15/08/2026
# The Patriotism of Overseas Pakistanis — And the Pakistan They Still Believe In
Every year on **14 August**, Pakistanis across the world raise the green and white flag with the same emotion as those celebrating at home. From the Middle East to Europe, North America, Australia and Asia, Pakistani communities gather in parks, community centres, embassies and homes to sing *Dil Dil Pakistan*, wear green and white, raise the national flag and teach their children the story of their homeland.
The 2026 Independence Day celebrations once again demonstrated how deeply Pakistan lives in the hearts of its diaspora. Pakistani diplomatic missions around the world reported large gatherings of overseas Pakistanis celebrating with enthusiasm and national pride.
But behind the flags, celebrations and patriotic songs lies a much deeper emotion.
**Overseas Pakistanis do not merely want to celebrate Pakistan. They want to see Pakistan succeed.**
They want a Pakistan where the law is respected, where institutions work, where a person's future is determined by talent and hard work rather than connections, where businesses can invest without fear, and where their children can proudly say: *“My parents came from Pakistan.”*
So the question is not whether overseas Pakistanis love Pakistan.
**They clearly do.**
The real question is: **What has prevented Pakistan from becoming the country that its people have always believed it could be?**
# # The tragedy is not a lack of potential
Pakistan is not a country without resources, talent or ambition.
It has a population of more than 240 million people, a strategically important geographical position, a large agricultural base, a young population, a growing technology sector, a huge overseas diaspora and enormous potential in tourism, manufacturing, minerals, agriculture and services.
Yet Pakistan has repeatedly struggled to convert this potential into sustained prosperity.
The World Bank's current assessment is blunt: after decades of volatile and relatively low growth, Pakistan has fallen behind its peers on important development indicators. The Bank argues that the country now has an opportunity to change course—but only if reforms are implemented consistently rather than abandoned after short-term stabilization.
That is perhaps Pakistan's greatest problem:
**We repeatedly start reforms, but rarely sustain them long enough to transform the country.**
# # The missing ingredient: institutional continuity
Governments change.
Political parties change.
Economic policies change.
Investment rules change.
Tax policies change.
Import restrictions change.
Currency policies change.
Sometimes even the interpretation of the rules changes.
For a businessman, however, uncertainty is itself a cost.
An investor does not simply ask, *“Can I make money in Pakistan?”*
He asks:
**“Will the rules remain the same tomorrow?”**
This is where the rule of law becomes an economic issue—not merely a political or constitutional one.
The IMF's governance and corruption diagnostic for Pakistan identified persistent vulnerabilities involving corruption, complex regulation, weak institutional capacity, fragmented oversight and weaknesses in the rule of law.
When institutions are unpredictable, capital becomes cautious.
When capital becomes cautious, investment falls.
When investment falls, businesses create fewer jobs.
When jobs are scarce, talented young Pakistanis look abroad.
And when the most ambitious young people leave, Pakistan loses not only workers—but entrepreneurs, engineers, doctors, researchers and future leaders.
# # Why do Pakistanis send their children abroad?
This is one of the most painful questions we should ask ourselves.
A Pakistani parent may spend millions of rupees sending a son or daughter to Canada, Britain, Australia, Ireland, Germany or the United States.
Why?
Not necessarily because they hate Pakistan.
Often, it is precisely because they love their children.
They want their children to live in a society where institutions function, contracts are respected, merit matters and the future is relatively predictable.
And yet, many of these same parents continue investing in Pakistan.
They buy property.
They send remittances.
They support relatives.
They establish businesses.
They visit Pakistan every year.
They celebrate Independence Day with extraordinary enthusiasm.
This is the contradiction of the Pakistani diaspora:
**They may live abroad, but emotionally they have never completely left Pakistan.**
# # The overseas Pakistani is one of Pakistan's greatest assets
Pakistan officially estimates that more than **11 million overseas Pakistanis** live and work around the world.
Their importance is not limited to remittances.
They bring foreign exchange, international experience, professional networks, technology, business knowledge and access to global markets.
The IMF estimates remittances at around **9 percent of Pakistan's GDP**, making them an extremely important source of external financing.
But imagine if Pakistan could attract not only their money sent to families—but also their **capital, companies, technology and expertise**.
Imagine thousands of overseas Pakistanis saying:
> “I don't just want to send money to Pakistan. I want to build my business there.”
That would be transformational.
But for that to happen, Pakistan must give them something more valuable than emotional appeals.
**It must give them confidence.**
Confidence that their property will be protected.
Confidence that contracts will be honoured.
Confidence that courts will provide timely justice.
Confidence that government departments will not create unnecessary obstacles.
Confidence that their investment will not depend upon political connections.
Confidence that the rules of the game will remain stable.
# # Pakistan's economic problem is deeper than inflation
For years, Pakistan's economic conversation has revolved around the dollar, inflation, petrol prices, IMF programmes and foreign exchange reserves.
These are important—but they are symptoms as much as they are problems.
The deeper issue is **low productivity and weak institutions**.
The World Bank has identified Pakistan's longstanding policy and institutional weaknesses as major constraints on development. It also highlights the country's narrow tax base, high energy costs, regulatory problems and the need for reforms in state-owned enterprises and the business environment.
Pakistan cannot borrow its way to prosperity.
It cannot depend indefinitely on remittances.
It cannot repeatedly wait for friendly countries to provide financial support.
It cannot rely on the IMF every few years to stabilize an economy that has returned to the same structural problems.
Pakistan must ultimately **produce more, export more, invest more and waste less**.
That requires institutions that reward productivity rather than connections.
# # The tax problem is also an institutional problem
A country cannot provide world-class education, healthcare, infrastructure, policing and justice without sustainable public revenues.
Pakistan's tax-to-GDP challenge has remained a structural weakness.
The World Bank's 2026 assessment of fiscal federalism highlights stagnant federal revenue collection and an insufficiently broad tax base. It also points to the under-taxation of agricultural income despite agriculture representing more than one-fifth of GDP.
The answer should not simply be to squeeze the already documented taxpayer harder.
Pakistan needs a system in which **everyone contributes according to law**.
The salaried class should not feel that it is carrying an unfair share of the tax burden.
Small businesses should not be pushed into informality by complicated taxation.
Agriculture should be brought properly into the documented economy.
Real estate transactions should be transparent.
Retail and wholesale activity should be documented.
And the state should demonstrate that tax money is being used responsibly.
**People are more willing to pay taxes when they believe the state belongs to them.**
# # The politics of permanent conflict
Another major obstacle is political polarization.
Pakistan has spent far too much energy fighting over who should control the state and far too little energy asking what the state should actually deliver.
Political parties should compete over:
* who can create more jobs;
* who can increase exports;
* who can improve education;
* who can reduce electricity costs;
* who can attract investment;
* who can reform the police and courts;
* who can improve healthcare;
* who can make Pakistan's cities liveable.
But political competition becomes destructive when the objective changes from **winning an election** to **destroying the opponent**.
A prosperous democracy needs disagreement.
It does not need permanent institutional warfare.
Pakistan needs a political culture in which **the government may change, but the state continues to function.**
# # What overseas Pakistanis are really asking for
The Pakistani diaspora is not necessarily demanding miracles.
They are asking for something much simpler:
**Give us a Pakistan where our investment is safe.**
**Give us a Pakistan where justice is accessible.**
**Give us a Pakistan where merit matters.**
**Give us a Pakistan where our children can return without sacrificing their future.**
**Give us a Pakistan where success does not require political connections.**
If Pakistan can provide those fundamentals, the diaspora could become one of the country's greatest engines of economic transformation.
Instead of asking overseas Pakistanis only for remittances, Pakistan should ask them for something much bigger:
**Come and build with us.**
# # Independence is more than a flag
Perhaps this is the real meaning of Independence Day.
Freedom is not simply the freedom from colonial rule.
True independence also means building institutions capable of protecting the freedom, dignity and economic opportunity of ordinary citizens.
A person should be free to start a business.
Free to speak within the law.
Free to invest.
Free to own property securely.
Free to seek justice.
Free to succeed through merit.
Free to dream about a better future.
That is the Pakistan for which millions of Pakistanis sacrificed in 1947.
And that is the Pakistan millions of overseas Pakistanis still dream about today.
The celebrations of 14 August therefore should not make us ask only:
**“How much do we love Pakistan?”**
The more important question is:
**“What kind of Pakistan are we building for the next generation?”**
The answer cannot be another slogan.
It must be **rule of law, institutional stability, economic freedom, education, productivity, exports, investment and merit.**
Pakistan does not lack patriots.
It does not lack talent.
It does not lack resources.
It does not lack people willing to sacrifice for the country.
What Pakistan needs is a system that **converts patriotism into progress**.
Because the greatest Independence Day celebration would not be another display of flags.
It would be the day when a Pakistani living in London, Dubai, Toronto, Melbourne or Riyadh finally says:
**“I don't have to leave Pakistan to build my future. I can build it there.”**
That would be the Pakistan our overseas citizens are waiting to come home to.
**Pakistan Zindabad.**
