The legal concept of ‘sovereignty’ has to be balanced with effective control of the territory on the ground.
WASHINGTON DC: On the issue of drones, Pakistan has locked itself in meaningless legalities. The fact is that Pakistan does not exercise any control over the territories where the drone strikes occur and hence, the prime minister’s claim of sovereignty being violated are not believed by many in the rest of the world, since there is no sovereignty in those areas to begin with. The legal concept of ‘sovereignty’ has to be balanced with effective control of the territory on the ground by the government claiming sovereignty over the area. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his advisers have to think hard, away from emotional appeals and populist slogans, of the strategies to convince influential and powerful members of the international community that they are willing to play their role in controlling terrorism within Pakistan’s borders.
Before appealing to international leaders on any issue in general — and the drones one is being cited here as a particular example — the prime minister has to do his homework and show some positive results in handling the things that the world’s leaders want Pakistan to do. Other than terrorism and militancy, there is the question of treatment of minorities in Pakistan. There is also lack of good governance and corruption, two issues that the rest of the world, especially donor states, are always going to be concerned about with respect to Pakistan. It is only when Pakistan is able to effectively deal with these challenges at home that it will be able to claim the moral high ground on the issue of drones.
Dr Muhammad Nawaz
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2013.
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