The world has imagined Pakistan as a country associated with traditional security. However, the Prime Minister’s vision for Pakistan is based on an economic security and human welfare paradigm. The premiers’ economic security vision has three pillars, which are connectivity, development partnerships, and peace within the region and beyond.
These views were expressed by the SAPM on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning, Dr. Moeed Yusuf, during his keynote address in a webinar titled “Economic Outreach Initiatives and Non-Traditional Security Threats Facing Pakistan.”
When it comes to developing partnerships, the dream is for Pakistan to become a melting pot, a hub of interdependence for positive global economic interests. Dr. Yusuf stressed that Pakistan must shift to a model in which economic leverage can be used for political gains and vice versa. The future lies in coordinating economic diplomacy, he maintained.
During the discussion, Dr. Yusuf explained that economic security and military security are intertwined, and one cannot be pursued at the expense of the other. He outlined the government’s approach that aims to increase the national resource pie so that the military, which in his view is under-resourced, can be funded generously.
Explaining the objective of the Economic Outreach Initiative (EOI) led by the PM, Dr. Yusuf said that the aim is to maximize Pakistan’s potential and increase dollar inflows. He said the exercise had identified an additional $30 plus billion potential of foreign exchange earnings.
The SAPM was of the view that Pakistan is looking forward to working with the Biden administration.
“But our main effort is to change the nature of the conversation with the US, and it will be centered on Pakistan being an economic base to maximize our economic potential”, he said, adding, “We also need to explain to the US that India has become a liability for them and an agent of destabilization in a nuclear region.”
Speaking on the role of think tanks and policy-making, Dr. Moeed Yusuf said that NSD would launch a think tank portal soon so that input of intellectual capital available outside the government can be streamlined into the policy-making discourse.
The webinar was attended by experts from both Pakistan and abroad.
Source: Propakistani