Former CJCSC discourses on global realities’ impact on South Asia

Islamabad: Former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General (r) Ehsan ul Haq delivered a talk on ‘Emerging global realities and their impact on Regional Security Dynamics of South Asia,’ at Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) on Thursday, says a press release.

The event was attended by an eclectic mix of intellectuals, diplomats, academics, and think tank community. The discourse focused on the new international order being shaped out of the global power competition between China and USA resulting in emergence of multiple poles of political power, each aligning its policies with the preferred pole, as per each nation’s national interest. The multipolarity at geopolitical level was being influenced by the ge-economics. China-Russia and few middle powers were challenging the traditional dominance of the West in finance, economics and technological realms.

The dominant weltanschauung of the global power competition was the economic component which was the main prong while the kinetic component played the secondary role. Despite the competitive nature of the global politics the economic and trade interdependence was imposing limits on the containment strategies like de-risking and de-coupling which were likely to be honoured more in breach than practice. The economics centered Chinese global engagement model represented by RCEP and BRI was pitted against the US led security centred alliances like Aukus, Quad, SQUAD, and Indo-Pacific Framework. The Middle Powers had also started adopted hedging strategies aligned to their respective national interests through regional and global groupings like BRICs, MIKTA, SCO, and Eurasian Economic Union. Russia despite being embroiled in Ukraine war was doing well economically and geopolitically through leadership of BRICS and EEU.

The competitive politics were also casting a shadow over South Asian peace and security where unstinted support to India by USA was resulting in disturbance of regional strategic balance. The best option for Pakistan under such an environment was to shun block politics and balance its relationship with all global powers strictly in accordance with its national interests. Those interests include secure eastern and Western frontiers, good neighbourly relations with all regional nations, leveraging our geographical location for optimal economic dividends and improving our economic and human security indices. Pakistan’s formal economy being $340 billion and informal economy $457 makes it close to one $trillion dollar economy. We have to set our house in order to be reckoned as an important Middle Power on the global stage.

The speaker opined that the “Isolate-Pakistan” policy of Modi Administration had apparently run its course and the new Indian government might look towards positive engagement with Pakistan, especially once the important global powers like the USA and the influential Middle Eastern countries support that initiative. However whatever way the new global Order emerges in future depends a great deal on the out come of Ukraine and Gaza Wars and the trajectory of the China-USA relationship after those wars.