DAWN Editorials - 14th April 2025

[zarnishhayat]

April heat

ANOTHER round of climate-induced misery is upon us. The Met Office predicted last Friday that this week would be a sweltering one, with a heatwave sweeping over the country till the coming weekend. It said that a high-pressure system was likely to grip the upper atmosphere from Sunday, triggering heatwave conditions in most parts of the country, which would get more severe in the southern half from April 14. It expected daytime temperatures to remain 6°C to 8°C above normal in Sindh, southern Punjab and Balochistan from Monday to Friday. Meanwhile, the upper half of the country would stew in temperatures four to six degrees higher than usual. Hot nights, dust storms and windstorms also featured in the forecast. It made for a rather sobering prognosis, with an acute shortage of water in the Tarbela and Mangla dams adding to the worries.

Large parts of Pakistan’s key agricultural regions have already been facing drought-like conditions, with rainfall drastically below average in the first quarter of 2025. Now adding to that is the extreme heat, which will create major problems for farmers.


These unnatural climate conditions are a sign of how fast the reality is changing for Pakistan, where policymakers still do not appear to be acting very decisively to protect the people and secure their future. While competing claims are being made on its already stressed water resources, the larger picture points to the fact that a much broader and more cohesive plan is needed to meet Pakistan’s changing requirements amidst an accelerating climate crisis. Yet, we continue to rely on band-aid measures.

Consider the Met Office’s warning to farmers. Based on its prediction, it advised agriculturalists to manage their activities keeping in view weather conditions and to protect their livestock during the heatwave. But such warnings serve no long-term purpose. Given the recurrence of freak weather patterns, perhaps what is needed is continuing farmer re-education and training programmes aimed at climate adaptation. Pakistan must confront the fact that the farm practices in vogue in large parts of the country may have been rendered outdated by climate change. It must move quickly to find ways to mitigate the climate’s effects on national output.

Likewise, the issue of water scarcity needs urgent attention. Both climate scientists and experts have long warned that Pakistan cannot continue wasting this vital resource and treating it as if it will stay constant. With reservoirs depleted to critical levels, Pakistan remains at the mercy of nature. An extended drought could trigger disaster in the coming months. There is, therefore, an urgent need to educate the public about water conservation and impress upon it the seriousness of the situation. This is an existential crisis and should be treated as such.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2025


ADB’s advice

WITH the Trump administration’s trade war on China and the rest of the world having led to global economic uncertainty, the Asian Development Bank’s advice for Pakistan’s policymakers to stick to the reforms agenda agreed with the IMF comes at the right time. Reminding our policymakers of the several downside risks to the country’s hard-won but fragile economic recovery, the lender has projected that the national economy will expand at the much slower pace of 2.5pc during this fiscal year compared to the average South Asian growth rate of 6pc. How Donald Trump’s trade war will impact these growth estimates if protectionist US policies push the global economy towards recession is anybody’s guess. The report has not taken into account the ramifications of the insanely high American ‘reciprocal import levies’ in its projections. But both the IMF and State Bank have highlighted lately the uncertain global environment as a risk to the country’s struggle to overcome its economic crisis.

That debt-ridden Pakistan faces several vulnerabilities despite its improved external position and a quicker-than-anticipated drop in inflation shows that the country must stay on the path of structural reforms, even more so after the punitive baseline and higher tariffs slammed by the US on most of the world. In its latest Asian Development Outlook report, the lender noted that recovery requires policy consistency and reform implementation to sustain it, build resilience and enable durable growth. Macro improvements, it warns, must not lead to a relaxation of policies and deviation from the reforms path, which could potentially trigger new balance-of-payments pressures, and jeopardise our hard-earned stability and disbursements from multilateral and bilateral partners. The potential negative impact of the Trump tariffs on the global economy will likely spill over into Pakistan too, especially if the tariff war between the US and China does not end soon. The emerging global landscape demands that Pakistan navigate this challenge carefully because of its reliance on both the US and China. With major economic challenges facing the country amid rising militancy, it is crucial for politicians to work out a formula to resolve their selfish disputes and join forces to deal with the emerging situation. The ongoing economic slowdown has affected the average Pakistanis the most in recent years. They deserve better days now.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2025


‘Land of the free’

IN Trumpian America, even those foreigners with legal status are finding that the walls are closing in on them. As part of regulations linked to an imaginatively titled presidential executive order — ‘Protecting the American People Against Invasion’ — signed in January, non-citizens in the US will now be required to register and carry proof of registration at all times. Permanent residents — those with the coveted Green Card — visitors, students and workers, with few exceptions, will be affected by the changes, and even a routine traffic check may result in law enforcers asking foreigners for proof of registration. Registration has been a legal requirement in the US since 1940; what is different with President Donald Trump’s regulations is that foreigners will now be required to carry their papers at all times, or risk fines, even incarceration. For any foreigner who has travelled to the US, these are disturbing changes; legal visitors could earlier feel at ease in the country, without the fear of being hauled up by law enforcement and asked for their papers. But these are very different times.

Historically, America has had its periods of authoritarianism, especially when descendants of immigrants and people of colour have been targeted in xenophobic fits of rage by the state. The starkest example is of the Nisei, or second-generation Japanese-Americans, who were rounded up and placed in camps during World War II. However, in the decades since, the US had come a long way, attracting talent and brains from around the world to help power its economy. Those days are over. As for the Maga crowd, all of America’s ills are to be blamed on foreigners, and xenophobic policies are needed to restore the country’s ‘greatness’. Such moves will ultimately hurt America, as the world’s best minds and most industrious people will now think twice about wanting to live or work in the US.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2025