I had the opportunity to present my paper at the prestigious Shanghai Forum, hosted by the Fudan Development Institute (FDDI) of Fudan University. The event featured keynote speeches by distinguished global leaders, including Dilma Rousseff, former President of Brazil and current President of the New Development Bank, and Yukio Hatoyama, former Prime Minister of Japan. With over 600 participants in attendance—ranging from academics and policymakers to diplomats and think tank experts—the Forum provided a dynamic platform for global dialogue on development, governance, and international cooperation.

Building on this international platform, my paper explored how Pakistan’s economic history since 1947 vividly illustrates the extent to which political forces—not purely economic rationale—have shaped development models. The country’s journey is marked by sharp oscillations between state-led industrialisation, military-controlled liberalisation, and market-oriented neoliberalism. Each model, while promising transformation, has ultimately produced inconsistent outcomes, persistent structural inequalities, and a pattern of short-lived booms followed by stagnation or crisis.

To begin with, the early decades of Pakistan’s independence were dominated by the Import Substitution Industrialisation (ISI) strategy. This model, driven by strong state intervention, prioritised rapid industrial growth through import restrictions and heavy investment in domestic industries. While this approach did stimulate industrial expansion—manufacturing grew at an impressive rate in the 1950s—the neglect of agriculture and social sectors........

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