At last, Pakistan has succeeded in forcing the US government to apologise for the Salala incident. This is perhaps the first time that the US has accepted its mistake and surely this is a good news on the diplomatic front for Pakistan.
Pakistan’s pressure tactic of blocking the NATO supply lines proved to be successful and it surely feels that Pakistan could definitely achieve more results in the context of Pak-US relations. But despite having some leverage, it is still pertinent to ask why can’t Pakistan stop the US from conducting drone attacks on its soil?
A lot of innocent Pakistanis are losing their lives because of these drone attacks. While the US claims that it only targets terrorists, there is no denying that there is collateral damage. Are children, women and aged men terrorists? The issue of drone attacks too needs to be resolved like the issue of the supply lines was. Maybe there can be a joint ground operation against terrorist sanctuaries as an alternative to these strikes. The diplomatic channels are now open again. Pakistan should use them to press this issue.
HAFIZ MUHAMMAD NOMAN
Karachi
