ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Durrani on Wednesday highlighted that Pakistan’s internal and external challenges posed due to its geographical position with India continues to work on anti-Pakistan pursuits, security threats from Afghanistan-based terrorists and the conflict in the Middle East.
Ambassador Durrani was speaking at an international conference, titled, “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, hosted by the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East & Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Pakistan Office.
Speaking as the chief guest, he said that Pakistan’s neighbourhood is infested with challenges, conflicts and disputes, further compounded by major powers’ rivalry.
In the past, he added that the Iranian revolution, the break up of the Soviet Union and the rise of China created new paradigms for regional peace and security.
He underlined the concern that the Ukrainian crisis is considered the revival of ‘Cold War rivalry’; the Israel-Hamas conflict has further compounded the global war; the Iran-Israel conflict if not contained urgently can engulf the Middle East and beyond.
While shedding light on Pakistan, Ambassador Durrani emphasised that Pakistan’s unique geography enhances its geopolitical and geo-economic value as it sits in the middle of important regions like Central Asia and the Middle East.
Moreover, due to its position Pakistan has also suffered at the hands of conflict – post-Soviet withdrawal, American intervention in Afghanistan – in the past two decades.
While talking about Pakistan’s internal and external challenges, Ambassador Durrani pointed out that Pakistan has been in a constant flux partly rooted in history and partly due to the unstable conditions in the region.
He highlighted four important factors that impact Pakistan’s regional and global perspectives; Pakistan-India relations, the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s proximity to the Middle East, and Pakistan-China relations.
Ambassador Durrani brought attention to the fact that the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context points to a mixed picture: India continues to work on anti-Pakistan pursuits; the western border persists as an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term; and Iran-China relations offer a basis for a durable partnership in terms of security and economics.
Moreover, he added that the Indo-US relations, flux in Middle East politics, and Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinians pose a formidable challenge for Pakistan. While these challenges are alarming, they also underscore the importance for Pakistan to forge a stable regional policy prioritizing neighbourhood, he stated.
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood (retired), director general ISSI, in his remarks, stated that amid historic transformations globally the world today is marked by intense polarisation, volatility, and fragmentation.
He added that traditional threats including major-power competition and wars in Europe and the Middle East are accentuated by new challenges such as cyber warfare and climate change.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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