Govt gave in to US pressure at IMF meet on Pak loan: Congress

The Congress on Saturday accused the Modi-led BJP government of buckling under US pressure at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board meeting on May 9.

The IMF has approved a fresh loan package for Pakistan, agreeing to release $1 billion under its Extended Fund Facility. Besides, the IMF has given the go-ahead for another $1.4 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), which is meant to help Pakistan deal with problems linked to climate change.

Last week, India abstained from voting at the IMF meeting, expressing concerns about IMF bailout packages for Pakistan. India highlighted Pakistan’s status as a long-term IMF borrower with poor compliance record. India also raised doubts about the possible use of debt financing resources to support cross-border terrorism through state mechanisms.

On Saturday, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is now criticising the IMF for approving over $2 billion in loans to Pakistan on May 9. On April 29, the INC said the IMF Executive Board was meeting on May 9 to consider this issue and India should oppose it forcefully.”

“But India only abstained from voting. Later, the government’s supporters argued that this was the only available option. This is a lie. There is indeed a provision to vote ‘No’ in the Executive Board. Russia voted ‘No’ on a loan proposal to Ukraine in September 2016. India voted ‘No’ on the expulsion of Zimbabwe on September 11, 2005,” he added.

“Where there is will, there is a way. The Modi government simply buckled under US pressure on May 9 at the IMF Executive Board meeting,” he said.