ISLAMABAD, MAY 27 (DNA) —Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt, said on Monday that India started the journey of development in the early 1990s. In contrast, Pakistan began the journey of economic decline in the same decade.
He said India went almost bankrupt in 1991 and borrowed against the entire country’s gold to start a serious economic development effort. However, Pakistan, which was much better than India in many respects by then, began a downward journey as politicians were more interested in corruption and hiding stolen funds than economic development.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here that good laws were made in India to promote industry, agriculture, and services sectors and to lure investments, while in Pakistan, legislation was enacted to protect the stolen funds. Such laws were made in Pakistan to safeguard the corrupt, which shocked the civilized world, he underlined.
He said that our politicians made laws prohibiting investigation about the source of the capital coming to Pakistan under various pretexts, including investment. The movement of capital into and out of the country was made very easy, and money changers were given a free hand, which resulted in a massive flight of capital.
Shahid Rashid Butt said that the politicians in Pakistan continued to dig the foundations of the country for their interests. At the same time, the various institutions that have to keep an eye on such important matters also remained surprisingly silent spectators, which encouraged the corrupt elements.
He said Black money was also whitened through rampant amnesty schemes promoting and encouraging tax evaders while disheartening honest taxpayers. At that time, the Prime Minister and Ministers of India used vehicles that no taxi driver in Pakistan would like.
But their policies proved fruitful, and now India has the fifth largest economy in the world, the size of which has exceeded four trillion dollars. In contrast, the debt-driven Pakistani economy is barely three hundred billion dollars and shrinking rapidly.
Due to continued corruption, Pakistan has become so weak that international institutions and investors dictate it, and despite its desire, it cannot import even gas from Iran, he observed. On the other hand, India has become so important that it buys oil from Russia and Iran and has now taken control of an important port in Iran. Still, the United States cannot even think of imposing sanctions on New Delhi. — DNA
 —Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed){kind=link}