Much needs to be done
For Pakistan, 2015 was by far the most painful start to a new year since the debacle of ’71. The silver lining on this particular cloud, if there was one, was that it brought not just the country, but also the fractured polity, on one page regarding the insurgency and the Taliban. ‘We will fight terrorists of all hues and colours’ was the new slogan, along with ‘we will fight this fight to the last terrorist’. And, truth be told, Peshawar did inspire the kind of anti-Taliban passions previously lacking. As a result terrorist attacks have clearly diminished. Even the ones that continue fall far short of the kind of reprisal attacks we were warned of ahead of Zarb-e-Azb.
Yet for all the good work, progress on the National Action Plan (NAP), the bedrock of the new counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency policy, has left much to be desired. True, the enemy’s command and control structure in the tribal area has been decimated. But a lost still needs to be done, especially regarding apprehending militant outfits in Punjab, checking seminaries, and choking financial support to terrorists.
’15 was monumental with regard to regional foreign policy as well. Nawaz tried to reach out to India, but was badly snubbed by the new Modi government. Pakistan tried facilitating Kabul-Talban talks as well. And while initially Ghani warmed up nicely to Pakistan, the relationship fell by the side after Mullah Omar’s death was reported. Lately, though, both Delhi and Kabul seem to have realised that Islamabad’s goodwill is essential for the region as a whole to progress. Hopefully ’16 will be the year that shows just how much our ruling elite has learnt its lessons. Pakistan must do what it can to overcome the terrorism menace principally, and then help integrate the South Asian region for enhanced commercial and cultural activity. Great things were achieved in ’15. Greater still must be achieved in the new year.
