APPOINTING Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as Pakistan’s youngest foreign minister was quite a daring but also a debatable decision which invited much discussion in the media as well as diplomatic circles. As a millennial, he’s known to be tech savvy with good public speaking skills and decent grip on current affairs. At the same time, there were concerns over his lack of experience and capacity to help steer Pakistan’s diplomatic apparatus to calmer waters. His deputy, Hina Rabbani Khar, had previously served as foreign minister in a PPP government and definitely boasted richer exposure and experience. But her detractors would claim that she earned more fame during her tenure for carrying expensive Birkin bags rather than any policy accomplishments and it was basically the then Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir who ran the ministry.
Some circles believed that she should have taken the mantle of the coveted post with Bilawal serving as her deputy to gain some experience. But given that he is the party’s chairman and Khar is just a loyal worker, it remained impracticable. Moreover, there was this idea that junior Zardari would be a good fit for the task given that his maternal side had remained an essential part of the country’s tumultuous history. When the PTI government was removed abruptly, relations with Washington were under severe stress owing to the diplomatic cable scandal with the party making serious allegations of being a victim of ‘American Imperialism’. While local power play had a much greater role, the allegations were partially confirmed by The Intercept in its August 2023 story.
Under Shahbaz Sharif’s watch, ties with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were smoothened, partly because the Sharifs are considered close to them. On a simultaneous note, relations with Washington also repaired but not on the levels one would’ve expected under a select number of past governments that were security centric. Other issues such as FATF were handled well by both Khan and Sharif governments.
During its year and a quarter long tenure, PDM claimed major aid packages from global donor bodies and key allies to curtail the economic crisis and impact of the 2022 devastating floods. While PDM’s foreign policy achievements might look better than the seemingly reckless steering by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Bilawal-led Foreign Office did waste a great opportunity to review and improve upon Pakistan’s foreign policy.
It is believed that Bilawal saw his tenure, primarily, as an opportunity to build personal relations with the American leadership which might explain his frequent visits to the US. The younger Sharif also took the opportunity of being the ‘chief executive’ of the country to deepen his family’s bonds of loyalty with the Gulf royals. But in terms of national priorities a wonderful opportunity was missed to bring about substantial policy rethink or reset relations with important partners so to deepen diplomatic, security and commercial cooperation. Reportedly, the then Foreign Minister would only visit the ministry once in a fortnight and his deputy preferred to run it remotely from Lahore, primarily, to promote her party’s interests. Subsequently, any serious expectations were unwarranted.
On the other hand, in terms of measures for wellbeing of the diplomatic cadre and institutional reforms to improve morale and productivity, Bilawal fared relatively well. Despite the ongoing financial crisis, the emoluments of Pakistani diplomats were substantially increased, and the cadre was significantly expanded to address the perennial shortage of officers at the headquarters, as well as diplomatic stations abroad.
While there is an80:20 quota for appointing ambassadors abroad which mandates that 80 percent of them have to be career diplomats, at the end of Bilawal’s term, over ninety percent were from the cadre, the rest being contractual appointees. Overall, officers were posted abroad without excessive political interference. However, there were some notable exceptions.
The recently appointed High Commissioner in London, Dr Mohammad Faisal, a protégé of former SAPM Tariq Fatemi, had his support to get an assignment far above his seniority and weight. He’s known to use influence for getting ambassadorial assignments in key stations since 2019 when he was originally supposed to join a smaller one. Similarly, Khar’s staff officer, Dr. Bilal Ahmad, was posted as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN’s Geneva Mission even as he was too junior and didn’t boast the requisite credentials given it’s his first ambassadorial assignment. But then again that’s what one expects in a country like Pakistan.
If one is to grade PDM’s performance in running the diplomatic apparatus, a ‘B Minus’ is given for limited stabilisation which is still better than a ‘C’ that a veteran politician like Qureshi would merit for weakening the Foreign Office’s administrative affairs and mismanaging certain foreign policy aspects. But again, the senior diplomatic cadre itself needs some introspection as ministers are just the public face.
With general election 2024 just a month away, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar and the Election Commission must ensure their transparency in accordance with the will of the people given the level of polarisation. The country’s foreign policy is marred by multiple challenges and much needed political stability is the need of the hour to confront them efficiently.
—The writer is a foreign policy and pop culture commentator.
views expressed are writer’s own.
