‘Pakistan’s politicians and military, not India, big part of its problems,’ says Singapore’s ex-envoy
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Pakistan’s politicians and military, not India, big part of its problems,’ says Singapore’s ex-envoy")
Singapore's former envoy Bilahari Kausikan said Pakistan has been mismanaged terribly since the beginning.. Photograph: (Screengrab from video on X)
When asked where Pakistan could be in the next five years, former envoy Bilahari Kausikan described it as “a state teetering on the brink of failure” and said that the recent diplomatic gains would not change the country’s structural problems or significantly improve its ties with the US.
Singapore's former envoy and veteran diplomat Bilahari Kausikan has said that Pakistan’s recent diplomatic gains and bonhomie with Washington will not address the economic crisis of the country, which he called “a state teetering on the brink of failure”. Replying to a question from a Pakistani reporter at a global forum, he said that Pakistan’s problem is not India, but rather its own politicians and the military.
Kausikan, a former ambassador-at-large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, said Pakistan may have repaired its global image by mediating the US-Iran interim peace agreement but has done little to repair the crisis within.
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Referring to Islamabad’s efforts in the US-Iran war mediation, the veteran diplomat said, “I’ll be very blunt. Pakistan was very agile and very successful in taking advantage of a diplomatic opportunity, and that has gone some way to rehabilitate Pakistan diplomatically in the eyes of the US, anyway.”
“But you know, that doesn’t feed the Pakistani people,” he said wryly while indicating its deep economic crisis.
He further said that the current global attention towards Pakistan is purely driven by international anxiety.
The Pakistani government has repeatedly prided itself on its geopolitical achievements linked to its efforts in bringing the US-Iran military conflict to a halt.
‘Pakistan’s problem is not India or Afghanistan’
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When a Pakistani journalist at the conference suggested that much of Islamabad’s troubles stem from its borders with India and Afghanistan, the veteran diplomat junked Pakistan’s old game of playing the victim card.
“You cannot blame location on everything. That’s an excuse,” Kausikan said, adding that Pakistan’s crisis is of its own making by its politicians, whom he called a “waste of time”, and the military.
“Pakistan has been mismanaged terribly since the beginning. I don’t see any solution. Its politicians are a waste of time, all of them, regardless of parties, and the military is a big part of the problem,” he said.
Pakistan has been directly governed by its military for nearly half of its history.
‘State teetering on the brink of failure’
When asked by a journalist where Pakistan could be in the next five years, Kausikan described it as “a state teetering on the brink of failure” and said that the recent diplomatic gains would not change the country’s structural problems or significantly improve its ties with the United States.
“The diplomatic success doesn’t change that fundamental reality,” he said.
Pakistan continues to face a severe economic crisis and remains dependent on financial assistance and bailouts from international institutions like the World Bank and the IMF to manage its debt.
