Salim Saifullah recently told reporters that he thought Pakistan was mistaken in supporting the Syrian people’s demand for democracy. Instead, he said we should have supported a dictator who is murdering his own people in order to gain favour with China, who vetoed a UNSC resolution drafted by the Arab League and supported by the West.
It’s a good thing the government decided to put principle before political expediency, though. On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signaled a change of direction in his country saying that China will not protect the Assad regime.
Ambassador Haroon made a powerful speech at the UN, laying out that while Pakistan does not condone any infringement of Syria’s sovereignty, there is a strong moral point presented in the Arab League draft – the killings must end. As he said, “Nothing succeeds anywhere against a government without external help.”
If we are going to have credibility on the world stage on issues like human rights and democracy in Kashmir, we must be consistent in applying our principles. If we compromise our principles for political expediency, then we have no principles at all.
