{"id":71149,"date":"2022-03-11T12:45:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T01:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=71149"},"modified":"2022-03-11T12:45:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T01:45:42","slug":"pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The past two weeks or so haven\u2019t been great for Pakistan on the world stage.<\/p>\n

On 24 February, Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to Russia, held a three-hour meeting with President Vladimir Putin as Russian tanks were rolling across the international border into Ukraine. Compounding the poor timing and the bad optics of his visit was Khan\u2019s bland reaction<\/a> to Russia\u2019s unprovoked military action\u2014an act that singlehandedly ripped up the rules-based security system that had guaranteed peace in Europe since World War II. He said that he \u2018regretted the latest situation between Russia and Ukraine\u2019 and hoped that \u2018diplomacy could avert a military conflict\u2019. This left the impression that, at best, he didn\u2019t care or, at worst, condoned Russia\u2019s military action. Either way, it didn\u2019t look good.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, but importantly in the South Asian context, Pakistan\u2019s arch-enemy India effectively took the same position as Islamabad. New Delhi, which holds a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, abstained on a resolution<\/a> condemning Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Despite being a leader of the non-alignment movement during the Cold War, India has had a long relationship with Russia going back to the 1950s. And still today, some 70% of its military inventory is Russian. So it\u2019s not surprising that even with its deepening relationship with Washington, New Delhi doesn\u2019t want to jeopardise its important relationship with Moscow.<\/p>\n

Khan defended the timing of his Moscow trip\u2014the first by a Pakistani prime minister in 20 years\u2014by saying<\/a> that it had long been planned and that it was in Pakistan\u2019s economic interest for it to go ahead with it. Two main economic items were on the agenda for negotiation: Pakistan\u2019s intention to buy two million tons of wheat and to negotiate the construction of a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline in Pakistan<\/a> that was first agreed to in 2014. Given the severe and comprehensive Western financial sanctions Russia has been yoked with, both of these deals are now in serious jeopardy. Moreover, as part of the gas deal Pakistan is required to put up three-quarters of the funds\u2014money it simply doesn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

Khan\u2019s visit didn\u2019t go unnoticed in Western capitals, particularly in Washington<\/a>, nor did Pakistan\u2019s failure to condemn the Russian military assault on Ukraine. Accordingly, the heads of the foreign missions of several European countries, Japan, Canada and Australia signed a joint letter urging Pakistan to condemn the Russian aggression in the special session of the UN General Assembly that was convened to vote on a resolution<\/a> demanding that Russia \u2018immediately, completely and unconditionally\u2019 withdraw its military forces from Ukraine. Ignoring these Western pleas, Pakistan decided to abstain, saying<\/a> that it \u2018had decided not to take sides on this issue\u2019. Pakistan\u2019s ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, said<\/a> that Pakistan hoped that \u2018diplomacy could avert military conflict\u2019, as Russia was pummelling Ukrainian cities. He gave the impression that Russia and Ukraine were equally to blame for the situation.<\/p>\n

This \u2018neutral\u2019 position on Ukraine aligns with Khan\u2019s statement<\/a> during his Moscow visit that, \u2018What we want to do is not become part of any bloc.\u2019 Upon his return to Pakistan, he stressed in a televised address<\/a> to the nation that he wanted a \u2018free and independent\u2019 foreign policy. This is a theme he has highlighted<\/a> often, arguing that Pakistan\u2019s long relationship with the US\u2014now frosty\u2014had come at a very high price. Needless to say, Washington\u2019s tilt towards India over the last 20 years provided an additional incentive for Pakistan to turn to the east.<\/p>\n

This \u2018independent\u2019 policy position will be challenging to maintain in the wake of the 5,000-word Russia\u2013China joint statement of 4 February<\/a>, which says, inter alia, that the \u2018friendship between the two states has no limits\u2019, and the joint statement between China and Pakistan<\/a>, which reaffirms the 60-year-old \u2018close strategic ties and deep-rooted friendship\u2019 between the two countries. While Pakistan\u2019s relationship with Russia is more recent, it is one that has developed quickly in the military and energy fields.<\/p>\n

This triangular network is increasingly becoming a de facto strategic entente, with a strong anti-Western bias. It\u2019s a development that won\u2019t have gone unnoticed by the four members of the Indo-Pacific-focused Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprising Australia, India, Japan and the US.<\/p>\n

The second international issue that has put the focus on Pakistan was the decision by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF)\u2014a 39-member intergovernmental watchdog for money laundering and terrorist financing\u2014to keep Pakistan on the \u2018grey list\u2019<\/a> at its February\u2013March meeting. This is despite the fact that Pakistan complied with 26 of the 27 action points imposed on it in June 2018, when it was first placed on the list. Similarly, it was found compliant with six of the seven action points of the Asia\u2013Pacific Group, part of the global network of nine FATF-style regional bodies.<\/p>\n

The decision not to put Pakistan on the \u2018white list\u2019 comes as no surprise, particularly given that India is a member of the FATF and the Asia\u2013Pacific Group and is determined to keep Pakistan on the grey list. Being on that list limits Islamabad\u2019s ability to access foreign funds to assist with its developmental and budgetary needs. Given the country\u2019s paltry economic state, this is bad news for Khan, whose popular standing is already shaky despite his recent decision to drop the prices<\/a>\u00a0of petrol, diesel and electricity. The FATF\u2019s next meeting will be in June.<\/p>\n

On a more optimistic note, a third, happier event has put Pakistan on the international map\u2014the Australian cricket team\u2019s tour in Pakistan, the first in almost a quarter of a century. While the security situation had significantly improved recently, terrorists nevertheless managed to detonate themselves in a Shiite mosque in Peshawar on 4 March, killing almost 60 people<\/a> and wounding close to 200\u2014one of Pakistan\u2019s worst terror attacks. The Islamic State in Khorasan has claimed responsibility for the attack. The aim was clearly to disrupt the cricket tour. Still, the hosts are keen to avenge their 1998 defeat to the Australians, who won that test series 1\u20130. Such a victory would be sweet indeed.<\/p>\n

Sadly, however, and despite the dark cloud of terrorism hanging over the country, it may well take more than a successful Australian cricket tour for Pakistan to get back into the West\u2019s good books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The past two weeks or so haven\u2019t been great for Pakistan on the world stage. On 24 February, Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to Russia, held a three-hour meeting with President Vladimir …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":71152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2249,251,163,714],"class_list":["post-71149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-imran-khan","tag-pakistan","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The past two weeks or so haven\u2019t been great for Pakistan on the world stage. On 24 February, Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to Russia, held a three-hour meeting with President Vladimir ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-11T01:45:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238724518.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"632\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claude Rakisits\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claude Rakisits\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238724518.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238724518.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":632,\"caption\":\"MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 24: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY \u00e2 MANDATORY CREDIT - \\\"KREMLIN PRESS OFFICE \/ HANDOUT\\\" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (not seen) meet at Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Kremlin Press Office\/Handout\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/\",\"name\":\"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-11T01:45:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-11T01:45:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd10dd9004e6b9e2c85d01dd548ab0f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd10dd9004e6b9e2c85d01dd548ab0f\",\"name\":\"Claude Rakisits\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/161b755b9cb9a95dc966d6bda5a11ff1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/161b755b9cb9a95dc966d6bda5a11ff1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Claude Rakisits\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/claude-rakisits\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally | The Strategist","og_description":"The past two weeks or so haven\u2019t been great for Pakistan on the world stage. On 24 February, Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to Russia, held a three-hour meeting with President Vladimir ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2022-03-11T01:45:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":632,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238724518.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Claude Rakisits","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Claude Rakisits","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238724518.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238724518.jpg","width":1024,"height":632,"caption":"MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 24: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY \u00e2 MANDATORY CREDIT - \"KREMLIN PRESS OFFICE \/ HANDOUT\" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (not seen) meet at Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Kremlin Press Office\/Handout\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/","name":"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-03-11T01:45:42+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-11T01:45:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd10dd9004e6b9e2c85d01dd548ab0f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/pakistans-fence-sitting-on-ukraine-is-being-noticed-internationally\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pakistan\u2019s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd10dd9004e6b9e2c85d01dd548ab0f","name":"Claude Rakisits","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/161b755b9cb9a95dc966d6bda5a11ff1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/161b755b9cb9a95dc966d6bda5a11ff1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Claude Rakisits"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/claude-rakisits\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71149"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71153,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71149\/revisions\/71153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}