We should learn to establish ties with other countries on an equal footing and maintain a balance in our relationships
CHINIOT: Retreat by a state chief at the eleventh hour from an invitation, which he himself accepted, is an that reflects badly on the entire state. The whole situation reflects two things. First, our weakness as a nation. We, as a nation, are controlled by external forces. In order to combat economic deficits, we have lost our dignity. Preservation of dignity was the point illustrated by our national poet throughout his writings “khudi na bech, gharibi men naam paida kar”. Economic woes could be abridged, but loss of the nation’s conscious and pride is irreparable. Such mistakes should not be repeated.
Secondly, it was the loss of our foreign policy prerogatives, we achieved since 2018. We just had Turkey and Malaysia among the whole of the Muslim ummah to support us at international forums over Kashmir. Although Arabs provide monetary support to Pakistan at time of economic crisis, they are not reliable friends. The UAE gave the highest civil award to Modi when he was committing atrocities against Muslims in the wake of the August 5 incident. Therefore, we should learn to establish relations with other countries on an equal footing and maintain a balance in our relationships with all states.
Mohsin Qamar
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2019.
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