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Pressure on Pakistan
[DAWN] RARE is the minister who goes to parliament and briefs its members in a candid manner. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif briefed the Senate on US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to Pakistain and, in speaking with clarity and authority, demonstrated once again what had been missing in the Foreign Office for over four years. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...’s decision to not appoint a full-time foreign minister was one of the more perplexing mistakes of his third term. Mr Asif’s comments in the Senate, however, painted a picture of a Pakistain-US relationship that is deeply strained, rejecting the Trump administration strategy in the region as a creation of the US military and responding to a list of alleged forces of Evil that the US handed over to Pakistain by reminding the Senate that Pakistain has presented its own list to Afghanistan. If there is a US South Asia strategy that is emerging, it appears to involve the US, Afghanistan and India acting together to put pressure on Pakistain to do more in the fight against militancy, inside Pakistain and regionally. To push back against the unfair or unrealistic aspects of that strategy, Pakistain ought to consider drawing up its own South Asia strategy: a coordinated approach towards the US, Afghanistan and India, recognising the interconnectedness of its ties with them. The strategy should also be proactive, suggesting what steps Pakistain can take and what it needs those countries to do for the interests of all to better align. Currently, it appears that Pakistain complains to the US about India and Afghanistan, lectures Afghanistan on India and lets bilateral problems with the latter interfere with the necessary dialogue that needs to occur on Afghanistan. That has the collective effect of achieving very little in terms of advancing Pakistain’s interests in the region, leaving it vulnerable to concerted pressure from the US, India and Afghanistan. A South Asia strategy by Pakistain would necessarily entail a domestic dimension too. As the foreign minister has acknowledged before, Pakistain continues to have the problem of some bully boy and krazed killer groups being able to operate relatively openly here. Peace and stability in the region will not be established on a piecemeal basis involving one country at a time. If Afghanistan is unstable and denied peace, there are always likely to be spillover effects in Pakistain. If certain groups are allowed to operate on Pak soil, the dialogue with India risks being derailed by regional spoilers. If India continues to see Pakistain’s western border as a weakness to be exploited, Pakistain will be unable to broaden its fight against militancy, which is currently focused on anti-Pakistain bully boys. Simply, if Pakistain is to be stable and peaceful over the long term, Afghanistan and India must reassess their policies towards this country and vice versa. Posted by: Fred 2017-10-27 |
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