LAHORE: Claiming that Pakistan has already defaulted, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif holds ‘everyone’ including the establishment, bureaucracy, and politicians responsible for it.

Speaking at a private college ceremony in Sialkot on Saturday, he said “you may have learnt that Pakistan is going bankrupt or that a default or meltdown is taking place. It has already taken place. We are living in a bankrupt country.”

The defence minister said that standing on one’s own feet was essential to become a stable country. “The solution to our problems lies within the country. The IMF does not have the solution to Pakistan’s problems.”

He said the present situation was the outcome of least regard for the Constitution and the rule of law during the last seven decades.

Lashing out at the former PTI government, Asif said that terrorists were brought to Pakistan two and a half years ago which eventually resulted in the current wave of terrorism.

Speaking about the attack on the police office in Karachi, he said that the security agencies had bravely fought the attackers at the KPO.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2023