On Pak’s National Security Policy document: Pakistan gets serious

News: Pakistani National Security Division’s latest National Security Policy document released recently.

There are five key takeaways for India. By this, it can be inferred that Pakistan has started looking inwards (domestic issues).

What are the five key takeaways?

First, there is no demand for the reversal of the August 4, 2019, changes made by India in the status of Jammu & Kashmir.

Second, there is a clear emphasis on the economy as the main bedrock of national security. Pakistan’s economy is severely impacted by high inflation and Balance of Payment (BoP) crisis. Recently, Pakistan resorted to IMF for a bailout. Further, the threat from sectarian strife and internal separatist movements has forced Pakistan to look inwards.

Third, the policy document emphasises more on neighbouring countries (Afghanistan, China, India, Iran) with no specific reference to western countries is a significant policy shift.

Fourth, with respect to US, the frustration with them is evident. Pakistan says that it does not like the current reality where its ties with the US are purely located in counter-terrorism cooperation.

Finally, with respect to India, the document expresses that the current “Hindutva politics” in India is a threat to its security.

Source: This post is based on the article “Pakistan gets serious” published in Livemint on 15^th Jan 2022.