The road ahead is going to be uphill for Pakistan amid Russia-Ukraine war more so as the country's economy has been so thoroughly mismanaged by Imran Khan that it now ranks below Bangladesh.
Federico Giuliani, writing in Insideover said that the dependence on IMF bailouts has reached worrying proportions which may undo many populist measures, leading to unrest in the country.
Post the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the new-found closeness that Imran Khan developed with Putin is proving to be a big diplomatic embarrassment, if not a debacle.
More discomforting for him was his presence in Moscow on the day Russia had launched attack on Ukraine. He rejected advice against his Russian visit in order to please Beijing, and also to demonstrate how 'independently' he runs the country's foreign policy, reported Insideover.
Pakistan claims to have taken a 'neutral' position on the Ukraine war but the zeal with which the Imran Khan government continued to blast the US has planted an impression in American minds that Pakistan stands with Russia in defiance of the overwhelming worldwide outrage against its invasion of Ukraine.
Imran Khan may personally not be keen to be friends with the US or the West but his Army is unhappy with the distance he has created with the US.
Though not specifically on relations with the US, Imran Khan has developed differences with the Generals--very different from the days when he used to declare that for the first time in Pakistan's history, the Pakistan Army and the prime minister are on the 'same page' on all matters, wrote Giuliani.
Despite a friendly Taliban leadership taking over Afghanistan, Pakistan is unable to plan any initiative to play the role of the gateway to Central Asia it had envisaged for itself--a trump card, a point of leverage.
Imran Khan had built up hopes of energy flows from Russia and Central Asia, banking on Russian aid to build a pipeline from Central Asia to his energy-starved nation.
That must remain a pipe dream; Russia, withering under sanctions, is hard-pressed for cash almost as badly as the ultimate benefactor, Pakistan, said Giuliani.
The hardship caused by economic factors may have a bearing on ties between Russia and Pakistan. The global sentiments against Russia can dampen these ties even as the possibilities of a patch up in the frayed US-Pakistan ties do not appear bright in the near future.
( With inputs from ANI )
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