On September 21, the world marks International Peace Day and as per the Global Peace Index of the Sydney-based international think tank Institute for Economics and Peace, Pakistan stands at 153 out of 163 countries, slipping two points from last year.
This
annual index is based on an analysis of “peace, its economic value,
trends, and how to develop peaceful societies.” As per the 2019
index, “the average South Asian scores were upgraded due to
improvements in Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, and a slight gain in
Afghanistan.
However, the region still has the second-lowest rank, just ahead of the Middle East and North Africa. According to the report, South Asia’s regional scores were bolstered by Bhutan, which is now the 15th most peaceful country in the world, after rising two places in 2019.
In 2018 the Index had reported that while Pakistan had moved up one point overall there had been little improvement in the country. “Pakistan’s violent crime and terrorism impact scores improved – the latter for the fifth year running – reflecting the government’s success in curbing the violent activities of both criminals and militant groups, gains that also flowed through into an improvement on refugees and IDPs. These gains were offset by rises in military expenditure, the incarceration rate and violent demonstrations. Mass demonstrations, many of which turned violent, are becoming the default mechanism for political and pressure groups to attempt to effect political change.” And both in 2018 and 2019, Pakistan is second to Afghanistan as the least peaceful country in the region.
