Pakistan’s floods provide unique opportunities for Australia

Already, as Pakistan’s growing trade with Australia in agriculture and textiles is generating more jobs for the vast pools of labour there, it has also been a major source of earning for many small and large Australian businesses as well.

Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Australia has grown by more than five times since 2000 and has been mutually beneficial to both countries. And now, as a result of these floods, there are new, diverse, trade and investment prospects.

By helping Pakistan establish modern agriculture and farming systems, Australia would not only be helping Pakistanis feed their growing population and get employed, it would also be enabling Australians to choose from a wider variety of products being sold in local supermarkets.

In addition, Australian investments in Pakistan, including economic activities being undertaken by AusAid, could be an effective counter-insurgency measure.

An increase in direct investment in the Pakistani economy and in the network of schooling and psychological rehabilitation services provided by AusAid and NGOs like Wold Vision Australia, could provide a cushion-effect to the Pakistan Army counter-insurgency operations. AusAid and the government should provide targeted assistance towards training Pakistan’s labour force in things like modern agriculture and community health.

Special emphasis should be made to reach out to the children who have been affected by the floods and those who have  suffered trauma as a result of personal loss or displacement. Provision of education and psychological counselling, along with greater economic assistance would help Pakistanis get back their feet and could well be our best investment in fighting the insurgencies in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Aiding Pakistan at this time, would surely win the Gillard Government many friends internationally and could well build a foundation on which Australia could establish a strong foreign policy to increase its presence at the international level and correspondingly, generate more economic growth at home.

However, if Australia and the Western world ignore Pakistan at this point, it would be at their own peril. Ignoring Pakistan could further destabilise the country which could overwrite all the recent gains made by the Pakistani army in its counter-insurgency operations, as successful operations hinge upon the level of economic and relief assistance that is provided in the times of disasters.

The Gillard government should therefore seize the opportunity of re-structuring and reforming Australia’s foreign policy towards South Asia that was tarnished during the Rudd government’s tenure.