Daily Times

PM Shahbaz Sharif recently said that Pakistan would soon host a summit of the leaders of Central Asian states, which would focus on connectivity, through road and rail links, to boost regional trade and investment. He underscored the need to establish and strengthen bilateral cooperation in the energy, transport, transit trade and logistics sectors.

Yet another great initiative by the PDM Government.

It is indeed a big ‘WIN’ for Pakistan’s youngest Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whose foreign policy statement in a UN briefing room on Thursday made headlines all over the world. He maintained a spectacular composure minutes after his Indian counterpart accused Pakistan of perpetuating terrorism and sheltering Osama bin Laden. “I would like to remind Mr Jaishankar that Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives, and he is the prime minister (of India),” the Pakistani foreign minister made the statement while responding to the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar’s remarks. This statement caught his Indian counterpart by surprise and stunned the Indian press as if they had been struck with a bolt of lightning by this bold statement. During Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s briefing, a journalist asked him why the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers had engaged in a war of words. “This is not in a war of words.

It is a smart policy of the establishment to mend fences with the US, without severely compromising China relations.

I have not noticed,” the Pakistani Foreign minister said. He also reiterated that he was a victim of terrorism as his mother was killed by terrorists along with thousands of other Pakistanis. “We have lost far more lives to terrorism than India did,” and pointed out that “India has been playing in the space” that has made it “very easy” to bracket Muslims with terrorism. “India has very skillfully blurred this line, making like us all terrorists who are actually victims.”

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has also voiced Pakistan’s firmer stance and reduced patience against cross-border terrorism by stating that “We reserve the right to take direct action against them”. Bilawal has also been quick to voice his opinion regarding the causes that led to the 1971 debacle and has called it a military, rather than a political failure. Bilawal has also been successful to get a Loss and Damage fund created at the Sharm Al Sheikh climate summit of COP 27, breaking a 30-year deadlock on climate damages. Amongst his latest achievements, he has been able to complete

action plans of FATF and has successfully been able to get Pakistan’s name removed from the list of “High-Risk Countries.”

The UNGA consensus resolution adopted and steered by Pakistan on strengthening UN-OIC ties is yet another important achievement, led by Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The resolution affirms the UN and OIC’s common goal of promoting and facilitating the Middle East peace. Under the terms of the resolution, “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” the 193-member Assembly affirmed that the UN and OIC shared a common goal of promoting and facilitating the Middle East peace process with the goal to establish a just and lasting peace in the region. It also affirmed that it shared a common objective of fostering peaceful and political solutions with the Charter of the UN and Security Council resolutions.

It highlights the two organizations’ desire to work together on shared concerns, including global security, self -determination, respect for territorial integrity, decolonization and combating terrorism. This resolution also envisages and invites all member states to observe the International Day to combat Islamophobia in an appropriate manner.

In its operative paragraphs, the draft recognizes the continuing cooperation between the Islamic Organization and UNs entities, including the office of the UN High Commissioner for refugees and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the empowerment of Women Cooperation between the two has never been so important than in these challenging times. I think it is a smart policy of the establishment to mend fences with the US, without severely compromising China relations.

On the other hand, we have no reason of being too cosy with Russia, especially under the current geopolitical situation. We cannot afford the crucial mistake of being on the wrong side of history.

The writer is a former Special Assistant to PM (Benazir Bhutto); Member (National Finance Commission) and Convener (Movement for the Restoration of Democracy)