How diplomacy shapes Pakistan's global standing

The path to foreign service

Muzamil opens the episode by explaining that he had previously discussed the top three civil service groups in Pakistan. Administrative Services, Foreign Office, and Police stand at the apex. Today’s guest, Qazi Saleem, represents that top tier.

Qazi Saleem recalls his own journey. He initially studied electrical engineering at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, but found the field was not his calling. When a close friend began preparing for CSS, Saleem joined him. In just three to four months of focused study, he cleared the preliminary exam.

“I was one of the best friends appeared,” Saleem recounts. “So I sat with him and collected his notes and started reading. And in 3-4 months, I just cleared.”

This rapid preparation reveals an often-overlooked truth about CSS. The exam rewards hard work and intellectual foundation, not just years of preparation. Saleem later secured a gold medal in the Foreign Service, breaking a long pattern where the Foreign Office did not rank at the top of the combined groups.

A diplomat at the United Nations

Muzamil asks what it felt like to represent Pakistan on the global stage. Saleem’s first posting came to Geneva, where Pakistan maintains one of two major UN missions alongside New York. He worked in the Human Rights Council.

“If you sit behind Pakistan’s flag and you open up the mic and you say something, that means that Pakistan is saying something,” Saleem explains. “You’re representing 220 million people, and that is the policy of Pakistan on that particular point.”

Diplomacy requires preparation beyond the negotiation table. Before his UN posting, the Pakistani government sent Saleem to France to learn French. This language skill proved crucial when engaging African diplomats in multilateral forums who did not conduct discussions in English.

Saleem spent three years in Geneva, a period he describes as both fulfilling and challenging. The personal growth came from working under experienced ambassadors and learning from Pakistan’s rich diplomatic tradition.

The multipolar world and Pakistan’s position

Muzamil shifts the conversation to global geopolitics. After COVID-19, the international order appears to be shifting. The West, he observes, is banning voices online while the East speaks of open borders and trade. Is the post-Cold War order actually breaking apart.

Saleem frames this as a transitional phase toward multipolarity. “The world has been entered in a transitional phase since the dawn of the century as well. That which has been a government in the Western world in the past 200-300 years has also dictated that we would show you how the world should move forward. Now these are being challenged.”

China’s rise, along with Asian tigers, is one factor. But the reality is more complex than a return to bipolarity. Japan’s economic might, the European Union’s institutional power, Middle Eastern dynamics, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization all create multiple power centers.

Muzamil raises Pakistan’s strategic position. The nation sits between China, a superpower moving east, and traditional Western allies. When China talks about Belt and Road, Pakistan lies at its heart via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

“Pakistan’s geostrategic location,” Saleem says, “is in a place where there are three nuclear powers. Our neighbors are Chinese, Indian, Pakistan.”

Fifth-generation warfare and national unity

The conversation turns to threats. Muzamil mentions the EU Disinformation Lab’s report on an Indian disinformation network that penetrated the UN, European Parliament, and NGOs.

Saleem emphasizes that fifth-generation warfare operates by infiltrating people’s trust in state institutions. “Fifth generation warfare is the only way that you infiltrate in the people of that nation that all your state institutions.”

The solution is not cynicism but calibrated trust. “If you have to question it, you have to question it. But if you have to question it, it is a constant cynic.” Muzamil and Saleem both agree that being critical and being nihilistic are different. Pakistan’s child rights legislation is progressive by global standards, yet domestic discourse focuses only on failures.

The role of civil society and external pressure

Saleem acknowledges that some NGOs and media networks amplify distorted narratives. However, he cautions against wholesale rejection of civil society. The role of influencers, media, and independent voices matters.

The deeper issue is confidence. “Our detractors, the people who do not like us, they are united. So we have to understand one thing. Our geo-strategic placement it will always keep some people not liking us.”

Branding Pakistani talent globally

Toward the end, Muzamil and Saleem discuss an underutilized asset. Pakistan has world-class talent. The CERN Institute, the world’s leading physics organization, employs 70 to 80 Pakistani scientists who rival their international peers.

Yet Pakistan is not recalled as a destination for IT services or advanced research. Saleem emphasizes the need to work on soft power through education, health, and IT sectors.

“We have to start working on it,” he says of cultural diplomacy and people-to-people exchange. “We have so many ingress achieved with limited resources. If we grow our trade, then the civil bureaucracy can be re-strengthened.”

Advice for aspiring foreign service officers

Saleem’s final advice to CSS aspirants is direct. Never join for perks and privileges. The lifestyle of constant engagement, late nights, and public representation is not for everyone.

“If you want to join the CSP cadre and want to be part of it, never look at the perks and privileges,” Saleem says. “If you are coming for the wrong reasons, you would never end up being happy here.”

The reward is intangible but profound. Representing 220 million people, participating in multilateral forums, and protecting national interests provides a sense of purpose that transcends salary.