The French connection

French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Imran Khan have finally managed to speak over the telephone. The earlier pre-scheduled call, which Khan sought to reschedule due to his briefing with the leading journalists of the country, didn’t go well with the politics of the old guard and its journalistic paraphernalia that was overzealous to manufacture a scandal out of it.

Some of the commentators, including a few English language writers who entertain a certain self-propelled belief of themselves as being foreign policy experts, mocked Khan for being a novice politician and characterised his confidence as ‘amateurism’. Last week’s phone call, as per the reports, seems to have gone quite well.

The French president stressed the importance of deepening the bilateral political dialogue while expressing the desire to cooperate in the areas that are strategic to Pakistan’s wellbeing, such as energy, water-resource management, trade, and the economy. Macron praised and acknowledged Pakistan’s “efforts in fighting terrorism and recognised the ‘high price’ paid by Pakistan” while dealing with this issue.

Such appreciation always goes down well within Pakistan as we often hear complaints in Islamabad that Western nations, guided by the US influence, often fail to recognise Pakistan’s contribution in fighting terrorism and are often too ready to scapegoat it for their own failures in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The phone call ended on an optimistic note as the French president accepted Khan’s invitation to visit Pakistan. Although it will be a while before such a visit takes place, this has reawakened optimism that the new government may be able to win some confidence from world leaders and forge a new identity for the country that has long been defined through violence and extremism of various shades and hues.

As the erratic US policy continues to unsettle the world, including Afghanistan, Iran and beyond, Pakistan can immensely benefit from some collaboration from the French.

Pakistan faces an imminent environmental disaster as population growth, massive deforestation, air and water pollution, and skewed planning threaten the wellbeing of future generations. Imran Khan has taken the lead in sensitising his countrymen to the impending danger and displayed a willingness to address the issue.

In the speech following his electoral victory, Khan raised concerns about global warming, water scarcity, and air pollution, and suggested producing an environmentally-responsible development agenda. He also highlighted the depleted forest cover and initiated a massive and nation-wide tree plantation drive to address climate change and its challenges. Pakistan, with only two percent forest cover, is at the bottom of the league table, below Afghanistan and even Syria.

Coupled with a massive increase in population and the dumping of sewage and industrial waste into freshwater bodies, this has caused water scarcity that will only grow worse in a few years from now. Khan has duly acknowledged the looming disaster and suggested introducing measures for efficient water management.

Following the Paris Agreement of 2015, France has emerged as a leader in the fight against global warming and climate action. In his latest address to the UN General Assembly, Macron clarified that any future commercial agreements with France or other EU countries will be reached with those who respect the Paris pact.

Since France is slowly yet surely emerging as the leading force in the EU, collaborating with the French can assist Pakistan in its environmental challenges. The country can benefit from access to financial resources, technology, and training. France has already initiated some laudable partnerships with India, including a pact on “cooperation in the field of environment” that may also be replicated for Pakistan.

Besides, only through the collaborative approaches – both locally and internationally – can some meaningful results be achieved, and potential and looming disasters avoided. India and Pakistan will have to work together – at least on environmental issues for the time being and perhaps France can extend some help.

Imran Khan and Emmanuel Macron share several similarities. Khan, like Macron, spearheaded a democratic purge, excising the vintage two-party system that had shaped successive governments and informed Pakistan’s politics for over three decades. Like the recent PTI victory, the 2017 victory of the Macron-led La Republique en Marche (LRM) created the greatest wholesale political clear-out as he “swept aside the old guard, rewrote the political rules and brought about a quiet revolution”. Like the PTI, the LRM, at its launch, was also “dismissed as a quaint distraction by party barons among whose political families (under various names) power had rotated since 1958”.

When Khan inaugurated the PTI, the party had no financial or political support from any serious politician or any backing from any socio-religious group of any import – elements that are considered to be important in Pakistani milieu. But Khan kept working tirelessly, guided by a strong sense of responsibility to lead a course-correction. After 9/11, as Pakistan struggled following a volte-face by the US, the rise in extremism and terrorism led to an increasing disillusionment and disenchantment among the public.

Such feelings were only catalysed by the corrupt ruling elite who grew remote towards the public and their concerns as they fortified themselves with ill-gotten money and were supported by an unbridled security setup at the cost of the people on the ground. Whether Khan can deliver on his promises or not, his victory has certainly buoyed the youth and created a feeling of hopeful optimism a la Macron’s France.

During his years as a fierce politician, aided by his combative rhetoric, Imran Khan has often spoken about the past glory of his country’s institutions that he wants to restore. Macron speaks similarly about restoring France’s clout and turning his country “into a model of how to respond to what he calls a crisis of contemporary capitalism”.

Khan invokes the Medina model that was inclusive and contained Jews, Christians, and pagans in addition to the growing Muslim population. Although he is still negotiating his first steps in the governments, Khan’s ideas on Naya Pakistan are attracting attention that can be harvested positively through cooperation and collaboration.

The French influence and confidence have grown under the Macron leadership – something Pakistan under Imran Khan wants to emulate. But for that to happen, Pakistani institutions and its bureaucracy have to come out of their proverbial lethargy and unimaginative lustre. The onus is certainly on Khan.

Twitter: @murtaza_shibli