notes that the Establishment is dominated by the military, with core members also including some civil bureaucrats, politicians, media houses and economic players. Abubakar Siddique writes that the civilians included in the Establishment such as politicians and judges are also 'pro-military'. In the book, The Idea of Pakistan, Stephen Cohen explains: Over time the civil-military power equation has undergone changes such as increased power sharing between the civilian and military sides and convergence of interests in issues such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. During Ayub Khans’s years the Establishment's code/tenants included the following : India was the main threat to Pakistan and accordingly the military was a priority. Since Pakistan could not take on India alone, military alliances were important and essential to survival. Other natural allies included other moderate Islamic states which were seen as role models. Domestically the military was a role modelfor the people. Kashmir was always an issue for the Establishment to the extent it became a reason for the existence of Pakistan. Quick reforms and revolutions were considered problematic. Foreign aid from United States, Japan, and then China after 1970s was a driver of the economy. The Establishment ensured control over information dissemination through the media and academia. Radical or violent Islamic groups were slowly tolerated. The Establishment theoretically tolerated democratic rule and never seriously imposed Islam; the army being less tolerant of Islamists. Just by surviving Pakistan and its Establishment would be defeating India. Over time Establishment members have included Sharifuddin Pirzada, Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Tariq Aziz, A. K. Brohi,, Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Zafar Ahmed Ansari. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a founding member of the Establishment, started looking for a new identity for Pakistan, other than the one it shared with India. Pakistan started to look towards the Middle East for "aid, ideology, and strategic cooperation"; while at the same time turning its back away from its own history in South Asia.Kashmir is/was important for the Establishment, even if the people of Pakistan do/did not think so. Not only was it strategically important to the nation, it would have allowed Pakistan to fulfil the vision of the two-nation theory, that of being a "homeland for oppressed Indian Muslims". Other than Kashmir, India as a nation was perceived as an existential threat in every way. On the other hand Bangladesh,, does not believe that India "poses an existential threat".
Core principles/values of the Establishment are the policy of treating India as an arch-rival and existential threat, the Kashmir dispute, Islamisation of Pakistan, Punjab as the heartland/core of Pakistan, strategic use of non-state militants and forming alliances with other Muslim majority nations.
