“China is our mighty neighbor and trust-worthy friend”
MUSHAHID HUSSAIN SAYED, PML-N LEADER
Pakistan has recently declined to participate in a two-day virtual democracy summit organized by the United States (US) without assigning any reason.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Wednesday announced not to participate in the summit, virtually snubbing the US invite which could have serious repercussions as relations of both the countries are already at their lowest ebb since the Biden administration took oath in January this year.
The Biden administration had invited leaders from over 100 countries and Pakistan was among the four countries from South Asia to get an invitation. China and Russia were excluded from the summit while Taiwan was invited which drew a strong reaction from Beijing.
Talking to Bol News Chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said Pakistan’s decision to boycott the democracy summit being organized by the USA was not China specific. According to the senator, country has multiple reasons not to attend the summit.
“US president Joe Biden hasn’t made any phone call to Prime Minister Imran Khan since assuming the office in January this year. It was a diplomatic snub by the US, even without mentioning any reasons.”
The senator said Pakistan had supported the US a lot in Afghanistan and provided it technical, intelligence and other support for more than 20 years but they didn’t appreciate our role. He said China was another important factor behind Pakistan’s decision.
“Our friendship with China is based on our national interests even though we were part of the anti-communism block led by the western world particularly the US.
Mushahid said India was a common adversary of both Pakistan and China and “we maintained the friendship for the past many decades. This friendship between Pakistan and China also benefited the US when both the economic giants established their diplomatic relations in the 1970s.
The senator was of the view that “Pakistan’s national interests demand that we should have relations with all the countries, particularly the countries of the region.”
“China is our mighty neighbor and trust-worthy friend who always supported us.” Mushahid further elaborated that Pakistan also wants to have good relations with the US. “We have supported the US a lot in Afghanistan quite recently but it didn’t appreciate us in the manner in which it was due.”
To a query, the senator said Pakistan and US relations shouldn’t be held hostage to a phone call.
He said through some measures, the US has made it clear that in South West Asia, India will be their key ally to counter China. The US, he said, also decided to take on China, considering it an enemy. He said Pakistan will remain important to the US despite withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan.
He said the US is on the wrong side this time. Whenever Pakistan took a stand even under Ayub, Bhutto, Nawaz eras, it took the stand in view of the national interests of the country.
“Risks to Pakistan arise not just from a region in turmoil but also from global transitions ”
SHERRY REHMAN, PPP LEADER
PPP’s Sherry Rehman said while Pakistan should not be forced into a new strategic binary in any arising global bloc, “we are yet to address how we should coherently navigate both the stresses arising out of the Asia-Pacific region, or the broader global order where Pakistan has commitments and exposure.”
The lawmaker said if geo-strategic alignments and their politics were now driving multilateral policy towards Pakistan, then parliament needs to know about it inside parliament, with all the attendant nuance that limits our space internationally and financially, and not from press talks.
She said risks to Pakistan arise not just from a region in turmoil as well as global transitions, but also from the PTI government’s refusal to democratize policy-making and inability to forge unity in the parliament.
“A few closed-door National Security Committee sessions are clearly not enough to address either the pace and scale of events challenging Pakistan, and in that too despite the sensitive nature of the subjects, the prime minister has been conspicuously and consistently absent,” she said.
“The PTI government has, however, not taken anyone on board about either the terms of engagement with the United States, with its vast influence on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), multilateral agencies and even the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), where Pakistan has been sitting on the gray list for 5 years despite passing a forest of legislation to supposedly meet compliance for clearance.”
She said the PPP used joint sessions of parliament to build strategic knowledge for parliament and then seek permission for a consensual course of action via representative committees of parliament.
“The messages, kinetic and other action that arose from such a process were taken seriously both by Pakistan as well as the rest of the world. This government only uses joint sessions to bulldoze bills it cannot legitimately pass or answer questions about.
“History has taught us painful lessons about unilateral decisions taken in covert haste. We do not have the capacity, either economic or otherwise, to absorb foreign policy disunity, non-disclosure or the derailment of democracy, which is Pakistan’s default mode. It is time the danger-signs yielded change.”
Rehman said foreign affairs and security policy, which only really work in a bedrock of national unity, were now routinely subject to unilateral and clashing pronouncements by cabinet members that expose the country to questions at home and biting criticism at international forums. “It is also made weaker by a lack of multilateral consensus and irrational messaging,” she said. The lawmaker added:
In a social media post, she, however, talked about the PPP’s role in establishing friendship with China.
“The PPP will always like to remember and build on the relationship with China, whose foundations were laid by PPP Chairman, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto – the last international leader to see Chairman Mao before his passing,” she said on December 10.
“This decision won’t go down well with the United States”
KAMRAN MURTAZA, JUI-F LEADER
It would have been better if Pakistan had attended the US-led Democracy Summit. Agreed, that India was given an important position there. But skipping it was not a good choice.
In fact the summit would have provided Pakistan an opportunity to expose India at this huge international platform. Pakistan should have gone there and highlighted the Indian atrocities in the occupied Kashmir and all the human rights violations committed by the Indian armed forces there. We could have exposed the true face of India before the world. We could have highlighted what Indians are doing from the occupied Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and the way its armed forces are killing innocent people. I would say that Pakistan missed a good opportunity to present its case and build pressure on India.
If I may be allowed to speculate that why did Pakistan stay away from this international forum, I can say that this government has given India a literal walkover there. It was like a fixed-match. India has benefited from Pakistan’s absence.
We should also keep this in mind that this decision won’t go down well with the United States as well. Our relations with Washington are already frosty and they are likely to aggravate further following this decision. Not just our relations with the United States are likely to deteriorate, but also with its allies, especially the western bloc. The United States can build pressure on Pakistan through various means, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can play as an instrument in its hands against Pakistan.
Yes, we should know that beggars can’t be choosers. Our economy is fragile. We stand on weak grounds and live on borrowed money. We need loans and assistance of the international multilateral donor agencies to survive. And we know that Washington calls the shots at the multilateral agencies. The government should have considered repercussions of its decision first before taking the decision of staying away from Democracy summit. I see, tougher economic times for Pakistan now. The United States, which is already bitter because of its defeat in Afghanistan, is likely to react.
Many are saying that the government has taken this decision in solidarity with China, our great friend and ally. But we would have even served China’s interest and cause by going to the Democracy Summit. We should remember that Pakistan should strive for good relations with all the countries, including the United States and China. Hurting our relations with one for the sake of the other isn’t good diplomacy. We should have acted maturely.
There are many who criticise the United States’ own record of democracy and human rights. People accuse Washington of double standards. But one can differ with the US policies, yet try to remain engaged with it as it is the World power.
Pakistan must keep its national interests supreme and not fall prey to the politics of blocs. All the states interact with one another on the basis of their mutual interests.
