Lack of informed opinion on IMET decision

US decision to suspend the IMET Programme to Pakistan military is not a new phenomenon


Ahsen Syed August 22, 2018
The writer is visiting lecturer at the National University of Modern Languages. He can be reached at Ahsansyed13@gmail.com

The latest decision of the US administration to prevent Pakistan from partaking in the International Military Education & Training Programme (IMET) is under intense discussion in both print and electronic media in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the ongoing discourse on the subject is generally dwarfed of an informed opinion and objective analysis. This is giving undue hype and stirring unfounded concerns on the subject.

There is a need to remember that the US decision to suspend the IMET Programme to Pakistan military is not a new phenomenon. This has also happened before, coinciding with the ever-changing trajectory of Pakistan-US relations.

The decision of the US is, however, ironic considering that the Pakistan Army is renowned as one of the most competent forces in the world, which is something the participants of the Programme could have taken advantage of. The Pakistani forces have developed numerous military training and education institutions over the past decades to meet the growing needs of training of its senior and junior leadership.

While Pakistan only inherited the Army Command & Staff College in Quetta — where Captain and Major rank officers are trained in leadership, command and staff functions — at the time of its creation, the past decades have witnessed the introduction of state-of-the-art institutions like National Defence University (NDU) and Air and Naval War College; besides numerous other professional education and training institutions of international standards.

These institutions are not only meeting the education and training requirements of Pakistani Armed Forces, but also imparting valuable services to a large number of military personnel of friendly countries from the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific. The participation of select senior officers from the US, the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and China in various professional courses in Pakistani military institutions every year is testament to the high standards and quality education imparted by these institutions.

Participation in training courses in foreign military institutions is sought by the Pakistan Armed Forces for a multitude of purposes. Primarily, the aim is to seek additional higher education and desired professional grooming of military officers who have the potential to rise to senior ranks, which is a sound capacity-enhancing measure. Exposure to foreign militaries’ thinking, operational and doctrinal concepts and national security mechanism remains of immense professional value, as it offers opportunities for mutual learning and sharing of perspectives on security and defence issues.

Sending officers to reputed international military education institutions is also sought to broaden their worldview and understanding of the contemporary security and technological issues. Similarly, strengthening military-to-military (albeit inter-state) relations is also served by exchange of officers on various courses which can thus be categorised as a military diplomacy measure.

Officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces selected to attend training abroad have enviable records of service and do exceptionally well in the curricular activities — competing with and, even surpassing the host countries’ participants in performance.

Invitations extended to Pakistan Armed Forces by foreign militaries for availing training opportunities in their apex education institutions every year is an acknowledgement of the fact that participation of Pakistani officers in their courses is looked up to with great reverence by them purely, for professional and educational reasons. Obviously, Pakistani military officers make tremendous contributions towards the process of learning in foreign military institutions by offering their unique professional perspectives.

Apropos the recent discontinuation of the US IMET facilities to Pakistan Armed Forces merit to be seen in the realistic perspective.

The Pakistan-US relations are at a historic low at the moment, owing to the Trump administration’s hawkish attitude and acrimonious approach towards Pakistan for a host of reasons — the Afghanistan imbroglio, CPEC and the US intent to establish Indian hegemony in the region, to name a few. Historically, the only ‘quasi constants’ of transactional relations have been the relatively close liaison, interaction, cooperation and understanding between the two militaries and intelligence agencies on various issues. In the post-9/11 environment, marked by the US embarking upon the war on terror and its continuing military operations and/or presence in Afghanistan, the relations between Pentagon and the Pakistani military have witnessed a relatively sustained trajectory (barring some unfortunate episodes, like OBL and Salala). The fact remains that mutual trust, cooperation and understanding of each other’s perspectives on regional issues by the two militaries and intelligence agencies have resulted in huge successes in the war on terror. American military commanders and objective analysts understand clearly that without Pakistan’s willing cooperation and support of its military, their dream of victory in Afghanistan will remain elusive.

The US government’s decision to discontinue the IMET Programme for Pakistani military is likely to be resisted by Pentagon in view of its repercussions and implications, especially with regard to the situation in Afghanistan, let alone the bitterness stirred in Pakistan against the US by this discriminatory decision (the Programme is extended to India and many other countries).

The US strategic community will realise in due course that this decision will hurt US interests in view of its implications. Needless to mention that a large number of Pakistani military officers who attended the US Army War College, NDU and Naval Post Graduate College, etc, are serving in senior positions even today.

Manifesting its prejudice and discriminatory approach towards Pakistan, the US administration’s decision to discontinue the IMET Programme for Pakistan military will ultimately hurt the US itself, saner voices in Pentagon and elsewhere in the US have already started expressing their concerns on the issue. On the contrary, effects of this US measure on Pakistan’s military leadership grooming and training will be minimal.

As a respectable nation, we should not demand or request the US to reconsider its decision of closing doors of the IMET Programme to our military. We have high quality and globally-acclaimed military education institutions, which continue to provide the desired training and grooming to our military leadership, meeting the national and friendly countries’ requirements, and can do so without partaking in the IMET Programme.

Nevertheless, we should continue to remain receptive towards US military officers at our NDU and staff colleges, as hitherto in practice to maintain the moral high ground. Pursuit of military education on a reciprocal basis with friendly countries should also continue.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22nd, 2018.

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