There is nothing odd about Gen Raheel requesting the Washington visit
These are, of course, crucial times for Pakistan. The biggest threat naturally comes from the enemy we are already in active war with – the Taliban. True, the army has destroyed TTP’s Waziristan sanctuary and badly disabled its command and control structure. That is why Fazlullah and company were so quick across the Durand Line once Zarb-e-Azb took off. But it is also true that the enemy remains resilient. And its potency might have been reduced, but it remains active, and driven, enough to strike back every now and then, raising the stakes in the existential war.
But that is not all. India, too, is once again an increasing problem, especially since the Modi government came to power. It made no secret of its anti-Pakistan position during its election campaign. But it has been particularly venomous since taking power, and that has increased the pressure on Pakistan, especially its armed forces.
Then there is the Afghan problem, which keeps Pakistan pertinent for world powers that matter. As the Murree process recently showed, America, China, NATO, etc, are more than eager to explore any possibility that can bring the Afghan government and Taliban to talk; or bring an end to the long war in other words.
All these matters came up recently when Prime Minister Sharif visited Washington. And they are surely going to be discussed once again when COAS Gen Sharif flies to the US now. It doesn’t help, of course, conspiracy theories have, once again, not only started doing the rounds in Islamabad, but some have made their way to parliament.
To make sense of these complicated situation, DNA talked to veteran military/security analyst, Gen (r) Talat Masood.
Question: How do you view rumours about another tussle between the civilian and military leadership? Do you believe chatter suggesting that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might send General Raheel Sharif home after some sort of parliamentary resolution?
Gen(r) Talat Masood: This is absolute non-sense. I hope this is not the case. No one should even assume that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would allow things to aggravate further.
I believe such rumour-mongers aim at widening the gap between the civilian and military leadership. Such elements don’t want democracy to take root in Pakistan. This is my assessment and I am not saying anything on the basis of information.
Yes, strong statements have been made but there is no logic in taking the matters further. It’s a different ball game which might create real problems for Pakistan. I hope this is not the case and both sides would observe restraint and resolve matters mutually.
Q: What is your assessment on the US trip of Gen Raheel Sharif? The State Department has claimed the visit has been organised on the request from Pakistan’s army chief?
TM: I believe the US trip is aimed at converging gaps on the future strategy for peace and development in Afghanistan. It is not surprising to note that the visit was arranged on the request of the army chief.
The US had made this information public months ago and there is no secret about it. This is a routine matter and countries do follow this practice.
Yes, it is a fact that General Raheel Sharif had made a request for the US trip. There is a point in this. It might be a case that General Sharif might have assumed that he wants more cooperation from the US on Afghanistan. He also wanted to visit US and discuss Afghanistan to get more clarity about Washington’s vision regarding the future of Afghanistan. It might also be a case that General Sharif thought himself a better interlocutor than Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Q: What, in your view made, the US put pressure over Pakistan’s nuclear programme at this point in time? Why is the US media exerting pressure over Pakistan’s nukes before General Sharif’s visit? Do you believe that the US president might use the nuclear issue as a bargaining chip to gain some objective in Afghanistan peace process?
TM: Pakistan’s nuclear programme has been under the US scanner for a while now. They would keep building pressure over Pakistan, though they better understand that Pakistan would never agree to their diktat over its nukes.
But it also does not mean that the US administration only wants to use it as a pressure tactic or it might use the nuclear issue as a bargaining chip to get objectives in Afghanistan. They know Pakistan is not going to roll back on its nuclear programme but still the US keeps building pressure.
Another issue which is likely to be discussed is peace efforts in Afghanistan. The US administration would seek assurances from Pakistan over war on terror and the peace process.
Definitely, India-Pakistan relations would also come under discussion and the US would want Pakistan to resume dialogue with India.
Q: Well, do you see a link between visits to Riadh and Washington one after the other? Do you think both visits are interlinked?
TM: Being a part of the armed forces for quite a long time, I know that such high profile visits are scheduled in advance. Since such visits are not finalised overnight, there is no point in engineering linkages between the two. This is nothing new and rather it looks to be a routine matter to me.
Moreover, as far the army chief’s Riadh trip is concerned, we need to understand that Pakistan is not a soft power. Rather, our military hardware is useful for many countries of the region.
The Saudis are strategic partners of Pakistan and the Iran-US deal has made them more insecure. The Saudis also aim at using Pakistan’s army for their purposes and objectives.
The Saudi royal kingdom wanted us to go to Yemen and become a part of their regional designs. However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took a wise decision in not doing so. It is also no secret that the military leadership also wanted to stay away from this mess as our own interests are more important than the Saudis’.
The Kingdom needs to understand that Saudia is not a regional policeman and it should not have jumped into the foray of Yemen. The Yemen war was an internal affair and the Saudis have made a blunder by jumping into Yemen’s internal conflict. Moreover, it is very difficult to win a war in Yemen by an external force. The Kingdom still needs to stay out of the quagmire and let the internal forces decide the outcome of the conflict.
