ISLAMABAD: In a clear attempt at damage control after the prime minister’s address, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke to disgruntled officers of Pakistan’s foreign service, as the officers expressed resentment over the minister and secretaries’ inability to relay transparent information to the premier who is not happy with the foreign service officials.
In his address that lasted for one hour and forty-five minutes, sources said that the foreign minister listened to the complaints of the foreign service officials and took them into confidence. Sources told this scribe that at least five officials, including three women officers, spoke to the minister on behalf of the entire service at the headquarters. This included two directors and two additional secretaries.
“There’s a lot of resentment within the officers after the prime minister’s address,” the sources said, adding that the remarks made by the premier were in contrast to the situation on ground.
Those who spoke at the meeting talked about the “integrity of the institution, the work that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials have done and continue to do” officials on the condition of anonymity said. They also complained that the entire cadre should not have been castigated in the address.
A woman officer raised the matter of the strategic side of these comments and its impact in the longer run, while another senior woman officer talked about the integrity of the service and that how Pakistani diplomats have been “working diligently to give their best”.
The third female officer raised the matter of how these comments can be taken up negatively for diplomats, given that the diplomats act as interlocutors between the Pakistani state and the host country. She added that the comments made by the PM made a “mockery” of the service.
Another participant raised the matter of comparison with India, calling it unwarranted. “Issues that did not pertain to us were raised by Prime Minister Imran Khan which showed it was an attempt to scapegoat,” a senior official said requesting anonymity.
The FM was addressing a meeting of the officers posted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where the officials were apprised that the matter of the meeting being broadcasted was “no less than a shock”.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on the other hand, reassured his commitment and trust to the ministry and diplomats. He stated that the comments were not directed towards the entire cadre but instead to the individuals who manipulate the system
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has maintained that he is immensely proud of the work that has been done by this ministry. Clearly, in an attempt to put out the fire, Shah Mahmood Qureshi instructed the officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they should continue to work with the same zeal and energy.
Foreign Minister Qureshi, as per sources, apprised all the officers that he briefed the PM on the current status of the foreign service officers, especially the organisational and interdepartmental coordination constraints.
On Wednesday, the PM had expressed his annoyance over an “indifferent attitude” of Pakistani embassies towards issues faced by overseas Pakistanis, particularly in the Gulf states.
“Feedback that I have received from Saudi Arabia showed the staff is not working. The staff in Kuwait’s Nadra office take bribes instead of guiding people and an official is involved in making wrong documents… I was shocked to learn all this,” Imran said in his address to the Pakistani envoys deployed worldwide.
DEMORALISED ENVOYS:
“There is a general feeling of demoralisation in the foreign service officers,” senior diplomats have told The Correspondent in reaction to the remarks made by the prime minister.
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They said that the remarks about the foreign missions should not have been televised, adding that the PM should take the corrupt officials to the task instead of labelling the entire the Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP) corrupt. “Only some diplomats are corrupt, there was no need to target the entire corps of 540 officers,” they added.
The officials said that blaming the inadequacies of other departments on the ambassadors is not seemly, as the ambassador is just a “figurative head”. The officials have claimed that the PM was not properly briefed about the situation in the Pakistani embassies, saying the FPS officers are already underresourced.
They diplomats have expressed concerns over the comparisons with the Indian diplomats. “General talks of the Pakistani diplomats being aggressive will hit their morale,” they said, adding that the comparison with India was the “worst”.
