A country’s foreign policy is also called the foreign relations or foreign affairs policy. Foreign policy is quite important because it determines the state of relationship between the countries. The Quaid-e-Azam had defined the foreign policy of the new born Pakistan as one of friendliness and goodwill towards all nations of the world; we do not cherish aggressive designs against any country or nation. It is quite appreciable as well as commendable that all the governments over the past 77 years have been pursuing the foreign policy as defined by the Father of the Nation irrespective of their political affiliations. It is good to note that frequent exchanges of top civil and military leaders and delegations as well as visits to friendly countries and international gathering continue taking place in order to further strengthen and promote bilateral relations and lately more importantly seek foreign investment and trade in multiple sectors instead of aid. Needless to mention here that Pakistan enjoys good friendly relations with all the regional countries except neighbouring countries India and Afghanistan due to lingering unresolved Kashmir issue and infiltration of terrorists from the Afghan soil persistently.
The recent visit by a high level delegation and the President of Belarus was in fact more than promotional and goodwill coming here than anything else. First to arrive was a 68-member strong delegation headed by Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov and .including nine ministers and more than 40 traders and businessmen ahead of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko came on a three day official visit. While going through quite hectic engagements, the Belarusian President and the delegation made it amply clear that their coming here was with good and positive intentions of further promoting and strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation in different sectors in the brotherly country.
The Belarus President and host PM Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting to exchange views regarding bilateral relations and further enhancing the mutually beneficial cooperation in different sectors. Afterwards they led delegation level talks of the respective countries during which prevailing friendly relations between Pakistan and Belarus were reviewed and appropriate decisions were for taken further boosting these relations and mutual cooperation.
Following these deliberations, the visiting distinguished guest and host PM addressed a joint press conference They said that Pakistan and Belarus have agreed to expedite the realisation of bilateral agreements aiming at enhancing the cooperation in key sectors such as trade, agriculture, food, defence and technology to achieve the cherished goal of monetizing their longstanding political and diplomatic relation, both sides have also agreed to solidify the understanding reached between the top leaders during their deliberations, one of the key outcome of their discussions was the signing of the “Roadmap for Comprehensive Cooperation between Pakistan and Belarus for 2005-2027” which quite appreciably outlines a strategic framework for duly enhancing the mutual economic ties through high-level meetings between the top leadership of Pakistan and Belarus, inter-governmental commissions and focused collaborative initiatives aimed at ensuring further enhancing the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Both countries would hold further meeting in Minsk, Belarus, at the appropriate level in February next year to finalize the agreements signed by both the leaders, converting these into concrete actions.
The two leaders also deliberated on the burning and persistently Israeli besieged Gaza . and lingering unresolved Kashmir issue expressing their concern over the failure of implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza despite United Nations resolutions and ruling by the International Court of Justice and non-implementation by India of the UN Security Council resolutions for granting the right of self-determination to the people of India’s illegally occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The PM thanked the Belarus President for his country’s support on the Kashmir issue and emphatically emphasized that the global peace would remain elusive until such issues were resolved. The two leaders also appreciably witnessed the exchange of quite significant agreements and Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) covering a wide range of areas, including environmental protections, disaster management, halal trade, auditing institutions, financial intelligence sharing, vocational educational and science and technology. The Belarusian President’s visit along with a high-level delegation was more than a goodwill visit as it is going to further strengthen and promote the bilateral relations between the two countries in due course of time. Continuation of such high level frequent exchange of visits of top leadership and delegations of the sorts would hopefully certainly and positively augurs well for both Belarus and Pakistan in the coming years to say the least.
—The writer is Lahore-based Freelance Journalist, Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News), Radio Pakistan, Islamabad.
(zahidr iffat @gmail.com)
