Pakistan’s external affairs will remain challenging throughout 2020 which will have serious implications for its economy, security and internal stability, says a report published by an Islamabad-based think-tank.
The think-tank, Islamabad Policy Institute, believes that tense relations with India would continue to consume much of Pakistan’s strategic and diplomatic bandwidth, reports Dawn news.
It, moreover, forecast that peace process in Afghanistan would in near future continue to be marred by uncertainty.
The report tilted, “Pakistan Outlook 2020: Politics, Economy & Security”, has reviewed current trends in external environment, economy, political stability, and security and on the basis of that made short-term projections in these areas.
The report said that chances of limited conflict between India and Pakistan would remain high.
It further said that navigating China-US competition will test craft of Pakistani policy-makers in near term. This would, moreover, strain Pakistan-US ties while complicating regional environment from Pakistan’s perspective.
About ties with the US, the report said, it was a near certainty that bilateral engagement will remain limited to the minimum agenda of Afghanistan for foreseeable future and transactional nature of the relationship will continue.
The report flagged developments in the Middle East as a defining challenge for Pakistan’s foreign policy.
Prasanta Patnaik