A bicameral board is set to start its meetings on Monday to deliberate on a future course of action regarding the US. Relations between the two countries became more than strained recently, after the Salala incident, which yielded the loss of 24 Pakistani soldiers.
How Pakistan is to balance her desire to be treated with respect with her desire to watch out for her self-interests is going to be the tough tight-rope walk set out for our government. Pakistan had responded immediately by closing down the Nato supply routes through the country. There is mounting pressure to maintain that blockade. There is an equal, if not visible, amount of pressure on the government to normalise relations and a resumption of the route would be the only tangible step in this regard.
If one were to start looking around for windows of opportunity, there are several that could be zeroed in on. Consider the recent statements of US military chief Martin Dempsey, who has said the Pakistani military actually has the Taliban on the run. Furthermore, he seems to be cognisant of the Pakistani military’s security paradigm, where India is perceived to be the central threat. The general might disagree with this paradigm but can empathise more with his counterparts’ point of view.
On the other side, the Pakistani intelligence chief’s retirement – and this is one of the more publicly controversial spymasters that we have had in recent times – presents an opportunity of its own. The chance to start over afresh, with better ties with both the American military and their intelligence establishment, can be used effectively, if we want to.
There are many within the Pakistani public discourse that are baying for blood, the Difa-e-Pakistan Council to name one such group. There is a stark need to realise here that discretion is the better part of valour and that even in the interests of Pakistan’s non-representative deep state, what to speak of the teeming millions themselves, there is very little space for us to manoeuvre here.