Following Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton Oct 21st visit to Islamabad, Pakistan-US relations are likely to head out of months of tensions that had begun with the May 2nd raid on the compound of Osama bin Laden in the hilly town of Abbottabad. During her intensive interaction with the government and the civil society in Islamabad, Clinton reiterated her government long-standing view on Pakistan; an unreliable, emotional, and paranoid partner which, despite all its flaws, remains crucial for the American policy in the region, and thus a reassurance that Washington plans to stay engaged with the country and would continue supporting the democratic transition. She also stated in so many words on more than one occasion that Pakistan has to be part of the solution. This reflected the realization in Washington that continuous engagement with Pakistan might yield more fruit than the occasional aspersions and allegations which only serve as ammunition for the detractors of the Pak-US engagement. Ms. Clinton statements in Islamabad and back in Washington clearly underlined a new sense of realism from Washington. Following the storm, the former army chief Mike Mullen had kicked up on September 22nd by lumping the Haqqani Network and the ISI together, Ms. Clinton apparently took it upon herself to pacify an over-reactive Pakistan and rule out confrontation.
In two interviews to US media outlets in Washington, released by the State Department on Oct 24th, Secretary Clinton ruled out sending to Pakistan semi-autonomous Fata region to hunt Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists.’There a lot going on that is aimed at these safe havens, and we will continue to work with them on that. There are different ways of fighting besides overt military action, and I think this is an important point of clarification,’ she said when asked if the US wanted Pakistan to launch another military operation against the militants.
Clinton also conceded that the US had asked the Pakistanis to squeeze the Taliban and the Haqqani network. ‘We recognise that, given their resources, it would be difficult for them to launch military action at this time. Instead of asking for a direct military operation, the US wanted Pakistan to make sure we are totally synced up on all intelligence to intercept and prevent attacks emanating from the safe havens in Fata’, she said.
With this, the secretary of state underscored Pakistan ‘critical role in supporting Afghan reconciliation’ and at the same time repeated Obama administration singular focus on the Haqqani Network as the largest source of violence in Afghanistan. ‘So terrorism is a challenge we share, and we want to work together to root out all of the extremists who threaten us, including the Taliban and the Haqqani Network. We should be able to agree that for too long extremists have been able to operate here in Pakistan and from Pakistani soil. No one who targets innocent civilians, whether they be Pakistanis, Afghans, Americans, or anyone else, should be tolerated or protected,’ Ms Clinton warned.
For the first time, in a decade or so, an American leader also candidly mentioned Pakistan interests as well. ‘Now, we are not, by any means, asking Pakistan to sacrifice its own security. Quite the contrary, we respect Pakistan sovereignty and its own security concerns. We believe we are pursuing a vision of shared security that benefits us all.’ This message was obviously meant to allay fears and objections among many Pakistanis who believe Pakistan is being asked to protect the Americans interests at the cost of its own interests. Hina Rabbani Khar also mentioned this in the press stake-out and this demonstrates, probably, an increasing clarity on what Pakistani interests are, and on the other hand, an acknowledgement by the US that it now does care of Islamabad ‘concerns and interests.’
At the same time, while reaffirming Washington commitment to Pakistan democratic transition, Clinton cautioned the Pakistani leadership on the need to look afresh at its foreign policy and be ready to become part of an expanding global community tied by economic incentives and not driven by outdated, blood-soaking security paradigms. In this context Clinton also mentioned ‘the vision of a New Silk Road, which would increase regional economic integration and boost cross-border trade and investments between Pakistan and all of her neighbors. That will translate into more jobs and economic opportunities for Pakistanis and for their neighbors, and thereby increase political stability.’ And in this context, she welcomed the slow but positive progress in the Indo-Pakistani dialogue, again a theme that successive US administrations have harped on.
Within a few days of Clinton’s Islamabad parleys, two State Department officials, held for the press corps that accompanied the Secretary of State to Islamabad , explained in Washington what the secretary meant when she said in her recent interviews that the US and Pakistan had agreement on 90-95 per cent of issues they confronted. The United States and Pakistan agree on a framework for holding direct talks with the militants and are now working to operationalise the plan, says the US State Department. These officials pointed out that the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan had already an understanding on holding a ‘tri-logue’ with the Taliban militants.They also agree that this has to be Afghan-led, the pace and scope of which the Afghans should decide.’That Pakistan has to play its part in this; it has to encourage reconciliation. And that as efforts are made at reconciliation, if the US can play a helpful role, that we would be available to do that,’ said one official.
After agreeing on this framework, the US and Pakistan were now working on the need to operationalise it. ‘What does it mean? And particularly in the context of the awful, horrific experience that the Afghans had with the death of President Rabbani … we–re all working off the script that is going to protect against that kind of thing happening again,’ the official said.Operational details like where to hold the dialogue, who to talk to and in what form and formats and for how long were now being worked out, the official added.These positive vibes out of Washington suggest that Hilary Clinton, while reiterating her government’s long-standing position, also demonstrated greater understanding of Pakistan’s current outlook on Afghanistan, and signaled to work together despite differences. A balancing act, one may say.
As far Pakistan, most of Taliban leaders, one would presume, are prone to Pakistan influence, if not control. Without a certain degree of tolerance, support and protection, they probably cannot survive on the Pakistani soil, or even in the border regions. Just by saying ‘Taliban are not in our pockets’ will not work nor is this entirely a credible claim. Pakistan has little defense on groups such as Jaishe Mohammad, Lashkare Taiba, or even little publicly acknowledged involvement with the Haqqanis. It is not pronounced and the entire Pakistani leadership is still vague about what constitutes national interest. That is why at the press stake out with the foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Ms Clinton stated in unambiguous terms, rightly invoking the example of snakes.
Expedience demands that Pakistan, under the current domestic circumstances and external pressures, act straight. Rather than hoping, in vain, to rely on cold-war era survival tactics, Pakistan needs greater pragmatism and a clear vision to chart a path of peaceful coexistence and economic development ´ a pre-requisite for socio-political stability. It is high time to move from a flawed security paradigm to a more people-focused security framework that relies on the economic strengths of the country rather than on obscurantist private militias.As for relations with the United States, the storm is most probably over, for the time being. To lend a semblance of normalcy and permanence to the rocky relationship suffering from mutual mistrust, both countries would need to work toward minimizing, if not erasing the mistrust, so as both are able to chart the path of Afghan reconciliation jointly and without any major hiccups.