This is with reference to both Kamran Rehmat and Shamshad Ahmeds articles published this previous week in your paper. I think that both of them make very pertinent points about the foreign policy mechanisms in Pakistan.
Not only does the Pakistan Foreign Office have no idea how to manage its image, nor do the people visiting abroad have a seriousness of purpose in intent and in planning. Respect in the international community has to be earned and it will come only once we respect ourselves as a nation and assert ourselves in the comity of nations.
We need to not only manage the way we are viewed but also the way we are treated. International Relations are a tricky business and diplomats need to have skills of the highest order.
It needs that all our diplomats need grounding in that and need to learn that when they go abroad, they are representing an entire nation and not on an all-expense paid vacation to some exotic location. It is true that some of our image problems are manifestations and symptoms of deeper problems in our socio-political climate but not all our foreign policy qualms can be thus explained.
Some of them boil down to political bungling by and lack of diplomacy skill in our leaders. Not only does our foreign policy need a makeover, the way it is managed also requires retooling.
ANUM ELAHI
Lahore