HEADS of State and Government routinely travel to the United States to attend annual sessions of the UN General Assembly and hold bilateral meetings with heads of delegates from other countries but the visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has earned unprecedented attention because of several diplomatic successes that the country achieved on the occasion.
The Prime Minister, accompanied by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, held fruitful talks with US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office in White House and the importance of the meeting was highlighted by the US leader who told reporters he is hosting two great leaders from Pakistan. He described the Pakistan Prime Minister as a remarkable individual and that Field Marshal Asim Munir possessed an outstanding personality.
Fuller details of what exactly transpired in the historic meeting were not available but the red carpet welcome accorded to the Prime Minister on arrival at the Andrew Air Base and the body language of the three leaders conveyed a lot about the present level of the relationship and resolve of the leadership to take it to new heights to the mutual advantage. It is rightly being pointed out that this marked the third meeting between the PM and the US President in just three days — a record, as no Pakistani Premier has previously held so many meetings with a US President in such a short span of time. This is not without reason as Pakistan has demonstrated its capabilities and strengths on several occasions, consolidating its influence in the region and beyond and improving its image in the eyes of the international community. Based on what everyone witnessed during the last few months, one would agree with the analysis of Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif who described the year as a year of defence and diplomatic successes. Democratic leader Shahid Khan aptly stated that the meeting was highly successful as it lifted Pakistan-US relations to an entirely new level. He argued that Pakistan now holds a permanent seat at the table partly due to India’s miscalculations as well as Islamabad’s firm stance on the Palestinian question and its balanced position on Iran. These factors, he said, have earned Pakistan growing respect across the world, with both Western countries and the US leaning on it more than ever before. The conflict, he added, diminished India’s long-claimed status as the region’s “guardian of security,” while elevating Pakistan’s role as a decisive player in South East Asia’s strategic landscape. There can be no two opinions that global perception of Pakistan improved a lot as a result of shining example of the country in deterring aggression by a numerically superior neighbour and principled position on issues of interest to the global community. Pakistan was quick in finalizing a trade deal with the United States, which was followed by signing of agreements envisaging American investment in the mineral sector of the country. All this is reflective of a shift in Pakistan-US relations from security-centric to geo-economics. It is also a reality that Pakistan is successfully maintaining balanced ties with all important capitals of the world and with this in view it can legitimately be said that this is the best period of Pakistan’s diplomacy. This is also borne out by the fact that the NATO-styled defence pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia has raised no eye-brows either from Iran or the United States and instead the Iranian President welcomed the development. There is also weight in the argument that the US President sees in Pakistan a partner capable of delivering on multiple fronts, such as diplomacy, geopolitics and defence. On the sidelines of the UNGA session, both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar effectively put across Pakistan’s point of view on almost all issues of interest to the country and the international community. At a Special Climate Event convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Shehbaz Sharif called on the international community to honour its climate finance commitments, an issue that assumes greater significance for Pakistan in view of the natural disasters it is facing now and also witnessed in 2022. During a meeting with Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation, he expressed the commitment of his government to continue collaboration across health, nutrition, digital transformation and broader socio-economic development.
Pakistan is also striving hard to promote bilateral cooperation with Bangladesh and this policy manifested itself in the meeting that the PM had with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus when he underlined the need to have constructive and forward-looking ties, rooted in mutual respect, trust and shared aspirations of regional peace and prosperity. And Ishaq Dar, while inaugurating the newly upgraded Consular Services Area at the historic Consulate General of Pakistan in New York, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to serve Overseas Pakistanis with “dignity, efficiency and the best possible services.” He highlighted reforms aimed at facilitating Overseas Pakistanis including the establishment of special courts for Overseas Pakistanis, evidence recording via video link from missions abroad, e-filing of cases, facilitation in taxation and banking, reserved university and medical college quotas for Overseas Pakistanis’ children, the revival of the Green Channel at airports, and the introduction of the Visa Prior to Arrival (VPA) facility for 126 countries. Hopefully, the proactive interaction of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister with other delegates would lead to practical steps in weeks and months to cement ties with different countries.
