Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 made history by landing smoothly on the Moon's south pole following which the world congratulated India on its achievement. Citizens from our neighbouring country Pakistan have also praised India for its success and said that they're 100 years ahead of us. One of the Pakistani citizens while hitting out at the Pakistani government sarcastically said that India is spending money to go on the Moon and we are already there for free. When asked what he meant, he responded by saying, "Is there water present on the Moon? Here also we don't have it. Is there gas (cooking fuel) there? Here also we don't have it. Is there electricity present on Moon? Here also we don't have electricity."
Another Pakistani while reacting to this feat said, "What's special in India reaching the Moon? Our (Pakistani soldier's) leg still lifts higher than the Indian soldiers at Wagah Border." However, he then added, "Forget about the Moon, we won't even be able to go to a Jaljeera store if we are stuck with this attitude of ours." He said that Pakistan competes with India in cricket where they might barely win sometimes but in terms of every other aspect be it technology, be it health or any other thing, India is way ahead of Pakistan. He then said, "They are number one globally in of medicine. Every single product that India manufactures is at the top worldwide. How will we compete with them?"
People were earlier asked whether Pakistan should broadcast Chandrayaan-3's landing or not to which a person replied by saying, "If any other nation would have done this be it China then we would have broadcast it for sure. Then why such hatred against India? Learn from them. See how much they've developed. Their economy now ranks at the fifth position in the world. We used to criticize Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and used to say that he has no vision. Now look at how far he has taken India."
Another Pakistani national while talking about the poor condition of their country said, "Majority of the educated people here have left for foreign nations. Passport offices even gave permission to them. Even I will think that there is not enough employment here so even I might go. Our basic and foundational needs aren't being fulfilled."
While India has made such historic advancement, Pakistan on the other hand is struggling to meet its basic needs as the country is battling possibly one of its worst economic crises ever. Pakistan faces a shortage of dollars which is clubbed with a lack of sufficient export capacity and high imports. These problems together have led to the current state of economic collapse.
The economic crisis of our neighbouring nation is a long-standing and multifaceted one. According to the Economic and Political Weekly, the country has had 13 International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes since 1950. It relies on IMF significantly which can be seen in its pattern of taking one loan to pay off the previous one. This has led the nation into a vicious cycle of debt trap. EPW cited the State Bank of Pakistan while reporting that the total public debt of Pakistan stood at `45.7 trillion ($275.7 billion) as of June 2021.
The nation continuously tries to get a bailout of the loans that it has taken from international monetary bodies. The World Bank gave a shock to Pakistan in January this year when it delayed the approval of two loans worth $1.1 billion until the next year. On the other hand, the World Bank in April said that various economic shocks have resulted in nearly four million Pakistanis getting pushed into poverty this fiscal year. According to the Mint, the World Bank also urged Pakistan to immediately arrange for new foreign loans in order to avoid a "public debt crisis."
Apart from the economic crisis, Pakistan is also facing a major political crisis with one of its former Prime Minister Imran Khan being in jail after getting convicted in the Toshakhana case. Khan lost the chair of the Prime Minister following a no-confidence vote which ended his tenure. He lost support inside the Parliament and it seemed like he also lost support from the military due to which his fallout became easier, however, both his party and the military have refuted these claims.
The General elections in Pakistan were supposed to be held by October this year, after the completion of the current government's tenure. However, the Pakistan Election Commission recently announced that it will draw new boundaries for hundreds of constituencies ahead of the upcoming elections. This recent development makes it almost certain that polls will be delayed, reported Al Jazeera.