Pakistan’s Fragile Foreign Policy

“A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security” (Henry Kissinger)

Since the birth of Pakistan, its foreign policy has remained most haphazard and dysfunctional. Pakistan joined the American bloc despite having a deplorable socio-economic situation in those early days, and jumped into the war of two giants, the. USA and Russia. There was the U-2 Incident in 1960, a confrontation between the USA and the USSR that began with the shooting down of a US U-2 reconnaissance plane over the USSR and that caused the collapse of a summit conference in Paris between the USA, the USSR, the UK, and France; the spy plane was operated from Pakistani soil and the USSR officially protested against Pakistan for its dubious role. Then there was the Fall of Dhaka in 1971, in which, Pakistan had to face worst ever humiliation in the form of giving 90,000 prisoners of war and the secession of East-Pakistan. These two incidents are the darkest chapters of the country’s history and provide a glimpse into Pakistan’s fragile foreign policy.

A China-Pakistan economic alliance could become an effective tool for our foreign policy and Pakistan can get regional economic dominance. Pakistan should focus on a constructive regional foreign policy to enhance trade and commerce, mainly for the Middle East. An economic-oriented foreign policy could increase our role in Arab world as well

Many historians have written that social and political inequality, decade-long dictatorship and self-insecurity of Western Pakistanis were the reasons of the fall of Dhaka, but it is pertinent to note that actually, the collapse of a dismal foreign policy was the prime cause. Perhaps Pakistan was punished by the USSR in the shape of the Fall of Dhaka with the collaboration of India, because Pakistan was playing an unnecessary role to build Sino-US ties, despite looming regional security issues.

But Pakistan did not learn lesson from its blunders and once more became a launching pad for Jihadists in Afghan Jihad on the wills International Establishment. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies played a crucial role in the collapse of the USSR with the collaboration of the USA and its allies. After that, the USA emerged as the sole superpower in 1991. Pakistan continued its lapses in foreign policy and again became designated as a major non-NATO ally of the USA in its War on Terror after 9/11. Undeniably, we may forget them, but history would never forget these bloopers.

Pakistan was considered the Muslim leader especially, after achieving nuclear capability, but sadly, it lost the leadership of the Muslim world due to an ambiguous and delirious foreign policy. Pakistan was among the founders of the OIC, however, its position was misplaced and gradually the Muslim world slipped from its hands. Moreover, Pakistan has a firm, logical and legal position on the Kashmir cause, but it could not make the world realize her concerns, due to an ineffective military-oriented foreign policy. The OIC and Arab states did not pay heed to the Indian illegitimate occupation and siege of Kashmir; and in fact they invited the Indian Foreign Minister as an observer, in the OIC Foreign Ministers meeting of 2019. Also, the Indian Army Chief made his first four days diplomatic tour to the UAE and Saudi Arabia in December 2020. The feeble economy, declining export market, extra inclination towards Iran and Turkey and civil-military disunity are the main reasons for Pakistan’s shrinking role in the Middle East. It should be understood, that in international relations, enemies or friends change but national interests remain the same.

Now, Arabs have established conditional relations with Israel, in which Israel would provide them strategic and economic support along with the provision of covid-19 vaccine. India-Israel cooperation has endangered the position of Pakistan in the Arab world. Islamabad’s inconsistent foreign policy is damaging its reputation and losing old friends. Kuala Lumpur conference, last year was an attempt to shift the balance of the Muslim world, but because of it, Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, have maintained distance from Pakistan, even though it did not attend. Pakistan should understand that more than eight million of its workforce is living in the Middle-East to earn livelihoods and constitutes a prime source of foreign remittances. Saudi Arabia is Pakistan’s main oil supplier and a fair-weather friend, as Pakistan’s national interests are still associated with the Arab world.

The dynamic shift in the foreign policy of Pakistan has created a vacuum in Middle East which would be filled by the Indo-Israel nexus. Pakistan needs to understand its fragile economic situation after covid-19 and should not take more risks. It should be noted that CPEC’s success depends on Arab participation in this landmark project, but the increasing involvement of India in the Arab countries is diminishing Pakistan’s role.

We should understand that the current era of international relations is associated with geo-economic versatility rather than geo-strategic expansionism, while nations develop and re-arrange their relations with the others on the basis of geo-economic dominance. Economy at centre-stage in international relations, and foreign policies are being driven on its groundwork. Our economy is constricted in the spiral of foreign debts, trade deficit, less generation of revenue and ineffective exports. We need to build geoeconomic relations to make our economy stand firm. Pakistan should try to revisit its economic-oriented foreign policy and immediately post senior diplomats in the Arab World to neutralize the situations. For that, Islamabad can use Chinese influence to engage Arab attention, and can play decisive role to bring two arch rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran, to the table.

Pakistan, as an important Chinese economic partner could establish a concrete role in the Middle East. A Pakistan-China alliance in the Middle East could maximize: trade, economic feasibility and peace sustainability. Anti-Iran sentiments in the Arab world can be reduced through a Pak-China agglomeration in the Middle East. Moreover, the Chinese presence with the support of Pakistan in the Middle East could reserve the region’s peace as well.

According to New McKinsey Global Institute, the global center of gravity is shifting toward Asia, The 21^st century is called the “Asian Century”, especially, after the upheaval caused by the covid-19 pandemic, and after the Chinese economic model has proven reliable and sustainable in the pandemic. A China-Pakistan economic alliance could become an effective tool for our foreign policy and Pakistan can get regional economic dominance. Pakistan should focus on a constructive regional foreign policy to enhance trade and commerce, mainly for the Middle East. An economic-oriented foreign policy could increase our role in Arab world as well.

The writer is a freelance columnist