Needed: a new foreign policy framework

Pakistan can greatly benefit from the Economic Corridor if it comes out of its traditional security mindset

All sections of public opinion in Pakistan have welcomed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project because of its long-term economic dividends. The project does not simply talk of building a road network. It also proposes the establishment of industrial and energy production units along the Corridor’s route. The federal government is reviewing the originally suggested route of the Corridor that enters Balochistan from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) via Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. It wants to use the already existing road network from K-P to Lahore-Multan-Sukkur to Balochistan on way to Gwadar. Another route goes up to Karachi and then makes use of the coastal highway to reach Gwadar. As the first route passes through quite under-developed and relatively unsafe areas, the policymakers are likely to be disposed favourably towards the second or third route. The unwillingness of the federal government to commit on the first route has created political uproar in K-P.

China’s decision to pursue the Economic Corridor indicates its strong commitment to Pakistan’s security and socio-economic development. It reflects China’s confidence in the future of Pakistan, nullifying those expressing strong reservations over Pakistan’s future as a stable and coherent political system. Pakistan can benefit from the construction of the Corridor provided the military top brass and the political elite are able to give up their traditional security and foreign policy doctrine. The Corridor offers a new paradigm for interaction with immediate neighbours. The underlying assumption of the Corridor is the search for economic and political salvation by fostering closer economic ties with the states of the region, especially our neighbours.

Pakistan’s traditional security and foreign policy doctrine is characterised by three features: territorial security, the balancing of India’s military superiority, and security alignments and economic partnerships with the states away from the immediate region. A major consideration that shaped Pakistan’s external and internal policies from the early years of independence was the search for security against external threats and the fear of internal collapse. Pakistan’s troubled relations with India and the problems in its relations with Afghanistan created strong insecurity in Pakistan, which was reinforced by the problems of setting up of the new state and other internal problems caused by the communal killings and influx of refugees from India, a weak or non-existent industrial base and a shortage of trained manpower to manage the new state. Consequently, a centralised and assertive state system and a strong military were viewed as prerequisites for stabilising Pakistan. Democratisation of the political system became a secondary consideration. Pakistan’s search for security was manifested in balancing India’s military and economic superiority by building partnerships with the states outside the immediate region. Pakistan joined hands with the United States and other Western states in different security arrangements in the early and mid-1950s. This was a methodology to seek strength from the far away states for coping with the security pressures from within the immediate region. Pakistan has traditionally maintained more economic and security interaction with the states outside the region or with international financial institutions.

The dynamics of international politics in the 21^st century is based on emphasising regional economic groupings and cooperation. It also emphasises the use of ‘soft power’ of the economy, the media and societal and cultural interactions rather than brute military power to pursue the national agenda. These new imperatives are in addition to the traditional instruments of security.

The proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a manifestation of new realities of global and regional politics. The emphasis is on connectivity and a greater flow of goods, services, energy and people across the territorial boundaries of the states. The notion of pipelines, highways and railways going across Pakistani territory aims at linking it with China, Afghanistan, the Central Asian states, Iran and the Middle East. There is also talk of territorial linkages with the states of Europe. China is also creating an economic linkage network with Central Asia, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and East Asia.

This is going to be a new ‘ball game’ of interdependence in international and regional politics. Pakistan will have to learn to seek closer economic interaction with the states of the region and others around the immediate region for sharing energy and human resources and trade. These states will penetrate one another’s markets. The relations among all the states of the region may not move forward at the same pace. However, non-interaction will become a non-advantageous option. If Pakistan wants to take a full advantage of the situation that is expected to be in full bloom in 10 years or so, it will have to come out of its traditional security mindset and pay attention to the changing global realities.

Pakistan should work towards internal peace and stability by controlling religious extremism and terrorism as the first priority. Other issues that need attention include the control of corruption, especially in the higher echelons of the political government and the bureaucracy, separate politics from criminality and work towards reasonably good governance. Improving Pakistan’s connectivity in terms of energy pipelines, electricity transmission lines across territorial boundaries, fostering trade and economic activity and making Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi available for transit trade of Afghanistan, Central Asia and China should also be made priorities.

In this project of regional connectivity, Pakistan and India are a political enigma for each other and for the region. Both will have to review their mindsets of mutual hostility and ideological ego. They can benefit fully from the coming of the Age of Connectivity if their leadership demonstrates the political will to resolve most, if not all, of their bilateral problems. Even if the India-Pakistan puzzle is not resolved, Pakistan can still avail of its geographic location by linking Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East) and western China through highways, railways, energy pipelines, electricity transmission lines and trade. This requires peace on Pakistan’s borders and inside the country, as well as the review of the traditional security framework that will soon become redundant.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th,  2015.

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