Tough tasks ahead for Pakistan's first woman FM
- By Muhammad Tahir, Yangtze Yan
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Xinhua, July 24, 2011
Relationships with India, Afghanistan
The second major challenge for the Pakistani new foreign minister would be improving ties with arch-rival India. She is scheduled to meet her Indian counterpart in New Delhi on July 27 at the ministerial-level talks.
Khar's statesmanship and maturity will soon be tested when she meets 79-year-old S.M. Krishna, who is 45 years her senior.
India resumed official dialogue with Pakistan in February after a four-year deadlock over the 2008 Mumbai attacks, blamed on a Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India wants Pakistan to punish planners of the Mumbai attacks and said Islamabad should step up trial of the suspects arrested in Pakistan in connection with the Mumbai attacks. New Delhi is also concerned at the alleged Pakistan's support to Kashmir militants fighting India rule in its part of Kashmir.
Afghanistan is another challenge for Pakistan and relations are deteriorated over the recent incidents along the common border. Pakistan says militants cross into its territory from Afghanistan, and Kabul says Pakistani forces fired hundreds of rockets into its border regions.
The two countries have formed a joint commission for reconciliation process and the new foreign minister will face the task to continue cooperation with Afghanistan to achieve the goal to bring Taliban to the negotiating table.
At the same time, she will have to manage the Pakistani military in a country where the generals are generally believed to dominate the two big foreign policy areas of India and Afghanistan.
In addition, Khar will be under pressure to enhance understanding with neighboring countries including Iran, China and Central Asia states in the policy of regional approach. Zardari's two recent visits to Iran in two weeks reflect that Islamabad now pursues the policy to improve relationship with neighbors instead of depending on the U.S. and the West.
The new foreign minister will also have to improve relations with Arab countries, which had always supported Pakistan in difficult times but some are not happy over Islamabad's foreign policy. Zardari's visit to Saudi Arabia this week, his first in three-year rule, is considered to be an attempt to boost ties with the Kingdom.
Moreover, being the youngest foreign minister and a businesswoman by profession, Khar will also have uphill tasks to deal with the complex situation in the current environment when Pakistan faces many tough internal problems -- armed insurgents, poor economic condition and acute energy shortage. She will also have to address to the world concern over Pakistan's quest to deal with the issue of terrorism.
