On Friday, 22 September, Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Shahid Khaqan Abbasi addressed the leaders at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting. His speech was articulate, composed and addressed the right topics; keeping in mind the importance of the platform. He talked about the controversies of the current times, the failure of some of the nations to abide by principles of the United Nations, and the general push towards global connectivity and problem solving.
Despite his argument about the general outlook of global politics; his stance pertaining to issues that Pakistan is facing was very precise and well thought out. He managed to cover most of Pakistan's talking points. The developments over the last couple of days; namely PM's meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and a brief meeting with President Donald Trump, and the PM's answers to the Council of Foreign Affairs (CFA) which further explained his stance - Pakistan seems to have developed a very consistent and measured stance about the war on terror and the Afghanistan issue.
PM Abbasi reiterated Pakistan's intention to help out the countries trying to stabilise the region, particularly the United States of America. Pakistan pledged to help America but it cannot happen entirely on the framework that they develop. Pakistan's sovereignty cannot be forgone in the process. Pakistan will not provide bases to the US on its soil, nor will it allow any drone strike in the area without prior consent, and most importantly, Pakistan will not tolerate the interference of India in matters concerning Afghanistan and Pakistan.
While it is a very strong and clear stance, the fact that is up for question is our ability to get other nations on board with it. However, PM Abbasi's - and Khwaja Asif's - gregarious style of diplomacy might just have made that a possibility. Hence, one can get cautiously optimistic about the developments at the UNGA meeting, particularly when it comes to resolving the Afghan issue and pushing the peace process in the region.
PM Abbasi also mentioned Kashmir in his speech and the continuous violations of India in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). While we were forceful on our stance in Kashmir as we usually are, it is a little difficult to hope that the leaders would push for a resolution in the Kashmir issue. The issue has been dormant in the lists of the UN and several leaders have failed to come up with a plausible solution. Hence, a positive response in this matter is highly unlikely.