India’s abstention at an International Monetary Fund executive board meeting in which the multilateral body approved further assistance amounting to $2.4 billion to Pakistan on Friday sparked a political debate in India amid escalating hostilities between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Opposition leaders, who have so far extended support to the Modi government for all actions it has taken against Pakistan, struck a note of disagreement over the supposed inadequacy of India’s response at the international forum.

Merely abstaining, the Congress party argued, was not enough. “The Modi government has chickened out,” alleged Jairam Ramesh, the communications head of the party. “A strong no would have sent a powerful signal.”

Added Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, “The Modi government was expected to not only vote against but also to lobby with other members to oppose fresh IMF loans to Pakistan.”

The criticism put the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and their supporters on the defensive. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Congress leaders were “indulging in reckless propaganda”. Abstaining, he claimed, is the “only legitimate way to register disagreement” at the board meetings according to IMF voting procedures.

“This was a firm yet mature diplomatic signal, showing India will not support Pakistan’s duplicity – but also will not disrupt global economic order rashly,” Sarma wrote in a post on X. The IMF does not allow board members to cast a “no” vote at all, he asserted.

But this line of reasoning did not settle the debate. The BJP’s opponents and critics pointed to instances from the past when other countries sought to stop IMF funding for their rivals. In 2016, the Russian government had announced that it would be voting against IMF aid to Ukraine.

Citing the example of Russia, Hartosh Singh Bal, the executive editor of The Caravan magazine, contended on X that the Modi government was trying to “spin” its abstention because it “lacks heft and allies” to mobilise diplomatic pressure against Pakistan.

‘Diplomatic setback’

The funding in question is part of a $7-billion Extended Fund Facility arrangement that the IMF approved for Pakistan in September 2024 as part of the country’s efforts to reform its economy and increase its foreign reserves. In addition to this arrangement, the IMF also approved another $1.4-billion to Pakistan on Friday under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility for tackling climate challenges.

The IMF’s executive board met on Friday only to formally review the progress on reforms Pakistan had promised to implement and clear the funds, according to the organisation.

Retired bureaucrat and author Subhash Chandra Garg, who served as the finance secretary of India in 2019, explained that India or any other country cannot stop IMF from providing development assistance to Pakistan as long as it is not on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force. Pakistan was removed from the list in October 2022.

But Garg still shared his surprise at India abstaining on Friday instead of voting against the release of funds and said this was a “very large diplomatic setback” for the country.

“India is actually a loner there, a sole voice,” he said. “I thought India’s effort to categorise Pakistan as a terrorist state would get at least a few votes. Unfortunately, not a single constituency voted against the loan to Pakistan. Even India, amazingly, decided not to vote against [it].”

Indian efforts in vain

After the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives, Indian officials had reportedly indicated at the possibility of India lobbying the international community to review development aid to Pakistan.

On May 2, Business Today published a report quoting an anonymous government official who said India was planning to undertake such efforts at not just the IMF but also the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

“India will raise concerns over continued development funding to Pakistan despite its failure to rein in cross-border terrorism,” the official told the publication.

A statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Friday night said India did raise its concerns at the IMF, noting that “rewarding continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism” made for a “mockery of global values”. The statement claimed the concern “resonated with several member countries”, but the IMF’s response was “circumscribed by procedural and technical formalities”.

Even as the government response underscored the seriousness of the issue, some ruling party supporters appeared to be downplaying it on Saturday as the political debate raged on.

“Anant Ambani’s wedding costed more than the IMF loan to Pakistan!” Rashmi Samant, a known Hindutva figure, wrote on X.