Diplomatic rigmarole

Editorial Published March 10, 2015

COUNTLESS Chinese VIPs, including the liberation icon Zhou En-lai, have visited Pakistan, but never before has a Chinese leader’s trip to this country fallen victim to such gaucherie as the one now surrounding President Xi Jinping’s.

On Sunday, Islamabad for the first time officially denied that President Xi would be in Pakistan on March 23.

The denial came from foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz. Without a fulltime foreign minister, the nation is spectacle to a bizarre phenomenon — it almost seems as if Pakistan has no leader or institution that knows how to conduct diplomacy.

Know more: Sartaj Aziz admits no breakthrough in talks with India

Originally scheduled for August last, the visit was postponed because of the sit-ins by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri close to security-sensitive buildings.

The end of the sit-ins could have paved the way for President Xi’s visit, but two developments clouded the authorities’ vision: first, President Barack Obama was invited to be the guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations; second, the army announced that March 23 would be celebrated with the traditional armed forces’ parade after a break of several years.

Then somebody leaked a most childish feeler — that the Chinese president would be the state’s guest at the Pakistan Day parade.

What message did those who leaked this bit of ‘information’ wish to give to the public? That we have a readymade formula to counter the perceived Indo-US axis?

Surely Pakistan should not concern itself with which world leader India invites to its celebrations.

Meanwhile, the Chinese, not wishing to embarrass Pakistan, did not deny categorically that their president would not visit on March 23. Instead, they gently indicated that Mr Xi intended to visit the country this year but gave no specific dates.

No doubt, there should have been an emphatic denial, but this should have come from Pakistan’s Foreign Office right after the unverified report was circulated by the media.

Unfortunately, by not issuing one then, our foreign policy managers merely added to the confusion. This does not bode well for our conduct of diplomacy.

Published in Dawn March 10th , 2015

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Mohammad Saleem

Mar 10, 2015 02:06am

It's most likely that China's leadership is unhappy over the way things are going one in Pakistan, especially fighting terror of all hue , religious militancy and violent extremism indiscriminately, which thus far, is not the case.

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Wandering Around

Mar 10, 2015 03:34am

They released the report prematurely but why did the media jump on it right away? Doesn't the news media have any responsibility to confirm not only the authenticity of the source of the leak but also the news item itself?

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M. Emad

Mar 10, 2015 06:05am

Chinese President has other important jobs than visiting Pakistan.

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Feroz

Mar 10, 2015 06:05am

The Chinese have a wish list which they want to see implemented before they confirm any visit by their President. They have many concerns on the issue of terrorism and its utility in resolving issues in South Asia. Looking at how the Pakistani Government is going about the task of dismantling banned and proscribed terror organizations, leaves not just the international community but also the Chinese fuming. China no longer seems very keen to invest further money into development projects in Pakistan until the Government shows the commitment and will to tackle terrorism. Like others they are not satisfied with mere speeches and words but would like to see concrete action. Poor Sartaj Aziz cannot be made a scapegoat because taking those hard decisions is not really in his hands. The Chinese position is closely allied with Indian requests as they want to improve ties with India to prevent the US from making ingress into South Asia, where from US/China axis can even threaten Chinese control over the sensitive South China Sea.

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Surinder Jeet

Mar 10, 2015 08:12am

It is necessary that Pakistan first clarifies as to who runs their Foreign office. The confusion is that the author blames Nawaz Sharif for not issuing clarification about President Xi Jinping visit to Pakistan. This contrasts with all foreign visits being undertaken by Gen Raheel Sharif, as is obvious from his tours of USA, China, Britain, Afghanistan and several other countries. He also makes statements on very important issues concerning Pakistan's relations with other countries. It has created a lot of confusion for outsiders.

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irad

Mar 10, 2015 10:50am

Chinese President Xi may not be an elected President, but he represents a very powerful country in the world. Certainly it is belittling, if not humiliating to call him to Pakistan to just preside over a military parade, which has also not been an annual feature (being resumed after few years of suspension).

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Mar 10, 2015 12:01pm

Indeed, there is a confusion about our foreign policies. First we need to develop one and then we need a leader at the foreign ministry who has the ability to clearly articulate and communicate it to the world. Arrangement of part-time advisors is obviously not working out. Our relationships with China and US are important ones as well as the relationship which is in the making with India. Anticipated visit of the Chinese president to Pakistan has been and is continuously being poorly managed. On the other hand, Indian government took a positive step by sending its foreign secretary to Pakistan but our High Commissioner in Delhi took a step which may again delay our dialogue with India. If the objective is to resolve the Kashmir issue with India peacefully, then meeting with the Hurriyat leader at this time was not a smart diplomatic move . "In your face" actions are neither diplomatic nor prudent

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sab

Mar 10, 2015 12:35pm

Those who are only interested in protecting their own business will only protect their own business. it is as simple as that.

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Atam Vetta

Mar 10, 2015 02:01pm

Pakistan needs a strong and intelligent PR specialist. I have previously suggested that NS should request Modi to 'loan' him the services of his tweeter Syed Akbaruddin for a few months or alternately send a couple of younger FO cadres to New Delhi to be trained by him. As for Xi's attendance at the Pakistan Day military parade, I believe that President Xi is likely to be the Chief Guest on 26 January in 2016 or 2017 and certainly before his retirement. Wait and Watch him addressing the adoring Indians from the Red Fort.

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Raj

Mar 10, 2015 03:48pm

This is exactly the problem with Pakistan that, it just watches India's action and tries to imitate it. This is like Crow imitating a peacock and try to dance. Unfortunately it is not possible to imitate anybody in this world. Also, if India invites some leader, they immediately come to india and vice versa. But in Pakistan, no world leader wants to visit and not even the all weather friend. Because, respect cannot be bought or demanded, but is has to be commanded and come on its own. Respect means, that, the power you have soft power, hard power, economic power, trade power, opportunities etc. IN this regard, india is way ahead and many westerners are visiting India for peace tourism. IN contrast, Pakistan does not want to identify its past with Hindu rulers and rich culture. It only wants to start its history from Arab invasion. There are so many buddhist, hindu structures and ancient cultures are there but they are not ackwnowledged because, they were not islam or muslims. Such a narrow mentality and that is why, nobody wants to visit. Even in Indonesia, though it is a large muslim country it still acknowledges its hindu cultures, has ramanayana as national book, have got many hindu names for muslims, and hindu culture is part of indonesian culture. So, many westerners are fond of Indonesia for its tolerance. So, why not change pakistan for better?

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Sunil

Mar 10, 2015 05:04pm

President Xi is a busy man. He has to prioritize and do the cost analysis of the time he is giving to a particular venture. Obviously Pakistan has become an area of diminishing returns for the business savvy Chinese. So much for what Pakistan calls the all weather friend.

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Aditya

Mar 10, 2015 09:11pm

Pakistan has never had a foreign policy. Only a India policy

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Jimmy Rocks Mumbai

Mar 11, 2015 11:45am

Someone leaked, entire naive Pak public jumped in joy and went ga-ga over strategy, strategy, strategy. Then came the denials, then denials of the denials and then the truth came in Indian dailies of the Chinese premiers no plans to visit and Pak officials denied that too and now truth surfaced. Really a joke.

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Gaurav Arya

Mar 11, 2015 02:58pm

Pakistan needs to have specialists because foreign affairs are a very sensate assignment. If you have Sartaj Aziz representing you, that is how the world will see you. Do you want Sartaj Aziz to represent you? No disrespect meant to the elderly gentleman but he should make way for someone younger and dynamic who can "market" the Pakistan story.

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