BRUSSELS, Feb 5: Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar’s quick tour of key European Union capitals this week has confirmed Pakistan’s move from backstage to spotlight on Europe’s foreign policy stage.

But while willing to forge ahead with closer cooperation with Pakistan and listen to Pakistan’s advice on Afghanistan, senior EU policymakers remain wary of getting entangled in Pakistan-Indian tensions over Kashmir.

Even “well-intentioned outsiders can only play a role if both parties want them to,” European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten told reporters this week at a joint news briefing with Sattar.

An aide to EU security chief Javier Solana told Dawn that the EU was limiting its ambitions in South Asia to “urging restraint” on both Pakistan and India.

There is growing respect, however, at what EU diplomats describe as Pakistan’s “responsible response” to India’s recent Agni missile test.

Lauding Pakistan’s efforts at combating extremism, Solana told reporters after meeting Sattar that Pakistan had been “instrumental” in stabilising the region.

What Patten described as a “rejuvenation” in Pakistan-EU relations is due clearly to Islamabad’s participation in the international anti-terror campaign and “shared responsibility” in tackling the crisis in Afghanistan.

But also important for the EU is Pakistan’s commitment to holding elections before October 12. As Patten insisted, Europe has taken note of “Pakistan’s commitment to the re-establishment of democratic institutions in a sustainable way.”

EU officials say Patten’s offer of European observers and election monitors for the October polls was welcomed by Sattar.

Diplomats in Brussels are also quick to point out that unlike the United States, the EU is moving fast to fulfil its post- September 11 promises to upgrade relations with Pakistan. Recent moves include the signature of a new trade and cooperation pact, increased aid and quick agreement on a textiles package designed to increase Pakistan’s exports to Europe.

The focus now has to be on what Sattar insisted was a further intensification of Pakistan-EU relations, including in the political and diplomatic sphere.

The EU has a notoriously short attention span - not to mention myriad diplomatic engagements in the Middle East and the Balkans - which puts the onus on foreign governments to keep the EU policy machine constantly engaged.

Pakistan’s transformation from a largely-shunned military-run nation to a country striving to become what Sattar described as a “modern, moderate and dynamic Muslim state” has met with immediate EU recognition.

But building stronger ties with Europe will require more hard work by diplomats in Islamabad and Brussels.