Week 9: Pakistan’s relations with West, Islamic World and Regional Countries

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan maintains a large diplomatic network across the world. Pakistan is the second largest Muslim-majority country in terms of population (after Indonesia[1]) and is the only Muslim majority nation to have possession of nuclear weapons.

Pakistan's economy is integrated into the world with strong trade ties to the EU and economic alliances and agreements with many Asian nations

Pakistan enjoys a highly strategic geopolitical location, being situated at the corridor of major maritime and land-based transit routes reaching from energy-rich Central Asia and the Middle East to the population centers of South and East Asia, as well as having geostrategic hotspots such as Afghanistan, China, India and Iran as immediate neighbors. Pakistan maintains a tense relationship with the Republic of India due to the Kashmir conflict, close ties with the People's Republic of China, Turkey and Gulf Arab states and a fluctuating relationship with the United States of America due to overlapping interests during the Cold War and War on Terror. Pakistan is a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), is named by the US as a major non-NATO ally in the war against terrorism and is one of founding members of IMCTC.