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Monday, March 29, 2010
Better Pakistan-US ties underpinned by Afghan aims
* Islamabad sees US as desperate to leave Afghanistan
* Parliamentarian says country feels it is the key to the regionISLAMABAD: Buoyant US-Pakistan relations are being underpinned by converging interests over Afghanistan but strains can emerge if Islamabad’s expectations for US help are not met and it feels it is being used.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were all smiles after their recent high-level talks in Washington aimed at reversing tempestuous ties between the allies.
The talks covered issues from security to energy and water projects, and while little in the way of new US help emerged, a heady tone was set, largely because of some common Afghan aims, analysts said.
“There is this over-arching convergence, we’re on the same track, the same page,” said Ayaz Amir, a political analyst and an opposition member in parliament.
Desperate: Pakistan sees the US as desperate to get out of Afghanistan and sooner or later bound to have to enter some sort of peace deal with the Taliban.
Islamabad, battling the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is also looking for a negotiated Afghan settlement and wants to oversee any peace process to ensure a friendly government in Kabul and to minimise the influence of India.
Not only is Pakistan the main conduit for US military supplies to Afghanistan, its sway over the Taliban could be key in nudging their old allies to talk.
The announcement last month of the arrest of a senior Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in a joint operation with US agents in Karachi, has illustrated the crucial role Pakistan can play.
Key role: “Pakistan feels it is key to the entire situation, that without the role which the Pakistani army is playing, the whole American military presence in Afghanistan is undermined,” Ayaz said.
Many Pakistanis believe that the US has used the country as a tool to promote its interests and left it in the lurch once those interests were served.
Bitter memories of the US walking away from Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 and leaving the country in chaos are still raw in Pakistan.
Washington has stressed long-term commitment, underscored by a $7.5 billion aid package.
As well as aid for its investment-starved economy, Pakistan wants civilian nuclear cooperation with the US and is pushing for the same kind of deal that India negotiated. But the US is reluctant to discuss such cooperation.
Islamabad also wants the US to press India to resume a peace process suspended after militants attacked the Indian city of Mumbai in November 2008.
While Pakistan realises US involvement in the dispute over the Kashmir region is unlikely because of Indian objections, Islamabad hopes US pressure will bring India to talk on other disputes including the sharing of cross-border river waters.
Ties between Pakistan and the US should develop as long as both sides feel they are getting what they want, said analyst and former government minister Shafqat Mahmood.
“The relationship is likely to grow but the devil is in the detail,” Mahmood said, referring to upcoming talks at which US aid plans will be fleshed out.
“I would only call it a good beginning,” he added.
While US attention is focused on Afghanistan, it is also worried about militants in Pakistan and will want to see action.
In particular, the US wants Pakistan to rein in the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT).
Pakistanis are looking anxiously at the July 2011 deadline set by US President Barack Obama for US forces to start pulling out of Afghanistan, fearing that will result in waning interest in them. “There is this underlying unease that after all we are doing, after all the key role vis-a-vis Afghanistan, that the Americans are really not giving enough and we’ll again be left high and dry,” said Ayaz. reuters
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk