MUSHAHID HUSSAIN SAYED
The Author is a distinguished Pakistani politician, journalist, and policy expert known for contributing to international relations and strategic affairs. He has served as Federal Minister for Information, Culture & Tourism and Chairman of the Senate Defence and Defence Production Committee. He strongly advocates for Pakistan’s role in regional peace and security. With a background in academia and media, he actively promotes diplomatic ties and addresses global challenges such as climate change and technological advancements. His impactful policymaking focuses on national security and fostering international cooperation. He is the Chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) and Pakistan-Africa Institute for Development & Research (PAIDAR).
When the 2021 Aman Exercises commenced in February 2021, with Pakistan Navy hosting 45 navies including the US, China, Russia, the UK, and Iran, one of India’s top foreign policy analysts, Ambassador Bhadhrakumar, tweeted: “Pakistan through its Maritime Diplomacy, brought together 45 countries that are otherwise hostile to each other under the same banner which is a spectacular display of Pakistan’s uniqueness as a regional power, and this is a failure of India’s Pakistan policy. Time for Delhi to introspect why things went so terribly wrong”.
This is testimony to the strength of ‘Soft Power’ Maritime Diplomacy, which the Pakistan Navy has been conducting so successfully in recent years, coupled with anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. On July 22, 2024, the Pakistan Navy assumed command of the multinational task force responsible for Middle East security, Combined Task Force (CTF) 150. This is a matter of pride for Pakistan and Pakistanis at a time when naval power, due to trade on the high seas, contentious issues, and big power competition, has assumed paramount significance. China has revived the Maritime Silk Road as part of the economic-oriented Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while the United States is promoting its security-centric Indo-Pacific Strategy from India to Australia. Sea power has been part of the Asian historical tradition, serving varied purposes, ranging from commerce and connectivity to conquest and colonialism.
For example, China’s Admiral Zheng He embarked on 7 Voyages during a 28-year-long period beginning in 1405, with 27,000 sailors and a flotilla of 350 ships, the largest naval armada assembled in that period. Ibn Battuta, the world-renowned global traveller, embarked from Tangier, Morocco, in 1325 for a 29-year-long journey that took him to 40 countries, traversing over 100,000 kilometres by land and sea. The quest for knowledge and understanding was an integral part of such travel on the high seas, as Admiral Zheng He travelled with unarmed sailors, no soldiers.
Given this context, Pakistan needs a new developmental path in which the Blue Economy can be the pivot around which areas like trade, technology, tourism, IT and mines and minerals can be effective force multipliers. The World Bank has already cited that Pakistan is a resource-rich country with at least a $100 billion strong Maritime Economic base based on exploring and investing marine resources that can be the centrepiece of a strategy for Blue Economy.
Pakistan is fortunate that 50,000 sq km were added to the country’s continental shelf as an extended Exclusive Economic Zone in 2015, which is a huge mass of water, almost like a fifth province of Pakistan, almost 30% of Pakistan’s landmass. Added to this maritime economy is the immense mineral wealth, huge reserve of natural gas and 175 billion tons of coal in Thar, which cumulatively add up to a hidden wealth of almost $1.0 trillion that has not been tapped up at all due to neglect, inertia, or absence of policy on these areas.
As such, what is required is a policy, actually, a blueprint for developing an alternative economic development strategy through a sustained and doable 7-Point Action Plan for the Blue Economy.
- First, the government should immediately establish a National Authority for Blue Economy (NABE) to prepare a comprehensive 10-year strategy that involves the Pakistan Navy, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the private sector as principal stakeholders.
- Second, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, which will be working closely with NABE, should have a Secretary from the Pakistan Navy, similar to the Ministry of Defence, which usually has a Secretary from the Pakistan Army. This will help streamline the system and make the Ministry of Maritime Affairs a proactive and pivotal player in the Blue Economy.
- Third, a special non-governmental Task Force should be established, comprising experts, academics, think tanks, opinion leaders, business leaders and relevant private sector entities or individuals to devise a Work Plan in 2025 for launching an awareness campaign about the Blue Economy so that the “Sea Blindness”, which is a major impediment in our understanding of the Blue Economy be rectified.
- Fourth, as part of a new economic development strategy for Pakistan, a linkage needs to develop between Blue Economy, marine and mineral resources, CPEC, TAPI and developing a triangular relationship between Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia, with the aim to ensure that the landlocked Central Asian Republics of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, become land-linked through the port of Gwadar, while also ensuring that Energy Security becomes the key pillars of a Blue Economy pivot.
- Fifth, media mobilisation can become a multiplier force for promoting the Blue Economy. In this regard, media workshops be organised under the auspices of the National Institute of Maritime Affairs (NIMA) in such coastal cities as Gwadar, Ormara, Karachi, Keti Bandar, Jiwani and Pasni so that an “informed media constituency” be created which has full awareness of the future potential of Blue Economy. NIMA should also produce a Media Handbook in English, Urdu, Balochi/Brahui, and Sindhi on the Blue Economy for dissemination among media.
- Sixth, the Blue Economy should be fully incorporated as one of the top priorities of the Strategic Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) so that foreign investment related to the Blue Economy can also be augmented through this channel.
- Seventh, the strategy for Blue Economy promotion should also incorporate the dimension of Pakistan’s historic linkages with Africa, especially trade and investment opportunities with the sea-faring nations of Africa, with the close cooperation of countries like Oman, which have historical roots in Africa. The Blue Economy could also be an important part of connectivity with South East Asia, including friendly countries like Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Pakistan’s first think tank on Africa, the Pakistan-Africa Institute for Research & Development (PAIDAR), which the Author has launched, could play a bridge-building role in promoting a Blue Economy between Pakistan and countries in Africa.
Such an Action Plan for the Blue Economy is badly needed to overcome Pakistani officialdom’s congenital ‘sea blindness’ as it would not only help in reviving and revitalising Pakistan’s economy, eventually liberating the country from IMF dependency, by exploring the potential of marine resources, but also lay the basis for Energy Security.
Forward movement on the Blue Economy will also be pivotal in opening new vistas for Pakistan’s foreign policy in a changing world where sea power, commerce and trade on the high seas and the Blue Economy will be central to reshaping both geoeconomics and geopolitics.
