Strengthening Pakistan

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema

In his effort to take the nation into confidence, President Musharraf spelled out Pakistan's main concerns on Wednesday that had substantially contributed towards the policy formulation at this critical juncture of Pakistan's history. Four concerns were highlighted which included Pakistan's security, revival of economy, defence of strategic nuclear and missile assets, and the Kashmir cause. Even a cursory glance at them clearly reveals that each of these concerns deserves considerable attention.

By any yard stick the defence of one's own country is regarded as a paramount concern. President Musharraf's assertion that under no circumstances there will be any compromise on Pakistan's security and sovereignty indeed provides the necessary assurances. Pakistan's is country that has been confronting external threats right from its birth. Added pressures emanating from periodic domestic upheavals have often further complicated the situation for the defence planners of Pakistan.

Cognizant of its importance, almost all rulers of Pakistan devoted considerable attention to the defence of the country. Confronted with a persistent external threat from its eastern border, the security planners not only have to be vigilant but also be ready for any contingency. Perhaps that's why there was hardly any government, which did not demonstrate its willingness to beef up country's security within the available limited resources. Not only the borders have to be defended against the likely invaders but the defence planners also have to make necessary preparations to cope with internal threats.

Pakistan's security environment has largely been influenced by the continuous Indian hostilities. Despite Pakistan's concerted efforts to improve relations with India, the Indian have so far not responded in somewhat similar manner. The recently concluded Agra Summit did generate some hopeful signs but the subsequent belligerent speeches and statements by the Indian leaders are fast eroding whatever little goodwill is left. The malicious propaganda unleashed against Pakistan is not only complicating the future negotiations but also revealing the real aims of the incumbent government.

The second priority highlighted by the President is the revival of economy. It is a well-known fact that Pakistan's economy was in a very bad shape when the current regime appeared on the scene. Since the assumption of power, the incumbent government has been making concerted efforts to revitalize the economy. Although not much success has been witnessed over the last two years, but then one must realize that the economy is likely to take few years in restoring its health. However it would be only fair to mention that the signs of recovery are beginning to manifest in one form or the other.

Not only the government initiated economic reform programme but also decided to accelerate the process of privatization of its mega assets. The economic reforms in both the agricultural as well as the industrial sectors are likely to start paying dividends after the passage of two to three years. The tax reforms have already widened the tax net. In addition government's efforts to increase productivity and encourage exports are also demonstrating an upward surge. But it needs to be stressed that while the economy seems to be well set on road to recovery, the visible signs are slowly emerging. With the economic reforms in place coupled with political stability, the international investment is likely to increase. Efforts directed to restore the health of the economy are likely to pay expected dividends soon provided the political stability is also maintained. Under the operative international environments, a strong economy would indeed strengthen a country's power.

The third important concern that was specifically mentioned by the President deals with the safety and security of Pakistan's strategic nuclear and missile assets. Although Pakistan's nuclear development programme was a direct product of the Indian nuclear ambitions, Pakistan has maintained strict moratorium after the nuclear tests in May 1998. But the efforts to improve the delivery systems continued. Having being pushed into a situation by the Indians, the Pakistanis were not really left with a choice but to opt for nuclearisation.

Compared to the Indian nuclear and missile development programme, Pakistan's acquisitions in the nuclear field are very limited. India's nuclear policy and programme reflect a much larger political and strategic ambitions than that of Pakistan. It has been amply made clear that Pakistan would only employ such weapons when its survival would be at stake. The very rationale of Pakistan's nuclear programme is self-survival and nothing more. It is only logical that the Pakistanis must defend its nuclear related attainments with a view to strengthen the defence of the country.

The final major concern that was referred to is the Kashmir cause. No other issue has generated so much ill will between India and Pakistan than the ongoing Kashmir dispute. Even the end of the cold war and accompanying radical changes were not able to dampen the issue. Pakistan has continuously extended its political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris right of self-determination. Despite having agreed to honour its commitments to the United Nation resolutions and hold plebiscite in Kashmir, India has employed one excuse after another to wriggle out of its commitments to the UN. Perhaps the most ridiculous excuse was to blame Pakistan for joining the western sponsored cold war alliances.

The Kashmir dispute has become a symbol of Indian highhandedness and broken pledges. Not only various excuses were employed to erode the special status that was given to the disputed state by the Indian constitution but also a well-planned strategy was initiated to dupe the world opinion. Cognizant of the dictates of the changing times, India has not only been changing its moves to bring them in line with the requirements of emerging realities but have also managed to employ the changed terminology. For instance what were frequently referred as insurgents in Kashmir were renamed as cross border terrorists after the Kenya bombing-later the word cross-border was added to malign Pakistan.

The development of closer ties with US in post cold war era, the ascendancy of economic imperatives, the realization of its own market potential and the quest for alternatives to China have injected sufficient confidence among the Indians which has, in turn, facilitated the process of hiding the factual situation in the disputed state of Kashmir. Thus the Indians are indulging in projecting a totally different picture. Even the current developments have not been able to influence the Indians to abandon the path of distortion and come to terms with the real situation in Kashmir.

The above-mentioned four major priorities clearly indicate Pakistan's concern for its survival. Confronted with a much larger enemy along with a weak economy, the choices for Pakistan are indeed limited. To effectively cater for these concerns not only requires the determination of the incumbent government but also the support of the nation. Collective care for these concerns would amount to strengthening Pakistan.