Signs of improvement
President Obama’s invitation for Prime Minister Sharif to visit Washington later this year is a clear sign of improving ties between the two allies. Things were quite different around the time Nawaz came to power this time. Long years of the war against terror, the Taliban resurgence, suspicions about Islamabad’s sincerity, the Osama embarrassment, and Pakistan’s good-Taliban policy had weighed down ties as the PPP government completed its term. The turning point was clearly Zarb-e-Azb, when the military put its foot down after the Karachi airport attack.
That, of course, more or less coincided with President Ghani coming to power in Afghanistan and the Americans leaving the country. Pakistan was finally seen doing enough. Ghani’s conciliatory attitude towards Pakistan is also, finally, bearing fruit. And the Americans are happy. Building on this goodwill will be essential to keep the region’s war and peace successful. The Americans, like their Afghan friends, have realised that Pakistan remains the key to ending insurgencies on both sides of the Durand Line, hence the invitation. Pakistan’s ability to make the Taliban and Kabul finally talk has helped its credibility in important capitals.
All that does not mean, however, that the road is easy from here. The White House is appreciating Pakistan’s new policy, but it will take time to overcome years of mistrust. And quite a number of American lawmakers are still not satisfied with Pakistan’s progress in this war against terrorism. Congressman Ed Royce, who heads the House Foreign Relations Committee, was pretty blunt recently, asking Pakistan to hand over Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi to India or The Hague. Lawmakers have also criticised a Pakistani court’s decision to free suspects from Malala Yousafzai’s attack for lack of evidence. These setbacks from Tariq Fatemi’s recent lobbying trip to Washington were not widely reported in the local press, but there will be tough questions, along with a lot of praise, when Nawaz is in Washington again.
