ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday saw impassioned, yet introspective speeches from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, with members critiquing the foreign policy failures that had led to the recent souring of US-Pakistan relations.

“From U2s flying out of Badaber to capturing the world’s most wanted man from Abbottabad — [both countries] have come a long way,” observed Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who opened the debate on US President Donald Trump’s policy statement on Afghanistan.

All parties put up a united front, condemning the “insensitive” and “insulting” way in which Pakistan’s own sacrifices in the war on terrorism had been reduced to a dollar amount.

“Put your money where your mouth is,” declared former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, saying that the Trump administration’s claim of paying Pakistan “billions of dollars” was a fabrication.

Over the past 20 years, he said, financial aid from the US had come at a yearly average of $120-150 million. “This is peanuts, not billions,” the senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader fumed.

His stance on the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) was that it was meant to reimburse Islamabad “for services rendered”, but was quick to add that the Americans never released any money without making the country jump through endless hoops.

This was endorsed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who recalled the tribulations of securing CSF refunds.

Asking the speaker to convene a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which he said was the appropriate forum to formulate a response, Mr Qureshi demanded a briefing from the national security adviser on the issue.

“There has to be reciprocity in diplomatic relations,” he stressed, and declared that while Pakistan did not want to fight the US, the country would not prostrate itself before the Americans either.

Chaudhry Nisar terms US aid ‘peanuts’, Farooq Sattar blames policymakers for not countering ‘do-more’ mantra; Shah Mehmood Qureshi urges fence-mending with Iran

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah mocked the disparity between American technological capability and the juvenile nature of the allegations levelled against Pakistan.

“If you can pinpoint terrorists in their homes from thousands of miles away and eliminate them with drones, why can’t you provide us evidence of cross-border terrorism that allegedly originates from Pakistani soil?” he asked.

But he was quick to add a caveat: “If there is proof, bring it to us. We will also inquire why this is happening.”

Dr Farooq Sattar of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), however, brought some nuance to the debate, reminding the house that this was not the first time the US had issued a statement like this.

“How long will our policymakers put up with the ‘do-more’ demand?” he asked, recalling that a similar resolution had been passed under the previous government as well, and predicted that another would be passed in the year 2024, hinting at the cyclical nature of US-Pakistan relations.

He also blamed policymakers for their failure to develop a regional approach to tackle US posturing, summing up with their performance with the formula “zero multiplied by zero is equal to zero”.

Unequivocal Nisar

Free of his ministerial shackles, the former interior minister supported Mr Shah’s call for a joint session of parliament to be summoned after the Eid holidays, which could send a forceful message to the world.

Extolling parliament to take Trump’s statement “seriously”, Chaudhry Nisar called for analysis and introspection that would reveal which of ‘‘our enemies, so-called friends, and even we ourselves” are responsible for the current state of affairs.

The former minister repeatedly referred to the government’s responsibility for the distrust that characterised Pakistan’s relations with the US and other countries.

“The noose is tightening around Pakistan... we have allowed foreign powers space to operate in our country... we sacrificed national interest for the sake of dollars, power and influence,” he said, a seemingly cryptic reference to former ambassador Husain Haqqani’s claims.

He recalled that the US came to Afghanistan on its own accord, not at Pakistan’s invitation. “Each of their [Afghan] policies has failed, but not because of us,” he said, and reminded the US how, under a military dictator, it turned a blind eye to safe havens for extremist elements.

Stressing that Pakistan sought cooperation, not confrontation, the former minister said that this cooperation could not be one-sided, and had to be reciprocated by all sides.

Chaudhry Nisar also placed the Trump ball firmly in the foreign ministry’s court. “When US officials come to Pakistan, they can’t call on the prime minister, the foreign minister or the army chief. If that happens, the game is up,” he said, urging the government to extract reciprocity from the Americans.

“They should meet the foreign secretary and clear up the matter. Everything should be addressed by the Foreign Office,” he said, reminding the house how successive governments had ‘spoilt’ the Americans by allowing them unfettered access to the national leadership.

He also called for lobbying with friendly governments in Beijing, Ankara, Riyadh and even Tehran, especially urging a fence-mending mission to Iran, whom he described as a “time-tested friend”.

This sentiment was echoed by PTI’s Mr Qureshi, who underscored important characteristics that Pakistan shared with Iran. “Both countries share a border with Afghanistan and both have accommodated Afghan refugees,” he said, urging the foreign minister to lobby the Iranian government for support.

Blame game

“A trillion dollars, three presidents and tens of thousands of deaths later, Afghanistan is still where it was in the year 2000,” observed newly-inducted cabinet member Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, who also heads the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.

In his assessment, “over 80pc of Trump’s speech was CPEC-centric”, adding that there would be economic and security implications if Islamabad decided to stand up to the US.

But while stressing the importance of maintaining strategic relations with every nation, he declared that it was time to tell the US to abandon its double standard on Pakistan.

Maulana Ameer Zaman of the JUI-F was far more blunt. “I ask you, when has the US been able to bring peace to any area it has intervened in?”

Mr Qureshi, who came prepared with nine questions for Trump, also pointed to Afghanistan’s own problems, such as the tug-of-war between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the burgeoning drug trade that was funding terrorism, and the lack of border management mechanisms on the Durand Line.

“Why can’t you see the safe havens in eastern Afghanistan? Why can’t you see Indian aggression in [India-held] Kashmir?” he asked, addressing the US president.

He also expressed horror at what he called “growing Indian ingress into the US Congress”, while Sheikh Rashid expressed his surprise at Trump “speaking Modi’s language”.

“India has decided to weaken Pakistan internally through the US,” he said, positing that New Delhi knew it could not win a conventional war with Pakistan.

He called on the government to engage media consultants in the US so that Pakistan could start defending itself in the image war that India was waging against it.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2017