India Could Have Given Pakistan More Money Than IMF Bailout Package If Bilateral Relations Were Better: Rajnath Singh

[suriya]

India Could Have Given Pakistan More Money Than IMF Bailout Package If Bilateral Relations Were Better: Rajnath Singh​

Kuldeep Negi
Sep 29, 2024, 05:48 PM | Updated 05:49 PM IST

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday (29 September) said that India could have provided Pakistan with a financial package exceeding what the country had sought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if relations between the two nations had been friendly.

Speaking at an election rally in the Gurez assembly segment of J&K's Bandipora district , Rajnath Singh referred to the development package for Jammu and Kashmir announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Modi ji in 2014-15 announced a special package for development of Jammu and Kashmir which has now reached Rs 90,000 crore. The amount is much bigger than what Pakistan was seeking from the IMF [as bailout package]," the senior BJP leader said.

Singh also referred to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's famous statement that "we can change friends but we cannot change the neighbours."

"I said, my Pakistani friends, why have strained relations, we are neighbours. If we had good relations, we would have given more money than the IMF," he added, news agency PTI reported.

Cash-strapped Pakistan had recently secured a new $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), its 24th IMF bailout since 1958.

Pakistan will receive the loan in instalments over 37 months to help revive its struggling economy.

Singh highlighted that the the Central government provides funds for Jammu and Kashmir’s development, while Pakistan has long misused financial aid.

"It seeks money from other countries to run a terrorism factory on its soil," he added.

Singh said that Kashmir will again become a paradise on earth when Vajpayee's dream of restoring "Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat" in the valley is achieved.

He also said that Pakistan, which has used terrorism as a weapon against India, has been isolated on the global stage, with even some of its closest allies distancing themselves.

"Whenever we have investigated terrorism, we have found Pakistani involvement. Our successive governments have tried to make Pakistan understand that they should stop terror camps but to no avail. Pakistan is frustrated after revocation of Article 370 and is making attempts to revive terror. They do not want democracy to take roots here. [But] India is strong enough that it can take on Pakistan on its soil. If anyone in Pakistan carries out an attack on India, we can crossover and respond," he added.

https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/india-would-have-given-pakistan-more-money-than-imf-bailout-package-if-bilateral-relations-were-good-rajnath-singh

 

[Vikramaditya1]

Maybe spend it on buying home made equipments defence minister. Instead of thinking about Bhaichara.

 

[lightoftruth]

Why would we ?

They even avoid direct aid during floods…..

We have enough priorities in our country, rather than distributing tax payer money to failed economies focus at home !

Barring few ,most BJP leaders don’t know how to communicate.

 

[Pingle]

We are neighbors and we have to live with this fact till the end of earth..... why fight? Forget everything let's accept loc as international boundaries and move on..... we are both educated nations but we both behave like a savages with each other....

 

[Vikramaditya1]

When did India found out we are selling Scopes for the US army? During an expo, that's how incompetent Indian babus are. If war broke out today, it'll be worse fumbling than Russia. But defence minister is busy playing Indo Pak mind games.

 

[Pakman1]

We are neighbors and we have to live with this fact till the end of earth..... why fight? Forget everything let's accept loc as international boundaries and move on..... we are both educated nations but we both behave like a savages with each other....

I like your thought process, but the mindset in Delhi is different.

 

[Pingle]

I like your thought process, but the mindset in Delhi is different.

I too can say mindset in Islamabad is different.... is there any use of such arguments?
Either we keep fighting or we accept loc as international boundaries or wait to Let the truth prevail.....

 

[harpy1]

I think the point that rajnath is making is simply this
Having good relations with your giant neighbour means at times of genuine hardship then a country like India has the resources X to assist which would keep the region at peace and growing collectively.
Instead Pakistan is going from .country to country all over the world and looking for small loans and getting bad publicity in the media sometimes

 

[Oscar]

We are neighbors and we have to live with this fact till the end of earth..... why fight? Forget everything let's accept loc as international boundaries and move on..... we are both educated nations but we both behave like a savages with each other....

Unfortunately - forgetting the jingoistic hawks on this thread
The issue has been hawkish politics from both sides at oddly timed intervals.

When I state hawks - I do not mean legitimate self interests of both sides but rather excessive hegemonic or pure religious/personal glory ideals from those in power that stall things.

The best example is Kargil - regardless of certain negotiation roadblocks on certain aspects, Vajpayee and Nawaz(credit due to his team) had really gotten close to a settlement which would have changed the trajectory of both states(regardless of the jingoistic denialism from members here) and hastened positive to security calculations for India on multiple fronts.

Unfortunately, for pure “chance is going to go” and self promotion Musharraf and 4-5 generals decided they will push a plan through (which had been rejected multiple times by both PA command when Mush was junior and by Benazir) and the rest is history.

Nawaz for all his corruption was a bumbling idiot who was always kept in layers and with “Tikkas” really said yes because he was given a very minuscule impression of what Musharraf was upto.

But that single event derailed the best chance for mutually acceptable peace. Sure , today India with its economic clout and Pacific pivot of global order WILL eventually(in progress with US pressure on Pakistani establishment) impose its terms for Kashmir - but that wont stop terror nor will it stabilize India’s border where it literally could have large force reduction and refocus that expense elsewhere north(would Galwan occur the ?) or even in expeditionary forces.

But let’s say that did happen - what would be the focus of Pakistan’s population in asking why there is a massive force(not saying it would be significantly reduced) and its perks if the primary threat went away?

Let’s say 9/11 happened as it should - it would have refocused the PA tackling all the militant groups including those prepped for Kashmir in an internal conflict with greater initial losses than it took.

However, it would also grant a lot more impetus to eliminating extremism than there is now and eventual reform to the military.

Would that have meant some “Indian Union”?
No, but it would have meant a Japan-South Korea relationship with a bit more warmth.

Solving Kashmir would not address IWT nor leave Balochistan unsolved nor the Afghan border - and the Indian military would still be considered a threat just for the reason a Modi and Co element came into power - but it would make it a lot more difficult for either side to use the other as political ammunition for local elections or protecting self serving interests under the guise of “We protect you so therefore we are holy cows”