India, May 20 -- For far too long, the Pakistani State has overcome its economic problems thanks to the largesse of benefactors such as the US, China and Saudi Arabia or handouts from global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without carrying out much-needed structural reforms. In the periods following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the US-led war on terror after the 9/11 terror attacks, Pakistan benefited from the enormous amounts of funding pumped into the country by the US and other Western powers. But such funding can never offer long-term solutions, and Pakistan has ultimately had to go back to its old habit of seeking handouts from Saudi Arabia and China to tide over economic difficulties. Even here, Pakistan's old friends in West Asia have been less forthcoming than the Chinese, who have been forced to bail out the country in view of their sizeable investments in projects such as the Gwadar port and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Pakistan has also turned to the IMF for bailouts on 24 occasions since 1958, the latest being in September 2024, when the body approved a $7-billion extended fund facility. As the IMF board met in Washington on May 9 amid the clashes between India and Pakistan, New Delhi strongly conveyed its concerns, including how such funding could be diverted to actors inimical to Indian interests. In this context, it is a welcome development that IMF has imposed some new conditions for its latest bailout for Pakistan that appear to be aimed at forcing through much-needed reforms. It is also significant that the IMF report announcing these new conditions has pointedly stated that the rising tensions between India and Pakistan, especially if they deteriorate further or are sustained, could heighten enterprise risks to the fiscal, external and reform goals of the bailout. This is a message that should be taken note of by the Pakistani military, which has always had an outsize influence on all aspects of governance but has rarely pushed the civilian leadership to carry out reforms in key sectors such as power generation, agriculture and manufacturing. India has argued for checks and balances that ensure the funds provided to Pakistan by bodies such as IMF are not diverted to the terrorist ecosystem in that country. Though IMF has not directly addressed New Delhi's concerns, it has rightly warned Pakistan that tensions with India could heighten economic risks. It is perhaps time for Islamabad to focus on its economy ....