The talks themselves threatened to be derailed on the very first day of Khar’s visit, when she met with Kashmiri leaders. Her meetings annoyed the Indians, who have no desire to discuss the Kashmir issue and who see any Pakistan involvement in the disputed valley as a hindrance to the normalisation of relations. But Khar has a delicate balancing act to achieve. Given her gender, relative youth and inexperience, Pakistan’s notoriously male and aged establishment would be worried that she may give the house away. The talks with the Kashmiri leaders were meant as a sop to the anti-India brigade, a lobby that a new foreign miniser must appease, at least initially.
Just how little was achieved at the summit is demonstrated by the fact that the talks themselves were a sideshow obscured by Khar’s star power. In just one day, she has become a bona fide celebrity in India, not for her diplomatic skills but for her looks, sense of style and pricey handbags. If Khar can similarly dazzle everyone with her diplomatic skills, she may not be the liability as foreign minister that some initially feared. Right now, though, she has achieved a victory for style over substance. The same can be said for a summit that made world headlines without actually achieving much in the way of progress.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 28th, 2011.
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It is said that Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally. I disagree. Pakistan is a major NATO country---that is, No Action, Talk Only. As before, the Pakistan-India dialogue process would only produce a lengthy press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs replete with aspirational motherhood statements and highfalutin language. The new foreign minister is just a "soft front" and sounding board for the jurassic bureaucrats at the Foreign Office and tough-talking military. As one commentator had said, the foreign ministry portfolio will merely pad the new occupant's résumé.
Rome was not built in a day. We must give Hina Rabbani Khar some more time to prove her effectiveness.
Although Khar's pricey handbags and designer dark glasses were distasteful as she is representing a poor country that lives on alms, she did manage to create a thaw insofar as imagery is concerned. Her demeanour was soft and gentle - in contrast to the hollow huffing and puffing of Shah Mahmood Qureshi - and, one hopes, that her personality will continue to portray a soft image of Pakistan especially at the United Nations General Assembly session in September.
The joint statement, as is abundantly clear, outlined what had been agreed upon by both sides even before Ms. Khar landed in New Delhi. This approach is worthy of applause. Contentious issues need to be discussed and resolved through quiet diplomacy on the sidelines. In addition the joint statement appears to be a roadmap outlining other issues that need to be tackled. It should be taken seriously. And now that the Pakistani military establishment has to some extent been chastened by self-inflicted wounds, as well as by the changing global landscape, its narrow agenda driven by pure self-interest should become secondary to what is in the best interests of the 180 million people of Pakistan. The likes of the bearded Sardar Assef Ali and the fashionista from Saville Row, Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, should be put out to pasture; they have only been mouthpieces of the military. Hina Khar represents the aspirations of the new generation of Pakistanis who do not want continued conflict with India.
Ms. Khar may please note that she has a pleasing personality as well as charisma and she does not need expensive handbags and designer dark glasses to reinforce this attributes. She may wish to pass them along to Salman Bashir who could use both.