Pakistan on path of 'bankruptcy', fooling countries for funds: Report

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 17 (ANI): Pakistan is going on the path of 'bankruptcy' and has resumed its five decades-old practice of pleading for funds from other countries and fleecing the world's kindness, writes Sakariya Kareem in Asian Lite.
According to the publication, since its independence in 1947, Pakistan has been fooling the Americans, Russians, Muslim countries, and now China into believing that their best interests would be served by funding Islmabad's existence and regional misadventures.
Borrowing former Pakistan President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's quote, "We (Pakistan) will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own (Atom bomb) ... We have no other choice!", the column stated that his words seemed to be ringing true as the country's nuke count reached 165 but it is left with no food and electricity.
"Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's stance is also symbolic of Pakistan's priorities as a nation. Countries naturally grapple with the Guns Vs Butter dilemma whilst allocating their own hard-earned resources to their budgets. However, Pakistan appears to be faced with Guns Vs Terrorism conundrum whilst being eye-deep in debt and allocating resources begged or borrowed," read the column in Asian Lite.
The butter aspect of this dilemma has somehow become the rest of the world's problem, the clumn states, adding that nothing exemplifies this better than the way resources have been allocated in the recent Pakistani budget.
"Out of the PKR 9.579 trillion outlay, Defence Affairs and Services are pegged at PKR 1,566.698 billion. This is about 16.3 per cent of the total budget outlay, 1.94 per cent of GDP and a 14.1 per cent year-on-year increase. This, however, does not give the full picture of the actual amount being spent on the Armed Forces," the piece further reads.
"Pakistan's financial mismanagement and governance deficit are resulting in a preposterous situation wherein the government is asking all elements of economy and governance to shut down early in the day or work from home to save money and at the same time tendering out USD 257 Million worth of military procurements," it added.
According to the author, Pakistan must be held accountable for what it is doing with the rest of humanity's wealth.
"Pakistan has a proven track record of misappropriating resources from the needy to the greedy - the embezzlement of international relief aid during the 2010 floods is still fresh in global memory. It is imperative that the enlightened West apply its wisdom to the extant case and ensure that the bail-outs that they so generously provide help sustain the human indices of Pakistan and does not end up further militarising the region," he writes. (ANI)