India to Oppose World Bank Funding to Pakistan

New Delhi: After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed 11 strict conditions on Pakistan, India is likely to oppose the World Bank funding to Pakistan next month, claiming that Islamabad had used such funds in the past to procure arms and ammunition, a top government source said.

Earlier, India had done in the IMF case, lobbying against Pakistan, who used to spend the maximum of its funds on terrorism purposes. “Several multilateral agencies, including IMF and the World Bank, generally fund developing countries for their poverty alleviation and developmental goals, but Pakistan is continuously misusing them for military purposes and terror purposes,” the source said.

The sources, however, said that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke to the IMF chief and some ministers on the IMF board, while the Indian Embassy officials also presented the case before powerful nations like the US. “The funding could not be blocked as the agenda had previously been circulated to all members and it was left to them to vote on extending assistance to Pakistan,” it said.

The World Bank is likely to review its $20 billion lending to Pakistan in June this year under the country partnership framework agreed in January this year. The funds to cash-starved Pakistan were for areas, including clean energy and climate resilience for a period of the ten years beginning 2026. “We will oppose the upcoming World Bank funding to Pakistan in June,” the source said.

India had lobbied with IMF chief Kristalina Georgiev and ministers of IMF board member nations against the agency extending $ 2.3 billion in assistance to cash-strapped Pakistan earlier this month. New Delhi presented proofs ranging from the presence of senior Pakistani military officials at the funeral of designated terrorists to data that showed that Islamabad had misused funds in the last two decades with arm procurements rising exponentially.

In the IMF case, India had made its all-out efforts to the IMF imposing 11 strict conditions on Pakistan. “The 11 new structural benchmarks introduced by the Fund have been linked to fiscal, governance, social, monetary and financial parameters along with metrics to be met in energy sector and trade, investment policy and deregulation,” the source said.

However, New Delhi abstained from voting, as the IMF charter does not allow for a negative vote to be cast on such matters. “India is not averse to any country receiving money for development purposes. But the IMF funding was not the right thing to do at a time when there were border tensions between India and Pakistan and a situation of war. Also, Pakistan has a history of spending not for people, but for buying arms,” the source added.