KARACHI: Speakers at the meeting of Shura Hamdard unanimously held the opinion that stable economy pivotal for pervasive, successful foreign policy; result oriental foreign policy needs wise strategy of government, and foreign policy failures lie in untimely decisions made by the decision makers, says a Press release.
The meeting was held yesterday on the theme: “Our foreign policy, accomplishments? failures?”, presided over by Justice (Retd) Haziqul Khairi at Hamdard Corporate Office, Karachi. Mrs. Sadia Rashid, President, Hamdard Foundation Pakistan was also present in the meeting.
Guest speaker and educationist, Prof. Talat Wizarat said: “Pakistan can successfully engage others through its foreign policy if we stabilize our economy, our foreign policy should comprise on national interests to achieve our objectives”.
According to Prof. Wizarat the economic condition of the country can improve foreign direct investment of overseas Pakistanis as no country is taking interest in investing in our country. Therefore it is of utmost importance to motivate them to invest in Pakistan. She pointed out that at the moment the biggest challenge for our foreign office is to expose Indian atrocities and inhuman treatment of Kashmiris by Indian forces. To overcome this challenge, we need to increase diplomatic pressure, adopt an effective strategy through lobbying efforts against India, she added.
“India has crossed all limits of sanity in India-held Kashmir as more than 8 million humans are facing house arrest through continuous curfew. They are deprived of food and other basic necessities. Kashmiris are determined people but there is a limit of tolerance”, she said and endorsed government’s decision to call off all trade relation with India. She pointed out that some miscreants were involved in smuggling precious gems such as emerald to India in huge quantity and India through value addition earning hefty amount. Our government must stop this by all means, she stressed.
While criticizing former governments, she said they were unable to improve economic condition of the country because of corruption, but PTI led government seemed determine and now we can expect a transformation of economy.
She said: “JF-17 Thunder is modern warfare fighter; we should sale it to those who are willing to buy them such as Myanmar and other countries.” The first phase of CPEC is completed, second phase would offer much relief and opportunities to people, therefore it was important to start it sooner so that people could get benefits out of this great project, she informed.
‘At the moment there is no foreign investment in the country except in Gwadar where China has invested 19 per cent’, she said and added that this shortage could be fulfilled by overseas Pakistan.
While suggesting that religion should not be mixed with international relations, she pointed out that East Timor gained independence in just ten years of struggle meanwhile Kashmiris’ struggle completed seventy years and still unsuccessful.
Dr. Abubakr Sheikh said, Pakistan had opened China to USA and paved the way for China to have diplomatic relations with the west. Pakistan helped US against Soviet Union and also after 9/11, even then Americans blamed Pakistan for their failure in Afghanistan. Therefore, our focus should be on strengthening ourselves only. Religion should not be exploited in polities as Narendra Modi has been doing in India, he added.