Taliban will not take over Pakistan at any cost, because who will pay its debt?

Seems like Pakistan's bankruptcy has made it a laughing stock even for its beloved neighbours, Afghanistan. The Taliban, whom the Pakistan government has favoured since its takeover of Afghanistan on August 31, 2021, is in no mood to take over Pakistan even if given a choice.

Recently, a Taliban commander was asked if he was crossing the border over to Pakistan. He replied, "We won't take it even if they give it to us! Who will pay its debt?"

The remark is a dig at Pakistan, whose crumbling economy and depleting foreign reserves, in uncertain political conditions, have made it the butt of jokes with even the Taliban.

The economic turmoil has also pushed the Pakistan government to auction off its embassy buildings in Washington, US, which had been lying vacant for the past 15 years.

Pakistan's economy in tatters: Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have depleted to a record low of USD 8 billion, compared to over USD 20 billion in August 2021, underlining the country's inability to make some international payments.

Pakistan's Foreign Direct Investment fell by 52% in the first four months of the current fiscal year, FY23, showing the country's dismal economic health.

Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar assured investors on Wednesday, December 28, that Pakistan, despite being in a bad economic position, was not going to default, Dawn reported.

Dar, who has previously lifted Pakistan out of its economic mess in 1998, 2004 and 2013, also targeted his predecessor Dr Miftah Ismail, a PhD in Economics, who has been very vocal about the possibility of defaulting in his newspaper columns and television appearances, since leaving office in September.

Taliban and Afghanistan: While Pakistan is struggling with the economic mess, its neighbour Afghanistan too, is in an economic turmoil since the Afghan government fell in August 2021 and the Taliban took over the country after American forces withdrew from the war-torn Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's TOLO news reported that people in Afghanistan are facing severe hunger problems and high levels of food insecurity.

The Observer Research Foundation, which is an independent global think tank based in Delhi, researched the food insecurity section in 136 countries. Afghanistan tops the list from among all South Asian countries.

Meanwhile, the Taliban are also facing severe resistance from within the country after it banned girls from attending colleges and higher education.

It started with gender-based segregation in classrooms when the Taliban took over. Later, girls were prevented from attaining higher education for some time. Now, the Taliban have banned the education for girls completely.

Several girls have been protesting against the law imposed by Taliban and it was even condemned by US and UN General Secretary Antonio Gueterres.

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