiting India, where the local media was also excited to receive the guest. Unfortunately, […]
Pakistan on Discord Leaks on May 2, 2023Russia attacked Ukraine at an unfortunate time when Pakistan was grappling with a domestic economic slump. On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine. Contrary to its foreign policy principle of anti-aggression, Pakistan decided to stay neutral. Pakistan intended to seek the supply of cheap oil from Russia. To elaborate, the war […]
Racism in Glasgow on March 28, 2023Racism and hate crime are lasting and entrenched features of Scotland, of which Glasgow is the main city, whereas Edinburgh is the capital. On July 2, 2013, this writer wrote (Daily Times, “Pakistani students and Glasgow: a case study in racism”) to raise the issue of lying hidden from the public eye. The piece identified […]
Restructure the Economy on March 15, 2023Whereas Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is frustrated over the dilly-dallying of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in concluding the staff-level agreement on releasing the last tranche of $1.2 billion loan, March establishes itself as the decisive month for Pakistan’s economic future. Pakistan has yet to complete the ninth review of the IMF’s Extended […]
The Vicious Debt Cycle on March 7, 2023On February 28, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the Government of Pakistan’s debt obligations ratings from Caa1 to Caa3, which indicated poor standing subject to very high credit risk. That is, if any lending agency is ready to advance money, it is highly likely that Pakistan will not service the loan. The decision to downgrade the […]
Do More on the Economy on March 5, 2023Last week, the virtual meeting of Pakistan’s economic team and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) failed to deliver in Pakistan’s favour. Pakistan urgently requires the tranche of $1.2 billion, which is part of a $6 billion package agreed upon in 2019. Currently, the IMF is unwilling to enter into a staff-level agreement with Pakistan because […]
No Debt Restructuring on February 22, 2023Bad habits die hard. One of them is to restructure debt. However, on February 18, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva said unequivocally that “there is no debt restructuring for Pakistan.” Georgieva, a Bulgarian economist serving the IMF, made it clear that […]
IMF Takes on Pakistan on February 8, 2023Pakistan’s current account deficit lies exposed: the country earns less and spends more. The double-whammy is that domestic expenditure is higher than domestic earnings and that the import bill is higher than export earnings. The current account deficit is now a perennial problem to reckon with. On January 31, the mission of the International Monetary […]