Current IMF Bailout Deal "Outdated": What Pak Foreign Minister Said

With the blame game still on between the present and former governments in Pakistan over the ongoing economic crisis in the country, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto called the ongoing bailout deal with International Monetary Fund outdated, reported The News International.

While he rejected claims by former Prime Minister Imran Khan that the United States had plotted his downfall, he called Khan's ouster a milestone for Pakistani democracy, saying "Pakistan has a history of prime ministers who have been removed undemocratically, unconstitutionally through various means," at World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, in an interview.

Bilawal said that the ongoing bailout package deal between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) makes no sense given the number of global as well as country's internal crises, The News International reported.

"This IMF deal is not based on ground realities, and the context has absolutely changed from the time that this deal was negotiated," Bilawal added, stating it would be justified for Pakistan to plead this case before the IMF in current talks.

He in fact described the IMF deal as a pre-Covid, pre-Afghanistan fallout, pre-Ukrainian crisis deal and a pre-inflation deal," criticizing the governance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and ousted leader Imran Khan.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasized Pakistan's foreign policy challenges around the world and said he will run in the next elections as he seeks to form a government.

While Davos has been dominated by fears around trade blocs and more siloed nations, Bhutto Zardari said multilateral cooperation with neighbouring countries and the West is the way forward for Pakistan.

As per the report by News International, Zardari also met his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Keeping the diplomatic conduct intact, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari earlier said that the country must continue to engage with the United States at all levels, claiming he is against anti-hate-politics, division and polarization.