Pak-US relations may be strained, but lawmakers on both sides have been making efforts to alleviate the tensions and find common ground just as Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman arrived in Islamabad to provide updates on bilateral ties.
US Senator John Kerry’s address to the US Senate earlier this month indicated that a serious attempt is being made to understand Pakistan’s strategic interests in the region and rebuild a “productive relationship”.
In his address, Senator Kerry was quick to point out Pakistan’s current turbulent political landscape, saying, “Pakistan faces major challenges today, including an economic and fiscal crisis, a growing insurgency within its borders and cities, and chronic energy shortages”. The senator argued that stability in Pakistan remains intricately linked to the US national interests.
Afghanistan’s role in affecting the relationship between Pakistan and the US was also highlighted by Senator Kerry, who emphasised that Islamabad remains anxious about the implication of the end of the war in Afghanistan for regional stability. This in turn, he said, meant that US goals in Afghanistan as well as strategy needed to be made “absolutely clear”. Kerry added that it was important for the reconciliation process to be Afghan-led and supported by “key regional players”.
Kerry was also quick to recognise that there is much reason for distrust on both sides, saying: “A series of tactical disputes have strained our strategic partnership” and, “The truth is we have a lot of work to do to rebuild a productive relationship”.
He also warned that the US “ability to influence events in Pakistan is limited” and Washington should be “realistic about what we can achieve” – but added, “We cannot allow events that might divide us in a small way to distract from the shared interests that unite us in a big way”.
The US lawmaker also took the opportunity to welcome newly-appointed ambassador Sherry Rehman, saying Rehman represents “the traditional values of Jinnah’s Pakistan,” and has fought for “tolerance, moderation, women’s equality and protection of minority rights”.
He said he looked forward to working with Ambassador Rehman as a partner in efforts to mend the relationship, quoting Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s address to Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly in 1947: If you will work in cooperation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed”.
Ambassador Rehman was summoned to Islamabad on Saturday to brief the civilian leadership on the bilateral relationship as the country prepares for a joint session of parliament to review relations with the US.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2012.
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