Lagging far behind.

There are many reasons the ruling government can indulge in the victim's cry of 'woe is me' and run to international donor agencies and friendly countries. Devastated by floods and on the brink of ruin partly because of the Ukraine-Russia war that has nothing to do with Pakistan, the country's GDP growth rate is expected to plunge to 3.5pc, according to the International Monetary Fund.

While Pakistan escaped the pandemic relatively unscathed, India has over 45m Covid cases to date - three times the population of Karachi. Despite its economy plummeting to -6.6pc in 2020, it rebounded by a GDP growth rate of 8.7pc in 2021.

Bangladesh's GDP growth rate went down to 3.4pc in 2020 before crossing 6pc again. Sri Lanka, between the 2019 Easter bombings and the impact of the pandemic, took a serious hit to its tourism sector, which was its third largest source of foreign exchange.

If a body is healthy and strong, it can shake off a disease relatively quickly, but even a minor illness can take a frail...