Experts review first thirty months of incumbent government’s foreign policy

Evaluating the performance of PTI government on global and regional fronts in its first thirty months in power, IPS senior research associate and former ambassador Tajammul Altaf gave an overview of the party’s foreign policy so far at a session titled ‘Pakistan’s foreign policy conduct in past 30 months’ which was held at IPS on July 13, 2021.

The session was also addressed by IPS Chairman Khalid Rahman and IPS Vice Chairman Ambassador (r) Syed Abrar Hussain.

Highlighting the tools required for execution of foreign policy, the former ambassador was of the view that there were 5400 personnel involved in the process, and there were only 87 embassies and 27 consulates of Pakistan operating around the globe. Out of these 87 embassies, he maintained, 59 embassies had only one to three officials of grade 17 to 22 at their disposal, underscoring the dearth of embassies affecting foreign policy decisions.

The former ambassador appreciated the opening of five new embassies in Africa by the government of Pakistan during the said period. However, he regretted the fact that important countries including Turkmenistan, North Korea and India either do not have any Pakistani embassy there or lack ambassadors.

Commenting on the foreign policy conduct, Tajammul Altaf was of the view that the parliament and all relevant stakeholders played their part in the foreign policy making and discussed the issues openly the country was facing globally. In this regard, he specifically mentioned the joint session of the parliament, held in March 2019, where the legislators urged the foreign minister not to attend the OIC session in protest against inviting former Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj at the meeting.
According to the former ambassador, the PTI-led government managed to garner diplomatic support of Pakistan’s key friends such as Turkey and Malaysia over the Indian aggression in Indian Occupied Kashmir as Turkish president Erdogan and Mahatir Mohammad, former Malaysian prime minister, openly chastised atrocities being committed against the Kashmiris in the occupied valley. There were also special consultative sessions held at the UNSC to discuss the Kashmir situation, he added. Furthermore, the UNO published two reports on human rights violations committed by Indian forces in the occupied valley.

It was also observed at the session that the overall foreign policy remained short of keeping a coherent strategy in the given term and resorting to cosmetic measures was more preferred by the incumbent government.

The speakers also stressed the need for opening new embassies as Pakistan does not have an embassy/consulate in half of the countries.