Mr Cameron’s remarks

NIDDERAU, GERMANY: This is with reference to your editorial “Mr Cameron’s remarks” (July 31). The problem is not that the British prime minister criticised Pakistan in such a blunt manner but rather that the whole world press seems to have agreed with him. In other words, what we have is a severe image problem – and our image has been damaged further. But the main question is, what can we do about this? If indeed the agencies are playing a double game who is going to stop that game from continuing? In my view our civilian leadership wants friendship with India and does not have much interest in bad ties with Afghanistan. The fact is also that if any civilian leader tried to put the agencies under civilian authority there will be a reaction. Pakistan needs to sort out this mess and do it in a transparent way to convince the world and many Pakistanis that this double game of betrayal has ended. Pakistan needs friends and it appears unless we tackle this matter seriously, the explanations will become thinner and less convincing.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2010.