In times of a prevailing pandemic, diplomacy and media engagements at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) have also taken some hits with limited access to the world’s largest multilateral forum this year. While government delegations on presidential and prime ministerial levels weren’t at their usual capacity, a large number of foreign ministers did manage to attend which is a clear sign that in-person diplomacy is still preferred.
As for the media, this time only resident UN correspondents and official videographers/photographers were allowed access under SOP guidelines, despite earlier considerations for general media accreditation.
Pakistan’s delegation was led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who had a jam-packed week with numerous bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the 76th UNGA. The key focus remained on highlighting Islamabad’s concerns on Afghanistan in light of recent events and rallying the cause of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) which has remained under draconian measures since August 2019.
The foreign minister’s most crucial bilateral meeting, however, was with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken where Afghanistan was discussed in detail. While US-Pakistan relations are at their bare minimum with subtle frostiness witnessed in the recent congressional hearing, the fact remains that they are fully engaged when it comes to the Afghan crisis which has been reiterated by the Foreign Office.
Islamabad has become a key hub for security-orientated diplomacy but with the only difference that it wishes to act upon with dignity and mutual respect with its partners in Europe and North America. All sorts of preposterous accusations aside, it has nothing to gain by holding Afghanistan as some sort of leverage. Securing the border and ensuring an inclusive Afghan government is what it aspires for and so do most regional and global players.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s UNGA speech last week is exactly what those who matter in the US need to listen to and learn from past mistakes. The theme of his speech was aimed at pressing global issues yet his segment on the security dynamics of South Asia need to be acted upon with utmost urgency before it’s too late. Whether Afghanistan, India-Pakistan ties or Kashmir, his clear-cut emphasis on regional stability and containing fascism originating in New Delhi’s power corridors should not be ignored in the best interest of economic prosperity. The region is nuclearised for decades and to date, things haven’t improved one bit, with diplomacy failing at crucial levels thanks to the Hindutva-dominated politics of the BJP.
US Vice President Kamala Harris’ subtle jibe at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on failing to uphold democratic values should be a lesson for Delhi’s movers and shakers who were overconfident in their ties with Washington. Nevertheless, the White House should seriously reconsider using India as a counterweight to China. They may be immediate neighbours and share a similar population, but in terms of security, Delhi’s performance is abysmal.
Apart from this, it is a state sponsor of terrorism which has not only funded and trained the Pakistani Taliban via Afghan territory but also sections of ISIL-K for sinister regional designs under Ajit Doval’s watch.
On this matter, I recently asked Foreign Minister Qureshi on whether the specifics of Delhi’s sophisticated disinformation campaign and intelligence activities against Islamabad were shared with world powers at his press briefing in New York Cit. On which he stated that it’s being highlighted vigorously at all multilateral and bilateral forums with UN envoy Munir Akram adding that a resolution shall be presented in the UN Security Council (UNSC) soon.
Maybe it’s high time that Pakistan’s stance and dossiers be taken seriously though the only two issues are its image problem and diplomatic limitations due to follies of past leaderships. The question remains whether it shall succeed in prevailing over its shortcomings is what the stakeholders are closely watching.