Pakistan’s Khan to skip General Assembly meet to focus on economy
File photo: Imran Khan/ The Dawn
As per statements from Pakistan’s foreign minister, the nation’s newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan plans to skip the coming month’s United Nations General Assembly meeting to focus more on his country’s economy. Foreign minister Mehmood Qureshi is to lead the Pakistan delegation at the meet on September 18th.
There was some internal deliberation in the government as to whether Khan should go for the General Assembly meeting, or stay back and focus on tackling the country’s concerning economic issues. It was on that note that Qureshi informed reporters of Khan’s decision to stay back and his role as leader of the delegation.
As per Qureshi’s statements, Khan plans to focus on his newly formed government having been sworn in only a few weeks back. He also plans to address the currency crisis issue that can potentially economically derail the developing economy.
The nation’s economy had expanded by 5.8% in the last fiscal year which was notably the fastest rate recorded in the last thirteen years. Yet, at the same time, the Pakistani rupee has been devalued four times since December and interest rates have undergone unfavourable revisions causing a chronic rise in the rates.
Considering the fact that Khan’s victory was the outcome of a highly controversial election, there is indeed a lot of expectations from him in terms of administrative efficiency. There are inevitably a lot of issues that currently require addressing from Khan ranging from the economy to foreign policy and regional development. There have recently also been talks about peace negotiations with India and resolving the Kashmir issue. Hence, his move to stay back and focus on matters of national interest might be a planned step in the strategic context.
*Rayan Bhattacharya is a Research Intern at The Kootneeti
