Till Tillerson comes…
Pakistan’s been demanding some sort of action against TTP elements entrenched on the Afghan side of the border for a while now; more so since Zarb-e-Azb ran them across the Durand Line. Yet there was nothing for the longest time. Not even when Pak-US business was not shrouded in suspicion and distrust. Then, as the relationship hit rock bottom when Donald Trump announced his Afghan policy, there was practically zero expectation of such cooperation. Then, suddenly, the US turned its drones on TTP elements in the border region, taking out more than 30 militants within a few days last week.
Surely this was more than just quid pro quo for the Pakistani special forces operation that freed an America-Canadian family a few days before. The American press itself cleared how Pakistan was given little choice, and time, to do something about the matter. Sections of the American press also questioned Pakistan’s sincerity, implying that the couple had been held in Pakistan by the Haqqanis all these years. It is more likely that the Americans, in an attempt to wrap up their ugly war in Afghanistan, are finally giving constructive on-ground engagement with Pakistan one real chance.
Trump, naturally, does not want to let the Afghan war do to him what it did to Obama and Bush. And even though Washington will likely continue with its carrot and stick policy with Islamabad, it seems Trump’s generals have made him realise that the only real road to winding up the Afghan war runs through Pakistan. And for that they would have to solve some of Pakistan’s problems also. Since the TTP is now based in Afghanistan, the Americans are in a good position to take the initiative. The situation will become clearer, of course, when Rex Tillerson comes to Islamabad in a few days.
