The political and economic unrest in Pakistan has drawn focus away from Kashmir. India, on the other hand, continues to act hostilely toward Pakistan and never misses an opportunity to disparage it, while Pakistan is expressing a wish to dialogue with its archrival. Pakistan should be willing to participate in a discourse in these circumstances, it should maintain its commitment to its values. Pakistan’s political instability and growing economic woes have been the focus of all attention, with every day unfolding something new. This has meant that policy towards India and the issue of Kashmir has taken a back seat. But under the current setup, growing interest in changing gears with India and the principled stance on Kashmir raises questions. We are seeing a new desire for peace with India and renewed hopes to move forward with the arch-rivals. Showing a desire for peace is not a sign of weakness. War brings nothing but death and destruction, and there are no real winners. No matter how ugly things get between countries, the door for diplomacy and negation is often left open. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan also held out an olive branch towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spoke of resolving all issues, including the longstanding issue of Kashmir. But in order for peace to be achieved, the desire for peace has to be felt on both sides. India has shown no interest whatsoever in engaging in dialogue with Pakistan. Instead, India has made it very clear that dialogue will only resume on India’s terms and when India chooses to do so. India under Narendra Modi continues to show hostility and misses no opportunity to discredit and malign Pakistan on every international forum. There has been a lot of talk surrounding “taking back Indian occupied Kashmir” and a lot of bravado for domestic consumption coming from the likes of Home Minister Amit Shah. No speech is complete without a mention of Pakistan. And the same goes for India’s media. Majority of its content...

DIPLOMACY The Arab-Chinese Summit held in Riyadh in December 2022, represents a massive leap in the development of Arab-Chinese relations and carries important significant economic and political implications. It arrived at a time when US-Saudi ties are at their lowest points, and the tension between Washington and Beijing is on the rise. The Middle Eastern countries, are currently diversifying their relations by strengthening their ties with China, Russia, India, and other nations. This Chinese-Saudi-Gulf Arab summit establishes a legal framework for relations between China and the Arab world, which promotes the growth of such ties on all fronts—economic, political, security, and cultural. From $36 billion to $330 billion in 2021. BILATERAL TRADE During Xi’s Visit to Riyadh, both countries signed investment deals worth $34 billion. Their bilateral trade has already crossed $80 billion. The summit also discussed promising investment opportunities with China in the presence of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The Projects include: The development hub of the Suez Canal and the new administrative capital in Egypt. The NEOM project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. SECURITY/ENERGY Chinese companies are building ports and free trade zones in the region, including Oman, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Cooperation between China and Arab countries has also grown to include digital technology, renewable energy, tourism, and aviation. Most of the GCC countries use Chinese Huawei technology in their communications networks. Since 2017, China has become the largest importer of crude oil worldwide, and the Middle East is likely to account for 70% of China’s energy needs by 2030. Cooperation in the field of new and renewable energy was another key topic at the summit. In November 2022, Qatar Energy signed a 27-year deal to supply China’s Sinopec with liquefied natural gas (LNG), the longest agreement in the history of LNG industry in the world....

State of denial and delusional notions can at times obscure the ability to critical analysis. One of the obvious consequences thereof is often misplaced megalomania and skewed strategies. The much more fatal consequence ensuing from this is the reputational cost to individuals and nations. A case in point is Pakistan’s Afghan policy and its debilitating impact, effecting belief that the country successfully helped in first driving the Soviet Russian forces out of Afghanistan and then partnered with the US and Allies in the war on terror — a mission that the US terminated prematurely in late August 2021. It resulted in the return of former hosts of al-Qaeda i.e. Taliban who now apparently host Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-K), Daesh, Ahrarul Hind, al-Qaeda inter alia. Top TTP leadership for sure is nestled in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan — ably supported also by fighters of Hafiz Gul Bahadur (former North Waziristan warlord). At what cost did Pakistan achieve the distinction of having been instrumental in defeating Russia and then “terrorists” whom the US signed into power again through the Doha process? The advocates of successful Afghan policy rarely introspected that Pakistan’s placement in the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June 2018 stemmed from an old security-centric flawed policy devoid of considerations for the global response. The policy had centred on and inclined to the support for militant groups in and outside Pakistan and was tied to the Kashmir cause which meant “diplomatic, moral and political” backing of the freedom fighters. But the policymakers failed to comprehend India’s growing international relevance in the new millennium, particularly after the hijacking to Kandahar of the Indian airlines flight IC 814 in December 1999 by militants who ended up in Pakistan after their release from Indian jails. They kept ignoring the grave consequences of...

China’s phenomenal socio-economic growth continues unabated. Even the COVID-19 Pandemic could not dent obstruct this trajectory. Hostility by the US-led West has also failed in stemming the Chinese progress. Naghmana Hashmi, Pakistan’s Former Ambassador to China, traces this rise to the Chinese leadership’s quest for pride and rejuvenation of the society as an un-ignorable member of the global community https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T23602Ij0XM&t=7s

Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM), S. Jaishankar, is on his three-day maiden visit to Austria, which concluded on 3rd Jan 2022. He held several meetings on regional and global issues of mutual interest with Austria’s Foreign Minister, Alexander Schallenberg. It was the first EAM-level visit from India to Austria in the last 27 years. On January 2, 2022, in an interview with Austria’s ZIB2 podcast, a popular magazine of ORF television, Jaishankar, was questioned over using non-diplomatic language towards Pakistan. “Before you said, you are a diplomat but several weeks ago, you called Pakistan, your neighbour, the epicentre of terrorism. This doesn’t sound very diplomatic, does it?” the interviewer asked. https://matrixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IWvpGws1dClRhI04-Trim.mp4 Jaishankar gave a fiery response by stating, “I did it again today without using the word Pakistan…because you are a diplomat, doesn’t mean you are untruthful. I could use much harsher words than epicentre, so believe me, considering what has been happening to us, I think epicentre is a very diplomatic word.” The Mumbai terror attack in 2008 and the Indian Parliament attack in 2001 were both planned and carried out by terrorists from Pakistan, according to S Jaishankar, who also outlined how they attempt to infiltrate Indian territory every day. When the anchor continued by emphasizing that Pakistan is not a nation that fosters terrorism, Jaishankar replied, “If you control your sovereign space which I believe they do. If terrorist operations are operating in broad daylight with recruitment and financing, then can you really tell me that Pakistani state doesn’t know whats going on? Especially when they are being trained in military-level, combat tactics.” Furthermore, he criticized the European countries for not condemning Pakistan. “When we speak about judgments and principles, why don’t I hear sharp Europe condemnation of these practices that have been going on for decades”, he added....