Economic obstacles in the geopolitical role of Pakistan
According to Webangah News quoted by Mehr News Agency, without a doubt, in today’s world, having power components plays a decisive role in the survival and progress of governments. As the fifth most populous country in the world (with a population of over 240 million people) and the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, Pakistan has two important pillars of power (i.e. manpower and military weapons).
On the other hand, due to its important geopolitical position in Central Asia, Pakistan can play an important role in connecting the East and West world. As it currently plays an active role as part of the China Silk Road project. However, with a per capita income of $1,365 in 2023 (based on World Bank data), Pakistan has still not been able to compete with economically developed and politically independent countries. The question that is raised in the meantime is what factor or factors have prevented this country from developing and playing an effective role in regional developments despite having regional power components?
Figure 1. Location of Pakistan in Central Asia
Pakistan is located in the place of convergence and competition of three big players of global competition (China, Russia and America). This issue has made it appear as an important country in the eyes of major global actors. A topic that explains the main developments in Central Asian countries. Some of the most important issues are explained below.
- Stopping or weakening Pakistan’s development projects by using the capacity of neighboring countries: Pakistan’s special conditions in relation to the competition of major world powers to influence Pakistan’s behavior and policies , has caused the important economic projects defined between Pakistan and its neighbors to face problems.
As an example of the peace pipeline that was introduced with the aim of transferring Iran’s gas to Pakistan and finally India, with the withdrawal of the Indian side (under the pressure of the United States) And Pakistan’s delay in completing the domestic pipeline has been sidelined. In such a way that currently Iran is requesting compensation of about 18 billion dollars from Pakistan.
- Strengthening of terrorist and Salafi groups in Pakistan: Among other destructive effects of the intervention of world powers in the developments of Pakistan, it should be mentioned the strengthening of terrorist and Salafi groups in this country. . An issue that in recent years has created economic and political security challenges for the region. In addition, the existence of these terrorist groups has become the basis for the presence of some global and regional powers in this country under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
The result of this situation for Pakistan is the creation and expansion of active fuel smuggling routes from Iran, as well as pressure on the Shiites of Parachenar. In fact, the weakness of the central government and the active presence of terrorist and Salafi groups have created the aforementioned challenges for the economy of Pakistan as well as Iran. Pakistan’s Internal Intelligence Agency has announced that 2.81 billion liters of fuel are smuggled from Iran to Pakistan every year, and 995 Pakistani gas stations sell the smuggled Iranian fuel.
What will be the future of Pakistan in the region?
Despite having the population and military power components in the region, Pakistan has not been able to play a role due to its geographical location and the role played by world powers in its internal developments. to play an active role in the developments of the region and has played the role of an observer and neutral in most of the developments of the region.
But in some cases, this country is trying to play a role in such a way that the cooperation and alignment of the Arab countries of the region to confront India and also to export labor to their countries have However, considering the demographic conditions and cultural structure of this country, regional developments, especially the rise of the Tahrir al-Sham group in Syria, can strengthen concerns for the escalation of ethnic and religious conflicts in this country, as well as intergovernmental confrontation with Afghanistan and even India. .
Therefore, we have to wait and what will be the approach of the Salafist groups towards the developments in the region. Because the historical experience has shown that the central government of Pakistan does not want to enter directly into the regional issues that are the grounds for the formation of two-decision and multi-polarity among the countries of the region and world powers.
