PRIME Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, while spelling out the guidelines for Pakistan’s foreign policy, has underlined that it should be guided by a vision of Pakistan as a progressive and economically ascendant state that prioritizes the socio-economic wellbeing of its people. In his key-note address to the Envoys’ Conference in Islamabad on Thursday, he shared his perspective about the pressing demands on the conduct of Pakistan’s foreign policy to align it with present-day imperatives. He asserted that Pakistan will continue to stand for international law and purposes and principles of the UN Charter, mainstreaming economic diplomacy and supporting the Palestinian cause. Pakistan would always champion the Jammu and Kashmir cause and the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as per the UNSC resolutions and the wishes of its people.
The three-day conference has brought together the country’s envoys from important capitals to deliberate on various facets of Pakistan’s foreign policy and finalize recommendations over a range of bilateral, regional and global dimensions of Pakistan’s foreign policy. The timing of the event is significant as it is being held in the backdrop of important developments both at regional and global levels that have economic and geo-strategic implications for Pakistan. Despite its sincere and successful efforts towards the cherished goal of elimination of the menace of extremism and terrorism, Pakistan is once again becoming the target of conspiracies by hostile elements. In the face of a surge in the incidence of terrorism, the country has taken a principled position to deport all illegal immigrants including Afghan nationals but the issue is being negatively portrayed by some local and foreign vested interests. The continued non-cooperation of the Taliban Government to address Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns has led to friction in bilateral relations affecting core interests of the two countries including moves towards regional cooperation and integration through different corridors. The Kashmir issue is also getting complicated with the passage of time due to illegal and unilateral moves of the Indian Government aimed at altering its disputed status and stamping approval of these illegitimate measures by the Indian judiciary. India is also replicating in the occupied Kashmir the policy of what the Jewish state is doing in Palestinian territories in a bid to change the demography of the pre-dominant Muslim region. And at global level, Israel is continuing with its aggression and genocide of people of Gaza despite repeated calls by the international community for ceasefire, provision of much-needed humanitarian aid and moves towards a just and last solution of the conflict in line with numerous UN resolutions. No doubt, Pakistan is extending all out political, diplomatic and moral support to the cause of Palestinians but the ground situation demands urgent but effective moves that could meaningfully contribute towards mitigation of woes of people of Gaza and, above all, a strategy to address the root cause of the conflict in the region. We hope that views of the participants of the conference, who have a deep insight into all these and other issues, will help crystallize them and they would also give their input on how best to proceed ahead. Apart from this, a renewed effort is being made by the incumbent leadership to change for better the economic destination of Pakistan by way of attracting investment meaningfully. A Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been established to help realize this dream on a fast track basis and its seriousness can be gauged by the fact that so far it has held a number of meetings and taken scores of decisions for the purpose. Given the precarious economic and financial conditions of Pakistan, which have also affected regular payment of salaries and provision of required budget to our missions abroad, it is but natural that our foreign policy should focus on trade and investment issues. In the past too, assertions were made to link performance of the missions abroad with their contribution towards investment and trade promotion but not all missions accepted this challenge sincerely and whole-heartedly. This issue should be discussed threadbare and all embassies and missions given time-bound targets in this regard and their realization should be ensured through proper monitoring and vigilance by the FO headquarters as well as SIFC. Pakistan Foreign Service consists of the crème of the society and there is no reason they would not deliver provided they have clearly defined policies and goals.
