The congratulatory message sent by the Joe Biden administration to the newly appointed Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, could be an indication of changing relations. The impression that is sought to be created is that Shehbaz, like his brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is friendly towards the US unlike deposed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. During Imran’s tenure, Pakistan’s relations with the US gravely deteriorated. In fact, Khan had accused the US of trying to topple his government despite stout denial by the US administration. The congratulatory message might be taken as diplomatically a conventional act. However, the two countries had got distanced after the hurried withdrawal of American and allied forces from Afghanistan in August 2021. Pakistan was the major access point for Western forces into Afghanistan. The manner of withdrawal not only upset Afghan women and liberals but, on hindsight, seems to have disturbed the equations that were put in place by Pakistan for Afghanistan. That withdrawal demonstrated a latent weakness of Western powers and disturbed the geopolitical situation not only in Asia but across the world. While researchers in the future may be able to shed more light on what global leaders thought of after August 2021, the glaring reality that the world sees today makes it possible, to some extent, to understand global thinking. It is possible that countries like Russia started rethinking their international action plans. The US and Allied forces seemed to be not only weak but also in disarray. That perception of weakness might have caused reactions that have culminated in a war situation in Ukraine.
The situation in Taliban led Afghanistan helped prop Pakistan as the international main arbiter between Afghanistan, Russia, China and other Moslem countries. China invited Putin during the Beijing Winter Olympics. And that seems to have been the turning point for global repositioning. Interestingly, Imran visited Moscow on the day of the very first voting in the UN Security Council on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although Pakistan too, like India, did not vote against Russia yet it diplomatically handled the situation so very well that the world failed to notice this aberration. India got noticed and is still facing flak. Siding with a country waging war can only have negative impacts. Pakistan, on the other hand, has taken the same action but the West now seems to be trying to woo it back from the Russia-China axis.
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Noteworthy is that the Pakistan military establishment supposedly prefers ties with the US and was opposed to Imran’s embrace of Russia and China as the country’s more dependable allies. In fact, Khan had incurred the wrath of the US for not allowing Pakistan’s soil and airspace to be used by America to monitor the activities of the new Taliban regime. It was looking for a trusted ally in the region and Pakistan, under the current dispensation, it is believed, could fill that void.
The new government has a tall task ahead of it. The economy of Pakistan is shattered but the world wants to befriend it nevertheless. This is a great opportunity for the new government. If it can use the olive branch properly, it may be in a position to bring Pakistan regain its breath.
