Back to the future

Back to the future

 Dr. Jassim Taqui

It is back to square one or, say, Back To The Future, for our Foreign Office, which has followed a controversial double jeopardy policy with Washington and Moscow.

With Washington, the foreign office called for a ‘sincere review’ of the past mistakes committed by the US in Afghanistan in a strong rejoinder to a recent statement by a top US general as well as reports of American think tanks holding Islamabad responsible for the imbroglio in Afghanistan. This is an irking tone rather than conducting diplomacy through quiet diplomacy. One can even bet that the unpredictable US President Donald Trump would view it negatively, if not aggressively. Does it occur to our foreign policy makers that they are dealing with Hercules Trump and not the lame duck Obama?

As for Moscow moot,  the foreign office stated that  Pakistan would join other regional countries, including India, on February 15 to discuss Afghanistan’s current situation with a focus on efforts seeking revival of the moribund peace process in the war-torn country.

Initially, there was uncertainty whether Islamabad would attend the unprecedented meeting when Russia’s foreign minister first announced it last week during the visit of Afghanistan’s foreign minister to Moscow.

However, the foreign office degraded the level of representation. It is learned that Ambassador Mansoor Ali Khan, the director general for Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey at the Foreign Office, would represent Islamabad.

This decision has been taken despite the fact that the Russian foreign minister urged all the countries to be represented at the highest level.

Does this act give the impression that the ruling regime is serious to find a lasting peaceful settlement to the Afghan issue? What does the regime aspire to achieve from its ties with Moscow? It is a one-million dollar question.