COUNTLESS Chinese VIPs, including the liberation icon Zhou En-lai, have visited Pakistan, but never before has a Chinese leader’s trip to this country fallen victim to such gaucherie as the one now surrounding President Xi Jinping’s.

On Sunday, Islamabad for the first time officially denied that President Xi would be in Pakistan on March 23.

The denial came from foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz. Without a fulltime foreign minister, the nation is spectacle to a bizarre phenomenon — it almost seems as if Pakistan has no leader or institution that knows how to conduct diplomacy.

Know more: Sartaj Aziz admits no breakthrough in talks with India

Originally scheduled for August last, the visit was postponed because of the sit-ins by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri close to security-sensitive buildings.

The end of the sit-ins could have paved the way for President Xi’s visit, but two developments clouded the authorities’ vision: first, President Barack Obama was invited to be the guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations; second, the army announced that March 23 would be celebrated with the traditional armed forces’ parade after a break of several years.

Then somebody leaked a most childish feeler — that the Chinese president would be the state’s guest at the Pakistan Day parade.

What message did those who leaked this bit of ‘information’ wish to give to the public? That we have a readymade formula to counter the perceived Indo-US axis?

Surely Pakistan should not concern itself with which world leader India invites to its celebrations.

Meanwhile, the Chinese, not wishing to embarrass Pakistan, did not deny categorically that their president would not visit on March 23. Instead, they gently indicated that Mr Xi intended to visit the country this year but gave no specific dates.

No doubt, there should have been an emphatic denial, but this should have come from Pakistan’s Foreign Office right after the unverified report was circulated by the media.

Unfortunately, by not issuing one then, our foreign policy managers merely added to the confusion. This does not bode well for our conduct of diplomacy.

Published in Dawn March 10th , 2015

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