According to World Bank data, India and Pakistan have drastically different paths when it comes to reducing poverty and setting economic objectives over the last 15 years. The comparison, particularly since 2010, reveals differences in the two South Asian neighbors’ governance frameworks and underlying policy decisions in addition to differences in the results.
Even after the World Bank raised the global extreme poverty benchmark from $2.15 to $3 per person, per day, India has achieved a historic reduction in poverty, with the extreme poverty rate falling from 27.1% in 2011–12 to just 5.3% in 2022–23. This indicates that in just over ten years, around 269 million Indians—more than all of Pakistan’s citizens—were lifted out of terrible poverty. In India, there were 75.24 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022–2023, down from 344.47 million in 2011–2012.
A combination of tailored welfare programs, steady economic growth, and a governmental emphasis on social inclusion and rural development are responsible for this accomplishment. Real incomes have increased across all demographic groups, and the gap between urban and rural poverty has decreased, demonstrating the success of India’s development-centric government paradigm. India’s recent overtake of Japan to become the fourth-largest economy in the world has further highlighted its economic progress.
On the other hand, poverty has sharply increased in Pakistan. In 2021, 16.5% of Pakistanis were living in extreme poverty, up from 4.9% in 2017. Over the same time period, the poverty headcount rose from 39.8% to over 44.7% at the more general poverty level of $4.2 per person, per day. According to World Bank estimates, almost 45% of Pakistan’s population currently lives below the poverty line, and an additional 1.9 million people are predicted to do so in 2024–2025 as a result of the country’s economic growth stagnating at a rate of 2.6%, which is slower than population growth.
Economic Mismanagement: Long-term reliance on foreign loans has not resulted in widespread development, despite 25 IMF bailout packages totaling $44.57 billion and additional billions from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and China.
Fund embezzlement, a lack of accountability, and an excessive emphasis on defense and security at the expense of social and economic growth are among the issues raised by analysts and diplomats. Instead of tackling poverty and development needs, a large portion of the assistance and loan funds are allegedly diverted to military spending and the maintenance of cross-border terror infrastructure.
The agriculture industry in Pakistan, which provides jobs for almost half of the nation’s poor, is under a lot of strain due to decreased rainfall, pest infestations, and diminishing crop yields, which makes rural poverty even worse.
Economic reforms and effective poverty alleviation have been hampered by persistent political unrest and inadequate institutional frameworks.
A key lesson is highlighted by the World Bank data: policy decisions, leadership, and governance priorities, rather than fate, determine poverty. India’s program of targeted welfare, economic reforms, and inclusive development has produced measurable outcomes and established a standard for the Global South. On the other hand, Pakistan’s emphasis on defense and underfunding of human development have made its people more vulnerable and impoverished.
The cycle of poverty and dependency will continue unless Pakistan addresses the military’s structural influence in politics and the economy and reallocates resources toward real development, according to diplomats and economists quoted in the papers. International donors are increasingly being urged to set more stringent requirements to guarantee that aid is used for the advantage of Pakistan’s citizens rather than to continue funding military and security projects.
According to the most recent World Bank data, India is booming with record-breaking economic growth and poverty reduction, whereas Pakistan is further sinking into disaster as a result of misaligned objectives and poor governance. The message is unmistakable: a country’s future is mostly determined by its leadership, human development, and effective policies. The Global South can learn a lot from India and Pakistan’s divergent experiences on how crucial governance decisions are in the fight against poverty.
