ISLAMABAD, Aug 20: Foreign policy cannot operate in a vacuum and a stable functioning democratic system is a sine qua non for a viable and forward-looking foreign policy.

This was the common view expressed at a national seminar on “Reorienting Pakistan’s Foreign Policy to suit the new global imperatives” here on Wednesday.

Another view voiced equally unanimously and with the same emphasis was that while Pakistan needs to engage with the US it needs to diversify its diplomacy.

The seminar was organized by the Foundation for Research on International Environment, National Development and Security (FRIENDS) in collaboration with Hanns Seidel Foundation to mark its 12th anniversary.

All participants agreed that Pakistan needs to be more judicious in its engagement with the US and foreign policy decisions should be taken within the institutional framework.

The seminar, presided over by former foreign secretary Niaz A. Naik, called for re-orientation of Pakistan’s foreign policy in view of the new global imperatives.

PPP MNA Aitzaz Ahsan argued that a weak state could not have a strong and viable foreign policy. He was quick to punctuate his remark with the rider that by “strong” he did not mean military might.

He maintained that conflict was best managed by democratic states, underlining that strength of foreign policy lay in its flexibility and appreciation of national interest. He also supported the view that it was important for Pakistan to forge good relations with the sole superpower of the world provided it was not at the cost of its own national interest.

Mr Ahsan said the strength of a foreign policy was also dependent on a country’s economic state, both as a producer and as a market, pointing to the unexplored opportunities in the Central Asian republics and other South Asian countries.

He also endorsed the view of Pakistan having a more diverse range of friends and allies, saying: “We should not keep all the eggs in one basket”.

Mr Ahsan said it was important to accept the fact that while a state can choose friends it cannot choose its neighbours. In a reference to India he said it was important to avoid the terminology of enemy for a rival, as it would make engagement with the rival more difficult.

He was of the view that talks between Pakistan and India in Lahore and Agra had been scuttled twice by “our own conduct.” He maintained that talks would not have broken down had there been civilians on both sides.

“Diplomacy is too serious a matter to be left to the generals,” he concluded.

Dr Tahir Amin, a professor at Quaid-i-Azam University, was equally critical of the country’s foreign policy. He said it had been “short-run, ad hocist and lacking in long-term vision”.

He equated it to a “rudderless ship thrown at the mercy of the global village.” He asserted that a successful democratic functioning system was imperative for a strong foreign policy or else it was bound to collapse.

Dr Amin said the official view of Pakistan’s foreign policy was “very self-congratulatory” and misleading. Pointing to the lopsided Pakistan-US relationship he said Pakistan had “put most of its eggs in the US basket” which had failed to promote the country’s national interest but served only the interests of the military institutions and the elite.

He said Pakistan was passing through a transitional stage of nation-state and foreign policy needs to be re-oriented taking in account the changes in the international system.

Dr Amin was of the view that by deploying troops on its western borders Pakistan had in fact destabilized its western borders. “It will revive the Pushtunistan issue,” he warned.

He was strongly opposed to the idea of sending troops to Iraq, saying that the Americans, who were facing resistance and casualties there, wanted Pakistan to share their burden.

Dr Noori from the Islamabad’s Policy Research Institute said by extending recognition to Israel, Pakistan could be able to defuse the growing Indo-Israel-US nexus.

He also favoured the idea of sending troops to Iraq, a view that was knocked down by other participants. He said Pakistan should not compete with India that was a much bigger in size and it should not be too ambitious.

“We cannot have a good foreign policy unless we have a strong home base and a leadership that has legitimacy,” he said.

Gen Talat Masud pointed out that the two very significant global imperatives that the foreign policy cannot ignore are the emergence of the US as the sole superpower and global terrorism.

Gen Aslam Beg, the head of Friends and former army chief, said diplomacy based on pragmatism had proved to be stronger than weapons and military might of the superpower, citing the example of US adventurism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He said the US should help Pakistan to promote a sovereign parliament which at present “was hostage to uniform, LFO and MMA.”

“Pakistan desperately needs a sovereign parliament as sovereignty of a nation is guaranteed by sovereignty of Parliament not by individuals,” he stated.

He asserted that nuclear deterrence between Pakistan and India holds and there was no threat to Pakistan from India.

“India does not have the capability to wage a war against Pakistan and win it.”

At the outset the Friends secretary-general Dr S.M. Rahman said Pakistan’s foreign policy had been “reactive in orientation and not forward-looking.”

He regretted that Pakistan’s relations with its neighbours — Iran and Afghanistan — had not been consistent.

He recognized that Pakistan could not have a confrontational policy towards the US but emphasised that Pakistan should jealously guard its geo-strategic assets and play its cards with caution.

In his closing remarks, Mr Naik said Pakistan’s foreign policy should be proactive, aiming at availing the window of opportunity at regional and global level to safeguard its national interest.

“In the new global scenario, the concepts of peace, security and development have profoundly changed and security is not to be determined in military terms,” he observed. In this context he pointed out that while the US has won the war in Iraq it has not won peace. Mr Naik said it was in Pakistan’s national interest that stability be restored in Afghanistan.