'IMF has blood on its hands': Global anger as fund clears $1 billion for Pakistan amid India tensions

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has come under massive criticism for approving a $1 billion disbursement to Pakistan, days after a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir and amid ongoing military hostilities with India.

India abstained from voting during the IMF Executive Board meeting held Friday, where the Washington-based lender approved the tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), bringing total disbursements to Islamabad under the programme to $2.1 billion. The IMF also cleared an additional $1.4 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

The move has triggered backlash across India and beyond. Psephologist Yashwant Deshmukh called out the timing starkly: “IMF has blood on its hands. No other way to say this.”

Senior ORF fellow Sushant Sareen echoed similar sentiments, stating a lot of the blame for what is happening falls on the head of IMF. "Releasing the tranche to Pakistan emboldened and encouraged them to continue targeting Indian cities and military installations," he said, adding that if the G7 genuinely wanted de-escalation, it should stop funding Pakistan.

India's foreign ministry had earlier warned that IMF funding could be misused for “state-sponsored cross-border terrorism,” citing Pakistan’s history of military interference in economic matters and its support for extremist groups.

Kanwal Sibal, former foreign secretary, said the IMF's decision was “terrible optics” and “highly questionable politically.” He pointed out: “The IMF is manipulated by western powers who dominate decision making with their quotas. Recall the massive financial support given with alacrity to Ukraine.”

India's finance ministry, in a formal statement, said the fund's procedures lacked moral safeguards and that “the concern that fungible inflows from international financial institutions, like the IMF, could be misused for military and state-sponsored cross-border terrorist purposes resonated with several member countries."

Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also expressed anger, saying: “I’m not sure how the ‘International Community’ thinks the current tension in the subcontinent will be de-escalated when the IMF essentially reimburses Pakistan for all the ordnance it is using to devastate Poonch, Rajouri, Uri, Tangdhar & so many other places.”

Afghan MP in exile Mariam Solaimankhil was equally blunt: “The IMF didn’t bail out an economy. It bankrolled bloodshed. How long will the world pay Pakistan to kill?”

India continues to assert that rewarding a regime that abets terrorism sends a dangerous message.