According to a report by ‘The News’, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stated that Malaysia will continue to maintain good relationships with Pakistan and India and won’t take sides with anyone in the event of conflict. The comments of Malaysian PM were crucial as they came during his recent 3-day visit to Islamabad. Not to forget that Malaysia is an Islam dominated nation and its neutral attitude toward the Indo-Pak relation is a major setback for the foreign policy of Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference at Nur Khan Airbase before leaving for Malaysia on Friday, Mahathir said, “We cannot side with anyone. I think this, allowing terrorists to have this upper hand, is very dangerous. We must stop terrorists; both sides (Pakistan and India) must prevent acts of terrorism. When terrorists fight, they just want to take revenge”.
Further lashing out against terrorism and calling it as a threat to humanity, he added, “They (terrorists) cannot conquer. What can they do? Kill people. Is that what humanity is fated for? We don’t want to take sides with anyone, but we appreciate the problems they face”.
The latest statement is a clear indication that even an Islamic nations like Malaysia is not siding with the ‘bigoted nation’. Earlier, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi boycotted the foreign ministers’ meet of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) states, scheduled on March 1. The OIC is an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries. This announcement by the Pakistan Foreign Minister came after the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj was invited for an address during the inaugural plenary session of the meeting in Abu Dabi as a guest of honour. Even though India is not a member country of the said organisation, the OIC has sent the invitation to India as a guest of honour.
After the atrocious Pulwama attack and with the turn of events after it, Pakistan has clearly succumbed to the diplomatic pressure exerted by India. Moreover, the international community that usually sides with Pakistan had maintained silence over the air-strike conducted by India in Balakot.
Pakistan’s decision to not attend the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meet shows that Pakistan has melted down in a dramatic way. Malaysia’s decision of not siding with Pakistan is another blow to the already declining international stature of Pakistan. The terrorist country understands that its nefarious designs have been exposed by India in an unparalleled way. India, which is a rising global power, has strong diplomatic relations with every major power across the globe. No one wants to stand with a terror state like Pakistan. At the same time, no one can afford not to keep a country like India in good humour. India’s neighbor has been embarrassed ruthlessly by India and the terrorist country has been dealt a historic diplomatic defeat. It will hard for it to get over this in the near future.