‘Geopolitics continues to influence interstate relations’

Islamabad: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has said that geographical location placed Pakistan at the centre of evolving global power dynamics and increasingly complex interplay between traditional and non-traditional foreign policy actors, globalisation, the interdependence of economies and challenges of climate change and public health, water, energy, and food security which are compelling factors for win-win approaches.

Ms Hina was speaking at her keynote video address at a 1-day international conference on ‘Pakistan’s strategic frontiers: adapting to evolving global trend’ hosted here by the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS) in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES),

Ms Hina said that geopolitics continues to influence interstate relations and added that manipulation of interdependencies for geopolitics run against the spirit of win-win cooperation that was the hallmark of globalisation for the last many decades and it is against the backdrop of these parallel global trends that Pakistan today needed to define its interest. Foreign Secretary Dr Asad Majeed Khan said that the global transformations necessitate newer approaches for Pakistan. In contemporary international politics, economic interdependencies, investment, trade, energy, and connectivity are shapers and drivers of interstate relations. He went on to say that, in parallel, we are witnessing new geopolitical contestations, competition for influence, resources, and dominance in the domain of technology.

Pakistan has to navigate similar competing trends and Pakistan’s location also keeps it at the flashpoint of conflict. He stated that CPEC is an opportunity to redefine regional connectivity. Polarisation and power projection have only brought catastrophe and the world needs cooperation and not confrontation. Director General ISS Sohail Mahmood, Amina Khan, Dr Niels Hegewisch, Country Director, FES, Amina Khan from ISS, Hamayoun Khan from FES and Khalid Mahmood, Chairperson, BoG, ISS, also spoke on the occasion.