Balanced, skillful diplomacy stressed amid evolving new world order

Islamabad : The present world order is at stake due to the coronavirus pandemic and the new world order is apparently starting to take shape with China taking the lead. However, Pakistan shouldn't follow China on every issue and instead it should engage in skillful balancing of its relations with other important countries as well.

The thoughts were shared by former foreign secretary Riaz Hussain Khokhar during a webinar on ‘impact of COVID-19 on Pakistan’s international relations at regional and global levels’.

The event was organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, as part of its ongoing webinar series ‘COVID-19: Global Challenges, National Response’.

The discussion was jointly chaired by former finance secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan and IPS executive president Khalid Rahman, whereas the panelists included former ambassadors Tajammul Altaf and Ayaz Wazir and IPS senior research associate Syed Muhammad Ali.

Regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, Khokhar said Pakistan’s friendship with China has once again withstood the test of time.

"This strong relationship could also prove vital in bringing much-needed reforms to the weak health infrastructure in the country as well as the vulnerable sectors of education, agriculture, science and technology, and environment, which have been exposed in the wake of the pandemic.

"The coronavirus cases and deaths in Pakistan are expected to go up, so we must put our acts together at the earliest as failure to do so will make things very difficult for us to handle," he said.

The former foreign secretary asked the government to maintain balanced relations with other countries such as the US alongside China in view of its own national interests.

He warned that the US president was trying to whip up hysteria about China ahead of the US elections and the tussle between the two countries including the issue of South China Sea could may well make the US pile pressure on Pakistan.

Riaz Khokhar said a lot of economic disruption was going to take place due to Covid-19, whereas Pakistan’s gap between the haves and have-nots was also expanding fast.

He said China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, just like all other countries, too, faced tough times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and might not be able to reschedule Pakistan loans very favourably.

About the developing scenario in Afghanistan, the former secretary said the ethnic mosaic of the restive country had been damaged considerably and there could be no peace until it was repaired.

"Pakistan can play a role in further facilitating talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, but it is not in a good position to do so because of the mistrust by both the entities. The spread of coronavirus in Afghanistan is also going to increase, and this will cause problems for Pakistan as well due to the flow of people crossing the border," he said.

Having spent about 10 years of his foreign service engaging directly with India, Riaz Khokhar said India was already making war sounds even in the current situation and could attack Pakistan.

"India would want Pakistan to escalate the situation to shift the blame and justify its attack," he said.

The former secretary said he was sure that there were least chances of the two countries engaging in any meaningful dialogue in near future due to the distrust factor, and the gap was widening due to the attitude of the current government in India.

On the Kashmir issue, he said it was nearly a non-issue for the international community just like Palestine. "Pakistan does have an option to take the issue to international organizations but the problem is that the major powers operate as per their own interests and would not stand by our side. The UN Security Council is a broad-based entity on its face, but the absence of any Muslim country as its permanent member clearly shows the non-seriousness on its part and even the OIC does not have a strong voice among the comity of nations," he said.

The former foreign secretary said India had already put SAARC on a ventilator making the options for regional cooperation very limited.

He said the ECO could offer a ray of hope for the country, especially keeping in view the evolving shape of the new world order, and more such avenues should be carefully explored to communicate our concerns over Kashmir issue to the world community.

“Pakistan cannot write off the Kashmir issue altogether with India continually engaged in a genocide in the region. The situation demands fundamental decisions about Pakistan’s stance and its future strategy on Kashmir to be taken as a nation, and those decisions should be taken through consultations involving the government, politicians, other stakeholders and the people in general,” he said.