NATIONAL SECURITY OF PAKISTAN

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the national security of Pakistan. It examines the core determinants that have shaped Pakistan's strategic worldview and policies since its inception. The study identifies the perception of a persistent and existential threat from India as the central and overriding driver of its national security policy. The research explores the key components of Pakistan's security strategy, including its reliance on a strong military, its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability, and its use of strategic alliances with external powers like the United States and China. The paper also delves into the complex internal dimensions of national security, such as the challenges of political instability, weak democratic institutions, and the rise of religious extremism. The analysis concludes that Pakistan's security paradigm is characterized by a deep-seated sense of vulnerability, which has led to a highly militarized state and a foreign policy focused on balancing against a much larger neighbor.

Understanding the national security of Pakistan requires a deep appreciation of its unique historical and geopolitical context. This paper provides such a comprehensive analysis. The study begins by arguing that Pakistan's national security concept is defined by a single, overwhelming preoccupation: the perceived threat from India. It traces this perception back to the traumatic experience of the 1947 partition and the subsequent wars between the two countries. The core of the article is an examination of the key pillars of Pakistan's strategic response to this perceived threat. The first and most important pillar is the central and dominant role of the military in the state and in national security decision-making. The second pillar is the pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, which is analyzed as the ultimate guarantor of the country's survival against a conventionally superior adversary. The third pillar is the cultivation of strategic alliances, most notably with the United States during the Cold War and the enduring "all-weather friendship" with China, both of which are seen as crucial external balancers against India. The paper also provides a critical analysis of the internal challenges to Pakistan's security, arguing that the long periods of military rule and the instrumentalization of political Islam have created deep-seated problems of governance and social cohesion that are themselves a major source of national insecurity. The findings reveal a security state locked in a perpetual and costly rivalry, a reality that has shaped every aspect of its national life.