Diplomatic star

While leading a high-level Pakistani diplomatic delegation, PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has presented a bold proposal for initiating collaboration between Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI and India's spy agency, RAW, to combat terrorism. During a news conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, he emphasised the establishment of a mutually agreed platform for countering terrorism by both countries.

Interestingly, this vital proposal was presented at a time when a high-level Indian parliamentary delegation led by Shashi Tharoor, the head of India's Standing Committee on External Affairs, was also in the US. This sparked a new debate in the international media. As per various reports, Bilawal's proposal has dealt a severe blow to India's diplomatic efforts to involve Pakistan in terrorism. Reportedly, the Pakistani delegation led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has now arrived in the UK to highlight India’s “unilateral aggression”.

Unfortunately, the Modi government, taking undue advantage of Pakistan's internal situation, had been working hard to somehow make Pakistan a victim of diplomatic isolation. However, in such critical circumstances, if on the one hand, the brave Pakistani forces have defeated those who dared to look at the country's borders, then on the other hand, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has shone like a rising star on the diplomatic horizon.

The way Bilawal bravely confronted India's aggressive diplomacy in the US will always be remembered in international diplomatic history. He proved with his impressive performance that Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif made the right decision by selecting him to lead the national delegation.

The foreign media also mentioned the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting held in the Indian city of Goa a few years ago, when Bilawal Bhutto Zardari achieved important diplomatic successes as Pakistan's foreign minister. On that occasion, he had demonstrated his excellent diplomatic skills and presented his homeland as a peace-loving country that is in fact a victim of terrorism. Bilawal's mention of the tragic martyrdom of his great mother, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, at the hands of terrorists strengthened his stance that Pakistan is in fact the victim of terrorism and that India should stop using terrorist incidents as a diplomatic weapon against Pakistan.

I believe that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took a very clear and right stance that Pakistan and India should sit at the negotiating table to improve relations, but the status of occupied Kashmir must be restored to create a favourable environment for dialogue. By offering cooperation at the state level between the intelligence agencies of the two countries, Bilawal has now thrown the ball into India's court that terrorism should not be used for point scoring, but rather a joint struggle should be made to eradicate.

During my visit to India, I had also proposed intelligence sharing to the then Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, and even today I believe that Bilawal's proposal is the only viable solution to eliminate terrorism from the region.

In my view, Bilawal has established himself as a responsible, tolerant and visionary leader in the eyes of the international community. During the diplomatic tour, he neither showed any arrogance nor adopted an aggressive tone. Bilawal's calm nature, effective style of conversation and the impressive diplomacy not only succeeded in achieving global recognition but also remind us of the eternal services and sacrifices of his great mother and legendary grandfather for the sake of the people of Pakistan.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s message to the international community is very clear: terrorism should not be used as an excuse to impose war on the terrorism-affected country of Pakistan, but rather, the threats of terrorism should be combated jointly. In my view, if India shows seriousness for peace in the region, a new bright era of development and prosperity can begin in South Asia.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council. He tweets/posts @RVankwani