Islamabad, Pakistan – In the cavernous room of the Jinnah Convention Center in Islamabad, Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, greeted the country’s diaspora as « pride of the nation », praising them for their « unmatched contribution » to the country they have left.
And it was not only talked about. Speaking to an audience of more than 1,000 expats who had met to participate in the Pakistania Convention abroad on April 15, Sharif also promised several benefits that he said that his government would be launched to help them.
These include special courts for Pakistani abroad, so that their legal disputes are resolved faster than they would be in the notoriously slow judicial system of the country. They also commit the quotas to educational institutions, faster immigration procedures at airports and tax benefits. Sharif also said that the Government would grant 15 eminent Pakistani expatriates each year.
« I think there is no doubt that the 10 million Pakistanis who live worldwide have gained their good reputation with their hard work and have promoted the name of Pakistan, » Sharif said in his speech.
But many experts believe that the bouquet of government guarantees in the diaspora is merely an innocent outreach effort: it is also a political movement in a battle for the support of Pakistanis abroad with former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) party is believed to have been widely supported by the country’s diaspora, which at the same time gains influence in the western capitals, shaping how these nations see Islamabad and their deep political divisions.
Now, the analysts say, Sharif’s government is trying to break Khan’s grip over Pakistani abroad.
« The pakistani summit abroad seemed to have two key goals, to counteract the imprisoned influence and popularity, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, enjoys the diaspora and encourage the community abroad to invest in Pakistan, » said Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador in the United States.
Why does the diaspora care matters
Many PTI supporters who live abroad enjoy positions of influence in these countries, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States, with almost 1.6 million and 700,000 citizens of Pakistani origin who reside, respectively.
The former -Prime Minister Khan, who was expelled from power in April 2022 through a trusted parliamentary vote, has been in prison since August 2023 for various positions.
His party has faced a repression and claims that the results of the general election in February 2024 were strongly manipulated, claiming that his term was « stolen ». The government and the powerful military in the country have rejected these complaints, but have found many resonance among Pakistan and outside.
These complaints helped to push for pressure efforts, especially in the United States, which led Congress to Keep an audience On the « future of democracy » in Pakistan in March last year.
This audience was requested by bipartisan calls for then President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to examine Pakistan Controversial elections.
A few months later in October, more than 60 democratic party legislators urged Biden to pressure Islamabad to achieve the release of Khan.
In fact, many inside the PTI believe that following Trump’s inaugurationThe President of the United States, who enjoyed warm ties with Khan during the first term, could intervene and help to ensure the launch of the former Prime Minister, thanks to the lobbying of the diaspora.
Arif Ansar, no strategic DC -based strategic consulting firm, acknowledged the effectiveness of the Lobbying of the diaspora.
« The diaspora has been very effective in its pressure efforts, and this has influenced the establishment of managing their relationships with the diaspora. He wants to involve them and encourage links to the opponent, » said Ansar to Al Jazeera. The « establishment » is a euphemism for the military in Pakistan.
However, the analyst added that it was also possible that the government was trying to prove that the diaspora was not monolithic aligned with the PTI.
« There are many different segments and PTI is not the only one that represents the diaspora, » he said. The government, he added, seemed eager to « build a new narrative ».
« Contrfil in PTI » storytelling «
In the meantime, the Islamabad-based political analyst, Talat Hussain, believes that the Government’s goal to host the Convention was to prove that not only has a wide range of expats, but also wants to make them interested in their political and economic agenda.
« PTI claims to have a monopoly on the political feelings of Pakistani abroad are amplified through social networks. Efforts like these conventions provide a buttress in the argument that expatriates move in direction as Imran instructed, » Hussain said.
In recent months, cracks have shown in the way Khan seems to have the support of the diaspora.
Last December, Khan warned the Government that his party would launch a civil disobedience movement and asked the diaspora to stop sending money to Pakistan.
But in 2024 he saw that Pakistan received the highest amount of annual remittance in its history, to $ 34.1 million, a 32 percent increase since 2023, when Pakistanis abroad sent home $ 26 million at home.
And one day before Sharif’s speech at the Diaspora Convention in Islamabad, Jamil Ahmed, the governor of the country’s central bank, revealed that the Pakistani diaspora sent more than $ 4 million in MarchBy marking the greatest remittance of a month in the history of the country.
« If remittance inputs are a way to measure the effectiveness of the PTI -abroad strip, the image is not useful for the party’s alleged, » said Hussain.
« Two years of increasing consisting of remittances, despite all the appeals of Imran and the entire senior management to not send money to what he calls a » corrupt fascist regime and tell you where the expatriates are. «
« I’ll be your CEO »
However, like Lodhi, other analysts also believe that the Pakistani government is also diminishing the diaspora because they need to invest in the country.
Thanks to the Pakistani abroad for supporting the country’s economy, Sharif said this week that « personally » would supervise the investments they made.
« I will be your CEO. My cabinet and our business community will ensure that your investments are protected and provided, » he said.
However, he cares about whether the Pakistani diaspora trusts the economic climate in a country where more and more citizens are leaving.
In the last five years, about three million Pakistanis have migrated, according to government data, causing a growing concern over a « brain drain » in the country.
However, General Syed Asim Munir, the army’s head The most powerful figure in the country is considered widely dismissed during his speech at the Diaspora Convention, describing the tendency, however, as a « brain gain ».
« Those who speak of cerebral drainage must understand that this is not the brain drain, but the brain gain, » he said on Tuesday.
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