The Netherlands dented Pakistan's confidence on Saturday with two goals in the first 13 minutes of play that set the tone for the rest of the match.
Ronald Brouwer was the Dutch star, setting up the second goal for Teun de Nooijer and himself scoring the third.
Matthijs Brouwer and Rob Reckers were the others scorers for the Dutch while Mudassar Khan netted one for Pakistan.
"Those early goals set us back," said Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa. "It was very difficult to come out of that but we know we can do better."
Earlier, Olympic gold-medallists Australia opened their campaign in field hockey's Champions Trophy with 4-1 victory.
World Cup champions Germany, who are rebuilding after eight top players retired at the end of the Athens Olympics, earned a consolation goal through Christopher Zeller.
Spain, who won their first Champions Trophy title in Lahore last year, needed a penalty stroke from Pol Amat in the 49th minute to secure full points against the unfenced Indians.