No foreign minister: Who is running foreign affairs?

Senators question lack of clarity on foreign policy.

ISLAMABAD:

With authority and work divided between five different “men of influence”, none was a clear in-charge of foreign affairs in Pakistan at present.

Members of opposition in Senate on Tuesday came down hard on the government for “lack of direction and clarity on foreign policy issues” prevailing in the absence of a formal foreign minister.

The portfolio of foreign affairs is held by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself. He is assisted by his advisers on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Tariq Fatimi, said Senator Mushahid Hussain while speaking on the floor of the upper house of parliament.

“Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was seen negotiating at international level while, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was also acting as an informal foreign minister,” said the PML-Q senator from the opposition benches.

“Such is the level of confusion at the helm of affairs in foreign policy matters and we do not know how we would proceed about imminent issues of importance,” said Senator Hussain.

Pointing specifically to the “confusion” at the foreign affairs, the senator referred to recent cancellation of appointments of career diplomats Abdul Basit and Salman Bashir. They were first tipped for assignments in different countries but were later asked to wait.



Lack of policy direction

The members discussed Pakistan’s foreign policy with regard to the prime minister’s recent US visit, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, Taliban talks, drone attacks and other related issues.

US withdrawal from Afghanistan is a significant exercise which needs to be closely observed and monitored, said Senator Hussain who is also the chairman of Senate Standing Committee on Defence.

Proxy wars

Quoting media reports, he said the US was planning to establish airbases and deploy its air force in Afghanistan. He feared it might lead to another cold war, this time between US and China.

It was in order to contain China that the US has made an agreement with Afghanistan government for keeping up to 20,000 troops beyond 2014, he added. “In this scenario, it was necessary for Pakistan government to take a clear policy line while there was none as yet,” said Senator Hussain. Senator Hasil Bizenjo said Pakistan was bearing the brunt of 30 years of bad foreign policy.

He said the actual challenge for Pakistan is not drone attacks. “It is the proxy war that is being fought on Pakistani soil.” The resultant terrorism and militancy has pushed the people of Pakistan into misery, he added.

“Unless there is peace in this country, no GSP-Plus would work,” said Senator Bizenjo.

PPP senator Rehman Malik said certain countries were fighting proxy war in Pakistan and the government during his tenure caught people from Southern Punjab who were financing terror outfits for the proxy wars.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2013.