By Anjum Ibrahim
Copyright brecorder
“Sometimes our enemies help us.”
“India is not helping us though, to be honest, Indian pervasive influence in international relations is kinda dissipating as ours is rising.”
“I agree, but can I point out two factors that…”
“I know the two factors – the Field Marshal and Shehbaz Sharif.”
“They are not factors silly – they are critical elements in our rising influence on the world scene.”
“What is the difference between factor and element in your world view?”
“An element is a unique chemical substance composed of only one atom.”
“And factor?”
“In mathematics, it’s a number that divides another exactly.”
“Can I say one of the gentlemen is undoubtedly an element while the other is……”
“No you can’t say that, anyway when I said sometimes enemies help us I was referring not to India but to Israel and I reckon attacking the residential high-end Doha area may, I repeat may have had a role in our defence pact with the Saudis. I mean we are the only Muslim nuclear country, and we can checkmate any other nuclear power from an attack.”
“Right you are, but the effectivity may take time, I don’t think the Arabs would be as gauche as summarily ending the deal with the Americans.”
“And another factor…”
“Careful of what you say.”
“Sorry another element is our long time relationship with China, India if you recall has that kind of a relationship with Russia, and my point is that China is the US’s peer competitor not Russia.”
“Russia has emerged as a superpower…”
“Yes, but China is the competitor with its economy fast catching up with the US.”
“Right, so the evolving new world order is benefitting us.”
“Yes, and India with all the expensive French Rafales that it bought from its massive foreign exchange reserves…”
“Ha ha yes indeed but did you hear that Macron has sent three Rafales to patrol Poland’s border…”
“I thought experts said that the drones were not attacks one and were delivered by Ukraine which pieced together with duct tape some of the ones they may have retrieved from their own territory.”
“Long live the narrative of the European Commission members and the Three Stooges – Larry, Moe and Curly Joe.”
“Excuse me?”
“The leaders of Germany, France and the UK.”
“Don’t be facetious.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
