Pakistani American diaspora serves as a diplomatic asset in Pak-US bilateral ties. In the United States, the Pakistani diaspora numbers over half a million, with the majority residing in major cities of the U.S., mainly New York, Houston, Washington DC, and Chicago. There exist strong people-to-people ties between Pakistan and the US. Moreover, around 10,164 Pakistani students are enrolled in higher education institutes of the US, with about 60% of Pakistani Americans holding bachelor’s degrees, making Pakistanis ranked as the second highly educated diaspora community in the US. Pakistani diaspora in the US are working as entrepreneurs, engineers, doctors, artists, as well as taxi- drivers and labourers. In the United States, the Pakistani diaspora has established 11 well-funded and effectively managed organizations and business networks including the Association of Pakistan Physicians of North America (APPNA) and Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America (OPEN), who are economically benefitting Pakistan and advocating Pakistan’s interest in the US policy circles. This influential Pakistani American community, which contributes through political, social, economic, and diplomatic support, can significantly shape the future trajectory of Pak-US bilateral relations. While numerous factors constrain Pakistani Americans in consolidating their impact, through a coordinated approach to lobbying, narrative building, and economic engagement, the Pakistani American diaspora can enhance its ability to influence the US policy-making circles. Pakistani American diaspora holds the potential for effective lobbying within the US policy circles, advocating for enhanced diplomatic engagement.
One of the most tangible contributions of the Pakistani American diaspora lies in economic engagement. Remittances from the US amounted to $1.3 billion in 2022, making the US the fourth-largest remittance-sending country to Pakistan after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the UK. Remittances from the US lead 0.3 percentage increase in Pakistan’s national income, highlighting their economic significance. These remittances play significant role in stabilizing Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.
Beyond remittances, Pakistani American entrepreneurs are strengthening trade ties. Pakistan’s IT sector exports over $2.6 billion annually, with several startups receiving investments from Pakistani-origin tech professionals based in Silicon Valley. Initiatives like Pakistani American startup accelerators, which establish a linkage between Pakistani entrepreneurs and the US-based investors, assist Pakistan’s tech industry to scale globally. According to the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), IT service exports grew by 47% from 2020 to 2023, highlighting prospects of future collaboration. Pakistani–origin professionals, based in Silicon Valley, can serve as conduits for knowledge transfer mentorship programs. Such linkages between the US technology ecosystem and Pakistani entrepreneurs are instrumental in fostering ties between Pakistan and the US.
The Pakistani-American diaspora can exert its influence through trade advocacy, which involves lobbying for favorable trade policies, improving market access, and bolstering investment opportunities between Pakistan and the US. By engaging with the US policymakers, business councils, and trade organizations, the Pakistani-American diaspora can advocate reduction of trade barriers to promote Pakistan’s exports. Despite a bilateral trade volume of $7.3 billion in 2024, Pakistan’s access to the American markets remains limited as compared to other South Asian States like India, highlighting the need for stronger advocacy efforts. In pursuit of achieving favorable trade incentives, and to ensure Pakistan’s continued access to the US markets, the Pakistani-American business community could advocate for the waiver of the Competitive Needs Limit (CNL) provisions to maintain GSP benefits even if the country approaches or exceeds the CNL thresholds. CNL sets a ceiling on GSP benefits for each product and country. The US can suspend GSP if imports of a single product from a beneficiary exceed a specific value, $195 million per annum in 2020, or 50.0 percent or more of total US imports of a product entering under the GSP Program.
Relations between Pakistan and America have long been dictated by security concerns, sidelining developmental cooperation. However, Pakistani-American lobbying groups such as the Pakistani American Political Action Committee (PakPAC) strive to educate the US policy circles about the strategic relevance of Pakistan beyond counterterrorism. The initiative of the Pakistan-US Green Alliance was taken by the Congress in 2023 with the effective advocacy of the Pakistani diaspora, highlighting the significance of the diaspora community in advancing the country’s interests. In Trump 2.0, Pakistan could face heightened pressure on issues like the country’s cordial relations with China and its policy towards Afghanistan. However, the Pakistani American diaspora, through its advocacy platform, like the Pakistan American Political Action Committee (PakPAC), can overcome these impending challenges by advocating for Pakistan’s national interests in the US policy circles. By strategic lobbying and effective engagement, PakPAC can strive to strengthen Pak-US bilateral relations, making efforts for enhanced cooperation beyond security concerns. Pakistani Americans are facing issues in consolidating their impact due to the absence of a coherent and unified diaspora lobbying strategy. Advocacy platforms could prove effective in enhancing the role of diaspora in local political and civic spaces, advocating for Pakistan’s cause within the US policy circles.
In conclusion, diaspora diplomacy has become significant in current times; however, the Pakistani diaspora in the US still remains an untapped asset for Pakistan. Their economic contributions and political influence could be leveraged to nurture stable Pakistan-US relations. Internal divisions within the Pakistani American diaspora often undermine the efforts of the diaspora community in shaping narratives within the US. Therefore, a unified and effective diaspora lobbying strategy is required to project Pakistan’s soft image in the US and to advocate for the country’s interests. The potential of the Pakistani-American diaspora can be leveraged for ‘Rebranding’ Pakistan as an investor-friendly country. By doing so, diaspora’s sense of identity with Pakistan can be renewed- a strategy that both China and India have successfully employed with respect to their diaspora. In this way, Pakistan can turn its ‘Brain Drain’ into Brain Gain, presenting the Diaspora community as a valuable resource for strengthening bilateral ties.
[Photo by U.S. Embassy Pakistan]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Nawal Nawaz is a Research Assistant at the Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS), Islamabad, and an MPhil Scholar in Strategic Studies from the National Defence University, Islamabad.
