A mark in every face I meet, Marks of weakness, marks of woe. William Blake Nishaan har chehrey par, majboori ke, sadmay ke.

Pindar ke khugar ko nakaam bhi dekhoge? Aghaaz se waqif ho, anjaam bhi dekhoge? Faiz Ahmad Faiz (You wish to see the arrogant fail? You`ve made a start.

Now will you see it through and prevail?) PAKISTAN is confronted with a range of existential challenges. The vast majority of Pakistanis 1(now this. These challenges are regularly covered by the print and electronic media, and much more so by the social media.

In Balochistan and KP, protests and speeches against killings, torture, disappearances, destruction of properties, stealing of land, water and mineral resources, violation of basic rights, etc are viewed by the centre as criminal support for terrorism. In the name of counterterrorism a campaign has been unleashed against the protesting people. False narratives and black laws are launched to misinform and intimidate the rest of the nation into accepting what is happening.

Those implementing this policy are confident the people are incapable of resisting them. They seem assured their comrades and institutions will support them against the development, security and welfare of their own people. This state of repression is borne out by the miserable national indices of Pakistan, which are those of a failing state. No wonder so many Pakistanis worry their country is in peril.

I have advocated the only way out of this situation is a truth, justice, and reconciliation process that prioritises country above every personal, institutional, class, regional, sectarian or other interest. There need be no losers.

But this assumes a fundamental decency and patriotism among all concerned. Love of country is a fraudulent claim unless it is love and respect for all its people with their variety, differences, and aspirations. The government, and particularly the establishment, as the repository of state power, is primarily responsible to uphold the requisites of good governance.

Tragically, the people of Pakistan are today united in depression, pessimism and outrage.

Those whom they trusted are now seen as having thoroughly betrayed that trust.There now needs to be a process of reckoning, redress, reconciliation and redemption that can lead to renewal, recovery, and indeed a renaissance. There will be no forgetting nor forgiving.

And certainly no hybrid governance. But neither will there be vengeful punishment. That will be the necessary price of justice and reconciliation. It will be a process of education, transformation and liberation. The dreams of our founding fathers can live again. Is this not a prospect to move the most hardened cynic? The South Korean Constitutional Court has shown the way. Nothing will be easy.

But nothing need be impossible. The rights of a people and nation are a demand; never a plea.

As for the external environment, it is more treacherous than ever. Foreign policy is Pakistan`s critical first line of defence. But for it to be possible it needs a national policy that is viable. Withoutthat, foreign policy is without anchor or direction.

It is doomed to blameless failure even though it will be blamed every step of the way.

Trump`s America, which may survive Trump for the foreseeable future, can never be a strategic asset for Pakistan. It needs to be kept at bay by a combination of diplomatic tact, feasible cooperation, and national viability. It has no vital stake in Pakistan`s success and survival.

China is the essential strategic relationship for Pakistan. It is rooted in mutual cooperation and trust. It has enormous potential. But today this relationship is challenged by the state of Pakistan`s governance and China`s perception of the relationship as a declining asset in which they have invested so much but may have to write off.

China is aware of the US project to strategically detach Pakistan from it, particularly with respect to Gwadar and CPEC. This is at the core of the reported demands of the US which Pakistan`sdependent ruling elites are hardly in a position to reject out of hand.

China must know its primary assets in Pakistan are not the ruling elites but the people, including the people of every province of Pakistan. This may be awkward for China. But it is the only way to help realise the strategic potential of Pakistan as well as protect China`s global supply chains.

In 1971 Prime Minister Zhou Enlai reportedly declined Zulfikar Ali Bhutto`s request for arms to crush the Mukti Bahini in East Pakistan on the grounds that China could not provide arms to any country to suppress its own people. The restoration of a government in Pakistan that is no longer arrayed against its people would resolve this dilemma for China.

Afghanistan is the Cinderella story of Pakistan`s foreign policy. Despite the challenges it posed it was critical to Pakistan`s security. But arrogant ignorance instead of far-sighted generosity has been the hallmark of our Afghan policy, not unlike that of India towards Pakistan. As a result, it has been gratuitously converted into a strategic asset for India against Pakistan. However, given the necessary will and imagination this short-sighted and rather stupid policy can be corrected.

India remains the perennial challenge, which has been exacerbated by Modi`s India and Pakistan`s inept policies. Kashmir should not be a shadowboxing game for Pakistan. It is a real issue whose principled and peaceful compromise settlement in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris requires Pal(istan to become a viable state with viable options.

Within such a policy framework a fair degree of bilateral cooperation and exchanges can be feasible, mutually profitable, and goodwill building provided India is willing. But until India restores the internationally recognised status of Kashmir and respects the human rights of Kashmiris the normalisation process will remain limited.

Confrontation and war of any kind, meanwhile, neither helps Kashmir nor Pakistan. Musharraf`s proposals need not be buried forever provided India can see value in cooperation with a democratic and successful Pakistan. • The writer is a forrner ambassador to the US, India and China, and head of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan.

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