Pakistan is willing to make peace with immediate neighbors, including India, under its first-ever National Security Policy which leaves doors open for trade with New Delhi even without the settlement of the Kashmir issue provided there is headway in bilateral talks, according to a media report.
The National Security Policy, separately endorsed by the National Security Committee and the Cabinet last month, is scheduled to be formally unveiled by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday.
Peace with immediate neighbors and economic diplomacy will be the central theme of Pakistan’s foreign policy in the new National Security Policy, the Express Tribune newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The five-year-policy document covering a period between 2022-26, is being propped up by the Pakistan government as the country’s first-ever strategy paper of its kind.
The original 100-page policy, which would be kept under wraps, leaves the door open for trade and business ties with India without the final settlement of the longstanding Kashmir dispute provided there is progress in the talks between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, an official was quoted as saying by the paper.
"We are not seeking hostility with India for the next 100 years. The new policy seeks peace with immediate neighbors, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after an attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016. Subsequent attacks, including one on an Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship.
The relationship dipped further after India carried out an airstrike in Pakistan on February 26, 2019, in response to the Pulwama suicide attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
The relations deteriorated after India announced withdrawing the special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August 2019.
India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighborly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility, and violence.
As the new national security policy seeks a shift in Pakistan’s approach from geo-strategic to geo-economics, there is a renewed optimism of a possible thaw with India, the report said.
"Economic security will be the central theme of the new national security policy," the official disclosed.
"But geo-economics does not necessarily mean we overlook our geo-strategic and geo-political interests, the official said, adding the long-standing Kashmir dispute with India has been identified as a vital national policy’ issue for Pakistan.
The official, however, clarified that there were no prospects of rapprochement with India under the current government in New Delhi.
The official said this would be the first-ever codified national security policy that would cover both internal security as well as foreign policy.
"Only a part of the national security policy will be made public, the official clarified, saying in the rest of the world such policies often remained classified.
The official said though Pakistan did have defense, foreign and internal policies, the new policy would act as an umbrella document providing direction for the future.
