ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday called for proactively addressing international concerns for ending what is being perceived as isolation.

“We will have to align and synchronise our national interests with the interests of the rest of world,” Mr Sharif said in his speech at the concluding session of a three-day envoys’ conference on critical challenges to the country’s foreign policy.

Mr Sharif spelt out his government’s priorities -- peace with neighbours, defeating extremism and terrorism at home, supporting the Kashmir movement, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and promoting the country’s positive image abroad.

The prime minister cautioned that any nation whose identity was not in conformity with the regional and international character would face isolation.

“We’ll have to honour international values and norms alongside ours,” he said.

One of the key objectives of the conference attended by nine heads of missions accredited to key capitals and multilateral organisations was to suggest a way out of the international isolation faced by the country.

Mr Sharif asked the envoys to proactively reach out to the critics and understand their concerns. Those unreasonably criticising or discriminately behaving towards Pakistan should also be challenged, he added.

International concerns about Pakistan essentially relate to lack of action against terrorist groups acting against other countries from its territory, its troubled ties with neighbours, poor governance, troubled economy and expanding nuclear programme.

Images of a leader of UN-listed organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Saeed, leading pro-Kashmir rallies hurt the growing international sympathy for the Kashmiris who are facing brutal repression at the hands of Indian forces. And so did the death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a drone attack on Pakistani territory, raising questions about the government’s sincerity towards Afghan peace.

Mr Sharif’s words potentially mark a realisation that world’s concerns can no more be ignored.

He noted that Pakistan could not afford confrontation as it could obstruct its journey towards economic revival.

“We want peace, but with dignity and respect. Our desire for peace should not been taken as a weakness,” the prime minister stressed and added that the country wanted to develop relations based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

He stressed peaceful resolution of disputes for sustainable peace in the region.

“Resolution of bilateral disputes through dialogue is the need of the hour for sustainable peace in the region and its development,” Mr Sharif said.

The call was directed towards India with which bilateral dialogue remains stalled, while the recent uprising in the occupied valley has pushed the strained relationship into a deeper freeze.

The prime minister spoke about the ongoing agitation in Kashmir and said that resolution of the dispute in accordance with the wishes of the people of the region and United Nations resolutions was the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

He urged the envoys to aggressively counter India’s argument that Kashmir was its internal matter.

“Kashmir has been recognised as a dispute both by India and the United Nations in which Kashmiris are the primary stakeholders,” he said.

Human rights, Mr Sharif contended, could no more be treated as a domestic matter as their violation was an issue of international concern.

SECURITY: The prime minister asked the envoys to highlight the successes achieved by the country in the fight against terrorism.

“We have almost defeated terrorism and are preparing a comprehensive strategy to fight extremism so that the evil of terrorism could be nipped in the bud,” he said.

Pakistan of today, he underscored, was more peaceful, stable and prosperous than 2013, when the current government came to office after winning elections.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2016