Over to Pyongyang

Pakistan took a leap forward as it reached out to North Korea, expressing its cordiality and warm wishes on the 78th founding anniversary of the republic. This gesture is unusual as the two sides have low-key relations for the last more than two decades. The fact that President Asif Ali Zardari and the Foreign Office simultaneously extended greetings to Pyongyang's leadership seems to be more than a diplomatic courtesy. It has rekindled hopes for a new thaw with the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea at a time when the world is sliding towards multilateralism, and Pakistan has emerged as a net-security provider in the region and beyond. In a letter to President Kim Jong Un, Islamabad expressed the hope that the bilateral ties would continue to grow in the interests of both countries.

There is much to read in this signaling from Islamabad. While Pakistan maintains strategic relations with both China and the US, and has a robust economic orientation with South Korea, tapping on the doors of Pyongyang is a master stroke in networking. Following the establishment of consular relations in 1968 and the initiation of selective defence procurements from Pyongyang, Islamabad maintained a balanced relationship with the communist state. It was due to international sanctions on Pyongyang over its ambitious nuclear and missile programmes that Islamabad had to keep a distance in line with the norms of international law. Yet, there is still a minimal flow of bilateral trade, amounting to roughly $160,000 annually.

It is worth recalling that Pakistan's initial diplomatic outreach peaked when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto made an official visit to Pyongyang in 1993. The trip was reportedly aimed at securing long-range missile technology for Pakistan to counter the regional defence hegemon in its eastern neighborhood. President Zardari's recent initiative is laudable and could yield significant peace dividends. Moving forward, the same spirit of dialogue needs to be extended to Kabul and New Delhi to undo the discrepancies that are currently disrupting geoeconomics in the region.