July 26, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 22, 1429

WASHINGTON, July 25: Insurgency in the tribal areas will cast an ominous shadow over Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s visit to Washington, but experts also believe that both the White House and Congress will strongly endorse the new democratic set-up in Islamabad.

“Americans are very concerned about the situation in Fata,” said Lisa Curtis, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank. She pointed out that many in the United States feel that if there’s another 9/11 type attack on America, it will originate in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

The foundation recently arranged a discussion on the prime minister’s visit, focusing on issues likely to be discussed in bilateral talks.

James Phillips, senior research fellow at the foundation, noted that the Americans remained wary of Pakistan’s decision to hold talks with militants.

“People in the US do not believe that such talks can bring peace,” he said.

“Their fear is based on what they experienced in 2006, when similar talks allowed the militants to rearm and regroup and intensify cross-border incursions into Afghanistan.”

Journalists from Pakistan, representatives from the US, British and the Indian media were invited to the discussion.

A Pakistani participant pointed out that while there’s a lot of discussion in the US on what’s in America’s interests, “you hardly ever hear anyone saying what’s in Pakistan’s interest”.

They pointed out that no government could declare a war on its own citizens and that Pakistan would have to continue to talk to the militants even if such talks did not lead to immediate results.

They stressed that there’s no military solution to this conflict.

The participants noted that differences expressed during the discussion reflected how the United States and Pakistan disagreed with each other on this important issue.

The American participants noted that Prime Minister Gilani would confront the American point of view on the issue both in official meetings and in his encounters with the US media, legislators and think-tanks.

Ms Curtis, however, said that despite disagreements on such a key issue, the US administration and Congress were united in conveying a strong support to the new democratic set-up in Islamabad.

“Washington needs to convince the Pakistani people that it worked with a general for eight years because he was in power, not because we are against democracy,” she said. “The Americans want to let the Pakistanis know that they not only support the new democratic set-up, they also want it to succeed.”

Ms Lisa believes that the Bush administration will voice its support to a $15 billion aid package for Pakistan already introduced in the US Senate.

“I know that the movers of this legislation consulted the administration before introducing it in the Senate and the administration supported the move,” she said.

US experts noted that besides backing the aid package, the administration would also provide a substantial assistance to Pakistan for dealing with the current food crisis.

Another major development is the decision to divert $230 million from counter-terrorism programmes to the upgrade of the country’s F-16 fighter jets, despite a strong opposition in Congress.

Pakistan needs a total of $891 million to upgrade its fleet of ageing F-16s, to be paid out of national funds.

Islamabad had asked the Bush administration to divert $226 million from the overall military aid programme with Pakistan in financial year 2008 and $140 million in 2009, making up the balance from its own resources.

The US State Department noted, the diversion would allow Islamabad to spend that money on projects like providing food and electricity to the people.

The total F-16 package – including both new and old aircraft – will cost of $3 billion.

The US administration also has agreed to grant non-stop flight rights to PIA.

“All such moves are aimed at telling the Pakistanis that the Americans want to the new democratic setup to succeed,” Ms Curtis said.