Both the Saudi rulers and the sheikhs of Emirates are very intimate friends of Pakistan and they have always stood by us in our hours of need. They are now at daggers drawn against each other. For Pakistan it will be tight rope walking how to manage its relations with them in their mutual acrimony. We cannot afford displeasure of any one of them so this situation is going to be a test case for our foreign office. It will be seen how it deals with them in a manner which doesn’t scathe our ties with them.
POST SCRIPT
Granted that Pakistan enjoys excellent relationship with China which is fair enough but these friendly ties need to be further cemented and this is possible only if Pakistan’s diplomatic corps remain in close contact with its Chinese counterpart. The proposed visit of our foreign minister to Beijing in a couple of days, therefore, is a welcome step which will be hailed by all and sundry in Pakistan.
Those officials whether they belong to Afghan Refugee commissionerate or NADRA who have helped the Afghan nationals living in this country in getting illegal cards for their stay in Pakistan either by getting their palms greased or on the recommendation of some political leaders need no leniency. Their dismissal from service is not sufficient. They should be made an example of by registering criminal cases against them also. Isn’t it a fact that by using such fake travelling documents many terrorists entered Pakistan for committing acts of terrorism and many of them reached as far as America on Pakistani passports.
Quite recently when Afghan Refugee Commisionerate terminated the services of some of its employees who were found guilty of issuing fake documents facilitating stay of illegal Afghan immigrants in Pakistan a hue and cry was raised by them. Mere dismissal of these employees from service amounts to taking a very lenient view of their crime by the concerned authorities. Criminal cases should have been registered against them and they should have been black listed from government service in any government department in future.
