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Exactly my thoughts.
To bring about positive social change it becomes imperative to study the current political situation, it's driving factors and how it came to be.
GoPs driving factors can be broadly categorised in two segments, it's domestic or inner forces and it's external ones. Both are intrinsically intertwined and reflect each other.
Domestical, public sentiment wants for a quick fix solution, a messiah figure. As you've correctly pointed out through your proposed solutions that would hardly be the case. One unique geographical advantage Pakistan has is it's strategic positioning, for it connects energy surplus gulf countries to one of the biggest consumers of energy to their east. This presents a unique bonus, i.e GoP can earn enormously by simply allowing transit. That is not say to advocate for such a proposition and GoPs decision in that regard reigns supreme but just a demonstration that each country has progressed by fine-tuning and utilising what it has to extract the maximum benefit. If it benefits ones people, pragmatism calls to do so even if it means temporarily trading with your adversaries. GoC is particularly good at this realism and it reflects in their foreign policy. One example would be cooperation in research about the common problems faced by people in his subcontinent, a study done in Bangalore to observe the littering habits of its citizens found that if a public space was clean people would be less likely to litter and throw their garbage as compared to areas where litter was already present. This helped them plan garbage collection routes and routine that had a noticeable effect on city cleanliness and hygiene. It's not about blaming the public for their responsibility, it's about creating institutions and staffing them with capable people to study and solve those problems.
To complain about corruption and the decaying effects other negative attributes polity has on national health and wanting a quick fix solution is akin to cribbing about the symptom and prefering short term relief rather than permanent ones. Studies incidate that strong autonomous institutions performing their mandated duties have a significant reducing effect on corruption. Those institutions don't have to be pristine, but simple long term institutionalisation has a long but permanent effect on reducing corruption. Corruption is like depleted uranium, it's not gonna go away, but we know the scientific way to go about containing it.
In that regard you guys are on the right track, democracy, however fragile, has undeniably taken root in Pakistan and so long as that continues expect good things for the future of its people.
Foreign affairs is one of the most challenging domains GoP faces. It has tremendous experience and success in briding countries across various camps by acting as a mediator ( which imo again exemplifies Pakistan's unique geographical advantage into its strategic ones ). This However has the effect of towing the faction line for continued support. Pakistan is primarily a security state, that focuses first on defending itself from its adversaries. That translates to spending diplomatic capital primarily on neutering it's opponents position rather than for own economic ones. A policy that current GoP has amended and shifted to focus on economic growth.
You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. Training, arming and propagating radical groups to utilise them as guerrilla tactics against adversaries sounds like a good idea. It has implausible deniability, comparitively low capital needs and an effective way to harass your opponents. Data though, over whelmingly supports the opposite.
Every country, be it the US, UK, India or Pakistan, that has tried to indulge itself has faced backlash in the same predictable fashion. Geopolitical history of our region shaped and honed GoPs ability to inculcate and nurture such groups. First against the sovients and then against India. This has had a adverse effect on GoPs image globally. This limits GoPs diplomatic options for its strategic aims, ideally, the greater diplomatic options a country has the more secure and powerfull it is.
With economic transactions that sustain terrorist activities under enhanced global scrunity, verbal denouncement of terrorism became insufficient. Visible action, ( which in credit to GoP has been implemented) became the new requirement and FaTF became political tools to enforce that.
It is with great elation that IMO that the current GoP is aware of these issues and has shifted its focus on bringing about strategies that will have postive change for its people. This is monumental and must be appreciated. The more the trade the more able and resources we have we to better solve our problems.
The new task and much harder one now is to go about building a system of consensus wherein no matter how much you hate the opponent, decisions can be made that can promote stability, growth and prosperity of the people of Pakistan.
