“Shakespeare said it right: much ado about nothing.”
“Well, the Gazans are being massacred and…”
“Right, but there is a new paradigm in place: aerial bombardment is not enough to gain territory. You need boots on the ground.”
“You know you could be right. American superior airpower and zero airpower of the Taliban and you know the result.”
“But you have to acknowledge that a nuclear bomb is a deterrent to conflict….”
“We have it and the Taliban don’t and where is the deterrent?”
“OK, so let me qualify it: the nuclear bomb works with countries but not with insurgency, which perhaps explains why bombardment on Gaza for nearly a year and half has led to an increase in Hamas support.”
“Right, but when I said much ado about nothing, I was actually referring to events at home.”
“I am sorry, but that well attended overseas Pakistan conference with the Governor state bank stating about 4 billion-dollar remittance inflows in March, a historic high, was much ado about a lot.”
“Right, and then he proceeded to state that 16 billion rollovers by friendly countries – 12 billion already in the kitty and another 4 billion expected to be rolled over - together with the remittance inflows is going to ease our balance of payment issues.”
“Hmmm but….”
“No but my friend that’s a fact.”
“I am not challenging the fact, but can you please consider the fact that our foreign exchange reserves are less than the sum of the roll overs!”
“You are one of the perennial pessimists – this is still better than what was the case before.”
“OK, but that too wasn’t a subject that I was thinking of when I said much ado about nothing.”
“I hope that you are not referring to the hearing scheduled for the 17, a day before the Judicial Commission meeting? Because if you are then that would be tantamount to contempt.…”
“Good heavens no, in our country, contempt of anyone with powers does not bode well for his well-being.”
“So what were you referring to when you said much ado about nothing. Surely not the optimism by our negotiators on the possibility of the US agreeing to our win in tariff trade talks.”
“Yes because Trump refused to take away 17 percent tariffs on Israel, a country joined to the hip with the US so no.”
“I heard that Greedy for Portfolios Samdhi (GPS) will personally…”
“Don’t be facetious, he needs more time in the Foreign Ministry to master it to reach the level he reached in Finance.”
“But…but…but…”
“Splutter on my friend. This is the new Pakistan staffed by the old.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments