Thursday 13 June 2019

Analysis of Saudi Arabia’s aid to Pakistan 2019


Analysis of Saudi Arabia’s aid to Pakistan
By
Rahib Raza Malik
15.03.2019

Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt



Introduction

Saudi Arabia is not a democracy led country and democratic processes are not followed in terms of giving away bilateral aid. The system can be seen by some as a less complicated process whereas by others it may be more complicated for the same reason that it deals through private channels. Due to which a lot of important data on Saudi Arabia’s aid does not get public and people may not have a concrete information about it. The limited information i n floating in public spheres through some local and foreign news sources and academic research may not be enough to conclude yet based on the outcome we can outline structures that are followed around bilateral aid between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
The information on Saudi led aid has regional scopes and motives of the royal families in Saudi Arabia, this could be in the shape of development aid to religious aid. This paper discusses motivation, reasons and sources of aid and interests Saudi royal families. Saudi Arabia has been long supporting Pakistan and vice versa through aid and government related collaborative actions, these relations have lasted decades and have managed to evolve on different grounds, it often has more to do with military activity and or exchange as well (Riedel, 2011). As of 2018 Pakistan has a crippling current account deficit. The current account deficit is more than US$18 billion (S$24.9 billion) and some of the problems directly affecting the economy are fewer exports, fewer tax collections, unstable political cloud and religious extremism surrounding Islam. All of these factors affect the situation where government would look for financial aid from its allies. Saudi Arabia has similar interests towards Pakistan so it may see Pakistan’s current situation as an opportunity by investing into such areas through bilateral aid for better gains. As of 2018 Pakistan’s foreign reserves are sufficient to cover less than two months of its imports but later it may need other plans, this is a similar economic situation since decades that is why bilateral aid has been a key factor for strengthening economic situation of Pakistan.
Pakistan recently approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well for a bailout in October 2018. A team from the IMF arrived in Pakistan in November 2018 to discuss a potential loan which was also sanctioned that also added more confidence among allies like Saudi Arabia to invest in Pakistan too. Although, IMF will be looking for assurances through structural reforms in Pakistan’s government and impose austerity measures. Another important aspect to focus on from Saudi Arabia’s interests in Pakistan has a lot to do with military alliance working independently or under Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) as well. Pakistan is one of 41 members at the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMAFT) that provides the most number of soldiers and cooperative measures. IMAFT was launched by the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in 2017 and deals with a lot of military aid that may not surface the public spheres or media because both countries keep these details confined to confidentiality. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a ministerial meeting of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) and Pakistan being one of the strongest armies in Islamic states would lead the way that is of huge value to Saudi Arabia.
In November 2018 Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah general supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) told at a seminar in University of Warsaw that total foreign aid given by Saudi Arabia to 79 different countries has been $84.7 billion from 1996 to 2018 (Arab News, 2019). Although Pakistan is not among the top 5 countries Saudi Arabia gives financial aid to as per the statistics laid by Saudi Government in 2018 shows that Pakistan is the 7th in receiving aid from Saudi Arabia but 2nd when it comes to projects.



In 2017 total aid Pakistan received was 1270.41 million USD as per OECD stats and aid in 2018 shows that almost half of the aid to Pakistan comes from Saudi Arabia. That makes Saudi Arabia a very strong ally of Pakistan (OECD, 2019). Various news sources have been asking the newly elected government about the conditions but government spokespersons kept telling the people that there are no special regulations setup for Pakistan regarding aid from Saudi Arabia. The actual deal was not revealed by the government but assured for non-regulated fund. Previous governments in Pakistan never answered such questions in public space either.


(To read the full paper please write to me)

How Germany helps students to fund their studies



German universities are considered one of the finest in the world. Many of which qualify and compete within the top 100 universities globally, these institutes are categorized into two separate bodies we know as public universities and private universities. Yet all of these institutes follow rules and accreditation criteria set up by DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).
Many universities in Germany have no tuition fee for students, yet they realize that a lot of local and international students might not even be able to cover the traveling and living cost of on monthly basis. In order to deal with such scenarios DAAD provides funding through a range of organizations and public offices in Germany. In order to fund more students every year either through funding or through inception of increased number of students within the public universities that don’t have any tuition fee.
The reason why DAAD keeps funding more students every year, depends on the annual cycle of students taken in each year. German educational cycle depends largely on updated research. Most of the grants associated with DAAD strictly fund academic research that always open more doors to both students as well DAAD. Every year DAAD offers financial support to over 130,000 highly-qualified young and experienced researchers for international research annually. The only criteria they set is if the students has already been to Germany for any academic purpose/s.
Funding highly qualified students to come to Germany for academic purposes gives you enough to sustain your ground in any profession you apply to. Apparently DAAD keeps looking for private organizations that work closely with academia and research. These funding bodies often ask the university for good resource that would help them decide if they should be investing money in this regard. Although the city registration center has already created quite a skeptical of getting registered in multiple ways, DAAD scholarships cover all of it, they not only allow deserving students to pay the upfront semester contribution fee along with other things too. So your entire work that you enjoy doing lets you earn money through it as well. DAAD tries to get students onboard that wishes to get an actual international experience without any cost at least till now, since they even pay you the cost of living which is between 750 EUR to 1000 EUR, this amount covers almost everything for the new students in masters program.
DAAD would be starting their new session, this year in the mid of October, for more details click the link below: 




Monday 10 June 2019

We need to teach empathy to our children towards animals


Animals are treated poorly across Pakistan, where poachers pose a constant threat to wildlife, animals in our national parks and zoo also face physical and psychological health issues, the domestic or farm animals live in poor conditions too that nobody talks about as if the issue is non-existent to them. Every year these animals catch horrible diseases that we dont get to hear about until we lose a significant number of these poor animals. Even our stray animals face a constant neglect and cold bitterness from the society. It seems that the only fortunate animals in Pakistan are ones we consider pets and in many cases pet owners also face constant criticism.
Pakistan has a geographic location that breeds a lot of exquisite animals for centuries, since Pakistan is blessed with fertile land; we humans were not the only ones who thought it would be a nice idea to call this place home, animals thought so too. Provided that majority follow Islam that has been very clear about the ethical treatment of animals yet we pay no importance towards their suffering inflicted by us.
Eid ul Adha (Biggest Islamic Festival of Pakistan) celebrated each year brings horrible inhumane videos to social media. Many disturbing videos stormed on Facebook last year on Eid. We have seen amateurs butchers physically abusing and torturing animals that are suppose to be sacrificed in the name of God, we also saw some people struggling to control a bull ending up shooting it multiple times as it desperately tries to run away from death all scared and screaming (all within closed walls). Despite of many local bull fights we have seen that people are least bothered about the remains of these animals either if the abuse was not enough already. That further causes threats to stray dogs, cats and birds too.
If we want to see how nice we are to animals all year we should visit our local chicken or meat shops or markets. Our local chicken and meat shops show the ignorance and cold bitterness that we feed our families on and it exists on both sides of buying and selling. We never complain why the poor chicken is left to struggle in agonizing pain from slithered throat thrown in a blue plastic drum and why all other chickens get to see the butchery patiently waiting for their turn in a stinky unhygienic cage full of flies and their own excrement. We are so used to seeing this violent practice that we have stopped considering it a problem at all, even if Islam stands against it we still dont care. Islam forbids all such violent and ignorant acts, we can’t let the animals see or hear the sacrifice.
Our children learn and pick up things by watching us, if they see their elders treating animals with cruelty, disgust and hate, they would follow their footsteps in Pakistan. The way we treat animals in Pakistan feels like a psychological disorder and this endemic needs to be treated NOW. People are taking their frustrations out on poor animals and we as a society dont see this is as an alarming issue. We have seen a poor donkey beaten to death in a political parade held by supporters of a ruling political party, some raised their voice but were not loud enough to be heard by the majority and they dont care either. This can only be fixed if we teach our children to love animals; children should not be imposed with a thought of hating an animal just because it is an animal.
Last year we saw Stephen Stacey from Portsmouth, England taking internet by storm for shooting and uploading a video of a cat put in microwave oven to be cooked alive. Courts were alerted and Stacey was taken away immediately while people in England aggressively condemned his act and demanded that he should be given an extreme punishment for his disturbing act while being tested for his mental condition as well. Whereas in Pakistan even the most sane voices stand least bothered towards such violent and disturbing acts of violence against animals.
Some people themselves have taken initiative to raise awareness for animal rights but the threat we face today needs to be addressed by the government so the ethical and moral treatment of animals would be ensured. Dr. Asmah working as veterinary specialist has been an active animal rights advocate in Lahore and has been raising stray cats and dogs at her house without any external support, ‘it breaks my heart to see poor animals in pain, so I do what I can, I have 7 cats and 4 dogs, I treat them like my children and the love I get back from these beautiful souls is priceless that makes all my efforts worth it’ she said.
Anybody violating animal rights and safety should be seen in Pakistan as Gunah e Kabeerah (gravely sinful act in Islam) so the religious majority will be change their minds about animals. It needs to be condemned by all citizens to show that we still have conscious. Any animal abuse should be made punishable by courts and other concerned authorities. This will all come into play IF we teach our young generations in schools/homes to love and respect ALL animals.

The softer they will be towards animals the better, I hope this madness stops soon.