Abigail Adams, mother of John Quincy Adams (a founding father and the sixth president of the USA) wrote to him at the height of the revolution, “It is not in the still calm of life or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed”, further she wrote, “...the habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues”. Our leadership has arrived, finally.

Pakistan has turned over a new leaf in its foreign policy construction. From several years of being isolated internationally, the phoenix has arisen from the ashes. Now, we must consolidate the gains.

From the democratic turmoil that began in 1988, following the air crash of Gen Ziaul Haq and subsequent elections to the politically self-inflicted coup of 1999, Pakistan has been on the see- saw of trying to balance between accusations of being the hotbed of the rise of terrorism to being the front line state, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and later the war on terror involving Afghanistan.

Between the period 1999 and 2008, the semi- Democratic/military dispensation at Islamabad, held us in good stead, at least in terms of the economic growth. The suspicion of the West that we were playing on both sides of the field gained traction, which led to the dilution of support to the then government. Isolation had begun.

Benazir Bhutto rallied for “reconciliation” and almost achieved it. A sad and tragic moment it was for Pakistan that she was taken out by an assassin’s bullet. Her martyrdom turned the tables upside down for the then government. The unprecedented sympathy vote allowed for PPP to form the government.

Having signed the Charter of Democracy, all parties, particularly PML- N, were less acrimonious towards the government. The guns towards each were defanged—more of ‘ friendly fire’. However, during this period IK’s cannons were blazing full steam.

The 2013 elections witnessed an extremely peaceful transition from one democratic setup to another. Till the 2018 elections a lot of water passed under the bridge — crises arising out of Memo-gate, Panama paper leaks, Osama bin Laden’ s capture from near Kakul academy, etc., were deftly handled by Pakistan. We........

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