A close monitoring of Pakistan under Trump
Mad Dog Mattis, as President Trump calls him, is not all that rabid. Being an old Afghanistan hand both as a combat officer and as CentCom Commander from 2010 to 2013 he knows the problems the country faces and the terrorist groups that are active there. In the aftermath of the Raymond Davis and bin Laden affairs, General James Mattis had supposedly played an important role in maintaining ties with top Pakistani military leadership. With Mattis as Defence Secretary there is at least one member in the Trump team who realises the importance of Pak-US relations.
Gen (rtd) James Mattis has clear cut views. Last month during the confirmation hearing at the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Mattis recongised that Pakistan had suffered badly from terrorism and had learnt hard lessons from the experience. He praised Pakistan for fighting “internally focused” militants and told the committee that Pakistan army had suffered significant casualties in the counterinsurgency effort. He stressed the need for building mutual trust and vowed to help the administration in evolving “an effective partnership.” There are, however, difficulties in the way.
Mattis, like Obama’s Secretary of Defence, is convinced that Pakistan needs to do more to expel the terrorists that use its territory to launch attacks in Afghanistan. He said he would incentivise Pakistan’s cooperation on neutralising these groups and “examine efforts to deny sanctuary to the extremist forces” undermining the stability and security of Afghanistan. Like other US policy makers Mattis too wavers between fighting the Taliban and supporting reconciliation in Afghanistan. He also wants neighbouring states to increase pressure on the Afghan Taliban and associated militant networks to stop their campaigns of violence.
China, Russia and Iran too want reconciliation in Afghanistan. Like the US they also want the militants to say farewell to arms. In case the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqanis refuse to do so, pressure will mount on Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not being used by terrorist networks as a launching pad against neighbouring countries.
