The visits of two foreign ministers - Iran and Japan - this week, to be followed by the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on September 5, is an encouraging sign for the country viewed as largely isolated during the tenure of the PML-N Administration.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi has categorically stated that foreign policy will be made at the Foreign Office and that the government's objective would be to safeguard Pakistan's interests, both in the country and abroad; however economic compulsions may compel the newly installed Khan administration to subordinate its foreign policy objectives of mutual respect to economic considerations.
Pakistan's current account deficit has reached an historic and unsustainable high of $ 18 billion dollars and Federal Minister for Finance Asad Umar has informed the Senate that the country needs $9 billion to run the country - money that may be accessed from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries through deferred oil payments and/or loans, and China through commercial borrowing.
"If we rely completely on Saudi Arabia, we'll have to be ready to pay the price politically in the Middle East which our parliament refused during the Sharif administration," an official on condition of anonymity stated, adding, "Pakistan wants to maintain friendly relations with Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern [ME] countries, but it does not wish to side with any particular country in the restive ME region."
Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically stated that Pakistan is ready to play a role as a mediator in the Middle East which reaffirms his administration's reluctance to become engaged in any conflict in the region.
Imran Khan accompanied by a few members of the cabinet including Shah Mehmood Qureshi was recently briefed at General Headquarters (GHQ) which indicates that civil and military leaderships are on the same page in dealing with foreign challenges.
Noted analyst Lieutenant General Talat Masood (Retd) said that the forthcoming visit of Pompeo will help ease US-Pakistan tensions attributed to divergent views of the two countries with respect to the Afghan conflict.
"Prime Minister Khan needs to take careful steps and take full control of foreign policy. And he should definitely take input from the military, but final decision on foreign policy matters must rest with the civilian government," he added.
"We cannot only rely on China, but have to deal with the issues that are creating problems in our relations with the US," he said.
The PTI government's two major challenges are in the economic and foreign policy arena while in 2013 the major challenges for the newly-elected PML-N government were a poorly performing power sector with more than 12 hours of load shedding and law and order situation with frequent terror attacks causing loss of life and property.
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