ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s leadership does not appear to be convinced with US Vice President Joseph Biden’s clarifications about their concerns, adjudging them to be contradictory to ground realities.
Mr Biden visited Islamabad earlier this week to discuss the endgame in Afghanistan and to explore what gets Pakistan and more importantly its military establishment to extend wholehearted cooperation.
In order to win over the Pakistani leaders he tried to dispel some of the fears prevailing in Pakistan as “misconceptions about US actions and … intentions”.
These apprehensions, which were conveyed by Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to President Barack Obama, included the perceived US interest in transactional nature of ties with Pakistan; that war on terror had been imposed on Pakistan; alleged violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty by the US; supposed US disrespect for Islam; much-touted American inner desire to defang and destabilise Pakistan; and its supposed indifference to Pakistan’s strategic concerns particularly vis-à-vis India.
A senior official in a background briefing on Saturday pointed to Mr Obama’s security strategy envisioning a greater role for India and Japan for Asian security and stability, and the growing support for Indian bid for UN Security Council’s permanent seat as an indicator of a major shift in the dynamics of world order.
The official said ‘exceptionalism’ was evident in this case.
He went on to caution against economically squeezing Pakistan, destabilising it and disturbing the societal balance. “Our message is that do not try to turn Pakistan into a battlefield,” the official said, mentioning incidents in Karachi, Data Darbar bombing, sectarian strife and bomb attacks as part of what could be described as an international conspiracy.
Sources said that similar concerns were conveyed to Joe Biden during his visit.
The IMF has not released any tranche under its standby arrangement since June and is yet to disburse about $3.5 billion under the programme, while disbursements under the Kerry-Lugar Act are also slow to come. Besides, a large portion of commitments made at a donors’ conference in Tokyo are also yet to be realised.
These and snail paced Coalition Support Fund reimbursements have all compounded Pakistans economic woes.
The divergences between the US and Pakistans strategic view are also clear from Pakistans insistence on a ‘strategic alignment’ between the two. This alignment is thought to be indispensable for peace in the region. The official refused to accept the notion that the government was dismissing Mr Biden’s clarifications in totality. Rather, he emphasised that he was pointing to a larger picture that was disconcerting, but pointed towards a definitive trend that could not be ignored by Pakistan.
A similar message, though diplomatically couched, was evident in Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir’s meeting with a Congressional delegation, led by Senator Mitch McConnell.
The secretary was quoted in a Foreign Office statement as having said: “The foreign secretary underlined that the global landscape was in a flux and that it was necessary for Pakistan and the US to work closely with each other in order to be on the same page on issues of mutual concern and interest.”
He said that Pakistan, which had suffered immensely from the long war in Afghanistan, needed a sustained support from its friends, especially the US, to address multiple challenges.
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