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The foreign policy conundrum

Dr Ejaz Hussain (Https://Www.Thenews.Com.Pk/Tns/Writer/Dr-Ejaz-Hussain)
Special Report (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/category/special-report) May 8, 2022

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Imran Khan’s government disrupted Pakistan’s relations with the US, China and
Saudi Arabia. The key challenge for Shahbaz Sharif’s government is to repair
those relations

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F oreign policy is a core component of a

country’s grand strategy through which
national interests are articulated and achieved.
Irrespective of variance in ideological orientation,
Most Popular
political system, economic model, territorial and
demographic size of a country, no nation-state can Resisting temptation for
survive without a foreign policy. Pakistan’s early popular relief
leaders, thus, set the foundational principles of its (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/955671-
foreign policy grounded in state sovereignty, resisting-temptation-for-
regional cooperation and global peace and popular-relief)
security. While pursuing its core strategic By Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri
objectives in the early days of the Cold War, (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/writer/dr-
Pakistan allied with the United States in the 1950s. abid-qaiyum-suleri)
However, during the mid-1960s, it pursued close
strategic relations with China in order to reduce
reliance on Washington. With the latter, Islamabad A new wave of terror
cooperated in the 1980s and 2000s; the interaction (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/955647-
was mostly military in character and transactional a-new-wave-of-terror)
in nature. Overall, US-Pakistan relations can be By Abeer Ahmed
termed tactical whereas China-Pakistan relations (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/writer/abeer-
are strategic in orientation. ahmed)
In the past 75 years, Pakistan’s topmost foreign
policy agenda has centred around the Indian
threat. It has tried to counter India through its
Exit relief
bilateral relations with the US, China and other
(https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/955652-
countries such as Saudi Arabia. Even in exit-relief)
multilateral arrangements such as the South Asian By Waqar Gillani
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/writer/waqar-
Pakistan has remained preoccupied with India. As gillani)
far as the Muslim world is concerned, Pakistan
projected itself as a leading Muslim state with
comparative strengths in military capability and A grim statistic
human resources. Pakistan has taken a pro- (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/955917-
Palestine stance since 1948 even as some of the key a-grim-statistic)
Arab countries such as the UAE have established By Ahsan Zia
diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020. (https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/writer/ahsan-
zia)
In the government led by Imran Khan, the civil-
military leadership apparently remained on the
same page with respect to foreign policy conduct. Digital threats
The Bajwa-led military took the lead to determine
(https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/955913-
the contours of Pakistan’s relations with, for
digital-threats)
example, the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and China.
By Ayaz Hussain Abbasi
With respect to the latter, the economic element
(https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/writer/ayaz-
was added through the CPEC. However, the
hussain-abbasi)
previous government initially fumbled at
managing its relationship with Beijing. In
September 2018, Razak Dawood, the advisor for Advertisement
commerce and investment to the previous
government, annoyed the Chinese authorities
through his remarks criticising the CPEC, which
has been a key component of China’s Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI). Gen Bajwa then visited
China to sort things out.
As far as Pakistan’s foreign policy towards the US
was concerned, the Khan government damaged
relations with the Biden administration by not
attending the ‘democracy summit’, unnecessarily
hyping the ‘air bases’ matter neither demanded by
the White House nor offered by the Pakistani
authorities; visiting Russia just as the Ukraine war
started; and, above all, fanning anti-American
sentiment in the society. Nonetheless, since
Pakistan is a key stakeholder in ensuring peace
and stability in Afghanistan, the US officials
remained engaged with the Pakistani authorities,
particularly the military. Little wonder, in July
2019, Gen Bajwa accompanied the then prime Ad

minister to the US. The former met with key

officials of the Trump administration and
discussed Afghan affairs at length. As US
militarily withdrew from Afghanistan in
September 2021, it urged Pakistan to work to
ensure a negotiated settlement of political
authority in Afghanistan. Pakistan, for its own
interests, seems in agreement with the US in this
respect. Importantly, the US-Pakistan military-to-
military ties have remained intact.
Besides China and the US, another key country
that the Khan government offended was Saudi
Arabia. Though, initially, Crown Prince Get Your Mobile

Mohammed Bin Salman was accorded a warm

welcome in February 2019, situational shocks Bundles Today
jolted bilateral relations later on. Riyadh’s dislike Paein 25% Flat Off Mobile

for the Kuala Lumpur Summit remained talk of Bundles Pe Via JazzCash
the town. At the eleventh hour, Khan postponed
his Malaysia visit to appease MBS-led Saudi JazzCash
Arabia. In August 2020, Saudi Arabia, as per
media reports, pressured Pakistan to pay back $1
billion Saudi loan on a short notice. Then foreign Open
minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reacted by
issuing a sharply-worded statement, that added
fuel to the fire. The military authorities then
prevented a further deterioration in relations by
appointing a military-man as ambassador to the
Kingdom. As far as bilateral relations with Turkey
and Iran were concerned, there were no significant
developments that could have economically
helped Pakistan. Relations with India remained
confrontational owing to India’s unilateral
revocation of Articles 370 and 35A of its
constitution. Khan once hinted at opening trade
with New Delhi but later abandoned the idea. On
Afghanistan, the Central Asian States mostly
remained closer to India than Pakistan.
To cap it, the government led by Imran Khan
disturbed, if not disrupted, Pakistan’s relations
with the sole superpower, namely the US, and
major powers such as China and Saudi Arabia.
These countries are major economic actors
regionally and globally. Indubitably, the US and
the EU are major export markets, and thus a
source of forex, for the country. China, under the
CPEC, has invested in the country at a critical
time. The Saudis have traditionally supported
Pakistani economy through concessional oil
supply and deferred payments.
The key foreign policy challenge for the Shahbaz
Sharif government is to repair relations with
Washington, Beijing and Riyadh. With respect to
the latter, Prime Minister Sharif made a timely
visit to the Kingdom. It certainly boosted bilateral
engagement since the Sharifs enjoy warm,
personal and commercial ties with the Saudis.
Reportedly, Pakistani authorities got a much-
needed $8 billion economic package. Pakistan
ought to stay engaged with the US for economic,
diplomatic and military purposes. There is no
match for American military technology currently.
In addition, Pakistan has to satisfy growing
Chinese security concerns in order to consolidate
the CPEC. Both the countries ought to expand the
CPEC to Afghanistan and Iran to enlarge the
market and attract foreign direct investment. Last
but not the least, Pakistan ought to commercially
engage Central Asian States and gain their
diplomatic support on Afghanistan.
Finally, Islamabad must buy peace by not
indulging in any armed conflict with India.
Bilateral trade will be a win-win arrangement for
both countries. However, the idea needs to be
discussed at length with relevant domestic
stakeholders, including the military. Unilateral
action on this count could backfire.
In a nutshell, the Shahbaz government must
engage with important countries and stakeholders
in terms of economic diplomacy so that our
economic woes are addressed amicably.

The writer has a PhD in political science from

Heidelberg University and a post-doc from UC-
Berkeley. He is a DAAD, FDDI and Fulbright fellow
and an associate professor at the Department of Social
Sciences, Iqra University, Islamabad. He tweets
@ejazbhatty

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