Rebuilding Pakistan-US ties

Toward mutually respectful and enduring relationship?

If easing tensions is taken as the first step towards erasing trust deficit between Pakistan and the United States, the outcome of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s White House meeting with President Barack Obama this week could be interpreted differently in narrow and larger perspectives.

In the immediate context, Obama’s silence over the contentious drone strikes issue has done little to soothe the Pakistani public sentiment, despite the fact that the visit of the Pakistani leader was marked by a positive tone and candid discussions.

The closest Obama came to touching the prickly drone issue, was when he spoke about counterterrorism at the conclusion of his two-hour meeting with Nawaz Sharif: “We agreed that we need to continue to find constructive ways to partner together in ways that respect Pakistan’s sovereignty, that respect the concerns of both countries.”

Analysts believe irrespective of The Washington Post revelations of the past tacit understanding on drone operations, the deadly optics of the tactic are likely to defy goodwill public diplomacy vibes on both sides until the clandestine operations cease and responsibility for civilian deaths is accepted.

“Concerns raised by international nongovernmental groups about civilians killed by drones should cause both governments to limit the program,” The New York Times noted in an editorial as Sharif traveled back.

The lingering issue has already been overshadowing productive aspects of the engagement like the US support for Pakistan’s energy and education sectors.

In the same way, Pakistan’s help in elimination of several al-Qaeda operatives is often blurred by the controversy around Afghan Taliban sanctuary along the Afghan border.

But viewed in the continuum of the key bilateral relationship, strained by years of Afghan war-related controversies and divisive narratives, the White House meeting afforded an opportunity to the two leaders to start rebuilding ties.

Towards that end, a series of indicators and concrete announcements emerged that signal the US climbing down from the Afghan war rhetoric about Pakistan being part of the problem in Afghanistan.

In fact, news stories and White House official statements sounding “optimism and hope” on the future of Pakistan-US ties paved the way for honest conversations on persisting issues with the goal to move towards a mutually productive partnership.

The full revival of US-Pakistan Strategic Partnership and announcement on resumption of stalled $1.6 billion in security and economic assistance are meaningful manifestations of normalization of ties that ebbed precariously in 2011 with discovery of al-Qaeda chief, te Abbottabad raid and the Salala killings.

Another positive indication emanating during the visit, was the absence of Afghanistan as the overriding elephant in the bilateral discourse. Yet, discussions included all points of grievances on the regional laundry list like Pakistan’s concerns about Indians and Afghans misusing Afghan territory to stoke troubles in Afghanistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the US concerns about tribal areas sanctuary that militants use for attacks across the Afghan border.

The US officials and the joint statement issued after the Oval Office parleys took special care to underscore the wide-ranging nature of cooperative ties and economic and trade priorities Pakistan has been advocating for a long time get a proper mention.

This expression of realization that Washington should treat Pakistan on account of its own strengths and importance stems partly from the fact that Washington needs Pakistan’s crucial help in the countdown to 2014 drawdown deadline and in the Afghan Taliban’s reconciliation with Kabul for a relatively acceptable end to war.

Reports say the United States may expand the proportion of troops and materiel leaving Afghanistan via Pakistan from 20 to 60 percent by the end of 2014.

Secondly, Washington appears to be conscious of the “enormous” value in having a long-term relationship with its old nuclear-armed ally, located at the heart of the region that includes rising China, India, oil-rich Gulf and energy-resourceful Central Asia.

“The impending coalition exit from Afghanistan is a short-term issue. A stable and prosperous Pakistan is what will matter most for the long run,” says Shuja Nawaz, who heads the South Asian Center at Washington’s Atlantic Council.

The warmth of the tone and breadth of discussions encompassing trade, economic and energy cooperation, also show Washington’s deference to the new Pakistani leader, who swept to victory on the promise of fixing the ailing economy.

Meanwhile, availability of Pakistan overland routes has greatly helped repair ties. But, the two sides still have to deal with Pakistani concerns regarding Washington’s policy towards India and the impact of future Afghan situation on Pakistan as its landlocked neighbour moves to 2014 transition.

“Despite these improvements, significant points of contention between the two countries persist, especially regarding the security situation in South Asia and U.S. policy in the region,” say experts Frederic Grare and Reece Trevor in a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace commentary.

“The United States and India have moved toward creating a strategic partnership in the past decade, and this burgeoning relationship has challenged American ties with Pakistan,” they observe.

The Pakistani leader, who is seen as a politically more powerful head of government than previous coalition leaders, raised the issue of LoC tensions with India and sought Washington’s role in facilitating a resolution to the Kashmir dispute.

Although, Obama and the joint statement did not say anything in this respect, senior State Department officials explained Washington’s position the following day.

“India was discussed at some length in nearly all of his meetings… and he [Sharif] urged the United States to do whatever it could to encourage continued progress in the Pakistan-India dialogue,” a senior official commented in a background briefing.

And Washington’s response: “That we very much support improvements in this [Pakistan-India] relationship and that we’ll continue to use our influence with both governments to encourage them to move in that direction.”

The statement, though made in the background, is surely a welcome sign of the US willingness to be attentive to Pakistan’s security concerns vis-à-vis India at a time when Obama’s Asia pivot sees India an important partner in view of rising China.

On a similar note, the senior State Department official, while commenting on Pakistani concerns regarding India and Afghanistan interfering from its Western Afghan border, stated:

“I think the Pakistani concern is mostly the use of Afghan territory by both India and Afghanistan, for that matter, as a sort of reverse sanctuary. I think that at least was what the concerns that they were expressing and we made clear that we are against the use of proxies, that we opposed cross-border militancy, this is something that’s in the interest of all of the countries of the region and we’re communicating that message to all of the countries.”

Additionally, the Obama administration also nodded in yes to Nawaz Sharif’s attempt at seeking a negotiated path to curbing the TTP insurgency.

But Nawaz Sharif will have to show leadership in taking along all institutions in his avowed drive to curb militancy. To his credit, he repeatedly acknowledged the need in his public appearances that Pakistan has to put its own house in order to deal with economic, security and governance challenges.

Other issues impacting the regional climate from Pakistani perspective are US discriminatory nuclear treatment of Islamabad after its award of a nuclear deal to New Delhi. And from Washington’s perspective the concerns revolve around Pakistan’s lack of ability to stop militants from launching attacks in India and Afghanistan.

But the fact that the two sides have been able to put the relationship back on track is a clear indicator of improvement in the relationship.

The proof of the pudding, however, will certainly lie in the actions the two countries take to satisfy mutual concerns and priorities in the months ahead, when all five working groups – on Energy, Finance, Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism, the Defense Consultative Group and the Strategic Stability – meet by the end of the year.

How far the two countries make progress on immediate issues – Pakistan with a check on cross-border militancy and help for Afghan reconciliation, and the US on materializing trade concessions and high visibility energy programmes for Pakistan as well as drone restraint – will determine the extent to which Washington and Islamabad would be able foster the strategic trust necessary for a mutually respectful and enduring relationship – something that has eluded them in the past.

Ali Imran is a Washington-based journalist.