Now we have a foreign minister

Letter August 21, 2017
Amid the regional tussle between India and China, Pakistan is gradually moving towards another crisis

ISLAMABAD: Amid the regional tussle between India and China, Pakistan is gradually moving towards another crisis with the impending arrival of the US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Over-reliant on CPEC and China, Pakistan seems to wriggle in a fool’s paradise unable to see its neighbours aligning in blocs to pit the opponents against one another.

It has been a couple of weeks since the Foreign Office has been resumed by a full-time foreign minister, but no statement outlining Pakistan’s predicted course of action over increasing regional instability has been given by the Foreign Office so far. It might, however, be too early to doubt the political acumen of the newly appointed foreign minister in spite of the fact that the governments are to have a defining policy rhetoric towards its neighbouring countries, especially the ones with which it has history of contentious issues.

Prompt to give deadlines for getting rid of power crisis, the present foreign minister must address and set deadlines to shape policies coiling around his ministry. Compared to the new defence minister, Khurram Dastagir, Khawaja Asif’s previous appointment as the same in a rather ceremonial role would have certainly made him aware of the nitty-gritty of foreign affairs. Conclusively, the difference between a Foreign Office being run without a foreign minister and with a foreign minister should seem clear through a better grasp of policy matters.

Khurram Fahad

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2017.

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