Except nuclear weapons Pakistan has nothing; army owns Islamabad: Pak expert C Raja Mohan

C Raja Mohan, senior fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute, New Delhi, has said that value of Pakistan, which was a global thing at one point in time, has dramatically diminished and except nuclear weapons they have nothing. In a podcast with ANI’s Smita Prakash, he said, “If you go back to the 1960s, under Ayub Khan,  Pakistan was a great army, they would go in and help the Sheikhs to defend them. They were great friend of America, great friend of China.” He said Pakistan’s weight was a global thing and that has dramatically diminished now. “So this a tragedy of Pakistan. Except nuclear weapons they have nothing,” he added. Talking about the growth in two neighbouring countries, he said that today Bangladesh’s per capita income is a thousand dollars more than Pakistan. “In Bangladesh, they control the population growth rate and increase the economic growth rate. Pakistan has done the opposite. The do no control the population growth rate, the economy has tanked, so the per capita incomes have dramatically fallen as population grows,” he said. Raja Mohan said Pakistan’s value has come down on all counts, but they might come back. “A this point, the relative weight in the international system has gone down and that’s why, remember the Gulf, Arabs used to be their best friends because of religious solidarity etc. There was a time when Pakistan was acting as a protector for them. Today, Pakistan goes with its hands outstretched,” he added.