Pakistan has continued to cope successfully with the challenges in foreign policy that are rooted in history, geography and its domestic situation. Since its birth in 1947, it has faced India’s hostility.
The lingering dispute of Kashmir reflected the refusal of India to honor the principle on the basis of which power was transferred by the British rulers.
The need to maintain a credible deterrence against a more powerful rival became a primary concern of our foreign policy. As a poor developing country, the other major foreign policy challenge was to promote economic development through cooperation at the bilateral and multilateral level.
And lastly, as a weak state, Pakistan has all along maintained active multilateral diplomacy, both at the regional and global level.
Pakistan’s strategic location, at the junction of south, west and Central Asia, has also been a cause of the country’s involvement in major disputes and crises. As major world powers have interests in the region, relating to vital energy supplies and trade routes, Pakistan has interacted both with the superpowers as well as with regional ones.
During its first half century as an independent state, Pakistan deemed it necessary to join the western military pacts, mainly to secure economic and military aid, to safeguard its security as well as to secure development assistance. The US, which was the leader of the western bloc in the Cold War era, did not follow a consistent policy but invoked the alliance when necessary, becoming hostile or indifferent when its vital interests were not involved.
Pakistan developed a very strong and deep-rooted friendship with China in 1960s, that has become a model of friendly relations between countries having different social systems.
Though Pakistan played a significant role in the defeat of the Soviet aggression against Afghanistan during the 1980s, the US changed its perceptions after victory that made it the sole superpower. From being a close US ally, Pakistan became the country that had to suffer due to sanctions after 1990.
The foreign policy challenges mounted after India went nuclear in May 1998, and Pakistan had to follow suit two weeks later, that led to further sanctions.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf assumed power after the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tried to remove him while he was abroad, and he has continued to be at the helm since October 1999. Despite the strategic alliance between India and the US, and a host of sanctions, he has introduced domestic reforms, and adopted a foreign policy that is peaceful and based on principles. By and large, his reforms and policies, which have accelerated development, and put the focus on settlement of international dialogue through dialogue, have been welcomed.
So far as the foreign policy is concerned, he has generally followed a course devoted to the twin goals of security and development. The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US created a situation, in which he had to take critical decisions. By agreeing to join the war against terror, Pakistan emerged as a major player in the new global situation. In fact, some of the adverse consequences emanating from Islamabad’s previous policy on Afghanistan, that had affected its international standing, disappeared, and Pakistan is now in the mainstream of the global community.
Since we joined the international campaign against terrorism, our relations with our neighbors, as well as major powers, have improved. Our policy of seeking to resolve our problems with India through dialogue has borne fruit, and after trying to pressurize Pakistan during 2001-2002, India has agreed to enter into a composite dialogue. Even though there was a change in government in India following the elections in March 2004, the Congress-led government picked up the thread of peaceful negotiations, and in the meantime, confidence-building measures have greatly improved the political environment, and steps are being taken to maintain the tempo.
Relations with other neighbors have also been strengthened, with a cordial equation maintained with Afghanistan, where elections renewed the mandate of the interim president, Hamid Karzai. Steps have been taken to revitalize the traditional fraternal relations with Tehran, and the “all-weather” friendship with China has been further consolidated in all fields.
The past year saw Pakistan’s relations with more distant parts of Asia grow and Pakistan became a member of the Asian Regional Forum, the political offshoot of ASEAN. The two regional organizations, to which Pakistan belongs, namely SAARC and ECO, also stepped up their activities to promote development and alleviate poverty in the country. Pakistan paid special attention to revitalizing the OIC, and decisions were taken at the last summit in Malaysia to counter the wave of hostile propaganda in the West against Islam, which was blamed for terrorism and extremism. The summit called for unified efforts by Muslim countries to project an image of “enlightened moderation” and to improve the role of OIC in promoting unity and cooperation within the Islamic world.
Pakistan was rated as a major player in the global campaign against terror, and its role as a force for peace and moderation in its region applauded. But while backing the US in its war against terror, Pakistan called upon the sole superpower to support a just settlement of problems wherever Muslims were being oppressed, whether in Palestine or Kashmir.
Pakistan did not support the war on Iraq, and called for the settlement of the issue of Iran’s nuclear program peacefully, without resort to force as hawks in the US were demanding.
The year past was a successful one for Pakistan’s foreign policy, and its role to promote peace and stability in its region and the world was generally appreciated. While dedicated to peace, Pakistan did not neglect issues where principles of human rights and of democracy were being violated, such as in Kashmir. On the global issues of poverty alleviation, protecting the environment, and fighting drugs and terrorism, Pakistan remained in the mainstream of the international concerns. Its prestige and global standing stood higher than ever.
