Energy security as a crucial Pakistan’s foreign policy determinant

Abstract

Considering many factors that can affect the nation’s foreign policy, one can point out the factor of energy security. The article deals with the place of energy security in Pakistan’s foreign policy. The author puts forward a hypothesis according to which the socio-political development of Pakistan directly depends on the state of its energy sector and the prospects for its development, and therefore the nation’s foreign policy in fact stems from the needs of strengthening energy security. The article discusses the general concepts of energy security, lists the existing threats, the role of the energy sector in the Pakistani economy and the structural problems of the industry are analyzed with an overview of the country’s foreign trade balance having been given. The strategically important tracks of Pakistan’s energy policy include the implementation of the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the development of relations with the Gulf countries, an attempt to agree on the implementation of energy projects with the countries of Central Asia. Among Pakistan’s attempts to counter socio-political threats to energy security, counter-terrorism operations of the nation’s armed forces are considered, and its duality is noted, initiatives to strengthen regional maritime security in the Indian Ocean and in particular - Regional Maritime Security Patrols, as well as Pakistan’s role in the civil war in Afghanistan in the context of the Taliban takeover. The author concludes that energy security will remain one of the key factors in Pakistan’s foreign policy until the burning issues in the areas discussed in the article are resolved. Otherwise, Pakistan will remain a country with an extremely vulnerable economy, which will not allow Islamabad to play the role in world politics it hopes for.