Washington DC, December 28: It is a major hilarious moment for Pakistan, Islamabad is selling its embassy property in Washington, United States when its economy is on brink of collapse, has received 3 bids for the purchase and India is the second highest bidder after a Jewish group.
As per the media reports, the highest bid, worth $6.8 million, is offered by a Jewish group that wants to build a synagogue in the building, according to Dawn.
In the second spot is an Indian realtor with a bid of about $5 million, followed by a bid of about $4 million from a Pakistani realtor, the report said.
Pakistan is selling off a building that once was home to the country's defence section from the mid-1950s to early 2000s in Washington. However, the diplomatic status of the building was revoked in 2018 as it had become non-functional, thereby becoming liable to local taxes.
The Pakistani cabinet then agreed to the idea of selling the building in an auction but it was not sold earlier due to incomplete renovations.
Pakistan is facing an economic crisis and this move is being seen as a way to remedy some of the ‘crunch’. Pakistan’s debt has jumped to a record high of PKR 60 trillion. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had made promises to curb the debt while blaming his predecessors for throwing the country into the crisis.
This isn’t the first time that a Pakistani property overseas has gone for sale. According to Nosheen Saeed, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, the Sharifs have sold state properties in Saudi Arabia and Europe too.