Mr Ambassador,
I am writing this letter to inform you what an ordinary Pakistani thinks about Pak-US relations.
This fact cannot be over-emphasised that every country has its own priorities which it sets keeping in view its economic, political and social interests. So when we are advised all the time from our allies that we need to go after Haqqanis, they perhaps fail to understand that at the moment Pakistan is engulfed in a lot of other top-of-the-list issues. You know the law and order situation in Karachi, simmering insurgency in Balochistan, sectarian violence, and the natural calamities like floods in Sindh and dengue in Punjab have taken their toll. United States, which is supposed to be our ally, should have come forward helping us in these testing times. Let alone help, your government is trying to add to our woes by putting pressure and insisting that we should engage in another war and hence more bloodshed.
United States, despite a very strong economy, has not managed to defeat Taliban entirely. How could a weak country like Pakistan defeat this nexus of religious extremism and festering insurgency? Pursuing one’s interest is good but it should not be at the expense of others’. From current Pakistan bashing campaign, it seems that the US is interested in Afghanistan and it has no interest in stabilising our country.
Pakistan is facing acute energy shortage. When we try to import gas from Iran, your country intervenes in our domestic affairs and suggests that we should go for TAPI, instead of IPI. When United States’ forces and Afghan politicians don’t feel secure even in Kabul, how a pipeline is supposed to deliver us gas from that restive area?
Even if we admit that Haqqanis are in Pakistan, what about Mullah Fazlullah and Maulvi Faqir who have taken refuge in Afghanistan and are launching their attacks against Pakistan?
I request you to answer all the issues raised above so that they are brought before ordinary citizens.
Thanks.
ENGINEER WASEEM RIAZ KHAN
Kot Addu
