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1R PJIRIRTAN

JJT1 lj ^\:jT>tl;:O 1 ^Ti;AN

__^y______ Nawaz Sharifs main challenge in foreign

^^^^^^H^^^H policy would be to retrieve Pakistan's lost

^^^^^H* . all national sovereignty and honour if he ca.

^^fff j^B Benazir government had mortgaged

^B^^ j^B country's sovereignty, an automatic outcome

^•L 4l^^^l °^ a "car'.v bankrupt government and of an

E|^^fe __^^^^l inherently weak coalition. National interests

HUHMttHHH were compromised by adopting the line of least resistance.

People are fed up with Pakistan having become a plaything of major powers and the
World Bank and IMF. They want Pakistan to recover its lost self-respect. This would
require not just cosmetic changes here and there in the status quo, but to develop new
equations in our relations with the World Bank, IMF and regional countries of vital
interest to Pakistan. It would entail re-orienting the approach towards the foreign policy
issues and problems while avoiding 'activism' which can lead to confrontations.

Pakistan had lost its standing so much that when the former Prime Minister last went to
the States and stayed in Washington, number four ranking official of the Bank discussed
with her the loan the Bank was asked to release to Pakistan and no high US official met
her. This was the respect the World Bank and the American government had extended to
the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Forget it that it was Benazir who happened to be the
visitor. A slight shown to the Prime Minister of Pakistan is a slight to Pakistan.

Nawaz Sharif government's objectives in foreign policy should be coexistence, prosperity

and economic co-operation, and establishing an economic zone in this region, without
ignoring security considerations, in accordance with his emphasis on economic recovery
of Pakistan. But the legacy of imbalance in our diplomacy and unrealistic expectations,
which resulted from the dependency syndrome, must be given up a soon as possible.

Benazir government's basic assumptions were: One, our economy must depend on
foreign aid, World Bank and IMF loans;

two, that we must seek the protective and dependent status of major powers, and they
should act as judges between India and Pakistan.

Nothing is wrong in seeking economic help, and world powers' diplomatic support in
important matters, nor in this uniSuperpower world it is suggested that Pakistan should
opt for confrontation with the US and the West, and ignores the role of international
diplomacy, but what is under objection is the dependence syndrome like that of a drug
addict on the drug which Pakistan developed under the two Benazir government. It was
in seeking a saviour in foreign patrons that destroyed Pakistan's prestige.

The second challenge to Nawaz ShariPs foreign policy would be how to attain economic
self-reliance and retrieve our mortgaged economic sovereignty while maintaining cordiai
relations with the World Bank and IMF and ruling out. a confrontation with them or other
donor? Ipso facto, World Bank and IMF's roles, for whatever understandable reasons, and
howsoever justified under the terms of their loans and charter, against independence of
our action, internally in economic planning and in external policies.

The question is: can we attain economic self-reliance to the extend that we can get out of
the controls of conditionalities etc., and still retain the best of relations with these two
vital institutions. If this is possible then we can retrieve the ability to pursue reasonably
independent policies.

One untapped source that can inject economic self-reliance can be repatriation of some of
the foreign exchange earnings and deposits of the overseas Pakistanis and Pakistani
industrialists and businessmen, who are estimated to have US S30 billion deposits
abroad. Pakistanis are so rich in this respect that if, and there is big if, they transfer a
small percentage of their foreign exchange to Pakistan and start investing in Pakistan, as
Nawaz Sharif and Sartaj Aziz are trying to do, Pakistan can start becoming self-reliant.
For this to happen, there is another big if» that is, if Pakistan has political stability.
Through stable democracy this can happen. However, there are many ponderable. In any
case, it is worth trying.

This is a challenge for Nawaz Sharif and his economic wizard, Sartaj Aziz to meet and
derive benefit from the financial resources of Pakistanis themselves. In addition, one has
to be careful of a rearguard action by some hostile elements of all hues and colours.

The third task of his foreign policy will be to develop a regional diplomacy, in the circle
of our immediate neighbours in the262

Emporium Current Essays

West and the North, Iran, China, Russia, Central. Asia and the Gulf, and most
importantly, in solving the current complicated situation in Afghanistan aimed at
elimination of regional tensions and establish regional peace. This means to work on an
entirely different agenda that Benazir had.

In Benazir's uni-direction diplomacy, we concentrated only on being in the good graces of

America, placing all our eggs in one basket, which was a grave error in two respect: one,
we neglected the region a if it was of a marginal importance; and two, became isolated in
the region. In tailoring our regional diplomacy according to American specification,we
annoyed Iran and Russia, and created hostility in certain Afghan war lords. General
Bab'ar's guided tour of Western and American envoys to Jalalabad confirmed the
impressions that our regional diplomacy was in the interest of the Americans. What were
the unstated reasons for this meddling and playing others' game in Afghanistan, would
never be known. Perhaps, the Americans gave an impression that if we played this part,
we might get the, F-16s the Pressler Amendment would be annulled, and our confiscated
money and military spares would be returned. No such thing happened except that our
military spares were returned to us under the Brown Amendment.

It is obvious that no foreign power can be our saviour. America has been relied upon
earlier and three times we were disappointed in our hour of need.

This will be the third challenge for Mian Nawaz ShariPs foreign policy: To seek security
more by diversification of the circle of our friends through bilateralism replacing mii-
directionalism, not by ignoring America's importance, but to give importance to the
regional considerations and interests also, by accepting the inevitability of reality of
mutuality of the regional interests.

For Pakistan the circle of vital interests would include India, China, Ira, the Persian Gulf
and Afghanistan. India is still a hostile neighbour whereas Iran has been our traditional
good friend. Like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, China has been our tried and reliable friend.

Friendship with China is to be based on co-existence and non-interference in internal

affairs of the Third World countries. Here, as in the case of Russia, we have to keep in
view the sensitivities of these countries on meddling in the affairs of their Muslim
minorities. Nawaz Sharif had assured China and this score when he visited China during
his first prime ministership. China also is to be given importance in purchase of arms by
us. At present, the direction is towards the Western countries.

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263

With Iran, our relations during the Benazir government had sunk so low that it went on to
hold thfe Afghanistan conference last year inviting India to it and giving us only
two-'ddys' notice for participation which was declined. This, was a result of Iran'
misunderstanding over the Taliban's successes in Afghanistan. This started a trend of
closeness between India and Iran over Central Asia and Afghanistan. When Benazir was
ousted, Press reports indicated that Iran felt its relations with Pakistan would improve
with her departure. Caretaker Foreign Minister Sahcbzada Yaqub, Khan was despatched
to bring this chapter of misunderstanding to an end. Both Pakistan and Iran would haye to
respect their mutual and national interest in the region, for example, Pakistan's strategic
interests in Afghanistan in which Pakistan can cooperate with Iran, but not with any other
power hostile to Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistan should understand Iran's sensitivity in the
Persian Gulf over the presence of non-regional military presence. Pakistan should keep
centcom at an arms length and not join any grouping which gives a semblance of
encircling Iran, etc.

The toughest fourth challenges to Nawaz Sharif would be to make peace in Afghanistan
which may serve the interests of the Afghan people, and also satisfy Iran and Russia. But
even in Pakistan's own interest peace in Afghanistan is necessary for creating an ope*n
economic zone.

Relations with Central Asia will not be a problem. The only small obstacle there is
Russian misgivings on the so-called Islamic fundamentalism of the Taliban, but not a
major problem for it had been quite successfully removed by President Leghari on his trip
to Central Asia. Nawaz Sharif should revive his project of linking Pakistan with Central
Asia through the highway he had planned earlier. Let this area of our immediate
neighbour become a free economic zone linked with roads, having industrialists in
Nawaz Sharif can do this job like no one else. Iran, Afghanistan, China and Central Asia
linked in a free trade zone and economic, technological co-operation should be our aim.
Nawaz ShariFs -economic diplomacy should start a new chapter in this region. At least a
beginning in that direction should be made by him.

Nawaz Sharif is offering dialogue with India, obviously for elimination of tensions in"
India-Pakistan relations, or normalcy on the same footing as his economic diplomacy.
Can Naw'az Sharif foreign policy accomplish it? As this is a very important item,,it will
be dealt with, separately, in the next column.