Daily Times

Call it a snub or a slap, but Heart of Asia conference has given quite a few heartaches to many self-respecting Pakistanis. It was painful to see a man of the stature of Sartaj Aziz struggling not just to put his point of view across in the conference. But stuttering to justify the fiasco in Amritsar. No doubt the conference is of an important nature, and the issue of terrorism cannot be resolved without a common regional strategy, nor Pakistan wants to be isolated. There is no doubt that dialogue is the only sustainable way to establish peace in the region; but also, no doubt that the way our foreign ministry planned its participation and foreign office had raised more doubts about the direction and capability of the people at the helm of foreign affairs.

Foreign policy is one of the most sensitive and complex parts of a country’s political strategy. It involves intricate relationships, deep and vast knowledge of various countries, and sharp skills in diplomacy and communication management. The success of this policy defines the international stature of a country, and the failure of this policy destroys the international perception and standing of a country. The present state of affairs is a reflection of how badly and how reactively this all important political segment has been treated.

There is a lot of hue and cry about the absence of a foreign minister. It is exaggerated. Even if Sartaj Aziz or somebody else is appointed as a foreign minister, nothing really will change. We have a minister for commerce and the exports have been consistently declining in the last three years. Despite exporter’s strikes, pleas, and lobbying, the state of exports is in free fall. The problem lies not just in appointments of the right man but also in the constant interference of the government in their decision making and working. What happened in Amritsar is a classic example of that.

Reports are pointing to the fact that the decision to participate was a hasty and ill-prepared affair. The participation in such events generally, and in India in particular, is a matter where security agencies and the foreign missions are taken into confidence to decide the matter. Apparently in a hurry to assert its authority on foreign affairs, the Prime Minister decided to participate without proper planning and consultation. What followed was humiliating, to say the least. Sartaj Aziz went a day earlier to attend the dinner with Modi. He was not just given the cold shoulder by not being placed on the main table but faced the brunt of the Afghan President who was derogatory in his speech about Pakistan. In front of ministers of 30 countries, he rejected Pakistan’s offer of financial help and said that this money would be better used to stop terrorism in their own country. Such public condemnation and degradation is almost unprecedented. Modi, of course, enjoyed this moment and added insult to injury by making India look as the affected party at the hands of the terrorists let loose by Pakistan.

And if this was not enough, Sartaj Aziz was almost imprisoned in his hotel and not allowed to go to Golden Temple or to hold a media talk. While we are busy bashing India and Afghanistan, the real fault lies within. It cannot be purely coincidental that countries like Afghanistan and Iran have become disgruntled neighbours. It has been a lack of vision, a lack of direction, and a lack of international acumen that has made Pakistan be treated with such disrespect. Foreign policy may be a very pragmatic connectivity of international politics, yet it remains a tool of expressing a nation’s stance and stature in the comity of nations.

The subtle game of what to show, what to say and do is the art and science of diplomacy that creates image and perception. This perception, in turn, plays a pivotal role in making other countries aligned to your national interests. The image Pakistan has at the moment is the main mischief monger in the region. This is a perception created not just by our neighbours but by our own inability to counter and develop a different perception. Every meeting ends up with Pakistan bashing, where we start blaming India and US with the little responsibility of preempting this behaviour. While the Indian agenda is to make us appear the culprit, what is our agenda? Where is our strategy, and plan? In the absence of our agenda, we will be playing on their agenda. In the absence of a strategic plan, we will be rushing into conferences and shooting back with nothing but charge sheets.

Our perception is of a nation too keen and too defensive in its international postures. If India was not enough, look at the manner in which we handled the Nawaz-Trump call. The conversation was released within minutes and without consultation with the White House. Not only did it irk the White House officials, but also made US media aghast over this breach of diplomatic norms. Thus, the image of a gushing, desperate and reactive nation is more due to lack of strategic planning than just some nasty comments and actions of a few sworn enemies.

Informed and considered decision making becomes the casualty of concentrated power. With the Prime Minister approaching all matters as family matters, very little room is left for the right expertise to make a contribution to effective policy making. According to reports, the Trump press release was not made by the Foreign Office but the PM media office which we all know is run by his daughter.

The habit of appointments on appeasement also creates further damage. The open secret of Sartaj Aziz/Tariq Fatemi rivalry is also making all diplomatic moves look like dividing the pies between the two. While Sartaj Aziz was sent to Amritsar, Fatemi has been sent to America for a 10-day trip to understand the Trump thinking. What we really need is to understand our own thinking behind this comedy of errors. Last year, the federal government pleaded with the Supreme Court to lift the ban on houbara bustard hunting as it was a very important “pillar of our foreign policy with Qatar and the Middle East.” Are these the “pillars and principles” on which we are trying to build our relationships? On what principles is our foreign policy based? Unless we discover that fundamental question, we will continue to look and sound sorry, and lost in this highly complex and cut-throat world of international relations.

The writer is a columnist and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com