PAKISTAN’S QUEST FOR SECURITY: AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Ever since its emergence in August 1947, Pakistan has been engaged in efforts to seek
security against the threat from its Eastern neighbour India. This perennial quest for
security led Pakistan to seek alignment with the US in the first two decades of its
existence and after 1965 war with India led to its strategic alignment with China following
the Sino-Indian war in 1962. After the debacle of 1971 war with India which led to
Pakistan's dismemberment and defeat, Islamabad launched a policy of internal alignment
by developing its nuclear weapon option. Pakistan faced the spectre of US sanctions as
Washington opposed Pakistan's nuclear programme. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
in December 1979 forced a change in Washington's attitude and Pakistan emerged as a
frontline state during the second cold war between Washington and Moscow. The Soviet
withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 and the subsequent fall of communism in 1991 gave
Pakistan short lived sense of victory. The 9/11 terrorist attacks brought new turbulence in
Pakistan's security environment and Islamabad was forced to become ally of the US in the
global war on terror for the next decade and half. Pakistan continues to suffer from the
violent legacy of this war even today.