170 million people in a river delta the size of the island of Newfoundland can't be easy to manage. To their credit, they're putting shirts in my local WalMart and now have a lower fertility rate than either Pakistan or India. Here's a piece describing their progress by a fairly brave Pakistani journalist:
In a nutshell, Bangladesh and Pakistan are different countries today because they perceive their national interest very differently. Bangladesh sees its future in human development and economic growth. Goal posts are set at increasing exports, reducing unemployment, improving health, reducing dependence upon loans and aid, and further extending micro credit. Water and boundary disputes with India are serious and Bangladesh suffers bullying by its bigger neighbour on matters of illegal immigration, drugs, etc. But its basic priorities have not wavered.
For Pakistan, human development comes a distant second. The bulk of national energies remain focused upon checkmating India. Relations with Afghanistan and Iran are therefore troubled; Pakistan accuses both of being excessively close to India. But the most expensive consequence of the security state mindset was the nurturing of extra state actors in the 1990s. Ultimately they had to be crushed after the APS massacre of December 16, 2014. This, coincidentally, was the day Dhaka had fallen 43 years earlier.
....CPEC or no CPEC, it's impossible to match India tank for tank or missile by missile. Surely it is time to get realistic. Shouting “Pakistan zindabad” from the rooftops while obsequiously taking dictation from the Americans, Chinese, and Saudis has taken us nowhere. Announcing that we have become targets of a fifth-generation hi-tech secret subversion inflames national paranoia but is otherwise pointless. Instead, to move forward, Pakistan must transform its war economy into ultimately becoming a peace economy.
https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/ne ... an-1700644
CKA Uber 
CKA Uber 
