Sanctions on Pakistan will be futile: Expert

LONDON: Imposing international sanctions on Pakistan in the wake of the Uri terror attack would not serve its purpose and would only add to the anti-India propaganda in the neighbouring country, a leading lawyer who had dealt with sanctions on Iran and Russia has said.

The appeal for global sanctions on Pakistan is “strategically and diplomatically disastrous” for India and the rest of the world, senior London-based lawyer Sarosh Zaiwalla told Hindustan Times.

“Having had first-hand experience on the effects of sanctions on countries including Iran and Russia, I can say with certainty that such a situation would further brew anti-India propaganda in Pakistan,” he said.

“These sanctions would induce heavy economic meltdown within the state, castrating its overall stability and leading to a further impoverished population resorting to a negative rhetoric against India and rest of the world”.

“If state-sponsored terrorism is prevalent, this would further branch into a glorious propaganda machine, and indeed would threaten the stability of the region,” Zaiwalla said.

The only mode of resolution currently viable “is through international diplomatic scrutiny to wrestle a peace solution until it works,” he added.

The effectiveness of sanctions in world politics, he said, depends on a collective global stance which is unlikely in the case of Pakistan due to the overlapping power structures at play between China, Russia and America.

“However, if sanctions are to be imposed as the last measure, an EU-led sanction would be strategically viable as China might veto in the UN security council, “added Zaiwalla, who once represented Saddam Hussein and hired Tony Blair in his law firm.