Foreign Policy Challenges to the New Government

Although the election fervour attached to campaigning was lacking, especially in Karachi and Khyber Pk, Pakistan witnessed the highest voting turnout in nearly four decades. For the first time in country’s history, a democratic transition, without any sort of military intervention, will take place when the power would be handed over to the newly-elected government in the days to come.

For all the sceptics, who incessantly doubted the conduct of elections, the high turnout is the most befitting answer. Nevertheless, if elections were a daunting task, the most critical challenge still lies ahead. The two major challenges which the new government will have to cope with are:

1. to opt for a balanced and well-structured domestic policy; and
2. to craft a comprehensive yet consolidated foreign policy strategy.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with nearly 125 seats emerged as the biggest party in National Assembly and also gained the highest mandate in Punjab. Previously, the PML-N has gained national prominence twice, in 1993 and 1997 elections. The party is all set to from government at the centre.

In both the previous terms, PML-N was charged with corruption, bankruptcy and maladministration of state affairs; however, the pro-party quarters advocate its business-friendly policies and approach towards economic reforms. The upcoming term would be critical for PML-N from two perspectives:
first, people expect the new government to deliver at the national level for the provision of basic amenities from which they have been deprived of;
second, it would be far more important and challenging to deal with competitors and political rivals, especially PTI.

On foreign policy front, during earlier two terms, the party achieved less in terms of gaining Pakistan a respected place in the international community. With India, during its second term, for instance, PML-N’s government had been able to achieve some perks such as Lahore-Delhi Bus Service; however, the Kargil War thwarted the joint ventures.  Now, Pakistan is facing an uphill task of managing its relations with the US and Afghanistan in particular. PML-N, in its new term, is required to take Pakistan’s relations with the US and Afghanistan forward with a more holistic approach.

The politics in Pakistan has always been critical and vulnerable to external influences. The trend has grown complex and it is imperative to address the mounting challenges by keeping at pace with emerging realities at domestic, regional and international levels. With the changing regional and international political dynamics, the policies of the new government must be centred on domestic stability that, in turn, would lead to stable foreign relations. For political stability in the country, the government is ought to formulate domestic policies that would complement foreign policy and to craft a foreign policy that would bring in internal political stability.

Particularly, with the US drawdown from Afghanistan in 2014, Pakistan must play a role of a sensible neighbour and an active regional stakeholder to gain a respected position in the post-US-drawdown South Asia. The situation delineates the fact that India is emerging as the biggest stakeholder in this region, which means Pakistan will have to pursue a balanced foreign policy with the US, Afghanistan and India. Three Cs, ‘Conciliation, Consolidation and Collaboration’ may work best with all the three major stakeholders. Pakistan must emphasize upon its significance to the peace, cooperation and any future collaborative arrangement in the region.

 Pakistan’s relations with the US have been critical for more than a year now. However, the Obama administration indicated a respect to the democratic transition in Pakistan and the outcome of the elections. In future, great responsibility lies with the new government to shape a foreign policy that would bring in stability in Pakistan’s relations with the United States.

India appears to be opting for a policy of appeasement with PML-N’s leadership even before the formation of new assembly as the Indian Prime Minister extended an invitation to Mr Sharif to visit India. Pakistan’s foreign policy towards India would be the most critical aspect of our future strategy.

In the recent weeks, Pak-India relations once again be came tense after a tit for tat death of Sanaullah in Indian custody. With Pakistan and India carrying the baggage of long-standing disputes and mistrust, the ‘enemy-syndrome’ and the ‘blame game’ needs to be cured of on priority basis. PML-N’s leadership must work for putting the relations with India on economic track where opportunities for greater economic collaboration and increased people-to-people contact can be created not only to benefit the two neighbours but for regional peace and prosperity also.

In the light of above-mentioned challenges, Pakistan cannot afford experimentation with the foreign policy. The new government has no option but to address the weak areas and remove the lacunae. The government must devise a comprehensive and consolidated foreign policy framework by utilizing all the available resources and capabilities in order to rebuild its credibility as a respected state. The country is also required to display its true potential to the fullest and establish itself as a responsible state among the comity of nations and to regain its significance in the world politics. The PML-N’s much-trumpeted slogans ‘Strong Economy-Strong Pakistan’, ‘We have changed Punjab, We Will Change Pakistan’ should be materialized with the PML-N leadership delivering at all levels during its third term. Pakistan’s economy is in dire need of a real boost and so is the society. With no electricity, food shortage, water and energy crises, inflation, etc., Pakistan is being strangulated economically. And only through strong domestic and holistic foreign policy will the government be able to achieve the desired goals.