ISLAMABAD: Former US Assistant Secretary of Defence Dr Peter Lavoy on Thursday urged Pakistan to join the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, only to be rejected instantly.

Chairman of the Senate’s standing Committee on Defence Mushahid Hussain Sayed reminded the American scholar that Pakistan’s armed forces were already fully engaged in battling terrorists at home in Waziristan.

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The exchange took place at an international conference on the Global Strategic Environment in the Post-2014 Era and Pakistan organised jointly by the School of Politics and International Relations of the Quaid-i-Azam University and the German foundation Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

Sen. Mushahid Hussain, who chaired one of the sessions, said Pakistan had suffered and sacrificed the most in this regard since 9/11.

The US-led war against Iraq in 2003 destabilised not just the Arab country but the whole region, resulting in the rise of extremism and terrorism.

“It is noteworthy that while the US says IS is the top priority now and that its interest in South Asia is receding, the joint communiqué issued after the recent summit meeting between (the Indian prime minister) Modi and (U.S. President) Obama in Washington, conveniently missed listing IS among the terror organisations,” he said.

It was interesting that while US was pressuring Pakistan, it did not ask India to join the anti-IS coalition, he added.

Turkey cited its own national interests for rejecting such American pressure, the senator said.

He expected the US and the international community to acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions of Pakistan in fighting the global war on terror.

Pakistan may be a soft state but it had a strong society with vigour and dynamism, with multiple power centres, and citizen activism was its strong point, he said, referring to remarks that Pakistan is a ‘weak state’.

Indian Prime Minister Narendera Modi’s Pakistan policy shows a mindset based on aggressive, hawkish policies rooted in the past, which are endangering efforts for regional peace and prosperity, said the senator.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2014