Heart of Asia

It is unusual for a dignitary present at a major international conference to be targeted both by the host country and its allies. Such conferences usually consist of carefully worded diplomacy and gestures with much of the real action taking place well out of the public view. This was not the case at Amritsar. For Pakistan, just attending the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar was enough to send a sign to the international community that we refuse to allow India to isolate us. India, as was to be expected, went out of its way to snub Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, who was not allowed to address the media or to sit on the same table as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The hostility did not end there. Ghani’s opening speech at the conference rejected a pledge by Pakistan to provide $500 million in development funds, saying that the money would be better used to fight cross-border terrorism, the clear implication being that it is Pakistan which sends those terrorists across the border. Modi, meanwhile, spoke of defeating both terrorists and their masters – once again a reference to Pakistan. Aziz’s own address at the conference had been essentially friendly, calling for greater cooperation within the region.     There was little he could do after being rebuked so blatantly. He did manage to meet both Ghani and India’s National Security Affairs Adviser Ajit Doval and even shook hands with Modi. Aziz used his own speech to demonstrate Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace and the need for countries to move beyond the “blame game” and be more constructive.

Only Russia responded positively, saying    Pakistan did not deserve the attack it had come under and that it was important that all participants in the conference act as friends rather than make an attempt to use the forum to play their own games.      It specifically rejected India and Afghanistan’s stance on Pakistan’s alleged patronage of militancy. The rest of the attendees have become too economically dependent on India to ever call it out for his rhetoric.     Still, it was worthwhile for Aziz to attend the Heart of Asia summit since it has shown that Pakistan is not going to be cowed by India. We were willing to go to Amritsar and speak our mind, despite the international campaign the host has been pursuing against us. Unlike India and Afghanistan, Pakistan is not willing to hold multilateral moots hostage because of problems in a bilateral relationship. Pakistan’s relations with both India and Afghanistan are at an all-time low and it is only through the painstaking work of diplomacy that any improvements can be made. In the case of India, it is hard to see how the Modi government will agree to resume talks.     With Afghanistan there is a little more hope for a breakthrough since Ghani did at least agree to meet with Aziz and the conference did praise Pakistan for hosting so many Afghan refugees for nearly 30 years.        After returning home, Aziz told the media that India only allowed a one-sided picture of the region be shown at the conference. That may be true but had Pakistan not attended the Heart of Asia conference would have been even more skewed.