As mentioned earlier, this is true, but comparing Pakistan’s debt profile with a comparable country like Bangladesh shows that Pakistan is addicted to debt and that the economy cannot sustain the practice.

Bangladesh is an apt comparison because it has a shared history with Pakistan and was, in fact, less developed than the latter when it emerged as an independent nation.

Furthermore, its political economy has similar issues — a history of coups, an assertive judiciary and a low tax base. This means that, unlike Pakistan, the risks of “external debt distress and overall debt distress remains low” in Bangladesh.

The intended commencement of return coincides with the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which has also established an initiativeinvolving the the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, to visit Myanmar “to discuss the quickest way to help the Rohingya community return to their country.” Yet by doing so, not only will this add momentum for a return process that is fraught with danger, but also adds a false layer of legitimacy to the Myanmar government’s plans to establish apartheid-like segregation for returning Rohingya.