Zubair Qureshi
Defence and strategic experts and civil society representatives while speaking at an online seminar on Kashmir situation pointed out lack of consistency and innovative approaches as the missing elements in our diplomatic efforts to mainstream and to support the Kashmir cause.
They also urged the need to have cultural diplomacy that we don’t believe in while nations have successfully used it to penetrate in multicultural societies. The webinar was organized by the Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) in connection with the “Yaum-e-Istehsal” being marked on Wednesday (today) to highlight the Indian atrocities in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) after the India revoked their Constitutional Articles 370 and 35-A last year.
Lt Gen (R) Talat Masood, Senator Lt. General (R) Abdul Qayyum, Vice President of the Kashmir Movement Worldwide (UK) Ghaffar Shahid, senior journalist and former vice president National Press Club Dr. Sadia Kamal, web TV host and poetess Syeda Saima Kamran and Shaaref Munir from the Özyeðin University, Istanbul (Turkey). Devcom-Pakistan Director Munir Ahmed hosted and conducted the webinar.
Lt General (R) Talat Masood said Pakistan had always been putting its best effort to mainstream the Kashmir cause but could not get desired results. The weaknesses in the methodology included integrated consistency, unconventional way of doing it, slumber diplomatic practices and weak political, economic and financial status of the country.
Non-state actors, even some of the actual stakeholders were left out of the process of civil and parliamentary engagement. We could never use media and cultural diplomacy as the engaging tools for bilateral and multilateral diplomatic ties. On the other hand, India has a clear edge over us in terms of size of economy, bilateral relations, economic, cultural and diplomatic relations.
Senator Lt General (Retd) Abdul Qayyum said Prime Minister Imran Khan was a towering sports personality well respected across the globe.
He could have projected the Kashmir cause very well by visiting his counterparts across the globe, but his preference has been indulging in conflicts with the opposition on pity issues. Still he has the chance to prove a leader at par excellence in engaging the world leaders to propagate the Kashmir issue and gather required support.
Parliamentary committees are only advisory instruments; they only suggest the government to take certain steps but cannot force the government hierarchy. It’s their priority agenda. However, the establishment and army may push the government to take some necessary steps on the Kashmir issue. He urged media and civil society and Pakistani communities living in different parts of the world to keep pursuing the agenda for national interest.
Unfortunately we have no time-bound and tasks-oriented action plan to achieve strategic objectives, enhance political image across the globe and to have meaningful and trust worthy diplomatic relations except one or two countries. Haphazard fire-fighting and domestic efforts would bring the desired results while Pakistan’s diplomatic missions have failed to gather required support on a variety of fronts for the country.
