WHY is the international community not paying attention to our narrative on Kashmir or to our denial of support to extremists and terrorists? There can only be two possible scenarios in this regard.

The first scenario or possible reason for the world not listening to us might be the ‘great game’ going on, led by the United States. It does not matter to the US how sincere we are in our efforts against militancy and extremism as it considers us part of the problem because of our strong ties with China.

The Western bloc will not buy our narrative at any cost as it suits its larger interests. The growing relations between China and Pakistan, and the key role given to Pakistan in the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is and will remain a bone of contention as far as Pakistan’s equation with the West is concerned.

In the global power game, our undeniable tilt towards China has to come at some cost. America’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ doctrine and the major role given to India in it for the containment of China have something to do with the state of Pakistan as well.

This might be one reason why our narrative always struggles to mean what we want it to mean. Simply put, we are being seen through the wrong lens by the West.

The second scenario could be our own past. As a nation, we should clearly define ourselves through the elected parliament. And the world must get to know that all decisions in the country are being taken by parliament.

It is a monumental task, but not an impossible one. It can only be done if the political leadership starts behaving the way it should. They are our representatives and have all the rights to define our future line of action based on political consensus in parliament. Politicians must come forward by setting aside their biases to take this country towards the path of development and prosperity.

This is doable and needs commitment and political will more than anything else. If the elected governments in Pakistan start making decisions based on consensus in parliament, the international commu-nity will take us seriously, will listen to us, and we would be united internally and strong economically. In every sense, we would be difficult for the world to ignore.

Syed Zeeshan Abid
Chiniot

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2021