NATURE abhors a vacuum, and if Pakistan does not attend key international meetings, it leaves the field open to hostile actors and forfeits this country’s right to contribute to the discussion at these events. In the case of a recently held multilateral event in Moscow, organised to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan should not have boycotted the meeting to protest against India’s inclusion. Moreover, we should not have skipped this event when Russia had sent a key official to invite us.
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The event in question is the multilateral consultations of secretaries of (regional) security councils on Afghanistan, and along with hosts Russia, senior security officials from the Central Asian states, China, Iran and India were in attendance, while the moot was addressed by President Putin on Wednesday. Moscow’s point man on Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, had during his visit to Islamabad last month invited Pakistan to the event. However, there is some confusion about what followed, as the Foreign Office told the Russian emissary that this country supported regional solutions through the Moscow Format — another Russia-led initiative — though Mr Kabulov was reportedly under the impression thatPakistan would attend the security meeting that just concluded.
Reader’s Digest Asia Subscription in PakistanFirstly, it was undiplomatic of Pakistan to shun a direct invitation to the event. Secondly, while this country’s fears may well be true about India using Afghanistan as a launching pad for anti-Pakistan activity, as was apparently the case when the Western-backed dispensation ruled Kabul, boycotting meetings due to New Delhi’s presence will do little to address these concerns. If anything, such fora should be used by Pakistan to emphasise that Afghan soil should not be used to destabilise a regional state. As Afghanistan’s neighbour, Pakistan is amongst the states most affected by instability in that country.
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Therefore, its voice matters, but only if it raises its voice at all relevant regional and global platforms. At the recent Moscow moot, Mr Putin highlighted issues such as terrorism in Afghanistan, as well as humanitarian suffering in that country. These are all issues that directly affect Pakistan. In future, this country needs to participate vigorously in all such discussions that can help bring stability to Afghanistan, and ensure that Pakistan’s point of view is heard and its interests protected at all regional meetings, and that others do not take advantage of our absence to further isolate us.
Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2023