Correspondence.

• Author: Abbas, Syed Ibne
• Position: Letter to the editor

Sir,

I write with a sense of dismay about the article entitled 'Mending ties through strategic dialogue', by Ashok Sharma, which appeared in the last issue of the NZIR (vo136, no 5).

I take strong exception to the writer's brazen attempt to drag Pakistan out of context into his purportedly academic discussion of the Indo-US strategic partnership. His distorted view of the complex situation of our region is most certainly unhelpful in giving a balanced and objective perspective to your readers.

I am cognizant of the disclaimer on page one of the publication that the views expressed are entirely those of the authors and do not reflect those of NZIIA, but am still at a loss to comprehend why an article full of accusations and allegations against a third country was provided space in a journal known for its neutrality.

Misusing his privileged position of a visiting academic, the writer has flouted New Zealand's cherished values of being fair minded and even-handed in promoting his biases by crossing all bounds of ethics in using derogatory terms like 'Islamic terrorism'.

The fact is that Pakistan is one country that has been most affected by terrorism. Pakistan suffers terrorism on a daily basis. The loss of the precious lives of more than 30,000 civilians and more than 5000 security personnel in the fight against terror is testimony to this...