Mission of the missions

Mission impossible. Pakistani foreign missions improving their attitude, no way. Embassies serving overseas Pakistanis, just a dream. These are some of the comments in any discussion on improving the performance of Pakistan’s foreign missions. Stories upon stories of harrowing, humiliating and degrading treatment to overseas workers especially the labour class has been the norm in the past. Tales of delays, corruption, indifference abound. More recently, this perception had started undergoing some change. Main embassies abroad such as those in the UK and the US had change of guards at top. The new ambassadors brought in better accessibility and service. Coronavirus put pressure on all foreign missions. Beyond expectations many missions performed heroically. Pakistan’s consulate in Wuhan, China, won accolades for its 24-hour service in the most risky circumstances.

The ‘mission impossible’ perception started murmuring about possibilities. And then came the Prime Minister’s address to the Pakistani envoys. That stunned the missions, surprised the bureaucracy, and heartened the overseas Pakistanis. The missions were stunned because it had never happened before. The Prime Minister addressing all envoys was rare but had some precedents. The Prime Minister responding to people’s complaints directly is almost unprecedented. But the prime minister taking a call at an ambassador who was unable to handle the gross irregularities going on in a main country was unique. To top it all the Prime minister calling for mission accountability in a televised public address viewed by the whole world was unbelievable.

Thus the reactions. Former ambassadors felt upset. Present ambassadors felt angry and embarrassed. There was criticism on many fronts. Some felt that on the basis of one bad apple the whole cart should not have been rejected. Some felt that yes there are bad apples but they should have been sorted in private. Others felt that the actions on which the prime minister formed his opinion were not really in the ambit of the Foreign Office. There may be a truth in all these reactions. The fact that it has attacked responses from all stakeholders means there are corrections to be made. These corrections are required at many ends and should be dealt with in a holistic manner rather than a piecemeal manner. By removing the ‘culprits’ in the Saudi embassy the situation may have been averted for a short time. Sustainable change will require redefining the mission, role and performance criteria for the missions and officers. But first let us see the main challenges confronted by the foreign missions:

1 Traditionalism- Foreign missions have undergone a sea change in the world. The traditional way of the Ambassador working to meet the important policymakers in the country to improve foreign relations through PR and interaction are not even mentioned in modern job descriptions. The modern Ambassadors are brand and sales managers. They develop their country brand, deliver on trade promotion, woo the local community, win over the media hot shots. Think of the previous German Ambassador Martin Kobler in Pakistan and the present UK High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner. From meeting the high-ups to mixing with the business community to cleaning litter from the hills, he is a man who is more connected to the country segments than many of our own diplomats. The days of sitting in plush embassy offices and having dignitary dinners are way by gone. Going out at all levels and procuring investment, tourism, goodwill for Pakistan means a complete shift in approach and attitude. Some of our ambassadors have done an excellent job in this respect but many are still too rooted in the past.

2 Politicization- Just blaming it on ambassadors or bureaucracy is unfair. Politicians are major culprits. Law allows the ministers and politicians to appoint 20% non career people in major foreign posts. The politicians have abused it to maximum. Political appointments have all the ills of non-merit. They are not trained. They are not accountable. They are there for an all-expenses paid vacation. The result is that in many important foreign missions people who had neither the skills nor the attitude were appointed at high posts creating a culture of indifference and low performance. These appointments actually harmed the foreign service officers’ motivation and morale. They acted as a disincentive for those who were on merit and performing. They also took away the posts from deserving officers in the pipeline creating lack of engagement and ownership.

3 Structural conflict- Another major problem has been the structural design of the missions. While Ambassador is the leader of the mission, many important people sitting, in those embassies are not answerable to him. For example the commercial counsellors who are responsible for bringing business report to Ministry of Commerce. Similarly, people who do routine work like passports and attestation are reporting to ministry of interior. These two being the major contact and performance points make it very difficult for the foreign service officers to create accountability if they are only working under the same roof but not under the ambassador.

The foreign missions need to enter the 21st century with a new mindset, tool set and skill set:

1 Mission statement- The first thing is that the foreign Missions need to define or redefine their mission. This mission should state the purpose for their existence, i.e., serving the overseas community, promoting brand Pakistan and enhancing trade and investment opportunities of the country. Every officer appointed has to take oath on this mission and should be held accountable for it. Only then can a common and shared approach develop.

2 Reforming Foreign Service Training- The Foreign Service Academy does a great job on functional training of the diplomats. However, the new skill set that requires the knowhow of branding, social media marketing, business selling, leadership and team building skills need to be incorporated at various levels to enhance their capacity to be competitive with the new world challenges.

3 Structural change- This is a major bottleneck. For people working in the embassies other than the foreign service officers this is an excuse to evade accountability. For foreign service people this is a scapegoat for their helplessness. Changes in reporting relationships bring turf wars amongst ministries. The win-win solution is that a joint performance evaluation and service levels standard is agreed upon and signed every year by each member. This agreement should be a joint responsibility of the ambassador and the line ministry.

The process of performance evaluation has already started in the ministry. Some extraordinary results have also been achieved. However, there is a need to institutionalize it by reforming the purpose, skill set and accountability of these officers. The real challenge is to infuse the mission in the heart of people of these missions - i.e., to deeply feel and act in the spirit of there being “no higher honour than representing your country”.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021