Mr President plays it well at Dushanbe- Balancing West with East

Mr President returned home after playing well at the third quadrilateral summit in Dushanbe by lining up a wide range of benefits for Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Afghanistan under Benazir’s ‘Look East’ and ‘Reconciliation’ vision. His words and body language signaled balancing the West with the East.

Whatever the opponents of President Asif Ali Zardari may think about him but he has proved himself really a statesman by luring Russia and China, two key powers in the region, towards Pakistan to invest in its energy and trade sectors, apparently an indication to Americans that Pakistan has some regional strategic leverages as well.

President Asif Ali Zardari taking queue from road connectivity between Russia and Tajikistan proposed to extend it to Chitral in Pakistan through Iskatul Gulkhana in Afghanistan. This physical connectivity would directly link Russia and Tajikistan to Pakistan’s two ports, Karachi and Gwadar; once Russia in the days of former Soviet Union thought of accessing Pakistan’s ports for trade, but any diplomatic efforts in this regard were frustrated due to the American influence on Pakistan.

Mr President in an apparent bid to create a balance between Pakistan’s relations with the West and the East has gone extra miles by proposing a preferential trade arrangement, transit trade facilities, joint business forums, trade exhibitions and joint ventures in banking, textile, cement, agriculture and steel sectors to give a major boost to commercial and trade relations. He seemed to be in a full business mode when he even hinted at expansion of Afghanistan-Pakistan transit trade to Tajikistan and other partners in Central Asia.

Mr President’s statements and body language while meeting other leaders show his resolve to talk seriously on mutually beneficial projects such as water and energy resources to boost economies in the region, especially focusing on CASA 1000 hydro electricity project.

He also sought his counterparts’ support in rooting out terrorism, drug trafficking and organized criminal activities posing security challenges and threat to these countries. While being a strategic ally of the United States, Mr President described Russia, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as collective stakeholders with Pakistan in common aspirations for peace, stability and development in the region.