STRATEGIC AUTONOMY OR ISOLATION: AN ANALYSIS OF MAJOR DYNAMICS OF PAKISTAN’S FOREIGN POLICY (original) (raw)

Pakistan’s Foreign Policy in Changing Regional and Global Dynamics

Pakistan’s foreign policy is turning a new leaf. Perhaps for the first time in 70 years the regional and global dynamics have allowed Pakistan to make foreign policy choices that are not a construct of regional global constraints and compulsions. This has direct manifestations for the bilateral equation of conflict with India. The relationship that Pakistan have with India, it’s not just about peace in South Asia. It is intrinsically linked to the global struggle against terror, violent extremism and peace in Afghanistan to name a few. Pakistan is and will remain a pivot state in the region. The paradigm shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy from geo-politics to geo-economics has the following dimensions: • Direct stakes in conflict resolution, peace and stability in the region • Strategic economic convergence with China • Improved relations with Iran and Russia • Desire for a functional relationship with India • A balanced relationship with Washington and Riyadh Pakistan is fast becoming a country investing in economic growth, regional connectivity and peace. The policy thrust of Pakistan is focused on neutralizing conflicts inside its territory and improving relations with its neighbors. The theoretical construct of Pakistan’s foreign policy is that it is a security state exercising defensive realism.

Various Phases of Pakistan's Foreign Policy: A Review 1947-2016

Pakistan Journal of History & Culture, 2016

A country foreign policy is not only the first line of its national defence, but it also guarantees a nation rightful place in the international community. It is always the product of interaction of many forces like historical, ideological, economic, national interests and geo-political situation that determine the country's outlook in the world affairs. Pakistan foreign policy is no exception to such stated points. The most important issues in Pakistan's foreign policy are security, political independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty and social and economic development etc. Keeping in mind these issues along with its geo-strategic position, Pakistan has formulated its foreign policy over the years, and has passed through stages during its development. In the initial years of its independence, Pakistan followed an independent policy with the objectives of friendship with all countries. Then it played an important role in the cold war politics, and also remained a strategic partner in the Afghan resistance movement. It remained the most sanctioned country in the nineteen ninety and then played a front line role in the global counter terrorism strategy. This papers deals with various phases/periods of Pakistan foreign policy since its independence.

Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: Initial Perspectives and Stages

Global Regional Review

Pakistan is a state like other states of the world. When it came out from the British net the initial stages were very tough for it. It was considered that it will rejoin India. But the administration of that time took sincere initiatives to manage the affairs gradually. Cold war started at that time between the Communist and Capitalist blocks. Newly established states joined one of them. Pakistan was also one of them. Its foreign policy principles, rules and regulations are highlighted in this paper. All these steps are discussed below gradually with the help of primary and secondary sources. It is concluded that Pakistan had no choice to join the capitalist block because of its financial position that forced it to take such decisions as compared to India. But security and sovereignty were never compromised in every era and at every stage.

Difficult neighbourhood: the key objectives of Pakistan’s foreign policy towards India in the twenty‑first century

Politeja, 2016

What role does India play in Pakistan's international strategy? The article tackles this question and explores the crucial elements of Islamabad's policy towards India, focusing on selected internal and external security issues. Pakistani political/military leaders look upon India as its major security challenge. The alleged threat from the powerful neighbour has served as the convenient explanation for justifying enormous military expenditures and building powerful army in Pakistan, which substantially weakened democratic institutions and civilian governments and consolidated military's grip of the state power. This sense of fear was fuelled by the catastrophist mindset, claiming that India has always regarded partition of the subcontinent as a "historical aberration" and its main goal was to undo the partition or at least to subjugate Pakistan into a client-state. The protracted, war-prone relations between the two nuclear states can be defined as "difficult neighbourhood." The chapter approaches the problem of Pakistan's policy towards India in several key parts. The introduction looks at the historical developments and current internal situation in Pakistan. The first part offers an in-depth analysis of Pakistan's attitude towards the Kashmir issue, the second part analyses the strategies aimed at counterbalance India's hegemony in the region, encapsulating the phenomenon of Pakistan-China and Pakistan-U.S. relations. The last part briefly observes the 1 Work on this paper has been generously supported by the National Science Centre of Poland (NCN). Research Project: "Human rights and India's and Pakistan's policy towards Kashmir" (2012/05/B/HS5/00726).

Pakistan's Foreign Policy: Internal Challenges in New Millennium

Pakistan's foreign policy has always been identified as policy of self-abnegation. It is blamed that external factors particularly USA play a vital role in the shaping of foreign policy of Pakistan but there are many internal factors pose challenges to Pakistan's foreign policy. Pakistan is an ideological state hence ideology has a special place in its foreign policy and it has been a central focus in the foreign policy for all time. There is a famous U-turn in Pakistan's foreign policy in recent era and this shift in policy has provoked an intense debate at home and abroad. Territorial integrity is the foremost important foreign policy goal of any country and it deals with the security that may be external or internal or both. Similarly, most important issue in Pakistan's foreign policy is security concerns because Pakistan has one of the most complex threat analyses of any state in the world. There are many problems at home related to grievances against foreign policy particularly on the issue and pattern of war on terrorism. This paper deals with the theoretical aspect of term foreign policy and analyzes the Pakistan's foreign policy with special reference to the issue of security. What are the threats and challenges to the security of Pakistan and what are modern trends adopted by Pakistan to counter these security threats. A detailed analysis has been given of domestic challenges in making an effective foreign policy like radical Islam and regional separatism, terrorism, WANA issue and remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Foreign Policy: Foreign policy can be said to have emerged when contacts between the earliest human societies took place 1. Foreign policy behavior refers to the actions states take toward each other. It is important to note that these actions usually are not taken as ends in themselves but are tied in some way to larger purposes-from long run aspirations to more immediate aims-that national leaders hope to achieve in their dealings with other countries 2. There is a dire need for theory of foreign policy that is separate from the theory of international relations. A society constituted by the individuals and evolved with the

Pakistan's Foreign Policy in the Changing International Scenario

The Muslim World, 2006

P akistan's foreign policy has passed through various phases since its founding. This article briefly analyzes the underlying dynamics of the country's foreign policy as it has developed over the years, with special reference to its security perspective.

Difficult neighbourhood: the key objectives of Pakistan's foreign policy towards India in the XXIst century

„Politeja. The Journal of the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University”, No. 40, 2016, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, 2016

What role does India play in Pakistan's international strategy? The article tackles this question and explores the crucial elements of Islamabad's policy towards India, focusing on selected internal and external security issues. Pakistani political/military leaders look upon India as its major security challenge. The alleged threat from powerful neighbour has served as the convenient explanation for justifying enormous military expenditures and building powerful army in Pakistan, which substantially weakened democratic institutions and civilian governments and led to consolidate military's grip of the state power. This sense of fear was fuelled by the catastrophist mindset, claiming that India has always regarded partition of the subcontinent as a " historical aberration " and its main goal was to undo the partition or at least to subjugate Pakistan into a client-state. The protracted, war-prone relations between the two nuclear states can be defined as " difficult neighbourhood ". The chapter approaches the problem of Pakistan's policy towards India in several key parts. The introduction looks at the historical developments and current internal situation in Pakistan. The first part offers an in-depth analysis of Pakistan's attitude towards Kashmir issue, the second part analyses the strategies aimed at counterbalance India's hegemony in the region, encapsulating the phenomenon of Pakistan-China and Pakistan-U.S. relations. The last part briefly observes the problem of water scarcity in relations between India and Pakistan, which has direct impact on South Asian security.

Pakistan-Centric Foreign Policy of India.pdf

India is following Pakistan centric foreign policy since independence. Encircling Pakistan on its borders and isolating it in the comity of the world has been remained the fundamental objective of India's foreign policy. India enjoys good diplomatic relations with the all major powers as well as with the Muslim countries of the world. It remained a close strategic partner of former Soviet Union till the 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet it cultivated intimate friendship with the United States of America but did not damage its ties with the Soviet. US is now a strategic partner of India and favors for her permanent seat in the UN. India has also mended fences with Beijing in order to promote its trade and diminish the significance of Pak-China friendship. Moreover, India's relations with Afghanistan and Iran remained significant throughout history but since 9/11 it has taken practical steps to strengthen ties with these countries in order to create unease for Pakistan in her neighborhood. Although India has well established reputation across the world but its anti-Pakistan policies are enough to show her real face to the world. India tactically uses its intimate ties with all regional countries and world power against Pakistan. India has still not accepted Pakistan's existence and all the time remained busy in hatching conspiracies to undo Pakistan. This paper provides a detail study regarding India's evil designs against Pakistan as well as the extent to which it has been successful in her ambitions. The study also provides understanding on Pakistan's policies to counter India's designs.