Pakistan Off Life Support, Now Learning to Walk Again: Khawaja Asif

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that Pakistan’s economy was off life-support and now on a path toward sustained growth.

Speaking during the budget debate in the National Assembly today, he said Pakistan was effectively insolvent when the current government presented its first budget, but had now regained economic solvency.

The minister said economic indicators showed improvement and expressed confidence that Pakistan could achieve annual growth of 6 to 7 percent within the next one to two years.

Addressing the security situation in Balochistan, he said terrorism and instability were the result of decades of policy failures and should be treated as a collective national issue rather than a partisan one.

On Afghanistan, the defense minister said Pakistan had repeatedly engaged with the Afghan leadership through direct talks in Kabul as well as meetings in Türkiye and Qatar. He stated that Afghan authorities had verbally agreed to Pakistan’s concerns regarding militant activity but had declined to provide written commitments.

The defence minister said terrorism originating from Afghan territory remained a major challenge for both Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He revealed that Pakistan had even considered providing financial assistance for relocating militants away from the border but sought guarantees they would not return.

He also criticized past policies that aligned Pakistan with foreign wars, saying the country paid a heavy price by becoming a frontline state while inheriting long-term security challenges.

Discussing regional diplomacy, Asif credited Pakistan’s political and military leadership for helping facilitate the peace deal between the United States and Iran.

He added that improving relations with Iran and the easing of restrictions on Iranian energy exports could create significant economic opportunities for Pakistan, particularly for Balochistan.