AS the page turns on the Trump era, many will be waiting to see how the incoming president Joe Biden will deal with the Muslim world, as well as followers of Islam within America. As it stands, Mr Biden has been saying all the right things, that he wants to be a unifier, that he will undo Mr Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ — which placed curbs on citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US — “on day one” of his presidency. This may well be possible domestically, but more complicated will be Mr Biden’s attempts to alter Trump-era US policies regarding Muslim states and communities across the world.
Perhaps his most challenging foreign policy issues — at least within the Muslim world — will be the Iran and Arab-Israeli files. Mr Trump had ripped up the painstakingly reached Iran nuclear deal in 2018, invited global opprobrium, and put Washington and Tehran on a collision course with the assassination of senior Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Therefore, Mr Biden will have his work cut out for him where re-engaging the Islamic Republic is concerned, primarily because currently very few who matter in Tehran are willing to trust the US.
President Hassan Rouhani greeted the Biden victory with guarded optimism, saying the US now had an opportunity to “compensate for its previous mistakes”. Regarding the Palestine issue, the Trump White House jettisoned all pretence of impartiality by recognising occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as well as recognising Tel Aviv’s illegal occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights. Mr Biden is also deeply pro-Israel, but has said he wants to open channels with the Palestinians, channels that the Arab side closed after Mr Trump’s Jerusalem stunt.
Beyond the Middle East, the world will wait to see if the Biden administration will address the Kashmir issue. To be fair, Mr Trump had offered several times to mediate the dispute, but such offers did not get off the ground. Mr Biden has said on the campaign trail that he would “raise the issue of Kashmir” with India. The months ahead will show if this promise will be met. And of course Pakistan will also look forward to positive engagement with the president-elect, who should hopefully bring a more balanced approach to South Asia.
The fact is that Mr Biden’s election is a return to the status quo where the American foreign policy establishment is concerned. It should be remembered that Barack Obama had said all the right things during his 2009 speech in Cairo addressed to the Muslim world. However, it was under Mr Obama’s watch that wars involving the US in Syria, Libya and Yemen were launched. Joe Biden will therefore have to demonstrate that the American establishment has learned lessons from these misadventures, and wants to engage the Muslim world with respect for sovereignty and the popular will within these states.
Improving railways
THE upgradation of the Main Line-1 project being executed under the CPEC initiative is crucial for Pakistan’s economy, as recently pointed out by Prime Minister Imran Khan while addressing the launch of a scheme to improve the 127-year-old Hassan Abdal railway station. Mr Khan spoke about the social and economic advantages of the ML-1 project, pointing out that the $6bn scheme would kick-start massive business activity and generate huge employment opportunities. More important, it is supposed to help industrialise KP and modernise the existing, collapsing railway infrastructure from Karachi to Peshawar and Taxila to Havelian. Once it is complete, it would enhance the railway’s share in the passenger and freight traffic from the present 4pc to 20pc, and offer affordable, safer and faster travel to the middle class. Besides, it will substantially cut the cost of moving cargo up and down the country.
The project’s importance for Pakistan and the future survival of the railway aside, a lot depends on how the Chinese, who are paying 90pc of the cost of the scheme (in the shape of loans), want to proceed and at what pace. As things stand, the Chinese have already slowed down work on almost every CPEC-related scheme because of multiple reasons, the strained relations of Beijing with Washington and the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic being the most important ones. But that is not all. There are indications that the ML-1 project might already have hit snags. For example, the government was scheduled to publish invitations of international bids almost two months back to ensure that work on the seven-year project could start from next year. It hasn’t done so until now because of two reasons. Railway officials privately say the two countries have yet to agree on the proposed cost of the capital to be provided by Chinese banks as Islamabad is asking for a discount. But that is the smaller problem. Apparently, the Chinese are not happy with the ‘irresponsible’ statements given by some important government officials considered close to the prime minister and allegations of corruption in infrastructure schemes such as the Lahore metro launched under the PML-N government. It is advisable that government officials avoid issuing statements that can cause misunderstandings between the two countries. If they suspect corruption or wrongdoings in any CPEC project, the government should investigate it and punish those responsible for it instead of indulging in unseemly politicking.
Sexist remarks
THE hankering for electoral victory has often seen Pakistani politics plumb new depths — especially when the rival is a woman and a precedent has been set by the party leader, in this case the prime minister, for disparaging her image. Unfortunately, in a society where not many voices are raised in protest against the tendency to make fun of someone based on their gender, slogans about ‘change’ come across as insincere. Ali Amin Gandapur hails from a party that calls for ‘tabdeeli’. He has a responsible job. As a minister, he is Pakistan’s choice among the elected ruling party politicians for demonstrating the importance the government attaches to the Kashmiris and the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan. While not someone who is a regular on the media circuit, he nevertheless is on a special mission these days. Eager to secure a win in the Gilgit-Baltistan polls scheduled for Nov 15, he has chosen, regrettably, to resort to despicable, sexist remarks in his bid to convince the electorate of his party’s credentials. His verbal assault on PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz — and the subsequent defence of his tasteless words by some others in the corridors of power — is, in fact, a sad reflection on male politicians across the political spectrum. For it is not just the PTI which has displayed such reprehensible behaviour. The PML-N itself, along with others of its ilk, has demonstrated the same tendency to degrade opponents on the basis of gender, a case in point being Khawaja Asif on the floor of parliament no less.
Gilgit-Baltistan would indeed be a big prize for the government if it can secure it in the polls. But does shaming women have to be part of its arsenal as it campaigns against its opponents and recites its usual list of corruption and under-performance by political rivals? Four decades ago, pamphlets from ‘anonymous sources’ — ie a political party’s proxies — rained from the skies to malign a couple of Bhutto women. Clearly, no lessons have been learnt since.
