Two years of PTI’s foreign policy

On August 18, the PTI government completed two years in office. Government ministers and advisers addressed a press conference, defending the performance of Imran Khan’s administration in various areas. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, also present on the occasion, presented a long list of achievements, viz, India’s failure to seek diplomatic isolation of Pakistan; revitalising Pakistan’s relations with old friends and forging new understandings; internationalising the Kashmir dispute; vital role played in the intra-Afghan dialogue; and ever-growing ties with China.

The relationship with India in the context of what happened in the disputed Kashmir region has remained the most daunting challenge for the PTI government. It’s true that the Kashmir issue has never been in the international spotlight as it has been since August 5, 2019. The PTI government took credit for this but the fact remains that it was the Modi government’s illegal annexation of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir that brought the issue to the limelight. India changed the 70-year-old status quo and it was bound to make international headlines.

To Pakistan’s credit, it managed — thanks to China — to organise an informal debate at the UNSC thrice in a year. But the question remains whether the response from Pakistan to India’s August 5, 2019 move was adequate. Remember, India took the step that no previous government dared to. This naturally required much more than the traditional approach Pakistan used to employ on Kashmir. Despite the government’s claim of internationalising the Kashmir issue, there has been no tangible outcome of Pakistan’s efforts. The 8 million Kashmiris remain under siege. Qureshi himself summed up Pakistan’s success on the diplomatic front when he publicly vented his anger over the lack of support from certain Arab countries on the Kashmir issue. Pakistan long sought an exclusive meeting of the OIC foreign ministers on Kashmir but to no avail. Kashmir is no more a static issue and hence requires a new approach. The current government seems to have no clear plan.

On the Afghan peace process, it’s true that Pakistan played a central role in brokering the deal between the US and the Taliban. But to say that it was only PM Imran who always advocated a political solution to the Afghan problem is not true. The reality is that Pakistan — whether under Musharraf or the PPP and PML-N — has consistently maintained its position that use of force is no solution on Afghanistan. The only difference this time though is that President Trump wanted to pull troops out of Afghanistan with or without a deal. It’s important to highlight that there is no qualitative change in terms of the Pak-US ties. The American establishment’s view about Pakistan remains the same. The recent State Department report on terrorism about Pakistan is a manifestation of that policy.

The FM may have highlighted many “achievements” but did not mention the failures. The fiasco over the Kuala Lumpur summit still haunts Pakistan. The current hiccup in ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is linked to that episode.

Having said that the silver lining for Pakistan is its ever-growing relationship with China. During FM Qureshi’s recent visit, China supported Pakistan to independently choose its development path suited to its national interests. This indicates that China is willing to lend a helping hand in case of a fallout between Pakistan and some of its Arab friends.

Finally, foreign policy is a reflection of domestic policies. Pakistan needs to be economically strong, independent and politically stable if it wants to pursue an independent foreign policy.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2020.

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