WASHINGTON: The United States has enormous stakes in Pakistan’s stability and must assist the country economically and militarily to help it overcome serious challenges, and at the same time make it clear to the Pakistanis that Washington respects their sovereignty, Senator John Kerry advocated.

‘We need to make it clear that we respect their (Pakistanis) sovereignty,’ he stated at the Council on Foreign Relations while speaking about US policy toward the region in the light of his visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan last week.

Kerry, co-author of a $7.5 billion five-year economic aid measure and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Pakistan should be given vital breathing space to deal with its difficult problems. ‘These are serious challenges,’ he added.

The Democratic lawmaker appeared to favor a narrowly focused strategy for Afghanistan and warned against destabilising effect of any larger Afghan strategy on nuclear-armed Pakistan, which he praised for its massive ongoing anti-militant campaign in South Waziristan.

Arguing for sustained support for Pakistan, Senator Kerry also drew attention to the contrast in $30 to $1 ratio of what the US spends in Afghanistan and what it gives to Pakistan.

Senator Kerry ruled out any American combat troops on Pakistani soil, asserting that Islamabad can best overcome militant challenges through a homegrown approach.

‘We’re not going to send troops by any significant numbers of any kind to Pakistan. We may have some people training or helping if that’s something they (Pakistanis) decide they want,’ he said.

Kerry said the Obama administration is working to strengthen Islamabad’s ability to deliver on economic and security challenges.

‘The outcome is going to be determined by the Pakistanis themselves making a choice about whether or not they are going to stand up to the Taliban and assert their democratic values. I believe they will. I think they are,’ said Kerry in an interview with the Fox News channel.

‘And I think the White House is trying to figure out the best ways in which to empower them to do that. It can’t be an American-driven policy. It can’t have an American imprint or footprint. This really has to be homegrown, and that’s what we’re really working with the Pakistanis to achieve.’

‘If they (Pakistanis) are left in a place where their efforts are viewed as being our efforts, we’re all in trouble. We can’t tell them what to do. We can’t be viewed as orchestrating this in some way. This really has to be a plan that is based on our ability to assist them to do what they decide they want to do and need to do. And, yes, we have mutual interests.’

‘This is a country with a history and with an ability to be able to deliver – in some cases more rapidly than others. They now need to get coordinated. They have a new civilian government. They have had a military leader for the last eight years or so. They went to the polls. They elected this leader. He’s only had a short period of time under very difficult economic circumstances to really get things moving. Our hope is that they are now getting on the track and beginning to make the commitments necessary to win back their own country.’

He particularly highlighted the anti-militant resolve achieved at public level under the democratic Pakistani government.

‘The good news is that many Pakistanis recognize that they face an existential challenge within their border. The Pakistani military has demonstrated a firm resolve with its current offensive against Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan (border tribal area) and they deserve great credit for that.’

He also noted the Pakistani military is pushing back militants from the country’s northwestern areas they had infiltrated into.

‘We need to be doing as much as we can do and that involves Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to assist the Pakistani military as they go after domestic extremists,’ he added, underscoring the need for coordinated efforts against remnants of al-Qaeda.

‘We need to be doing a better job of explaining ourselves, we need to be much more sensitive to their sensibilities as to how we can proceed.’

He saw an opportunity in the current refugee exodus from Waziristan toward improving the image of the United States through humanitarian assistance.—APP