Needed freshness in foreign policy

Jassim Taqui

While the nation is celebrating the birth anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal (November 9, 1977), Pakistan needs to revise its foreign policy in line with the directives of the founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

In his speech on 11^th August 1949, Jinnah proclaimed “You are free! You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste, or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”

That should be the basic principle that should shape the foreign policy and not the present religious policy that divides the nation and creates difficulties with the international community.

Pakistan must also revisit its policy towards the minorities in line with the guidelines of the Quaid who in their last speeches strongly emphasized that “ this country is for all segments of religions’ and that there would be no discrimination against minorities.

In line with this principle, no religious minority should be declared “ non-Muslim” or kafir.

Furthermore, the decision-makers should not make foreign policy India-centric. Instead, there should be interaction with India on regional and international levels without compromising the Kashmir issue.

The present policy is causing the isolation of Pakistan by limiting its foreign policy options. Already, the friends of Pakistan especially in the Middle East are coming closer to India politically, economically, and even militarily while Kashmir remains on the back burner.