Pakistan has decided to boycott the T20 World Cup match against India. However, on the other hand, it has rolled out the red carpet for Indian-origin World Bank chief Ajay Banga. Pakistan’s mehman nawazi for Banga was not for nothing. We explain the reasons behind it.
If there were a tournament for hypocrisy, Pakistan would have won it hands down. While on one hand, Pakistan has decided to boycott the T20 World Cup match against India, on the other, it has rolled out the red carpet for Indian-origin World Bank chief Ajay Banga. However, the mehman nawazi (hospitality) for Banga was less about his Indian roots and more about him controlling the loan cheque, which Pakistan depends on to manage its frail economy. At the same time, Pakistan has chosen to weaponise cricket for political posturing against India. Its nothing but double standards of the highest level. We will explain how.
Now, the over-the-top reception for Banga, who visited his ancestral home in Pakistan earlier this week, is not for nothing. The cash-strapped nation is heavily dependent on loans and bailout packages from institutions like the World Bank and IMF to manage its economy. Against this backdrop, the extravagant welcome to Banga is being seen as a move to curry favour with the chief of one of its most powerful creditors.
INDUS WATER TREATY FACTOR
And not to forget – the World Bank also acts as a facilitator and is a signatory to the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which India, an upstream country, suspended after the Pahalgam terror attack last year. Around 80% of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on the Indus rivers. The agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s food security, accounting for 25% of Pakistan’s GDP.
Over the past nine months, Pakistan has frantically reached out to global forums and the Court of Arbitration over India’s move to suspend the treaty. However, it has borne little fruit for Pakistan. Hence, the grand welcome to Banga as it looks to maintain goodwill with the World Bank leadership.
However, last year, Banga categorically said the World Bank had no role to play in resolving the Indus waters dispute, and it was just a facilitator.
WHY WORLD BANK CHIEF VISITED PAKISTAN?
Against this backdrop, the extraordinary fanfare with which Banga was received in Pakistan has drawn attention. Pakistan even tried to appropriate Banga as one of their own, even though he was born in Pune, Maharashtra, in 1959. The four-day visit, which was mostly personal, saw Banga travel to Khushab, where his parents once lived before Partition.
His father, Harbhajan Singh Banga, migrated to India in 1947. He later served as an officer in the Indian Army.
Videos circulating on social media show Banga being received with great pomp in Pakistan. He was personally received by Pakistan’s finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Punjab’s minister for minority affairs.
Horse-mounted escorts and marching bands, which played the Bollywood track “mera piya ghar aaya”, led Banga’s convoy. Students were lined up across the street through which his convoy passed. Huge banners came up carrying images of Banga along with the Punjab chief minister, Maryam Nawaz Sharif. It seemed less of a welcome for a World Bank chief and more for a global leader.
Pakistan did what it does best – oodles of flattery. US President Donald Trump would vouch for it, even though it didn’t stop him from slapping Pakistan with an immigrant visa ban.
What drew particular criticism was the symbolic gesture by Pakistani officials presenting Banga with a copy of documents related to his ancestral house — the same house from which his family was forced to leave during Partition. It was not only ironic, but the move also appeared tone deaf.
PAKISTAN REELS UNDER MASSIVE DEBT
On the last day of his visit, the World Bank chief held meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the finance minister. Yes, you guessed it right. The discussions were centred around Pakistan’s bid to secure $20 billion (Rs 1.8 lakh crore) in financial aid from the World Bank over the next decade.
Crucially, according to official figures, Pakistan’s external debt is nearly $135 billion (approximately Rs 11 lakh crore), with around one-fifth owed to the World Bank.
The meeting with Banga comes on the heels of the prime minister’s recent candid admission that he felt “ashamed” when he or army chief Asim Munir had to travel abroad seeking foreign assistance.
“We feel ashamed when Field Marshal Asim Munir and I go around the world begging for money. Taking loans is a huge burden on our self-respect. Our heads bow down in shame,” Sharif told exporters in Islamabad.
The episode has sparked a wave of online trolling. Even Pakistanis themselves have criticised the elaborate protocol being given to a “bank employee”.
“Once again, Pakistan bows down to beg from a guy of Indian origin. Giving similar vibes as that of December 16, 1971,” a user tweeted, referring to Islamabad’s surrender in the Liberation War.
Another posted, “Despite the sheer hatred Pakistan shows toward India, they rolled out the red carpet for Indian-origin Ajay Banga purely because he controls the loan cheque.”
A Pakistani user, Shakeel Khokhar, called it “sycophancy at its best”. A section of users called the spectacle a “new way of begging”, citing Pakistan’s desperation amid its mounting debt crisis.
While Banga’s visit to Pakistan was more about reconnecting with his roots and ancestral village, the government’s glitzy welcome for the World Bank chief has not gone unnoticed. It was not about mehman nawazi, but more about securing goodwill for future financial inflows.
