Pakistan’s foreign policy outlook under the new Sharif government
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Pakistan has been in the grip of political uncertainty and turmoil for the last few months. The departure of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from the helm of power and the return of pragmatic and serious-minded veteran politicians into power was supposed to have translated into a coherent and articulate policy approach. Instead, the new government has adopted a largely reactionary policy outlook. Pakistan’s foreign policy remains one such arena where the new government’s outlook has been categorized by more glitter and less substance.
The broader Middle East remains the central focus of Pakistan’s foreign policy. In the past four years, economic assistance coming from the Gulf States constitutes the bulk of international fiscal support to Pakistan. Since Pakistan’s economic parameters have not improved, the centrality of the Gulf’s monetary support has not changed.
Recognizing the importance of Gulf support for Pakistan, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif made his first foreign official visit to Saudi Arabia which was subsequently followed by a brief trip to the UAE. PM Sharif’s elder brother and former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif maintained close ties with the Saudi Royal Family. The late King Abdullah was instrumental in rescuing the elder Sharif after he was removed in a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. King Abdullah brokered a deal between the two men that culminated in the Sharif family’s political exile to Saudi Arabia.
Turkey has been another notable destination amongst PM Shahbaz’s foreign travels. But unlike the Gulf States, Turkey could not provide the Sharif government with a financial bail-out as its own economy has been going through difficult times. The visit might also be an attempt by PM Sharif to refresh personal ties with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has in the last few years gravitated closer to former PM Imran Khan.
In the past four years, economic assistance coming from the Gulf States constitutes the bulk of international fiscal support to Pakistan.
Umar Karim
The visit is also an exercise in political performativity by the new prime minister who is determined to create an image for himself as the new face of Pakistan and one that can represent the country in a profoundly better manner than former PM Khan. And also, one that is bagging a greater degree of international recognition. Moreover, the visit displayed an endemic theme within foreign policy, of it being instrumentalized as a political space for domestic score settling. This was evident as PM Sharif pejoratively addressed former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a meeting with Turkish businessmen and blamed his predecessor’s government for mistreating Turkish businessmen.
Outside the Middle East however, the face of Pakistan’s new government and foreign policy outlook is the duo of Foreign Minister and Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar. The first foreign stop of the new diplomatic leadership was Washington, where the foreign minister attended a ministerial conference on the threat to global food security, triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This visit, happening at the invitation of United States Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken, suggested that a rest in the US-Pak relationship was in the offing. The relationship had practically become dysfunctional under former PM Imran Khan, who also accused the US of backing the opposition’s attempt to end his government.
Pakistan’s participation in a global summit debating the negative implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine also signalled a shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy outlook on the Ukraine issue.
After completion of the US visit, the foreign minister went to China and had an extensive engagement with Chinese officials, with deliberations mostly focusing on the current state of CPEC projects and economic coordination. It is clear that in this current episode of economic meltdown, Pakistan is banking on Chinese support for economic recovery. The Chinese decision to refinance Pakistan with funding worth $2.3 billion is reminiscent of the fact that China remains vital for Pakistan’s economic stability. This also shows that even though the government of former PM Khan had grown politically closer to the Chinese camp, the Chinese government is ready to work alongside the new decision makers in Islamabad.
The foreign policy of the Sharif government is not radically different from that of Khan’s government and neither are its modalities. However, learning from Khan’s experience, the government must keep realism the centre point of its foreign policy and should not make it a platform for populist discourse.
– Umar Karim is a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham. His research focuses on the evolution of Saudi Arabia’s strategic outlook, the Saudi-Iran tussle, conflict in Syria, and the geopolitics of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.
Twitter: @UmarKarim89
