It's not just the lack of funds for lobbying..I can't imagine that Afghanistan or Pakistan can devote more funds than us for this purpose. It's probably our standing these days & how effective our diplomats are.
I remember my experience in New York ('84-'88); we sometimes came up against much more formidable opposition when lobbying for a seat in the various c'ttees or when pushing a resolution..something which I'm particularly proud of were the resolutions on the Antarctica: ranged against us were the US; USSR; India, who were Treaty parties; G77 were divided on the issue bcoz of India's position. But every yr we got the resolutions thru despite the opposition.
Most of the seats on the UN C'ttees we bid for, I don't remember when we were ever defeated.
It was mostly due to our international standing; the developed & developing world respected us because we were perceived to have proactive foreign policies; domestically our economic growth was impressive by any standards!
Having some of the best diplomats (like TS Zain Azrai) also helped!
Forgive me for saying so, but: "Those were the days!". Unless things change at home we will continue to plummet in the eyes of the international community. To my mind, we have never had a worst FM then the present one. This is my humble opinion (although I might not sound too humble!).
Old Diplomat.
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