COUNTRIES in Asia, Africa and the Middle East that rely on the Worldwide Interbank Telecommunication networks, like SWIFT, to transmit their cross-border transactionsneed tore-evaluate the security of their own money. They need to diversify their foreign reserve deposits in countries like Switzerland and China in order to avoid becoming hostage to needless economic blackmail.

The manner in which billions of dollars, deposited by Iran through the sale of its oil, have been frozen by the US and other countries in Europe should be a cause for concern.Itis an unethicalpractice to freeze money belonging to other countries deposited in Western banking institutions as a pressure tactic in pursuit of geopoliticalobjectives.

Most of the countries in the Middle East and Africa are likely to be held hostage by freezing, or withholding money that belongs to them. This should definitely ring an alarm-bell in all the relevant countries, including Pakistan, which tend to deposit part oftheirreservesin global banking institutions in the US.

Malik Tariq Ali Lahore