According to Business Standard, India is planning to prevent Pakistan from buy back a 1.1% stake in the Shanghai-based BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). This move is expected to be made by New Delhi at the upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting.
In February, the Pakistan government approved a decision to buy 5,882 NDB shares for a total value of $582 million, of which $116 million is paid.
Pakistan Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb stressed that the investment would help Islamabad diversify its lending sources and reduce its dependence on the IMF and the World Bank.
However, according to Business Standard, India is expected to question the validity of the above deal, especially in the context of Pakistan having just received a $7 billion bailout package from the IMF to avoid the risk of bankruptcy in July 2024.
Contrary to the usual stance of not interfering in Pakistan's loans at the IMF, New Delhi is expected to speak out against this time, saying Islamabad is taking "double steps" when both asking for financial aid and investing in another bank.
Not only stopping at investing in the NDB Bank, Pakistan has also officially applied to join BRICS - an initial economic bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and has recently expanded to include members such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE and Indonesia.
However, Pakistan's chance to join BRICS is almost zero as India remains tough due to extremely tense bilateral relations.
The NDB, founded by BRICS in 2015 to provide financial support to developing countries, currently has five founding members holding 18.98% of its shares on each side. New countries such as Egypt account for 2.27%, while Bangladesh and the UAE account for 1.79% and 1.06%, respectively.
