Pakistan has maintained its ‘comprehensive power’ position in Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index for 2020. The index is a comprehensive study of 128 indicators, used to measure the overall ‘power’ and political influence of Asiatic countries. Included in the list of the countries studied are also some other nations that are not Asian but have considerable influence in the region, such as the USA. India has since last year lost 1.3 points off of its score.
The project evaluates international power in Asia through 128 indicators across eight thematic measures: military capability and defense networks, economic capability and relationships, diplomatic and cultural influence, as well as resilience and future resources. Over half of the data points used in the calculation of the index involve original Lowy Institute research, while the rest are aggregated from hundreds of publicly available national and international sources.
COVID-19 handling added in 2020 index
This year, the Index includes three new indicators that track major ecological threats, bilateral and plurilateral defense dialogues, and perceptions of the international and domestic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Papua New Guinea, a Pacific country on the geographical continuum of Southeast Asia, has also been included for the first time.
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The Lowy index defines power as ‘the capacity of a state to shape their external environment and to direct or influence the behavior of other states, non-state actors, and the course of international events.’
Pakistan’s diplomatic power and resilience to state threats increases in Asia
Their website also mentions how Asia’s economic transformation is changing the global distribution of power. The USA maintained its position as the country with the most influence in the region but China is catching up, and quick. USA lost 3 points in the total score, a major reason for which was its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a variable that was added to the index in 2020. The ten-point lead that the USA had in influence in the region has been halved since last year.
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Interestingly Pakistan’s ‘resilience’ to the state as well as ‘diplomatic influence’ in Asia increased significantly from last year, marking a trend in the state’s increase in power. India’s reliance remained stagnant while its diplomatic influence and economic relationships went down.
Today, the Lowy Institute releases its third annual Asia Power Index, a digital analytical tool that measures resources and influence to rank the relative power of states in Asia.https://t.co/WdP6xW364O
— The Lowy Institute (@LowyInstitute) October 18, 2020
Pakistan has also shown significant improvement in internal stability, resource security, as well as Geo-economic security.
GVS News Desk