Old and new alliances
The Pentagon blocking $300m from the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) is just another in a long list of indications that the relationship is changing. This started when the QCG began losing momentum and intensified when chances of negotiations with the Afghan Taliban all but evaporated. This time they have made the ‘do more’ more quantifiable; implying that Pak-US ‘business’ would suffer unless the former moved, finally, on the Haqqanis and the matter of Dr Shakeel Afridi. And since Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has still not okayed the reimbursement – he has to send a certificate to Congress regarding action against Haqqanis, etc – it is clear that the Americans are far from satisfied.
Considering how the relationship had been turning cold for a while now, such hiccups are not really surprising, but that does not mean they are not significant. America is still Pakistan’s most important ally. And at a time when Islamabad’s relations with almost all its neighbours are headed south, it needs a caring and understanding America more than ever. The Afghan Taliban problem might be on the mend already, thanks to the Chinese. A Taliban delegation that visited China a few days ago seems to have come back quite convinced; and now is apparently waiting for the government to restart the talks again. So Pakistan may have a chance for face-saving, after all.
Yet important as preserving old alliances is, it is also necessary to capitalise on new ones cropping up across the world, and indeed the region. The Afghan-Indian-Iranian Chabahar grouping is one example. And Pakistan, China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan’s armed forces have agreed to establish a Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism (QCCM), which is also welcome. In another development, air forces of US, UAE, Pakistan and Israel will fly side-by-side in an exercise in the Nevada desert. Pakistan, therefore, should position itself to reap the most from the best partnerships. But so far, it will have to do a little more indeed to impress Washington.