Sajid Sangha
Contemporary Challenges and Strategic Responses to Pakistan’s Foreign Policy
Pakistan’s geostrategic location has epicentral importance in formulating its foreign policy. Since independence in 1947, our foreign policy has confronted grave challenges, albeit these challenges may vary, but to a small degree. Due to the juxtaposition of Pakistan with Middle Eastern countries and Central Asian countries, it has become a pivotal point of global rivalries. Some of the significant attention issues are discussed here, along with feasibility, which our government should consider to mitigate these challenges. These challenges range from security challenges, Kashmir territorial controversy, the resilience of the economy, harmonizing regional partnerships, visual cognition, and so on.
The first and foremost challenge is security issues. Pakistan has been facing grave security challenge, which includes domestic terrorism across the country’s borders and regional conflicts. This not only malfunctions Pakistan domestically but also deteriorates its relationship with other states. Over the last five decades, Pakistan has been grabbed under regional conflicts, including the US invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the war on terror by the US. This has resulted in a surge in militancy over multiple areas of Pakistan. Despite this, its faint conflicts with India on the Eastern border and its periodic issues with Iran on the Western order have also threatened the very essence of our state’s foreign policy. The recent attacks by militants on the Daraban area, the territory of Dera Ismail Khan, in which 23 troops were martyred, is a fresh instance.
Similarly, attacks on Darazinda and Kulchai, districts of KP, cast the same shadow of insurgency and militancy. The story didn’t end here; November’s Mianwali air base attack, as well as July’s Zhob garrison attack, are considered the handiwork of TJP, a militant group. The next issue faced by our foreign policy is Kashmir’s territorial controversy with India. Unfortunately, we have been confronting this issue since 1947, and still, both countries failed to come out of this issue. This has shifted both countries in the power thirst game. Both countries have attained nuclear power, which has strengthened their rivalry. It has aftermath on our foreign policy but has created resentment of Kashmiri people towards both countries, but also resulted in massive killing of Muslims in the occupied Kashmir by India. In Indian Occupied Kashmir(IOC), Kashmiri people have been facing unrest since the Independence Day of the subcontinent. Recently, 3 Kashmiris were tortured to death by the Indian Army during custody in IOC. In an article, Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, a former ambassador to the US, India, and China, has holistically described Pakistan’s foreign policy stance on disputed Kashmir. He said that India has brutally repressed the Kashmiri people and illegally annexed the occupied Kashmir territory. Pakistan must condemn the unrest and should take comprehensive policy against this menace.
Similarly, Aizaz Ahmed Chaudry, former foreign secretary and chairman of Sanober Institue Islamabad, discussed that the Indian Supreme Court has recently endorsed the August 5, 2019, actions of the Modi government and ordered to hold the election in J&K by September 2024. This has also pointed out the atrocities of Indians toward occupied Kashmiris and tried to grab the attention of Pakistan’s diplomacy over this issue.
After the Kashmir dispute, the other challenge to Pakistan’s Foreign Policy is the resilience of the economy. In our state’s current fiscal year(2023-2024), Pakistan has a financial deficit of around 6.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Compared with India’s GDP, i.e., $3.6 trillion, Pakistan’s GDP is $378 million, which is several times lower than the former. The entire country is engulfed by inflation, deterioration of the economy, and elevation of unemployment. Along with disharmony in the balance of payment and devaluation of crises has led the state’s economy to the verge of chaos. Pakistan’s foreign policy must give due attention to economic stability to actively engage in developmental activities globally. Our state can stabilize the economy by promoting trade and attracting foreign investments to become an earmark in the international community.
After the economic resilience, we must uphold the need to harmonize the regional partnership. Our transitional democracy and economic dependence have led us to depend upon economically sound states, i.e., China and the Western Block. Pakistan can’t take China as a rival for the sake of the US and not the US as a rival for the sake of China.
Pakistan has to adopt a balanced approach to its national interest. In an article, Aizaz Ahmed Chaudry, former foreign secretary and chairman of Sanober Institue Islamabad, has shared deep insights about our global perception. The contemporary world is going through a rapid pace. Our country should have serious concerns about our perception of South Asia. Last, we have to format our foreign policy for visual cognition towards the international community. Our country has been facing negative perceptions all over the globe. Our economic instability, inflation, and a rise of militancy domestically have routed our image. It also raises serious concerns about our foreign policy objectives. It has made us a global joke.
Over the past decades, our state has been held responsible for multiple issues ranging from violation of human rights within its territory, sponsoring of Afghan Taliban, and giving protection to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State Militants. We should take beneficial initiatives to root out all the reasons behind our negative perception in the eyes of the world. It is not just confined to the states. Instead, it is the onus of every Pakistani to portray a positive image of its state outside our physical boundary as well as domestically. In a nutshell, our state has to take serious steps to tackle these issues with extra care. Our economic stability will strengthen us domestically. It will increase the job opportunities within our country. It will ultimately decline inflation to a suitable level. Our efforts to exode insurgency and militancy will build our global perception positively. If we portray our image effectively on the global stage, the United Nations may try to figure out a possible issue of Kashmir’s disputed territory.
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