Pakistan and the region

Pakistan is now in a situation now where it does not have cordial relations with most of its immediate neighbours

In his seminal work, Muslim Zion: Pakistan as a Political Idea, Dr Faisal Devji has argued that like Israel, Pakistan was conceived as a “profound distrust of nationalism, and an attempt to create new forms of political belonging”. In this way of thinking, “religion stands distinct from the territory its followers covet, which had in any case been seen as an accidental homeland for them”. Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s lack of clarity about the geographic contours of Pakistan therefore validates this conception, as Devji notes: “… Jinnah’s demands at various times of bits of territory that included the Andaman and Nicobar islands as maritime links between East and West Pakistan, or for a corridor across the north of India as a territorial link between them, both justified largely for reasons of bureaucratic convenience. Indeed his main justification for the territory he sought, but was denied, was not the Muslim character of its population but that it alone would make for an administratively ‘viable’ state…” Created with this background, Pakistan has largely been oblivious of its geographical surroundings, leading to a rather skewed relationship with its neighbours.”



Since its inception, Pakistan has always championed the cause of Muslim solidarity and brotherhood. Both Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan kept this notion as a central theme of the All India Muslim League and continued with this theme in Pakistan. However, as soon as Pakistan was created, an immediate conflict emerged with it Muslim neighbour — Afghanistan. In September 1947, Afghanistan was the only country in the world, which opposed Pakistan’s entry into the UN, and several times since then, Pakistan has been on the verge of a violent conflict with the 99 per cent Muslim country. All this is despite both Pakistan and Afghanistan sharing history, language and customs, in addition to the obvious linkage of Islam. In most parts of the world, such commonality would have led to greater understanding and cooperation — but not in this case.

Pakistan’s other Muslim neighbour is Iran, with which thankfully we had cordial relations while it was under the Shah. However, as soon as the Islamic Revolution took place in 1979, relations soured and have largely remained tense ever since. It is as if as long as Iran was under the mainly secular rule of the Shah, Pakistan had good relations with the country, but as soon as it too brandished its Islamic identity, relations deteriorated. Obviously, Iran’s sectarian identity was anathema to Pakistan, and so relations became stuck in this dynamic.



Pakistan is now in a situation now where it does not have cordial relations with any of its immediate neighbours — with the sole exception of China with which we share a very small border in comparison. And it is also true that it seems that Pakistan does not care either. Its sole prism of religion in international affairs and that too without consideration of its geographical situation has led to the current precarious situation where the country is bordering on becoming a pariah state. The recent agreement among Afghanistan, Iran and India on the Chabahar port is a wake-up call to Pakistan that if it does not take cognisance of its neighbourhood and makes concerted efforts to improve relations with it, regional countries will simply begin to ignore and bypass it. This will not only mean strategic losses for Pakistan, but also economic and political ones. Furthermore, unless Pakistan develops good relations with its neighbours, its own stability will not be ensured, but this concept again seems to elude those who actually run the country.

Pakistan was the first country made on the basis of a strong political idea, and while it is an accomplishment in itself, sustaining it needs engagement with the ground realities, or else we will forever be relegated to the realm of thought and sentiment without any connection with the real world.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2016.

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