In a grim reminder of the worsening governance, Pakistan is being told that it has petroleum reserves to last only six days. This in a country that sees itself as an important member of the exclusive nuclear weapons club.
Geo TV quoted Petroleum Ministry Additional Secretary G.A.
Sabri as saying, "We are currently importing petroleum products based on
10 days' inventory keeping in view the dollar constraints."
The “dollar constraints” are a reference dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
One hopes that there are people in Pakistan’s ruling elite as well as intelligentsia
who realize these are all troublesome indicators of not having focused on
nation building in the last six decades but instead letting various state
institutions run amuck with their own little fiefdoms that often conflicted
with the overall well being the of the state as a whole.
A wide variety terror groups that Pakistani intelligence patronized and promoted over the decades have also played a highly damaging role in setting the country back. It is undeniable that in comparison India has managed its political, economic, military and intelligence institutions extraordinarily well.
There is clear recognition in India that Pakistan’s stability as a nation-state is fundamental to its own future. In 1991 India was down to $5.8 billion foreign exchange reserves, enough for barely a few weeks’ imports. Rather than sliding into political and economic chaos the country’s successive leaderships went about systematically rebuilding its strengths. Today they are in the range of $280 billion after touching a high of $309 billion about a year ago.