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Pakistan's Geo-Political and Strategic Compulsions

Abstract

South Asia has “Seven countries” (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives). It is spread over a total area of more than four million square kilometers. Population o[South Asia is one of the highest, which stands at about 1.2 billion. It is located between East Asia and Central Asia in the middle part of the Indian Ocean. South Asia by virtue of its geopolitical and geostrategic importance has been the area o{power struggle between power players like United States, Russia, China and India. Pakistan and Bangladesh are also important countries o[the region, but due to confiicting interests of the major power players, they are sometimes fine balancing their relations to adjust their national and regional interests, which at times make it a confiicting pattern of interstate relationship. The end of cold war, disintegration o[ USSR and [all of communism as ideology has diminished the risk and chances of a global war. However, there has been no easing out of tension in international situation or solution of regional confiicts. The uni-polar global environments are getting increasingly prone to coercion through diplomatic and economic manipulation. Unfortunately, in the recent ast there has been increasing animosity of US led western world to the Islamic world. Most of the time unjustified due to the follies o{ misguided elements amongst the Muslims. The global geopolitical and geostrategic environments are rapidly changing. Emergence of uni -polar world with USA as the only super power, paradigm shift in importance of geo- economics, geo-strategy, dominating role of hard core non state actors, negative perception about philosophy of Islam, nuclear non-roliferation and many other issues has necessitated a re-definition o[ inter-state relations. The World has emerged as uni-polar but role of regional power centers has increased manifold. The expanding role and ssertiveness exhibited by China, Russia, Japan, India, Germany and regional groups like ASEAN and European Union, is fairly evident and effective.

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