Former Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan has delivered a scathing assessment of Pakistan, describing the country as a state "teetering on the brink of failure." Speaking at the National Press Foundation's International Reporting Fellowship, Kausikan, who served as Permanent Secretary of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2013, said that Pakistan's diplomatic successes do not address its fundamental internal problems.
Kausikan's blunt assessment of Pakistan's internal decay
During a session titled "On Keeping Perspective in Volatile Geopolitical Times," Kausikan dismantled the image of Pakistan as a stable international actor. He highlighted profound internal instability, radicalisation, and severe systemic economic vulnerabilities. The diplomat's remarks came after a Pakistani journalist detailed a grim account of internal turmoil, including massive inflation, doubled fuel prices, and Qatar's suspension of visa-on-arrival facility for Pakistani passport holders. The journalist also pointed to violent public attacks on the US Consulate in Karachi, forcing its closure, and partial lockdowns that have plunged the public into crisis.
Diplomatic agility cannot mask structural vulnerabilities
Kausikan firmly rejected the idea that Islamabad's tactical diplomatic manoeuvres could compensate for its structural vulnerabilities. "I'll be very blunt. Pakistan was very agile and very successful in taking advantage of a diplomatic opportunity, and that has gone some way to rehabilitate Pakistan diplomatically in the eyes of the U.S. anyway. But, you know, that doesn't feed the Pakistani people," he stated.
The veteran diplomat labelled Pakistan a chronically unstable entity, pointing out its continued tolerance of extremist elements that threaten global security. "Pakistan is a state that is teetering on the brink of failure, and has been for some time. It hasn't quite fallen over, for which we should all be grateful, but that diplomatic success doesn't change that fundamental reality. And I don't think the U.S. is going to lift whatever restrictions in totality it has on Pakistan, because the fact is Pakistan is a hotbed of all kinds of strange groups that are not necessarily working for U.S. interests," Kausikan explained.
Economic mismanagement and jihadist groups under scrutiny
Kausikan also targeted the country's powerful military establishment. He noted that tactical foreign policy moves are completely overshadowed by profound internal rot driven by severe economic mismanagement and a failure to contain radical movements. "Pakistani military was very agile and very successful, that you have to give them credit, but diplomatic success doesn't feed people--that's the hard reality. Pakistan's problems are not diplomatic; Pakistan's problems are much more fundamental within Pakistan. Mismanagement of the economy, letting various jihadist movements get out of hand--if you don't fix those problems, you're always going to be teetering on the brink of state failure," he warned.
Nuclear weapons the only reason for global attention
Concluding his sharp analysis, Kausikan observed that global attention towards the faltering state is driven solely by international anxiety over its strategic weapons arsenal, rather than any genuine respect for its geopolitical standing. "And everybody is worried about it because you happen to have nuclear weapons. If you had no nuclear weapons, nobody would care," Kausikan remarked.
