The saga of a nation whose national chant (“Cashmir”) withered away to bring about a new lease of life. (August 10, 2023)
27 Golds in Tokyo Olympics 2020, the largest FDI recipient in FY21 and FY22, breaking into the top 15 of the Global Hunger Index, and notably, a nuke armed country with the lowest military budget to GDP ratio: our rogue western neighbour has had a massive upturn in fortunes ever since the abrogation of temporary provisions under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
While toppling their all-weather ally in the medal tally charts of 2020 Tokyo Olympics was a shocker to the world community, the topping of the chart in the 2022 Asian games stamped their supremacy in the sports arena. From a seven-member contingent in the 2016 Rio Olympics to having 120 athletes qualified, with 71 medals to their name in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, they have indeed come a long way.
That’s not all. They have also seen a significant upsurge in economic activity in recent years. They had been a debt-ridden country for years barely surviving on IMF loans and Chinese debts (read baits) till the Indian revocation. Interestingly, in the year 2018 their pseudo-democratic government had gone on to the extent of auctioning 70 luxury cars and 8 highly-prized buffaloes under an austerity drive. In early 2019, amidst mounting debts and drying up of foreign reserves they had to unleash a grand strategy of exporting donkeys. They are touted to be the third-largest when it comes to the donkey population.
Cut to the present day : their cricket team has started wearing anti-sweat jerseys full of sponsors’ ads with virtually no space for even the players’ names on it. They are emerging as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with economists coining a new acronym “PRICS” replacing Brazil to accommodate the changing world order. Their cricket board has also stopped pestering their Indian and Bangladeshi counterparts for bilateral series. They no longer have to depend on alms for their arms, as they don’t need any arms in the first place.
Well, how was it even remotely possible for such a dramatic turnaround to happen: particularly in a scenario when the global economy was reeling under the persistent economic slowdown. “Thanks to the Indian government: with the removal of special provisions, there has been virtually nothing left for our neighbour to bargain for”. For a country whose sole prerogative, ever since its birth, had been to chant the “Cashmir” mantra, the Indian move brought about an unprecedented vacuum in their lives.
An issue that was giving them their bread and butter for decades, their diplomats tried every trick in the book in international forums to keep the issue burning and alive. But alas, the world had moved on!
With their armed forces (being the sixth largest by their sheer size) and innumerable non-state actors in their kitty, the establishment had a responsibility to channelize the humongous monstrous energy somewhere. The physically demanding training that they had been subjected to for all these years could not have just gone in vain. That was when, after a month-long deliberation exercise among the service chiefs, intelligence, and non-state actors groups, it was decided to field their largest-ever contingent for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The smart segregation of their personnel for the respective sports was carried out with extreme scrutiny, keeping their general expertise in consideration.
The hapless situation aided with some tact from the establishment garnished with the restlessness of the prowling armed forces personnel gave them their best ever tally in the 2020 Olympics edition. The spectacular display in the Olympics drew the attention of global investors who saw the potential of human resources in this part of the world for the very first time. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Disclaimer: The article is purely a satirical work depicted through a fictional prism. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead or to an entity is purely coincidental.
Originally published at https://www.brookofideas.com on August 10, 2019.
