This document discusses the challenges and opportunities in Pakistan's foreign policy. It outlines 4 major constants in Pakistan's foreign policy since independence: quest for security and survival; troubled relationship with India; reliance on the West for support; and solidarity with the Muslim world. Pakistan has faced exceptional challenges that have influenced its foreign policy priorities. These include an unstable geopolitical environment, threats from India, and domestic political instability. The document argues that Pakistan must strengthen itself domestically to pursue a strong and effective foreign policy.

1. PAKISTAN FOREIGN POLICY:
CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
1
SHAMSHAD AHMAD KHAN
“Cheshire-Puss,”Alice began…”would you tell me which way
I ought to go from here?” “ at depends a good deal on where
you want to go,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where.” said
Alice. “ en it doesn’t matter much which way you go....” said
theCat.LewisCarroll,AliceinWonderland.
eFirstDilemma
Foreign policy of a nation is always predicated on
where you want to go as a sovereign nation and an
independent state. is is the basic determinant of a
country’s foreign policy. In our case, at the time of
independence, like Alice in Wonderland, we just did
not know which way to go and this turned out to be the
rst‘dilemma’ofourforeignpolicy.
When we became independent in 1947, we were a
house divided not against itself but by more than 1000
miles of hostile India’s territory. e world itself was
divided in two rival and mutually hostile blocs
presenting our foreign policy with a difficult choice;
either align with the free world represented at that time
by Western democracies or accept subservience to the
authoritarian andmonolithicCommunistsystem.
In June 1949, our acceptance of Stalin’s invitation to
our prime minister to visit Moscow was quickly
matched with a similar invitation for Liaquat Ali Khan
tovisitWashington.
We immediately got sucked into the cold war struggle,
and thanks to the old imperial connections at the civil-
military official level, Liaquat Ali Khan set aside the
invitation to visit Moscow and chose instead to go to
Washington in May 1950. What followed that fateful
decision is history. But we still have not been able to
comeoutofour ‘dilemma.’
CrueltyOfGeopolitics
No doubt, a nation’s strength lies in its people and
institutions. But its ability to develop and prosper is
conditioned by the geographical environment in
which it functions. e cliché that a person is the
product of his or her environment is equally true of
nations. Geography is thus an important determinant
of a country’s foreign policy having a direct in uence
on its personality as a state and also conditioning its
role and behaviour as a member of the international
community.
For any country, it is always important who its
neighbours are, as their attitude and conduct,
irrespective of their size or power, have a direct bearing
on its own personality as a sate and on vital issues of its
independence, national security and socio-economic
growth. In Pakistan's case, its peculiar geopolitical
environment placed on it the onerous responsibility of
consistent vigilance and careful conduct of its relations
not only with its immediate neighbours but also with
therestof theworld,especially themajorpowers.
We could not change our geography, nor choose our
neighbours and had to live with geopolitical realities
emanating from a tampered partition of the
subcontinent that left a truncated Pakistan and
disputed borders as a result of last minute mala de
changes in the agreed demarcations lines.With no
parallel anywhere in the world, Pakistan came into
being like the SiameseTwins with its two halves joined
together just by a little bit of heart and mind
connection.
And this heart-and-mind connection was too weak to
withstand the pressures of physical separateness. In less
than 25 years, it got severed brutally through India's
military intervention. e cruelty of geopolitics did
not end with our country’s dismemberment. Even
today, we are living in a hostile environment. India still
militarily occupies a vast territory including Kashmir,
Siachen, Kargil and water sources that belonged to us.
In fact, Pakistan's quest for survival began even before
itcameintobeingasanindependentstate.
1
Former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan.
Pakistan Mapping the Policy Agenda 2018-2023
29

2. e Congress leaders accepted the June 1947 Partition
Plan only as a tactical move. eir strategic goal to rule
over the entire subcontinent remained unaltered.
Gandhi even said, “So long as I am alive, I will never
2
agree to the partition of India.” After Nehru had
swallowed the bitter pill of Partition, he vainly hoped,
as did Sardar Patel, that Pakistan would prove insolvent
after it was born and, not in the too-distant future,
Jinnah and Liaquat would beg forgiveness and ask for
permission to re-joinIndia’sunion.
In a resolution adopted on the patition on 15 June
1947, the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), was
even more prophetic in hoping the partition will not
endure because India’s unity was regionally and
globally indispensable. e vindictive attitude of the
Hindu majority to Pakistan’s creation was best
summed up by Sir FrancisTuker who witnessed the last
fatefulyearsbeforeIndia’spartition:
"In effect what they said was "Well, if the Muslims
want Pakistan, let them damned well have it and with
vengeance. We shall shear every possible, every inch of
their territory so as to make it look silly and to ensure
that it is not a viable country and when they have got
what's left we'll ensure that it can't be worked
3
economically."
A speech that SardarVallabhbhai Patel delivered in the
Constituent Assembly in November 1949 fully bears
out Tuker's impression. Although delivered more than
two years after those events, it still breathed a spirit of
vengeance. In the course of his speech Patel said: "I
agreed to partition as a last resort when we should have
lost all...Mr. Jinnah did not want a truncated Pakistan
but had to swallow it. I made a further condition that
4
intwomonths’time,power shouldbetransferred."
It was clear that the acceptance of partition by
Congress was only a tactical move as its strategic goal to
rule over the entire subcontinent- remained unaltered.
To achieve their principal objective, in collusion with
the British, they manipulated the partition plan to
ensure that Pakistan was treated only as seceding
territory with no resources and equipment. No
wonder, on its birth, Pakistan inherited a painful legacy
of disputed borders and forced accession of Muslim
statesofHyderabad,Junagadh and Kashmir.
With a lingering suspicion that India had never
reconciled to the sub-continent’s partition and thus to
the existence of Pakistan, we have been living since
independence in the shadow of India’s hostility and its
threat to our security and survival. Our fears were not
exaggerated when we saw Sikkim, Goa, Hyderabad,
Junagadh and Kashmir falling to Indian avarice. Our
fears are not exaggerated today as we continue to face
India’s relentless aggressive designs and unabated
hostilityandbelligerence.
is troubled relationship, marked by “con ict and
confrontation” and a legacy of unresolved disputes
remains our biggest challenge as the centerpoint of our
foreign policy. With all its rami cations, this uneasy
equation has had a fundamental impact on our
domestic matters, on our security concerns, on our
international relations, and indeed, on the course of
our entire post-independence history. We could not
remain complacenttoperennial threatsto oursurvival.
Geo-politically, our strategic location was also pivotal
to the global dynamics of the Cold War era and
remains crucial even in today's changing regional and
global environment. e events of 9/11 represented a
critical threshold in Pakistan’s foreign policy. It was the
beginning of another painful chapter in our history.
Pakistan's Afghanistan-related are now being
aggravated by the growing Indo-US nexus and India’s
resultant strategic ascendancy in the region. In the
process, we have been encountering unbroken series of
crises that perhaps no other country in the world has
experienced.
ABalancingProcess
In this backdrop, Pakistan’s external relations since the
very beginning of its independence have been marked
byfour major constants:
2
India Wins Freedom: Abul Kalam Azad, Orient Longman, Delhi, pp185 and 87.
3
While Memory Serves: Sir Francis Tuker (London, Chassell, 1950) p.257
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Pakistan Foreign Policy: Challenges & Opportunities

3. Ÿ Quest for security and survival as an independent
state.
Ÿ Legacy ofa troubledrelationshipwith India;
Ÿ Excessive reliance on the West, especially the US
for our economic, political and military survival;
and
Ÿ Total solidarity with the Muslim world, and
un inchingsupport toMuslim causes.
Pakistan's foreign policy has thus remained marked by
a complex balancing process in the context of the
turbulent history of the region in which it is located, its
own geo-strategic importance, its security concerns
and compulsions, and the gravity and vast array of its
domestic problems. We have always had to respond to
exceptional challenges which not only had an indelible
in uence on the conduct of our foreign policy but also
conditioned our priorities and policy-making
processes.
For over seventy years now, we have followed a foreign
policy that we thought was based on globally
recognized principle, and which in our view responded
realistically to the exceptional challenges of our times.
But never did we realise that for a perilously located
country, externally as vulnerable as ours, and also
domestically as unstable and unpredictable as ours,
there could be not many choices in terms of external
relations.
WhoRunsOurForeignPolicy?
We in Pakistan often misunderstand the realities of
foreign policy and tend to overplay the role of military
or so-called ‘establishment’ in its formulation and
execution. In every country, foreign policy decisions
are made by the executive branch of government. But
formulation of foreign policy being a complex matter is
never left to the whims of any one individual or
authority anywhereintheworld.
Besides ministry of foreign affairs as officially
designated foreign policy arm of the government, it
invariably also involves other relevant ministries and
agencies of the government including those dealing
with national security and defence. No foreign office is
equipped with intelligence gathering and analyzing
capabilities and cannot function in a vacuum of
intelligence and security information relevant to the
foreignpolicy goalsthatitissupposedto bepursuing.
No wonder, in our case, on issues of national security,
our GHQ and intelligence agencies do have an
indispensable role. Given Pakistan’s peculiar geo-
political environment and its volatile neighbourhood,
most of the foreign policy issues involving vital
national security interests have to be addressed through
a larger consultative process with the involvement of all
relevant governmental agencies and stakeholders
includingmilitary and intelligenceagencies.
ere is nothing unusual in this process, which is
followed in every state confronted with national
security challenges. Even a superpower like the United
States cannot afford to do without its Pentagon and
CIA in matters that affect its overarching security-
related global interests and policies. In our case, if there
are instances of military dominance in foreign policy
issues, it is only because our civilian set-ups are
invariably devoid of any strategic vision or talent in
their political cadres.
ChallengesInRetrospect:AnOverview:
Ironically, the rst challenge to Pakistan's
independence was the sole negative vote cast by
Afghanistan in the UN General Assembly when
Pakistan was admitted as a member of the United
Nations on September 30, 1947. At work was the same
Hindu mindset that had opposed the very creation of
Pakistan. Misled by Indian leaders who claimed
Pakistan was geopolitically and economically unviable,
the then Afghan government questioned the very
validity of Durand Line, an issue that had been settled
in1893.
ree weeks after Pakistan’s admission to the UN,
4
e Indomitable Sardar: Kewal L. Panjabi, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Bombay 1962)
Pakistan Mapping the Policy Agenda 2018-2023
31

4. Afghanistan withdrew its negative vote. Since then,
despite Kabul’s occasional detractions raising the bogey
of ‘Pakhtoonistan,’ Pakistan has maintained a
consistent policy of friendship and good-
neighborliness with Afghanistan. Besides providing
uninterrupted transit facilities to our landlocked
neighbour, we have over the decades stood by
Afghanistan in its long ordeals including foreign-
imposed wars, rst the Soviet-occupation-led war and
then theUS-occupation-ledAfghan war.
Indeed, the Afghans are not the only victims of the
Afghan tragedy. Pakistan has suffered more in multiple
ways in terms of refugee in ux, socio-economic
burden, rampant terrorism and protracted con ict in
its border areas with Afghanistan. Our problems are
aggravated by a complex new regional con guration
with growing Indo-US nexus that gives India a
strategic ascendancy in the region. Its unprecedented
in uence in Afghanistan now gives it an opportunity
to play its old game, striking as it has been at the very
roots of Pakistan. Modi's recent claims on Balochistan
arenorevelation.
We know them well. But what could one expect from a
Kautilya disciple? Modi never spares an opportunity to
be truly himself – as he was two years ago in his visit to
Dhaka where he could not be more spiteful of
Pakistan. He gloated over the role his country played in
the 1971 dismemberment of Pakistan. He must have
been looking into the mirror when he accused Pakistan
of “creating nuisance and promoting terrorism.” But
let's be honest. Modi is doing what he is supposed to
do. He is only advancing his country's larger interests
includingitsdesignsforregionalhegemony.
And he is doing it with great nesse as a master chess
player. On our part, we are left clueless with no
matching vision or foresight. We are aimlessly
clamoring for peace which will never come by
surrendering on our vital national causes. India-
Pakistan problems are real and will not disappear or
work out on their own as some people in our country
have lately started believing. To make things even
worse, in recent years, our political illiterates and
pseudo-intellectuals have been willfully distorting our
history misleading the youth that Pakistan’s birth was
only‘an accidentofhistory.’
According to them, the India-Pakistan border is no
more than an arti cial ‘thin’ line drawn on paper. ey
are naïve enough to believe that if we were to erase this
‘thin’ line, there would be no India-Pakistan problems
and we would live happily thereafter as ‘one people.’
ey are sadly mistaken and need a tutorial in history
to know that Pakistan is not an accident of history.
Pakistan came into being as a result of a long struggle.
It is now a reality with its borders drawn in blood that
cannot be erased, not even through any ‘goodwill’
gestures that some of our ruling elite and media friends
areeagerto make.
As we remain engaged in a decisive battle for our
independence and survival, Pakistan is being subverted
from within. We must root out from our body politic
the ugly mindset of heresy, sedition and treachery that
provides fertile ground for enemy maneuvers against
Pakistan. Foreign policy of a country, and the way it is
made and pursued is inextricably linked to its domestic
policies, governance issues and socio-economic and
political situation. ere is no foreign policy worth its
name in the absence of domestic strength. No country
has ever succeeded externally if it is weak and crippled
domestically.
What precipitates this situation is India’s obsession to
keep Pakistan under relentless pressure by blaming it
for everything that goes wrong on its own side of the
border or across the line of control in disputed
Kashmir. is has been a familiar narrative that India
has been using against Pakistan since after 9/11 taking
advantage of the global ant-terror sentiment and our
own rulers’ apologetic attitude in the face of India’s
sinister campaign. As it gets a sympathetic ear in the
US and elsewhere on the issue of what it alleges
Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, India smells blood
thinkingthatnow isthe time for a "kill."
In its calculation, the time is ripe for it to pressure
32
Pakistan Foreign Policy: Challenges & Opportunities

5. Pakistan to an extent where it can surrender on the
Kashmir cause. Today, Pakistan is facing an aggressive
rhetoric not only from India but also equally ominous
narratives emanating from Afghanistan and
Washington. As we ful ll our obligations as a partner
and an ally in its war on terror, the US has entered into
country-speci c defence and nuclear deals with India,
introducing a new and ominous dimension to the
already volatile and unstable security environment of
theregion.
e situation is being aggravated by growing nuclear
and military disparities as a result of double standards.
If the turbulent political history of this region has any
lessons, Washington's engagement in this region
should have been aimed at promoting strategic balance
rather than disturbing it.It should have been eschewing
discriminatory policies in dealings with India-Pakistan
nuclear equation, the only one in the world that grew
up in history totally unrelated to the Cold War. But
thisnever happened.
Any measures that contribute to widening of strategic
imbalances, lowering of nuclear threshold and fueling
of an arms race between the two nuclear-armed
neighbours with an escalatory effect on their military
budgets and arsenals are no service to the peoples of the
region.With Narendra Modi’s India now opening itself
to world’s major military industries, the region is
heading into an apocalyptic arms race with far-
reachingimplicationsforworld’speaceandsecurity.
What we need in this region is not the induction of
new destructive weapons and lethal technologies but
the consolidation of peace, stability, development &
democratic values that we lack so much. But there is
another dimension to South Asia’s troubled security
paradigm. e post-9/11 military stalemate in
Afghanistan represents a new India-Pakistan con ict
area. In fact, it now becomes a critical factor for the
prospect of a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.
Washington s using Pakistan as a convenient scapegoat
for itsown failuresinAfghanistan.
In recent years, the has been targeting Pakistan with
military incursions and drone attacks in our tribal
areas. is has had an alarmingly adverse impact on
Pakistan’s psyche which is already perturbed by
America’s indifference to its legitimate security
concerns and sensitivities. A country cannot be treated
both as a target and a partner while ghting a common
enemy. Coercive and sometime accusatory and
slanderous approach towards Pakistan and its armed
forcesand security agenciesiscounterproductive.
In the context of Afghanistan, it is important that the
regional countries do not use the territory of
Afghanistan for destabilizing activities in third
countries. Regional rivalries can easily stoke the res of
con ict within Afghanistan as well as in the region. It is
necessary to control and contain these regional
rivalries. Our friends and allies must recognize that
Afghanistan is in a mess not because of Pakistan. It is so
because of many other well-known reasons. ey must
understand that Afghanistan is an area of fundamental
importance to Pakistan.
If Soviet presence in Cuba almost triggered a nuclear
war in the early 1960s, India’s continued ascendancy in
Afghanistan remains a danger of no less gravity to the
already volatile security environment of this
‘nuclearised’ region. e risk of a Pakistan-India proxy
war in Afghanistan is fraught with perilous
implications for regional and global peace and must be
averted at all cost. On its part, Pakistan has direct stakes
in Afghan peace and has always been ready to play its
roleinpromotinggenuineAfghanpeace.
It is in Pakistan’s vital interest to have peace and
stability in an independent and sovereign Afghanistan
that is free of all foreign in uences. From within the
region, it is the only country which has the credentials
and the motivation to facilitate the Afghan peace
process. Of course, the Afghans will also have to reset
their own functional mode. ey must not allow their
country to be used against Pakistan. Afghanistan has
much more in common with Pakistan than any other
country in theregion.
China and Pakistan, both sharing border with
Afghanistan represent a natural partnership from
within the region that can bring about the real change
Pakistan Mapping the Policy Agenda 2018-2023
33

6. in this volatile region. Both can join together in
converting Pak-Afghanistan border into an economic
gateway for the region, and as a CPEC linkage of peace
and cooperation with Central Asian countries. China’s
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises vast
opportunities of peace and trade partnerships not only
in this region including India but also beyond to Iran,
Turkey andEurope.
eWayForward:
Ÿ As a country and as a nation, at this critical
juncture in our history we cannot leave ourselves
to the vagaries of time or at the mercy of others.
We can’t even innocently continue to believe that
everything will be all right, magically or
providentially. We must x the fundamentals of
our state and governance. We need to change
world’s perception of our country, which surely
has many reasons and assets other than terrorism
and violence to be recognized as a responsible
member oftheinternational community.
Ÿ Foreign policy of a country, and the way it is
made and pursued is inextricably linked to its
domestic policies, governance issues and socio-
economic and political situation. ere is no
foreign policy worth its name in the absence of
domestic strength. No country has ever
succeeded externally if it is weak and crippled
domestically. Even a super power, the former
Soviet Union could not survive as a super power
only because it was domestically week in political
andeconomicterms.
Ÿ All these problems that we continue to suffer
have nothing to do with our foreign policy. Our
problems are domestic. Even our external
problems are extension of our domestic failures.
Our domestic weaknesses have not only seriously
constricted our foreign policy options but also
exacerbated Pakistan’s external image and
standing. No doubt, we have survived these crises
andchallengesbutatwhatcost?
Ÿ ere are no two opinions on the need to combat
terrorism. But to eliminate this evil, we must
address its root causes. No strategy or roadmap in
the war on terror would be comprehensive
without focusing on the underlying political and
socio-economic problems. We can kill or capture
terrorists; disrupt their operations; destroy their
organizations; but unless we prevent others from
following their path, we cannot succeed in
eliminating terrorism. Terrorism will neither
ourish nor survive in a moderate, educated and
prosperousPakistan.
Ÿ We must restore our global image as a moderate,
cooperative and responsible state, capable of
living at peace with itself and with its neighbours.
A country remains vulnerable externally if it is
weak domestically. To be strong and stable, a
nation needs the ability and power that not only
preserves its physical integrity and independence
but also provides good governance for its
politico-economic freedom and strength as well
asdomestic peace andstability.
Ÿ To avert the vicious cycle of known tragedies, we
need a serious and purposeful national debate
involving a holistic review of our entire
governmental system. We can’t continue to
believe that everything will be all right, magically
or providentially. We need genuine political,
economic, judicial, educational, administrative
and land reforms. We must rationalize our
priorities to reinforce the resilience of the people
of Pakistan in all its facets, namely, psychological,
ideological, communal, political and
international.
Ÿ Given the gravity of our crisis, we surely need
deeper structural reform agenda and home-
grown solutions to our economic problems,
rationalizing GDP targets and restoring macro-
economic balances. An economic recovery
blueprint requires judicious planning to match
national needs and resources as well as
capabilities. Our weakness is economic
discipline. We need an iron-hand to curb this
weakness. Loot and plunder of national
exchequerand resourcesmuststop.
Ÿ is requires the system that breeds corruption,
tax-evasion, kleptocracy, abuse of power, a
privilege-based VIP culture, and violence and
lawlessness will have to be rooted out from our
body politic. e culture of perks and privileges
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Pakistan Foreign Policy: Challenges & Opportunities

7. must go. e buck must stop somewhere. No
begging. Loans are not capital; they are a liability.
Foreign aid is never condition-free. Let’s come
out of the dependency mode and focus more on
optimum utilization of our own material wealth
andhumanresources.
Ÿ To keep our country strong and stable, we must
also root out from our body politic the mindset
of heresy, sedition and treachery that provides
fertile ground for enemy maneuvers against
Pakistan. It’s also time our mainstream media also
owned its national responsibility by upholding
our national ethos and defending the cause of
Pakistan’s independence, security and national
integrity.
Ÿ For us at this critical juncture in our history, what
is important is not what we are required to do for
others' interests; it is what we ought to do in our
own national interest. Our biggest challenge is to
convert Pakistan’s pivotal location into an asset,
rather than letting it remain a liability.
Implementation of the CPEC (China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor) linking Pakistan’s coastal
areas with northwest China provides us an
opportunitytodoso.
Ÿ On completion, CPEC will bring overarching
economic and trade connectivity, bilaterally as
well as regionally that would also be of great
bene t to landlocked Afghanistan. China and
Pakistan thus have a joint potential in converting
Pak-Afghanistan border into an economic
gateway for the region, and as a linkage of peace
andcooperation with Central Asiancountries.
Ÿ America’s rst president George Washington in
his farewell address in 1796 had left some advice
for us. Lamenting the fate of nations that leave
themselves at the mercy of other powers, he said,
“it was a folly to be the satellite of the latter or
looking for disinterested favours from another”
because “it must pay with a portion of its
independence and its sovereignty for whatever it
mayacceptunder thatcharacter.”
ForeignPolicyRoadmap
Ÿ Preservation of sovereignty, independence,
territorialintegrity,nationaldignity and honour;
Ÿ Peace within, peace without. Friendship with all,
enmitywith none;
Ÿ Independent foreign policy premised on national
interests that ensure the country’s sovereign
independence, territorial integrity, national
dignity and honour;
Ÿ We need to regain our lost sovereign
independence and dignity and restore our
credibility and respect as an independent state in
thecomityof nations.;
Ÿ We must restore our global image as a moderate,
cooperative and responsible state, capable of
livingatpeacewithitselfand with itsneighbours.
Ÿ A country remains vulnerable externally if it is
weak domestically in terms of political, economic
and military strength. Let’s opt for self-reliance
through optimum utilization of the country’s
materialwealth andhuman resources;
Ÿ We must continue our endeavours for a peaceful
environment in South Asia and good neighborly
relations with countries sharing borders with
Pakistan includingIndiaandAfghanistan;
Ÿ We must persist in our principled position on
Kashmir, seeking its nal solution through
peaceful means, in conformity with the UN
resolutions and legitimate aspirations of the
people of Kashmir;
Ÿ It is in Pakistan’s vital interest to have peace and
stability in an independent and sovereign
Afghanistan that is free of all foreign in uence. In
cooperation with China, we should convert the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border into an economic
gateway as a linkage of peace and cooperation
with Central Asiancountries;
Ÿ Despite their historical and multiple linkages,
Pakistan and Iran have not been able to develop a
vibrant and durable relationship, wide in scope
and substantive in nature. Both need to come out
of their narrowly-based priorities to be able to
capitalise on commonalities of their interests,
rather thanthe other wayaround;
Ÿ We must continue to pursue special relationship
of abiding friendship and cooperation with
China, solidarity with the Muslim world and its
legitimate causes, close cooperative links with
Pakistan Mapping the Policy Agenda 2018-2023
35

8. Central Asian States, and multi-dimensional
cooperative relationship with the US, Japan,
CanadaandEU countries;
Ÿ China does affirm its support for Pakistan’s
efforts in safeguarding its sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity and
promoting peace and stability in South Asia, but
this does not mean that we absolve ourselves of
our own responsibilities to ensuring our
country’s sovereign independence, political
stabilityandsocio-economicwellbeing;
Ÿ Our regional focus must remain on mutually
bene cial economic cooperation in South Asia
and Central Asia within the frameworks of
SAARC,ECOandSCO;
Ÿ At this critical juncture in history, our challenge is
not what we are required to do for others'
interests; it is what we ought to do to serve our
own national interests. We must convert
Pakistan’s pivotal location into an asset, rather
than lettingitremaina liability;
Ÿ And nally, the problem is not the US-Pakistan
relationship. e problem is its poor and short-
sighted management on both sides. It is time to
correct this approach and remake this
relationship. e objective must be not to
weaken this important equation but to
strengthen it by infusing in it greater political,
economic and strategic content. It must no
longer remain a ‘transactional’ relationship and
mustgo beyond the “war onterror."
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Pakistan Foreign Policy: Challenges & Opportunities