The US has linked the restoration of suspended military assistance, as well as smooth flow of future aid to Pakistan, to Islamabad reviewing its decision to send back dozens of American military trainers to Washington in the wake of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s killing in a covert US military raid in Abbottabad on May 2.
This important message was conveyed to the Pakistani leadership by a visiting US delegation comprising Senator Carl Levin, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Jeanne Shaheen during its daylong meetings here with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, according to officials here.
An official requesting anonymity said the Pakistani leadership, on its part, had expressed deep concern over the suspension of around $800 million in military assistance to Pakistan by Washington in response to Islamabad’s decision to send home around 120 US military trainers, who were here to train the paramilitary Frontier Corps. Pakistan sent packing dozens of Central Intelligence Agency operatives after bin Laden’s demise.
RETURN UNLIKELY: The official, however, refused to share information about Pakistan’s response to the tough condition of allowing redeployment of American military trainers put forth by Washington. A security official, who also wished to remain unnamed, said Pakistan was not likely to allow the military trainers to return.
According to Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar, President Zardari also expressed concern over reports of the proposed slash in US assistance to the country. The president said any cut in assistance would not only exacerbate Pakistan’s economic woes but would also send a negative signal to the public about the commitment of the US government to the people of Pakistan when they were suffering heavily in economic terms because of the toll of the war against terrorism.
The president said both countries had invested substantially in building the process of strategic dialogue and “we must not allow some incidents to roll back the labour of building an enduring and multifaceted equation”, as it was not an option for the two countries at such a critical time.
TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT: Zardari said the strain on relations between the US and Pakistan because of operational irritants could effectively be avoided if the terms of engagement were clearly defined and followed in their true essence by the two countries. He said further that both countries needed to avoid all actions that sent negative signals and proved to be counter-productive in their bid to forge a collaborative and comprehensive partnership.
RIVAL IDEOLOGY: He said the militants currently threatening Pakistan were created and nurtured by the international community to defeat a rival ideology. “At that time the Mujahideen were likened to ‘the moral equivalents of George Washington’,” he said, adding that it was the responsibility of the international community to help Pakistan in the fight against militants.
The president said the people of Pakistan, especially those from the tribal areas, had suffered the worst because of militancy and there was an urgent need to focus on their socio-economic development and to bring a qualitative change in their lives in order to win the battle of hearts and minds. In his meeting with Prime Minister Gilani, Senator Carl Levin underlined the importance of bringing US-Pakistan relations back on track because both countries were fighting a common enemy who was “using violence as IEDs.”
The prime minister said that Pakistan desired a sovereign, independent, peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan, adding that his country supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation. He said Pakistan was a part of the solution and not part of the problem, and said dialogue, development and deterrence were the best strategy to achieve a solution for the Afghan problem.
“One wonders how terrorists dare go to Afghanistan without being eliminated by the ISAF and NATO forces, which are equipped with the most advanced weapons,” said Gilani.
