KARACHI:
Both the defence and financial capacity of a state to preserve national sovereignty should never be outsourced. Given the grave energy crisis ensuing from the confrontation between US-Israel and Iran, Qatar has invoked “Force Majeure” to suspend agreements with other states, including Pakistan, for the supply of natural gas. However, the State of Pakistan continues to pay capacity payments to IPPs and Rental Power Projects, even during times when other countries with trillions of dollars in reserves have invoked this legal clause to cancel and suspend agreements.
The circular debt, piled up because of ill-advised, one-sided agreements which guarantee payments to private power generation companies, has become a drain that threatens our national economy. What is shocking is that all political parties, including sections of our media, have chosen to remain silent on this issue of national importance. It seems that conflicts of interest among the ruling elite, in nexus with sections of the paid bureaucracy who are beneficiaries of this organised daylight heist, have made them complicit in this crime. The hesitance to invoke legal options that are internationally recognised is unprecedented and unacceptable.
National sovereignty is linked with the capability to defend geographical boundaries from external aggression, and financial capacity, through the optimum use of all resources and equitable levy of direct taxation on all sources of income, to maintain that deterrence. Pakistan has recently gained international recognition by facilitating negotiations between Iran and the US. It must now set its own house in order.
An effective defence deterrence, which we inherited courtesy of the vision of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto — with the help of Shah Faisal and Gaddafi — who embarked upon acquiring it after the 1971 debacle, needs to be maintained. However, we must remember that financial self-reliance is as vital as an equipped military force to sustain our sovereignty.
Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore
