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Attempts at alliances by Pakistan
14-03-2025 pakistan's foreign policy Pakistan Affairs international relations
Pakistan is honestly a very inasupicious country, and it's not because of its people. Yes, corruption is prevalent and nobody really cares about the well-being of others, but that's not the main reason for its stagnation. No, Pakistan is just generally down on its luck. It has been like this since its inception and it will remain like this for the foreseeable future.
Let's start with the day of its birth: August 14, 1947. This is not really the day it gained independence. Pakistan achieved independence on August 15, 1947, the same day as India, when the British finally decided to leave. But Pakistanis, in their obsession of a separate identity, decided to celebrate one day early. I wonder what would have happened if, after the Pakistanis had already celebrated, the British had decided not to leave. How traumatic would that have been?
After the British left and the two countries were divided, it was time to distribute their equal shares of assets from the accounts of the united British India. But India, obsessed with destabilizing Pakistan so that it could later reassimilate it, decided not to give Pakistan its fair share. Pakistan didn't receive the money it was owed, nor did it receive its share of weapons and military assets. So the country basically started out as a Charles Dickens character. Naturally, to survive, it had to beg others for help. And this was the start of the begging cycle that Pakistan has been on ever since. Thanks, India.
The other lame move that India made was cutting off water to the rivers Ravi and Sutlej. This severely crippled Pakistan's irrigation and agriculture. This was power projection on India's part and left Pakistan totally insecure regarding its national security and sovereignty. Four of the five rivers that flow into Pakistan originate in India, so India could cut off access to fresh water at any time and leave Pakistan to dry. Pakistan had to somehow ensure that this never happened again (enter ISI and terrorist campaigns in India).
And then there is the ever lasting issue of Kashmir. Neither side wants to relinquish its claim to Kashmir. Meanwhile, the Kashmiris themselves want to be part of neither country and desire their own independence. Pakistan is unwilling to cede it because of its rivers. India is unwilling to cede it because it would provide Pakistan with a strategic advantage, granting access to major Indian cities. Pakistan and India have thus far had four conflicts over Kashmir, and it remains a disputed territory.
Due to the ever looming threat of a bigger and more dominant nation, and the fact that Pakistan was basically broke, its founding elites decided to design their foreign policy in a way so as to gain maximum financial and military support from other countries.
Candidate 1 – USSR
The Soviet Union was a communist state, and while at the time its internal economic development and rapid industrialization was inspiring for Pakistan, they didn't like the Soviet Union's suppression of religion, nor did they prefer the extreme control communism had over its subjects. Not to mention, it wasn't that long ago that the Soviet Union was on its own expansionist drive, and Pakistan was fearful that the Soviets were hungry for access to the Arabian Sea (them invading Afghanistan didn't really help either). So no. No relations with them.
Candidate 2 – Middle East
Most of these countries were broke at the time as well. Pakistan still wanted to develop relationships with other Muslim countries due to the obsession regarding "the ummah", but the Arabs were racist and didn't like non-Arab Muslims.
Candidate 3 – UK
The British hated Pakistan because it broke their dream of a united India.
Candidate 4 – America
The only real option Pakistan had at the time was the strong, independent, anti-communist nation of America. Pakistan wanted money and military aid, and America wanted allies in South Asia to defend the oil rich Middle East from Soviet expansion. Hence, a very toxic symbiotic relationship was formed, where neither trusted the other, but they did somewhat need each other.