Don’t know what future holds for Pakistan: Defence Minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said India is progressing towards becoming the third-largest economy

in the world while no country is sure about the future of neighbouring Pakistan.

Speaking at the launch of former Union Minister of State MJ Akbar’s book ‘After Me, Chaos: Astrology in the Mughal Empire’today, Rajnath said” “If you look at some South Asian countries, you will realise how stable India is.... Considering Pakistan's current state, only the Almighty knows what the future holds for it. I don’t want to even guess the future.”

He also recalled MJ Akbar’s “jelly state” reference to Pakistan, a country which remains on the brink of instability without truly collapsing. He said at present, India was the fourth-largest economy in the world and heading towards becoming the third biggest economy by 2030.

"As per average growth rates by the IMF, India is on the way to becoming the world’s second-largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) by 2038," he added.

Earlier, MJ Akbar said Pakistan had become a dysfunctional state because it had abandoned the Indus Valley civilisation. "It does not recognise it as part of its culture, cultural inheritance. It has abandoned what is known as Ganga-Jamuni culture. It is trying to create an artificial culture. Therefore, it has created an artificial society that has become brittle," he said.