or the time being, the imminent threat of violence escalating beyond the Middle East has been stalled. However, it is widely speculated that the pause may not last long. The unresolved Palestine issue, the indiscriminate use of violence and the right of nations to acquire nuclear power all remain contentious.

Israeli aggression had previously been limited to adjoining Arab territories. However, it has now extended beyond the traditional boundaries of the Middle East, reaching into non-Arab regions and touching the frontiers of South Asian subcontinent.

The reaction in Pakistan to this escalation has been varied. On the surface, it appears uniform, but deeper examination reveals undertones and multiple qualifying shades.

It is also true that interaction between Iran and Pakistan has not been at the desired level. Under Muslim rule, the subcontinent was deeply influenced by Persian culture, which shaped literature, painting, architecture and courtly rituals. For many, Persian poetic forms served as models to emulate, even as local languages like Urdu began to mature by the Eighteenth Century. Likewise, miniature painting, especially as patronised by the princely hill states of the Punjab, provided a rationale to move beyond pure abstraction and geometric motifs towards more figurative themes such as flora and fauna.

That said, in recent decades, the cultural and diplomatic interaction between Iran and Pakistan has not reached the level it historically enjoyed or arguably deserves.

The same can be said of our other neighbour, China, the country we never tire of calling our most dependable ally.

We continue to denounce the West and to berate its policies, yet we remain deeply drawn to it.

The cultural flowering of the Central Asian Muslim states served as a conduit for the visual, musical and verbal expressions that make up the broth of our cultural cauldron. Yet, it appears that the barriers erected during the 19th-Century ‘Great Game’ era have not been fully dismantled. The Turkic region bordering Pakistan shares many similarities and overarching cultural traits – in music, poetry and textiles – but interaction remains limited, largely confined to the import of Chinese-manufactured goods.

Initially, a mortal fear of communism, and later a lack of initiative, prevented these barriers, both internal and external, from thawing completely.

Though communism is now largely a debate of the past, it is clear that it was not the ideology itself, but the Soviet Union, that caused concern. Chinese communism, in contrast, never provoked the same reaction as its Russian counterpart. Even today, it does not factor significantly into our relationship with China.

The cultural centres of both countries should become more active and showcase their contemporary expressions across various forms of art. The Chinese have built a vast facility in the capital, Islamabad, but it has largely remained underused. The Khana-i-Farhang-i-Iran, once a haven for lovers of literature and painting, now primarily focuses on language instruction.

The Indian option is also growing dimmer by the day. The few exchanges that once took place may now be entirely ruled out. Their media’s torrent of propaganda has disillusioned many.

All said and done, our qibla for most things remains the West. We continue to denounce it and to berate its policies, yet we remain deeply drawn to it. We send our children to its institutions, spending vast sums of money, and exhaust ourselves trying to gain acceptance into its socio-economic orbit.

The writer is a Lahore-based culture critic