(October-21-2023)
Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain said on Saturday that the war between Hamas and Israel has posed threats to world peace and new challenges have arisen for Pakistan.
Tackling this issue will be a test for our policymakers, as this conflict may adversely affect the Pakistani economy, which is already going through a critical period, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain called for an immediate plan to insulate the economy from the fallout of the conflict.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that nothing can be said for sure about the duration of this conflict and its effects, but international and political stability are badly affected and the distance between East and West is increasing.
The conflict between Palestine and Israel is very old, but after the attack of Hamas on Israel, there has been a big change in it, which was not even in anyone’s imagination, that is worrying the world, he added.
The business leader said that after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of Gaza and the resulting severe loss of life and property, the rulers of Egypt and Jordan refused to meet with the American president, while Saudi Arabia suspended the normalization of relations with Israel.
America has never faced such a response in the Middle East before, and Pakistan needs a balanced policy in this regard because it has to take billions of dollars in loans from Arab countries, while American international organizations provide economic stability to Pakistan, and most of our exports are also to the United States or its influenced countries, he observed.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that China is Pakistan’s closest friend and partner, and Pakistan also buys the most weapons from this country, which should also be considered.
He said that in the current situation, such demands can be made by Pakistan on behalf of western countries, which will not be acceptable to our people and the Islamic world.
Rich countries use Pakistan in any way they want for their own interests, which is due to our economic weakness because our economic model has been built on the wrong foundations since day one, and now it has failed completely.
Pakistan cannot be saved by friendly countries or international financial institutions, but we have to save it ourselves. Pakistan has all the resources and potential to become a developed country, which needs to be harnessed, he said.
