Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi

From 18 October 2011[15] to mid-October 2014,[16] Hashmi served as Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, with concurrent accreditation to Bhutan.[5] As high commissioner, he engaged with the Bangladeshi leadership and advocated greater people-to-people ties between the two countries to improve relations, while the Bangladeshi side called for resolving all outstanding issues from the past including a "formal apology" for 1971 to "enable the existing friendly relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan to make a great leap forward and create a wider space for cooperation".[17][18][19][10] During his tenure in late 2013, diplomatic relations became strained when Bangladesh moved to convict and execute Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla on allegations of war crimes, a decision which was roundly condemned by Pakistan as "judicial murder".[20][21][22] From October 2014 to April 2016, he took over as the Additional Foreign Secretary for Asia-Pacific in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[5][23]

Later in 2016, Hashmi was appointed as Pakistan's High Commissioner to New Zealand, with concurrent diplomatic accreditation to Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati.[5][24] He assumed charge of the mission on 29 April 2016,[5][25] however presented his credentials on 1 June 2016 at Wellington's Government House[26] and held the post until October 2017.[4] He discharged various diplomatic duties while in office,[27][28][29] and also played a key role in strengthening Pakistan's relations with Samoa, as one of his country's first envoys to the island nation.[9][30][31] In early 2017, he was considered as one of the nominees for the post of High Commissioner to India.[32]

In his book 1971 Fact and Fiction, Hashmi writes about the political events and circumstances surrounding the East Pakistan conflict of 1971.[10][35] According to Hashmi, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had never originally intended for Bangladesh to secede; instead, he had leveraged it as a means to "raise the threshold" with Islamabad and acquiesce president Yahya Khan to agree to his demands – however, the situation reached a "point of no return."[10] He also writes that former president Ayub Khan and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto both knew as far back as 1966 that "it was not really possible for East Pakistan to remain part of Pakistan for long".[10] After the war ended, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai reportedly said to Bhutto: "Do not worry... take a long-term view, who knows what is going to happen in the subcontinent 50 years from now, 70 years from now, 100 years from now!".[10][35] After Pakistan recognised Bangladesh and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman visited Lahore in 1974 to attend the Second Islamic Summit, Bhutto and Mujib had an exchange wherein the former remarked "You are helpless! You cannot take any decision without the approval of Indira Gandhi!" and the latter said "Bhutto sahib, do not insult me... you know too well, whatever happened was because of you!".[10][35]

Hashmi notes that many of the main characters involved in the 1971 debacle had tragic fates, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman himself on 15 August 1975, the four key Awami League leaders killed in Dhaka Central Jail in November 1975, Bangladeshi general Ziaur Rahman, as well as prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.[10] He adds that president Yahya and general A. A. K. Niazi left unsung legacies, while Indian generals Shabeg Singh and Arun Shridhar Vaidya were killed as a result of the domestic fallout of Operation Blue Star, and Kuldip Singh Brar survived several assassination attempts on his own life.[10]

Hashmi opines that as a result of the creation of Bangladesh, India has to deal with Muslim-majority Pakistan and Bangladesh on both its western and eastern sides respectively.[10][35]