No walk in the park but not so easy to sever either
The new US administration under Trump has been tough on Pakistan to say the least as it amped up the ‘do more’ mantra, suspended all financial aid (military and otherwise) and most recently was able to persuade China and Saudi Arabia to support a decision to place Pakistan on the FATF grey-list – a terror financing watch-list.
With each blow there were naturally some hawkish predictions being made about how the future of Pak-US relations was doomed and ties would soon be completely severed. Recent comments from senior officials in the US however contradict that notion. Gen Joseph Votel, head of US military operations in the Pak-Afghan region deems military-to-military relations with Pakistan crucial and that some “positive indicators” from Pakistan in terms of responding to the alleged militant safe havens was encouraging but of course still not close to the sort of change in strategy Washington so desperately wants to see in Islamabad.
Now in its sixteenth year the US war in Afghanistan shows no signs of coming to an end soon as the US remains unable to formulate a workable exit strategy. Pakistan has been a crucial strategic ally in the war from the start and will continue to hold that distinction. The same was endorsed recently by US State Department’s Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice Wells.
Next week foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua will be in Washington meeting with senior American officials probably as a follow up to a surprise visit by senior Trump official Lisa Curtis. During the visit Curtis maintained that a new Pak-US relationship has to be built but stress remained on the need for action against the Haqqani group, LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad. Hopefully Janjua has something new to tell Washington to pacify them rather than playing the same old ‘we are the victim’ card.
The recent snub by China should be a wake-up call for Pakistan that has of late become all too comfortable with a China centric foreign policy. It is therefore imperative that we keep lines of communication open with all allies, old and new, in multiple regions and leverage those relationships to our advantage when required.
