Shahzad Chaudhry, a political, security and defence analyst, said that Modi may be a despised name in Pakistan, but he has done something to brand India which none before him was able to manage. Startled over India’s growing stature on the global platform, the Pakistani daily, The Express Tribune, for the first time ever praised India which is relevant to the world, not only in its size and girth but by its footprint across the world.

Shahzad Chaudhry, a political, security and defence analyst, writing an opinion piece in The Express Tribune said, “If I were Henry Kissinger, I would write a treatise ‘On India’. Such has been the monumental change in India’s fortunes as a State and a player principally in Asia and broadly on the global stage.” Notably, India last year took over the UK to become the fifth largest economy in the world and is aiming to be the third largest economy in the world by 2037, while Pakistan’s economy is running on financial assistance from the global community.

The international community’s generous response by pledging more than USD 8 billion comes as a great relief for cash-strapped Pakistan which is fighting to rebuild in a climate-resilient manner after the devastating floods that killed 1,739 people and affected 33 million people last year. Moreover, Chaudhry praised India for holding foreign exchange reserves of over USD 600 billion, fourth in the world, while Pakistan currently holds only USD 4.5 billion only. Pakistan is in the midst of the most serious crisis it has faced since 1971.

The political economy has been ripped to shreds through self-inflicted wounds, its international stature is down. Comparing India with China, the second-largest economy of the world after the US, he said, “Its growth rate in GDP matches the best-performing economies over the last three decades after China.” “India jumped to 100 billion USD reserves in 2004 from the measly 9.2 she had in 1992. Under Manmohan Singh, India increased its reserves to 252 billion USD in 2014. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi these have galloped to over 600 billion and the GDP is sized over three trillion USD.

This is monumental progress which makes India a preferred destination for all investors,” added Chaudhry. Meanwhile, foreign investors avoid bringing money into Pakistan due to various factors such as political instability, discontinuity of macroeconomic policy, terrorism, corruption and energy shortages.