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  • Interview:Michael Kugelman on Pakistan's Foreign Policy
  • Michael Kugelman (bio)

This article was contributed to Forum-the edition's portfolio of thematic content-by GJIA's Dialogues section.

On March 2nd, 2021, the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs sat down with Mr. Michael Kugelman, the Deputy Director of the South Asia Program at the Wilson Center, to discuss Pakistan's foreign policy as a rising power in the South Asian region.

GJIA:

How would you describe Pakistan's foreign policy under Prime Minister Imran Khan compared to past leaders? What are their current objectives and goals?

Michael Kugelman:

Traditionally, Pakistan's foreign policy has revolved around the issue of India—its longtime rival. There has been a tendency to pursue foreign policies that would enable Pakistan to push back against and counterbalance India. This is still true, to an extent, with the current government. Islamabad has waged an intensive diplomatic campaign to try to focus the world's attention on human rights violations in India, and to garner support for its position on the dispute in Kashmir—a core reason for Pakistan's toxic relations with India.

But we are also seeing something relatively new in Pakistan's foreign policy under Khan: it is branching out beyond India and intensifying efforts to diversify its diplomatic relationships. Pakistan has traditionally had close partnerships with the same few countries, especially China and Saudi Arabia. But in the Khan era, [Pakistan] has sought to strengthen ties with neighbors such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iran, and Afghanistan. It is also looking to expand its relationships with Malaysia, Russia, and Turkey.

GJIA:

Why do you think they have reached out and strengthened relations with those particular countries in South Asia as well as Russia?

MK:

I can think of five different factors at play here. One relates to old themes. Islamabad has sought to better partner with the relatively few countries willing to publicly support its stand on Kashmir—countries like Iran and Turkey. In fact, Saudi Arabia's refusal to robustly support Islamabad on the Kashmir cause prompted a rare dispute between the two. Pakistanis have described Kashmir as their 'jugular vein,' so we'll always see efforts by Islamabad to use global platforms and its diplomacy as vehicles to attempt to draw support. Admittedly, Islamabad hasn't been very successful with this. Much of the world prefers to look at Kashmir as a messy, complex affair that is best left as a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan, and that shouldn't be touched with a ten-foot pole.

Additionally, some of Pakistan's diplomatic outreach is meant to capitalize on recent Indian struggles in its neighborhood and beyond. It is reaching out to countries that have seen their relationships with India struggle—here I'm thinking of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Russia. Moscow has been a close partner of India for a long time, but the India-Russia relationship has reduced in intensity, as India's relationship with the United States has ramped up.

But this new diplomatic outreach goes beyond India-related factors. Pakistan, for example, wants to show that, contrary to the [End Page 174] assumption of many observers, Pakistan has not simply thrown its lot in with China, its top ally, and that it can simply fall back on Chinese largesse for all its needs. It is quite notable that Pakistan's army chief recently said that he doesn't want the world to view Pakistan solely through the lens of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Pakistan component of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. In other words, Pakistan is willing to engage with the world and welcomes its investment.

Additionally, Imran Khan projects himself as a strong, pan-Islamic leader. This helps explain, in part, Islamabad's efforts to strengthen ties with Malaysia and Turkey, two countries that have had pan-Islamic leaders admired by Khan. The fact that they have signaled support for the Kashmir cause certainly gives Islamabad to move closer to them as well.

All this said, perhaps the biggest reason for this expanded diplomatic outreach is that Pakistan is trying to initiate a wider shift in its foreign policy strategy. Pakistani officials...

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