Designer foreign policy
Khar is quite adept at surviving through different regime types, a quality that will take her a long way.
It seems that Pakistan will now have a flow of foreign designers such as Hermes (which makes the Birkin handbag), Prada and others coming to the country to set up shop. Their interest, it seems, is ignited by another rumour that Delhi is considering handing over Kashmir to Hina Rabbani Khar rather than Pakistan due to her suave dressing (Indian leaders are not worried that she may give the territory to Pakistan since her feudal-landowning background may not allow her to do so). The new foreign minister has dual ownership by both the political government and the establishment, and it is a great idea to have her there to sweep foreign leaders off their feet.
It’s hard to beat the Pakistani establishment’s innovative and creative instincts. Quite a few years ago, a prominent general of the Musharraf team had claimed about a certain female, who was being launched as the establishment’s new intellectual missile, that a few more like her would make the world change its perception about Pakistan. The media hype in India around Hina Rabbani Khar’s visit will probably make some people happy, especially those who decided to invest in the new foreign minister. It’s certainly a good choice since it helps in bringing the political government and the establishment together, especially in terms of ownership of the minister. While she owes her promotion to her political masters, Khar is quite adept at surviving through different regime types, a quality that will take her a long way. For the sceptics who compare her with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, they must remember that the young Khar’s presentability is comparable to that of the former foreign minister vis-à-vis his expensive Armani suits. Furthermore, like him, she will build her way into the party and the establishment.
Good presentation and outlook (which includes the capacity to conduct oneself well, speak in a foreign language and seem visibly intelligent) are the traits which the establishment keenly looks for in a foreign minister. He/she does not have to be imaginative or inspired by the idea of making any original contribution to foreign policy. We continue to operate in the prism of a foreign policy which was jointly manufactured by the military establishment and the political government of the 1970s. Over the years, foreign ministers are expected only to conduct the orchestra rather than write the symphony themselves.
As far as India is concerned, there is very little that a dashing foreign minister is expected to do. I remember a dinner at the Pakistani High Commission in London on the occasion of Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s first visit to the UK after being sworn in as foreign minister. During his keynote speech, he expressed great enthusiasm for solving all outstanding issues with India and taking the relationship forward. Interestingly, the army and naval attaches sitting in a far-off corner in that very room whispered to each other and other guests on their table and presented a totally different worldview. With time, Qureshi learnt to listen more intently to the establishment that he was always a part of rather than go the way the political government initially intended.
Hina Rabbani Khar is intelligent and knows how not to rock the boat. She stuck to the draft as far as her visit to India was concerned. In any case, she represents a political government which is currently caught in a bind and cannot make original contributions to foreign policy, certainly not in terms of relations with India. She will not try to get original either as her main constituent — the establishment — would want her to stick to cosmetics.
It is a good sign that the two neighbours are talking to each other and are being civil. Otherwise, things are pretty much at a standstill. The Indian military won’t budge from Siachen without a joint agreement to map the existing positions first. On Sir Creek, the Pakistan Navy has gone back yet again to solving the issue on the basis of an old 1914 map rather than through other innovative ways. There is no movement on trade either.
Surely this is just the beginning of yet another chapter in India-Pakistan peace talks. Hina Khar was of the view that the flow of peace initiatives will not be reversed this time. Being foreign minister, she probably has greater insight. But the fact is that it’s not her words but the mood of the establishment that will be the evidence of whether the time has come for the two states to seriously talk peace. Meanwhile, we should suffice with Hermes and Prada.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2011.
It’s hard to beat the Pakistani establishment’s innovative and creative instincts. Quite a few years ago, a prominent general of the Musharraf team had claimed about a certain female, who was being launched as the establishment’s new intellectual missile, that a few more like her would make the world change its perception about Pakistan. The media hype in India around Hina Rabbani Khar’s visit will probably make some people happy, especially those who decided to invest in the new foreign minister. It’s certainly a good choice since it helps in bringing the political government and the establishment together, especially in terms of ownership of the minister. While she owes her promotion to her political masters, Khar is quite adept at surviving through different regime types, a quality that will take her a long way. For the sceptics who compare her with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, they must remember that the young Khar’s presentability is comparable to that of the former foreign minister vis-à-vis his expensive Armani suits. Furthermore, like him, she will build her way into the party and the establishment.
Good presentation and outlook (which includes the capacity to conduct oneself well, speak in a foreign language and seem visibly intelligent) are the traits which the establishment keenly looks for in a foreign minister. He/she does not have to be imaginative or inspired by the idea of making any original contribution to foreign policy. We continue to operate in the prism of a foreign policy which was jointly manufactured by the military establishment and the political government of the 1970s. Over the years, foreign ministers are expected only to conduct the orchestra rather than write the symphony themselves.
As far as India is concerned, there is very little that a dashing foreign minister is expected to do. I remember a dinner at the Pakistani High Commission in London on the occasion of Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s first visit to the UK after being sworn in as foreign minister. During his keynote speech, he expressed great enthusiasm for solving all outstanding issues with India and taking the relationship forward. Interestingly, the army and naval attaches sitting in a far-off corner in that very room whispered to each other and other guests on their table and presented a totally different worldview. With time, Qureshi learnt to listen more intently to the establishment that he was always a part of rather than go the way the political government initially intended.
Hina Rabbani Khar is intelligent and knows how not to rock the boat. She stuck to the draft as far as her visit to India was concerned. In any case, she represents a political government which is currently caught in a bind and cannot make original contributions to foreign policy, certainly not in terms of relations with India. She will not try to get original either as her main constituent — the establishment — would want her to stick to cosmetics.
It is a good sign that the two neighbours are talking to each other and are being civil. Otherwise, things are pretty much at a standstill. The Indian military won’t budge from Siachen without a joint agreement to map the existing positions first. On Sir Creek, the Pakistan Navy has gone back yet again to solving the issue on the basis of an old 1914 map rather than through other innovative ways. There is no movement on trade either.
Surely this is just the beginning of yet another chapter in India-Pakistan peace talks. Hina Khar was of the view that the flow of peace initiatives will not be reversed this time. Being foreign minister, she probably has greater insight. But the fact is that it’s not her words but the mood of the establishment that will be the evidence of whether the time has come for the two states to seriously talk peace. Meanwhile, we should suffice with Hermes and Prada.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2011.