Both sides need to be realistic
The US military leadership failed to realise the grievous implications of the Salala attack that killed 25 Pakistani troops. It should have known that an elected government could not be as pliant as a military regime and that too when every political party in Pakistan was calibrating its reactions with an eye on the forthcoming elections. The PPP leadership agreed to be led by the army and took steps that it is finding hard to retrace. Instead of convening a joint session of parliament for debate, the government hastily announced a ban on the Nato supplies and ordered the evacuation of Shamsi airbase.
Washington has at last realised that the loss of the Pakistani route is hurting the US-led Nato troops. It now wants an urgent resumption of the Nato traffic. But would Obama agree to major concessions to Pakistan when he is himself facing elections? In Pakistan, both the government and the PML(N) realise now that the country cannot afford to fight the existential threat of terrorism alone nor can it cope with the economic and security implications of hostile relations with the US and Nato countries. Meanwhile, so much anti-US propaganda has been launched by organisations like Difa-e-Pakistan Council at the behest of powerful circles that, despite wanting an early solution of the matter, political parties fear strong public reaction in case they allow the reopening of the Nato supply routes. The army, too, has finally realised that a way out has to be found. It is, however, unwilling to tell the parliament that it is vital to withdraw the ban imposed on Nato traffic. Instead, it wants the political parties to reach a consensus over the issue. With an otherwise flexible JUI(F) adamant on not allowing the Nato traffic and the PML(N) unwilling to side with the government, a consensus cannot simply be reached.
The bounty announced for Hafiz Saeed and one of his lieutenants amounts to putting a squeeze on Pakistan. That this is being done four years after the Mumbai terror attacks and at this particular juncture strengthens the view. Any action taken to neutralise the cleric by Pakistan or the US would push another militant group to join others already wreaking havoc in Pakistan. The US and Pakistan’s political leadership need to look beyond their immediate interests.
