Carpe Diem, Khan

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently visited Pakistan. His visit may have raised a couple of eyebrows in the Indian corridors, and some may call his speech a bit biased. It is too early to call it a win for Pakistan, but indeed it may be called as not a defeat for the Islamic Republic.

Antonio Guterres visited Pakistan, right after the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the country. Although the leaders may belong to different ideologies, global camps, and have different priorities, the sole conjoining point is their unified stance on the Kashmir dispute.

The leaders visited Pakistan when Imran Khan’s government is under threat from various sources. The casus belli could be Khan’s inability to live up to the expectations of citizens.

The Khan government is under fire from all sides. The recently proposed social media rule has irked users. They have termed the new direction as an overreach by the government.

People are afraid that the administration has introduced the new rule to do their dirty work in silence. They are disguising their initiative under the umbrella of maintaining national security and harmony. It may look best to some security analysts, but some others believe this initiative will lead to a multiplier effect in the missing person’s list.

Perhaps, Khan is learning a lot from his Turkish counterpart. The two-day long visit may have been a vexing thorn for the Indian government when Erdogan lambasted their actions in the Kashmir valley, which is under lockdown for the past several months.

Khan, as usual, has used his rhetoric for blaming his opponents for almost every damaging thing happening to Pakistan. Whereas it is his eloquence which has kept him popular among masses and continuously saves his already sinking political boat.

I believe neither absolute evil exists nor complete incompetence. Khan’s administration may have ruined economic growth and stunted commercial activities but, he has proved his diplomatic skills in every international arena of global politics.

Pakistan, a naughty kid in the big boys’ club, may have taken a retarded approach in previous administrations, but this time under Khan’s leadership, Pakistan has changed its diplomatic approach.

Pakistan has called in for the big guns this time. Both of the leaders have criticized India, and both of them have supported Pakistan’s mature approach in avoiding a military conflict with the rowdy neighbour.

The leaders have lauded Pakistan’s hospitality in sheltering the Afghan refugees and promoting peace and stability in the region. However, Afghan government has, as usual, has taken an India-friendly approach by biting the hand which has been feeding Afghan refugees for a long time, perhaps, the diversion in diplomatic approach has been beneficial to Pakistan’s image.

Khan’s diplomatic approach may have presented a soft image of Pakistan, as the number for foreign tourists is expected to rise to 25,000 in 2020, which has been stuck at less than 20,000 for the past ten years.

The recent British delegation has also helped Khan’s cause in presenting a harmonious image of Pakistan, which will encourage tourists to come back.

Perhaps, this is one of the many ways for the Khan administration to keep up with their promise of creating 50,000 jobs before their term expires in 2023.

Khan’s approach in contrast to his predecessors may have been disastrous in the economic and political arena, however, if his steps were to be evaluated in international relations and global politics then we may feel the change which we were promised by PM Khan.