PPakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrived in Goa with a lot of confidence. He left Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s foreign minister’s meeting, with many doubting his decision to attend the meeting in person. But Bhutto returned with much more, converted in the view that she had made the right decision and was the best person for the job. Nevertheless, his largely informal remarks during a press briefing to Pakistan’s 12-member media team were provocative, just as he had been in Pakistan. New York, Indian audience is now questioning his overall performance. But he is not being perceived as such in Pakistan, where it is believed that he said what he had come to say.
Some in India think that Zardari missed an opportunity and New Delhi will never speak to him again. However, he came to Goa conscious of the fact that New Delhi would not talk to him till the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Therefore, nothing would be lost in saying what was on the mind of the Pakistan establishment and speaking to a wider Indian audience – beyond the limited security community.
The idea was to demonstrate to a large Indian audience that Pakistan is not down and out, and no isolated As the Narendra Modi government had asked the international community to do in 2016. Therefore, participating in a multilateral forum with representatives from around eight countries was an achievement in itself for Zardari.
India being the host of the forum could not stop them from coming. In any case, if he impresses the powerful establishment and becomes the Prime Minister of Pakistan, which he probably has done with his performance, the Indian government will have no choice but to talk to him when the opportunity arises.
To quote a Sindhi writer I spoke to the other day, Pakistan Peoples Party MP Asif Zardari made a shrewd move to get the foreign ministry for his son, which is not only responsible for developing relations with the outside world. May be the only way but also installation at home.
sticking to traditional status quo
It seems that Zardari’s strategy was to be careful as well as provocative at the same time. By not opening press briefings to Indian journalists and setting conditions for two interviews given to Indian journalists to be broadcast after they left. His statement to his own media team.”We will give him such an answer that he will remember. (We will give them an answer they will remember) Reminder of how well the concept of duplicity works in Pakistan – a civilian leader speaking in the tone of a military leader. Surely, he understood the meaning of what he said.
interview to Suhasini Haider And Rajdeep Sardesai Presented Pakistan’s stand on matters of India-Pakistan relations in which he was interested. The same can be said about Zardari’s neat script formal presentation, He was certainly combative because this is the kind of leadership generation Rawalpindi would like to see and believe in – someone who can prove his prowess as a nationalist and is ready to stand up to India.
He tried to make three broad points in his presentation and in two interviews given to the Indian media.
First, despite Pakistan’s dire economic situation, India should not underestimate Pakistan’s willingness to give up Kashmir, a key issue for Islamabad. Zardari appears to have stuck to the traditional position followed by General Qamar Javed Bajwa as army chief – at a minimum Pakistan expects to restore the statehood of Kashmir, or the maximalist position that the UN There are offers.
Second, Pakistan will not go beyond what has already been done for its security in meeting Financial Action Task Force (FATF) conditions and preventing terrorism. Zardari’s audience at home did not expect him to engage in a philosophical debate on terrorism in which he, representing the state, would agree with India’s charge that Pakistan was unable to control non-state actors. In fact, the purpose of his speech at the SCO was to highlight the alleged growing religious intolerance in India, which is being noted by human rights organizations and governments around the world. He was conscious of the fact that the international community, including India’s western partners, would have no problem with this part of his speech.
Third, Pakistan is ready for peace talks but without conditions imposed by India. The ruling establishment is not in the mood for struggle but in the mood for reconciliation. There is a feeling in Islamabad that the Indian subcontinent has come a long way since then Lahore Declaration of 1999. Islamabad twice experimented with out-of-the-box thinking on Kashmir, but was unable to deliver. The domestic audience, which means the larger establishment will be allowed to go ahead if there are concessions from both sides. Therefore, all that Zardari could propose was to leave aside the controversial and build on common issues such as poverty, and climate change.
Jaishankar’s ‘fall’
Pakistan’s foreign minister came prepared to share his point of view with the understanding that it would not only be rejected but India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar would also be infuriated respond belligerently in a fashion that can only be appreciated by its local audience. Even critics of Pakistan’s stand on terrorism like the journalist myra macdonald Couldn’t sympathize with Jaishankar for calling Zardari the ‘promoter, justifyer and spokesperson of the terrorism industry’. According to him, despite his sympathy for India’s concerns, the words of the Indian Foreign Minister were indisciplined.
In Pakistan, people generally hailed Zardari’s visit as a victory. Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, a budding political figure and once a part of Zardari’s team, was quick to point out that Jaishankar’s remarks sounded like a meltdown.
Now this is how public anger looks like… pic.twitter.com/BAzcMPQGpv
— Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar (@mustafa_nawazk) May 5, 2023
others like journalists Mariana Babar It also pointed out that the Indian foreign minister’s comments did not indicate strength. Sarah Taseer, daughter of Pakistani politician Salman Taseer, leaving directionless Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters Criticism During this visit, there was a voice among those who condemned Jaishankar in Pakistan. Apparently, even the country’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, toned down his criticism of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance lash out India’s External Affairs Minister reminding Diplomatic etiquette on how to treat a guest.
Lessons for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, thus sticking to the official narrative has greater political benefits and will help turn him into an acceptable replacement for Imran Khan when the time comes.
Read also: AISC president said, ‘Bilawal Bhutto should answer on atrocities against minorities in Pakistan.’
partner of beijing
It seems that the debate in Pakistan is far from any deep thought about the continued presence of terror suspects in the country. Either lost in PDM vs PTI politics or an insistence on not mentioning the country in the same breath as terrorism, people generally had no problem with the conduct of the External Affairs Minister at the SCO meeting. People cannot be blamed as the debate on Pakistan as the epicenter of terrorism is diminishing after the FATF experience. It lacks added information. The undeclared and informal ban on reporting about terrorist organizations means that the public knows little and feels whether the problem is only of terrorists attacking Pakistan from Afghanistan or confined to Balochistan.
Another noteworthy point is the growing Chinese capability in Pakistan to challenge not only India but also the US. Those who think India can still challenge Beijing as a partner will not appreciate London-based economist Yusuf Nazar’s view that instead of continuing to show off, it needs to build relations with New Delhi. importance should be appreciated. There are few people in the country except the economist Yousuf Nazar, who believe that Pakistan needs a reality check on its contribution to terror and conflict in the region or it should shape bilateral ties based on an appreciation of India’s economic strength. The new generation in Pakistan represented by Zardari wants to reach out, but as he said during his visit, on different terms.
Ayesha Siddiqa is a Senior Fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London. She is the author of Military Inc. She tweets at @iamthedrifter. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)