Do not look at Pakistan's demand for assistance as begging

Islamabad: The number of victims in Pakistan due to floods has reached 1700, and it has caused a loss of about 30 billion dollars to Pakistan. Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, appealed that do not let the time come that would make Pakistan stand with a begging bowl in front of the rich countries that are harming the environment in such a situation. There is a wide gap between whatever Pakistan has and what is needed. With this gap widening daily, Pakistan’s plea for help should not be considered begging. Saying that this disaster was an environmental crisis for Pakistan and that Pakistan is seeking climate justice from a rich country, PM Sharif has claimed that Pakistan has the right to international aid.

PM Shehbaz Sharif made all these claims in an interview with a British newspaper. Pakistan has not yet recovered from the disaster caused by the floods. The people of Pakistan have been shocked by the scarcity and lack of everything from food grains to medicine. Moreover, Pakistani journalists have been presenting the terrible agony of the exploitation of flood-affected people to the world. These reporters have sharply criticised that not only this, but the aid received from all over the world has not reached the needy here; it has been abducted. Besides, Pakistan’s media and reporters have also blamed the deprived did not get the expected assistance from the international level due to the lack of trust in Pakistan’s corrupt system.

In such a situation, Pakistan PM Sharif is being criticised for begging each country, from the United States to Russia. Responding to this, PM Sharif shared his regret with the British newspaper. PM Sharif said that Pakistan suffered a lot due to floods. He further said that the heavy rains caused by the environmental imbalance had put their country in such a state, but Pakistan did not cause this ecological crisis. Pakistan’s carbon emissions were just as much as 0.8%. In such a situation, it becomes the responsibility of the rich countries that emit the most carbon to help Pakistan. Hence, PM Sharif said Pakistan’s assistance appeal should not be considered begging.

While presenting this, Prime Minister Sharif has been setting up a picture that Pakistan is doing a favour to the world by reducing carbon emissions to a deficient level. But this has proven the backwardness of Pakistan. Pakistan seems to develop a new technique of begging with authority. Because, while the US announced assistance to Pakistan, Pakistan was rebuked for taking help from its closest ally, China. Pakistan claims that the friendship between Pakistan and China is higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the ocean. Although this is the case, China has turned its back on Pakistan, which is in dire crisis. Pakistan has expressed regret that it is not getting the expected help from China. Besides, some Chinese-based Pakistani analysts absolve China of the charges by saying that the policies of the Pakistani government are responsible.

China is angry with Pakistan as Pakistan has once again adopted the US policy. That is why pro-China Pakistani journalists claim that China has turned its back on Pakistan during the crisis. Analysts have also claimed that China has wrapped up the CPEC project because of this policy adopted by the government of Pakistan.