New Delhi: Islamabad’s anti-India propaganda failed miserably during Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s four-nation regional diplomacy tour last week that aimed at making an outreach to the international community following Operation Sindoor — India’s decisive response to the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Sharif visited Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan from May 25-30 after India demolished terror infrastructure inside Pakistan and within Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) during Operation Sindoor, last month.

The visit focused on portraying Islamabad as a victim of terrorism, blaming India for not sharing credible evidence to support assertions of Islamabad’s involvement in the terror attack and also raking up the Kashmir issue.

Relations between Iran and Pakistan remain strained as both sides accuse each other for not doing enough to stop growing militancy across their shared border stretching approximately 959 km (596 miles). In January 2024, Iran had launched missile strikes targetting strongholds of Jaish-al-Adl, a Balochi-Sunni militant separatist organisation active in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province. Pakistan has accused Iran of sheltering the two Baloch nationalist-separatists groups, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).

“We believe that the common borders of the two countries should be free from insecurity and the presence and activities of terrorist and criminal groups,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a veiled warning to Pakistan as he addressed a joint press conference with Shehbaz Sharif in Tehran on May 26.

Pezeshkian stated that West Asia and South Asia currently need security and peace more than ever, which underlines the need for consultations and positive interaction with the neighbouring countries and other international partners.

Bilateral issues gained prominence again as he met Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Lachin on May 27 with Sharif more inclined towards increasing economic cooperation with Baku. He reiterated Azerbaijan’s commitment to invest USD $2 billion in Pakistan and increase cooperation in sectors such as commerce, defence, education and health.

Baku has emerged as a major hub for Pakistani nationals involved in fake passport/visa rackets and abetting human trafficking for South Asians for further travel to the West.

Interestingly, Sharif has been a regular visitor to Ankara and Baku since taking over as Prime Minister of Pakistan in April 2022.

In Dushanbe, Sharif’s meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on May 29-30 on the sidelines of the first International High Level Conference on Glaciers Preservation (ICGP) focused on collaboration in energy projects, including CASA-1000, regional connectivity and trade.

Not many people paid attention to the Pakistani PM when he, during his speech at ICGP, suddenly brought up the issue of India putting in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Even the Joint Statement issued after the meetings during the four-nation visit reflected an impartial stance. It was Shehbaz Sharif, in fact, who kept on reiterating Pakistan’s willingness to engage in dialogue with India.

Facing a serious security crisis on its western frontier while tackling the Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP), Pakistan is making desperate efforts to draw closer to Tajikistan.

The Director General of ISI and the current National Security Advisor (NSA) of Pakistan, Lt. Gen. Muhammad Asim Malik visited Dushanbe last December to befriend Tajikistan which is considered a stronghold of anti-Taliban factions.

However, the Tajik civil society does not like Pakistan as Islamabad has been promoting terrorism which has had a spillover effect into Tajikistan and all of Central Asia. Tajikistan strongly feels that terror outfits from Pakistani soil might create disturbances in the region, including by targetting Ismaili Shias in the mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) region.

Pakistan wants to build its influence in Eurasian geopolitics with the implicit support of China.

Needless to say, the Central Asian Republics understand fully that state-sponsored terrorism is an industry in Pakistan.

Analysts believe that as Shehbaz Sharif tried to shore up support for Bunyan-un-Marsoos during his four-nation visit, each stop resulted in “lesser display” of strategic relationship with Pakistan.

(The writer is an expert on South Asia and Eurasia. He was formerly with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Views expressed are personal)

–IANS

/as