‘EU firm on pursuing active global agenda despite Brexit’

European Union ambassador says solution to

Kashmir issue must arrive ‘from the table’

Brexit was not a positive development for the European Union and we have entered uncharted waters. However, despite the British exit from the EU, “we are determined to pursue an active global agenda”.

The views were expressed by the EU envoy to Pakistan, Jean-Francois Cautain, in a presentation, titled ‘The European Union Global Strategy’, which he gave at Area Study Centre for Europe, University of Karachi, on Thursday.

He pointed out that the EU possessed a “toolbox” to tackle different problems. The EU, in the ambassador’s view, had begun to move beyond development cooperation and that now it saw security and cooperation as intertwined.

The EU Global Strategy was launched in June 2016 and the ambassador was quick to dismiss any insinuations that it was the result of the British referendum. He said the mechanism had been in the pipeline for quite some time.

Underscoring the importance the EU attaches with its relations with Pakistan, the envoy presented an updated status of this relationship saying that Brussels and Islamabad had lately boosted their scope of collaboration, and while previously the concentration was largely on aid-related initiatives, today other sectors such as trade had come to the centre stage.

He shared his recent interactions with the Pakistani government. He mentioned that Sindh and Balochistan had been the recipients of special attention where the suppression of malnutrition remained a top priority.

According to the ambassador, the EU had greatly benefited from some of its members’ socio-cultural linkages acquired during the heydays of colonialism. Jean-Francois Cautain cited French and English influence in West Africa and South Asia respectively.

“Migration, environment and energy security remain the key areas of focus under EU’s Global Strategy. A vast diplomatic apparatus around the globe only supplements the activity.”

Earlier, the vice chancellor of the KU, Professor Dr Muhammad Qaiser, in his brief address, called attention to the specter of climate change. He stressed the need to confront the challenge of water scarcity that, given the increasing population of Pakistan, could extract a significant toll in future.

He lauded the EU’s seriousness and the sense of urgency in the said sectors. Dr Qaiser said the European Union’s uniqueness had proved a major challenge to international relations scholars. It had been difficult to accommodate a hybrid entity which was neither an intergovernmental organisation nor a state but which had been operating globally across a range of policy areas.

Later, the director of Area Study Centre for Europe, KU, Professor Dr Uzma Shujaat, eulogised the structural prowess of the EU. “The Union has not been a static body. It has competently avoided stagnation. The Union’s avowal of multilateralism remains relevant even in an epoch when the scarcity of resources is abetting protectionism and more insularity.”

She further elaborated that any aggression among the great powers of the world would be devastating for Europe’s vital interests. She mentioned Russian-backed Eurasian Union and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as insufficient responses to the apparent preponderance of the West on world stage. She claimed that they had hitherto failed to deliver a “purposive and performing multilateral organization”.

Answering a question with regards to the EU’s diminutive role in resolving the festering issue of Kashmir, the ambassador defended the union’s approach. He said diplomatic measures did not have to always come from the “loudspeaker” as they could take different forms. He reiterated that the solution must arrive “from the table”.

When asked whether the recent Brexit vote had reflected the revulsion of younger generation toward the EU, he confidently answered that youngsters had largely supported continued British membership in the union and that the “project” still commanded significant attraction for countless immigrants due to its long-held stability.

Regarding the election of Donald Trump as president, he said it was too early to make any calculations. He read out the letter of congratulations by Donald Tusk and Jean Claude Juncker to Trump in which the importance of transatlantic ties was reemphasised. Moreover, the letter suggested an “EU-America” summit as early as possible.