Consistent, vigorous plan on IIOJK needed

Experts stress greater engagement on global level

ISLAMABAD:

The lack of consistency and innovative approaches and a concerted cultural push are the missing pieces to the puzzle in the national diplomatic effort to mainstream and support the Kashmir cause.

This was discussed by the defence and strategic experts and civil society representatives during a webinar on “Yaum-e-Istehsal”. The event had been organised by the Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) to highlight the Indian atrocities in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) after India revoked Constitutional Articles 370 and 35-A last year.

Defence Analyst Lt General (retired) Talat Masood said that Pakistan has always done its best to mainstream the Kashmir cause but could not get the desired results.

The weaknesses, Lt Gen Masood pointed out, included integrated consistency, unconventional way of doing it, slumber diplomatic practices and weak political, the economic and financial status of the country.

Moreover, he said that non-state actors, including some of the actual stakeholders, were left out of the process of civil and parliamentary engagement.

“We could never use media and cultural diplomacy as the engaging tools for bilateral and multilateral diplomatic ties,” Lt Gen Masood said, noting how India has a clear edge in terms of size of the economy, bilateral relations, economic, cultural and diplomatic relations.

Senator Lt General (Retd) Abdul Qayyum, who served in the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, said Prime Minister Imran Khan is a towering sports personality who is well respected across the globe. If he wanted, the prime minister could have projected the Kashmir cause very well by visiting his counterparts across the globe, but his preference has been indulging in conflicts with the opposition on pity issues, Lt Gen Qayyum said.

Devcom-Pakistan Director Munir Ahmed said that unfortunately there is no time-bound or tasks-oriented action plan to enhance their political image across the globe with meaningful and trustworthy diplomatic ties except with two countries.

Ghaffar Shahid claimed that the Kashmir Movement in the UK has played a significant role in registering the case of IOJK in Britain, Europe, Canada and in parts of US. In this regard, he said that a huge protest had been organized in UK when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited.

Özyein University’s Shaaref Munir lamented that he never saw the Pakistani Consulate engaging with the local universities or international communities. “We are open to collaborate with Pakistani missions in Turkey on any sort of engagement in Turkish universities,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2020.