Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India could have provided Pakistan with a financial package exceeding what the country had sought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if relations between the two nations had been friendly.
India Could Have Given Pakistan More Money Than IMF
Why In News
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India could have provided Pakistan with a financial package exceeding what the country had sought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if relations between the two nations had been friendly.
All You Need To Know
- Rajnath Singh referred to the development package for Jammu and Kashmir announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- “Modi ji in 2014-15 announced a special package for development of Jammu and Kashmir which has now reached Rs 90,000 crore. The amount is much bigger than what Pakistan was seeking from the IMF [as bailout package],” the senior BJP leader said.
- Singh also referred to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous statement that “we can change friends but we cannot change the neighbours.”
- “I said, my Pakistani friends, why have strained relations, we are neighbours. If we had good relations, we would have given more money than the IMF,”
- Cash-strapped Pakistan had recently secured a new $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), its 24th IMF bailout since 1958.
- Pakistan will receive the loan in instalments over 37 months to help revive its struggling economy.
- Singh highlighted that the the Central government provides funds for Jammu and Kashmir’s development, while Pakistan has long misused financial aid.
- “It seeks money from other countries to run a terrorism factory on its soil,” he added. “Whenever we have investigated terrorism, we have found Pakistani involvement.
- Our successive governments have tried to make Pakistan understand that they should stop terror camps but to no avail,”.
- Singh also asserted that Pakistan has been isolated globally now, saying “Even Turkey, which used to support Pakistan, has not made mention of Kashmir at the UNGA”.
- The Defence Minster added that Pakistan is “frustrated” after the revocation of Article 370 and is making attempts to revive terror in Jammu and Kashmir, which saw a series of terrorist attacks in the recent past.
