WHILE recounting achievements of the country on the diplomatic front during the last year, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has expressed satisfaction that Pakistan proactively and consistently advanced its objectives on a range of diplomatic fronts, both bilaterally and multilaterally.
Addressing a news conference, he said besides consolidating friendships, Pakistan strengthened its bilateral ties with the major powers and key partners across the globe.
There is no doubt that the country fared well on the external front because of a mature and well-calculated approach to different issues of interest both in the region and beyond.
As underlined by the Minister, Pakistan continues to be a leading voice at the world fora, with strong advocacy on issues of sustainable and equitable development, climate change, debt relief for the developing countries, corruption, illicit financial flows and Islamophobia.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his team of professionals staunchly defended the cause of the people of Kashmir and earned trust of the nation by their immaculate handling of the emerging situation in Afghanistan.
It was because of Pakistan’s leading role in sensitizing the international community about the urgent need for humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan that the OIC moot in Islamabad and the unanimous resolution of the UN Security Council have laid solid grounds for averting a disaster in the neighbouring country.
The fact that about 85 bilateral exchanges with over 50 countries and 35 senior leadership visits to Pakistan took place during 2021 is reflection of the proactive approach of the Foreign Office in creating space for the country in a variety of regional and global scenarios.
It is also not a mean achievement that 114 Pakistan Missions were made to function online through three popular social media platforms, which would help monitor and improve their performance.
While celebrating achievements of the last year, one must not lose sight of the fact that Pakistan continues to face serious challenges like coercive and discriminatory policies of some countries, unending atrocities against Kashmiris, India’s attempts at hegemony, unjustified opposition to CPEC, differences of perception on Afghanistan, unrealistic attitude of Taliban Government towards border fencing and visible and invisible pressure on nuclear programme.
We hope that diplomatic team would live up to the expectations of people on these and a host of other issues of interest to Pakistan.
