Safeguarding national interests
The ruling coalition faces multifaceted problems in getting the parliamentary committee’s consensus recommendation passed. As the elections are scheduled to be held within months, \neither the coalition partners nor the opposition parties can afford to be seen to be yielding to the US pressure for the reopening of the Nato supply routes without any significant quid pro quo. Marc Grossman has assured Islamabad on the opening of the Parliamentary debate that the US respects Pakistan’s sovereignty. Washington remains unwilling, however, to stop the drone attacks or punish the soldiers involved in Salala attack. Keeping in view Washington’s past reluctance to agree to a deal with Pakistan identical to the one with India on sharing of civil nuclear technology, there is little hope of Obama conceding to Gilani’s fresh overture in this respect. The US urgently needs the ban on Nato supplies to be removed and joint actions taken against the militants. But what it is willing to concede in return remains to be seen.
The ruling coalition is in a position to get the parliamentary committee’s recommendations passed by a majority vote if the demands made from Washington in the proposals are accepted. But as Gilani put it while leaving for Seoul, the government would like to forge consensus to make the opposition also own the decisions. Gilani naturally doesn’t like the opposition parties to unleash an agitation on the sensitive issue in the election year. Washington on the other hand would be hesitant to concede to any demand that could provide the Republicans an issue to malign the US president in the election year. With Pakistan adamant on opening the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the issue is likely to be agitated by the anti-Iran lobby in Washington.
Resurrecting the Pak-US alliance is highly vital for the two countries. What is going to be tested is the mettle of their political leadership. While safeguarding their best national interests, both are required to give the needed concessions to one another even if these are unpopular.
