Lobbying for Kashmir
PM Nawaz Sharif has appointed of 22 parliamentarians who will highlight the Kashmir issue in various countries
A car is seen damaged after a night of clashes between protesters and security forces in Srinagar as the city remains under curfew following weeks of violence in Kashmir, August 21, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS
In what was perhaps considered to be an inspired move, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced on August 19 the appointment of 22 parliamentarians as his emissaries who will highlight the Kashmir issue in various countries around the world. Their job is to build awareness and support for a resolution of the conflict in Kashmir that will be the central focus of the prime minister’s speech at the United Nations this September. The prime minister feels that these emissaries will help to “shake the collective conscience” of the world regarding what he termed the UN’s most persistent failure. The government ostensibly believes that with the support of both Kashmiri and Pakistani people as well as the government of Pakistan, these emissaries will be able to fulfil their agenda of lobbying for Kashmir. However, this assessment is based on one crucial assumption: that diplomats and politicians in other countries will take the word of our parliamentarians seriously.
Due to a long series of foreign policy missteps, our dependence on international aid and the continued threat of terrorism, Pakistan is by no means a popular country. There are too many who view our role in regional geopolitics as a problematic one, some even accusing Pakistan of being a rogue operator assumed to be providing tacit support to terrorist organisations.
Then there is the matter of money. A country whose economic output other nations are dependent on is given the kind of leeway and attention not available to smaller players in the global economy. Diplomacy runs on pragmatic assessments of costs and benefits, and not on morals. Other wars have waged on around the world and largely ignored because there is no benefit for global heavyweights in getting involved in the manner they should have. Syria, for example, has been decimated in a few short years while being used as an experimental ground for world powers to enact their petty power plays. It will take more than a shaken conscience for the world to pay attention to atrocities being committed in Indian-occupied Kashmir. We can only hope that these special emissaries will have something additional up their sleeves rather than just a moral argument.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2016.
Due to a long series of foreign policy missteps, our dependence on international aid and the continued threat of terrorism, Pakistan is by no means a popular country. There are too many who view our role in regional geopolitics as a problematic one, some even accusing Pakistan of being a rogue operator assumed to be providing tacit support to terrorist organisations.
Then there is the matter of money. A country whose economic output other nations are dependent on is given the kind of leeway and attention not available to smaller players in the global economy. Diplomacy runs on pragmatic assessments of costs and benefits, and not on morals. Other wars have waged on around the world and largely ignored because there is no benefit for global heavyweights in getting involved in the manner they should have. Syria, for example, has been decimated in a few short years while being used as an experimental ground for world powers to enact their petty power plays. It will take more than a shaken conscience for the world to pay attention to atrocities being committed in Indian-occupied Kashmir. We can only hope that these special emissaries will have something additional up their sleeves rather than just a moral argument.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2016.