Ubaid Ahmed
A country’s foreign policy consists of strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries and their interaction is then monitored and evaluated in attempts to maximize benefits of multilateral international cooperation. Likewise the wide range of peacetime naval activities whose purpose is to influence the behavior of another nation under the patronage of the foreign policy objectives is termed as naval diplomacy and Navy being its important instrument has gained importance primarily because of its main goal to prevent the war. Therefore, the navies offer a wide range of diplomatic instruments for use in peace time. Role of navies across the globe has been evolved from the 19th century’s coercive diplomacy to 21st century’s humanitarian assistance, disaster relief operations and demonstration of goodwill.
The aforesaid evolution has come to be known as the ‘Naval Forward Presence’. The more the navy is seen in its area of interest, the lesser the chance of trouble brewing. Showing the Flag or presence is not the same as coercive diplomacy. It is a gentler reminder of the existence of the navy. Visit of naval ships to foreign ports is one method of showing the flag. Thus in line with the furtherance of diplomatic and political objectives of Pakistan, Pakistan Navy ships, PNS ASLAT and PNS MOAWIN are on a goodwill visit to the African nations. During port visits, Pakistan Navy contingent will also be establishing free medical camps to reflect its altruism towards the African nations. In this regard the first port call was offered to port Casablanca, Morocco. The PN ships port call to Moroccoincluded number of professional and social activities encompassing key leadership Engagements, professional interactions and discourse on professional subjects of mutual interests.
Pakistan’s relations with numerous African nations traced back to their particular freedom movements. Pakistan bolstered both ethically and tangibly the nations as Algeria, Kenya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt and Nigeria. Pakistan has resident missions in 13 African countries while others are covered through concurrent accreditation. Since the establishment of diplomatic cum political relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1958, the relations between the two nations, are defined by their amicable and developing character, therefore, consequently this has been beneficial for the convergence of the contrasting viewpoints of both the nations in the emerging global political landscape. Essentially, these relations are enriched by the common Islamic cultural heritage. Ethnically, Moroccans are predominately of Berber (North African indigenous) and Arabic decent. The official languages of Morocco are Berber and Arabic; however, the distinctive group of Moroccan Arabic dialects is collectively called Darija, French and to a lesser extent Spanish and English is also spoken in the country. The southeast of the country is also intersected by the Sahara Desert and direct to the south lays the Western Sahara. Moreover, the relations among Morocco and Pakistan are governed by a diversified legal framework encompassing several cooperation agreements in the diplomatic, economic, cultural, scientific and technical fields. Additionally, both countries have co-operated significantly since the past and continue to widely expand their relations. Morocco nonetheless, maintains an embassy in Islamabad, whilst Pakistan maintains one in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco.
In nutshell, Pakistan’s state policy is to advance harmony among countries. It has no aggressive and nefarious designs against any nation. Neither does it bolster any such activity. Pakistan has constantly held the position and maintained that the conflicts of any sort must be settled peacefully through negotiations on table rather than on battle fields.The visit by PNS ASLAT and MOAWIN to port Casablanca, Moroccois in pursuance to the policies of the Government of Pakistan to further enhance friendly ties and explore new vistas for future collaborative initiatives between the two brotherly countries. During their stay at the port, the officers and men would also remain engaged in various interactions with an aim to further the multifaceted long term collaboration between the two navies.
