For decades, Pakistan has been viewed primarily through the lens of crisis: the Afghan war, counterterrorism cooperation, IMF bailouts, India-Pakistan tensions. Major powers engaged when security imperatives surged and disengaged when urgency faded. That episodic logic defined the Cold War, the post-9/11 era and the Afghan transit years. That framework is no longer adequate for an era defined by economic competition.

The drivers of power have shifted. Supply chains, industrial policy, demographic strength and technological ecosystems increasingly shape geopolitical influence. In that landscape, Pakistan is not merely a security partner or diplomatic irritant. It is a country of more than 240 million people positioned between South Asia, Central Asia and the Gulf -sitting at the intersection not only of trade corridors, but of labor and digital networks.

On 19th February 2026, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the margins of the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington, a US-led diplomatic forum convened under President Donald Trump’s initiative. Their discussions extended beyond counterterrorism to include cooperation on economic reform, investment, critical minerals, energy and other strategic sectors

The more consequential question is not whether Washington recalibrates. It is whether Pakistan’s structural assets align with the emerging logic of economic statecraft.

Demography as Strategic Leverage

Pakistan is the world’s fifth-most populous country. Nearly two-thirds of its population is under the age of 30. More than 60 million citizens fall within the 15–29 age bracket-one of the largest youth cohorts in Asia.

At a time when advanced economies are aging rapidly, this matters.

Japan and much of Europe face sustained workforce contraction. China’s........

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