‘Too many chickens coming to roost’; Jaishankar’s swipe on Pakistan

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, September 30: India continues to take a detached view of events unfolding in Pakistan, as the Islamic nation battles economic meltdown, while even its ‘all-weather friend’ China too has said no to additional funding of infrastructure projects. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, without taking the name of Pakistan, said that the “unnamed western neighbor presents a case of too many chickens coming to roost”.

In an interactive session at the Hudson Institute, Jaishankar shared his views on some of the countries facing uncertainties, while strategic thinkers believing that they face the risk of disintegration. Taking part in a discussion with Walter Russel Mead, a scholar with the Hudson Institute, Jaishankar dwelt upon the financial crisis faced by Pakistan.

“There are too many reasons for the crisis faced by the unnamed western neighbor (Pakistan) of India. There is a case of disproportionate spending on military (defence budget), infrastructure not paying off, and significantly higher borrowings,” said Jaishankar.

For the strategic thinkers, the remarks of Jaishankar were apparently aimed at Pakistan’s relations with China. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is principally slammed by the Pakistani economists for taking Islamabad into a state of acute debt, with loans from China forming over 20 per cent of the foreign debt. Now, Chia is refusing to extend additional funding of infrastructure projects (read CPEC).

Also, India has been vocal since the outbreak of the Sri Lankan economic meltdown against the rising instances of sovereign debts, which also got centre stage during the several meetings as part of the Indian presidency of the G20. “Sri Lanka saw an almost collapse of the economy, and India extended the largest even support by extending a credit line of $4 billion to Colombo to stabilize the economic conditions there,” said Jaishankar, while adding that several countries are now faced with situations of economic crises.

While India bailed out Sri Lanka from the state of an economic collapse, which also helped Colombo regain political stability after the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country while facing popular support, the island nation is seen to be taking steps to come out of the Chinese influence because of which several projects were taken up that catered to the strategic interests of Beijing. But with Ranil Vickremesinghe at the helm, Colombo is seen to be no more playing the Chinese game in the Indian Ocean, while seeking a closer integration with the Indian economy.  

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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