Pakistan fears economic isolation

Pakistan's deteriorating relations with the United States may bring it international isolation on the economic front, Pakistan's finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh yesterday told the parliamentary committee tasked by the government to review bilateral terms with the US.
Pakistan-US relations steadily declined in the beginning of 2011 after CIA contractor Raymond Davis killed two Pakistani nationals in Lahore. This was followed by the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad in May. The Nato-ISAF incursion in November in the Mohmand tribal region which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers brought the ties to an all-time low with Islamabad freezing the visa regime and transit facilities and the US freezing the military aid to Pakistan.
"There are some shocks Pakistan can absorb but there are others it can't," Abdul Hafeez Sheikh was quoted as telling members of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS).
"A single incident must not determine our relations with the US," Sheikh said while referring to the steps taken by the government following the Nato aerial strikes. "Any decision should be taken while keeping in mind the multidimensional paradigm of security, prosperity of the country and economic diplomacy," he said.
Briefing the members of PCNS, Sheikh warned that Washington might use its influence over international financial institutions to hurt the country's economic interests.
"It is not about American aid but its clout over the IMF, World Bank and other financial institutions that can pose a real challenge for us."
Shiekh briefed the 17-member committee in detail about the possible implications the country may face in the event of a move to pull out of the US alliance. The committee recently said that the basis of the new relationship should be conditional on the agreement to transfer civil nuclear technology to Pakistan.
The committee has finalised the draft recommendations and forwarded them to the defence and foreign ministries for their input. The government will then present the committee's proposals before a joint session of Parliament to seek its approval. The joint sitting is expected to be convened in mid-January.