There had been a time when Pakistanis could afford to sneer at India, with its heavily centralised economy and suffocating bureaucracy, a land of cheap polyester kurtas and wheezing old rattletraps. Pakistan had smoother roads, smarter airlines and flashier hotels. But their fortunes starkly diverged after 2001, when Pakistan plunged into conflict and India’s economy soared. Now, Indians were sending satellites into space and snapping up British luxury carmakers, and it was the Pakistanis who looked sclerotic.
– from The Nine Lives of Pakistan book by Declan Walsh