A New Dawn in Peaceful and Stable Pakistan

By Sahibzada M. Saeed


United Nations’ (UN) International Civil Commission (CISC) announced to restore Islamabad’s status as a family station. After this initiative, now UN personnel can travel and stay in Pakistan with their families. A letter from the office of the ICSC chairperson, Larbi Djacta, notifying the development, wrote: "I, under the delegated authority of the Commission, discontinued the non-family status of the duty station Islamabad, Pakistan effective 14 June 2019." The letter stated that the decision was made following a security evaluation of the capital city and on the recommendation made by the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations Department for Safety and Security. In Pakistan the government officials have welcomed the statement by UN. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quraishi in his tweet wrote that "Good news! Based on comprehensive security review, UN restores Islamabad’s status as family station for its international staff. I warmly welcome the decision." While Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's Ambassador at the UN responded to Qureshi's tweet that: "This is a positive development on which we all worked together."

Indeed it is a big development for a country which fought against terrorism and insurgency for more than a decade and gave lot of sacrifices during war on terror. Along with the UN’s statement there are many other indicators which project the improving situation of law and order and other development aspects in Pakistan. For instance the Popular American business magazine 'Forbes' has included Pakistan to the top ten ‘coolest places’ where tourists must go in 2019. Similarly Pakistan is the cricket loving nation and remained the world champion. Unfortunately because of terrorism not a single international cricket team was willing to play in Pakistan but now the situation is quite satisfactory. This year Pakistan hosted the international event of Pakistan Super League (PSL) while in 2017-18 Pakistan hosted Sri Lankan, West Indies and Zimbabwe cricket teams.

Hostile elements tried their level best to isolate Pakistan internationally by propagating against it. Indeed there was the hard time in Pakistan and there was no tourism and business activity but now different international airlines from different corners of the globe are resuming their flight operations. Most recently British Airways has restarted its flight operation from Islamabad international airport. Couple of weeks ago the Kingston Palace tweeted that The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will undertake an official visit to Pakistan this year. The visit of British royals reveals the level of stability and growth in Pakistan.

The current phase of development in Pakistan was not the piece of cake. For achieving peace and stability, state institutions and the citizens of Pakistan paid the highest cost. In global war on terror, Pakistan attained the incredible results by utilizing its limited resources and according to experts, in Afghanistan more than 200 thousand American and NATO troops with the modern and sophisticated weaponry and other technological assistance could not attain the same results over more than 17 years. Along with Afghan border Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was known as the hub of terrorism but now after successful military operations it is converted into tourist attraction site. After legislation FATA is merged into neighboring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and couple of days ago the people of former FATA have cast their votes and affirmed their loyalty with democratic and stable Pakistan with the fresh spirit and vision.

For every nation, political stability is the second most important factor of development after stable law and order situation. Along with better law and order situation Pakistan has witnessed political stability as well. In 2018 a peaceful and smooth transition of power has occurred in general elections in Pakistan. The reformist political Party Pakistan Tehrik-e- Insaf (PTI) with the vision Naya Pakistan (New Pakistan) came into power and people of Pakistan elected the famous cricket celebrity turned into politician Imran Khan as the prime minister. It was the second peaceful transition of power which defiantly indicates the political stability in Pakistan.

In today’s democratic and peaceful Pakistan the people are safe and sound. They are again ready to revive the beautiful and rich culture and tradition of hospitality for the world. So come, see and invest in beautiful and growing Pakistan which is going to become the hub of Asia’s development and also keep in mind that 21st century is Asia’s century.

Author is IR analyst and freelance columnist based in Islamabad and could be reached at mmsb1000@gmail.com.