“It is now next to impossible to have any forward-looking conversation about the outlook for Pakistan’s economy without taking into consideration the developments in the Gaza crisis.

What is opening up before us now is a much larger and most likely more protracted war than anything seen in the long history between Israel and Palestine. Unless diplomacy succeeds in talking the Israelis out of their ambition, the attack on the hospital in Gaza on Tuesday could be only the first of many more such atrocities to come.

It is a matter of time before the crisis starts churning financial markets too, as well as the appetite of bilateral lenders to acquire Pakistani assets. There are some suggestions that the war could restore Pakistan’s relevance in some form or another. But consider the realignments underway.“

Read more of Khurram Hussain’s op-ed here.