“… and miles to go before I sleep…”
At the fag end of the Obama tenure, Pak-US relations were already on a downward spiral. Some of the measures taken by Trump in the first few days after inauguration indicate Pakistan should be prepared for a long spell of frosty relations. Trump is not only an isolationist and Islamophobic but also acts like a man possessed. A day after he was sworn in Trump asked CIA to be ready for wars against “Islamic terrorism”. He suspended the US refugee programme, put a ban on people from seven Muslim majority countries, said Pakistani and Afghan visa applicants would face extreme vetting and that visa denial could be extended to Pakistan. According to a media report, Islamabad has been advised to ban Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) or be prepared to face sanctions. Trump’s view on the strategic balance in the region and his confrontationist line on China could also add to problems for Pakistan.
Despite the apparently bleak prospects Pakistan needs to engage with the Trump administration to try to persuade it on two issues. First, peace in Afghanistan cannot be achieved through military means alone. The ongoing Pakistan, China and Russia initiative could help put an end to the ongoing bloodshed in Afghanistan while providing an honourable exit to US troops and thus saving American lives. Second, the world needs to encourage the normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India through talks. This alone can ward off the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons in South Asia which has been hinted at by several responsible leaders from Henry Kissinger to former US Vice President Joe Biden.
It is in Pakistan’s own interest to resolve the issue of groups like JuD and JeM independently of the US pressure. The world, and that includes Pakistan’s closest allies, is fed up with terrorist groups irrespective of their hues and colours. Pakistan has to act decisively against banned groups which continue to pursue their agenda under different names. This is in the interest of Pakistan, the region and the world at large.