ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday accused India of "jeopardizing the peace and stability of the entire region," following a standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the border region of Ladakh.
The accusation came from Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also said the showdown was sparked by Indian infrastructure works in the disputed area.
"The recent conflict between China and India was triggered by the latter’s illegal constructions in Ladakh. In the wake of the law and order situation in the region, the international community should take immediate notice of the Indian government's growing extremism and hegemonic agenda,” Qureshi said in a statement.
Earlier this week and in a series of tweets, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also attacked India by saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is "becoming a threat to India’s neighbors."
Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman Aisha Farooqui told Arab News on Friday that regional peace and security are being threatened by India on both the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, as well as on its border with Nepal.
“Increasingly we see a pattern whereby India has taken unilateral actions in violation of established mechanisms and bilateral understandings and agreements with its neighbors,” Farooqui said.
On May 10, the Indian army reported that several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a cross-border clash at Naku La in North Sikkim, which borders Bhutan, Nepal and China. The focus has since moved to India's Ladakh region across the border from Tibet.
India and China fought a war over India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962. China still claims some 90,000 square kilometers of territory under New Delhi's control.
While no shot has been fired across their border for more than four decades, there have been numerous face-offs. In 2017, there was a 72-day showdown after Chinese forces moved into the disputed Doklam plateau on the China-India-Bhutan border.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump offered to mediate the dispute.
"We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute,” Trump wrote in a Twitter post.
India, however, sidestepped the offer and announced it would resolve the matter diplomatically.
"India is committed to the objective of maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas with China. At the same time, we remain firm in our resolve to ensure India's sovereignty and national security,” India’s foreign ministry spokesman, Anurag Srivastava, told reporters during a media briefing on Thursday.
Pakistan accuses India of threatening regional peace and stability
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Pakistan accuses India of threatening regional peace and stability
- India on Thursday said it would peacefully resolve its border conflict with China
- The stand-off began in early May with a scuffle between Indian and Chinese border troops
IMF warns against policy slippage amid weak recovery as it clears $1.2 billion for Pakistan
- Pakistan rebuilt reserves, cut its deficit and slowed inflation sharply over the past one year
- Fund says climate shocks, energy debt, stalled reforms threaten stability despite recent gains
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economic recovery remains fragile despite a year of painful stabilization measures that helped pull the country back from the brink of default, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Thursday, after it approved a fresh $1.2 billion disbursement under its ongoing loan program.
The approval covers the second review of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of its climate-focused Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), bringing total disbursements since last year to about $3.3 billion.
Pakistan entered the IMF program in September 2024 after years of weak revenues, soaring fiscal deficits, import controls, currency depletion and repeated climate shocks left the economy close to external default. A smaller stopgap arrangement earlier that year helped avert immediate default, but the current 37-month program was designed to restore macroeconomic stability through strict monetary tightening, currency adjustments, subsidy rationalization and aggressive revenue measures.
The IMF’s new review shows that Pakistan has delivered significant gains since then. Growth recovered to 3 percent last year after shrinking the year before. Inflation fell from over 23 percent to low single digits before rising again after this year’s floods. The current account posted its first surplus in 14 years, helped by stronger remittances and a sharp reduction in imports. And the government delivered a primary budget surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, a key program requirement. Foreign exchange reserves, which had dropped dangerously low in 2023, rose from US$9.4 billion to US$14.5 billion by June.
“Pakistan’s reform implementation under the EFF arrangement has helped preserve macroeconomic stability in the face of several recent shocks,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke said in a statement after the Board meeting.
But he warned that Islamabad must “maintain prudent policies” and accelerate reforms needed for private-sector-led and sustainable growth.
The Fund noted that the 2025 monsoon floods, affecting nearly seven million people, damaging housing, livestock and key crops, and displacing more than four million, have set back the recovery. The IMF now expects GDP growth in FY26 to be slightly lower and forecasts inflation to rise to 8–10 percent in the coming months as food prices adjust.
The review warns Pakistan against relaxing monetary or fiscal discipline prematurely. It urges the State Bank to keep policy “appropriately tight,” allow exchange-rate flexibility and improve communication. Islamabad must also continue raising revenues, broadening the tax base and protecting social spending, the Fund said.
Despite the progress, Pakistan’s structural weaknesses remain severe.
Power-sector circular debt stands at about $5.7 billion, and gas-sector arrears have climbed to $11.3 billion despite tariff adjustments. Reform of state-owned enterprises has slowed, including delays in privatizing loss-making electricity distributors and Pakistan International Airlines. Key governance and anti-corruption reforms have also been pushed back.
The IMF welcomed Pakistan’s expansion of its flagship Benazir Income Support Program, which raises cash transfers for low-income families and expands coverage, saying social protection is essential as climate shocks intensify. But it warned that high public debt, about 72 percent of GDP, thin external buffers and climate exposure leave the country vulnerable if reform momentum weakens.
The Fund said Pakistan’s challenge now is to convert short-term stabilization into sustained recovery after years of economic volatility, with its ability to maintain discipline, rather than the size of external financing alone, determining the durability of its gains.
