Pakistan plays pivotal role in regional, global politics: Mushahid
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is playing a pivotal role in regional and international politics, and its voice is heard with respect as it has consolidated its position in the region since it is central to growing regional cooperation among China, South Asia and Central Asia.
This was observed by Secretary General of ruling Pakistan Muslim League Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, who is also Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a press briefing on “Foreign Policy Challenges in 2007, here on Friday. Referring to China’s observer status in SAARC and same status of Pakistan in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Senator said “this new regionalism is driven primarily by economy and energy and Pakistan is the pivot in this cooperation.”
Enumerating Pakistan’s foreign policy achievements, he said, in 2006,Pakistan’s perspective on UN Security Council reform was accepted and India not only failed to fulfill its long standing ambition of gaining a permanent seat in the UN Security Council but also had to face humiliation by withdrawing its candidate for the UN Secretary General.
He said, at Havana in September 2006, India reversed its position and agreed to resume the dialogue with Pakistan. Turning to the challenges ahead, Mushahid said Challenge of peace in Palestine and Kashmir is one the three major challenges. He urged that the new UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon must give peace in Palestine and Kashmir the top priority and the building of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after a pause of 10 years is a threat to peace.
Referring to UN Resolution 1172, passed unanimously by the UN Security General on June 6, 1998, he said, the UN Secretary General was supposed to find ways and means to resolve the “root cause” of conflict and instability in South Asia, namely “Kashmir”.
Secondly, he said, challenge of Muslim unity which was threatened by sectarian strife. He said, President Musharraf, in his lecture to Muslim scholars and intellectuals at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on December 27, 2006, very rightly said that “the Muslim world must take urgentsteps to end sectarian strife since it could sow the seeds of disaster that could engulf the entire Muslim world if not addressed immediately.”
In this regard, he said, it was the duty of the Organization of IslamicConference (OIC) to immediately convene a conference of Muslim opinion leaders, political leaders, Ulema, scholars and intellectuals plus official representatives from the governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia to address this threat so that a new conflict within the Muslim world is avoided.
“Otherwise Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon will see a new proxy war fuelled by rivalry among Muslim states. Given this context, despite the fact that he committed crimes against humanity, the hanging of Saddam at this stage would aggravate Iraq’s instability and civil strife,” he said. Last but not least is relations between Islam and the West. He said the issues between Islam and the West were not religious because Muslims believe in the Prophets of Judaism and Christianity.
“Rather, these are issues of long standing injustice and denial of fundamental rights and are primarily political in nature including Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon,” he said.