Maintaining balance

German Chancellor Olaf Sholz invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit that went from June 26 to 28 in Schloss Elmau located in Bavarian Alps, Germany. It is important to note that India is not a member of G7 which includes the world’s richest nations like the US, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the UK. These nations account for about half of the world’s GDP. Chancellor Sholz also invited Indonesian President Joko Widodo among other non-members to the summit, but refrained from inviting Pakistan.

However, it is business as usual in Pakistani media and no one is criticizing Germany for inviting Modi. Everyone is totally consumed by local politics that is getting fiercer and dirtier than ever.

Earlier this month, on June 7, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock chose Islamabad as the destination for her maiden visit to South Asia. India was not even on her visit map, but Pakistani media didn’t created a hype of it. The social media as well was busy with the usual memes targeting Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

On the contrary, in Indian media, outrage was unleashed on Germany for choosing Pakistan as the first destination in Asia for the visit of its new Foreign Minister. The outrage turned into fury when Baerbock announced in a joint press conference with Bilawal that the United Nations (UN) needs to play its role in protecting human rights in Indian-held Kashmir.

Germany has a history of women empowerment with Chancellor Angella Markel being counted amongst the strongest women leaders in Europe. Nonetheless, Indian media hurled gender slurs at Baerbock. Her age, 41, was mentioned time and again claiming that she is too young to do the job.

But she was clearheaded while stating that human rights are “indivisible” everywhere in the world including Kashmir, endorsing the UN mandate for protection of liberties and rights in the restive territory. A “constructive approach” and “confidence building measures” are imperative for bringing both Pakistan and India together, she asserted.

Germany is among the European Union countries that have drafted a foreign policy for Indo-Pacific Ocean. An evaluation of this policy reveals that it has mention of India frequently and Pakistan is mentioned only on the margins. Germany attaches importance to this region because it is the route for over 60 percent of world trade. By 2030, China will be the world’s top and India third big economies, according to GDP projections. It means that Germany has made proper calculations to assess the need to draft a policy for the Indo-Pacific Region.

Prof. Dr Tahir Malik, from the International Relations department of National University of Modern Languages (NUML), says that these projections are based on investment in science and technology. Swimming against the tide, Pakistani economy relies on speculations and real estate. Prof. Malik thinks that it will produce an army of property dealers and we will not be even in the race for excellence.

Europe tries to woo India because of its strategic location and economic magnitude, perceiving that it could be helpful for them to surround China. Germany, however, keeps on pointing out human rights violations both in India and China. In the past, a German ambassador in India held an art event in Srinagar. Different Hindu extremist groups grilled him publically for doing it. Similarly, last year in September, German ambassador Jan Hecker, 54, a close aide of Chancellor Merkel, was found dead in his residence in Beijing, hardly two weeks after assuming office.

Since Germany has drafted a policy for Indo-Pacific region, India has unrealistic expectations from it. No European country wants to be part of militarization of this region, much less Germany. As a result, Indian think tanks belittle Germany’s contribution in upholding human rights in the region, scoffing at the size of its Navy meant to monitor the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

During the German Foreign Minister’s visit, Bilawal also agreed that Taliban must stop atrocities on women, children and minorities in Afghanistan. He asserted that peace should prevail and people of Afghanistan should have their representation in their own country. It was a subtle shift from the previous government’s stance on Taliban rule in Kabul. The outgoing prime minister Imran Khan used to mix suppression of women with Pashtoon culture and traditions.

Pakistan People’s Party has an open policy against religious extremism and Taliban. Recently, it has issued show-cause notice to its member from KP for attending a jirga meant to strike a deal with Taliban on the areas bordering Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was on agenda of Baerbock’s visit to Pakistan. But she tested positive for COVID-19 and had to cut her two-day visit short. There would have been more rounds of talk on Afghanistan and India had she completed her visit. She was also scheduled to meet staff of German Embassy in Islamabad. German Ambassador has completed his tenure and Baerbock could have given some hint about who may replace him.

The outgoing German Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck seemingly put considerable energy into filling the shoes of his predecessor Martin Kobler, who was a known populist guru and had succeeded in becoming a brand during his stay here. Since Islamabad has become an important capital in the region where Germany intends to extend its influence, the country needs to send some sensible replacement for Schlagheck who should enhance people-to-people contacts instead of getting mired into some unrealistic NGO presentations and projects. At the same time, global potential of Pakistan needs to be brought out so people could understand the importance of G7 Summit and push their governments to assume its due place at such global forums.

The writer teaches mediatization at IIUI