Bilahari Kausikan, a prominent former Singaporean diplomat, has delivered a scathing assessment of Pakistan, characterizing the nation as a state “teetering on the brink of failure.” Speaking at a recent global conference on geopolitics, Kausikan attributed Pakistan’s systemic crises directly to internal mismanagement by its political and military leadership, sharing a striking historical anecdote involving former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during the 1991 hijacking of a Singapore Airlines flight.
Kausikan, who served as the Permanent Secretary of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2013, firmly rejected the notion that Pakistan’s geopolitical troubles stem from its borders with India and Afghanistan, labeling it an “excuse.”
The 1991 Hijack and the 3 AM Phone Call
On March 26, 1991, Singapore Airlines flight SQ117 was hijacked shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, by four Pakistani terrorists. The aircraft landed at Singapore’s Changi Airport, where 114 passengers and 11 crew members were held hostage. Kausikan was part of the foreign service team tasked with managing the crisis.
The hijackers parked the plane exactly where airport authorities wanted them to, allowing tactical teams to monitor the interior. Their only clear demand was to speak directly with Benazir Bhutto, who was out of power at the time (Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister). Kausikan recalled the bizarre roadblock he faced while attempting to facilitate this demand:
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The Search: Around 3:00 AM, Kausikan managed to obtain the contact details for Bhutto’s residence in Sindh with the help of the Pakistani High Commissioner.
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The Language Barrier: Lacking an Urdu speaker on the Singaporean team, Kausikan finally reached an English-speaking staff member at the residence.
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The Refusal: After explaining that a plane had been hijacked by Pakistani nationals demanding to speak to Bhutto to negotiate hostages’ lives, the staff member flatly responded: “Madam is sleeping and cannot be disturbed.”
Kausikan hung up immediately. With negotiations deadlocked, Singaporean commandos stormed the aircraft, successfully neutralizing all four hijackers and freeing all passengers and crew unharmed. Later intelligence indicated the hijackers intended to negotiate the release of political prisoners jailed in Pakistan.
“If You Had No Nuclear Weapons, Nobody Would Care”
Kausikan used the anecdote to illustrate what he views as a deeply entrenched “feudalistic” mindset among Pakistan’s ruling elite. Now serving as the Chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, the veteran diplomat dismantled the idea that tactical diplomatic maneuvers could stabilize the country.
Key takeaways from Kausikan’s geopolitical analysis on Pakistan included:
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Sustained Mismanagement: He argued that Pakistan has been severely mismanaged since its inception, stating that its politicians across all party lines are a “waste of time” and the military is a core part of the problem.
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Diplomacy Doesn’t Feed People: While acknowledging the Pakistani military’s agility in exploiting diplomatic windows—particularly in rehabilitating its image with the U.S.—he noted that such optical victories do nothing to feed the population or mend a broken economy.
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A Hotbed for Extremism: He stated that the U.S. is unlikely to lift remaining restrictions on Islamabad because the state continues to act as a “hotbed of all kinds of strange groups.”
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The Nuclear Factor: Kausikan concluded that global engagement with Pakistan is driven entirely by fear, rather than geopolitical respect.
“Everybody is worried about it because you happen to have nuclear weapons,” Kausikan remarked bluntly. “If you had no nuclear weapons, nobody would care.”
