PAKISTAN’S foreign policy has been reactive for decades and we have been trapped between the competing interests of the United States, China, Russia and regional competitors in a fluid, volatile and often unforgiving geopolitical landscape. It has always been difficult to achieve a fine balance. Field Marshal Asim Munir has carved out a fundamental reorientation that has shifted the dynamic. Through a combination of disciplined strategic planning, an unwavering focus on domestic issues safeguarding sovereignty and remarkable diplomatic skills that have proven as effective as they are restrained, Munir has elevated Pakistan’s international standing and positioned the country to capitalize on opportunities that once seemed out of reach.
Under Field Marshal Munir’s leadership, the United States shifted from a more rigid foreign policy towards Pakistan to a more cordial one. Through exemplary statesmanship, he was able to preserve balanced relations with all three major world powers, the United States, China and Russia, which was a unique balance Pakistan was able to achieve. Despite the prevalent assumption that strengthening relations with Beijing would isolate Washington and that the conflict in Ukraine would stifle any potential for reconciliation with Moscow; Munir maintained an equidistant stance by capitalizing on Pakistan’s military credibility and geographical significance. He ensured the seamless continuation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor by overseeing the unwavering “All-Weather” strategic alliance between Pakistan and China. He also shifted the focus from a security-based transactional relationship to one grounded in shared economic and strategic interests with Washington, DC. This trilateral equilibrium has proven its critics wrong; rather than isolating Pakistan, it has established the country as a credible and impartial ally, a status admired in a divided, multipolar world.
The most recent short-scale war with India put this level of diplomatic maturity to the test. Pakistan, through its battlefield-integrated warfare capability, incorporating the fifth dimension of warfare, not only demonstrated its superior capabilities in equipment and training but also exposed Indian aggression, thus reinforcing Pakistan’s stance of defensive deterrence. This strategic statesmanship successfully averted a full-scale war between two nuclear-armed countries.
The situation in Afghanistan and the resurgence of militancy along the western border was addressed by an aggressive approach through sealing the borders, hot pursuit operations and precision strikes on the hideouts and training camps, to avoid collateral damage, thus safeguarding the sovereignty and asserting that Pakistan no longer will tolerate cross-border terrorism and use of its territory as a proxy in conflicts.
Economic and military benefits are becoming increasingly apparent as a result of this diplomatic and strategic realignment. Pakistan is now seen as a powerful nation with a robust military and tremendous untapped potential for development, rather than a fragile nation on the verge of collapse, which has not happened in decades.
The latest defence deal with Saudi Arabia shows that Munir has built up trust in the Gulf area, turning a patron-client relationship into a strong mutual defence alliance. Exploration of important mineral reserves and historic mineral deals, such as the Reko Diq project, a successful mineral conference and through SIFC, have attracted substantial foreign investment. This means that international markets now see Pakistan as a safe place to invest money. People now see Pakistan as a strong and balanced country again because of this new trust and that respect is evident when you travel abroad. It’s true now that Pakistan is no longer just a security consumer. Instead, it has become an economic frontier and a leader in South Asia in terms of strategic balance and untapped potential.
As the region braces for the repercussions of the latest tensions between the US and Iran, a rare opportunity has arisen in the economic and diplomatic domains. Diplomatically, positioning ourselves as the mediator on request of both sides (as I mentioned in my last article “US Exit Dilemma”) is an opportunity which we must capitalize on as it will give us better diplomatic leverage and stature in world politics. Economically, the Gwadar deep-sea port, a gift of God and an engineering marvel, can serve as a commercial hub connecting the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asian markets. Pakistan can provide the most direct and safe trade connections to western China via Karachi and Gwadar to its landlocked Central Asian States. To maximize this advantage, Pakistan must accelerate the operationalization of Gwadar by augmenting administrative authority and refining the customs procedures.
A comprehensive national consensus on economic priorities is essential to ensuring investors focused policy and food security. We must maintain robust security measures for infrastructure projects while empowering civilian institutions to drive commerce; we must all ensure the energy needs. At the same time, while we must counter false information from enemies, Pakistan must launch a coordinated public diplomacy campaign to highlight its successful defence and economic initiatives. Last but not least, Pakistan’s ports will become indispensable due to the country’s aggressive engagement with Central Asian Republics in constructing roads, rails and digital links. Field Marshal Munir has laid the groundwork and now the entire world is watching. If Pakistan can now come together and take advantage of this momentum, it will go from barely making it to becoming the leading trade and development hub in the region.
—The writer is an international law expert and an internationally accredited arbitrator and mediator.
