Brics message to ‘ring hollow' if Pakistan remains ‘blocked by India': envoy Khalil Hashmi

The Star

19-05-2025

Khalil Hashmi has served as Pakistan's ambassador to China since November 2023, marking his second diplomatic posting in Beijing. Over his nearly 30-year career, he has held key assignments in several capitals, including Copenhagen, as well as at Pakistan's missions to the United Nations in both New York and Geneva. He has worked on policy issues including arms control, counterterrorism, human rights and climate change.
India and Pakistan have accused each other of ceasefire violations in Kashmir. What is Pakistan's current position, and what are the key next steps or strategies envisioned for achieving a peaceful resolution?
Pakistan remains committed to the ceasefire understanding and is of the considered view that its faithful implementation is essential for preserving regional peace and stability.
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Meetings between the directors general of military operations of both countries have been taking place since May 10. The good news is both sides have agreed to stage-wise de-escalation and demobilisation. Each side has also released one soldier as a goodwill gesture.
As for key next steps, our approach is anchored in the principles of the UN charter, international law and global norms of state behaviour. A dozen resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and accepted by both Pakistan and India provide a blueprint for peaceful resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
This unresolved dispute has festered for decades and is the key driver of tensions and the root cause of conflict between Pakistan and India. According to Article 25 of the UN charter, all UN member states are required to accept and carry out the decisions of the UN Security Council. Pakistan wishes to resolve this dispute through dialogue and diplomacy.
That said, the fulfilment of this aspiration shared by the international community requires a willing partner on the other side. We welcome [US] President [Donald] Trump's offer to mediate on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
What role did China play in enabling the ceasefire agreement?
China's position towards situations of tensions and conflicts has always been very constructive, calling for restraint, de-escalation, ceasefire, pursuit of dialogue and peaceful resolution of disputes left over from history.
Indeed, Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to Pakistan's deputy prime minister and Indian national security adviser. We welcome China's diplomatic efforts aimed at easing tensions, paving a path towards de-escalation and durable ceasefire.
[Pakistani] Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave a special mention to China and President Xi Jinping in his May 10 national address, in recognition that Pakistan and China are strong partners in promoting peace, advancing development and countering terrorism.
How about China's role in helping to bring about a solution in Kashmir? Possibly a lasting solution beyond crisis management?
China is a neighbour to both Pakistan and India. It is a member of the UN Security Council, and it has shown in recent years that it is capable of acting as an honest broker, and a credible peacemaker.
It is pursuing its own neighbourhood policy, which in essence is about promotion of peace and stability. We would welcome China's role in mediating a just resolution to the Kashmir dispute. We also value good offices of third parties, whether it is the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres' office, or others. Because the situation is often tense and requires a diplomatic path to resolve it.
The overall approach on questions of peace and security needs reflection. For example, China offers a very good model. As a country that is still developing, China has always advocated and pursued an approach that is a departure from one of confrontation to a win-win, or a mutually beneficial proposition. That's the approach that needs to be emulated and which would take us to a different path than the current one.
Pakistan and India are both large developing countries. Both have several challenges, i.e. poverty alleviation, access to health, and education. There are millions of people in that region who deserve to live a life of dignity, peace and prosperity.
South Asia has a lot of promise, but regional organisations like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation haven't been allowed by India to convene since 2016. We have seen other regions such as Southeast Asia, Europe and others where the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and European Union – despite their difficulties- are making progress.
So a shift in approach is required in South Asia. Moving away from conflict or confrontation to a mutually beneficial development-oriented approach.
How will Pakistan react to Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs? What is Pakistan's position, and will it affect the relationship with China either way?
As a developing country, and with the United States being Pakistan's largest export destination, we are naturally concerned about the economic impact of these unilateral tariff hikes. Like many others in the Global South, we believe that an equitable, free, fair and rules-based trade is vital for development and prosperity of all countries.
A tariff regime that imposes significant costs on developing economies, undermines global supply chains, and disrupts the very foundation of inclusive growth is certainly unhelpful. That said, the tariffs are held in abeyance for 90 days. We very much hope these would be reviewed and revised, keeping in view the legitimate interests and needs of developing countries.
That said, the recent agreement reached between China and the US in Geneva is a first welcome step. We hope similar steps will be taken towards other trade partners of the US.
Pakistan and China relations are solid. They are neither targeted against any third country nor do we expect other relationships to affect our partnership with China. In fact, we look forward to further strengthening our economic partnership with China and other like-minded countries, [and] to explore new pathways for mutually beneficial trade arrangements that help us diversify and deepen strategic economic ties.
Some say the trade war is an attempt to reset the global economic order. The heaviest tariffs are mostly on developing countries. What do you think the developing countries, or the Global South, could do to help each other? What can organisations such as Brics do?
The Global South urgently needs greater unity and a more coherent voice on issues of economic justice. However, that effort is being hampered by underrepresentation in key institutions and by politicised approaches within regional and multilateral platforms.
Pakistan, despite being the world's fourth-largest developing country by population, remains excluded from Brics. The reason is no secret: it has been consistently blocked by India. This politicisation extends beyond Brics to institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, where India's obstructionist approach undermines the very principle of inclusive development.
The message of solidarity among the Global South that Brics members and similar institutions relay will ring hollow if they exclude key developing nations from their fold year after year. If the Global South is to evolve into a truly effective and credible force, its members must transcend narrow political calculations and embrace the principles of fairness, openness, and regional cooperation.
The Belt and Road Initiative has been a key focus of the Trump administration to pressure China, and Washington has celebrated Panama's exit from the initiative. Do you think US pressure will be effective in swaying other countries?
The numbers speak for themselves. Over 150 countries and organisations are part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The trend is clearly towards consolidation and expansion.
Developing countries are drawn to [the belt and road] not out of ideological alignment, but because it delivers concrete, visible outcomes in the form of roads, energy, connectivity, and infrastructure. These are the real building blocks of prosperity, and [the Belt and Road Initiative] offers them where many others have delivered only promises.
[The initiative's] appeal lies in its ability to address long-standing development gaps. It offers not only a vision but a path to practical cooperation, not conditionality, and that's what makes it both sustainable and attractive.
Turning to global governance, Pakistan has been a firm supporter of UN reform. As the institution marks its 80th anniversary this year, do you believe the UN remains an effective vehicle for promoting a more democratic international order?
The benchmark for assessing the effectiveness of global governance is not just the UN Security Council, notwithstanding its role under the UN charter. The most democratic part of the United Nations is the General Assembly. So reform and revitalisation of the General Assembly has also been a long-standing subject, pursued for as long as the reform of the UN Security Council.
Another principal organisation, crucial for developing countries like Pakistan, is the Economic and Social Council. It also requires revitalisation and strengthening. Developing countries have advanced proposals for reforming and revitalising these institutions to reflect current realities – political, economic, demographic and digital. The message of solidarity among the Global South that Brics members and similar institutions relay will ring hollow if they exclude key developing nations from their fold year after year
This 80th anniversary is an important year to look at UN reform holistically. The UN remains an indispensable tool to promote a more democratic international order. That said, the UN or its member states cannot and should not just be responsive to aspirants of permanent membership of the Security Council, for whom the whole reform of the United Nations boils down to securing their permanent membership.
We see the need for Security Council reform differently. We advocate for a council that is more representative and democratic, but not one that becomes another centre of privilege for a few additional countries holding veto power. The Security Council is already gridlocked. Adding more members, without accountability, will not make the council more efficient or effective.
In my view, any country aspiring to permanent membership should meet two essential criteria: one, it should demonstrate faithful and consistent adherence to international law, including implementing resolutions of the very body it wishes to join permanently. Secondly, such a country should also demonstrate it is not in any conflict with any of its neighbours.
On the UN Security Council, what specific reforms do you believe are necessary for it to better address the conflicts and wars of today?
The Security Council must improve and reform its working methods so that it becomes more transparent and accountable to the larger membership it claims to represent. It must improve its engagement with other principal UN organs, particularly the General Assembly, and provide analytical clarity on why or when it fails to act, whether in Africa, our region, or elsewhere.
The council has a responsibility to live up to its mandate and explain its actions, or inactions, to the broader membership. Again, this means improving its methods of work and rules of procedure, being open to more accountability, and increasing transparency. And also having more representation from developing countries.
However, this representation should not be for life. It should be tied to perhaps longer-term seats – maybe more than the current two years to four years or slightly more – but these members must leave the council and seek re-elections. These are proposals that the Uniting for Consensus group, of which Pakistan is an active member, has proposed. We are not opposed to expanding the Security Council, but we are certainly opposed to creating new centres of privilege without any accountability.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is another significant global development. How do you foresee the US-China competition shaping AI governance, and crucially, how can the interests of developing countries be safeguarded in this rapidly evolving domain?
AI is a transformative technology, but also a deeply dual-use one, with enormous benefits and equally significant risks. Left unregulated, its deployment, especially in military applications, could destabilise regions and exacerbate inequalities.
Pakistan believes global guardrails must be developed proactively to prevent dangers and promote development dividends of this transformational technology. The US, China, and other leading nations need to engage constructively on UN platforms to establish rules, norms, and minimum standards, particularly for the development and ethical use of AI and effective regulation of its military applications.
In 2023, Pakistan submitted the first ever working paper [at the] Geneva Conference on Disarmament proposing international regulation of AI's military applications. Our position is clear: humans must always be in the loop and make decisions pertaining to life and death. The time for preventive diplomacy in AI governance is now, not after the damage is done.
On a more direct security concern, there have unfortunately been terrorist attacks in Pakistan that targeted Chinese personnel and projects. Could you share more on the current state of counterterrorism cooperation between Pakistan and China to prevent such tragedies?
Pakistan and China maintain deep and institutionalised cooperation on counterterrorism. Following the tragic loss of Chinese lives, Pakistan's leadership expressed the resolve to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Both sides closely coordinate, consult and cooperate bilaterally as well as at international platforms. We do joint exercises, share intelligence and conduct training and capacity-building programmes.
Terrorism threats to Pakistani people and Chinese citizens inside Pakistan emanate from groups such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, and the Baloch Liberation Army. Both of which are supported, financed and sheltered by external actors.
We are actively engaging the interim Afghan authorities not to allow use of territory under their control against Pakistan and to hold the perpetrators to account. At the same time, we have presented several dossiers to the UN and other members of the international community providing information, data and evidence of strong linkages between these groups and India's state actors.
Terrorism is a common enemy and combating it effectively requires shunning double standards, avoiding politicisation and pursuing law-based approaches grounded in investigations, presenting credible evidence and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Looking ahead, China will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II later this year. In your view, what is the significance of remembering this event in 2025?
Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II is both about reflection on history and reaffirmation of our collective commitment to peace, multilateralism, and responsible state behaviour.
Like the UN's own 80th anniversary, this is an occasion to draw the right lessons from the past in order to shape a future that is more peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable.
By convening such commemorative events, we remind ourselves that progress must be anchored in mutual respect and peaceful coexistence. The future we all seek – greener, more prosperous, more digital – can only be built on a foundation of trust, peaceful coexistence and shared responsibility.
The 80th anniversary is also an opportune moment to walk the talk by faithfully implementing the principles of international law, the UN charter, and the UN Security Council resolutions.
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