This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed “Pakistan’s quest for BRICS membership” carried by the newspaper yesterday. The writer, Farhat Ali, deserves a lot of praise for presenting a highly informed perspective on ‘BRICS’, its expansion and further expansion prospects. Having said that, the point I wish to make is that the BRICS has certainly come a long way since its founding in 2009. It has gone from a slogan dreamed up at an investment bank to a real-world club that controls a multilateral lender. Be that as it may, the writer has concluded his argument by saying that

“Pakistan’s branding stands more vulnerable than ever before. This country’s dependence for its economic sustainability and diplomatic outreach on friendly Middle East nations and China stands saturated. Pakistan possesses great human talent and resources on the strength of which it can push through and carve out a significant role for itself on the fast-changing global economic and political landscape. It only needs to put its house in order.” I couldn’t agree more, so to speak. Lack of political stability and massive corruption constitute two major impediments to efforts aimed at achieving an economic turnaround. Therefore, we, as a nation of 250 million people, must begin to solve our own problems.

Mohsin Raza

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024