An evolving US-Pakistan relationship
Government needs to think about how Pakistan can draw benefits from the US, keeping in view the way all the cards lie.
We really have no power to stop the drones, so rather than focusing on things that lie out of reach, it may have been more sensible to aim for those that can be grasped. PHOTO: REUTERS
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s meeting in Washington with President Barack Obama has, of course, been closely watched. The meeting marks the first face-to-face interaction between the two men since Nawaz was elected to power in May this year and obviously holds considerable significance given how central Pakistan-US relations are to the region, and developments within our own country too, where the battle with militancy continues and debate rages over just how the issue should be dealt with. Ties with the US are, of course, also central in terms of our floundering economy and the $1.6 billion in aid quietly handed over by Washington just ahead of Sharif’s arrival in the US capital will have been received with relief.
There were also other good signs, with the Pakistan’s prime minister and his wife both warmly received by their hosts. But beyond the formalities of any such trip, it is of course, the actual talks themselves which are most significant.
At a joint media talk with President Obama after they ended, Prime Minister Sharif said they had proceeded along positive lines and tensions had been cleared. This, of course, is good news and we must hope the gains made now can translate into a more lasting relationship of cooperation between the two nations. But reading a little more carefully between the lines, it is also obvious there were disagreements. While Mr Sharif, of course under immense pressure over the issue from home, made it a point to mention in his remarks that the matter of drones had been discussed, Obama made no reference to the matter. From this we can assume that the US has no real intention of changing its policy on the matter. As has been the case in the past, it seems unprepared to alter its stand on the question. And a report published by The Washington Post, just as the two leaders went into talks, said that for years Pakistan had secretly endorsed the US drone policy. The detailed article backed by documentation referred to requests from Pakistan for specific targets to be hit and also mentioned US concerns of links between militant insurgents and Pakistan’s ISI. Identification found on the bodies of some militants was mentioned as proof of this. The report will, of course, only add further fuel to the drone fire.
Given all this, we wonder if it was really worth wasting so much breath on the drone issue. After all, we know perfectly well, for all the pretence to the contrary, that we cannot really do much to alter Washington’s stance on this. In real terms, we are not equal partners; Pakistan today is dependent on the US and cannot do without it. This is a fact. We really have no power to stop the drones, so rather than focusing on things that lie out of reach, it may have been more sensible to aim for those that can be grasped. Kashmir, an issue also raised by the Pakistan’s prime minister, is too one about which little can be done, though President Obama did emphasise the need for better relations to be built between Pakistan and India for the sake of regional stability and balance. Regional matters were also brought up by Vice-President Joe Biden who brought up the transitional phase coming up in Afghanistan during his discussions with Mr Sharif.
While we are, of course, pleased the meetings in Washington have gone well, including the talks with President Obama, for the future Pakistan may need to think more realistically about what it can obtain from this relationship. The drones, undesirable as they are, may go on. But perhaps we can, through well-planned negotiations, persuade the US to play a bigger role in bringing development to the tribal areas. This, too, is after all key to ending militancy. In the economic sector, where Pakistan is urgently in need of help, it will be necessary to turn to the US private sector and persuade it to invest. The security and militancy issue again ties in to this factor and brings us back in a full cycle to our starting point: the need to deal with it effectively and seek what help the US can offer us to make this possible.
The trust deficit that still stands between Islamabad and Washington, dating back to events of 2011 and the raid in May that year by US forces to remove Osama bin Laden still stands in the way of full cooperation. Prime Minister Sharif may like us to believe he won over US officials during his trip. But an indication of US doubts over this, perhaps, came in the fact that for now President Obama did not say he would be accepting any invitation to Pakistan. This marks a definite change in tone from what we saw after he first assumed office for his first term. Since then we have, of course, had not just the bin Laden raid but the Raymond Davis affair too. As the saga of Dr Shakil Afridi continues to simmer on, there is a danger we could see a repetition of the tensions that arose over Davis. There must be a genuine effort made to avoid this and a plan of action devised for this. At the moment none seems to exist.
In the world of politics, rhetoric is, of course, unavoidable. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can then be excused for resorting to it during his visit. On the whole, the visit has gone well and this, too, is something to build on. But those in charge of matters in Islamabad need also to think about how Pakistan can draw benefits from the US, keeping in view the way all the cards lie. This is important to our need to move on from the point we now stand at, resurrect our country, look truth in the face and accept that all these steps are vital in the endeavour to strengthen ties with an important ally whose role for now remains vital to the region and its future.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2013.
There were also other good signs, with the Pakistan’s prime minister and his wife both warmly received by their hosts. But beyond the formalities of any such trip, it is of course, the actual talks themselves which are most significant.
At a joint media talk with President Obama after they ended, Prime Minister Sharif said they had proceeded along positive lines and tensions had been cleared. This, of course, is good news and we must hope the gains made now can translate into a more lasting relationship of cooperation between the two nations. But reading a little more carefully between the lines, it is also obvious there were disagreements. While Mr Sharif, of course under immense pressure over the issue from home, made it a point to mention in his remarks that the matter of drones had been discussed, Obama made no reference to the matter. From this we can assume that the US has no real intention of changing its policy on the matter. As has been the case in the past, it seems unprepared to alter its stand on the question. And a report published by The Washington Post, just as the two leaders went into talks, said that for years Pakistan had secretly endorsed the US drone policy. The detailed article backed by documentation referred to requests from Pakistan for specific targets to be hit and also mentioned US concerns of links between militant insurgents and Pakistan’s ISI. Identification found on the bodies of some militants was mentioned as proof of this. The report will, of course, only add further fuel to the drone fire.
Given all this, we wonder if it was really worth wasting so much breath on the drone issue. After all, we know perfectly well, for all the pretence to the contrary, that we cannot really do much to alter Washington’s stance on this. In real terms, we are not equal partners; Pakistan today is dependent on the US and cannot do without it. This is a fact. We really have no power to stop the drones, so rather than focusing on things that lie out of reach, it may have been more sensible to aim for those that can be grasped. Kashmir, an issue also raised by the Pakistan’s prime minister, is too one about which little can be done, though President Obama did emphasise the need for better relations to be built between Pakistan and India for the sake of regional stability and balance. Regional matters were also brought up by Vice-President Joe Biden who brought up the transitional phase coming up in Afghanistan during his discussions with Mr Sharif.
While we are, of course, pleased the meetings in Washington have gone well, including the talks with President Obama, for the future Pakistan may need to think more realistically about what it can obtain from this relationship. The drones, undesirable as they are, may go on. But perhaps we can, through well-planned negotiations, persuade the US to play a bigger role in bringing development to the tribal areas. This, too, is after all key to ending militancy. In the economic sector, where Pakistan is urgently in need of help, it will be necessary to turn to the US private sector and persuade it to invest. The security and militancy issue again ties in to this factor and brings us back in a full cycle to our starting point: the need to deal with it effectively and seek what help the US can offer us to make this possible.
The trust deficit that still stands between Islamabad and Washington, dating back to events of 2011 and the raid in May that year by US forces to remove Osama bin Laden still stands in the way of full cooperation. Prime Minister Sharif may like us to believe he won over US officials during his trip. But an indication of US doubts over this, perhaps, came in the fact that for now President Obama did not say he would be accepting any invitation to Pakistan. This marks a definite change in tone from what we saw after he first assumed office for his first term. Since then we have, of course, had not just the bin Laden raid but the Raymond Davis affair too. As the saga of Dr Shakil Afridi continues to simmer on, there is a danger we could see a repetition of the tensions that arose over Davis. There must be a genuine effort made to avoid this and a plan of action devised for this. At the moment none seems to exist.
In the world of politics, rhetoric is, of course, unavoidable. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can then be excused for resorting to it during his visit. On the whole, the visit has gone well and this, too, is something to build on. But those in charge of matters in Islamabad need also to think about how Pakistan can draw benefits from the US, keeping in view the way all the cards lie. This is important to our need to move on from the point we now stand at, resurrect our country, look truth in the face and accept that all these steps are vital in the endeavour to strengthen ties with an important ally whose role for now remains vital to the region and its future.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2013.