Pakistan has turned out to be a nation, the countrymen as one unified state subjects against the uncalled Indian aggression. It had burnt our political, provincial, ethnic and religious divisions out. Pakistanis made sure that the international community must understand we are a peace loving, war avoiding and non-violent nation. The nation has matured to be a voice, that any deploring statement on Hinduism as a religion will not be tolerated in the government corridors. We have outgrown the stereotypical Pakistan. We have laid the foundations in India, so Indians question their government’s sincerity to the Indian State and its armed forces.
Peace loving Imran Khan called Mr. Narindra Modi thrice, but to no avail. One side of the picture is he did that for Pakistan, to defuse the tensions on the border but other view is cruel enough to state this is demeaning for Pakistan. If he had called, he should not have expressed publically as this was humiliating to Pakistan as a state. The PM Imran Khan sowed this when he did not take the call of French President Hollande, so he has reaped. Diplomatic circles criticized PM for not attending the call of French President. It should be an understood that PM Imran Khan is at the helm of affairs of a country, that is one of the most strategically important, internationally acclaimed nuclear weapon state. The Premier stated that we want peace, but will retaliate if pushed into any military adventure. That stance was proved, then why was our premier so desperate to speak to its counterpart. The stance of Prime Minister should be very strong without an iota of desperation to his counterpart who has clearly stated that Pakistan is an Indian enemy.
The only success of Pakistan’s foreign policy in this scenario is the acceptance of its stance by the international community that Kashmiris have suffered Indian oppression
The imploring attitude of this government should be recalled when Indian foreign minister walked out of the SAARC meeting on the sidelines of UN General Assembly and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi kept on request for Indo-Pak dialogue. Government should have learnt from that experience. Mr. Qureshi has said time and again, whilst speaking to different TV channels and pressers that Pakistan wants international community to help deescalate and defuse the situation with India. What is the reason behind such desperately beseeching attitude towards India? If they don’t want to talk to us and are in no mood for dialogue, then we should have the integrity and humility to state that we do not want war, but we will also not have a dialogue unless India adheres to the diplomatic norms of the world. Pakistan’s ambassador to the US said that we are willing to talk, but the Indian ambassador to the US said that India alone could handle this and no help from US is required. The difference in the verbatim of the statement shows the strength of the country’s foreign office and the vitality of the foreign diplomacy.
Mr. Qureshi stated that they want US, Saudi Arabia and other countries to intervene. The Indian foreign minister never asked for any international support. The difference is either Pakistan has been pushed towards international isolation or India is strong enough that it knows the international community has its backing. If Pakistan is isolated internationally the action on National Action Plan along with total overhaul of foreign policy is required. Nawaz Sharif should be blamed for this isolation that he stated that internal problems should be solved, but neither he nor Shahid Khaqqan Abbasi fulfilled this. Shahbaz Sharif could have acted alone in Punjab against these proscribed organizations and Bilawal should have done the same in Sindh before blaming the federation. Why were these organizations not banned when PPP was in government? All of these critics are part of the problem. No one is part of the solution let alone the architects of these organizations. They should be ashamed of their apathy and/or tacit support towards these organizations that have led to foreign policy failure. The banning of these proscribed organizations is a good step but we have lost on diplomatic front. The success of Pakistan’s foreign policy is not that India was labeled terrorizing Kashmiri people as a state by OIC, the achievement is acceptance of Pakistan’s stance by international community and the UN to recognise that Kashmiris have suffered Indian oppression. The tensions between India and Pakistan have failed to raise the human sufferings of Kashmiris.
Nevertheless, the frantic attitude of the Qureshi to involve international players should stop. He should act with forthrightness, speak with rectitude and his attitude should be that of a candor foreign minister. His statements should be powerful and reflect the humility and self-respect of Pakistan as a nation state where words and actions do not reflect undermining the people of Pakistan. The world is not naïve enough to watch and see Pakistan and India go into an all out war. The war would destroy us physically, but as a nation imploring diplomacy destroys us psychologically.
Imran Khan should be reminded that as the Premier he knew that India had planned to attack Pakistan with missiles and state of Israel was also tacitly involved, then rather asking his foreign office to indulge in an implored diplomacy, he should have been upright, straight, unequivocal and should have not begged for a dialogue. He should have been clear on this policy of peace but his rhetoric should have been for a country that will not indulge in dialogue with Indians who wish to destroy us. The admission of the rights of Kashmiris by international community would be the acknowledgment of our diplomacy. Hence, shifts from beseeching diplomacy to compelling diplomacy is required which is achievable if we fix ourselves internally and stay strong diplomatically burying the implored diplomatic culture.
The writer is a Barrister at Law
Published in Daily Times, March 10th 2019.