US eyes new support for Pakistan

US nudges Pakistan to do more on the war against terror after a string of disputes on how to fight Islamic extremism.

WASHINGTON: The United States looked to expanding support for Pakistan on Thursday, while nudging its frontline partner in the war on terror to do more after a string of disputes on how to fight Islamic extremism.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was due to join talks on the second day of the three-day session on “strategic dialogue,” an initiative by Washington to develop long-term assistance for struggling Pakistan.

Two previous rounds of the dialogue focused on agriculture, water and energy. But US officials said that the latest talks would also review Pakistan’s requests for military assistance, a step likely to worry India.

US special envoy Richard Holbrooke said that Clinton had devoted more time to Pakistan than any other country and said that the effort had eased distrust between the governments, even if it had failed to lessen the rampant anti-Americanism in Pakistan.

“We believe that we have made a great deal of progress and we believe that that progress has reduced the threat to our homeland, while not eliminating it,” Holbrooke, the US special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Wednesday evening at the Brookings Institution.

But he added that, “We all recognise how much more has to be done.” Pakistan has won US praise after it mounted an offensive against homegrown Taliban extremists who last year advanced perilously close to Islamabad.

But a White House report to Congress earlier this month stated bluntly that Pakistan has not confronted the Taliban, in what experts see as Pakistan’s bid to preserve some measure of influence in Afghanistan.

The United States had hoped its image in Pakistan would enjoy a turning point after US authorities moved rapidly to help victims of the nation’s floods, which affected 21 million people. Earlier, the US encountered another crisis last month when a Nato helicopter in Afghanistan killed Pakistani troops along the border. A furious Pakistan blocked the main transit point for Afghan war supplies until receiving a formal apology.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, referring to Holbrooke’s remarks, said, “When you say more has to be done, it is not just the United States telling Pakistan. It is Pakistan telling the United States as well.” “Fighting terrorism remains a strategic and moral imperative for us,” Qureshi said, while adding that, “Actions are required that reinforce and not undercut such counter-terrorism cooperation.”

“I reiterate again—Pakistan’s sovereignty is and will remain non-negotiable,” he said.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates met Pakistan’s army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Wednesday and again offered condolences over the border killings which, he said, were unintentional.

The United States last year approved a five-year, $7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan aimed at reducing the allure of Islamic extremists by building schools, infrastructure and democratic institutions. The army initially criticised the aid package as foreign interference. In March, Clinton said that the United States would work with Pakistan on developing multi-year assistance to its military.

The approach has led to a backlash by some US lawmakers, who accuse Pakistan of ingratitude for economic sacrifices by the United States. India has begrudgingly accepted civilian aid to Pakistan but voiced fear that military assistance would be used against it.

The US in recent years has tried to delink its relations between India and Pakistan, which have fought three full-fledged wars, but has still struggled to strike a balance.

Obama on Thursday told Qureshi he would visit Pakistan in 2011 but not next month when he pays his first presidential visit to India.

The Obama administration has voiced hope that India will become one of the top global partners of the US in the decades to come.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2010.