Since coming to power for the third time, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is struggling to juggle too many balls at once. Apart from the domestic issues, the diplomatic front is also not proving to be a bed of roses for Sharif.

He has been trying to mend fences with India since taking oath as the premier. He is simultaneously trying to maintain cordial ties with Afghanistan and the United States. Due to overlapping interests and policies in dealing with the three countries, Sharif is faced with an uphill task. It appears as if Sharif did not have the idea of the complexities involved in dealing with these countries.

The recent warning from US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to suspend aid, if Islamabad failed to reopen NATO supply routes to Kabul, has put Sharif and his advisers in a spin. This is only one side of the story, as in totality the entire picture is far gloomier.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office is a divided house. Sharif — who is holding the portfolio of foreign minister — has failed in giving a proper guideline as to how sensitive issues should be handled.

The absence of such guidelines has resulted into infighting between two of his principal advisers — Sartaj Aziz and Tariq Fatimi. Instead of complementing each other and devising a comprehensive foreign policy, both of them are reportedly trying to outdo each other.

Aziz, a former finance and foreign minister, was actually nominated for the coveted office of the President of Pakistan. For reasons best known to the powers that be, his name was dropped at the last minute.

According to our sleuths in the corridors of power, many felt uneasy over the idea of Aziz being the president as he is a hard nut to crack.

People still recall the episode wherein as the finance minister he had refused to issue funds for prime minister’s dream project of linking major cities through a network of motorways.

Because of Sharif being a passive spectator, even ordinary issue of appointing ambassadors to important capitals, has been hanging fire for no rhyme or reason. While the post of foreign secretary is lying vacant for well over three months, the ambassador to the United States has been appointed only recently but Saleem Abbas Jilani is yet to take up his assignment. Old PPP loyalist, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, continues as the High Commissioner to the UK, while the earlier decision to appoint Pakistan’s Ambassador to Germany Abdul Basit as the new foreign secretary, and the appointment of a public figure, instead of a career diplomat, as high commissioner to India, have been reversed.

Apparently a tug-of-war between Aziz and Fatimi is under way over appointment of officials of their choice in key capitals of the world. This is not only affecting the smooth functioning of the Foreign Office but also creating disappointment among officials and has kicked off a race for lobbying in which principles are being sacrificed on the altar of expediency.

It is said that Fatimi was engaged in trying to arrange flimsy foreign trips for the prime minister so as get closer to him during those visits. He was preferred over Aziz during Sharif’s meeting with US President Barack Obama in October. None of the three appear conscious of the fact that Afghanistan, becoming the pivot of politics in the region, demands skillful handling. The premier, instead of keeping India, Afghanistan and America on a single platform, has been dealing with them separately. Many experts describe this as unimaginative policy, citing that all the three countries have stakes in Afghanistan, especially after the withdrawal of the US troops.

The solution, in their opinion, lies in finding a common platform for the three. Islamabad will be able to deal with them with far greater ease than now. Pakistan will not only save itself from isolation, but would be right in the midst of things by being together with them.

The warning from Pentagon chief fell like a bombshell, but the premier does not know how to convince Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan to end his blockade of the NATO supply route through Peshawar, and if the issue is not resolved quickly, it will be yet another disaster for cash-strapped Pakistan government, trying to battle out the financial mess.