Editorial: A Fresh Tack

By M H Ahssan

Obama approach hits a nerve in Pakistan. Going by defiant statements from Islamabad that it will review its options vis-a-vis Washington if the Obama administration doesn’t adopt a positive policy towards it, it has clearly been rattled by the Obama administration’s plans to rejig American policy towards Pakistan and Afghanistan. Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has gone to the extent of flashing a China card against India and the United States by asserting that Beijing would come to its aid if necessary.

The new US approach includes inducting 30,000 more American troops into Afghanistan, building an alternative route to supply them that passes through Russia and Central Asia instead of Pakistan, and pouring in non-military aid to Pakistan which will be tied to better performance in the war against terror. It’s hard to see what’s objectionable about this package. If the Americans are pouring in billions of dollars into Pakistan, it’s legitimate to expect that Pakistan should, in return, cease to provide sanctuary to armed militants who cross the border into Afghanistan and attack NATO and Afghan troops there, not to mention terror groups which have targets all over the world. Neither has Islamabad done a good job of keeping the supply route that passes through western Pakistan open, as hundreds of NATO trucks have been burnt along this route. If the US doubles its troops in Afghanistan, it can’t be expected to keep their sole supply route hostage to closure by the Taliban.

What may seem disconcerting from Islamabad’s point of view is the shift from previous US approaches to Pakistan, which had their origins in US-Pakistan collaboration during the jihad against Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. Coordinating the jihad was outsourced, in large part, to the ISI by the US and other western powers. When the Bush administration focused on Iraq and took its eye off the ball in Afghanistan this approach was, to some extent, replicated and not too many questions were asked about how effectively Islamabad was conducting its war on terror. That may have led some elements in Pakistan to revive the old dream of strategic depth, whereby the West would eventually tire of Taliban attacks launched from safe sanctuaries in Pakistan, withdraw its troops and leave the Taliban free to reassert control in Afghanistan.

But alarm bells rang as Taliban began making deep forays into Afghanistan while asserting control over large swathes of Pakistani territory itself. That caused the Bush administration to change tack in the last few months to authorise missile and drone strikes on Taliban-held Pakistani territory. Now the Obama administration promises to tie aid to results in the war on terror. This may have its risks. But previous approaches have failed to stem the Taliban, which is making headway in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Lashkar-e-Taiba uses Pakistani territory to launch terror attacks on India. It’s time for a fresh global approach to stabilising Pakistan.