For the past 76 years Pakistan has adopted an India centric and west oriented approach in defining its foreign engagements. Where it has rather neglected its immediate neighbors in quest of finding security by reaching out to West vis a vis India. With Afghanistan there is a persistent struggle to have a friendly government in Kabul and with Iran the tenure of relationship has been rather short and less than even. The only consistent friendly relations that country has enjoyed are with China throughout all these years
However, in all these years the world has changed in many ways and it is time that Pakistan should shift its foreign Policy approach from security to economic development to release itself from the shekels of IMF loans. It would rather be prudent for a nuclear power to have confidence in developing its relations with not only its immediate neighbors but also with far neighbors and brotherly countries in its best interests.
The surge in global geopolitical tensions, the US-China rivalry, two ongoing wars and an unravelling world order with a global economic volatility has put a new dimension to international stability. Therefore, at a time where the world is already unsettled and in a flux, Country’s new foreign minister Ishaq Dar has to deal with a lot of complex issues at hand but the first step should be to take a broad review of foreign policy and adopt necessary flexibility in formulating a more robust foreign policy that seeks to revive economic development at its priority.
Pakistan’s foreign policy has been a series of ad hoc responses to regional and global developments rather than a well-considered and coherent approach, which requires a neighbors-first approach in which repair relations with India and other neighbors is a must. In doing so Kashmir policy and India policy should become two distinct streaks as a favorable solution to the Kashmir dispute is not possible in the current circumstances but this should not impede the process of normalizing ties with India.
A neighbors-first approach would also require a reversal of the downward course of relations with Afghanistan where Pakistan should be ready to understand Afghan dependency on Pakistani ports for trade. Pakistan needs to follow a principled approach towards Afghanistan with a possible consideration of extending the Taliban government diplomatic recognition and extending the infrastructure of railroads and highways toward Afghanistan under CPEC to boost mutual dependency and economic activity between the two immediate neighbors.
With Iran, the relationship needs to be further strengthened to reap the benefits of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline project. The Gwadar and Chabahar ports need to be developed as sister ports. The Late Iranian President’s visit aimed to boost trade and resolve border issues proving that countries in the new world order are ready to let go of their traditional approach to make space for better engagements and mend ties.
However, Pakistan also needs to crest a balance while engaging with Iran and Saudi Arabia as under Saudi Vision 2030 Pakistan is ready to welcome an investment package of $5 billion from Saudi Arabia in different projects, the profitability of which is estimated in the range of 14% to 15% with some falling in the profitability of 19-20%.
Whereas, at the global level Pakistan will have to navigate its way through US-China rivalry to strike a balance between reaping the benefits of the Chinese mega project CPEC and ensuring long-term strategic ties with the US. Pak Relations with China will no doubt remain Islamabad’s overriding strategic priority but in future, it will need consistent reinforcement to keep them on a positive track as past terrorist attacks on Chinese nationals working on CPEC projects put a serious question mark on the safety of thousands of Chinese citizens working on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Whereas ties with the US continue to be Pakistan’s most critical bilateral relationship the context has diversely changed after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan needs to find a space between the Pakistan-China strategic relationship and the growing US-India partnership to foster cooperation and redefine and restructure its ties with the US.
With a need to extend the neighbors-first policy, there is also a need to put efforts to revive the SAARC process to let the world know that South Asia has the potential to emerge as a rising economic market. In a multipolar world, it is high time that Pakistan revive its traditional foreign policy paradigm and engage with more countries and actors beyond governments to accomplish foreign policy goals and have a strong diplomatic strategy for future challenges.
