Isolated

And increasingly so…

Unwise foreign policy decisions have led to a situation where Pakistan’s relations with the US are all time low and the country is out of loop over the Afghan peace talks. Ambassador Sherry Rehman has already presented her credentials in Washington and met both Marc Grossman and Secretary Clinton. What happened to her predecessor would however restrain her from making any move unless it is cleared by Rawalpindi which dictates major foreign policy decisions. With uncertainty prevailing in Islamabad, one is not sure how long it will take the government to recover from the jolts it has received. The country’s interests in Afghanistan meanwhile continue to go unheeded.

Clear about its goals, the Bush administration is pursuing its agenda with single-mindedness. The series of secret talks it has held with the Taliban in Germany and Qatar since 2010 have led to the religious militia setting up their office in Doha. The talks were suspended in December on account of objections from Karzai, who too is determined to ensure that his interests are not harmed. By boycotting the Bonn conference and dissociating with the trilateral talks, Pakistan has meanwhile painted itself into a corner.

The attack on Salala checkpost resulting in the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers is highly condemnable but it should not have led Pakistan to isolate itself from the Afghan talks. Many times more Pakistani soldiers have been killed by the TTP which has vowed to continue the attacks on Pakistan army. It is highly anomalous that negotiations with the militants were not suspended. There is a need to review the policy, normalise relations with the US and once again become an active partner in the tripartite talks. Unless this is done Pakistan will turn into a bystander unable to influence the events in its neighbourhood. That Marc Grossman’s tour next week does not seem to have a stopover in Pakistan indicates this has started happening. Again despite our protests, the drone attacks have started after nearly two months. Any threat to democracy in Pakistan would further push the country to isolation. It is in Pakistan’s vital interests not to allow this to happen.