In a first, Pakistan seeks ‘100 year of no hostility’, with India
In a surprising move, Pakistan is all set to introduce its first-ever security polity, which is aimed at seeking peace with India and its immediate neighbor.
The policy is scheduled to be unveiled by PM Imran Khan on Friday.The 100-page document has put on the table elaborate plans furnishing the trade and business ties between the two countries, without considering settlement of Kashmir issue as a criterion for any talks or ties. However, only part of national security policy is made public, keeping rest as classified, clarified an official. “We are not seeking hostility with India for the next 100 years. The new policy seeks peace with immediate neighbors,” said the official associated with the policy development.
Various officials have also clarified the emphasis of this new policy on normalizing commercial relations and seeking better economic development. “Economic security will be the central theme of the new national security policy…. But geo-economics does not necessarily mean we overlook our geo-strategic and geopolitical interests,”.
The emphasis on economic security is the core of the country’s security policy has often been reiterated in past by Pakistan’s National Policy Advisor, Moen Yusuf. “The policy places economic security as the core of comprehensive security because it recognizes that only through increasing prosperity of our citizens and the overall national resources, can Pakistan invest more in strengthening human security and traditional security,” said Yusuf in an on-camera session.
No matter the emphasis on economic security, the Kashmiri issue with India continues to be identified as a ‘vital national policy, an official said.Indo-Pak conflict has been embedded in history since their emergence as an independent country, however, the recent blows of Uri, the Pulwama attack, and the dissolution of Article 370 had thrown all the chances of reconciliation out of the window. In that context, this new policy can be a very positive move towards the era of peace.
Updated by Preet Joshi