Foreign Policy of Pakistan

No state can live in isolation as individuals cannot live in isolation, they

interact with each other. Similarly the states can not live in isolation and they
will have to interact with other states that are there in the international
system and they also interact with international organizations and other
entities that play important role in the World affairs. You interact with the
international system in order to project, protect and promote your national
identity and national interests. Economic interests or economic needs also
emphasize the need of working with other states and other actors in the
international system. A large part of economic system relates with the
financial and technical assistance that a country gets from outside. Similarly,
issues of peace, security and stability in the international system cannot be
promoted unless different states work together, discuss their issues and
decide about the ways and strategies to deal with the situation.
Pakistan is an active and an important member of the international
community. It interact with other states at different levels, one level of
interaction is bilateral which mean that you interact or you deal with
or you develop relations with individual countries for example we can
talk about Pakistans relations with Afghanistan, Iran and so on and this is
bilateral level. There is another level of interaction which is called
as multilateral level of interaction; Pakistan interacts with more than
one state, this interaction is generally with reference to issues for example
the issue of peace in the international system is something that has to be
addressed along with a large no. of other states. Multilateral level of
interaction also includes interaction with the international organizations. The
third level of interaction is through the United Nations and other international
organizations.
Pakistan is an active member of the UN and in addition to UN Pakistan is a
member of several other international and regional organizations. You act as
the member of these organizations within the framework, basic principles
and charter of these organizations and work with others for the achievement
of goals of these organizations like the goals of the UN, goals of the
organization of Islamic Conference and that is another level that you
function and operate within the framework of an international organizations
and bodies.
The next level is the non official, in addition to official channels govt to govt
communications there is also a non official side where ordinary citizens play
an important role or various groups, various organizations play a role for
example, lot of Pakistani students go abroad for education, they also go
abroad for visits and other purposes, Pakistanis are settled abroad and they
are doing jobs. All these peoples are not officials of Pakistan but what they
do, how they live, how they interact with others affects a nations role at the
international level. Similarly there are different organizations NON
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS they also interact with similar Nongovernmental organizations else where in the World. So when you talk

of Pakistans relations with the rest of the World you talk of the both official
and non official level where individual, citizens and their groups interact with
each other.
Now we will highlight some of important features of Pakistans foreign policy
that is within the broad outline that I have given we will talk about certain
principles which have influence on Pakistans foreign policy or you can say
that these are certain goals which Pakistan wants to achieve.
Features:
1. protection of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Pakistan
The 1st feature of Pakistans foreign policy is protection of independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan, primary concern
of Pakistan and for that matter every state is its security and survival. This is
for key concern of Pakistans foreign policy and Pakistan is in a position all
the times to conduct its foreign policy and domestic affairs on the basis of its
national interests and goals as defined by the leadership. Therefore attention
has to be paid to the security affairs. When we talk about security there are
couple of things that have to be kept in mind.
First, for security diplomacy is must that you interact with other states and
develop relations with other states and you try to deal with the issues with
peaceful means through negotiations by opening different channels of
communications, so we can say that diplomacy is compulsory for the security
of a country. For security we also need strong trained and professional and
equipped military although problems and issues should be resolved
peacefully through diplomatic means but there are some situations where
non peaceful method are resorted too, when some other state may impose
aggression on you then you need strong military to deal with the situation.
Along with that you also need security arrangements to deal with the
conditions. In addition to military you need all kinds of security
arrangements. An integral part of security system is social mobilization. You
involve people in security and defense of the country because modern
warfare is not limited to the border areas or to particular or specific battle
fields. When modern war breaks out all parts of the country becomes the
battle field because you can use Air Force, a country can use missiles and a
lot of other ways therefore a perfect defense requires that the military must
enjoy the sport of the nation as a whole. If nation as a whole stands up to
the security challenge only then you can meet with the threats to security
and sovereignty of your country.
Pakistans relations and problems with India have greatly influenced its
foreign policy options and security issues, but we will talk about Indo-Pak
relations later on.
2. Relations with all states:
The second feature of Pakistans foreign policy is the relations with all
states. Pakistan maintains its relations with all kinds of states irrespective
with the type of the political system; these states are adopting that s

not Pakistans concern, so Pakistan maintains relations with all kinds of states
and the relations at the international level are maintained on the bases of
common interest, what you need is certain areas of common interest. Those
commonalities of interests are the bases of good relations. So if you have
more common interests between Pakistan and other country relations would
improve. Another thing that influences the relations is the relationship must
provide some benefits; some rewards to both sides, relationship cannot be
one way traffic. Lets say if Pakistan has relations with Iran then that
relationship must be viewed by the both govts as serving their interests. So
the basic criteria for Pakistans friendly relations with other countries is that
there must be some common areas identified to work together and this
relationship must be of use to benefit to both the countries. Another
consideration which affects Pakistans relations s non interference with each
others affairs. Pakistan does not interfere in the internal domestic affairs of
all the states with which it has relationship. Similarly Pakistan will not like
other states interfering in it domestic and internal affairs.
Another related principle is problems should be resolved peacefully, amicably
and through negotians so that the problems are either resolved or kept
within manageable limits.
Relations with Major Powers:
The nature of relations with major powers has varied. Here we can briefly
mention Pakistans relation with the major powers to have an idea of the fact
that Pakistan conduct relationship with different and diverse types of
countries.
United States
First lets say few words about United States, Pakistan-US relations
have been generally friendly, smooth and cordial but problems developed
from time to time and there are issues on which Pakistan and United States
do not see eye to eye but despite differences they still work together for
example some areas of differences are on nuclear issue, this is an area on
which Pakistan and the United states have differences and there are certain
other issues on which both countries have reservations like arms sales,
Kashmir etc. However there are common grounds and shared areas on the
bases of which Pakistan have maintained smooth relationship with the United
Sates.
China
Since the 60s China proved to be a reliable trustworthy and consistent
friend
over
the
periods
of
decades
and
despite
the
fact Pakistan and China have different domestic political systems, their
domestic priorities are different but still they maintain very close cooperation
and interaction. China had provided affective and consistent economic
assistance to Pakistan and it had also contributed to the industrial
development of Pakistan and in this context it is also important to note that
China had also made significant contribution to Pakistans Defense Industry
and it also extends support on diplomatic forums and on Kashmir Chinese
policy is symphatic to Pakistans position and emphasizes a peaceful
resolution
of
the
disputes
which
Pakistan
has
with

India. Pakistan supportedChina diplomatically in the UN and the Outside.

Both the countries have developed close relations in the areas including
science and technology, environment and trade.
Russia:
With Soviet Union before 1991 and now Russia Pakistan has working
relations with Russiabut frequent problems remained unsolved during the
period of Cold War. Within the South Asian context Russia had always been
remained favorable to India at the cost of its relations withPakistan. On
Kashmir issue, her attitude has been ranged from pro India to neutrality.
Despite these kinds of problems Pakistan and Russia have working
relations and they regularly interact and try to expand the areas of common
interests. Some economic relations strengthened the bilateral relations
when Russia provided economic and technological assistance toPakistan in
establishing steel mill in Karachi. Russia had also helped Pakistan from time
to time in oil exploration. In post-Cold War era, Pakistan is trying to
normalize the relations. The recent tour of President Musharraf is a step
towards this goal.
So what we have seen here is that Pakistan has maintained relations with
different countries on the bases of sovereign equality, mutuality of interests,
shared goals and consideration which give benefits and rewards to both
sides.
3. Economic Issues, Trade, Investment:
The third important feature of Pakistans foreign policy relates o economic
issues, trade and investment. These issues are important all the times even
in the past but now for the last 10 years economic issues, trade and
investment have gained a lot of importance in the foreign policy of all the
countries
and Pakistan also
pursued
that
objective.
For
that
purpose Pakistan deals with other countries and several other international
financial institutions in order to obtain economic assistance for its
development projects and to obtain loans which Pakistan gets from
international financial institutions and also from the states. International
financial institutions may be described as World Bank, IMF, Asian
Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank. The issue of trade that is
Pakistan goods go abroad is also important then investment Pakistan has
been striving hard for attracting international investment for different kinds
of industrial and other projects in the country because if you obtain
international financial support and investment it speeds up the process of
industrialization and economic development.
Issue of transfer of technology to Pakistan, issue of favorable trade that the
trade is done in a manner that it provides advantage to Pakistan and also
humanitarian assistance. Sometimes there are natural calamities
in Pakistan and these calamities are in rest of the World. So Pakistan extends
technical and humanitarian assistance to other countries when they face
problems like Earthquakes, Floods and other problems. Similarly
when Pakistan is confronted with these kinds of problems it also seeks
assistance from abroad.

Economic relations are both bilateral and multi-lateral. Technology, trade,

access to market and investment are keys to the cordial relations between
the two countries.
Pakistan is also trying to establish its relations with other countries on the
same footings.
4. Muslim States:
The 4th feature of Pakistans foreign policy is its relations with the Muslim
states. Pakistan attaches great importance to developing relations and the
ties with the Muslim States. It is one of the basic principles of Pakistans
foreign policy but we are not going to discuss this relationship in detail at this
stage. We will devote one of our lectures to this aspect that is Pakistans
relation with Muslim World and in that lecture we will discuss this topic in
detail. Being Islamic country, Pakistan has been always in search of good
relations with the Muslim countries. It has been a central point in the
ideology of Pakistan even before Independence.
5. Solidarity with the Developing States:
The next feature of Pakistans foreign policy is solidarity with the
Developing States.Pakistan is a developing country, trying to develop itself in
all fields of life in economic development in industry and in other
areas. Pakistan had been concerned with the issues and problems of the
states of Asia, Africa and Latin America. As it is developing countries it is well
aware of the problems of underdevelopment, poverty, disease, famine, civil
strife and border disputes, refugees and drug addiction. Pakistan has always
cooperated with the developing countries so that they can meet with the
problems of underdevelopment and poverty. In fact if you examine and study
the social, economic and cultural problems of states of Asia and Africa and
Latin America then you will find a lot of common problems, problems of
underdevelopment, poverty, illiteracy, civil strifes, inter state wars, human
migration and the problem of refugees. These are the issues which are
common in varying degree in the developing World. So Pakistan works at two
levels to deal with this kind of issue.
1. Pakistan raises these kinds of issues or the problems of the developing
countries at the international forums like the United Nation and other forums
and urges the industrialized and developed countries to contribute in solving
these problems in the developing World because peace cannot be maintained
in the international system if half of humanity is suffering with these kinds of
problems. Stable peace can only be possible if globe as a whole prospers and
develops. The disparity in the international system is reduced. This is one
level on which Pakistan is working for the developing countries.
2. When Pakistan urges other developing countries to collaborate with each
other that is Cooperation among developing countries in the areas of
economic and technical assistance, trade and diplomacy. They can help and
cooperate with each other for addressing the problems that I have
highlighted. Since problems are common then you should learn from each
other experience, you could also transfer technology from one developing
country to an other. I give you an example, in Pakistan literacy rate is low but
there are developing countries where literacy rate is very high, you can take
the example of Sri Lanka a neighboring country of Pakistan where the

literacy rate is over 90 percent therefore Pakistan can learn from their
experience that how they have dealt with this problem and then Pakistan can
also adopt the methods suitable to our conditions to raise literacy.
Similarly Pakistan can help other country in the areas where Pakistan had
made progress. So the issue is that for improving your conditions you should
not look towards the developed and civilized World but you should also make
effort and take certain steps to deal with the situation.
6.United Nations:
Next feature of Pakistans foreign policy relates to its membership with UN
and other international bodies. Pakistan joined the UN as a new member on
Sept. 30, 1947. And since then it has commitment to the UN Charter and is
an active member in UN bodies. One Pakistani has served as the president of
the UN General Assembly and Pakistan has been a non permanent member
of the UN Security Council for 6 times and the latest membership for the SC
is the year 2003-04. In addition to the UN Pakistan is also a member of other
international bodies and within UN Pakistan has been active in different
specialized agencies and organs of the UN. An important role played
byPakistan relates to Peace Keeping Mission. It has been a part of UN PeaceKeeping Missions all over the world. UN sends its forces to different countries
for peace keeping where conflicts exists and UN doesnt have its own forces
and then the UN sends the forces from different member countries and
Pakistan has been contributing in this mission by sending its Army, Police
personnel and others for UN peace keeping operations. Even today Pakistani
army and other official are serving under UN to different countries which
help Pakistan to build its image at the international level.
7.Anti-Colonialism, Right of Self Determination:
Next feature of Pakistans foreign policy is Pakistans support to anticolonialism and opposition to the racial discrimination that existed in the past
and sometimes it now manifest in certain parts of the World. As we have
been suffering from colonial rule after our independence and we always
support decolonization for Asia and Africa. Pakistan always opposed racial
discrimination in the World for example Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) suffered from
apartheid or racial discrimination where white minority was ruling the black
population by force and Pakistan was the part of the global effort to eradicate
this kind of injustice and ultimately Rhodesia became an independent state
with majority rule under the name of Zimbabwe, We can talk about South
Africa where similar case existed, Namibia another case of racial
discrimination etc. So in all three examples majority rule was established
and Pakistan supported UN effort to promote the principle of equality and
opposed racial discrimination.
Pakistan has always supported right of self determination for the people and
the areas whose political future is not as yet settled. It is not merely in
Kashmir
that Pakistan supports
the
right
of
selfdetermination, Pakistan supports the Palestinian cause their national rights
and their freedom,Pakistan had also supported very strongly Algerias
freedom movement because that was another case of right of selfdetermination. In Afghanistan when Soviet troops marched in December
1979 and occupied Afghanistan. Pakistan opposition to Soviet occupation and

support to Soviet resistance to Soviet occupation was part of its commitment

to the right of self determination and the presence of foreign troops in a
country.
8.Arms Control:
The next feature of foreign policy is Arms Control. Pakistan is not in favour of
spread of weapons and arms in the international system because it diverts
resources to non development purposes and if arms and weapons proliferate
there is a danger of wars and conflict therefore Pakistan had joined global
efforts to control weapons and that control. Pakistan believes that arms races
to be controlled, resources to be used for human development. It has spoken
for this cause in the UN and the outside. It opposed arms race not only at the
superpower level because arms race in the past was at the super power level,
I am talking about the period before the 1991 when Soviet Union and United
States were competing so there was an arms race between them. But also at
the regional and bilateral levels both for conventional and non conventional
arms. It stressed that the root causes of arms races should be
curtailed. Pakistans point of view is that the best way to control arms
proliferation is to address the issues, the causes the factors which contributes
to arms race, the factors that lead a country to obtain weapons and to
engage in wars, conflicts and similar actions
9.Nuclear Policy:
Pakistan has been a great champion and supporter of peaceful uses of
nuclear technology althoughPakistan has acquired nuclear manufacturing
capabilities
in
the
mid
80s
but Pakistan avoided
making
weapons. Pakistan avoided nuclear explosions despite having the knowledge
and capability of processing Uranium, Plutonium. It was only for the sake of
deterrence and reaction to Indias nuclear explosions. Pakistan was of the
view that this technology should primarily be used for economic development
and
for
betterment
of
the
people
rather
than
for
making
weapons. Pakistanexploded nuclear weapons in May 1998 in response
to Indias nuclear explosions. Indias nuclear explosions created strategic
imbalance in the region. Pakistan decided to rectify and remove this
imbalance there at the end of May 1998 Pakistan exploded its nuclear
explosions. So had India not exploded the nuclear devices Pakistan would not
have gone for that strategy. Even after its explosions Pakistan talked about
nuclear restrained regime in this region that India and Pakistanshould agree
on basic principles for control of convential weaponry and also containment
of Nuclear weapons proliferation.
There are other principles which are important for the foreign policy
of Pakistan and which Pakistanemphasizes from time to time. One important
area pertains to Pakistans relation with India.
Relations with India:
The most problematic area of Pakistans foreign policy is the relationship
with India. The relations have been strained since independence in 1947.
There were periods of normal relations but generally it remained troubled
marked with distrust and conflict changes of tough statements have been the
features. This bitterness caused three major wars in 1947-48, 1965 and
1971. Then there have been Limited conflicts and troubles at Loc (Line of

Control) along with propaganda war are common practices. This relationship
is of major concern due to which Pakistan have security measures. Tension
escalated when India mobilize its troops on the Pakistan although at the end
of this year most of the troops were withdrawn but even in the year 2003
there were problems in the relationship and despite Pakistans effort to start
negotians to diffuse the tension and start dialogue India was not
forthcoming. India was not ready to open dialogue. But now there is a hope
of bilateral dialogue on Kashmir and other issues. It is the only way to bring
prosperity and peace for 1.2 billion people of South Asia.
Kashmir:
Another feature pertains to Pakistan policy on Kashmir. Main source of
conflict
and
bone
of
contention
between India and Pakistan is Kashmir dispute. Pakistani position on Kashmir
is that this is a disputed territory and its future should be determined in
accordance with the resolution of the UN passed in 1948-49 which calls for a
fair and free plebiscite to be held in Kashmir so that the people
of Kashmir decide their political future. Despite Pakistani efforts India doesnt
want to hold plebiscite there. But India has declared it as integral part of it.
Instead of having plebiscite, she has blamed Pakistan for initiating insurgency
in Kashmir since 1989. India claims that it is engineered by Pakistan and
equates this with terrorism.
Control of Terrorism:
The last feature of Pakistani foreign policy is control of terrorism. Since year
2001 Pakistan is an active participant in global efforts to contain terrorism.
The issue of terrorism gained prominence as the UN took up the issue and
passed a resolution calling up the states to cooperate for controlling
terrorism. Pakistan has been cooperating with the international community
for the control of terrorism because Pakistan itself has been a victim of
terrorism. Pakistan withdrew support to Taliban and joined hands with the
international community. She also acted against terrorists withinPakistan, as
it was victim of terrorism & sectarianism.
Pakistan believes that to eradicate terrorism first the root causes of the
problem should be removed.
Concluding Remarks:
Pakistan has been an active member of the international community. It has
been balancing the diverse pressures through diplomacy, engagement and
compromises for the betterment of humanity. This concludes our discussion
on important features and highlights of the foreign policy ofPakistan.