First up, from the World Bank via Pakistan's The Tribune, April 24. a study conducted before the terrorist attack and India's suspension of the Indus Waters agreement:
10m Pakistanis at risk of acute food insecurity: WB
The report brings back the focus on issues that are not frequently discussed in the official meetings
The World Bank cautioned on Wednesday that nearly 10 million Pakistanis could face acute food insecurity during the current fiscal year, with poverty levels expected to rise. The warning came as the bank also revised Pakistan's economic growth forecast downward to 2.7%, citing tight economic policies that are suppressing national output.
In its flagship biannual Pakistan Economic Update report, the Washington-based lender noted that the government is likely to miss its annual budget deficit target. Additionally, the country's debt burden is projected to increase both in absolute terms and as a proportion of GDP.
"With climatic conditions impacting overall agricultural production of key crops such as rice and maize, nearly 10 million people, mostly in rural areas, are expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity in FY25", said the World Bank.
The report brings back the focus on issues that are not frequently discussed in the official meetings – the food insecurity, poverty, unemployment and decreasing real wages.
The report underlined that "key sectors for the poor—agriculture, construction, and low-value added services—experienced low or negative growth, causing stagnant real wages".
Combined with population growth of around 2% this is expected to push approximately 1.9 million more individuals into poverty in this fiscal year. Not only that, the employment-to-population ratio is at 49.7%, which reflects low labour market engagement, particularly among youth and women, said the WB.
The report stated that social protection expenditures have not kept pace with inflation, constraining resources available to the poor for food, health, education, and other critical items, with negative implications for human capital and labour productivity.
It said that 37% of youth and 62% of women are not in education, employment, or training. "Despite nominal daily wages nearly doubling for low skilled workers, such as masons, painters, plumbers, and unskilled workers, real wages remained stagnant or even slightly decreased," according to the lender....
....MUCH MORE
Here's the April 2025 World Bank report, the food insecurity mention and reference is on page 22 of the 40 page report.
Also at the Tribune: "Water levels surge in Jhelum River after India's unannounced discharge".
That release would have two effects:
1. It would be scary as hell to have the river soar to flood stage with no warning.
2. Unless Pakistan moved quickly to impound the water. it is wasted and allows India to halt further flows as sluices are closed and the Indian reservoirs refill.
As an outsider looking in, the actions of the two countries almost seem scripted.
Pakistanis are saying "Either water or blood will flow" while India ratchets the pressure even higher:
Sourav Ganguly calls for breaking Indias cricketing ties with Pakistan following Pahalgam terror attack
And I don't mean scripted like the controlled hatred of the Wagah Crossing (now closed) flag-lowering ceremony:
But rather more like the choreography of the Tamil language movie "I", particularly the Battle of the Pecs scene (warning: once seen it can't be unseen):