Gen Raheel Sharif in USA
Gen Raheel Sharif’s visit had importance both for Pakistan and the US. Pakistan was keen to know if the US would once again turn its back on the region leaving Pakistan high and dry as it did after the Soviet troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. Islamabad was also keen to remove the suspicions and doubts in Washington about its policy on terrorism. The US wanted to find if Pakistan army under the new COAS was really committed to eliminating all terrorist groups without cherrypicking.
The concerns on both sides were relevant. The way the US left the region earlier leaving Pakistan to hold the baby created problems for Islamabad, the foremost being the morphing of the so-called jihadi groups into lethal terrorist networks that were soon to train their guns on Pakistan. Another abrupt departure by the US from Iraq leaving the Iraqi government to cope with the aftereffects of the invasion on its own has resulted in the birth of the ISIS, the most blood-thirsty terrorist group in recent history.
During the last few years the US has looked at Pakistan’s military leadership with doubts and suspicions. These peaked during the fag end of President Obama’s first tenure when accusations of duplicity were made publicly. The trust deficit was caused by a perception that Pakistan was providing protection to Haqqani Network. Before proceeding to Washington, Gen Sharif had already made it clear that Pakistan was targeting all militant groups, including the Haqqani Network during the current operation.
Gen Sharif had to extend his visit for another week as he had been encumbered with a task that should have been performed by either the Foreign Minister or the FO. Last week Gen Sharif had to explain to US lawmakers on Capitol Hill Islamabad’s position on India-Pakistan relations and how these impacted the operation against the terrorists. Subsequently he was required to call on Secretary Kerry to present Pakistan’s perspective on regional security issues. This is unjust to the COAS who is a non-political soldier and bad for the system.