National 6 (Spotlight Weekly)

A Week In Pakistan

Madhav Kumar Rimal

"Pakistan is, indeed, very eager to strengthen bilateral relations with Nepal," said Pakistani foreign secretary Riaz Khokhar when this scribe met him at his office during the week long visit to Pakistan most recently. He also expressed keen interest in the working of the Royal Nepal Airlines and assured all possible help for its improvement and development. The seven day visit to Pakistan by six Nepali journalists and intellectuals sponsored by the Institute of Regional Studies of Pakistan provided excellent opportunities for them to interact with many renowned think tanks of the host country, which are sure to contribute to deepen the understanding between the two member nations of the SAARC. The climax of the visit came when President Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan squeezed out fifty minutes from his tight schedule to exchange views with the Nepali journalists and also to enlighten them on Pakistan's thinking on certain important issues. President Musharraf said he was sorely disappointed when the Agra Summit was sabotaged by some hardliners in the Vajpayee cabinet. After everything had been agreed upon and he had retired to change for the signing ceremony, he received one of the biggest shocks of his life when the signing ceremony could not be held. Although he did not spell out in those very terms, it could be easily inferred that the Indian Prime minister Vajpayee had very little control over the ultimate failure of the summit. Talking about Pakistan-China relations President Musharraf was oozing with confidence when he said that China's friendship with Pakistan was deeper than the oceans and higher than the mountains. When asked what he though about Indo-US relations, Musharraf said that it was their bilateral concern and did not affect Pak-US relations in any manner. After the fall of Iraq, President Musharraf emphasized that the world now faced two important issues - Palestine and Kashmir. Dwelling on the Kashmir issue the President was quite critical about India's secular character which, he thought was on paper only. On the contrary Pakistan, although an Islamic state meticulously practiced secularism. No one could point a finger at Pakistan for any kind of communal disharmony. Asked what would be Pakistan's role for the security of the region, President Musharraf was quite clear on his thinking and affirmed Pakistan would do everything within her capabilities for all the smaller nations of South Asia. He was particularly emphatic about Nepal and told the visiting team that Nepali King would be visiting Pakistan some time later in the year. In this unipolar world, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Muslim world spread from Indonesia to Morocco could be developed into an alternative power bloc which could effectively contribute to contain the hegemonic designs of the lone super power. Pakistan as the only Muslim country was capable of assuming the leadership of this bloc ipso facto being a nuclear power. When asked if Pakistan would ever think of doing that the President gave a long laugh and said, "it was a very searching idea worth consideration." The Pakistani president seemed really concerned about the continued disruption of direct aerial link between Pakistan and Nepal and when asked about the viability of the alternative Himalayan route said, "it indeed could be explored". When asked about the efficacy of the SAARC, the President did not hesitate to ascribe it as 'impotent'. On the whole, all the members of the Nepalese team were highly satisfied and impressed with their meeting with the Pakistani President. His grasp of all the problems and his imperturbability were very profound and impressive.

The interaction of the Nepalese journalists with the think tanks of Pakistan started with a discussion at the Institute of Regional Studies headed by retired Major General Jamshyd Ayaz Khan. The IRS, although a comparatively recent establishment, has been doing commendable job in diffusing mutual understanding in the region. Dr. Shireen Mazari, the head of Institute of Strategic Studies emphasized that it was time Pakistan started playing greater and more assertive role in South Asia. She thought it was India's obduracy that has always stood as a stumbling bloc in the path of restoring normalcy in South Asia. Since Kashmir was the main issue for continued acrimony between Pakistan and India, India's failure to see the reality in Kashmir and behave accordingly has been the root cause of continued struggle for freedom for Kashmiris and irreparable loss of human lives. The peace and stability prevailing in "Azad Kashmir" is an axiomatic proof that Kashmiris are not happy with forcibly thrust Indian administration in "occupied Kashmir". Mazari was vociferous in extolling Pakistan-China relationship citing as an irrefutable example the visit of Pakistani Prime minister to China as being the first foreign dignitary to visit China after the change of leadership in that great country. China, Mazari asserted, was the most reliable friend of Pakistan and would stand by her in times of emergency, Mazari, who is a reputed and highly respected scholar of international affairs was also very hopeful of developing deeper and stronger relations with Nepal.

The team's visit to the Area Study Center at Peshawar University was quite fruitful. The center specially devoted its focus to the studies regarding affairs of the central Asian states. Dr. Azmat Hanat Khan, the director of the Center informed the visiting Nepalese journalists how relations between Pakistan and these central Asian states had been steadily growing despite the fact that they had closer links with India in the Soviet era. These Central Asian states are rich in oil and the pipelines run through Russia. One interesting point that came to light was that these states had no direct air link with Pakistan. But, things are changing fast and these states are looking towards Pakistan for much closer cooperation.

The visit of the Nepali journalists to Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) was very illuminating. Prof. Dr. Syed Zahoor Hassan, the vice chancellor of the LUMS told this scribe that the university welcomed all students of the region and would provide every facility to them. The team even met a Nepali student who was studying at the university. LUMS was not only very impressive but equipped with all necessary paraphernalia of modern management studies. Talking about the dangers to Pakistan, Hassan told this scribe that even though India always posed a threat, Pakistan had become capable enough not only to deter her but also fully prepared to fight a war, if necessary.

The last think tank the Nepali journalists visited was the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs at Karachi. The chairman of the Institute Fatehyab Ali Khan became nostalgic talking about Nepal's friendly gesture in 1971. He was very emphatic while educating the visitors about the innumerable peace efforts Pakistan had made and India had spurned them.

Apart from visiting and interacting with these institutes and scholars, the team met the Pakistani minister of Information Sheikh Rashid Ahmad at the P.T.V. office. When he was told that the total absence of Pakistani print media made it compulsory for all Nepalis to see Pakistan through the eyes of Indian media only, Rashid noted the point and assured the team of taking appropriate measures to overcome this lacuna. The teams meeting with the minister for foreign affairs of Pakistan Mian K.M. Kasuri could be said to be quite rewarding. Asked to comment on Indian foreign minister Yeshwant Sinha's rhetoric about pre-emptive attack on Pakistan, Kasuri was quite sarcastic and said that was not the language of the foreign minister of a country like India. "The prime duty of any foreign minister is to try to lessen the tensions, not to aggravate them. Not that I can't speak that kind of language. But I detest doing that "Kasuri said. The soft spoken Kasuri, who was educated at Cambridge in England, told the team that he had assumed office with great hopes of thawing relations with India. But the bellicose and vituperative, language of his Indian counterpart had greatly disappointed him. His softer stance regarding India was even criticized at home as humiliating. He stressed the point that India must restrain using provocative rhetorics, even if they are meant for home consumption to win Hindu votes. "Pakistan is fully capable to retaliate and Pakistan had more effective missile program than India's," he said. He was very emphatic on the point that Pakistan wanted peace and friendship with India and was prepared to any kind of dialogue at any time, any where. Kasuri also stressed the need of expanding and developing more friendly relations with Nepal. Despite the big time constraint, (he kept the Polish minister waiting) Kasuri was most gracious in finding enough time to meet the Nepali journalists.This clearly manifests Pakistan's sincere desire to strengthen the bilateral ties.

The meeting of the Nepalese team with two of the Pakistani Senators — Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Nisar A. Memon, were no less memorable. While Mushahid was a familiar figure to this scribe, Nisar Memon too proved to be a very nice man to know. Both were one time ministers and both harbor positive views about Nepal and have emphasized the urgency of strengthening bilateral relations between, Nepal and Pakistan. The Nepalese journalists were also interviewed by PTV and GEO TV and given wide coverage.

To sum up, although this scribe had certain reservations at the outset of the visit all doubts and suspicions got dispelled after meeting the host, Major-General (Retd) Jamshyd A. Khan. The programs and itinerary fixed by Jamshyd were very well thought out, informative and productive. Without his persuasive endeavor meeting with the Pakistani President might not have taken place at all, as the President had his hands more than full. The President's remarks to this scribe about Jamshyd that (he is my childhood friend) must have played decisive role in the President's agreeing to meet the Nepali delegation. Even though our meeting with the President could not be said to be lengthy, the way President Musharraf briefed the Nepali delegation about Pakistan's stance, specially regarding South Asian affairs, was more than gratifying. The assurance of the President of Pakistan to help Nepal was very reassuring. If the officials and politicians seemed concerned about India's relation's with all the smaller nations of South Asia, the common man on the street seemed quite oblivious of the fact but very eager for friendly relations with India. However, the concept of collective defence for the security of the region as a whole has greatly impressed all sections of Pakistani intelligentsia. The idea now germinated is sure to bear fruit soon. The one idea that really disconsolated the Pakistanis was their failure, so far, to develop a strong Pakistan lobby in Nepal. The infrequency of interaction at higher level also figured prominently in the discussions this scribe had with some of the dignitaries. Any way, this hiatus is being taken care of soon. The absence of direct air link between Nepal and Pakistan was being very badly felt by the Pakistanis. As such His Majesty's Government of Nepal would take the hint seriously and resume the flight of RNAC to Karachi without undue delay. Senator Nisar Memon, who seemed to be a store house of wisdom was very forthright in suggesting that it had become necessary to influence the Indian mind that force and might were not the answer and that they have to learn to respect their smaller neighbors Memon also suggested that Pakistani tourism entrepreneurs could learn much from Nepal's tourism. This brief recapitulation of our Pakistan visit would not be complete if I failed in paying deserving credit and accolade to retired Major General Jamshyd A. Khan who left no stone unturned to make our visit comfortable, memorable and successful.