Things that Zardari Should Do in the US
By Misbah U. Azam, PhD
Phoenix, Arizona
President Zardari and his foreign policy team’s scheduled visit to the US may be another opportunity for his government to clarify Pakistan ’s positions viz-a-viz the people’s concerns and the country’s limits in the war on terror. There are some important messages too which should be delivered by him to the Obama administration.
1) Pakistan should strongly follow up with the American administration on the recent evidences presented in the Senate by Rehman Malik about the involvement of foreign agencies in terror activities in Baluchistan launched from the Afghan soil. Pakistan should share the evidence with American officials and get their firm commitment to act on that evidence.
2) The Obama administration must be convinced to appreciate the dilemma, which Pakistan’s civil and military establishments are facing, in the war on terror. The administration has to appreciate that as long as the tension on Pakistan’s eastern border exists, Pakistan cannot, and will not, divert its attention from this tension completely. Pakistan must get a commitment from the Obama administration that it will pressure India to work with Pakistan to resolve their long outstanding disputes in pursuance of President Obama’s promise just days before his Presidential election. The American administration must be convinced that statements like ‘ Pakistan should stop worrying about India’ and ‘pay attention only to the western borders’ are rather counterproductive and demonstrate a serious lack of understanding of ground realities.
3) The US must be convinced to appreciate the fact that the choice of the judicial system and the Taliban are two distinctly different entities. True, to fulfill their agenda the Taliban capitalized on the long-standing demand of the people of Swat for the enforcement of Sharia, but following the treaty the Pakhtoonkhwa government clearly managed to isolate those who wanted to have this system and the Taliban, who were working on their own agenda. Now, if the Taliban will not surrender their weapons and continue to try to impose their form of Islam, they will be crushed under a decisive military action, which will have the support of the majority of the people and political parties.
4) The US media and the administration must be convinced that to say that Pakistan will be taken over by the Taliban is based on purer naïvety. A few thousand Taliban cannot take control of a country blessed with democratic institutions, free judiciary, free media, growing economy and a well-trained, professional military.
5) There may be some lobbies in the US which influences the media and believe that either Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal should be bought for a mere $100 billion or should be snatched away by dismembering Pakistan. President Obama must be convinced that this theory is simply a pipe dream of some lunatics. An economically vibrant Pakistan could ensure the stability of South Asia and the world at large. If God forbid something happens to Pakistan, the tsunami tide will not only sink the South Asian region but disastrously impact the whole world.
True, that all the work cannot be done in just one meeting, however the government could set the desired tone and pace to convey a clear message to Obama administration to this effect and follow up on it through extensive engagements with the US media and the newly elected administration.
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