Diplomacy and alcohol 

I joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1982 and retired prematurely in 2017. During our specialized training program at the then Foreign Service Training Institute now called the Foreign Service Academy in Islamabad, we were informally told that no diplomatic party was complete sans alcohol. The primary rationale put forth was that foreign diplomats would be usually reluctant to come to dry parties and that as hosts it was necessary for Pakistani diplomats to ensure that their guests enjoyed the party. Moreover, it was only after taking a few pegs that diplomats would speak their mind and discuss things more candidly.

Nevertheless, Pakistani diplomats are not allowed to serve liquor at the Chancery or official receptions, including the one hosted on Pakistan Day on March 23.

Coming from a middle class and a moderately religious family, I was a teetotaler by choice as the Holy Qur’an considered drinking alcohol as a satanic act. Hence, I was a complete ignoramus when it came to liquor. I could hardly distinguish whisky from wine and vodka from cognac, as well as which glass was for which drink.

My first posting abroad was to the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1985. At the embassy, I was the junior most officer, and all my senior colleagues, except the ambassador, would not only serve alcohol in their parties but also partake. My ambassador was a teetotaler like myself, but he would serve alcohol in the performance of his official duties. When he invited only Pakistanis, there would be no alcohol on the menu. I followed in his footsteps.

Recently, I have suggested to Prime Minister Imran Khan that all Pakistani diplomats should be directed in strictest of terms not to serve alcohol even in their private parties. It is a different matter if they take liquor privately as that is between Allah and them. Pakistani diplomats, like their counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Iran, should follow a uniform policy when they hold parties as representatives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Abdul Basit

I remember when my parents and parents-in-law visited me in Moscow, they were very uncomfortable with even the thought of the alcohol being kept at home. They would argue that if Allah had prohibited something, we should not even encourage others to indulge in that activity. My arguments would never convince them.

It was my posting to Sana`a, the capital of Yemen, in 1994, that I was sort of forced to revisit the matter. Toward the end of a party at my place, some of my worthy guests now totally inebriated, became seriously irritating. Two of them even had a kerfuffle over some issue. Thereafter, I had decided to stop serving alcohol in my parties at home. When I took that decision, I felt quite relaxed as serving alcohol by a person who himself did not drink was nothing less than a nuisance.

After Sana’a, my diplomatic career took me to different places including Geneva, London, Berlin and New Delhi. And the first party at our place was always a shocking surprise for our guests. But then they would understand when explained in religious terms. My non-Muslim guests would make no bones about it but somehow, to my chagrin, mostly Muslim diplomats and friends would get their knickers in a twist. But my wife and I would make sure that the food served at our parties was purely Pakistani and served lavishly with minimum ten dishes. I had never faced a problem of shortage of guests at our parties. They would love to come again and again to savor Pakistani food and enjoy our warm hospitality.

In India, it is unimaginable to have dry diplomatic parties, though in some States like Gujarat and Bihar, alcohol is banned. At my first dinner at the Pakistan House in New Delhi, my Indian guests were visibly shocked at being served with only soft drinks. A journalist guest asked me how a party at the Pakistan House was without alcohol. My laconic response to him was that the Pakistan House was Pakistan territory. A thing that was proscribed in Pakistan could not be allowed at the Pakistan House. Even when everybody came to know that there would be no hard drinks at the Pakistan House, our invitees always responded positively.

I hosted countless lunches and dinners since my years in Sana`a. I never felt bad as a Muslim about not serving alcohol. Why should a Muslim diplomat blindly follow the western diplomatic practices and traditions? If not so, then Muslim diplomats should also have no qualms about eating and serving pork. Though this analogy may not be very appropriate, the nub of the matter is that alcohol has nothing to do with being an effective diplomat.

From my own long experience in the field of diplomacy, I can say with full confidence that serving or not serving liquor does not make any difference. At the end of the day, people appreciate those who show some courage to stick to their religious and social values and do not blindly follow the practices that come into direct conflict with one’s fundamental beliefs.

Recently, I have suggested to Prime Minister Imran Khan that all Pakistani diplomats should be directed in strictest of terms not to serve alcohol even in their private parties. It is a different matter if they take liquor privately as that is between Allah and them. Pakistani diplomats, like their counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Iran, should follow a uniform policy when they hold parties as representatives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

I am keeping my fingers crossed.

*Abdul Basit is the president of Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. He was previously Pakistan's ambassador to Germany and Pakistan's High Commissioner to India.