The Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), an Islamabad-based think tank listed in Pakistan’s budget as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Information, has enlisted former Obama administration Pentagon official Laurie A. Watkins to provide pro bono strategic communications and outreach support in Washington. The arrangement involves no fees, compensation, reimbursement or expenses. Watkins served as a presidential appointee at the US Department of Defense during the Obama administration and now heads a Washington-based strategic communications consultancy. Her role has been described as facilitating introductions, identifying experts and panelists, and connecting the Islamabad based think tank with relevant think tanks, organisations and individuals to support its outreach efforts. It also notes that this is her first registrable activity on behalf of the Institute of Regional Studies. The engagement comes as Islamabad has stepped up efforts to internationalise Pakistan’s position on the Indus Waters Treaty following India’s decision to place the treaty in abeyance after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack.
Although the United States is not a party to the treaty, Washington remains a key centre for foreign policy, international legal discourse and global think tank networks. Publicly available IRS policy papers recommend expanding engagement with international think tanks, legal experts, policy forums, environmental organisations and global media to strengthen Pakistan’s diplomatic and legal position on the treaty. Against that backdrop, Watkins has emerged as one of the most prominent American voices publicly advancing Pakistan’s legal position on the treaty. In June this year, she addressed an IRS seminar in Islamabad on the Indus Waters Treaty, where she argued that India’s suspension of treaty-related cooperation and water data sharing was inconsistent with international law. She subsequently authored opinion articles portraying the dispute as extending beyond a bilateral India Pakistan issue and raising broader questions relating to international treaty obligations and the rules-based international order. The engagement also provides the institute with access to an American former Defense Department official familiar with Washington’s policy ecosystem.
While governments, think tanks and foreign organisations routinely use registered representatives to engage policy audiences in the United States, a former US national security official can offer third-party credibility and facilitate access to think tanks, policy experts and opinion-makers beyond official diplomatic channels. Official Government of Pakistan budget documents identify the Institute of Regional Studies as an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Information. The institute appears in the federal government’s Medium Term Budgetary Framework alongside other publicly funded autonomous organisations. Independent academic research on Pakistan’s think tank ecosystem has likewise described IRS as a government-supported autonomous institution attached to the ministry. While Watkins’ mandate is broader than the Indus Waters Treaty, however, her public advocacy since engaging with IRS has focused substantially on the Indus Waters Treaty and wider India-Pakistan strategic issues.
