AN economically dependent state cannot be self-sufficient and sovereign. Although Pakistan is an agrarian country teeming with natural resources, it is economically dependent on the IMF and foreign aid to stave off the economic decline. The country’s survival hinges on debts rather than on its own.

At present, the country’s foreign debt has crossed $55 billion and total debt-to-GDP ratio has crossed 61 per cent during the fiscal year, breaching the 60 per cent limit set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act according to the report of the State Bank.

The current government is once again serious enough to get more loans from the IMF, even though knowing the fact that a huge debt portfolio is one of the major factors driving the inflation rate high.

The absence of any efficient strategy for effective exploitation of the country’s resources and a viable mechanism for reviving economy reflects the need for a dynamic leadership which can ensure saving the ship of economy from being sunk.

Our country was the frontline state in helping the US when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan or during its ‘war on terror’ after 9/11. However, doing all this only made things worse for Pakistan as it brought the drug mafia, the Kalashnikov culture, suicide attacks, extremism and chaos, and drone attacks on Pakistan’s soil.

Targeted killing in Karachi — the industrial and commercial hub of Pakistan — and frequent incidents of bomb blasts across the country have crippled foreign direct investment. This anarchic situation demonstrates utmost need for a leadership that must be a panacea for these menaces.

Today’s Pakistan desperately needs a stable leadership which can audaciously grapple with internal and external problems of every sort before it is too late.

ALLAH BUX NOONARI Shikarpur