Pakistan seems to be carrying no sound foreign policy and feigned policy reactions appear half hearted with lack of coordination between civilian and military establishments. The fear of global isolation is surely growing by the day. Is Pakistan fast becoming a pariah state?
India has been trying to isolate Pakistan diplomatically for years, while Pakistan has failed to build a strong counter narrative. The results are obvious; Trump administration finally spoke the Indian lingo, and to the surprise of many, China has signed off a statement at BRICS moot. Although, it does not name Pakistan but clearly implies Pakistan is not doing enough on counter terrorism, if not supporting it.
India is playing its cards right; its partnership with the US has both economic and military benefits and the former is now shying in openly criticizing Pakistan’s role in curbing terrorism. And it seems after resolving the Doklam stand-off, Beijing seems to have given its backing to Delhi in recent BRICS moot.
India wanted similar statement from BRICS last year; but China resisted. However, now with a possible deal of India and China after Chinese withdrew it forces from Northeast India, China named Pakistan-based organizations as terrorist groups. The other problem China has that the US is constantly pushing China against is supporting North Korea as Pyongyang becomes more hostile day by day. Perhaps, China cannot afford to handle another North Korea at this point of time.
What are the policymakers doing? Will they continue to live in denial? Or keep on passing the buck between civil and military authorities? Earlier this week, both the foreign minister and the Army chief responded; but there was a visible lack of coherence.
Khwaja Asif acknowledged the existence of internationally banned outfits in Pakistan and stressed upon implementation of the National Action Plan. The COAS, on the other hand, emphasized that Pakistan has already done enough and that the world should do more now.
Yes, there is no contradiction in two statements but there is no link between the two at the same time. In tough days, a coherent approach by all the stakeholders in the country should be developed to tell the world that the country has a narrative ready to be implemented.
Alas, that is not the case. It’s the job of the foreign office to make a stance, lobby it around the world, and not let others to call the country names. Unfortunately, the office has remained weak in the PMLN government—earlier there was no foreign minister and the two advisors the ousted PM had were not energetic enough. And now the new FM has no prior experience of foreign diplomacy.
At this point, there is no counter narrative emanating from Pakistan and increasingly, others are pin pointing the presence of militant groups in Pakistan and the fact that Pakistan is not doing more to control it. We do not have any voice in Washington. On the flipside, India is actively lobbying against Pakistan. We need to have competent people in foreign office to do active diplomacy in US, China, Russia, Iran etc.
Secondly, Pakistan needs to think beyond aid money. How long would Pakistan live on the clutches of foreign aid, be that in the form of CSF or others? It is now time to tax the US and others using our soil for infrastructure support, transportation etc. for fighting their war. The need is to be self-reliant and fight for our right, rather than looking for support in the form of soft loans and aid.
Why is the US talking about settlement? Why is Pakistan pleading for political solution? Pakistan should rather charge the US for using its routes and other facilities. Pakistan should come first. The voice must be raised in cohesion, and soon. Luckily, the foreign minister yesterday raised his voice hinting at a “shift in foreign policy, in consultation with the army”. Here is hoping the policy is well debated, well thought out, is pragmatic, and spelled out soon.
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