'Teetering on the brink of failure': Ex-Singapore diplomat's blunt warning for Pakistan

A former senior Singapore diplomat has delivered a stark assessment of Pakistan's future, warning that the country remains "teetering on the brink of failure" despite recent diplomatic gains.Speaking during the National Press Foundation's International Reporting Fellowship on the theme, "On Keeping Perspective in Volatile Geopolitical Times", Bilahari Kausikan, former Permanent Secretary of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, argued that Pakistan's foreign policy successes cannot mask deep-rooted domestic problems, including economic mismanagement, extremism and political instability.His remarks came after a Pakistani journalist asked how the recent US-Iran conflict could shape Pakistan's future over the next five years. The journalist described mounting domestic pressures, including soaring inflation, higher fuel prices, restrictions affecting Pakistani travellers, and growing security concerns."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 U.S. anyway. But, you know, that doesn't feed the Pakistani people," Kausikan said."Pakistan is a state that is teetering on the brink of failure, and has been for some time. It hasn't quite fallen over, for which we should all be grateful, but that diplomatic success doesn't change that fundamental reality. And I don't think the U.S. is going to lift whatever restrictions in totality it has on Pakistan, because the fact is Pakistan is a hotbed of all kinds of strange groups that are not necessarily working for U.S. interests," he said.The veteran diplomat warned that Pakistan's underlying challenges remain unchanged despite any improvement in its international image.Kausikan also criticised Pakistan's military-led strategic approach, arguing that foreign policy successes cannot compensate for internal weaknesses."Pakistani military was very agile and very successful, that you have to give them credit, but diplomatic success doesn't feed people--that's the hard reality. Pakistan's problems are not diplomatic; Pakistan's problems are much more fundamental within Pakistan. Mismanagement of the economy, letting various jihadist movements get out of hand--if you don't fix those problems, you're always going to be teetering on the brink of state failure," he warned.His comments come as Pakistan continues to grapple with mounting economic pressures, persistent militant violence, political instability and growing international scrutiny over human rights, including concerns raised at the UN Human Rights Council over the treatment of religious minorities and allegations of forced conversions and forced marriages.Catch the latest world news and top headlines. Download the TOI App.