Viral Video: Pakistan MP praises India, slams his own country for ignoring its economy

The name ‘India’ echoed in the Pakistan Assembly once again when a lawmaker from the cash-strapped nation drew a comparison between the two countries, proclaiming that while India has reached the Moon, Karachi is making headlines over its children dying by falling in open gutters.

In his speech in the National Assembly, Pakistan MP and a leader of Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), Syed Mustafa Kamal said: “Today, the condition is such that, the world is going to the moon, while in Karachi innocent children are dying by falling into the gutters. On the TV, we see the news that India landed on the moon, and just after two seconds, we see the news is that a child died after he fell into a gutter since it was not covered."  

Kamal was referring to India’s successful Moon mission — Chandrayaan-3 — in August 2023. With this feat, India became the first country to soft-land on the celestial body’s south pole.  

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The Pakistan MP also shared snippets of his speech on social media platforms and they went viral in no time.

India booming & excelling 

The Pakistani lawmaker further said, “30 years ago, our neighbour, India taught its children what is now in demand around the world. Today, Indians are CEOs of the top 25 companies. Today India is booming and excelling because of those people. India. is inundated with global investments today.”

“Our IT exports are ‘7 Arab dollars’, while India’s IT exports are ‘270 Arab dollars’,” he added.  

Through his speech, Kamal also highlighted the deplorable state of illiteracy in schools in Pakistan, and said: “We have a total of 48,000 schools, but a new report says that out of that 11,000 are ‘ghost schools’. 70 lakh children in Sindh don’t go to school and a total of 2,62,00,000 children in the country don’t go to school.”  

“If we just focus on this (lack of education), the leaders of the country shouldn’t get any sleep,” he said.  

Pakistan can’t spend because…

Kamal also took a swipe at the government of his own country that is reeling under severe economic crisis. He said, “Pakistan’s total foreign reserves, which we can’t even spend because we have taken loans, at $8-9 billion…sometimes it is $6 billion. India’s reserve is $607 billion…"

Pakistan is struggling with economic distress, sky-rocketing inflation, and mounting debt. The country has been seeking a new loan programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Meanwhile, a team of the IMF is currently in Pakistan and has urged the country to bring “strong cost-side reforms” to restore the viability of its energy sector and has also asked for an ‘overhaul’ of the tax system.

In April this year, Pakistan completed a short-term USD 3 billion program that helped stave off sovereign default, however, the government has highlighted the need for a fresh and longer-term program.