A proactive move

Foreign policy is not an area in which the government has excelled of late; it is thus welcome to see that Pakistan is preparing a detailed briefing note for the incoming Trump administration. This is a move that is both unusually proactive and pointedly pre-emptive in that it is designed to head off any perception that the ongoing fight against extremist and militant groups is selective. There is a cloud of unknowing around where the Trump presidency is going regarding much of its foreign policy beyond some provocative Tweets from the President-elect and at least one phone call to Taiwan that has ruffled Chinese feathers. This apart there are said to be encouraging signals regarding an improvement of ties with Pakistan, more than likely having an eye to arresting the drift in the direction of China and Russia.

The government is right to move swiftly because much is going to change after 20^th January when the new President is sworn in. The drop zone for the briefing note has been prepped by taking a senior US General to North Waziristan to demonstrate at first-hand that hideouts of local and foreign militant groups really have been destroyed. Americans like to see, feel and hear that they are getting bangs for their bucks and a timely visit to an area previously off-limits is a knight’s move in the geopolitical chess match.



The next move — which we would also welcome — will be to send a delegation to the US to engage one-to-one with President Trump’s foreign policy Paladins; with the future of security and defence cooperation on the agenda. We would also welcome that delegation being led by a newly-appointed Pakistani Foreign Minister with a brief to repair a relationship that has become distinctly tattered during the Obama administration. All too often the American finger has been pointed in this direction for ‘not having done enough’ which has fed into an ever-widening trust deficit. The new administration is a rare opportunity to start with a relatively clean slate with a group of people that are themselves looking for fresh ways of doing business. An opportunity smartly taken.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2017.

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