Its future depends on its choices and actions: Jaishankar on Pakistan economic crisis

Speaking about the economic crisis in Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the country’s future would depend on the choice it makes and the actions it takes.

“I think Pakistan’s future is largely determined by Pakistan’s actions and by Pakistan’s choices,” said S Jaishankar.

By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan’s future will be largely determined by its own actions and choices, and it is for the neighbouring country to find a way out of its economic troubles, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in an interview with the news agency ANI.

“I think Pakistan’s future is largely determined by Pakistan’s actions and by Pakistan’s choices. Nobody reaches a difficult situation suddenly and without cause. It is for them to find a way out. Our relationship today is not one where we can be relevant directly to that process,” said Jaishankar.

A few days ago, Pakistan minister and PML-N leader Khwaja Asif said that people must have heard that Pakistan has defaulted and there exists an (economic) meltdown, which stands correct.

ALSO READ | If Rahul Gandhi has superior knowledge on China, I’m always willing to listen: Jaishankar

Mired in an unprecedented economic crisis wherein the price of a litre of milk has surged to Pakistani Rs 250 and chicken, a staple diet of Islamabad has shot up to Rs 780 per kg, the defence minister declared the country is now “bankrupt”.

In the interview, Jaishankar also highlighted India’s assistance to Sri Lanka during the economic crisis, calling it a “very different relationship”.

“If I were, for example, to compare it to Sri Lanka, it is a very different relationship. With Sri Lanka still, there is a lot of goodwill in this country. There is naturally neighbours’ concerns and worry but there is also a feeling — ‘look we have to help them to get through this’,” said the minister.

“Tomorrow, if something happens to some other neighbours, that would be the case as well. But you know what the sentiment is there in the country for Pakistan,” he added.

ALSO READ | Trinamool MP compares PM Modi to ‘asura’, slams Foreign Minister Jaishankar