There comes a time in a nation’s history when mere survival ceases to be a virtue and becomes a verdict. When continuity without reform is not resilience, but retreat. Today, Pakistan finds itself at such a crossroads. The economic scaffolding built on remittances, devaluation and bureaucratic inertia is unsustainable. We must now shift from patchwork endurance to sovereign design, from short-term inflows to long-term economic architecture.

This reckoning begins with an uncomfortable truth: for far too long, Pakistan has been sustained not by the strength of its institutions, but by the sacrifice of its diaspora. This year alone, over $38 billion in remittances flowed into the country. But behind each dollar lies not a policy triumph, but a story of departure. Millions of Pakistanis have left their homeland in search of dignity and opportunity, sending back not just their earnings, but also silent prayers for a reformed homeland.

Remittances are not a national economic strategy. They are the monetisation of separation. They may ease external accounts, but they cannot build internal capacity. The tragedy is not that we rely on remittances, but that we have failed to transform that reliance into national renewal.

To call ourselves an economy while exporting labour and importing sustenance is to mistake motion for momentum. What we have built is a remittance republic – a model that is underperforming while also reflecting a vacuum of strategic imagination. In contrast, in the area where real long-term confidence in a country is measured, foreign direct investment, Pakistan has sharply declined. In 2024, FDI barely touched $1.8 billion, less than one-third of what we attracted in 2007. Despite the creation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council and a string of global forums, declarations have consistently outpaced delivery.

From premiers to generals, from civil servants to special assistants, everyone today speaks the language of investment. Yet........

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