Islamabad: Veteran politician-cum-economist Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Tuesday assumed charge as Pakistan’s new foreign minister as the cash-strapped country attempts to tackle myriad problems on the domestic and external fronts, including its relations with India and other neighbours.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday inducted 19 members into his Cabinet, ending the tenuous wait for the completion of government formation after the February 8 elections resulted in a hung Parliament and days of political uncertainty.
Dar is an ethnic Kashmiri and chartered accountant by training, and is a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslin League-Nawaz (PML-N). He is also a confidant of the party head and former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif.
“Mr Muhammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 has formally assumed the role of Pakistan’s 39th Minister for Foreign Affairs,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X.
With little experience in managing foreign affairs, the 73-year-old leader has been given the important portfolio when Pakistan’s ties with its neighbour India and Afghanistan are at their lowest ebb.
Meanwhile, Dar, the former four-time finance minister, was received by Foreign Affairs Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi and other senior officials on his arrival at the foreign ministry.
According to a report in The Express Tribune newspaper, Dar was given a maiden briefing on external challenges, especially ties with India and other key countries.
Quoting sources privy to the briefing, the newspaper said that Dar was informed that in the present circumstances India continued to seek Pakistan’s isolation and wanted to put maximum pressure. In view of this strategy, there were grim chances of any rapprochement between Pakistan and India.
India and Pakistan broke off trade ties and lowered diplomatic presence in each other’s capital in August 2019 after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.
Pakistan has suffered due to a hiatus in trade as it used to import several items and raw materials at cheaper rates from India.
Dar has favoured economic relations with the archrival but it was not possible to move ahead due to the Kashmir issue.
Dar’s position on Kashmir, which is the chief stumbling block in ties between Pakistan and India, should not be different from the general narrative of Pakistan that it should be solved according to the resolutions of the UN Security Council.
In a tweet on February 5, the Kashmir Solidarity Day, this year, Dar said Pakistan was “committed to its unwavering political, moral and diplomatic support to the just struggle of our Kashmiri brethren for their right of self-determination, as enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Charter and relevant UN resolutions.”
India has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of the country. New Delhi has told Islamabad that it desires normal neighbourly relations with it in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated India’s firm stand in New Delhi on Monday.
“We have never closed our doors to talking to Pakistan … but the terrorism issue should be fair, square at the centre of the conversation. It is the major issue … I am not saying there are no other issues. But I am not going to duck that issue for the sake of talking,” he said.
Dar, being an economist, should also be aware of the pitfalls of continuous antagonism with India, the world’s fifth-largest economy. However, any change in ties with India should come from Pakistan’s powerful establishment.
Dar also faces Taliban-led Afghanistan, which Pakistan accuses of harbouring militants who are increasing attacks on Pakistani soil. The Taliban deny that claim. Pakistan’s ties with Iran also witnessed strain after they exchanged cross-border airstrikes on what they claim were militant hideouts and safe havens being used against one another.
According to the Express Tribune report, addressing the foreign officials after the briefing, Dar stressed on the foreign office’s role in mitigating the economic problems faced by Pakistan.
He gave an overall perspective to foreign office bigwigs about the state of Pakistan’s economy and backed his address with numbers and other facts, something that many foreign office officials struggled to comprehend, it said.
Quoting a source, the report said Dar wanted the foreign office to play its role in resolving the economic problems and stressed the need for economic diplomacy and asked the foreign office to task its missions abroad to form their policies accordingly.
The foreign minister also directed the officials to focus on encouraging investment from abroad.
Earlier, Dar was given a briefing by the foreign secretary and additional secretaries looking after different regions and countries.
The foreign minister was told that China remains Pakistan’s trusted friend and there was no substitute to Beijing, which continues to be the mainstay of Islamabad. China’s timely financing and rollover of loans last year prevented a potential sovereign default of Pakistan.
Since Dar took a lot of interest in economic diplomacy, he was informed that Gulf countries were keen to make investment in Pakistan. However, those countries wanted “doable and tangible” projects where they could invest, according to the paper.
Meanwhile, the information ministry elaborated on the various portfolios assigned to other ministers.
Khawaja Muhammad Asif was appointed as minister for defence, defence production and aviation, Ahsan Iqbal as minister for planning, development and special initiatives, Azam Nazeer Tarar law and justice, human rights, Attaullah Tarar as minister of information and broadcasting, Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh as minister for maritime affairs and Muhammad Aurangzeb as minister of finance, revenue.
Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the only woman minister, was appointed as minister of state.
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