Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif continues to avoid Pakistani media during his foreign visits, as seen also during his recent visit to Russia where he held an important meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.For some observers, it led to the success of Mr Modi, who kept the meeting, according to the communiqué issued after the meeting, focused on the Mumbai terror attacks and terrorism afflicting the region, but also of the Indian media which, in its coverage, successfully built the narrative in their country’s favour.Pushed on the back foot as far as media coverage of the meeting is concerned, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and other government functionaries have been seen over the past few days explaining the main content of the talks between the two prime ministers.The moment the meeting ended in the Russian town of Ufa on Friday, Indian media started depicting it as a victory of PM Modi for highlighting the Mumbai terror attacks in the joint statement which contained no mention of Kashmir and tension along the Line of Control and the working boundary from the Pakistan side. While Pakistani media was literally struggling to know what actually transpired during the meeting, TV reporters from India were having a field day, providing live coverage of the huddle. The PML-N government has been accused more often than not of being wary of the media when it comes to sharing information, be it regarding developments at home or abroad. During the PPP’s tenure, the practice of taking journalists along on international trips was encouraged and even though the number of Pakistani journalists present in comparison to Indian journalists was 1 to 5. The PML-N’s excuse is that funding journalists’ trips is a frivolous act and a waste of taxpayer’s money. But what is really a waste is the underutilisation of soft power of the Pakistan media to influence the narrative in favour of the government both at home and abroad. Keeping journalists at an arm’s length to sidestep having to answer difficult questions will not go down well of PM Nawaz Sharif’s legacy. The fear of the media is unfounded, unless the government delegation knows it is going to be weak and ineffective in international diplomacy and would rather not have the people know. The worry over taxpayer money is also groundless for a party whose Punjab CM travels by helicopters and a Finance Minster who has been happy to approve spending on unnecessarily expensive BMWs for the PM in the past. The government needs only to look at its own bloated expenses and well-fed bureaucracy if it needs to save taxpayer money.
pk.shafaqna.com
