Kashaf Imran
The term security architecture is of great prominence in international relations discourse signalling to a transformed geopolitical landscape in which ever-increasing complexities in security and defence sector brings about array of challenges to tackle for sustaining peace. The most pertinent marker of the security architecture of 21st century is great power competitions and managing alliance accordingly with regard to geographical realities. In terms of South Asian security architecture, it is marked by multiple stakeholders and interactions between regional actors and global strategic forces.
In South Asian security architecture, India and Pakistan play a dominant role. India’s ambition to dominate the region, Pakistan’s determination to safeguard its state, and the shared animosity between the two have heavily influenced defence and security planning. This reflects the core logic of the Kautilyan school of thought from the Arthashastra, particularly the concept of Rajamandala, a foreign policy approach that explains the management of interstate relations and alliances based on geographical proximity. The recent renewal of defence pact is a manifestation of this stance i.e. India building alliances with USA while USA managing great power competition reflecting a mutual interest. Parallel to mutual interest, South Asian landscape of security faces uncertainties.
On October 31, 2025, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh renewed a 10-year defence framework agreement, originally signed in 2005 and 2015. The pact reflects bilateral commitment to deepening military cooperation for the coming decade. Its objectives include enhancing military coordination, information-sharing, and technology cooperation; establishing a “free, open and rules-based” Indo-Pacific order; deepening partnerships in third-world countries across defence, science and technology sectors, defence trade, and joint exercises; and providing policy directions for India–US defence relations. The agreement is Old Wine in a New Bottle approach reflecting evolution of alliances through renewals of pacts.
For South Asia’s security architecture, the renewed pact symbolically influences regional perceptions. The pact is likely to exacerbate existing power asymmetries and embolden India to take more assertive steps along disputed borders. Pertinently for Pakistan, as India’s concentric enemy, its strategic calculus will primarily be effected impacting peace of entire South Asian region due to historical parallels between nuke nations. To map the defence and security of South Asia is pertinent to take into account three important parameters.
Firstly, to build a diverse network of alliances. Rather than putting all eggs in one basket and relying solely on one single bilateral relation it is pertinent to opt for strategic realignment, taking into account existing realities in front, weighing out options, and going where there is most benefit for national interest, security, and sovereignty. For instance, Pakistan’s recent foreign policy shows alliance-building with Gulf countries, maintaining ties with Qatar and Turkey for diplomatic mediation, mutual security pacts with Saudi Arabia, rekindling relations with Bangladesh, and exploring bilateral ties with Kazakhstan are the good case practices to be adapted.
Secondly, conducting statecraft through diplomatic means is pertinent in order to halt escalation. As seen in the May 2025 confrontation between India and Pakistan, the diplomatic efforts to call a ceasefire via third party mediation played an important role in preventing confrontation from escalating to Armageddon. In his recently published book on diplomacy titled Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft from Attila the Hun to Kissinger , A. Wess Mitchell, states that diplomacy isn’t secondary; rather, it is a primary foreign policy tool that must be leveraged rightly. He further claims that diplomacy is a core strategic tool that is often overlooked in spite of overreliance on military muscle, which leads a nation into turmoil.
Lastly, leadership plays a crucial role in foreign policy and safeguarding national interests. Dave Roos’s case study of five stoic world leaders shows that personality significantly influences a nation’s prosperity and sovereignt. For South Asian security architecture, it is pertinent to develop a future-oriented strategic acumen in leadership, by adapting analytical thinking, future orientation, and a holistic perspective.
The author is a geopolitical analyst from Pakistan with expertise in South Asian studies, emerging security trends, counterterrorism with interdisciplinary approach at intersection of psychology, security studies and political science.
