Gul Ayesha Bhatti

Post-Cold-war a shift is observed in the world politics and system. But the primary actor in the international system is still a state because all the activities of the world politics and affairs revolve around the state. To ensure its survival and security a state enhances influence and control over its neighbors and region through economic activities and military equipment. Today these activities and measures are creating highly complicated situation. The new trends of economic activities, mutual trade and the access to resources like coal, oil, gas, and coal as well as to control geo -economic instruments are being introduced

The physical entrance into a certain region or state is referred to as routes, which are both a topographical and a tactical concept. The domestic growth impacts by routes or in area of security and development. Routes are also a key instrument for revealing the qualitative relationships between the states and for providing open doors to greater economic efficiency, safety, rural growth, and access to urban or international markets. Having easy access to market is the most important of all these benefits since without it, a state cannot maintain its economic and commercial events.

                 The boundaries of Pakistan, particularly the province of Baluchistan, have historically been crucial for gaining control of influence, pursuing development, and attracting attention from the globe. In the contemporary world, the position of Gawadar is highly appealing to regional and global powers who are interested in the South, West, and Asia from a strategic and economic standpoint. Gawadar lies at the entrance to the Persian Gulf in the south while being adjacent to the Chinese region of Xinjiang in the north. The proximity of its harbor to the Hormuz Strait, a route for nearly 17 million barrels of oil per day, makes it the ideal location between three important regions: South Asia, the Persian Gulf (rich in oil), and Central Asia (resource-rich in oil and gas), which further increases its strategic value.

 Moreover, powerful states like China, United States, Russia and regional states are willing in extending economic dominance in this region due to its terrestrial and strategic value. Gwadar stands out in the global maritime scene as an alternative to Dubai (beyond the Strait of Hormuz’s choke point and shallow seas), due to its closeness to important SLOCs and its importance to the new great game as a member of the so-called String of Pearls.

China is Pakistan’s main partner in commerce, investment, and defense relations. CPEC, the centerpiece project of China’s larger Belt and Road Initiative, is being vigorously pursued as it moves forward with economic projects in the area. China has an alternative for the Strait of Malacca because of Gwadar, which shows that all the participating nations may benefit strategically from using the coastlines of Gwadar and Makran owing to the access to the coastline that can provide economic and strategic goals in the region. It can increase access across the Hormuz Straits and the northern Indian Ocean, enabling admission to marine channels for China.

Furthermore, In comparison to Iran (4500 km) and Turkey (5000 km), Pakistan gives the CARs the quickest land route (2600 km via Afghanistan) to the Arabian Sea for trade. Additionally, the CPEC route has been operating since 2004 under a Quadrilateral Trade Agreement between China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. It also extends to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. TAPI (Termez, Kabul, Peshawar, Islamabad) is an alternative project of TAPI with a length of 750 km (almost half of TAPI: 1700 km) to reach Islamabad. TKPI (Termez, Kabul, Peshawar, and Islamabad) is an alternative project of TAPI with a length of 750 km (nearly half of TAPI: 1700 km). 

The majority of Afghan trade, which includes everyday necessities and critical foods, passes through Pakistan. After the US and NATO withdrawal, Pakistan would unavoidably need help throughout the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase of Afghanistan. Pakistan practically continues to be the most practical choice for regional connection with Afghanistan, notwithstanding Indian investment or desire for alternatives like the Chahbahar Port of Iran.

The geopolitical interests of the main countries converge in Pakistan. Two Muslim and two non-Muslim states are positioned on either side of a vast body of water. It is situated between three nuclear-armed states and also possesses nuclear weapons of its own. Due to its geostrategic and geopolitical significance, it has been and continues to be the focus of the desires of the great powers. According to academics, the benefits of 21st-century economic progress are being felt throughout the Asian continent. The Asian continent may benefit from this evolution in terms of both affluence and the scope of power. However, some academics also assert that political instability and personal vendettas are promoted by economic development slogans. Political unrest results from economic growth because it disturbs regional and international power dynamics.

Stephen Cohen rightly stated that Pakistan’s geography has been its greatest benefit. Owing to the fact that Pakistan can gain extreme economic benefits by utilizing its geographic location intelligently, however, Pakistan is facing internal and external security issues that give rise to a less productive economic environment for neighborhood states and superpowers. The government’s role to deal with internal stability issues related to terrorism and insurgency, specifically in Baluchistan and in the north of Pakistan, is crucial. Furthermore, without comprehensive planning and infrastructure for international trade and transportation, it is almost impossible to achieve the benefits of our transit routes.On international level, Pakistan, being a littoral state, must develop positive relations with the rest of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. Rigorous efforts to meet international Maritime standards will further top our efforts in becoming a transit economy.

Gul Ayesha Bhatti

PhD scholar of International Relations

[email protected]

Ujala Siddique

The near-total inundation of society by digitisation has wide-reaching effects on various aspects of human activity and culture. The threat does not arise from computers but from states and non-state actors with hostile intent. Economic and critical infrastructure networks vulnerable to digital attacks are considered a threat to national security.

In 1991, the US used a computer virus known as AF/91 during the Gulf War against Iraq. It was able to disable the country’s air defence system. In 2005, a hacker with the alias ‘Titan Rain’ carried out a cyber-attack against the US. In 2007, Russia carried out a cyber-attack against Estonia, obtaining access to the country’s websites and various ministries and organizations. These examples highlight the varied and broad range of impact that cyber-attacks can have on nations. There are different categories and types of cyber-attacks. Some types of cyber-attacks are: Denial-of-service (DoS) and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks simply incapacitate networks by overloading them with overwhelming dummy activity, whereas other attacks such as Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack, Phishing attacks, Drive-by-download attack, Password Attack, SQL Injection Attack, Cross-site scripting (XSS) attack, Eavesdropping attack, and Malware Attack can cause greater levels of damage from stealing critical information, taking entire networks offline or even destroying invaluable data.

Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former chief security officer, tweeted that ‘While it is rarely discussed publicly, India and Pakistan have been embroiled in continuous offensive cyber and information operations against each other for years. This might be a situation where that low-level invisible war becomes a destabilising factor.’ There have been multiple reports of both countries having their official government agency websites hacked and defaced, as well as documented instances of official information being stolen and put up for sale online. The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published a report, Economic Impact of Cybercrime – No Slowing Down, that concluded that losses due to cybercrime amounted to US $600 billion in just 2018 — a whopping 1 percent of global GDP. This does not touch upon the major threats in the security and defense domains due to the weaponisation of digital attacks.

Attacks on digital infrastructure pose a serious threat to Pakistan, which needs to able to properly address the increasing number of cyber-crimes. In Pakistan, there are about 194 million cellular network subscriptions and 124 million broadband internet users, which means that society relies on technology to a great extent in everyday life. According to the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency,) cases of cybercrime have consistently gone up over the years. Pakistani banks have expanded their operations from traditional in-person services to digitally enabled branchless banking, where ATM fraud has been steadily on the rise, as well as identity theft to perpetrate financial crime. Attention needs to be paid to non-traditional threats to national security. As the country’s reliance on technology increases, it is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Different types of cyber-crimes have been known to affect Pakistan’s communication systems.

There is also the issue of sophisticated spyware being deployed to infiltrate and compromise communications of critical importance and steal over 13 billion pieces of communications, completely shattering any notion of privacy in communication and online activity. This issue has raised serious concerns about Pakistan’s national security as compromised officials and organisations pose serious security risks. In this regard, Israel puches far above its weight in the realm of digital security and attacks. It spends a huge amount of resources and effort on its own cyber warfare capabilities, reaping benefits from it. Stuxnet — the first known cyberweapon — designed by Israeli and US intelligence, was able to infiltrate and hamper Iran’s nuclear programme. Isreal is currently ranked as one of the top five countries in the world when it comes to cyber warfare capability and has manufactured extremely powerful spyware that was sold to at least 14 countries, as per NSO group’s (the spyware manufacturers) response to questioning by a European Parliamentary committee investigating the matter.

Pakistan should sign the international treaties such as the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime to make its cyber defence stronger. These will help the country to develop its digital infrastructure and improve its defensive capabilities against digital attacks and tackle rampant cybercrime. To enforce the laws related to cybercrime, a bill called ETO (Electronic Transactions Ordinance) was passed in 2002 and then an electronic and cybercrime bill was passed in 2007 and the third set of laws passed in Pakistan pertaining to digital crimes was the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA). The government has also established a response cell named National Response for Cyber Crime in Pakistan. In addition, a dedicated effort was initiated to bolster cyber security and enhance cyber warfare capabilities under the aegis of the PAF with the setting up of the Cyber Security Academy, and the Cyber Centre of Excellence planned under the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP) initiative. This future-oriented strategy will help Pakistan to develop robust digital infrastructure and capabilities that are resistant to cyber-attacks and disruptions and expand its technological reach.

Ujala Siddique is a researcher at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS), Lahore. She can be reached at [email protected]