Pakistan’s cautious diplomacy on Gaza

The Palestine cause has always remained an important anchor point within Pakistan’s foreign policy and respective governments of different political inclinations have largely retained key policy imperatives. As war has again returned to Gaza with Israeli occupation forces launching an organized and well publicized campaign of death and destruction in the coastal strip and one that has surpassed in scale all of its previous military operations, Pakistan’s political posturing and official discourse has been exceedingly diplomatic and cautious. This approach has fallen well below the country’s stature as the world’s second most populated Muslim country and also doesn’t represent the emotional attachment of the Pakistani nation with the cause.  

It is interesting to note that as Pakistan gained its independence from British India in 1947 and emerged as a new Muslim polity within South Asia, it was viewed with suspicion within political centres of the Arab World. This was mainly owing to the subsequent establishment of the Zionist State of Israel within Palestinian lands in 1948. In this backdrop Pakistan was considered another colonial project meant to divide the Muslims in the Indian Subcontinent. Nonetheless, Pakistani leadership endorsed the then Arab struggle against Israel and its political and diplomatic stance never wavered on the Palestine issue. Moreover, Pakistan always staunchly supported this cause in multilateral forums and was one of the founding members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) a Pan-Islamic entity formed to project a united Muslim stance on the Palestine cause.   

Arguably, a lot has changed.

With the dawn of digital and social media, the Palestinian cause and the plight of a population under constant occupation and oppression has transcended the boundaries of political structuration and debates. This has made the cause an unchangeable political truth in itself and by extension a theme of populism at least within Pakistan.

The reaction of Pakistan’s current caretaker government has been rather lacklustre both politically and diplomatically.

Umar Karim

Against this backdrop, the reaction of Pakistan’s current caretaker government has been rather lacklustre both politically and diplomatically. In all fairness, we must contextualize this debate with an acknowledgement that Pakistan’s political capital and stature in the region and also in the broader Muslim world has reached a unique low and activism displayed on behalf of its government and that too an unelected one may not have any substantial political impact. However, this must not be an excuse to ignore the humanitarian tragedy developing in Gaza. 

In the current crisis, the most visible and impactful voice from Pakistan has been of the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram. The manner in which Akram rebutted the Canadian Permanent Representative as he argued that the resolution for a “humanitarian truce” needed to condemn Hamas, was a masterclass in diplomatic finesse. Akram’s insistence that Canada should also include Israel’s name in this list of the condemned won him widespread plaudits but also put Pakistan into the spotlight. He also became one of the first Pakistanis to be interviewed by Arab News’ flagship news show “Frankly Speaking,” where he lamented the international order’s ‘double’ and ‘triple’ standards in the wake of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

Unfortunately, the diplomatic tone set by Ambassador Akram has not been followed up by those at the helm of affairs within Pakistan. Instead a rhetorical cycle has been set in motion which starts with a condemnation of the Israel’s targeting of civilians in Gaza, followed by an emphasis on the need for a ceasefire and the resolution of the conflict by the formation of two states. Yet Pakistan’s political and diplomatic elite is missing in real action whether in terms of coordinating with Arab states or to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by this war. 

It appears that this discursive and diplomatic neutrality as argued by some, manifests a new trend of political neutrality in Pakistan’s foreign policy and a learning from the country’s engagement with Russia on the eve of its invasion of Ukraine. Unfortunately, such antics will further damage Pakistan’s diplomatic and political stature making it even more of an irrelevant state entity and a side-kick to regional powers.

— Umar Karim is a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham. His research focuses on the evolution of Saudi Arabia’s strategic outlook, the Saudi-Iran tussle, conflict in Syria, and the geopolitics of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Twitter: @UmarKarim89