As India retaliated swiftly to the steep military escalation by Pakistan on Thursday night, Islamabad on Friday begged the international community for “more loans”, citing “heavy losses inflicted by enemy”. Pakistan also urged “international partners to help de-escalate” the situation.
Pakistan Back To Begging
Why In News
- As India retaliated swiftly to the steep military escalation by Pakistan on Thursday night, Islamabad on Friday begged the international community for “more loans”, citing “heavy losses inflicted by enemy”. Pakistan also urged “international partners to help de-escalate” the situation.
Pakistan Begging Loans
- “Govt of Pakistan appeals to International Partners for more loans after heavy losses inflected by enemy. Amid escalating war and stocks crash, we urge international partners to help de-escalate. Nation urged to remain steadfast,” the Economic Affairs Division of the Pakistani government said on X.
- Later, the Pakistani government backtracked from its post and claimed that their X handle was “hacked”.
- The Press Information Bureau of the Indian government trolled the Pakistani government’s X post and shared a meme from the famous Hindi comedy movie ‘Golmaal’. The dialogue in the movie said, “Yeh Koi Tarika Hai Bheek Mangne Ka (is this the manner to beg?)”
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Sequence Of Limits
- The sequence of events comes hours after India struck Islamabad, Lahore, and Sialkot last night as Pakistan resorted to unprovoked escalation on the International Borders and along the Line of Control.
- Pakistan fired over 50 drones into the Indian territory, such as in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Rajasthan; however, each one of them was shot down by the Indian air defence systems, such as S-400 and Akash, except for one drone which managed to hit the Jammu Civil Airport last evening.
- Pakistani army also violated the ceasefire along the LoC and resorted to shelling in the civilian areas, causing damage to the buildings and cattle. The Indian Army responded with equal force.
- On the economic front, Pakistan has incurred heavy losses as a sharp decline was witnessed in the Pakistan stock market on May 7. The Pakistan Stock Exchange halted trading for an hour yesterday after the benchmark index fell 7.2%. That occurred after India struck military targets in Lahore.
- As Pakistan continues to escalate the situation, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said yesterday at a joint press briefing with the armed forces, “Pakistan escalated the situation, we merely responded. The choice to de-escalate rests with Pakistan”.
Pakistan’s Condition
- Pakistan is riddled with high foreign debt coupled with perilously low foreign exchange reserves, and has been grappling with an almost perennial balance of payment crisis and high inflation in recent years.
- Islamabad’s external debt jumped to over $130 billion in 2024, over a fifth of which was estimated to be owned by its key ally China. In contrast, Pakistan’s forex reserves are pegged at a little over $15 billion, capable of paying for just about three months of imports. Reserves remain low relative to funding needs, with over $22 billion of public external debt maturing in FY25, including nearly $13 billion in bilateral deposits, as per Fitch.
