UNB :
Bangladesh is the only country which has been able to ride over the pandemic better than any other nation, says IFFRAS, an international think tank headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
The country, which former US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger acerbically referred to as basket case in 1972, has in the last 50 years since its independence performed better than Pakistan, it said.
Bangladesh’s growth rate was way above Pakistan, even before the pandemic; in 2018-19 it was 7.8% compared to Pakistan’s 5.8%, said IFFRAS (International Forum for Rights and Security). IFFRAS, in its article titled “Bangladesh and Pakistan – Formerly one Nation, today a World Apart” described how Bangladesh became a “miracle story” and Pakistan a “disaster tale”.
It mentioned in the Covid-19 pandemic and amid major changes unseen in a century, the global economy is mired
in its deepest recession since World War II and multilateralism and the international order are confronted with unprecedented challenges, which has created considerable obstacles to South Asian development in the economic and other fields.
Bangladesh and Pakistan are a world apart today because they perceive their national interest very differently, IFFRAS mentioned.
