Amidst Gloom and Doom a Ray of Hope?
By Salahuddin Haider
Karachi , Pakistan
Amidst the pall of gloom hanging over the country because of incomprehensible government inactivity, the recent visits to Russia and China by President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani had been like a silver lining raising hopes that the administrative paralysis, witnessed in the last three years, may take a turn for the good.
And beyond any shadow of doubt these visits enabled the Pakistan leaders to adopt a different posture before Hillary Clinton and her aides paying a surprise visit to Islamabad but the million dollar question remained if the dash to Pakistan was just for seeking clarification of issues marring the Pak-US ties since the Raymond Davis episode earlier this year, or was it meant to serve new threats.
Whatever the motive, one thing was clear that the leadership of a country must be courageous and honest enough to defend national interests and the right of the people to remain sovereign. Sources were right in presenting a much different picture of the dialogue between President Zardari, Premier Gilani, and the army chief General Kayani with Hillary and company. Both sides appeared tense during the sensitive negotiations, and in presenting their arguments in a free and frank manner, and not allowing the parleys to be a monologue as has been the case since 2008.
It was a happy augury, if such was the case, but whether the Pakistani leadership really rose to the occasion is difficult to judge .If they laid bare their case in defense of the country and the people's causes, it did indicate a sense of direction in the government's foreign policy perceptions. President Zardari did complain about the drone attacks which have been severely criticized in the country, but whether he and Gilani were blunt in their defense is yet to be ascertained.
Example can be cited here of Hamid Karzai's latest warning to America that any attempt to repeat bombing on the civilian population by NATO will be stoutly resisted, carried weight and brought an instant apologetic reaction from the White House. A total of 24 civilians were killed by the NATO bombings in Afghanistan towards the end of last week. The Afghan President was quick to protest to the Americans, his staunch allies and protectors. Karzai showed courage and did what was expected of a sovereign head of state. I wish the Pakistani leadership too would have shown courage and the prime minister could have addressed a press conference in reply to the press talk by the US secretary of state soon after her meetings with the troika. The fact that she had brought with her the chief of the US armed forces, Admiral Mike Mullen and addressed the media along with him, showed that the American government wanted to convey to the world that the civilian and the military authorities in the USA were on the same wave length and would act jointly in case a situation arose to deal sternly with Islamabad.
After all, what threatening language did Hillary use? This is known to some people, but could not be made public for coming under the mischief of state secret act. She did some very plain talking which was also evident from the mood during the parleys, the body language and facial expressions of the participants in the parleys, and also from the tone and content she adopted at her post-session press statement.
A simple question can be asked however without hesitation or fear of contradiction, which is whether she told Pakistan to heed to American suggestions unhesitatingly and uncomplainingly, and whether in case of a negative reaction, what would be the implications for Pakistan and its safety or the Pak-US relations.
Pakistan leaders visit to China and Russia may not help it deal with emergencies, should they arise, but their backing to Pakistan in United Nations or other international forums would be a great morale booster. Besides the Chinese and Russians can extend military assistance to Pakistan. China is already supplying JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft and has been helping the Pakistan Navy. Pakistan is producing its own indigenous tanks and ground fighting machines, has an excellent nuclear arsenal, but it has to strengthen itself economically. There is a visible lack of planning to rehabilitate the economy, our dependence on foreign aid and loans continues to increase, our saving ratio to budgetary proposals and development budget is almost nothing. Then our administrative inactivity, a complete apathy to comprehend problems and seek their solutions, is at dead halt. How then can the Pakistani authorities and the people think of meeting future challenges which are multiplying by leaps and bounds with the passage of every day?
Pakistan 's security is at stake, is in grave danger, and regrettably we continue to fiddle. The situation is alarming and tragic, and worse still, is our inability to deal with emergency situations. Where do we stand? We need to find the answer and find it far more quickly than the government has been so far acting. We are yet to set our direction, We need to put our house in order and the quicker we do it, the better it would be for our salvation.
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