Ties with the US: Committee stops short of concrete advice

National security committee’s report has left matters to the govt.

ISLAMABAD:

With a parliamentary debate on Pakistan-US ties around the corner, the civil and military leaderships have struck a rigid tone in public. However, the eagerly-awaited recommendations by a parliamentary panel, which are expected to form the base of this debate, are mostly open-ended, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Tasked by the prime minister to review ties with the US completely in the wake of a Nato cross-border air raid on Pakistani border posts, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) has touched upon almost all issues in its recommendations, but has left the final decisions on a couple of important issues – including the likely resumption of Nato supplies – up to the government.

An official privy to these recommendations, now lying on the desk of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, said that, although the committee has emphasised the guarding of sovereignty in general, it has not given any clear-cut policy advice on issues such as drone attacks.

“Just like we have certain red lines, the United States also has such redlines and it has already made it clear that stopping drone attacks will have a negative impact on the war on terror,” the official said.

However, the committee, which met and was briefed by a number of key stakeholders, including the foreign minister as well as military officials, before drawing up the report, has given some specific guidelines. One issue on which it is specific is the use of Pakistani bases by foreign militaries.  The official said that, according to recommendations of the committee, no future government will allow Pakistani bases to be used by any other country without prior approval of parliament.

There is also no clear-cut recommendation on whether or not to resume supply routes for US-led forces in Afghanistan. The routes were closed following the cross-border attack in November last year that left two dozen Pakistani soldiers dead.

“The committee has proposed placing effective monitoring systems (for Nato supplies) at the entry and exit points. There are also recommendations to revise the charges for this service but the final decision has been left for the government to make (if and when to resume the supply routes),” sources said.

Contrary to the general perception that the US has been greatly affected due to the closure of the land routes in Pakistan, sources said, the ban has affected the forces of 19 other countries whose troops are in Afghanistan. “The US still has reserve supplies for around 100 days. The other Western countries are more affected and they are pressing Pakistan to resume the supply routes,” an official said.

Though the government is likely to resume supply routes, it will be difficult to get a unanimous parliamentary nod for such a decision. Religious parties, including the Jamat-e-Islami, have already announced to hold a sit-in in front of the Parliament House if the government takes any such step.

The government said that it had put on hold relations with the US till the finalisation of a fresh policy in line with the recommendations of parliament. It has also turned down a scheduled visit to Pakistan by US envoy Marc Grossman earlier this year. The government is yet to finalise the date for a joint parliamentary session to discuss Pak-US relations, which is now expected on February 6 instead of February 2, as was planned earlier.

The recommendations of the PCNS were to be at the heart of this debate.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2012.