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Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar - performance watch

Markhor

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Head to Head is arguably the best programme on Al Jazeera and its just finished airing now in the UK. Good interview about all the major issues such as militancy, Afghanistan, Hafeez Saeed, Mumbai, Kashmir, minorities, missing persons issue and the role of the Army.

Thought Hina Rabbani Khar despite my opposition to her government gave a decent account of herself unlike some of the other Head to Head guests who were made to look foolish by Mehdi Hasan who always does his research before the interviews.

This was conducted at the Oxford Union a few weeks ago. On the panel was Mosharraf Zaidi, Omar Warraich and Humeira Iqtidar.

A few standout quotes:

“It's absolutely true that the military has a larger role than the constitution of Pakistan would typically permit”

“I think I was fiercely independent”

“The US gov’t has a long history of immense fascination w/ the military of Pakistan because they propped them up”


“From 2,800 reported missing persons - we have 1,500 cases already resolved”

“It’s difficult in most societies to be able to prosecute people who are supposed to be protecting the country”


“After 35yrs, no military or civilian gov’t in Pakistan could normalise trade with India - we changed that!”

“I like to believe that we did humongous work on redirecting foreign policy”

“Pakistan did not have the ability to take on every terror network within the region all at the same time”

“Drone strikes are counterproductive - they are actually fuelling extremism”

“Pakistan’s job is to protect its own people before the United States of America.”

On her government’s reaction to #OsamabinLaden being found in Pakistan: “we went still”

“Don't judge Pakistan for where it is today, judge Pakistan for where it is going.”

“I'm embarrassed that we've done to minorities what we've done in Pakistan”

“We're a very, very young nation. Give us time.”

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qm5JK1BFT3o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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PPP politicians have/had so much potential.

Shame they are so corrupt and behiss

I definitely think that unlike PML-N, who are just plain inept and incompetent, some senior PPP guys like her, Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani, Aitzaz Ahsan coul genuinely have served the country well if they had been honest and sincere.
 
By the way Mehdi came out with an astonishing quote attributed to former President Zardari saying to CIA Director Gen Hayden "Collateral damage may worry you Americans. But it does not worry me."

What a disgraceful comment from a President of a country ! Zardari openly admitting he didn't give a damn about civilian casualties from drone strikes as long as the cheques kept rolling in.
 
PPP politicians have/had so much potential.

Shame they are so corrupt and behiss

I definitely think that unlike PML-N, who are just plain inept and incompetent, some senior PPP guys like her, Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani, Aitzaz Ahsan coul genuinely have served the country well if they had been honest and sincere.

Agreed.
 
Just one scandal which broke out during PP tenure should have shamed any PP leader from claiming any achievements during their tenure i.e. the Hajj Scandal!

And the fact that the biggest thug, thief, and corrupt moron aka Ghadari was the president of the party and promoted to post of President of Pakistan and he had his hands in every crime that took place in the 5 years...was just icing on the cake. I wish they would all fall and die because such shameless souls don't deserve to live.

And the chance of that little girl of Zardari aka Billo becoming a PM one day looms large in future as well...what a country, what a country
 
Smart. Articulative. Bold & Beautiful. Classy as hell.

What more do you need in a girl. I mean politician.

Hope she becomes PM of Pakistan one day. Will support her.

Would be awesome to see my favourite Pakistani leading her nation to glory and developing great ties with us too along the process.
 
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One thing I forgot to mention - that jab at ex-Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar :)))

The quote from HRK was "I can assure you the Defence Minister knew nothing about the military" - then why was he running the department ?! Goes to show he was nothing more than a rubber stamp for the military.

She comes across as an intelligent lady.
Came across better than Asad Durrani did on H2H earlier in the year who said he wanted people to give Afghan Taliban and their supporters in Pakistan a "big applause".
 
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Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar only found out about the OBL raid when his daughter called him from New York !

The incompetency of the last government was staggering, though not surprising given Mukhtar is a relative of Ijaz Butt. It seems ineptitude runs in the family.
 
Saw the entire show, Mehdi did a great job at shutting her up by pointing out all of the faults of PPP; she could not counter back.

She might be a good person or a politician, but still doesn't change the fact that PPP's tenure completely destroyed Pakistan's economy and its progress. Pakistan was already in a low position during the Musharraf days, but Zardari took it to levels below.
 
Hina Rabbani Khar like a lot of other good politicians under the PPP banner are really wasted in PPP. How guys like Zardari and Gilani are at the top disgusts me. Hina really did her best to counter very tough questions from Mehdi and the crowd but the fact is the performance of PPP has always been embarrassing. They hav been ruling Sindh for decades now and Sindh is so under developed with extremely high poverty levels. Mosharraf Zaidi is such a waste in tht panel. Everyone knows how pro-PPP he is.
 
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar made it clear on Tuesday that Pakistan was not in isolation, as the country’s foreign policy moved in the right direction with all diplomatic missions working on all fronts.

Winding up the debate on the demands for grants for the Foreign Ministry in the next fiscal year and responding to criticism by Dr Ramesh Kumar in the National Assembly, she said Pakistan was playing much bigger role on the international front than the size of its GDP.

“We are very happy to state that over the years, Pakistani diplomats, Pakistani statesmen and Pakistani politicians have contributed towards [effectiveness of] a policy in the multilateral institutions,” she added. The foreign services department under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was working beyond the call of duty, she said.

With respect to BRICS, she said there was no denying the fact that China was the most effective strategic partner of Pakistan. “China is part of BRICS, which means Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, where all the member countries have to work to cooperate with each other,” she added.

If a certain unfriendly country, she said, wanted to block Pakistan and succeeded in doing so, then “how can we doubt China’s intention”.

The Chinese government’s statement also came the other day, which said that China wanted Pakistan to be part of this and it also recognised Pakistan’s role in global development.

She said the foreign policy of a country was useful if it severed in the interests of the people of that country. “We are making it sure that the government works for Pakistan not for any individual and party,” she added.

She said in BRICS “we don’t have a role but we still have core roles in many other international forums such as Heart of Asia”.

With respect to the case of Aafia Siddiqui, Khar said that Pakistan was fighting her case at every level but obviously every country had its own laws, rules and regulations besides its sovereign right.

“At present, she has the consular access and her requirements are also being fulfilled”, Khar said, adding that Siddiqui’s case was also being fought at every diplomatic level.

Speaking about the case of detained Kashmiri Leader Yaseen Malik, she said Pakistan was raising voice and working on it with effective diplomacy.

“India today is not a secular state, it has become a rogue state and it has become a nation which is not going on the principles and the morals which is said by [Jawaharlal] Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.”

She said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari himself made telephonic calls to the secretary general of United Nation and to the secretary general Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Pakistani diplomats worked day and night to make sure that the OIC gave a joint statement in this regard, she said, adding there was a big change in the organisation now, as the OIC’s voice had gained weight on the international level.

She said now the OIC was raising voices for Muslims without any fear. “Now it is consistently raising voice wherever it sees any oppression against Muslim in any corner of the world”, she remarked.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2363832/pakistan-not-in-isolation-khar-tells-na
 
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, currently serving as additional secretary Asia & Pacific, was appointed on Friday as the new spokesperson of the Foreign Office.

She has replaced Asim Iftikhar, who has been appointed as Pakistan’s ambassador to France.
 
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will lead a delegation to Kabul for a day-long visit on November 29 (Tuesday) to hold political dialogue with Afghan Taliban-led interim government.

Bilateral relations, including cooperation in the areas of education, trade and investment, regional connectivity, people-to-people contacts and matters related to regional security will be discussed, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Monday.

The state minister will also reaffirm Pakistan’s continued commitment and support for all efforts aimed at strengthening peace and enhancing prosperity in Afghanistan, it added.

“As a friend and neighbour of Afghanistan, Pakistan will reaffirm its abiding solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, in particular through its efforts to ease the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and to create real opportunities for economic prosperity of Afghan men, women and children,” read the communiqué.

Earlier this month, Pakistan, in an unusual move, had given a damning assessment of the Afghan Taliban regime’s 16 months in power, saying the interim government has done little to form inclusive government, protect the rights of women and eradicate terrorist groups.

The lack of progress, Pakistan notes, means that the critical support needed by Afghanistan to deal with the humanitarian and economic crises and other challenges has faltered.

The assessment was shared by Pakistan’s special envoy on Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq during a meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbours and others held in Moscow on November 16.

The 4th meeting of the Moscow Forma was held in the Russian capital with participation from Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Iran, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, India, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan at the level of Special Representatives/Envoys on Afghanistan.

Ambassador Sadiq in his address took an unusually harsh stance against the Afghan Taliban government, highlighting Pakistan’s frustration over the lack of progress on certain issues.

“Pakistan is a firm adherent to the primacy of a regional approach to the situation in Afghanistan. We believe that the Moscow Format advances this goal by bringing together the regional countries in a process of meaningful dialogue and engagement on Afghanistan,” he said.

Express Tribune
 
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will lead a delegation to Kabul for a day-long visit on November 29 (Tuesday) to hold political dialogue with Afghan Taliban-led interim government.

I'm not convinced about this plan of sending a delegation headed by a woman, however capable she may be, to talk to the Taliban. I'm not being sexist, it's just that I don't think it'll go down well with a group of old narrow minded warlords who'd value a Hilux pickup more than than their opposite sex.
 
In a veiled criticism of India, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said on Thursday that the “generous” supply of conventional and non-conventional weapons to the neighbouring country was severely straining South Asia’s strategic stability, and threatening “our national security”.

“The largest country in the region continues to be a beneficiary of nuclear exceptionalism, in violation of established non-proliferation norms and principles,” she told a high-level United Nations (UN) panel — without naming India — during a conference via video link from Islamabad.

“This country also remains a net recipient of generous supplies of advanced conventional and non-conventional weapons, technologies and platforms,” she said.

Khar’s remarks come as India has ramped up spending to modernise the military with Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlining the commitment to boost domestic production to supply forces deployed along two contentious borders with Pakistan and China.

Express Tribune
 
India has used its right of reply in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to respond to Pakistan's representative, Hina Rabbani Khar's criticism of the country's defence acquisitions, calling it "malicious propaganda" against India.

Speaking at the council, India's representative Seema Pujani said, "Pakistan's obsession with India while its population battle for their lives, livelihood and freedom is an indication of the state's misplaced priorities. I would advise its leadership and officials to focus their energies on working for the benefit of their own population instead of baseless propaganda."

She also expressed regret over comments made by the Turkish representative and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir.

"We regret the comments made by Turkiye on a matter that is an internal affair of India and advise it to refrain from making unsolicited comments on our internal matters," Seema Pujani said.

"As regards the OIC statement, we reject the unwarranted references to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The fact is that the entire territories of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are, and shall always be part of India. Pakistan is in illegal occupation of Indian territory. Instead of calling upon its member Pakistan to give up state-sponsored terrorism and to lift its occupation of Indian territory, OIC has let Pakistan hijack and misuse its platform for carrying out its nefarious agenda of engaging in malicious propaganda against India," she added.

Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on Thursday had said "political expediency has condoned the Hindutva regime to dehumanise the Kashmiri people by falsely equating their legitimate pursuit of rights with the canard of terrorism."

"The Indian occupying authorities have stepped up collective punishment of Kashmiris by demolishing residential homes and terminating land leases to deprive Kashmiris of their livelihoods," Ms Khar said.

NDTV
 
Pakistan once again warned the international community against abandoning Afghanistan, which is currently facing a humanitarian crisis and needs urgent assistance to survive.

Speaking at the Ministerial Meeting of the Neighbours of Afghanistan in Samarkand on Thursday, Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar called for ‘patience’ and ‘reciprocity’, saying that the international community should continue to engage with the interim Afghan government. “We need to be flexible. This process should be appropriately incentivised,” she suggested.

She said Pakistan firmly believed that humanitarian support should remain delinked from any political considerations.

She mentioned Kabul’s decision to suspend education for women and girls and to prevent female staff members from working for national and international NGOs.
 
Another airmiles collector - Disgrace to Pakistan with her idiotic defence,

==

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has defended the federal government’s decision to hold trial of people involved in attack on state and army installations under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, saying that no state can condone incidents of arson and vandalism.

“Is there any state in the world that does not respond to arson and vandalism? Everyone saw the response to the attack on Capitol Hill in America,” the state minister said on Tuesday while talking to journalists after a parliamentary meeting.

The country’s civil and military leaders on May 17 endorsed a decision made a day earlier during a meeting of corps commanders to invoke the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 and the Official Secrets Act, 1923 against people involved in the May 9 riots.

Violent protests sparked across the country on May 9 after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the federal capital’s high court.

The government later launched a massive crackdown against the PTI leaders and workers and rounded up thousands of people on charges of attacking civil and military installations.

The state minister said she held discussions with the representatives of the European Union at the Indo-Pacific Forum. She claimed that no country gave her any advice with regard to the trial of arsonists under the army act. “All countries were, however, concerned about the rioting in Pakistan,” she added.

Khar said the world saw how Pakistan's security forces reacted when rioters launched an attack on state installations. “The security forces exercised restraint so that there might be no loss of life,” she added.

Obliquely referring to the PTI chief, Khar said no person can be allowed to take advantage of his fame in order to set the country on fire. No one wants those who destroyed state properties under the guise of politics to be spared, she said.

“Our effort is to bring peace as soon as possible. We will protect the constitutional rights of the people of Pakistan. Arsonists cannot be spared under any circumstances as what matters most at this time is Pakistan's reputation.”

To a question about Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to the UN, who has been criticizing the Pakistan government for launching a crackdown against the PTI, the state minister said she did not want to respond to the former US official.
 
Was she in the room when she made this statement.?
Her example of capital hill shows us what an ignorant elitist lickspittle she is. A useless foreign minister. Frankly a babysitter for baby biloo. If she had any ghairat she would knownthat all the capitol rioters were tried in civil courts..

These people are terrified of their own people. She will be on a plane to London as soon as she can once their time runs out..
 
Reminds me of when Bilawal said Hilary Clinton was an example of dynastic politics.

PPP had an opportunity to appear more moderate and lay all the blame on N. However they have shown they are fully complicit.
 
Reminds me of when Bilawal said Hilary Clinton was an example of dynastic politics.

PPP had an opportunity to appear more moderate and lay all the blame on N. However they have shown they are fully complicit.

The army ,ppp and N are all United against pti. In short to to medium run pti is out. Long term who knows. Anyone can make a comeback . Nawaz will be back very soon. Fully recovered from illness
 
The army ,ppp and N are all United against pti. In short to to medium run pti is out. Long term who knows. Anyone can make a comeback . Nawaz will be back very soon. Fully recovered from illness

Yes. PTI is done! COAS has three years to go and I am sure he will be given an extension. So, PTI cannot come back for at least 6 years. By that time, Khan would be very very old!
 
Pakistan has enough problems of its own and does not want the added headache of a new Cold War between China and the United States, says Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.

In an interview with Washington-based news outlet Politico this week, Ms Khar insisted that Islamabad had no appetite to pick a side in the growing global rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

The interview was recorded before US President Joe Biden called his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a dictator at a political event in California on Tuesday. The comment earned a swift and angry response from Beijing which said the remarks “seriously contradict basic facts, seriously violate diplomatic etiquette, and seriously infringe on China’s political dignity”.

Political analysts in Washington warn that Mr Biden’s remarks, and Beijing’s response, would make it more difficult for countries like Pakistan to maintain ties with both China and the United States.
 
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