CPEC

[fatman17]

 

[fatman17]

Dubai and Gwadar: the silent economic war in the Gulf of Oman
TARIQ AL-SHAMMARI 14 August 2017

The expansion of Gwadar port in Pakistan is a game-changing venture that would reformulate the economic agenda of the entire region.


A free zone co-built with China in construction at the Gwadar port in Pakistan. Picture by Xinhua/Sipa USA. All rights reserved.
Many economic analysts believe that Gwadar is another Dubai emerging on the world’s map. The controversial issue here is that an economically powerful Gwadar threatens the strategic influence of Dubai in the region. This challenging point, recently, has caused a silent economic war in the Gulf of Oman between two groups of countries. Pakistan, China and Qatar on one side. India and the UAE on the other.

Dubai is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf. It is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai has invested in infrastructure to overcome its poor natural resources and become a global business, trade and tourism hub. Thus, Dubai has emerged as a multi-cultural city and enjoys to receive millions of leisure and business visitors each year from around the world.

The major revenue of Dubai comes from tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. Large construction projects, iconic skyscrapers and sports events are other means of income for Dubai. The world’s tallest building called the Burj Khalifa is located in this emirate.

It is clear that the area where Dubai is located can offer a distinct geographical advantage to businesses. There are two major commercial ports in Dubai, Port Rashid and Port Jebel Ali. The latter one is the biggest man-made harbor in the world and the biggest Middle East port. It is home to over 5,000 companies from 120 countries.

However, Gwadar port is a serious rival to Dubai. Gwadar port is considered a strategic location, giving China and Central Asia access to the Gulf region and the Middle East. Gwadar port will become the main sea gate for Central Asia. It will also become easier to send products from Xinjiang and central Asian countries to other regions. “The corridor will help reduce transport time for goods from Gwadar port to western China and central Asian regions by about 60 or 70 per cent,” Vice Premier of China Ms Liu Yandong said.

On 10 April 2016, talking to The Washington Post, Zhang Baozhong, chairman of China Overseas Port Holding Company said that his company could spend a total of $4.5 billion on roads, power, hotels and other infrastructure for the industrial zone of Gwadar. He also added that the company also plans to build an international airport and power plant for Gwadar.

‘Dubai Investment Forum’, a platform aiming to persuade local and international investors will be held in October under the patronage of Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Undoubtedly, this Forum is so crucial for the future of Dubai to continue its development as now it has a strong rival named Gwadar.

India is another key player in this regional battle. The Chabahar-Gwadar adversary is due to the fact that the ports are at a distance of about 72 km from each other. Both India and Pakistan have been attempting to undermine each other in the region and the development of the two ports is bound to add to the animosity.

America’s relations with India should also be seen in this context. Recent agreements signed between the US and India validate the fact that a rising China is a threat to the regional balance of power. The US is also concerned about the rise of Chinese economic power in the region. Dr. Ahmed Albanna, UAE Ambassador to India declared that China’s investment for expanding Gwadar port in Pakistan will have negative impact on the UAE’s interests.

Qatar officials understand the importance of Gwadar as a great game-changer in the region and they planned to invest 15% of the “China–Pakistan Economic Corridor” (CPEC), a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan, so that to put pressure on Dubai and the UAE as the animosity between the two country has recently became more harsh.

To sum up, the geoeconomic and geopolitical situation in South Asia is changing swiftly. This can be credited to the fact that the emerging powers in the region are redefining their presence. China, Pakistan and Qatar are formulating the economic agenda of the region based on the geo-economics of Gwadar port while India and the UAE are strongly against this prospect and attempt to thwart their plan by persuading the USA and European countries to invest in Dubai.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have natural oil resources and Qatar has natural gas resources but the UAE has no special resources and is mostly dependent on its tourism and transportation revenues. Thus, with regard to the large investment by Saudi Arabia for attracting tourism by turning 50 Red Sea islands into luxury tourism resorts and the silent economic war in the Gulf of Oman, the UAE is the big loser of the this great game since Dubai will have no tourism and transportation privileges ten years from now.

 

[fatman17]

Chinese Embassy Officials facilitated visit of Yabaite in September 2015. Are they now attempting to cover up a corruption scam? https://t.co/TeGP4mArcR

The dark side of doing business with the Chinese

 

[Hyperion]

Good thread. Last time for Pakistan to have a foreign policy tailored exclusively to it's economic interests as this will be the last time for us 'missing the boat/train,' as no more chances after this. Either we make it or we get divided and it will be an utter shame if some dimwits sitting in Dubai write our eulogy.

 

[friendly_troll96]

Chinese Embassy Officials facilitated visit of Yabaite in September 2015. Are they now attempting to cover up a corruption scam? https://t.co/TeGP4mArcR
View attachment 425595View attachment 425596
The dark side of doing business with the Chinese

Saw this on Arshad Shareef's Twitter.

 

[fatman17]

Saw this on Arshad Shareef's Twitter.

True

 

[CriticalThought]

Here is the crucial thing. We should not expect anyone from outside to come in and give us a plan that takes us to the top of the world. We, as a nation, must desire excellence, plan for excellence, work for excellence, and guard the hard work with vengeance. It will be a multi-generational journey. But the main problem with Pakistan today is that poor, illiterate masses have been systematically conditioned to believe that it is in their fate to remain poor and illiterate forever. There is a culture of pulling down the legs of anyone who achieves excellence, the net result being we are collectively a bunch of mediocres.

In terms of societal classes, the journey up the ladder is guarded by money. You need money for quality education. There is a bias between Cambridge educated and 'Inter pass'. And even within the 'Inter pass', there is a further division between those who went to private schools vs. those who went to public schools. The bias continues into graduation and post-graduation. An MBA has no value except if you graduate from LUMS or IBA. The depth of education you acquire at NUCES is very different from what you get in PU or KU.

And the education system drills mental slavery from the beginning. In general, for the Cambridge educated, religion holds no meaning. Brought up on stories of Gandhara civilization, they have no concern for Islam and Muslims. Western civilization, values, and cultures are their hearts' desires, their goal, their destiny. This core class of elites considers the rest of the country beneath them. The crème de la crème of these graduates readily find scholarships in top American and British universities. They go straight abroad, in most cases, never to return. Our sharpest minds are secularized and whisked away. The less intellectual, but equally conceited find their way into top Pakistani universities. And there is a filter system in place. The top tier of these 'lesser intellects' are ready to kill in order to gain admission into LUMS. The remaining find their way into NUCES, Kinnaird, LSE, IBA etc. And so, even amongst this mix, two factors determine their final destiny: intellect and money. Neither can get you the coveted admission, except if you bring in the third factor: power. It's not for every common person. Being the child of a Core Commander, or MNA can get you through. If you father controls their electricity, they will lay down the red carpet to welcome you.

There is a recurrent pattern that characterizes this species. Their parents are mostly well-off. Socialization is their way of life. They all want high paying jobs, but they all want easy fields where their pampered brains don't need to wrestle with the complications of advanced mathematics. But here is the most crucial aspect: none of them want to attain excellence in their field of study. Even after graduation, none of them can talk about their field of study with a voice of authority. They don't have any well informed views and opinions that are grounded in hours of meticulous, critical study of subject matter outside the syllabus they are made to follow. Many of them want to do 'research'. Ask them what they would like to research, make them write a research proposal about something they are passionate about, and they will fail.

Notice that we haven't written much about that other large majority who are less endowed with wealth. They aren't much different either.

After graduation, most of our remaining 'best minds', and some average ones, still find scholarships abroad. You can be sure of one thing: the Americans and British do not return top intellects to Pakistan. It is usually a one way trip. You can rest assured that 90% people who return to Pakistan with top degrees from abroad have been thoroughly vetted as mental slaves of Western Civilization. For them, Deliverance lies in Submission to American Will. They are a mix of less than superb and average intellects. The common thread that weaves them together is they are far from the teachings of Islam as Revealed by Allah the Almighty upon His Last Prophet Muhammad Sal-Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. Some of them profess religiosity. But drill into them and you will find key differences in the views they hold. They find ready service in universities and acceptance by the mental slaves they left behind.

The aggregate produced by this system is here for all of us to witness. A country that is festered with corruption, where the elite hold no desire to elevate their less endowed fellow countrymen. Where industry has been systematically sabotaged. This means, creative ideas find no industrious patrons, and never see the fruits of industrialization.

An insidious myth perpetrated by these liberal minded intellectuals is that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is what will elevate us from our misery. Nothing can be further from the truth. We don't need handouts of foreign investors, looking to double or triple their investment. I remember reading a column in Dawn long ago. The author narrated a conversation with his friend on how FDI was drying up. They both lamented this fact. They were both mental slaves.

It goes without saying that our Deliverance only lies in following Islam fully. But in terms of worldly strategy, if we are to establish one single goal that will have the side effects of raising our prestige, our self-respect, solving our societal woes, and alleviating our economic problems, it is the goal of increasing our exports. I am astonished how no one talks much about this most crucial aspect of national policy. Exports should be am ethos around which all arms of the state must function. Our foreign policy must be informed by it. Our development plans must be structured around it. Our budget allocations must be targeted towards it. Increasing exports is the only way to propel this country towards greatness.

How to achieve this target is up for discussion. It has been my silent wish that our leaders would have the foresight to structure CPEC such that Pakistan benefits by increasing its exports. If this is not done, if we do not become a net exporter to the rest of the world, then CPEC will enslave us and our next generations forever.

NOTE: The author is very much a product of the very system he criticizes. Call him a snobbish hypocrite if you must, but these words have been written with sincerest well wishes for Pakistan. You may present individual examples to counter the criticism here. But no amount of individual examples negate the fact that we are not a net exporter, and we are not moving towards that goal at all.

 

[fatman17]

Here is the crucial thing. We should not expect anyone from outside to come in and give us a plan that takes us to the top of the world. We, as a nation, must desire excellence, plan for excellence, work for excellence, and guard the hard work with vengeance. It will be a multi-generational journey. But the main problem with Pakistan today is that poor, illiterate masses have been systematically conditioned to believe that it is in their fate to remain poor and illiterate forever. There is a culture of pulling down the legs of anyone who achieves excellence, the net result being we are collectively a bunch of mediocres.

In terms of societal classes, the journey up the ladder is guarded by money. You need money for quality education. There is a bias between Cambridge educated and 'Inter pass'. And even within the 'Inter pass', there is a further division between those who went to private schools vs. those who went to public schools. The bias continues into graduation and post-graduation. An MBA has no value except if you graduate from LUMS or IBA. The depth of education you acquire at NUCES is very different from what you get in PU or KU.

And the education system drills mental slavery from the beginning. In general, for the Cambridge educated, religion holds no meaning. Brought up on stories of Gandhara civilization, they have no concern for Islam and Muslims. Western civilization, values, and cultures are their hearts' desires, their goal, their destiny. This core class of elites considers the rest of the country beneath them. The crème de la crème of these graduates readily find scholarships in top American and British universities. They go straight abroad, in most cases, never to return. Our sharpest minds are secularized and whisked away. The less intellectual, but equally conceited find their way into top Pakistani universities. And there is a filter system in place. The top tier of these 'lesser intellects' are ready to kill in order to gain admission into LUMS. The remaining find their way into NUCES, Kinnaird, LSE, IBA etc. And so, even amongst this mix, two factors determine their final destiny: intellect and money. Neither can get you the coveted admission, except if you bring in the third factor: power. It's not for every common person. Being the child of a Core Commander, or MNA can get you through. If you father controls their electricity, they will lay down the red carpet to welcome you.

There is a recurrent pattern that characterizes this species. Their parents are mostly well-off. Socialization is their way of life. They all want high paying jobs, but they all want easy fields where their pampered brains don't need to wrestle with the complications of advanced mathematics. But here is the most crucial aspect: none of them want to attain excellence in their field of study. Even after graduation, none of them can talk about their field of study with a voice of authority. They don't have any well informed views and opinions that are grounded in hours of meticulous, critical study of subject matter outside the syllabus they are made to follow. Many of them want to do 'research'. Ask them what they would like to research, make them write a research proposal about something they are passionate about, and they will fail.

Notice that we haven't written much about that other large majority who are less endowed with wealth. They aren't much different either.

After graduation, most of our remaining 'best minds', and some average ones, still find scholarships abroad. You can be sure of one thing: the Americans and British do not return top intellects to Pakistan. It is usually a one way trip. You can rest assured that 90% people who return to Pakistan with top degrees from abroad have been thoroughly vetted as mental slaves of Western Civilization. For them, Deliverance lies in Submission to American Will. They are a mix of less than superb and average intellects. The common thread that weaves them together is they are far from the teachings of Islam as Revealed by Allah the Almighty upon His Last Prophet Muhammad Sal-Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. Some of them profess religiosity. But drill into them and you will find key differences in the views they hold. They find ready service in universities and acceptance by the mental slaves they left behind.

The aggregate produced by this system is here for all of us to witness. A country that is festered with corruption, where the elite hold no desire to elevate their less endowed fellow countrymen. Where industry has been systematically sabotaged. This means, creative ideas find no industrious patrons, and never see the fruits of industrialization.

An insidious myth perpetrated by these liberal minded intellectuals is that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is what will elevate us from our misery. Nothing can be further from the truth. We don't need handouts of foreign investors, looking to double or triple their investment. I remember reading a column in Dawn long ago. The author narrated a conversation with his friend on how FDI was drying up. They both lamented this fact. They were both mental slaves.

It goes without saying that our Deliverance only lies in following Islam fully. But in terms of worldly strategy, if we are to establish one single goal that will have the side effects of raising our prestige, our self-respect, solving our societal woes, and alleviating our economic problems, it is the goal of increasing our exports. I am astonished how no one talks much about this most crucial aspect of national policy. Exports should be am ethos around which all arms of the state must function. Our foreign policy must be informed by it. Our development plans must be structured around it. Our budget allocations must be targeted towards it. Increasing exports is the only way to propel this country towards greatness.

How to achieve this target is up for discussion. It has been my silent wish that our leaders would have the foresight to structure CPEC such that Pakistan benefits by increasing its exports. If this is not done, if we do not become a net exporter to the rest of the world, then CPEC will enslave us and our next generations forever.

NOTE: The author is very much a product of the very system he criticizes. Call him a snobbish hypocrite if you must, but these words have been written with sincerest well wishes for Pakistan. You may present individual examples to counter the criticism here. But no amount of individual examples negate the fact that we are not a net exporter, and we are not moving towards that goal at all.

Do you expect these patwaris and vaderas to give us a plan for forward progress. All the educated are either out of government or abroad.

 

[CriticalThought]

Do you expect these patwaris and vaderas to give us a plan for forward progress. All the educated are either out of government or abroad.

Hopefully, with the disqualification of NS and the coming wave of accountability, we will be rid of corrupt government officials. There will be an interim state where 'agencies' will need to keep strict monitoring of the 'less corrupt', until such time that a more patriotic bunch of qualified people assume these posts.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Good thread. Last time for Pakistan to have a foreign policy tailored exclusively to it's economic interests as this will be the last time for us 'missing the boat/train,' as no more chances after this. Either we make it or we get divided and it will be an utter shame if some dimwits sitting in Dubai write our eulogy.

Pak is darn good at such "now or never", "direct action", "eat grass" etc. to get the job done!!!!! IMO CPEC is a done deal. What's next?????

Here is the crucial thing. We should not expect anyone from outside to come in and give us a plan that takes us to the top of the world. We, as a nation, must desire excellence, plan for excellence, work for excellence, and guard the hard work with vengeance. It will be a multi-generational journey. But the main problem with Pakistan today is that poor, illiterate masses have been systematically conditioned to believe that it is in their fate to remain poor and illiterate forever. There is a culture of pulling down the legs of anyone who achieves excellence, the net result being we are collectively a bunch of mediocres.

In terms of societal classes, the journey up the ladder is guarded by money. You need money for quality education. There is a bias between Cambridge educated and 'Inter pass'. And even within the 'Inter pass', there is a further division between those who went to private schools vs. those who went to public schools. The bias continues into graduation and post-graduation. An MBA has no value except if you graduate from LUMS or IBA. The depth of education you acquire at NUCES is very different from what you get in PU or KU.

And the education system drills mental slavery from the beginning. In general, for the Cambridge educated, religion holds no meaning. Brought up on stories of Gandhara civilization, they have no concern for Islam and Muslims. Western civilization, values, and cultures are their hearts' desires, their goal, their destiny. This core class of elites considers the rest of the country beneath them. The crème de la crème of these graduates readily find scholarships in top American and British universities. They go straight abroad, in most cases, never to return. Our sharpest minds are secularized and whisked away. The less intellectual, but equally conceited find their way into top Pakistani universities. And there is a filter system in place. The top tier of these 'lesser intellects' are ready to kill in order to gain admission into LUMS. The remaining find their way into NUCES, Kinnaird, LSE, IBA etc. And so, even amongst this mix, two factors determine their final destiny: intellect and money. Neither can get you the coveted admission, except if you bring in the third factor: power. It's not for every common person. Being the child of a Core Commander, or MNA can get you through. If you father controls their electricity, they will lay down the red carpet to welcome you.

There is a recurrent pattern that characterizes this species. Their parents are mostly well-off. Socialization is their way of life. They all want high paying jobs, but they all want easy fields where their pampered brains don't need to wrestle with the complications of advanced mathematics. But here is the most crucial aspect: none of them want to attain excellence in their field of study. Even after graduation, none of them can talk about their field of study with a voice of authority. They don't have any well informed views and opinions that are grounded in hours of meticulous, critical study of subject matter outside the syllabus they are made to follow. Many of them want to do 'research'. Ask them what they would like to research, make them write a research proposal about something they are passionate about, and they will fail.

Notice that we haven't written much about that other large majority who are less endowed with wealth. They aren't much different either.

After graduation, most of our remaining 'best minds', and some average ones, still find scholarships abroad. You can be sure of one thing: the Americans and British do not return top intellects to Pakistan. It is usually a one way trip. You can rest assured that 90% people who return to Pakistan with top degrees from abroad have been thoroughly vetted as mental slaves of Western Civilization. For them, Deliverance lies in Submission to American Will. They are a mix of less than superb and average intellects. The common thread that weaves them together is they are far from the teachings of Islam as Revealed by Allah the Almighty upon His Last Prophet Muhammad Sal-Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. Some of them profess religiosity. But drill into them and you will find key differences in the views they hold. They find ready service in universities and acceptance by the mental slaves they left behind.

The aggregate produced by this system is here for all of us to witness. A country that is festered with corruption, where the elite hold no desire to elevate their less endowed fellow countrymen. Where industry has been systematically sabotaged. This means, creative ideas find no industrious patrons, and never see the fruits of industrialization.

An insidious myth perpetrated by these liberal minded intellectuals is that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is what will elevate us from our misery. Nothing can be further from the truth. We don't need handouts of foreign investors, looking to double or triple their investment. I remember reading a column in Dawn long ago. The author narrated a conversation with his friend on how FDI was drying up. They both lamented this fact. They were both mental slaves.

It goes without saying that our Deliverance only lies in following Islam fully. But in terms of worldly strategy, if we are to establish one single goal that will have the side effects of raising our prestige, our self-respect, solving our societal woes, and alleviating our economic problems, it is the goal of increasing our exports. I am astonished how no one talks much about this most crucial aspect of national policy. Exports should be am ethos around which all arms of the state must function. Our foreign policy must be informed by it. Our development plans must be structured around it. Our budget allocations must be targeted towards it. Increasing exports is the only way to propel this country towards greatness.

How to achieve this target is up for discussion. It has been my silent wish that our leaders would have the foresight to structure CPEC such that Pakistan benefits by increasing its exports. If this is not done, if we do not become a net exporter to the rest of the world, then CPEC will enslave us and our next generations forever.

NOTE: The author is very much a product of the very system he criticizes. Call him a snobbish hypocrite if you must, but these words have been written with sincerest well wishes for Pakistan. You may present individual examples to counter the criticism here. But no amount of individual examples negate the fact that we are not a net exporter, and we are not moving towards that goal at all.

Creation of Pak from the Na-Mahrem clutches and teeth of Ram Rajya is the greatest testimony to your claims!! I am pretty sure Pak will work on that on a sustained and spontaneous basis!!!!

Dubai and Gwadar: the silent economic war in the Gulf of Oman
TARIQ AL-SHAMMARI 14 August 2017

The expansion of Gwadar port in Pakistan is a game-changing venture that would reformulate the economic agenda of the entire region.


A free zone co-built with China in construction at the Gwadar port in Pakistan. Picture by Xinhua/Sipa USA. All rights reserved.
Many economic analysts believe that Gwadar is another Dubai emerging on the world’s map. The controversial issue here is that an economically powerful Gwadar threatens the strategic influence of Dubai in the region. This challenging point, recently, has caused a silent economic war in the Gulf of Oman between two groups of countries. Pakistan, China and Qatar on one side. India and the UAE on the other.

Dubai is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf. It is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai has invested in infrastructure to overcome its poor natural resources and become a global business, trade and tourism hub. Thus, Dubai has emerged as a multi-cultural city and enjoys to receive millions of leisure and business visitors each year from around the world.

The major revenue of Dubai comes from tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. Large construction projects, iconic skyscrapers and sports events are other means of income for Dubai. The world’s tallest building called the Burj Khalifa is located in this emirate.

It is clear that the area where Dubai is located can offer a distinct geographical advantage to businesses. There are two major commercial ports in Dubai, Port Rashid and Port Jebel Ali. The latter one is the biggest man-made harbor in the world and the biggest Middle East port. It is home to over 5,000 companies from 120 countries.

However, Gwadar port is a serious rival to Dubai. Gwadar port is considered a strategic location, giving China and Central Asia access to the Gulf region and the Middle East. Gwadar port will become the main sea gate for Central Asia. It will also become easier to send products from Xinjiang and central Asian countries to other regions. “The corridor will help reduce transport time for goods from Gwadar port to western China and central Asian regions by about 60 or 70 per cent,” Vice Premier of China Ms Liu Yandong said.

On 10 April 2016, talking to The Washington Post, Zhang Baozhong, chairman of China Overseas Port Holding Company said that his company could spend a total of $4.5 billion on roads, power, hotels and other infrastructure for the industrial zone of Gwadar. He also added that the company also plans to build an international airport and power plant for Gwadar.

‘Dubai Investment Forum’, a platform aiming to persuade local and international investors will be held in October under the patronage of Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Undoubtedly, this Forum is so crucial for the future of Dubai to continue its development as now it has a strong rival named Gwadar.

India is another key player in this regional battle. The Chabahar-Gwadar adversary is due to the fact that the ports are at a distance of about 72 km from each other. Both India and Pakistan have been attempting to undermine each other in the region and the development of the two ports is bound to add to the animosity.

America’s relations with India should also be seen in this context. Recent agreements signed between the US and India validate the fact that a rising China is a threat to the regional balance of power. The US is also concerned about the rise of Chinese economic power in the region. Dr. Ahmed Albanna, UAE Ambassador to India declared that China’s investment for expanding Gwadar port in Pakistan will have negative impact on the UAE’s interests.

Qatar officials understand the importance of Gwadar as a great game-changer in the region and they planned to invest 15% of the “China–Pakistan Economic Corridor” (CPEC), a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan, so that to put pressure on Dubai and the UAE as the animosity between the two country has recently became more harsh.

To sum up, the geoeconomic and geopolitical situation in South Asia is changing swiftly. This can be credited to the fact that the emerging powers in the region are redefining their presence. China, Pakistan and Qatar are formulating the economic agenda of the region based on the geo-economics of Gwadar port while India and the UAE are strongly against this prospect and attempt to thwart their plan by persuading the USA and European countries to invest in Dubai.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have natural oil resources and Qatar has natural gas resources but the UAE has no special resources and is mostly dependent on its tourism and transportation revenues. Thus, with regard to the large investment by Saudi Arabia for attracting tourism by turning 50 Red Sea islands into luxury tourism resorts and the silent economic war in the Gulf of Oman, the UAE is the big loser of the this great game since Dubai will have no tourism and transportation privileges ten years from now.

According to the Turkish think tanks what's about a stronger Turkey+Pak+Qatar working group????? By the by, this "mini" group covers almost all the "critical" bases!!! Those who understand will fathom it, others will never understand it!!!!!

 

[TMA]

Here is the crucial thing. We should not expect anyone from outside to come in and give us a plan that takes us to the top of the world. We, as a nation, must desire excellence, plan for excellence, work for excellence, and guard the hard work with vengeance. It will be a multi-generational journey. But the main problem with Pakistan today is that poor, illiterate masses have been systematically conditioned to believe that it is in their fate to remain poor and illiterate forever. There is a culture of pulling down the legs of anyone who achieves excellence, the net result being we are collectively a bunch of mediocres.

In terms of societal classes, the journey up the ladder is guarded by money. You need money for quality education. There is a bias between Cambridge educated and 'Inter pass'. And even within the 'Inter pass', there is a further division between those who went to private schools vs. those who went to public schools. The bias continues into graduation and post-graduation. An MBA has no value except if you graduate from LUMS or IBA. The depth of education you acquire at NUCES is very different from what you get in PU or KU.

And the education system drills mental slavery from the beginning. In general, for the Cambridge educated, religion holds no meaning. Brought up on stories of Gandhara civilization, they have no concern for Islam and Muslims. Western civilization, values, and cultures are their hearts' desires, their goal, their destiny. This core class of elites considers the rest of the country beneath them. The crème de la crème of these graduates readily find scholarships in top American and British universities. They go straight abroad, in most cases, never to return. Our sharpest minds are secularized and whisked away. The less intellectual, but equally conceited find their way into top Pakistani universities. And there is a filter system in place. The top tier of these 'lesser intellects' are ready to kill in order to gain admission into LUMS. The remaining find their way into NUCES, Kinnaird, LSE, IBA etc. And so, even amongst this mix, two factors determine their final destiny: intellect and money. Neither can get you the coveted admission, except if you bring in the third factor: power. It's not for every common person. Being the child of a Core Commander, or MNA can get you through. If you father controls their electricity, they will lay down the red carpet to welcome you.

There is a recurrent pattern that characterizes this species. Their parents are mostly well-off. Socialization is their way of life. They all want high paying jobs, but they all want easy fields where their pampered brains don't need to wrestle with the complications of advanced mathematics. But here is the most crucial aspect: none of them want to attain excellence in their field of study. Even after graduation, none of them can talk about their field of study with a voice of authority. They don't have any well informed views and opinions that are grounded in hours of meticulous, critical study of subject matter outside the syllabus they are made to follow. Many of them want to do 'research'. Ask them what they would like to research, make them write a research proposal about something they are passionate about, and they will fail.

Notice that we haven't written much about that other large majority who are less endowed with wealth. They aren't much different either.

After graduation, most of our remaining 'best minds', and some average ones, still find scholarships abroad. You can be sure of one thing: the Americans and British do not return top intellects to Pakistan. It is usually a one way trip. You can rest assured that 90% people who return to Pakistan with top degrees from abroad have been thoroughly vetted as mental slaves of Western Civilization. For them, Deliverance lies in Submission to American Will. They are a mix of less than superb and average intellects. The common thread that weaves them together is they are far from the teachings of Islam as Revealed by Allah the Almighty upon His Last Prophet Muhammad Sal-Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. Some of them profess religiosity. But drill into them and you will find key differences in the views they hold. They find ready service in universities and acceptance by the mental slaves they left behind.

The aggregate produced by this system is here for all of us to witness. A country that is festered with corruption, where the elite hold no desire to elevate their less endowed fellow countrymen. Where industry has been systematically sabotaged. This means, creative ideas find no industrious patrons, and never see the fruits of industrialization.

An insidious myth perpetrated by these liberal minded intellectuals is that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is what will elevate us from our misery. Nothing can be further from the truth. We don't need handouts of foreign investors, looking to double or triple their investment. I remember reading a column in Dawn long ago. The author narrated a conversation with his friend on how FDI was drying up. They both lamented this fact. They were both mental slaves.

It goes without saying that our Deliverance only lies in following Islam fully. But in terms of worldly strategy, if we are to establish one single goal that will have the side effects of raising our prestige, our self-respect, solving our societal woes, and alleviating our economic problems, it is the goal of increasing our exports. I am astonished how no one talks much about this most crucial aspect of national policy. Exports should be am ethos around which all arms of the state must function. Our foreign policy must be informed by it. Our development plans must be structured around it. Our budget allocations must be targeted towards it. Increasing exports is the only way to propel this country towards greatness.

How to achieve this target is up for discussion. It has been my silent wish that our leaders would have the foresight to structure CPEC such that Pakistan benefits by increasing its exports. If this is not done, if we do not become a net exporter to the rest of the world, then CPEC will enslave us and our next generations forever.

NOTE: The author is very much a product of the very system he criticizes. Call him a snobbish hypocrite if you must, but these words have been written with sincerest well wishes for Pakistan. You may present individual examples to counter the criticism here. But no amount of individual examples negate the fact that we are not a net exporter, and we are not moving towards that goal at all.

Very true.

 

[fatman17]

If the Mattis CPEC line was impromptu, this Tillerson Belt & Road critique is indicative of where US policy heading: https://t.co/EEzyTSnpaH https://t.co/sId2jaDkXQ

 

[VCheng]

If the Mattis CPEC line was impromptu, this Tillerson Belt & Road critique is indicative of where US policy heading: https://t.co/EEzyTSnpaH https://t.co/sId2jaDkXQ
View attachment 431972

And then there is this:

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/us-announces-support-for-cpec.524058/