CPEC: Shifting Sands in Pakistan’s Foreign Policy

Abstract

This paper is about the dramatic shifts in Pakistan’s diplomatic stance since its inception. The paper argues that Pakistan is unusual in having to depend upon short-term diplomacy to achieve the stability that other countries enjoy through long-term diplomacy. The article argues that this short-term diplomacy is the result of Pakistan being forced to improvise radically different diplomatic responses in the face of different and severe challenges in its international relations. Whilst the overriding challenge in Pakistan’s international relations has always been the existential threat posed by India, the shifting sands of alliances in its region between the U.S, China, Russia and India, wars and civil strife have prompted Pakistan to pivot alliances alternately between the U.S. and China whilst maintaining a difficult balancing act between them. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the latest shift in the sands of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy in recent times. Keywords: Foreign Policy, Pakistan, CPEC, China, India, U.S., Soviet Union, Afghanistan DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/94-01 Publication date: April 30 th 2022