PRESIDENT Donald Trump has asked Pakistan to shut down terrorist safe havens on its soil. In the same breath, he warned Pakistan would lose much by aiding terrorists and offering them sanctuaries.

Given the threat from Trump, we need to rethink our policy toward Afghanistan and the United States. For any country, the first and foremost foreign policy objective is safeguarding its own interests.

We have long ignored this core principle while dealing with Washington and Kabul. Our policymakers must analyse dispassionately the horrible consequences of the Afghan ‘jihad’ — a CIA-funded project — against the Soviet occupation forces. We are still paying through the nose for American mendacity of those days.

Now is the time for Pakistan to redefine its policy in a way that rewards it and respects its sovereignty.

M. Afzal Khan
Peshawar

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THIS refers to the US president’s new policy on Afghanistan. The reality is that our economy is surviving on the crutches of aid and loans obtained from the IMF and other lending agencies, courtesy the US. Despite the poor health of the economy and lack of repayment capacity, loans are being gobbled up from friendly Western institutions with the nod of the US and its allies.

While the external debt has accumulated to $80bn now, there is no let-up in the borrowing spree while the nation continues to live beyond its means.

We may disagree with the policies of North Korea and Iran, but these two nations have resisted threats and sanctions while enduring sufferings to protect their sovereignty and independence against the mightiest power on earth. The moot point is: are we willing to replicate these two countries in protecting our sovereignty and freedom by discontinuing dependence on aid and loans or bow down to the ‘do more’ dictates of the superpower?

Lambasting the US president does no good. We need to put our own house in order.

Majeed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2017