ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Former Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit lambasted the incumbent government for an ineffective diplomatic approach and failure to secure desired results but yet it remained adamant to make boasting statements.
“Looking at its over two-year record, it seems the PTI government has not been up to the task. Not only does it give the impression of lacking in understanding Pakistan’s interests, but also how to attain them in an increasingly complex world,” the former envoy said in his article titled “Basic lessons in diplomacy for Pakistan” published on Arab News on Thursday.
“Pakistan diplomacy has never been so careless, to put it mildly,” he wrote in the article.
Taking a jibe at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government, Abdul Basit said that it seems to be utterly oblivious of foreign policy objectives and the evolving challenges in the dynamic world but yet it has been relying on ‘making high-voltage statements and issuing press releases’.
Abdul Basit also was critical to the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who according to the envoy, couldn’t even reach out to the P-5 Countries except for China while Pakistan was supposed to flex its muscle to expose India’s illegal actions and misadventures in Kashmir globally.
The envoy went on to say that except a few informal ones, neither Pakistan succeeded in its attempt for a Special Session of the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir nor it could use the OIC platform efficiently, resulting in outright diplomatic failures on the issue.
Abdul Basit emphasized on strengthening bilateral relations by Pakistan with leading Countries to get favorable decisions at multilateral organizations.
“Making vociferous statements at multilateral forums is the easiest thing to do. Building bilateral relations on solid foundations is the onerous part of diplomacy,” he said.
