Just like other diplomats, former foreign secretary and career diplomat Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry is also often asked about the influence of the GHQ on Pakistan’s foreign policy.

At the launch of his book ‘Diplomatic Frontiers’ at the LLF 2022 on Saturday, he spoke about the main architect of the foreign policy.

“The prevailing sentiment is that the Foreign Office is not the principal architecture of the foreign policy,” he said at the session, moderated by Qazi Shaukat Fareed.

“In fact, the Foreign Office compiles inputs of several players, and later on, it presents the policy to the cabinet or the chief executive of the country (prime minister). No institution, other than parliament can dictate their whims to the Foreign Office,” he told a thin audience, which had mostly retired diplomats.

He said the Foreign Office worked along the line of the US State Department. Explaining the point, he said the State Department did not make US foreign policy in isolation.

The memoir tells three stories – first Pakistan’s roller coaster foreign policy, second the author’s own experience of diplomatic endeavours, and the final about diplomatic challenges and the writer’s input to cope with the emerging scenarios. These stories lacking any emotional colours run in parallel, keeping the readers engaged.

He said right after Partition, Pakistan had to look to the US for financial assistance, and it paid back as Pakistan was continuously growing in the 50s and 60s. This continued until the war of 1965 when then foreign minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto turned the country toward Islamic states and China. Since then, Pakistan is continuously changing its diplomatic directions. The book covers Pakistan’s past diplomacy chapter by chapter.Aizaz said basically this book was for the young people and future diplomats who wanted to benefit from it. He admitted that the older generations in the foreign service did not do justice with Pakistan.

Explaining the autonomy of the Foreign Office on diplomacy, he cites the example of the Yemen war when Saudi Arabia wanted Pakistan troops on its soil. The government took the issue to the parliament, which decided not to be part of the war.

“Pakistan’s foreign policy is: never to be part of any war, or any effort to dislodge a regime in a foreign country.” He cited the example of the Syrian war, where some friendly countries wanted to retain Basharul Assad, while others wanted to topple his government. Pakistan without offending any country remained neutral.

“With the KSA, neutrality doesn’t work. So, when Pakistan refused to send its troops to Saudia, it offended Riyadh. To keep a balanced approach, Pakistan pledged its support for the protection of the two holy mosques and the Saudi sovereignty. It satisfied the Kingdom.”

He said Pakistan has been ruled by four military rulers, and this baggage has made foreign policy towards India a bit reactionary. He supported a peace accord between India and Pakistan. He said the abrogation of Kashmir clauses by India has united all Kashmiris. He advised Pakistan to make Gilgit Baltistan its fifth province, and Azad Kashmir its part.

“Pakistan should hold a regional plebiscite in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and make it its own part. This will save Pakistan from many complications in the future.

He said Pakistan cannot afford to leave the US and China, and it is possible to keep both sides engaged diplomatically. “China is a time-tested friend, while the US is the world power,” he said.

To a question, he said the Russia-Ukraine row has been very old, but Prime Minister Imran Khan took right decision to go ahead with the tour.

He urged the government to exploit its treasures like Mohenjo-daro for public diplomacy.

EVERYTHING IS TRUE: The book titled ‘Everything is True – A Junior Doctor’s Story of Life, Death and Grief in Time of Pandemic’ by Roopa Farooki is a novel by the author, who experienced the pandemic as a junior doctor with the UK’s NHS. In a session with Alexandra Pringle, the novelist spoke about her firsthand experience of the lockdown in the UK, telling unwanted truth, writing the novel after the death of her sister, etc.

VIETNAM: THE MOUNTAINS SING: This is the first English novel by Nguyen Phan Que Mai, which has been translated into several languages. Moderated by Amna Rizvan Ali, she started the session by singing melodious lyrics. Later, she read the part of the book, depicting her childhood and history of the region. She says she decided to write the book in English to reach wider audiences and to keep the history of her country correct. She said she worked as a translator and was frustrated with the presentation of Vietnam in stories and Hollywood films. The main character of the novel is her grandmother. She took 17 years to complete the novel. The novel covers 100 years of Vietnam’s history.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2022