The Pak-US dialogues have been taking place in a changed environment these days. Not only is there a shift in context, but surprisingly, the tone and assertive-ness of our foreign minister also beguiles me. These dialogues are intriguing because they give a chance to both parties to bring out all the bargaining guns and extract as much out of the other party as they can. But, nobody has any illusions about who the dominating party is.
Pakistan has rendered invaluable support to the US in the ongoing war on terror at a colossal cost for itself. The fact that the US still treats Pakistan as a use-as-required ally is unfair. We have enough aces up our sleeves for Shah Mahmood Qureshi to ask the US to do more for us. He was right in saying that we have our own priorities and we have been realigning them to suit the US priorities for quite a while. An operation in North Waziristan might be in our own interests but we should agree to do it on our own terms and when and where it suits our national interest. Our policy stance over other issues should be similar and our government should not let go of the backbone it has grown and make this pressurisation more than just a strategic ploy for us to extract more out of the US.
JAHANZAIB SIDDIQUE
Lahore
