EDITORIAL: In the name of democracy and human rights the United States set in motion its campaign to secure global support for the Ukrainian government against Russia. The platform for that was a three-day ‘2023 Summit for Democracy’ to which 120 countries, including Pakistan, were invited but Russia, China and Turkey received no invitation issued in the name of President Joe Biden. After considerable deliberations, Pakistan decided to opt out of the summit, arguing Islamabad would like to be an active partner of the United States on bilateral basis, instead of being a player in this ‘good guys bad guys’ tournament.
Though it did not say so in so many words but the reason for the refusal is how and why Pakistan should be a part of the exercise to which its close geopolitical and geostrategic allies China and Turkey were not invited, but Taiwan was one of the guests hosted by Washington. For similar reasons Pakistan also skipped the first democracy summit in 2021. The US touts itself as a vibrant democracy with a vigorous free press. From Pakistan’s perspective, therefore, an invite from the US carries a lot of politico-strategic significance. But it doesn’t mean Islamabad should barter away its right to act independently in choosing allies and shunning adversaries.
Given the United States’ critical say in how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should decide its priorities, Islamabad’s refusal was certainly a risk. But if the stated mission of the ‘Summit for Democracy’ is to provide “an opportunity to hear various perspectives on the elements needed to end Russia’s war and establish a durable peace” then this South Asian country had to see through this venture. Also, it would have been difficult to be a silent listener to the harangues of Narendra Modi of India and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
Of late, the indicators have begun showing that the international community is getting ready for the outbreak of a new ‘Cold War’. And this time the US-led West would find itself pitted against the China-led rival camp. As to how this second spell of the ‘Cold War’ would play out the ‘Summit for Democracy’ is a disturbing development, particularly for states like Pakistan, which became an active partner of the American camp and in the process suffered immensely.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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