The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) should clarify the reports that its US chapter has hired a public relations firm to improve its image in the United States. If the report is true, it is contradictory to the stance the party leadership has been demonstrating among its supporters since its ouster from the government back in April. The public has also been buying the anti-America politics of the PTI. PTI Chairman Imran Khan has demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged American interference in the no-trust tabled against him. On multiple forums, Imran Khan has launched the campaign against the local handlers of the US which toppled his government. Side by side, he has been stressing the government to buy oil from Russia, to show a major shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy. Away from Pakistan, the party, however, seems to have tried to mend fences with the US. A document doing the rounds on the internet shows an agreement between a PR firm and a group of US citizens to support the PTI’s “goals for good relations with the United States and the Pakistani diaspora in the US”.
If the party has come to realize that it needs to mend ties with the US administration as it is in the interest of the country and the party, this is a good change. Pakistan cannot afford regional or international isolation, and in this context, it is necessary to have good ties with the US. The PTI needs to learn diplomatic lessons from China, which has fought diplomatic spats diplomatically, not politically and publically. The PTI’s act is diplomatic as there is nothing illegal in such agreements. Back at home, the PTI should also explain its position on the US and move on.
