Geopolitics & World-affairs

The Countries And International Organisations Fill Pakistan's Begging Bowl In The Name Of Flood Relief, Far Exceeding Countries' Expectations; Will That Money Ever Reach The Right Place?

Pakistan, a nation-state synthesized by Western powers to stem the spread of communism from the Soviet Union to the Middle East and South Asian countries, is now failing to hold together because its economy is bankrupt and the country has been battered by natural disasters in recent years.

Last year, Pakistan was battered by incessant rain, which claimed lives and left nearly 4 million people homeless. It also caused famine in Pakistan and washed away the country's infrastructure in that region. Not only did it deplete Pakistan's foreign reserves, but it also destroyed the country's economic backbone, the agricultural infrastructure. Some areas remain underwater as a result of poor flood management and corruption committed by morally degenerated Pakistani politicians, retired generals, businessmen, and bureaucrats in the name of flood relief.

Countries have already given Pakistan billions of dollars in aid to help save the country, as well as relief materials for flood-affected areas, but everything has been looted by officials and powerful bureaucrats. Pakistan needed billions of dollars in aid and foreign currency to protect the nation's integrity as it moved towards balkanization as a result of unchecked looting by Pakistani officials.
As a result, they organized a meeting in Geneva with the assistance of the United Nations to beg for billions of dollars and to safeguard their political existence within Pakistan. Because without Pakistan, these Pakistani politicians will lose their begging bowl and their pawn country, on which their earing is dependent.

Pakistan managed to secure $9 billion, which exceeded their expectations.

Some countries have already showered Pakistan with cash, supplies, and other assistance in the immediate aftermath of the flooding. Nonetheless, the United Nations and the Pakistani government co-hosted a conference on Monday to discuss additional assistance. Pakistan hosted a conference in Geneva that was attended by 44 countries and numerous international organizations.

The conference was personally attended by the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. At that conference, he expressed concern for Pakistan and pleaded for cash on the behalf of the Pakistani government. Guterres also said that people in south Asia are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts than elsewhere and his "heart broke" when he saw the devastation left behind by Pakistan's flood.

The conference was also attended by Frech President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Following a day-long conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Pakistani deputy foreign minister Hina Rannani khar announced that the final tally exceeded a target for the international community to meet half of the $16.3 billion needed to respond to the flooding. The remainder is expected to come from the Pakistani government. Although the total flood loss has amounted to $30 billion.

The following countries contributed money to Pakistan:

1. Islamic Development Bank: $4.2bn
2. World Bank: $2bn
3. Asian Development Bank: $1.5bn
4. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: $1bn
5. Saudi Arabia: $1bn
6. France: $384m
7. China: $100m
8. US: $100m
9. European Union: $93m
10. Germany: $88m
11. Japan: $77m
12. UK: $10m
13. Azerbaijan: 2m

Will that money ever reach those in need?

The question is critical in the context of Pakistan because the country has been hit by natural disasters several times in its history and every time donated cash went missing mysteriously. And this question has been raised by independent watchdogs because, during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 flood, billions of dollars were donated by countries to Pakistan to save Pakistani people, but the majority of the donated funds were siphoned off by the Pakistani hierarchy to buy properties in several countries, particularly Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

As this question has been raised again this time too that's why the Pakistani government announced plans for independent, outside monitors to make sure that the funds go where they are needed. There are still concerns about the proper flow of money because Pakistan is riddled with corrupt politicians, generals, bureaucrats, and businessmen. Pakistan is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index.

Case Study of Corruption: Former COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa's property and wealth

Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and his family became billionaires in the last six years of his tenure as Pakistan's chief of the army staff.

Members of Bajwa's immediate and extended family started a new international business, shifted capital abroad, and bought foreign properties. Bajwa's daughter-in-law, Mahnoor Sabir, became a billionaire nine days prior to becoming the daughter-in-law hence her three sisters remained as they were.

She owns 8 DHA plots in Gujranwala on October 23, 2018. She has also become the owner of "One Grand Hyatt" apartment in the dack dates of 2015. The One Grand Hyatt is a legalized shady project of Saqib Nisar, the army conman who defrauds the people of Pakistan by constructing real estate businesses on agricultural land.

Bajwa also started Joint Business Ventures with Sabir "Mithu" Hameed of Lahor(Father of Manhoor and father-in-law of Bajwa's son).

Bajwa's family also started an oil business in 2015, "Tax Pakistan", headquartered in Dubai and expanded all over Pakistan within a few months.

There are numerous other examples of this type of corruption because Pakistan is rife with corrupt politicians and generals. Some examples are- Firdaus Ashiq Awan, Zulfi Bukhari, Usman Dar, Imran Khan Niazi, Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, and others. They all have properties in London and several parts of the world. These are all proven examples but there are several other examples that never surfaced because they never hold any significant post in the Pakistani government but they still have billions to invest outside Pakistan.

In conclusion, before countries shower their country's taxpayers' money, the Pakistani political and economical system needed to be reviewed by neutral organizations like United Nation. Most of the time Pakistan used the donated money to invest in its terrorist infrastructure and to spread extremist Wahhabi ideology throughout the world. Pakistan nurtured terrorists and terrorist organizations and then used that system against its neighbors and even against itself to blackmail the world. They also have other means to blackmail the world the most prominent one is the nuclear bomb; they portray themselves as the superpower among Muslim worlds and demand money to protect their nuclear infrastructure from terrorists. Pakistan is a clandestine state that requires honest politicians, proper educational structures, and noncorrupt army generals; otherwise, the country will cease to exist because it is completely hollow on the inside.