In 2011, Hina Rabbani Khar was appointed as Pakistan’s first woman foreign minister. She was instrumental in resuming talks between the two countries that were suspended after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks
File image of Hina Rabbani Khar. AFP
Hina Rabbani Khar, who was once Pakistan’s youngest and first woman foreign minister, has assumed the role of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the new 37-member cabinet unveiled by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday.
Back in 2011, the then 34-year-old foreign minister created quite a buzz in India and Pakistan, mostly for her style statement as a report by The Guardian noted that “Khar’s glamorous turn triggered a media swoon and became the buzz of the subcontinental chattering class”.
Once noted by the media for her “pearl necklaces, elegant costumes, Cavalli sunglasses, and a stylish Hermes-made Birkin bag worth at least $9,000 (GBP5,500)”, Khar this time around has a more serious diplomacy job ahead of her.
Let’s take a look at who is Hina Rabbani Khar and what does her comeback mean for India:
Who is Hina Rabbani Khar?
Born into an ‘influential feudal family’ in Pakistan’s Muzaffarnagar district, Khar joined politics when she was just 25 years old.
After graduating from the Lahore University of Management Science, Khar attended the University of Massachusetts where she pursued Business Management.
She was first elected to the National Assembly in 2002, representing the Muzaffargarh-II constituency in Punjab.
After her re-election in 2008, Khar was appointed minister of state for finance and economic affairs in the Yousaf Raza Gillani cabinet.
On 11 February 2011, she was appointed as minister of state for foreign affairs, as a part of cabinet reshuffle. Five months later, she formally took over as the country’s foreign minister.
She was instrumental in resuming talks between Pakistan and India that were suspended after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
In her brief tenure as the foreign minister between February 2011 and March 2013, Khar was behind the country’s innovative foreign policy that focused on improving relations with Pakistan’s neighbours Afghanistan and India.
During her visit to India in 2011, she discussed issues related to trade and Kashmir, and also held talks with the Hurriyat Conference, a separatist Kashmir group.
During her stint as the foreign minister, she also advocated reducing Pakistan’s dependence on the US.
What does her appointment mean for India?
After taking oath on Tuesday, Khar stressed the need for employing “sincere efforts” to address the challenges on the diplomatic front, the Express Tribune reported.
With the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party seeking to hold quick general elections, the Sharif government may not have much time to formulate an elaborate foreign policy.
In her previous statements to the media, she has shown an inclination towards dialogue with India.
Even though she quit active politics in 2013, she remained a public speaker.
In 2015, Khar told Al Jazeera that the Asif Ali Zardari government pivoted to regional interests.
“We didn’t need to have a great relationship with London, or with Washington DC, but we needed a great relationship with Kabul and Delhi,” she said.
Later in 2016, while speaking to Pakistani channel Geo News, Khar said Pakistan could not “conquer Kashmir through war” and that the issue could be resolved only through dialogue based on an “environment of mutual trust with India”.
“I believe that Pakistan cannot conquer Kashmir through war and if we cannot do that, the option we are left with is dialogue, and dialogue can only proceed with a partner with which we have normal relations and a certain level of mutual trust,” she told a news channel in Pakistan.
According to Dawn newspaper in 2019, she reiterated that Pakistan should strengthen its ties with its neighbours.
She said that Pakistan always imagined itself as a complete strategic partner, which was far-fetched. Pakistan’s most important relations should be with its neighbouring countries like Afghanistan, India, Iran and China instead of the US.
She has maintained her stance for better ties with India.
With inputs from agencies
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