SECURITY CHALLENGES CONFRONTING PAKISTAN

Security implies the absence of real or perceived threats whether originating from internal turmoil,
external sources, or incumbent economic disparities and inequalities.

The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, once said “The weak and defenseless, in
this imperfect world, invite aggression from others.”

Power and economic disparities and inequalities are known to be the salient features of the operative
international political system. Given the nature of the existing international, regional, and domestic
environment, Pakistan is facing many securities challenges.

 Types of Security challenges:

To completely understand the security challenges faced by Pakistan, it is categorized into two main
groups; external and internal challenges. Terrorism is a challenge that has linkage with both external
and internal security situations.
1. External challenges:
 Pakistan has been facing external threats to its independence and territorial integrity right
from its birth. Periodic domestic troubles along with internal subversion further complicated
the situation.
 By and large, Pakistan is faced with three-situation dangers (1) India, (2) Afghanistan, and
(3) Threat exuding from a changing residential circumstance.
 China, Afghanistan, India and Iran are the immediate neighbours of Pakistan. The South has
a coastline along with the Arabian Sea. The country has no danger from China and Iran;
moreover, there is no potential threat or risk to the country from the Southern or oceanic
side.
 Conventional threats emerging from India:
After emerging from British colonial rule in 1947, the Hindu majority state known as “India” and Muslim
majority state called “Pakistan”, become rivals of each other. Since then, a series of historical and
geopolitical events have complicated the interaction between both countries because of which they
have fought four wars. Ever since not only have both the countries been in a state of continuous enmity
but also, they engaged in a nuclear arms race for the last two decades. Since the partition both the
countries are stuck in resolving their disputes that have arisen with the passage of time, whether it is
Kashmir Dispute, water sharing dispute or military conflict.

 Kashmir dispute:
Kashmir is the main source of conflict and a disputed border territory between the two countries.
Pakistan considers Kashmir as its part due to the Muslim majority population, whereas India
considers Kashmir as its fundamental part of identity. This dispute has resulted in three wars over
the last seven decades. Whereas, tensions between both the countries persist all the time, which
can be seen in the regularly occurring exchange of fire across the Line of Control situated between
both countries. India and Pakistan, as nuclear powers, have spent a significant portion of their
annual budget on the arms race with nuclear weapons to ensure their nuclear superiority.
 Therefore, the Kashmir conflict has not only affected the interrelationship between the two
countries but also constituted a continuing risk to the strategic stability and peace in South Asia.

 Cross border terrorism:

Cross-border terrorism stems from the time of partition and is not a present-day issue. The elements
of Indian intelligence are also organized in different areas of Pakistan such as FATA, Waziristan, and
Balochistan with the purpose to damage peace by undertaking different activities that are against
the interests of a peaceful Pakistan. They believe that the Kashmir free movement has received
support from forces present on the soil of Pakistan. There is a very common concept in India, which
says that Pakistan is behind the support and training of militant groups that attack and fight the
Indian Army in order to create chaos and disorder. The current interference by India in Baluchistan’s
internal affairs has led to a more worsened state of affairs related to security between India and
Pakistan. The situation further serious when a representative of the Indian Army was caught in the
Baluchistan province of Pakistan. He was found dealing with and harming the security aspects in the
economic corridor Gwadar and China-Pak. At present, Kalboshan Yadav has been punished for
involvement in these and supporting the activities of terrorism.

 Conventional threats arising from Afghanistan:

Afghanistan is situated in the north-western part of Pakistan and is a Muslim country. It is located in
the vicinity of Central Asia and is strategically very important for Pakistan. The second major source
of external threat comes from the current developments in Afghanistan. The threat from
Afghanistan did not acquire alarming proportions until the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December
1979. Since then, Pakistan Afghanistan relations have experienced many variations. Post 9/11
developments further complicated the situation. There is no doubt that the people of both Pakistan
and Afghanistan have great regard for each other, but the policies are made by the ruling groups.
India’s role and support for Afghanistan are also worth mentioning as it is doing this by putting the
relations of Afghanistan with Pakistan at stake. The government of Karzai is also in the favor of
building strong ties with the Indian government as it knows that India can support it in its anti-
Pakistan activities. Following events changed the fate of this country and adversely affected the
internal security of Pakistan:

• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the year 1979.

• US-sponsored war against Russia through Pakistan by using religious groups / Afghan Mujahideen.
• Political/power vacuum in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviets in 1989 resulting in
prolonged civil war/ internal strife between various Afghan groups.

• Rise of Taliban in Afghanistan in 1994 and their rule from 1996 to 2001.

• Incident of 9/11 in USA and US-led War in Afghanistan from 2001 onwards.

• Pakistan’s participation in international anti-terrorism drive as US ally and Taliban / Al Qaeda

turned against Pakistan.
 • Indian involvement in Afghanistan and carrying out anti-Pakistan activities.

• US / CIA’s involvement in Afghanistan.

• US Drone Attacks in Pakistan’s territory.

 Threat arising from the United States:

 The economic interests of the United States in South Asia and Central Asia is to continue to
secure the naval trade routes through the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. The basic
reason behind this is that it wants to take control of the natural resources present in the
region and to eradicate terrorism that is likely to rise from countries like Afghanistan.
 It also fears that any incident like 9/11 does not happen again in its homeland. All this has
indirectly severely affected the internal security situation of Pakistan. These effects are
evident following Soviet withdrawal and the war on terror in Afghanistan. The wave of
terrorism in the country can be contributed to the US war in Afghanistan.
 It is reported that the government of Afghanistan with the help of US, Indian and Russian
intelligence organizations have created a new RAMA (Research and Analysis Milli Afghan).
Its main designs in Pakistan appear to increase control over the port of Gwadar, destabilize
Balochistan and increase the activities of terrorism in order to destabilize the nuclear
program of Pakistan.
 The strange events include the arrest of Raymond Davis over clandestine actions in Lahore,
Osama Bin Laden’s shooting in the Abbottabad operation, or the issuance of more than 500
visas in one week by the Pakistani embassy. All these mysterious events show the hidden
activities of the CIA inside the territory of Pakistan. It is obvious that in order to dominate
Iran and to further strengthen its grip on the Indian Ocean, the US is interested in converting
Gwadar as its military base.
 Moreover, US and India have reservations about the emerging China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) and they do not want that China should access the Arabian sea through this
project and dominate the world through its trade.
2. Internal challenges:

3. The dynamics of internal

security are complex and
chained together
4. in such a way that if one is
fixed the other gets cushion
and space to become bigger
challenge.
5. Pakistan with its meager
resources is continuously
fixing the challenges. The
external global and
6. regional factors already
explained above clandestinely
exploit the internal faultiness.
This makes
7. the vulnerabilities and
incapacity of Pakistan quite
 a dangerous threat to
national security
8. institutions. With all these
challenges below are
mentioned some of the most
important pinching
9. variables of internal security
that Pakistan has been
encountering with.
10. The dynamics of internal
security are complex and
chained together
11. in such a way that if one
is fixed the other gets cushion
 and space to become bigger
challenge.
12. Pakistan with its meager
resources is continuously
fixing the challenges. The
external global and
13. regional factors already
explained above clandestinely
exploit the internal faultiness.
This makes
14. the vulnerabilities and
incapacity of Pakistan quite
a dangerous threat to
national security
15. institutions. With all these
challenges below are
mentioned some of the most
important pinching
16. variables of internal
security that Pakistan has been
encountering with.
17. The dynamics of internal
security are complex and
chained together
18. in such a way that if one
is fixed the other gets cushion
and space to become bigger
challenge.
19. Pakistan with its meager
resources is continuously
fixing the challenges. The
external global and
20. regional factors already
explained above clandestinely
exploit the internal faultiness.
This makes
21. the vulnerabilities and
incapacity of Pakistan quite
a dangerous threat to
national security
22. institutions. With all these
challenges below are
 mentioned some of the most
important pinching
23. variables of internal
security that Pakistan has been
encountering with.
24. The dynamics of internal
security are complex and
chained together
25. in such a way that if one
is fixed the other gets cushion
and space to become bigger
challenge.
26. Pakistan with its meager
resources is continuously
 fixing the challenges. The
external global and
27. regional factors already
explained above clandestinely
exploit the internal faultiness.
This makes
28. the vulnerabilities and
incapacity of Pakistan quite
a dangerous threat to
national security
29. institutions. With all these
challenges below are
mentioned some of the most
important pinching
30. variables of internal
security that Pakistan has been
encountering with.
31. The dynamics of internal
security are complex and
chained together
32. in such a way that if one
is fixed the other gets cushion
and space to become bigger
challenge.
33. Pakistan with its meager
resources is continuously
fixing the challenges. The
external global and
34. regional factors already
explained above clandestinely
exploit the internal faultiness.
This makes
35. the vulnerabilities and
incapacity of Pakistan quite
a dangerous threat to
national security
36. institutions. With all these
challenges below are
mentioned some of the most
important pinching
37. variables of internal
security that Pakistan has been
encountering with
38. The dynamics of internal
security are complex and
chained together
39. in such a way that if one
is fixed the other gets cushion
and space to become bigger
challenge.
40. Pakistan with its meager
resources is continuously
fixing the challenges. The
external global and
41. regional factors already
explained above clandestinely
exploit the internal faultiness.
This makes
42. the vulnerabilities and
incapacity of Pakistan quite
a dangerous threat to
national security
43. institutions. With all these
challenges below are
mentioned some of the most
important pinching
44. variables of internal
security that Pakistan has been
encountering with
45. The dynamics of internal
security are complex and
chained together
46. in such a way that if one
is fixed the other gets cushion
and space to become bigger
challenge.
47. Pakistan with its meager
resources is continuously
fixing the challenges. The
external global and
48. regional factors already
explained above clandestinely
exploit the internal faultiness.
This makes
49. the vulnerabilities and
incapacity of Pakistan quite
 a dangerous threat to
national security
50. institutions. With all these
challenges below are
mentioned some of the most
important pinching
51. variables of internal
security that Pakistan has been
encountering with.
The dynamics of internal security are complex and chained together in such a way that if
one is fixed the other gets space to become a bigger challenge. Pakistan with its insufficient
resources is continuously fixing the challenges. With all the challenges below are mentioned
some of the most important pinching variables of internal security that Pakistan has been
encountering with:

 Religious Extremism:

The population of Pakistan constitutes around 96% Muslims with distinctions of 85-
90% Sunni and 10-15% Shia. Around 3% are non-Muslims including Hindus,
Christians, Parsis and Ahmadis. The teaching of jihad was fueled by Islamic
madrassas during the time of late general Zia-ul-Haq and fully actualized during the
Afghan jihad. Some Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran provide moral,
material and financial support to these madrassas which produced radicalized young
Pakistanis who believed in death and destruction in the name of Islam. Pakistan
became a safe haven for fundamentalists and militants of different streaks, thus
posing an existential threat to the country
  Ethnic conflict:
The conflict between the ethnic group of Sindhis, muhajirs’ and Pathan came to the
limelight in the 1970s. In the 1980s the ethnic politics took a nasty turn with the
flood of arms and drugs from Afghanistan into tribal areas finally ending up with the
militant group of Sindhis, muhajirs and Pathan in Karachi. The city has become a
violent place where agitational politics stops the wheel of economic activity. Due to
Sindh rangers, the trend of the strike in Karachi is over.
 Political instability:

Serious issues of governance include political turmoil, corruption, lack of

transparency and accountability stand-off between various organs of the state. The
politicization of bureaucracy resulting in mal-administration, favoritism and
nepotism have replaced eligibility and merit. All this undermined the public faith in
the future of the state, thus creating public unrest and damaging Pakistan’s image.

 Economic instability:

 Pakistan is suffering due to

its weak economic handling and
decline
 in the strength of its key
institutions. The internal and
external economic shocks,
 structural macro-economic
problems, natural calamities,
law and order situation, capital
 flight and large fiscal deficits
have caused rising inflation,
limited growth and a decrease
 in employment generation.
The present government is
facing financial and out of
 nowhere trying to rescue the
fledgling economy (Aamer,
2018
Pakistan is suffering a lot due to its weak economic handling and decline in the
strength of its key institutions. The internal and external economic shocks, structural
macro-economic problems, natural calamities, law and order situation, capital flight
and large financial shortages have caused rising inflation, limited growth and a
decrease in employment generation.

 Good governance:

Good governance is accountable, consensus-oriented, effective and efficient,

equitable and inclusive, participatory, transparent, responsive to the needs of
the people and follows the rule of law. It ensures that corruption is decreased,
the opinions of minorities are considered, and the views of the helpless in
society are addressed indecision-making. Decentralization, corruption and social
and economic expenditures are three key components of governance in Pakistan
requiring the immediate attention of the administration. The governance
problem is not limited to these three parts. These three broad areas of
governance include taxation and monetary policies, fiscal management, energy,
law enforcement and decentralization of power to the local administration which
are challenges facing Pakistan. Despite significance legislative amendments,
governance is still a significant challenge for the bureaucracy and politicians.