ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has set a ‘new normal’ of “a quid-pro-quo-plus response” if India insists on its dangerous notion of a limited war under the nuclear threshold, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar declared on Monday, urging New Delhi to rethink its hubristic and misguided policies.
Speaking at an event to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) here, Dar stressed that Pakistan as a ‘middle power’ and a key member of the ‘Global South’, was contributing to the causes of global peace, security and sustainable development.
The deputy prime minister said that Pakistan’s foreign policy approach aimed to accentuate the country’s pivot to geo-economics, and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to upholding international peace and security.
“One of the core principles guiding this foreign policy approach is accentuating Pakistan’s pivot to geo-economics,” Dar said. “The other core principle is our abiding commitment to international law, United Nations Charter, and UN-centred multilateralism,” he added.
He stressed the need for promoting economic diplomacy as a key pillar of the country’s global engagement. He emphasised that enhancing trade, promoting foreign investment, attracting remittances and technology, and forging development partnerships were among the highest priorities.
“In this way, foreign policy became the most important instrument to protect and promote Pakistan’s economic interests and to substantially contribute to the process of national development,” the deputy prime minister told the event.
About the recent global turbulence and transformation, Dar said that Pakistan, both as a middle power and a key member of the Global South, was contributing significantly to “the worthy causes of peace and security” as well as sustainable development.
Referring to the India’s allegations following the Pahalgam attack and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘new normal’ doctrine of use of military vis-à-vis Pakistan, Dar said that Pakistan swiftly retaliated to the Indian escalation with a “quid-pro-quo-plus” response in May.
