Common ground

The inaugural six-nation Speakers’ Conference, attended by parliamentary leaders from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Russia, Iran and Turkey, is yet another sign of our foreign policy shift away from the US. Hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad, the conference dealt with the challenges posed by security threats in the region. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani highlighted Pakistan’s growing separation from the US when he forthrightly condemned US Vice President Mike Pence’s warning about putting Pakistan “on notice”. Rabbani also pointed out the tight nexus between the US, Israel and India, and linked the US decision to shift its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and India’s ongoing occupation of Kashmir. He could have mentioned that one reason such rogue states get away with their violations of international law is the help they receive from countries like Saudi Arabia which, in their own narrow self-interest, have decided to look the other way. This condemnation of the US was particularly significant since countries like China, with their regional One Belt, One Road initiative, Russia and Turkey have all been working together to build an alliance that would challenge the superpower status of the US. Iran, too, is firmly a part of this new bloc. Afghanistan, mired in a ruinous civil war, is trying to stay close to the US and India while also working with other countries. But the Afghans too should be tiring of US interference in their country. As Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has pointed out recently, it is the growing US frustration with its failing war in Afghanistan that can explain its actions in the region.

Apart from opposition to American hegemony, the countries in attendance at the conference are also linked by the ruinous damage done to them by global terrorism. During the conference, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq spoke of the threat Daesh posed to the world. The multinational terrorist group has wreaked havoc across the world, with the spill over of its activities in Syria badly affecting Turkey. The group has gained a strong foothold in both Afghanistan and Pakistan while Russia, China and Iran are worried about the impact that will have on regional trade and security. The 39-point Islamabad Declaration issued at the end of the conference stressed the need for interconnectivity through trade, cultural exchanges, tourism and investment. The only way to defeat a hybrid entity like Daesh, which has loosely-connected affiliated around the world, is by working together to eliminate the threat. The US has shown that it cannot be counted on as a reliable partner and so we have had to look east for alternatives. The Speaker’s Conference was a demonstration that the countries that have been most badly affected by terrorism can put their very real differences aside to try and search for common ground.