Self-reliance and national power
AS much as we like to believe in cross border and inter-national harmony, cooperation and peace, states in the international level operate on the basis of self-centrism and selfishness.
Statesmen that have been wise enough have always put their country first and have strived to allot their nation’s interests top priority – sometimes at the expense of the others.
These are indeed the principles of self-help and power potential, around which the politics of the globe orbits, as realists tend to put through.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, this fact has remained an ever-perplexing question to which they, seemingly, have yet to find an answer to.
Excessive reliance on aliens has been the hallmark of Pakistani politics since its inception. Locked in the Cold War power politics, owing to its lack of resources, Pakistan jumped on the US bandwagon in search for prosperity which the US liberal school of thought was particularly appealing for.
Capitalism, it was thought, would rid Pakistan of its economic woes and propel it towards richness.
The US was famed for caring for its allies, politically, financially and militarily, and Pakistan needed just that.
The twist, however, was that none of it was for Pakistan to have. The US could not, or otherwise did not, help Pakistan in its cause in Kashmir, neither did it provide any substantial assistance in the 1965 and 1971 conflicts against India.
Pakistan’s biggest ally in the cold war was staunchly against its nuclear weapons program and had it not been for regional conflicts such as “The Afghan Jihad” and US’s need for Pakistan’s assistance, Pakistan’s atomic program as many perceived might have crumbled under mounting US sanctions.
After the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Bi-Polar world order ceased to exist and a multipolar world order began as purported by Samuel P. Huntington in his book The Clash of Civilizations.
Now, it seems, Pakistan is looking for other avenues for assistance and China appears to be the best viable candidate.
However, there is no mechanism to ascertain whether China too will adopt a policy of ambiguity with Pakistan, as was the case with the US-Pak relations, or will it actually help empower Pakistan economically, politically and militarily?
One thing is certain! China cannot deny Pakistan in totality as it counts on Pakistan for the successful operation of the CPEC and as long as Pakistan ensures its smooth functioning it will find in China a sustainable and a long-term ally.
However, alliance must never turn to subservience and much worse, to dependence. A certain degree of self-esteem and national pride is necessary for commanding other nations’ respect.
Excessive reliance on foreign state and non-state actors does the opposite. Reliance on the Afghan Taliban for guaranteeing border security and eliminating hubs of terrorism from its soil has clearly backfired for Pakistan.
Since the Afghan Taliban took power, Pakistan has faced a 51% increase in terror attacks and elements such as the TTP and its offshoots have found renewed hopes and morale ever since.
Recent attacks from across the border believed to be perpetrated by soldiers of the Afghan government is a testimony of the fact that other nations cannot be trusted to the fullest extent.
Hence, “no friend better than one’s self”. All actors on the international stage are bound by their own interests – narrow or broad.
Those who follow this paradigm tend to be the wiser. It is high time for the people of Pakistan, leaders, civil society and the mass populace alike, to attempt to boost Pakistan’s elements of national power.
Pakistan must utilize its vast and up until now wastelands in Balochistan in particular to shore up its renewable energy generation capacity for which the south western deserts of the country are optimal for.
Pakistan is rich in mineral resources, it has the world’s second largest salt mines, the fifth largest copper and gold reserves, and possesses vast potentials of industrial and agriculture production whose commodities can be exported and through which foreign exchange can be earned, thus providing a level of stability to the economy.
However, as much as industrial advancement is important, leaps in technology are equally crucial in the 21st century.
Pakistan must learn from other countries’ experiences and strive to develop its technological production if it plans to keep up with the era.
Neighbouring India’s technology exports reached a staggering $178bn in 2021. Pakistan’s population is fairly young with 34.64% being below the age of 14 which will prove to be an element of advantage for Pakistan in the coming decades if they are provided proper education and training constituting a skilled workforce, for that we need to adopt pro-active approach and plan policies accordingly as a growing yet untrained population will constitute a strain on the economy and prove detrimental for the overall development of the nation.
All these steps can lead to economic stability and only then can Pakistan carry its foreign policy in trade, economy and military terms with a certain degree of independence so that it can result in decisions beneficial for the country in the long run.
Resultantly, we will enable ourselves to acquire power and exert influence in and around us instead of being influenced by others just like leaves being pushed around by the wind.
—The writer is Researcher at Balochistan Think-Tank Network which is a Research Centre based in Quetta, Balochistan.
