In this image taken from video provided by United Nations Web TV, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, remotely addresses the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in a pre-recorded message.
Highlight
- Imran Khan unveils Pakistan’s first national security policy
- The policy appears as an expanded version of Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa’s speech in March 2021
- There is no clear step in the policy that Pakistan wants to realize its ‘desire’ for peace with India
On January 14, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan unveiled the country’s first National Security Policy (NSP), which reportedly focuses on ‘protecting its citizens’. It aims to define the country’s security priorities between 2022 and 2026, including relations with India.
Prepared by the government’s National Security Division, the original 100-page version of the NSP remains a classified document. But a smaller public version – the 62-page document – emphasizes human security, geoeconomics, regional connectivity, prosperity, trade and investment.
Thus it makes all the right noises and gives the impression of fresh thinking from the Pakistani establishment. As a matter of fact, the policy appears to be an extended form of Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa’s speech at the Islamabad Security Dialogue in March 2021, where he harped on similar topics.
However, an important question from the perspective of Indian national security is whether this rhetoric of wanting peace with India and focusing on geoeconomics is a sign of a real change in Pakistan’s thinking, or is it just an exercise of deceit. ?
In this regard, the policy does not provide any clear roadmap or steps that Pakistan would like to take to realize its ‘desire’ of peace with India. Perhaps, Islamabad thinks that its expression of peace will go a step further and convince New Delhi to retaliate.
If Pakistan is not serious about improving relations with India, then what is the interpretation of NSP’s view on it? Clearly, the NSP and its content have been created for an international audience to give the impression that Pakistan is changing.
Instead of seeking peace with India, Pakistan would need to take concrete steps on the ground to start the process of talks. Till then, India should adopt a ‘wait and watch’ policy as compared to the NSP and evaluate its implementation.
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