Islamabad is spending heavily on Chinese-made weapons, straining Pakistan’s economy.Featured image: Reuters
Pakistan is the best example of economic mismanagement in South Asia. There were developments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Monday. The area has been in turmoil for several days.
Local residents protested against the soaring electricity rates, leading to clashes with police. Protests intensified over the weekend, and on Monday Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the grant to PoK, leading Pakistan to abandon it. The grant is worth $86 million.
However, it is not clear how this funding will be used. The people of PoK must believe Sharif’s words. It is doubtful whether this bribe will placate his PoK people, but the question arises. How did a permanently bankrupt Pakistan come up with this grant? How would it actually raise the money?
After all, Pakistan’s economy is in dire straits. They are billions of dollars in debt. This is about 42% of Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP), and it does not expect this year’s high growth to offset the debt.
By the end of June, economic growth in 2023-24 is expected to be just 1.8%.
The outlook is not very good for Pakistan. High debt and low growth. So how can you suddenly find money for PoK? The answer may lie in another development.
On Sunday, Pakistan signed a defense agreement with Iraq. According to reports, the sale of fighter jets is also included. Approximately $1.8 billion for 12 jets. It will bring some much-needed funds into Islamabad’s empty coffers. Pakistan’s sale of JF Thunder jets is one of the rare cases in which the country’s military is partially supporting the economy. This is a joint venture between Pakistan and its loan shark, China.
The Chinese government has donated billions of dollars to Islamabad. Most of Pakistan’s external debt is owed to China. So how will Pakistan repay? Well, there are regular repayments, and then there are also purchases of weapons.
A report released last week highlighted that Pakistan is in China’s pocket in many ways. Or rather, how China is cutting into Pakistan’s pockets.
Let’s look at arms imports. From 2019 to 2023, 82% of Pakistan’s arms imports came from China. From 2014 he increased from 69% during 2018.
In short, China’s share has increased significantly over the past decade. Now, friendship is one thing, but why did Pakistan become completely dependent on Chinese weapons? And these are not just small-value items. Pakistan has also purchased heavy weapons such as submarines. Last month, China launched a submarine. The first of eight Hangor-class submarines under construction for Pakistan.
The total cost is between $4 billion and $5 billion. That is not something Pakistan can really afford. So why and how do you buy these weapons? So when a loan shark asks you to buy something, do you really have a choice?
This explains Pakistan’s dire economic situation. It imports defense equipment from China. Debts continue to increase and must be repaid with interest. As a result, they do not have enough money to spend on their own citizens, who are also forced to pay high taxes to raise funds for loan repayments.
In other words, Pakistan is spending heavily on Chinese weapons, which is crushing Pakistan’s economy. This is not an exaggeration. According to the latest SIPRI report, 14.5 percent of Pakistan’s government spending was earmarked for the military in 2022. All other countries mentioned, including India and Saudi Arabia, have less than 10%. This shows Pakistan’s misplaced priorities: how Chinese arms imports are more important to Pakistan than its own citizens.
Unless this situation changes, and unless Pakistanis get the first share of the nation’s resources, the country will never recover from its financial crisis, no matter how many jets it sells.
The views expressed in the article above are personal and solely those of the author. These do not necessarily reflect the views of his Firstpost.
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