|
Rivalry with India cause of poor Pak economy: US expert
ISLAMABAD: A top American foreign policy expert has linked Pakistans poor economic condition to its rivalry with India and successive military regimes in the country."The rivalry that dogged Pakistan after Partition led to misallocation of funds to the army on the pretext of keeping itself at par with India militarily and caused political and economic disturbances," said Walter Russell Mead, a senior fellow at the US-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations. Advocating against 'militarisation of economic policies,' Mead observed that Pakistans military bureaucracy needed to understand that its current approach was unsustainable. He was of the view that India had access to the very best of weapons available in the world, for which it did not have to suffer much owning to the volume of its economy, while Pakistan had to use the fund for the purpose that were direly needed for its development. "Pakistan needs to get out of this vicious circle," he said. The scholar refused to accept any American role in strengthening military regimes in Pakistan. However, he did accept that "the periods of US interaction with this country happened to coincide with military governments here." "The Americans did not have any choice. The military government in Pakistan was the only option available to them, Mead was quoted by The News as saying today. Posted by: john frum 2007-08-31 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=197601 |