Our presence would have enhanced its cosmetic value — and that is what the Europeans were most interested in.
MIDDLETON, NJ, US: The European Union and the UK seem to have very little by way of independent thinking on Afghanistan. While Pakistan may be fixated with Washington (and we should avoid this mindset), the Europeans have proved singularly incapable of articulating any vision that does not pass through America’s prism. By doing so, it has only curtailed its own position. One hopes that European states will wake up to this reality. Pakistan, therefore, has lost very little in missing Bonn. Our presence would have enhanced its cosmetic value — and that is what the Europeans were most interested in.
A reader
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2011.
