Wednesday / Jul 09 2025

Newspaper : The News

The spectre of conflict with India remains the paramount strategic challenge for Pakistan. The fundamental lesson to be learned is that Pakistan’s security, indeed its very future, hinges not on dreams of military supremacy, but on a fundamental socio-economic transformation: building a technology-driven and equitable knowledge economy (as done by Singapore, Korea or China) through its primary focus on quality education, science, technology and innovation. This vision, alas, has been missing in our leaders, resulting in the economic quagmire in which we find ourselves immersed.

Chronic financial deficits, unsustainable debt, a narrow tax base, energy insecurity and underinvestment in human capital have crippled Pakistan’s ability to sustain a credible defence posture over the long term. It constrains procurement, stifles indigenous R&D and undermines wartime resilience. The lesson is clear: national security is inextricably linked to economic security. Therefore, radical economic reform is not merely desirable; it is a national security imperative.

This demands broadening the tax base, eliminating untargeted subsidies, aggressively improving the ease of doing business to attract diversified foreign direct investment (particularly in high-tech and export-oriented sectors) and confronting corruption with unwavering resolve. Concurrently, achieving energy independence through a massive push for indigenous renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro) is critical to free up foreign exchange and ensure uninterrupted power for industry and critical infrastructure. Most fundamentally, investing massively in human capital – particularly STEM education, technical skills and healthcare – will create the skilled workforce essential for a modern military, a dynamic economy and the innovation ecosystem vital for future security. Export diversification beyond low-value goods towards IT services, value-added agriculture and specialised manufacturing is crucial for generating sustainable foreign reserves.

Internal instability remains a cancer that weakens Pakistan from within. Ethno-nationalist tensions, sectarian violence and the menace of militant groups drain precious military resources, divert focus from the primary eastern frontier, cripple economic activity, provide adversaries with potent propaganda tools and complicate vital international partnerships.

Ensuring internal security is inseparable from national defence. This requires a sustained, uncompromising campaign against all militant groups without distinction, coupled with a comprehensive, long-term Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) strategy. This strategy must target the roots of radicalisation through fundamental education reform, promoting critical thinking and religious tolerance, creating genuine economic opportunities in marginalised areas and systematically countering extremist narratives online and offline.

Fostering genuine national cohesion demands addressing the legitimate grievances of marginalised regions and communities, such as those living in Balochistan, through inclusive political dialogue, equitable resource distribution, and strengthening provincial autonomy within the constitutional framework. Finally, reforming law enforcement agencies to promote professionalism and capacity, coupled with expediting judicial reforms to ensure timely justice, is critical for building public trust.

Turning to the military dimension, the objective must be credible deterrence through stronger cooperation with China, with an emphasis on developing capabilities for indigenous R&D organisations, such as NESCOM, GIDS and POF. The focus must be on developing capabilities such as advanced drones, loitering munitions, sophisticated cyber and electronic warfare tools and critical underlying technologies like precision guidance, advanced sensors and propulsion systems. Strategic partnerships, primarily with China and Turkey, should be leveraged aggressively not just for equipment, but for meaningful technology transfer, joint development projects and co-production to build lasting indigenous capacity.

To increase exports of high-value-added products, we need to join hands with Chinese industry and form product-oriented ‘QUADs’. Each QUAD will involve four parties a) Chinese industry; b) Pakistan industry; c) Chinese Technical University/ institutions; and d) Pakistani university/ technical institution all focused on the manufacture and export of a single set of high value-added products with the target of achieving $5 billion of exports within five years.

The establishment of 50 such QUADs, with free land, buildings, and subsidised energy incentives offered by the government of Pakistan, and suitable financial incentives from China, can rapidly transform our economy into a technology-driven knowledge economy within 10 years, with exports exceeding $200 billion annually.

Technology alone is insufficient without effective coordination among our armed forces. We must establish well-coordinated, functional and empowered theatre commands with unified C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance). This necessitates robust, secure and resilient communication networks and the integration of data from all sensors into a unified real-time operational picture, enhanced by AI-driven analytics.

Our recent aerial victory over India was the result of highly talented men and women with PhDs in engineering, IT, AI and other related fields trained by HEC in the thousands in top foreign universities. They were later absorbed into the defence forces and played a critically important role in our aerial successes as they were able to assimilate and integrate Chinese technologies covering ground radar, our aircraft electronics, missile guidance systems as well as AWACs and using AI they could target Indian Rafale and other aircraft seamlessly. The lesson to be learned is that investment in high-quality human resources in cutting-edge fields ultimately pays huge national dividends.

Finally, Pakistan must master the battlefield of perception: information warfare. Modern conflicts are won and lost in the global information space as much as on the ground. Pakistan has often been outmanoeuvred in global narrative shaping. Building sophisticated Information Operations (IO) capabilities within both military and civilian structures is essential. Proactive monitoring and rapid response mechanisms are necessary to identify and counter disinformation both domestically and internationally, while partnering with fact-checking organisations.

Credible strategic communication requires a consistent, fact-based international narrative delivered by trained professionals who proactively engage global media. Internally, fostering media literacy, supporting independent journalism and countering divisive extremist narratives are critical for maintaining national unity and resolve in times of crisis.

Pakistan’s future security hinges on recognising that power is multidimensional. It is the power of a skilled workforce, a thriving innovation ecosystem, a diversified economy integrated with the world, a society united in purpose and a military respected for its capability and restraint. Only by building this comprehensive foundation can Pakistan deter aggression, defend its sovereignty if challenged and secure the peaceful and prosperous future its people deserve.

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