Pakistan is out to make dynamic changes with its first ever National Security Policy. Expected to be unveiled on Friday, 14th January, Pakistan has decided to make an attempt to make peace with India and its other immediate neighbours.
This however, doesn’t mean that the Kashmir Issue has been resolved, The Express Tribune reported. At the moment, the onus has been placed on the economic security of the country, thus, they seek to improve trade relations with India. The five-year-policy document covers the years 2022-2026 and elaborates on plans to improve two way trade and investment plans with India.
A Pakistan government official stated on Tuesday that the country is “not seeking hostility with India for the next 100 years”.
“The new policy seeks peace with immediate neighbours,” the official said. He also stated that this is a mutual step taken by both countries with the goal to normalise trade and business ties with one another.
“Economic security will be the central theme of the new national security policy…. But geo-economics does not necessarily mean we overlook our geo-strategic and geo-political interests,” the official said. Along with this, he also commented on the Kashmir issue, stating that it has been identified as a ‘vital national policy’ issue for Pakistan.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan will unveil 50 pages of the policy that form the non-confidential section of the policy on Friday. This will consist mostly of key points regarding the economy, military and human security.
Pakistan’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf said that at the very core of Pakistan’s security policy, should be economic security.
“The policy places economic security as the core of comprehensive security because it recognises that only through increasing prosperity of our citizens and the overall national resources, can Pakistan invest more in strengthening human security and traditional security,” Yusuf said during an in-camera session wherein he briefed the Senate Defense Committee on the features policy.
A renowned author, Zahid Hussain, wrote in the Dawn newspaper, that, for Imran Khan’s government, the true challenge is going to be “to build a broad national consensus on a strategy to implement the policy”.
“National security is directly linked to governance, transparency and rule of law. A failed system and political instability remain major problems for effective implementation of the target set in the NSP,” he said.
References:
Basu, N. (2022, January 12). Pakistan’s first National Security Policy wants peace with India, ‘no hostility for 100 yrs.’ ThePrint. https://theprint.in/diplomacy/pakistans-first-national-security-policy-wants-peace-with-india-no-hostility-for-100-yrs/801367/