Mohammad bin Salman's Pakistan visit a major boost for Pakistan economy

Mohammad bin Salman's visit to Pakistan has been a major boost to Pakistan's economy since  investment worth 14bn dollars has been promised by the Saudi crown prince. The question however is, what's the flip side.

•  “Mr Prime Minister! Consider me Pakistan’s ambassador in Saudi Arabia”


•  “We can’t say ‘NO’ to Pakistan”


•  These were Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman’s words


•  during his recent Pakistan visit


•  But everything has advantages and disadvantages


•  So let’s assess what benefits we see from this visit


•  and what its flipside could be


•  First let’s discuss the advantages


• The kind of political challenges Pakistan is facing,


•  the promise of an investment worth USD 14bn is a welcome move


•  and the economic activity this investment generates


•  will be beneficial for both the countries


•  But then, what could be its flipside?


•  Any country that invests such a large amount in another country,


•  does it only expect financial benefits in return?


•  And if we look at it in historical perspective,


•  have we only looked at Saudi Arabia for financial transactions


•  or has Saudi Arabia also made other demands from us?


•  We got major financial assistance from Saudi Arabia


•  when we fought US’s proxy war in Afghanistan


•   Saudi Arabia matched the funding we received from the US


•  and it was around one billion dollars


•  But we’re reaping the crop we had sowed then


•  So what would be the trade off this time?


•  This is the question analysts are trying to find answer to


•   Saudi Arabia wants to improve its presence in the region


•  The crown prince visited Pakistan, and then India too,


•  hinting at investment worth 40bn dollars there as well


•  So we’ll have to see where this situation leads us to