Andrew Korybko |
The Pakistani Foreign Minister’s plans to travel to China, Russia, and Turkey in hashing out a multipolar response to Trump’s recently announced Afghan strategy.
No dates have been set for this grand Eurasian tour just yet, but it’ll probably take place sometime next month. Mr. Khawaja Muhammad Asif will be embarking on an important mission to bring together the already converging positions of his country’s top international partners into a cohesive strategy that can peacefully counter Trump’s aggressive wartime plans for Afghanistan.
Correspondingly, this forthcoming diplomatic-media effort will probably see the participation of Chinese, Russian, Turkish, and other experts, so in this sense, it’s very important for Pakistan
China is Pakistan’s top ally and the two Great Powers have a decades-long history of full-spectrum cooperation, so it’s logical why Islamabad would seek to coordinate its policies with Beijing. Ties between Pakistan and Turkey have always been on a fraternal level, and the two states often cooperate in a broad sphere of military, economic, and cultural activities. What might be most interesting to observers, then, is Russia’s inclusion on the itinerary, but this was made because of the rapid rapprochement that’s been steadily unfolding between both sides over the past couple of years.
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Mr. Asif’s upcoming visits and the prospective conference afterward will probably see progress being made on holding a fourth round of the Moscow Peace Process sometime in the future
Russia and Pakistan have moved past the Nadir of their late Cold War-era relations and recently decided to start off with a fresh slate, driven as they were by shared security interests in Afghanistan stemming most immediately from Daesh’s involvement in this theater. This Neo-Realist imperative served as the fuel for bringing the two former rivals closer together on all fronts, which has since seen them signing energy deals and carrying out their first-ever joint military exercises last fall.
Pakistan is looking for at this moment is to garner behind-the-scenes support in assembling a multilateral effort to peacefully oppose Trump’s aggressive posturing against Islamabad
Nevertheless, the original reason for their rapprochement is still the strongest driving force behind their relations, and it’s in view of this that the Pakistani Foreign Minister will soon be traveling to Moscow. It should be said in connection with their Afghan coordination efforts that the Russian capital has already hosted three rounds of talks on Afghanistan, each of which included Pakistan, so there’s already a tremendous amount of positive working relations between both sides which will serve as a firm bedrock for the Foreign Minister’s upcoming visit.
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The original reason for their rapprochement is still the strongest driving force behind their relations, and it’s in view of this that the Pakistani Foreign Minister will soon be traveling to Moscow
In terms of tangible expectations, it might not be immediately clear what Mr. Asif’s visits will yield a lot of what Pakistan is looking for at this moment is to garner behind-the-scenes support in assembling a multilateral effort to peacefully oppose Trump’s aggressive posturing against Islamabad. It’s been reported that Pakistan plans to host a conference after Mr. Asif’s travels to highlight its indispensable contribution to the War on Terror and contradict the US’ info war accusations that it’s providing “safe havens for terrorists”.
Correspondingly, this forthcoming diplomatic-media effort will probably see the participation of Chinese, Russian, Turkish, and other experts, so in this sense, it’s very important for Pakistan to prepare for this event by sending its Foreign Minister to the relevant countries beforehand. Moreover, Mr. Asif’s upcoming visits and the prospective conference afterward will probably see progress being made on holding a fourth round of the Moscow Peace Process sometime in the future, which would be a powerfully symbolic statement that would sharply contrast with Trump’s planned military escalation in Afghanistan.
https://sputniknews.com/radio_context_countdown/201709011056996292-donglang-doklam-deal-trump-nafta/
Andrew Korybko is a political analyst, journalist and a regular contributor to several online journals, as well as a member of the expert council for the Institute of Strategic Studies and Predictions at the People’s Friendship University of Russia. He specializes in Russian affairs and geopolitics, specifically the US strategy in Eurasia.The views expressed in this article are author’s own. It does not reflect Global Village Space Editorial policy.