Geo-strategic position

of Pakistan
Opportunity & Challenges

Important for
#CSS / #PMS
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 What is Geo-Strategic ?

Merriam Webster Dictionary has

interpreted the term ‘Geo-
Strategy’ as follow:
“The combination of geopolitical
and strategic factors characterizing
a particular geographic region”.
 What is Geo-Strategic ?
Geo-Strategic means importance of a
country or a region as with respect to
its geographical location.
Geopolitical is defined as, stressing the
influence of geographic factors on the
state power, international conduct
and benefits it derives from its
location.
The word geopolitics was originally
coined by Swedish Political Scientist
RODULF KEJELLEN about the turn of
20th century.
 Geographically Blessed Pakistan
 Pakistan is located at a region which has a great economic, political and strategic location.

 Pakistan is located in Southern Asia and also work as a bridge between

South Asia and West Asia.

 It has been the hub of great economic and strategic activities for the past twenty years.

An American Political Scientist Stephen Philip Cohen describes this importance in his
book The Idea of Pakistan “While history has been unkind to Pakistan, its geography
has been its greatest benefit. It has a resource rich area in the north-west, people rich in
the northeast.”

Geo-Strategic importance plays a lot more than we actually think

 Geographical sketch of Pakistan

 The geo-strategic importance of Pakistan

location can be gauged by its present
geographical sketch.
 Pakistan is situated in South Asia and is located
between 61 to 75 longitude towards east and 24
to 36 latitude towards North.
 It was the part of the Indian subcontinent unless
it became sovereign and an independent state in
1947.

 Pakistan is surrounded by India in the East with a 1650 km long border known as Line-Of-Control (LOC).
 Afghanistan is located in the west of Pakistan with a 2250 km long border which is also named as ‘Durand Line’.
 China locates in the North of Pakistan with a 400 km borderline and Iran is located in the South-west of Pakistan.
 Arabian sea is located in the south of Pakistan that stretches from Makran to Karachi about 700 km coastal line.
 Pakistan is a link between South Asia, West
Asia and Central Asia, away from resource-
efficient countries to resource deficient
countries with respect to trade and other
strategic matters.

 The world is facing an energy crisis, COVID-

19 pandemic and terrorism.

 Pakistan is a route for transportation due to

Gwadar Port which has great significance
regarding CPEC (China Pakistan Economic
Corridor).Moreover, also due to Jinnah
International Airport which is located at a
significant location regarding cargo flights.

 Afghanistan has no sea so it uses the way of

Pakistan for trading through TOREKHAM
Border.

 Pakistan also gave its services for NATO

Supply (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
 Geo-Strategic Importance of
Pakistan’s Geographical Location

Geo-Strategic Importance & Boundary with Afghanistan Boundary with India

Azaad Jammu Kashmir and Northern Areas Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean

Boundary and Relations with China Geo-Strategic Importance & Boundary with Iran
 Geo-Strategic Importance &
Boundary with Afghanistan

 Afghanistan lies along the

Northwestern part of Pakistan.
 Pakistan’s boundary with Afghanistan
is about 2,250 kilometers long.
 The boundary line between Pakistan
and Afghanistan is known as Durand
Line which was drawn by Sir Mortimer
Durand in 1893 and he was also
Foreign Secretary of British India.
 In the north, it runs along the ridges of the
Hindu Kush mountains and the Pamirs, where a
narrow strip of Afghan territory called the
Wakhan Corridor extends between Pakistan and
Tajikistan.

 This strip is about 16 to 25 kilometres long.

 There is no doubt when Pakistan came into being

in1947, although its legitimacy was in later
years disputed periodically by the Afghan
government as well as by Pashtun tribes.
 Azaad Jammu Kashmir and Northern Areas

 In the northeastern part of the country,

Former princely state Azad Jammu and
Kashmir located Pakistan which has area
round about 84,159 square kilometres.
 This area, consisting of Azad Kashmir
(11,639 square kilometres) and most of
the Northern Areas (72,520 square
kilometres), which includes Gilgit and
Baltistan..
 It is the most visually stunning of
Pakistan.

 The northern areas have five highest

mountains of the world including
 K-2(GODWIN AUSTEN) second highest
mountain in the world with a height of
8611 meters.

 It also has such extensive glaciers

including Biafo, Baltoro, Haispar and
Siachen etc that it has sometimes been
called the “third pole.”
 Boundary and Relations with China

 A boundary of about 438 kilometres runs

generally southeast between China and
Pakistan, ending near the Karakoram Pass.
 This line was determined from 1961 to
1965 in a series of agreements between
China and Pakistan.
 Karakoram Highway also known as Silk
Highway exists constructed by both China
and Pakistan regarding trade.
 The game-changer project CPEC which
is constructed by both countries is
also near to completion.

 Pakistan and China are also very

cooperative in Defense.

 Both the countries manufactured a

famous fighter Jet Jf17.

 The intimate friendship between

China and Pakistan is famous all over
the world.
 Boundary with India

 The India-Pakistan Border, known locally

as the International Border (IB), is the
international boundary between India and
Pakistan that demarcates the Indian states
of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat from
provinces of Punjab and Sindh.

 Pakistan borders India in the East.The

border resulted from the Partition of India
in 1947.
This border also a border between India
and Pakistan which is known as Radcliff
Line.

The Radcliff LINE was the boundary

demarcation line between the Indian and
Pakistani portion of the Punjab and
Bengal provinces of British India.

It was drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliff who

was the joint Chairman of two boundary
commission.
  The Line of Control (L.O.C) separates The Indian
occupied Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan
administered Azad Kashmir .

 The length of LOC is 700 kilometres.

 Wagah, the ceremonial point of crossing

between India and Pakistan lies along this
border between the Indian city of Amritsar and
the Pakistani city of Lahore. It is within close
distance of both cities’ urban sprawl.

Total length of Pakistan’s border with India is 3133 kilometers.

 LOC includes 700 km,
Working Boundary includes 193 km and
International Border is 2240 km.
 Geo-Strategic Importance &
Boundary with Iran
 The boundary with Iran, some 909
kilometres in length, was first delimited by
a British commission in 1893, separating
Iran from what was then British Indian
Balochistan.
 In 1957 Pakistan signed a frontier
agreement with Iran.
 Since then the border between the two
countries has not been a subject of serious
dispute.
 Pakistan deployed FC (Frontier Core) while
Iran deployed IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Crops) on the border.
 Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean

 To the South of Pakistan, Arabian sea

and Indian ocean are located.
 The coastal belt of Pakistan is about
1050 kilometre.
 Pakistan significance is enhanced as it
located near the Persian Gulf from
where 65% oil of the world is
produced.
 Geo-Strategic location of Pakistan
enables it to extend high level of
trading facilities throughout the
region.
 Geo-Strategic Importance of Pakistan in regional politics

 Pakistan has always remained the junction of great powers. Be it

the pre or post-colonial era, Pakistan is the first choice of
superpowers in this region because of its geo-strategic
importance of Pakistan. Pakistan is having China and Russia, the
great powers of the world, in its neighbor and India, the emerging
economy of the world and a bitter foe of Pakistan also borders
Pakistan.
 2
 Politically, Pakistan also keeps good weightage due to the geo-
strategic importance of Pakistan. The USA has always asked Pakistan
for help when so ever she felt insecure in terms of its hegemony.
China is the new emerging and counters to the hegemony of the
USA as the only superpower. Iran on the other hand is also irritating
the USA through its nuclear programs. To contain this USA needs
Pakistan and in past also, USA contained USSR through the help of
Pakistan. America has admitted multiple times that Pakistan is the
major player in the war on terror and we can’t win this war without
the assistance of Pakistan.
 3
 Pakistan is the gateway to central Asia. Central Asia is rich in mineral
resources and it is certainly the next new great game. Due to its rich
mineral resources, Pakistan’s geo-strategic location can become the
gateway to central Asia.
4
 Pakistan is at the center of Muslim countries. Because Pakistan is
located in the East of Iran, North African countries, and Middle Eastern
Muslim countries while it is situated in the west of countries like
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, etc.
 5
 Due to the geo-strategic location of Pakistan and an easy route for
trade, china has invested handsome amount of almost $62 billion
through CPCE. CPEC is the game-changer project which would leave
the positive footprints over generations to come of Pakistan.

6
 Pakistan offers the shortest route to the landlocked countries and
that is why now most of the countries are having their eyeballs on
the mega project of Gawadar.
 7

 Pakistan is having almost 700 kms coastal highway from Karachi to

Makran and Pakistan that is surrounded by the Arabian Sea in the
south, also has three important ports that led to the warm waters.
Karachi, the mini-Pakistan, has two important ports that are worthy
appreciated because it is the refueling stop of ships I.e. Karachi port and
Bin-Qasim port. China has also invested in Gawadar which will be the
easiest and shortest route for china and there would be no kind of
hurdle for Chinese goods, unlike the South China Sea.
 8
K-2 and Nanga Parbat are the two biggest mountains of the world
and that too is situated in Pakistan. These are the saviors of Pakistan,
especially from the Siberian winds.
9
If we talk about the natural resources and minerals in Pakistan, it is
wealthier in natural resources. Pakistan has khewra salt mine, the
second biggest in the world, Reco Diq one of the most popular gold mine
in the world, Natural Gas in Sui and coal are the natural resources that
make Pakistan much important in the region.
10

Pakistan is the only Muslim country in the world and this region also
has a nuclear capability which makes Pakistan’s defense stronger
than many countries and it also leaves great footprints over the
political and socio-economic doings in the region.
 Challenges for Pakistan

 The above-mentioned stances prove the geo-strategic

importance of Pakistan in this region. Pakistan is also active
in regional politics.

 It has always tried to maintain the balance of power and

status quo vis-à-vis India.

 India has left no chance where it did not try to defame

Pakistan, but due to the diplomatic support from China,
Turkey, and other powerful countries, India has always got a
slap back.

However, Pakistan has not chased its geostrategic location.

 There are certain reasons for that that include terrorism, which the
biggest issue for Pakistan since the start of the 21st century, and the
Pakistan Army has launched multiple operations to curb terrorism
from the homeland and it has achieved positive results.

 Secondly, India being the biggest foe of Pakistan leaves no stone

unturned to make Pakistan unstable. It censors terrorism in
Balochistan and provides safe havens to those who go against
Pakistan.
 Thirdly, Pakistan hasn’t got much appreciation from the region
because of the interference of superpowers. US sanctions over Iran
for its nuclear program are the biggest hurdle in the completion of
the gas pipeline that stretches from Iran to Pakistan and India.

 Apart from this Energy crisis in Pakistan and the weak democratic
system in the country hasn’t allowed it to get the maximum benefit
from its geostrategic location.
But Pakistan is now on the track to become a democratic
and more matured nation and hopefully, it gets
maximum from its geostrategic location and would stable
its economy so that she should have a good say in the
regional politics.
This soft copy in the form of PDF file is provided you by Jan Academy, a WhatsApp based online network of groups
which scans various important books which are necessary for ability and competitive exams and prepares soft copies in
the form of PDF files of these books.

Besides our own scanned copies we share materials and books which our members provide us through WhatsApp, these
materials generally includes General Knowledge Books, MCQS Books, Detailed Notes, Books that covers CSS & PMS
Syllabus, Past Papers, etc.

So to get PDF Books for MCQS based ability test preparation which are conducted by FPSC, PPSC, KPPSC, SPSC, BPSC, ETEA,
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