The role that an underdeveloped country like Pakistan in the best of times can play on the international scene is fairly limited. In hindsight it is clear that whenever we have had an opportunity in the past our capacity to make a hash of it has been second to none. Only now does it seem that post 9/11 we are moving in the right direction and intelligently.
President Musharraf's speech to the 60th Anniversary Summit of the United Nations is an important marker in this regard. It helps us in gleaning his interpretation of Pakistan's national interest that has formed the basis of our policy formulation so far and is most likely to be so in the future too.
The Special Summit has already been written off as a missed opportunity due to the disagreements among the major international players.
In this situation, Musharraf's enunciation of Pakistan's aims for the summit was the only way forward. No one can quibble over obvious truths like "...international security can best be promoted when every State sees peace as being in its best interest".
The more commendable aspect of the President's speech was his use of such self evident truths for more specific objectives. He quite cleverly put India's claim to a permanent seat on the Security Council in the right perspective. For who would disagree with that "the Council should become more representative; not by adding a new elite, but by reflecting more fully the entire spectrum of the UN's membership. This can be achieved only through patient dialogue and general consensus."
In the past we have gone hoarse shouting that India does not deserve the status of veto-holding permanent member of the Security Council. How can it be given such a status when it continues to violate international law? It would amount to appointing Count Dracula as in-charge of the blood bank.
The sad fact is that the international community does not operate on the basis of truth or justice. One has to appeal to their self-interest.
President Musharraf's approach to the so-called 'War on Terror' and the myopic manner in which the threat from Weapons of Mass Destruction is being tackled was even more ingenious and rational too. Without indulging in any criticism, he simply stated: "Yet, even as we address new threats, we should not, and we cannot, ignore the legacy of festering problems left by the past. Peace and justice must come to the peoples of Palestine as well as Jammu and Kashmir."
The emphasis that he laid on development as a means of ensuring peace was the centre piece of his speech.
He very rightly maintained that "although action for development must be largely local, it is critically dependent - in our globalized world - on the external economic environment." It was important that this be asserted at this time when the perennially hostile western press is taking a fresh look at Pakistan.
Anatol Lieven, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, has called for Pakistani aid needs to take precedence over Africa.
Writing in a British newspaper, on the morning of the President's speech, he has advised Tony Blair that "...in helping Lahore, we are also helping Leeds." Opportune circumstances like these have been wasted by our leaders too many times in the past to let it go abegging once more. The handshake with Ariel Sharon should also help in achieving the goals Pakistan has set for itself and recommended to others in Asia and outside.
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